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LftLD
  • 23/06/2025
Tell your neighbours, tell your friends, tell everyone that Jesus is coming.

https://lightforthelastdays.co.uk/articles/the-rapture-second-coming-and-the-millennium/the-2nd-coming-the-rapture-the-tribulation-the-return-of-messiah/
Transcript
00:00All right, morning everyone. Praise the Lord.
00:10We're going to talk today about the second coming of Jesus.
00:15I just walked past the synagogue down the road and there was an Orthodox Jewish man coming out
00:21and I said to him, we're in the end of days, the war is here, Jesus is coming.
00:28To my surprise, he said, thank you and walked off.
00:33But we are in the end of days, Jesus is coming and the war is here.
00:38It's a very hard time and we're going to look at some of the things which the Bible says
00:43are going to happen before the second coming of Jesus.
00:46If you were here last week, I said that the scriptures in Matthew 24 speak about a period
00:53which Jesus described as the beginning of sorrows.
00:56There will be wars, earthquakes, famines, all these things increasing.
01:02I believe we are in that period, the beginning of sorrows period right now.
01:06This war in Iran, Iraq, Iran and Israel is just another sign of it.
01:12Where it's going to go, we don't know.
01:14America joined in last night, if you didn't hear the news, and bombed Iran's nuclear facilities.
01:19How that's going to explode remains to be seen.
01:22But certainly we're living in very perilous times, it's all on the edge, and we don't
01:26know where it's all going to go.
01:27Only God does.
01:29But the Bible does say, we have this time which he calls the beginning of sorrows period.
01:33Time of wars, famines, earthquakes.
01:35And I believe that these things have been building up over the last several years.
01:41At some point that's going to tip over into a period which Jesus called the great tribulation.
01:46He said, then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world
01:49until now, known where ever shall be.
01:52It says also that if God didn't cut short those days, no flesh would survive.
01:55In other words, it could bring life to an end on the earth.
01:59And I think we can see that we do have that possibility in our time.
02:03We can see that that is something which, because of human sin, foolishness, lack of care of the
02:10environment, development of weapons of destruction, putting all our energy into bombs and missiles
02:16when we should be putting it into agriculture and medicine and helping people.
02:20We see that the world is in a very perilous and dangerous state, and there are very dangerous
02:24and perilous powers who are in control of nations, particularly Iran, Russia.
02:30And Israel itself is in a very perilous situation, and we can see that there is a possibility of
02:36missiles, well, it's already happening, missiles hitting Israel, and great destruction coming
02:41to Israel, to the Middle East, and Iran.
02:45And it could drive you to kind of despair.
02:48Or you could just bury your head in the sand and pretend it's not happening, which is what
02:51actually most people do.
02:54But if you do know what's happening, and you want to have a hopeful conclusion, then, well,
03:01stick around, we're going to tell you what the hopeful conclusion is, because the only hopeful
03:05conclusion you'll find is in this book, and the only hopeful conclusion is the second coming
03:11of Jesus.
03:12So we're going to look a little bit tonight, this morning, at the subject of the second
03:15coming.
03:16I'm going to tell you some of the mechanics, some of the arguments which people have about
03:21the timing, and we're going to come to one or two conclusions, hopefully.
03:26Okay, first of all, the principle, the second coming of Jesus, will be entirely different
03:31from his first coming.
03:32When he came the first time, he humbled himself, he took upon the form of a servant, and he
03:37laid down his life as a sacrifice for the sin of the world.
03:41In Philippians, we read, 2 Philippians, verse 5,
03:48Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did
03:53not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the
03:57form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men.
04:00And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the
04:05point of death, even the death of the cross.
04:09Therefore God has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that
04:12at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and of
04:16those under the earth, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
04:21of God the Father.
04:22So Jesus came in human form, he humbled himself, he took upon himself the form of a servant,
04:28laid down his life as a sacrifice for the sin of the world, died on the cross, rose from
04:33the dead, ascended to heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit to the church with the task to spread
04:38the gospel message into all the world.
04:41That's the time we're living in now.
04:42We look back to Jesus coming the first time to redeem us through his blood, shed for us on
04:48the cross, and we share the good news that Jesus died and rose again from the dead, and
04:53in him we can have forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
04:57He also promised that I would come again.
04:58He said you're going to come again a second time.
05:01And it's clear from the scriptures in the Bible that when Jesus comes a second time, he's
05:04going to come in an entirely different form, with a different agenda.
05:08And we see in Matthew 24, verse 30, he says, then the sign of the Son of Man will appear
05:16in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, they will see the Son of Man coming
05:21on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
05:25So this time he doesn't humble himself, he doesn't take upon the form of a servant, he
05:28comes this time with power and great glory.
05:31And his coming will be visible to all people at the end of days when the second coming to
05:37the earth comes.
05:39Revelation 19 describes it in a bit more detail.
05:42Revelation 19, verse 11, says, now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse.
05:48He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
05:53His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns.
05:56He had a name written that no one knew except himself.
06:00He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.
06:04And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses.
06:10Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations, and he
06:16himself will rule them with a rod of iron.
06:18He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and he has on his
06:23robe and in his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
06:27You can see from this passage a very different coming, coming this time as King of Kings and
06:34Lord of Lords with all the power of God at his disposal, coming this time to judge the
06:38nations, and then to rule them with a rod of iron.
06:43So when Jesus comes a second time, he's coming not to be judged by the nations, which is what
06:47happened at the cross.
06:48He's coming now to judge the nations in the light of what they've done to the first coming
06:53message of the gospel.
06:54And when he comes again, he's coming with all power of God, and he's going to rule and
06:58extend his power over the nations, and there will be a time for, according to the book of
07:03Revelation, a thousand years when Jesus is going to rule in person on the earth, a time
07:07we call the millennium.
