Rapture Question/Global Meltdown coming?/ Jan. 16, 2015

Frank DiMora P.O. Box 732, Lompoc Ca. 93436 fjdimora@gmail.com

As of late I have had people ask me about the rapture of the church. Before I give you a short section of when I believe the rapture of the church is going to take place let me say the following. As lovers of Christ Jesus it is our task to keep on the watch. You will read this command by Jesus Himself in the gospels where He tells us to keep on the watch. He wants us on the watch so the rapture doesn’t come upon us as a thief in the night.  For those who say the rapture of the church will not come until the half way point in the tribulation why would these people be concerned if they knew they still had at least three and a half years before they had to worry about missing the rapture since the tribulation has even started yet?

Most people who hold to the midtribulation rapture try to deny the belief in an imminent return of [Jesus]. While it has been attempted to disprove the doctrine of imminence, Scripture consistently teaches that the coming of [Jesus] could be at any time. Click the link to see these verses http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Bible-Verses-About-Imminent-Coming/ .

The bottom line is this. We need to live our lives as if Jesus were going to come back today for His church, that means being on the watch now not waiting for some major prophecy sign to be seen before you begin to get ready for the rapture.  However, Jesus did leave us warning signs in prophecy to look for so that when we saw all these signs at once we would know for sure His second coming was very close at hand. Here in my ministry I am a watchmen for the Lord to help you see the things He warned us about concerning the last days. I will say this. Do not let your stand on the rapture hinder your walk between other Christians as we are suppose to be as Christ loving one another as Christ loves us. The rapture doctrine is not a doctrine of salvation but, it a very important part of prophecy for the last days.  Be ready!

I will explain why I believe the church will already be in heaven during the Great Tribulation. First of all, you should understand that I believe in the Bible, the rapture takes place in Revelation 4:1. “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” The Greek words for “after these things” are meta tauta, meaning after the things of the church. You must understand that the book of Revelation is divided into three parts. Revelation 1:19 says, “Write the things which thou has seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.” John wrote the things he had seen, the things that were going on while he was alive, and the things that would take place once the church was raptured to heaven in the future. The church is removed from Earth in Revelation 4:1. It is very interesting that you will never hear anything about the church again until chapter 19 when you see it riding back to Earth with Jesus at the end of the seven year tribulation. The reason the church isn’t mentioned is because I believe it was taken from the wrath of God to come. Also take careful notice what Jesus says to each of the 7 churches He gives the messages to which is found in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. At the end of each message He says, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Revelation 2:7a, 11a, 17a, 29, Revelation 3:6, 13, 22). After the church is raptured into heaven of which I believe is Revelation 4:1 where we see the tribulation is going on, Jesus now says, “If any man have an ear, let him hear” (Revelation 13:9). Unlike all the other times, this time Jesus left out  the word Spirit as in the phrase “hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”  Also take careful notice that Jesus used this same phrase 7 times in the gospels prior to the Holy Spirit descending on the believers in the upper room on Pentecost. All 7 times it appears as follows as in Mark 4:9. “And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” I do not think the lack of the word Spirit in the 7 verses is a coincidence! You can find these 7 verses in Matthew 11:15, Matthew 13:9, Mark 4:9, 23, Mark 7:16, Luke 8:8, and Luke 14:35. Here is the bottom line. Jesus did not say He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says in the gospels because He did not send the Holy Spirit to help them yet as He was still with them. However, once Christ left to go into heaven things changed.

The reason for the difference is the Holy Spirit was active in the church while the church was on the Earth, but now after Revelation 4:1 the Spirit has departed when the church was raptured to heaven. In Revelation chapter 13, the wrath of God is being poured out on an unbelieving world. Since the church is not appointed to wrath, as stated in Romans 5:9, and first Thessalonians 5:9 that is why the church has to be in heaven. In “the Revelation of Jesus Christ” which he was privileged to see, John tells of one scene of those who, before Christ’s second coming, had rejected the free offer of salvation through Christ yet realized that the time of the Antichrist had come; therefore, they had missed the opportunity to be part of the raptured church.  There are many reasons why I believe the Rapture will take place prior to the tribulation and you can read about them in my book. Click to this link and download the book for free. The Last Chronicles of Planet Earth January 15, 2015 Edition written by Frank DiMora.