So, the authors of the Bible used faith as the main topic in the Bible for many times to remind the believers that they should always keep and use their faith, so as to have a right relationship with God; to be called righteousness in front of God; and to have various blessings promised by God.
Romans 10:9
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 5:1;
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
John 3:18:
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
If we wish to be pleased by God, we need to have the faith so as to fulfill the conditions of the promises of God’s Words. Taking actions can prove that you have faith.
Hebrew 11:6:
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrew 11:1-2:
1.Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
2.This is what the ancients were commended for.
Mark 11:24
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Moreover, in the end of days, the Book of Revelation predicted the time that the wrath of God will be descended to punish the people on earth. All Christians will be caught up to heaven first and be with God; they don’t need to experience the great disasters.
For those who can be caught up to heaven, other than the basic criterion that they should be the Christians, they also need to be watchful, to believe that God will come at any time in this sinful generation. As sons of the day, they will not be judged as the people on earth, but indeed they will be saved by faith and to escape from God’s wrath.
1 Thessalonians5:1-2, 8-0
1.Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you,
2.for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
8. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
9. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are three teachings about the rapture in the present theology.
The first one talked about the rapture before the disaster mentioned above. They believe that all the Christians and the Christians who are watchful will be caught up to heaven and escape from God’s wrath.
The second one is the rapture in the middle of the disaster. They believe that those believers need to experience the great disasters with the people on earth together for a period of time. For those who pass various tests in the disasters and still keep loving God, they will be caught up to heaven by God. They believe this because there are verses in the Bible talked about the rapture in the middle of the disasters. One of the examples is the 144,000 people.
Revelation 7: 4, 13-14
4. Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
13. Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes--who are they, and where did they come from?"
14. answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
The third one is the rapture after the disasters. Basically, they believe that no one can escape from God’s wrath and judgment. All the people will experience the great disasters together. For those who do not die in the disasters, they can enter the Kingdom of God in the Millennium prepared by God.
Zechariah 14:16
Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
Indeed, Pastor Wind have mentioned in the previous sermons that people will be caught up to heaven before the rapture, in the middle of the rapture and after the rapture.
But, the time for the rapture is decided by our faith and the level of our faith.
The Book of Zechariah mentioned that there are people who will be caught up to heaven before the rapture. And the criterion is that they should become the Christians who will never sleep in their belief and to be watchful for the coming of God.
1 Thessalonians 4:17
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Revelation 12:5:
She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.
There are also people who will be caught up to heaven in the middle of the disasters. Just like the parable of the Ten Virgins that Jesus mentioned, for those virgins who are sleeping, some of them have prepare the oil, some of them are not. For those clever one who have prepared the oil, although they will experience the disasters for a short period of time when the disasters happened, they can be caught up to heaven later.
For those foolish virgins who do not prepare oil, they will suffer in the disasters.
Indeed, when will you choose for the rapture? Is it in the middle of the disasters, after the disasters or you will be a watchful Christians, who believe that you will be caught up to heaven before the disasters and escape from God’s wrath?
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