07:08That time the God of this world, who is Satan, will be cast out, unable to deceive the nations
07:13anymore, and Jesus will be in control.
07:16It says in the book of Isaiah, the government will be upon his shoulder.
07:20If you're a bit miffed about the government today, well, there's a time coming when the
07:24government's going to be perfect because of me on the shoulder of Jesus Christ, Son of
07:28God, God Almighty.
07:30The Bible says that's going to happen.
07:32Go out there in the world and tell people that, they'll say, well, you're joking.
07:35If you believe the Bible, we're not joking.
07:38It's going to happen because God's word is yea and amen.
07:41His promises are always fulfilled in his time and in his purpose.
07:46So he comes as king of kings, lord of lords.
07:50He comes to judge the world, to bring an end to the reign of the wicked, and to set up
07:54the messianic kingdom, the thousand year reign of the Messiah.
07:59And if you think about the second coming of Christ is divine intervention on steroids.
08:04There have been huge interventions that have happened in the past.
08:07The exodus, the flood, the life and ministry of Jesus, his resurrection itself.
08:14But this one is going to be absolutely major.
08:18He's going to boot out the devil and his kingdom, and he's going to bring in the kingdom of God
08:24with Jesus reigning in his place.
08:28It's very important that prior to this event, we are ready for it to happen by accepting Jesus
08:33Christ as Savior.
08:35And I guess by the fact you're nodding your heads, you agree with that.
08:38Maybe there are a lot of people, well there are a lot of people out there who disagree with it.
08:42So we have the job to actually take the message to them and encourage them to make this step
08:46of faith and to believe in Jesus before it's too late.
08:50Very important to grasp this because one of the key things to understand about the second coming
08:54is that it is associated with the separation of the saved, the children of God,
08:59and the unsaved who are described in the Bible as children of wrath.
09:03It's associated, therefore, with the judgment of God, separation of the saved from the
09:08unsaved, from the born-again believers who are the children of God, and those who are
09:14not children of God who will be subject to God's wrath.
09:19And also the Bible says very clearly that in the last final period, which is a seven-year
09:24period we call the Great Tribulation, there will be a time of unparalleled trouble on the
09:29face of the earth caused by the activity of Satan and the Antichrist and those who are
09:33against Jesus Christ.
09:36All of which can be very troubling.
09:39So we come back to the promise of Jesus in John chapter 14, where he says,
09:44let not your hearts be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me.
09:49My Father's house and many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to
09:54prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
09:58you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
10:03So Jesus promises he's going to come again, he's going to come and take those people who
10:08are his to himself, he's going to prepare a place for us, and he's going to come again
10:13and receive us to himself, that where he is, therefore where I am, you may be also.
10:20So we'll be with the Lord.
10:22So there's a great prospect for the believer that we're going to be with the Lord.
10:25And Jesus said, I'm going to come again.
10:26Jesus promised it.
10:27Does Jesus keep his word?
10:29Yes.
10:30So whatever you see happening in the world, whatever kind of propaganda you see from the
10:35media, from everything else, you can be sure that if Jesus says, I'm going to come again,
10:40he's going to come again.
10:42Simple as that.
10:44Now, we have a few issues in the church about this, and one of the big issues concerns the
10:49issue of the rapture of the church.
10:53Now, if you look at a number of passages in the scriptures, you can see that there appears
10:56to be two stages to the second coming of Christ.
11:00Actually, this applies to whatever position you take on this subject.
11:04First, he comes as a thief in the night to take the believing Christians to himself in
11:09the event which we call the rapture of the church.
11:12Then he returns with the saints to the earth and sets up his millennial rule on the earth.
11:19Actually, all of those, whether you take the pre or the mid or the post tribulation, those
11:23are all two stages of the second coming.
11:25The difference is, is there a difference between the timing of the rapture, does it come before
11:32the tribulation, does it come in the middle of it, does it come at the end of it?
11:37Either way, Jesus is going to take the believers out first, then he'd come back with them.
11:42Whichever view you have, that's actually the procedure.
11:44The question is, is there a difference between those two events?
11:49That's the subject we're going to look at today.
11:52So when we look at the final prophecy, we can see that there are these three possibilities.
11:57There's the rapture of the church, the time of the great tribulation on earth prior to
12:01this, and the return of Jesus Christ to the earth in power and great glory.
12:06Now, if you look at the average church, in theory, every church believes the last one.
12:13Because they have creeds which say, he should come again in power and great glory to judge
12:17the quick and the dead.
12:18Part of the Anglican creed, part of the creeds of the churches, not sure if he's even part
12:23of the Catholic creed, I don't know, I don't know that one, but it's possible.
12:26Basically, in principle, all Christians believe that Jesus will come again in power and great
12:31glory.
12:31In practice, you'll find that the idea has been pushed out by most of the church, and
12:37you'll find that they don't really want to believe the great tribulation is going to
12:41happen.
12:42Some people actually believe it's already happened, which is a bit far-fetched from my
12:45opinion.
12:47And people are skeptical or dismissive of the idea of the rapture of the church.
12:52Now, we're a Bible-believing church, so we believe that if it's in the word of God,
12:55either it has happened, or it's happening now, or it will happen.
12:58And since the scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, affirm the second coming, or in
13:05the Old Testament, it's called the day of the Lord, we believe that that is going to
13:08happen.
13:10So the big question is the order of the events.
13:12So we're going to have a look at that this morning.
13:15Obviously, this is a very big subject, and you could talk about this for hours and hours,
13:18so I'm going to give you just the basics, so you can have some idea of what the issues
13:25are.
13:27View one is the pre-tribulation rapture.
13:35This teaches that before the seven-year period of the rule of the Antichrist and the great
13:41tribulation can begin, the believing church will be caught up, raptured, and taken away
13:48in fulfillment of passages in the Bible we're going to look at.
13:53The mid-tribulation rapture is that this event occurs midway through the rule of the Antichrist,
13:58that's three and a half years into the tribulation.
14:02A variation on this view called the pre-wroth rapture puts the event about three-quarters
14:06of the way through the tribulation before the final outpouring of wrath in the bull's judgment
14:13in Revelation 16.
14:16And view three, the post-tribulation rapture, teaches that this event occurs at the end
14:20of the tribulation simultaneously with the second coming of the Lord to the earth.
14:27Probably the majority, especially in America, of Christians believe in the pre-tribulation
14:31rapture.
14:32The post-tribulation rapture is also more of a traditional view of the church.
14:38The mid-tribulation, some people believe that, not so many.
14:41But let's have a look at what the rapture actually is, what is described in the book
14:46of Thessalonians, one of the main passages on this subject, in 1 Thessalonians chapter
14:504 and verse 15.
14:561 Thessalonians 4 verse 15, it says,
14:58For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until
15:01the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep, for the Lord himself
15:06will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet
15:10of God.
15:11Dead in Christ will rise first, and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together
15:15with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
15:18Thus we should always be with the Lord, therefore comfort one another with these words.
15:23Okay, this is the main passage which you find in Paul's writings, in 1 Thessalonians 7, 4.
15:32You also find reference to it in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and as we shall see, there's a probable
15:38reference to it in Matthew 24.
15:41But in this verse, you see that it says that the believers who are still alive at the time
15:45of this event taking place will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
15:50The word for caught up in Greek is harpazo, which is translated into Latin as rapio, raperi,
16:00which becomes the English word rapture.
16:02A bit of an odd word because rapture sometimes means you're very happy.
16:07But in this it means seizing away, being caught away, being caught from this world.
16:12So you're going about your business in this world and suddenly, boom, you're caught up to
16:16meet the Lord in the air as he comes.
16:18Now, whatever your view on the timing of it, the Bible says that's going to happen.
16:24Obviously, it's a very supernatural event.
16:26It doesn't happen very often.
16:27In fact, it's never happened before.
16:30Possibly there's a man called Enoch who was taken by God.
16:32But apart from that, we have no recording evidence of anything like this happening in
16:37past history.
16:38But since God is God, God can do what he wants with his creation.
16:41If God decides he's going to pull out the believers in Jesus, he's going to do that.
16:44Again, the qualification for being, taking part in the rapture, by the way, is if you
16:49believe that Jesus died and rose again from the dead.
16:52So even if you don't believe in the rapture, if you believe that Jesus died and rose again
16:56from the dead, you will still be raptured.
16:58And maybe you'll have a few theological questions as it's happening.
17:02But that's what the Bible says.
17:03Now, I just try to go by what the Bible says, not what people say.
17:08So we base what we're saying on what the Bible says.
17:12When this happens, it says you're going to meet the Lord in the air.
17:15It speaks about in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
17:18Thus, we should always be with the Lord.
17:21One of the key things here, it says, following this event, those who are taken in this rapture
17:25are going to be with the Lord.
17:26So where the Lord is, we should be.
17:29The Lord takes us to heaven, then brings us back with him when he comes to the earth.
17:33That's, to my mind, what it actually says is going to happen.
17:37And Jesus comes back with the saints.
17:39So that will be the people who've been caught up to meet him previous to this.
17:42That includes all those who've died in faith during this period.
17:46And he'll come back with him at the second coming of Jesus.
17:50And of course, as we said, we see you have passages which speak about the Lord coming in
17:54the air to gather together his believers.
17:56And passages which speak of him coming to the earth with the saints to punish the unbelievers.
18:03And it's reasonable if he can't do both at the same time.
18:05So the idea that these are in two stages is not unreasonable.
18:11And even if you take the post-tribulation rapture, he takes them out and he comes back with them.
18:17Okay, there's an emphasis, and this is one of the key arguments of the pre-tribulation view
18:22on what we call imminency.
18:26In other words, it could happen at any time.
18:30Unannounced.
18:31Like a thief in the night.
18:34Matthew 24, verse 36, it says,
18:36Verse 36, it says,
19:06Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
19:09But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come,
19:13he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
19:17Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
19:22So these verses speak about one being taken and one being left.
19:30Someone said that the one who's taken is the unbeliever who's taken out of the world before the millennial kingdom.
19:35And the one who's left is the believer who reigns on the earth to participate in the millennium.
19:40My view actually is that one who's taken is the believer who's taken in the rapture.
19:45The one who's left behind is the unbeliever who stays on the earth for the tribulation.
19:50The word used for taken is paralambeo, which implies being taken in a good sense,
19:55taken alongside somebody, and suggests that the believer is the one who's taken for a better resurrection,
20:02while the unbeliever remains for a time of trouble.
20:05What's clear from this passage is it could happen at any time.
20:09Life's going on as normal.
20:11There's people working in the fields, working on the outside, people inside.
20:16In Luke's account there's people who are asleep and people who are awake.
20:19So you have the possibility of all human activity,
20:22and it doesn't matter whether you're asleep or awake, whether you're inside or outside.
20:25If you're a believer in Jesus, he's going to take you at this time.
20:30He also is going to come as a thief in the night.
20:31A thief does not announce the time of his coming.
20:35He comes unexpectedly.
20:36He comes to take what is valuable to himself, and he then departs.
20:42So Jesus comes unexpectedly without announcing himself.
20:45He comes to take what is valuable to himself.
20:47That's those who believe in him.
20:49And then he departs with them.
20:50In the parable which follows, which is actually the subject of the film we're going to see tonight,
21:01about the bridegroom coming midnight and the ten virgins and so on,
21:07actually the bridegroom pays the bride price.
21:10Then he goes away, and he prepares a home for the bride.
21:13Then he returns to fetch the bride and take her to his home.
21:16Parable of the Jewish marriage.
21:18Jesus paid the bride price, came to the earth, paid the price for our sins,
21:23went away, prepared a place for us, and he's going to come again to take us to himself.
21:27It all fits in.
21:29It says this happens at the midnight cry.
21:31It could happen at any time, so be ready for it.
21:34And all these passages end with the verse which Jesus says,
21:37therefore you be ready for the hour is coming.
21:40The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
21:42So the idea of imminency is actually quite a strong argument in favor of the pre-tribulation rapture,
21:48because if you have the post-tribulation rapture,
21:51then you have to see certain things happening before he could come.
21:55David Pawson, who was a strong advocate of post-tribulationism,
21:58said that in Matthew 24 it says that the sun and the moon are going to be blotted out,
22:02it's going to be darkness, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven.
22:06He said, until you see the sun and the moon blotted out, darkness on the earth,
22:10Jesus cannot come again and can't take his church to himself.
22:14So that kind of means that it can't be imminent.
22:17Those things are going to happen.
22:18Whereas these passages say it could be imminent.
22:20It could happen at any time where people are eating and drinking,
22:21buying and selling, doing the normal things of life.
22:23Life goes on and suddenly one's taken, one's left.
22:29So that's one of the arguments in favor.
22:32Also there are verses which imply that the church will escape the period of wrath on the earth.
22:38The tribulation period is described as the period of wrath.
22:42Some would say it's divided into two parts.
22:45The first part, which is the wrath of Satan,
22:46and the second part, which is the wrath of God.
22:49So that would be an argument for the mid-tribulation rapture.
22:52But we do have this concept of wrath in the tribulation period.
22:57On Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 9, it says,
22:59God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
23:04who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
23:09And Revelation 3, verse 10, it says,
23:11Because you've kept my command to persevere,
23:13I will also keep you from the hour of trial,
23:15which will come upon the whole earth, whole world,
23:17to test those who dwell on the earth.
23:19This idea of God keeping his people from the hour of trial,
23:22which will come on the earth.
23:25And then in Luke chapter 21,
23:28Jesus said,
23:29Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing,
23:33drunkenness, and cares of this life,
23:35that the day may come upon you unexpectedly,
23:37for it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
23:41Watch therefore and pray always that you may be counted worthy
23:44to escape all these things that will come to pass
23:46and to stand before the Son of Man.
23:49To escape all these things that have come to pass
23:51by some is interpreted to say that the church will be taken out
23:56before the tribulation period.
23:59And the wrath is the hour of trial,
24:02which will come upon the earth.
24:06There's also a concept in the book of Revelation,
24:08where in Revelation you have,
24:12in the introduction to the book of Revelation,
24:15John is told by Jesus that the book of Revelation
24:18speaks about the things which you have seen,
24:21the things which are,
24:22and the things which will come after this.
24:25So the things which you have seen in Revelation
24:27are actually the vision which John has of the glorified Jesus in heaven.
24:32The things which are are the seven messages to the churches,
24:35which applies to the whole of the church age,
24:37and the things which come after this,
24:39come after John is called up to heaven
24:41to receive the,
24:43see the Lord and to receive the scroll,
24:46which then describes the tribulation period
24:49in the book of Revelation,
24:50which is from chapter 6 through to chapter 19.
24:54And you read in Revelation chapter 4,
24:56he says,
24:56After these things I looked,
24:57and behold, a door standing open in heaven.
24:59The first voice which I heard was like a trumpet
25:01speaking to me,
25:02saying,
25:03Come up here,
25:04and I will show you the things which must take place
25:05after this.
25:07So according to the pre-tribulation view,
25:10all the after this passage
25:11refers to the time of the tribulation,
25:14which is from Revelation 6
25:16through to Revelation chapter 19,
25:18during which period the church is actually not mentioned at all.
25:23So there's the idea that the church is taken out before this
25:25in a parallel to John being caught up to heaven
25:28to receive the revelation,
25:29and the church being taken up
25:34in the rapture of the church.
25:37Okay, there are a number of quite complex arguments.
25:39I'm going to have to go through this quickly
25:40because I won't get on to the other ones if we don't.
25:42Complex arguments about the 70 weeks of years
25:45in Daniel chapter 9
25:46and the gap between the 69th and the 70th week.
25:50Interesting one.
25:50I won't go into that for the sake of time.
25:53Also, the role of the tribulation saints,
25:55why they resurrected separate from other believers
25:57in Revelation 20 verse 4.
25:59And the question,
26:00how is the world repopulated during the millennium
26:02with people in mortal bodies able to have children?
26:06Those are questions which are interesting,
26:09but for the sake of time,
26:10I'm not getting into them.
26:11The pre-tribulation view says
26:12the answer to that is all that the church
26:15has taken out beforehand,
26:16and these certain events take place
26:17after the church is removed,
26:20including the tribulation saints coming to faith
26:23and then dying and then needing to be resurrected
26:25when Jesus returns.
26:30Okay, so that's the main points.
26:32There are others I could mention,
26:33but for the sake of time,
26:34I'm going to go on now
26:35to look at the mid-trib or the pre-wroth view.
26:39If we go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 1,
26:42which I haven't actually put up there.
26:46In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2,
26:54it says,
26:57Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
26:59and our gathering together to him,
27:01we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled,
27:04either by spirit or word or letter,
27:06as if from us,
27:07as though the day of Christ had come.
27:09Let no one deceive you by any means,
27:11for that day will not come
27:12unless the falling away comes first
27:14and the man of sin is revealed.
27:16The son of perdition who opposes
27:17and exalts himself above all that is called God
27:19or that is worshipped
27:20so that he sits as God in the temple of God,
27:23showing himself that he is God.
27:26One of the features of the great tribulation period
27:28is the revelation of the man of sin,
27:30also known as the Antichrist.
27:32It appears from my understanding of scripture
27:34that he will come out of the general period of chaos,
27:38which we're moving into right now,
27:41and some will come up with a solution,
27:43whether he will come up through the United Nations
27:44or through America or through Europe.
27:48Remains to be seen,
27:49but there will be a great ruler who will come with power,
27:51will take on the control of the nations,
27:53perhaps using artificial intelligence,
27:56using all the modern technology
27:57to bring in some kind of a control system,
28:00which you read about in the book of Revelation,
28:02and in the process,
28:04he'll also persecute those who believe in Jesus.
28:07Revelation 13 makes that very clear.
28:10So anyone who comes to faith during this time
28:12will face the opposition
28:13and the potential persecution
28:15of the Antichrist, even leading to death.
28:20It's said that two Thessalonians implies
28:22that first of all,
28:24the falling away will come,
28:26and then the Antichrist, the man of sin,
28:28will be revealed,
28:29and that after that,
28:30the rapture of the church will take place.
28:33One of the major scriptures
28:34pointing to the mid-tribulation view
28:37that the rapture comes in the middle of the tribulation.
28:43So this explains who the Antichrist persecutes
28:46in the first part of the tribulation,
28:48which is basically Christians like you and me.
28:52The preacher view says that
28:54actually there will be a special group of Christians
28:56who will be saved immediately after the tribulation,
28:58after the rapture,
29:00as described in Revelation 7,
29:01where the 144,000 go out and preach the gospel,
29:04and a great multitude of Gentiles come in as a result.
29:10We also have the question about the word wrath.
29:13The word wrath is used of the tribulation period
29:15and used of the bold judgments in particular,
29:18which, if you find in Revelation chapter 16,
29:21are the most severe time of judgment
29:22which falls upon the earth,
29:24and are described as being the wrath of God,
29:26as opposed to the wrath of Satan
29:28who comes down with great power
29:29before this takes place.
29:32And the church is around for the wrath of Satan period,
29:36but not around for the wrath of God period,
29:38so the rapture comes somewhere between the halfway period
29:42and about three-quarters of the way
29:44through the final period.
29:47Okay?
29:48Believe me, that's what it says.
29:50Some of you are looking a bit puzzled here.
29:51But that would be the pre-wroth view
29:54and the mid-tribulation,
29:56which is allied to the mid-tribulation view.
29:58They're slightly different, but similar.
30:00For the sake of time,
30:01I'm not going to go into all the details of that.
30:06So then we move on to the post-tribulation view,
30:08which is probably the more common one
30:12than the pre-wroth view.
30:13One of the major scriptures
30:15which points to this
30:17is Matthew 24 and verse 31.
30:24Read the whole of that passage.
30:26Matthew 24, it says,
30:27Immediately after the tribulation of those days,
30:29the sun will be darkened,
30:31the moon will not give its light,
30:32the stars will fall from heaven,
30:34and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30:37Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven,
30:39and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,
30:41and they will see the Son of Man
30:42coming on the clouds of heaven
30:44with power and great glory.
30:46He will send his angels
30:47with the great sound of the trumpet.
30:49They will gather together his elect
30:50from the four winds,
30:51from one end of heaven to the other.
30:55So according to this view,
30:57verse 31,
31:00the sound of the trumpet,
31:01the gathering of the elect,
31:03is the same event as you have
31:04in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4,
31:07where you have the sound of the trumpet
31:08and the Lord gathering together his people.
31:11So it's the same event.
31:13Now if that is the case,
31:15then there's no more argument actually,
31:18because if that's the case,
31:19then the rapture has to be
31:20at the end of the tribulation,
31:21because he says,
31:23immediately after the tribulation of these days,
31:25so and so is going to happen.
31:27So this has to be
31:29basically the major point
31:32for the post-tribulation rapture.
31:34Jesus said it's going to happen
31:35after the tribulation,
31:37then the trumpet will sound,
31:38and God's going to gather together his elect.
31:43If it is the same event as 1 Thessalonians 4,
31:46the rapture must come after the tribulation.
31:49And the elect equals Christians like you and me.
31:53The Lord gathers them with the sound of the trumpet.
31:56Therefore, it's the same event as 1 Thessalonians 4.
31:58There are counter-arguments to that.
32:02That is not the same event.
32:04There are certain differences.
32:06And the elect who he gathers together
32:07are the Jewish people
32:11from past and present situations,
32:15so those who have died before,
32:17and those who are presently believing in Jesus,
32:19and he gathers them together,
32:20and that's the gathering of his elect
32:23who are the Jews who are saved
32:24during the tribulation period.
32:26And also, because it speaks about
32:28he will gather his elect
32:35from the four winds
32:37from one end of heaven to the other.
32:39So he's not just gathering from the earth,
32:42he's gathering from one end of heaven to the other.
32:44So the possibility is
32:45he's talking about a different group of people
32:47being gathered together here
32:49before the second coming of Jesus to the earth,
32:52or at the same time, in fact.
32:57Another argument for this is the word parousia.
33:00The word parousia is a Greek word
33:03for the coming of the Lord for his saints,
33:05often used to describe the visit of a king
33:08to one of his cities,
33:09where he'd be met by a group of his officials
33:11and relatives who then accompany him
33:13in procession into the city,
33:15as seen by the resident population.
33:17In this case, the two events follow each other.
33:20First of all, taken up,
33:22gathered to meet with the Lord,
33:23then come back with him
33:24as a kind of reception committee, if you like.
33:27Interestingly, if you look at the book of Acts,
33:28chapter 28, you have a similar situation
33:30when Paul arrived in Rome.
33:34News came that Paul was coming
33:35and a whole group of people who were believers
33:37came out to meet Paul
33:38and went with him into Rome
33:40as a kind of reception committee.
33:43So the post-tribulation view is that
33:44that is really what happens
33:45at the rapture of the church.
33:47God gathers together the believers
33:48so that they will come back with him
33:49as a kind of welcoming committee,
33:53bringing Jesus back to the earth.
33:55It happens at the same time.
33:57So you have straight up, straight back again,
34:00not straight up, seven-year period in between,
34:03or even a three-and-a-half-year period.
34:05It's all in one.
34:07Okay, those are the major issues
34:09relating to the post-tribulation rapture.
34:11One has to say that generally
34:13church teaching through the ages
34:15and particularly in the early church
34:16was that the church would face the Antichrist
34:18and must be therefore prepared for tribulation.
34:22This is true, then,
34:22the church will face the tribulation
34:24and will face a time of trouble.
34:27So it should be exercising your mind
34:29to think how you're going to cope
34:30with a time of trouble.
34:33And some people say that
34:34the pre-tribulation view was invented
34:36by a man called J.M. Darby
34:37in the 19th century
34:38after a dubious prophecy
34:40given in a suspect church.
34:43Actually, I don't believe that is the case,
34:44but that's what the accusation is.
34:46There are arguments against that,
34:48which I haven't time to go into.
34:50And there is a question,
34:51who is the Antichrist going to persecute
34:53if the church has been removed?
34:57A chap called Joe Shulam
34:58made a film called Left Behind or Led Astray
35:00in which he said that those Christians
35:02who are looking for the pre-tribulation rapture
35:04when they're left behind
35:06will lose their faith
35:07because they'll suddenly find themselves
35:08being persecuted by the Antichrist.
35:12Well, that could be a possibility,
35:17but I want you to be prepared for both options,
35:19so hopefully that won't happen.
35:25There's also a question
35:26that if the post-tribulation view is correct
35:28and we are imminently moving towards it,
35:33should we actually be preparing for it?
35:34Actually, if I really believe this,
35:37I think I would probably want to move out of London
35:39and go and live somewhere in the countryside
35:41and store up a bit of food
35:42and be ready for the time of trouble,
35:44which some people in America are doing.
35:45You've got a movement called the Preppers
35:47who are getting ready now for the time of trouble,
35:49moving out of the cities,
35:50moving into the countryside,
35:52and getting themselves ready,
35:53even installing ways in which they can survive
35:56in a time of great tribulation.
35:58As I say, basically God wants us to use this time
36:02to preach the gospel, not to get up.
36:04And I have no intention of going out of London
36:06to prepare for the tribulation.
36:08I'm just going to carry on life preaching the gospel.
36:11But these are some of the issues.
36:14Now, you have to say there was a lack of...
36:15People do claim that the early church
36:21would face the tribulation
36:25and that there's no evidence
36:26of any pre-tribulation rapture
36:28in early Christian writings,
36:29but actually there is.
36:31There are certain writings
36:33which were written during this time
36:34which do suggest that there were people
36:36who were looking for the coming of the tribulation,
36:39coming of the rapture before the tribulation,
36:42particularly a writing man called Ephraim the Syrian,
36:44and I'll read you what he said.
36:47He said,
36:47Behold, the kingdom of heaven is at the doors,
36:50ready to flash forth,
36:51but we don't want to hear about these things,
36:53the signs and wonders
36:54which the Lord has said about to happen,
36:56the famines, the earthquakes, the terrors,
36:58the nations, the upheaval.
37:01The report of these things is not disservice
37:02nor the spectacle itself.
37:04Then he says this,
37:05For the elect shall be gathered
37:06prior to the tribulation
37:07so that they shall not see the confusion
37:09and great tribulation
37:10coming upon the unrighteous world.
37:12The season for harvest is now drawn near,
37:15the end of the age holds forth,
37:17angels holding sighs
37:18awaiting but for the nod,
37:20Let us fear, brethren,
37:21for it's the eleventh hour of the day.
37:23Now that was written in 350 AD
37:25and the expectation of many Christians
37:29was that the Roman Empire would fall,
37:31then the ten kings would rise,
37:33then the Antichrist would come,
37:34and then Jesus would return.
37:37It didn't happen that way,
37:38but you can see what is interesting with this,
37:40he says that the elect will be gathered
37:41prior to the tribulation.
37:43They should not see the confusion
37:45and great tribulation coming
37:46upon the unrighteous world.
37:48So it's not true to say
37:49there was never any early church teaching
37:51on this subject.
37:56Now, some people say
37:57that the pre-tribulation rapture
37:58is a kind of soft option
38:00for soft Western Christians
38:02who can't face suffering for their faith.
38:03Obviously, many Christians today
38:06are suffering for their faith,
38:07so, and we have to be ready
38:09that we may suffer for our faith
38:10in this country as well.
38:13And you have a question,
38:15who's going to evangelize the world?
38:17Who's the Antichrist going to persecute
38:18if the church has disappeared?
38:23Now, the pre-tribulation answer, actually,
38:25is that the passage in Matthew
38:27can be seen to harmonize
38:29with other passages in the Old Testament,
38:30particularly Isaiah 27,
38:33which speaks of a trumpet
38:33sounding to gather the remnant of Israel
38:35at the tribulation time.
38:40And
38:40also, you could say that
38:47at the time of Jesus,
38:50Jewish people were looking for
38:53one issue coming of Jesus,
38:57that he would come,
38:59the coming of the Messiah, sorry,
39:00he'd come and fulfill all the prophecies
39:01in one go.
39:03There was no idea that he would come
39:05and then go away
39:06and there'd be two stages.
39:08So, it's possible that we could say
39:09that there are reasons to believe
39:11there could be two stages
39:12in the second program
39:14for the second coming of Jesus.
39:18Now, there are valid criticisms
39:20of the pre-tribulation rapture view,
39:22especially when it's used to
39:24give Christians the idea
39:26that they will be taken out of the world
39:28before any persecution comes their way.
39:31But having looked at all the scriptures,
39:33I do see that it is
39:35plausible to believe
39:37that the pre-tribulation view is correct.
39:39That there will be a sudden
39:40taking away of the believers
39:41before the tribulation comes,
39:44and that then the tribulation
39:45will come on the earth,
39:46and that then Jesus will come back
39:48with the saints
39:49who have then gone through the,
39:51passed through the judgment seat of Christ,
39:53and will go to the marriage supper of the Lamb,
39:58and will then come back with Jesus
39:59at the second coming of Jesus.
40:03That is the program which I see happening,
40:06and on the earth,
40:07there will then be the revelation
40:08of the Antichrist,
40:09the time of trouble,
40:10and the second coming of Jesus
40:11to the earth.
40:15Does it matter what you believe about this?
40:18In the end, it doesn't actually matter
40:20because whatever is going to happen,
40:22God's going to have his way.
40:24And all that matters
40:25about your faith is concerned
40:26that you believe
40:27that Jesus died for your sins
40:28and rose from the dead.
40:30If you don't believe in the rapture
40:31and suddenly it happens,
40:33well, then you can argue with God
40:34on the way up what's happened,
40:37and you can probably come to the conclusion
40:39that God's going to have the last word.
40:42All of this depends totally
40:44on the actions of the Lord.
40:46We can't affect any of it,
40:48so that's another thing.
40:49The other point is
40:50that it hasn't happened yet.
40:53We can be totally dogmatic
40:55on the question,
40:58did Jesus die on the cross
40:59and rise from the dead?
41:01Either you believe it
41:02or you don't believe it.
41:03It's already happened in history.
41:05It's a historical event.
41:07You can believe it
41:08or you can disbelieve it.
41:11These events have not yet happened,
41:13so our understanding of them
41:16are based on our interpretations
41:17of scriptures concerning things
41:19which have not yet happened.
41:21Therefore, you have to hang a bit loose
41:22on your conclusions.
41:25We're all fallible.
41:26None of us has got it all right,
41:28including myself.
41:30So we have to depend upon God
41:31and upon him actually delivering
41:34on his word.
41:36Now, having given you
41:37all these alternatives,
41:38I can say actually that there are reasons
41:40to believe each one of them.
41:41Personally, I think that the first one
41:45is the most hopeful one anyway
41:47and I think it's plausible
41:49but I'm not certain.
41:51It's not definite
41:51it's going to happen that way.
41:53Therefore, what you should do
41:54is be ready for both events.
41:57Certainly, you should be ready
41:58for Jesus to come at any time.
42:01It also applies to the moment
42:03of your death, by the way,
42:04because you don't know
42:04when that's going to happen.
42:06So you should be ready
42:06at any time to meet with the Lord.
42:09How do you do that?
42:10Well, you repent of your sins,
42:11you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
42:13and you do what you can
42:15to live a life
42:15which is pleasing to him.
42:18If you really believe
42:19what I've told you,
42:20then there should be
42:21some emphasis in your life
42:23to try and tell other people
42:24about this
42:24so that they're ready.
42:28We've got loads of leaflets
42:30and booklets, etc.,
42:31which you can give to people
42:32to tell them
42:33about the second coming of Jesus.
42:36If you really believe this,
42:37this is also the only hope
42:39which there is for the world.
42:42I have absolutely zero hope
42:44that any of the political
42:45or religious leaders
42:46in the world today
42:47are going to sort out
42:47the mess which humanity's in.
42:50Unfortunately, the mess
42:50that humanity's in
42:51is getting bigger and bigger
42:52all the time.
42:54Whether it's the wars,
42:55whether it's the ecological problem,
42:57whether it's the financial
42:58and economic problems
42:59which are coming on the world,
43:01nobody has a solution
43:02to these problems.
43:04Basically, they can't be solved.
43:06They can't be solved
43:07by someone who's greater
43:08than we are.
43:09All these problems
43:10have come about
43:10because of human sin
43:11and human mismanagement
43:12of the planet
43:13God gave us to look after.
43:16Also, through the activity
43:17of the devil
43:18who has actually come down,
43:21as it says in the scriptures,
43:22with great wrath
43:22because he knows
43:23his time is short.
43:25And he's very busy
43:26out there deceiving people
43:28with all kinds of views
43:30and all kinds of ideas
43:31which are not right with God.
43:33and only a minority of people,
43:37even a minority of people
43:39who call themselves Christians,
43:41truly understand God's purposes
43:42and truly are saved.
43:45Apparently, there are
43:461.5 billion Christians
43:47in the world.
43:49How many of those
43:49are going to heaven?
43:51I think a very small fraction.
43:53And so we have a job to do,
43:54actually, to tell people the truth.
43:57Now, you don't have to tell them
43:58all the details
43:58of the rapture
43:59and the tribulation.
44:00You don't have to tell them
44:01the details that Christ
44:02died for our sins,
44:02was buried,
44:03and rose again from the dead.
44:05So our priority should be
44:06to get this message out,
44:08which is described
44:09in the book of Titus
44:10as the blessed hope
44:11of the church.
44:16The only hope of the church
44:17and the only hope of the world.
44:21In Thessalonians,
44:22it's described as a comfort
44:23and a help to the believers.
44:27It should be a comfort to you
44:28to know that the answer
44:29is not going to be
44:30the world being destroyed.
44:33I remember before
44:34I became a Christian.
44:35One of the formative influences
44:37on my life was in 1962
44:39when I was sitting
44:39in a classroom
44:40at Bedford School
44:41and the teacher came in,
44:43said we could be on the brink
44:45of the Third World War.
44:47I was actually talking about
44:48the Cuban Missile Crisis
44:49when we really were
44:51on the brink
44:51of a Third World War
44:52and nuclear weapons
44:53could have started flying
44:54between Russia and America.
44:56I kind of freaked out
44:58at that and thought,
44:59well, what's the point
44:59of life?
45:00What's the point
45:00of doing anything?
45:01What's the point
45:01of studying for my exams
45:02to go to university?
45:03What hope is there
45:04for the world?
45:06I wandered around
45:07through various philosophies
45:08after that,
45:09through Marxism,
45:09through all kinds of
45:11New Age
45:12and other ideas
45:13until in 1970
45:14I picked up this book,
45:16became a Christian,
45:17and believed
45:18on the Lord Jesus Christ.
45:20Having believed in Jesus,
45:21I then had a hope
45:22for the future,
45:23which I've had ever since.
45:24Read through the whole
45:25of the Bible,
45:26strided that there were
45:27three things which the Bible
45:28teaches,
45:29one, that the Bible
45:29is the Word of God,
45:31two, that Jesus
45:32is the only way to God,
45:33and three, that we're living
45:34in the last days
45:35before Jesus returns.
45:37Never changed my view
45:38on any of those.
45:40And now I believe
45:41that that is the message
45:42we have to give out
45:42to the world.
45:44So if you have different views
45:46on the rapture,
45:47don't worry too much
45:49about it.
45:50It'll happen in God's time
45:52and in God's way.
45:54Above all,
45:54don't fall out about it.
45:56And we've had issues
45:57even here
45:57where people have taken issue
45:58and they've argued
46:00and left the church
46:01because of views
46:02on the rapture
46:03of the church,
46:04which to my mind
46:05is actually
46:06a wrong way
46:07to approach it.
46:09There are certain things
46:10we can disagree with,
46:11but we must agree
46:12on the main points.
46:14One, that Jesus died
46:14for our sins
46:15and rose from the dead.
46:16Two, that Jesus
46:16is coming again.
46:17And we have to get
46:20that message out.
46:21And we have to agree
46:22that there is one way
46:22of salvation
46:23through repentance
46:24of faith in the Lord
46:25Jesus Christ,
46:26who is the only hope
46:27for our world.
46:29And we do see
46:30so many signs
46:31of the second coming
46:31of Jesus.
46:34Where this war
46:34in Iran
46:36and Israel
46:36is going to go,
46:38I don't know.
46:39I'm trying to write
46:40about it for my next
46:40life for last days,
46:41which is difficult
46:42because the situation
46:43changes all the time.
46:44But we can be sure
46:45that this is
46:46another precursor
46:47for the end of days
46:49struggle.
46:50The Bible does say
46:51in the last days
46:51there's going to be
46:52a war against Israel
46:52which will involve
46:53Persia and Iran.
46:56How near we are
46:57to that?
46:57I don't know.
46:59But we're certainly
46:59on the way.
47:00And you can see
47:01so many signs
47:02which are pointing us
47:03to the second coming
47:03of Jesus.
47:04All this technology
47:06stuff,
47:07development of AI,
47:09all fitting in
47:10with the possibility
47:10of creating
47:12the kind of
47:12mark of the beast
47:13system which you
47:13have in Revelation
47:14chapter 13.
47:17The ecological problems,
47:19the way in which
47:21the earth is being
47:22defiled under its
47:23inhabitants.
47:24All these things
47:25are described
47:25in the Bible
47:26and they're signs
47:27of the second coming
47:28of Jesus.
47:29So what do we do?
47:32Well,
47:33don't panic.
47:35Jesus said
47:35when you see
47:36these things
47:36begin to happen,
47:37look up,
47:37lift up your heads
47:38because your
47:38redemption draws near.
47:41Jesus is coming.
47:42All these things
47:43are signs
47:43of the second
47:44coming of Jesus.
47:46I've given you
47:46some of the,
47:48sort of trying
47:49to break down
47:49some of the issues
47:50relating to it.
47:53Okay,
47:53it's a big subject,
47:54you could go into it
47:55for hours and I'm
47:55going to wrap up
47:56right now because
47:57I've gone on
47:57for long enough.
47:59But believe on
47:59the Lord Jesus Christ
48:00and you shall be saved.
48:03Trust in him.
48:04And spread the message.
48:05Get the message out.
48:07I've just put out
48:08the whole box full
48:09of the
48:10It's Happening Now
48:11leaflet,
48:12which speaks about
48:13the things happening
48:14now,
48:15points us to the
48:16second coming
48:16of Jesus.
48:17and it also
48:19actually advertises
48:20our meetings here
48:22and our
48:23prophecy talk
48:24which will take place
48:24next Sunday evening
48:26which I'll give you
48:27a few more details
48:28on what's going on
48:28behind the scenes.
48:30But take these leaflets,
48:31take the booklets,
48:32give them out,
48:33tell your neighbours,
48:34tell your friends,
48:35tell your family,
48:36tell them that
48:37Jesus is coming.
48:39Even tell the Orthodox
48:40Jew down the road
48:40that Jesus is coming.
48:42And he needs to be ready
48:43by believing
48:44in Yeshua,
48:45Jesus the Messiah.
48:47Praise the Lord
48:48when you see these things
48:49begin to happen.
48:51Look up,
48:51lift up your heads.
48:53Your redemption
48:53draws near.
48:55Amen.
48:55Amen.