FINAL WARNING: Setting the Stage for Destruction
Even though we are given the seasons in time when the Rapture will
occur, Jesus said in Matthew 24:36: “But of that day and hour
knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”
However, the following portions of Scripture definitively illustrates the
time frame that the Rapture will take place, and to me, it can’t be any
plainer.“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth
of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the
mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils,
working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and
of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day
of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that
watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they
see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called
in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” (Revelation 16:13-16)“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so
cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and
safety; then sudden But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that
that day should overtake you as a thief. destruction cometh upon
them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not
escape ... Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us
watch and be sober.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2-6)These passages indicate that the Antichrist and False Prophet are
preparing for Armageddon, which will be the “great day of God
Almighty.” Jesus will come as a “thief,” a term used to indicate the
Rapture, and the admonition of ‘watching’ and ‘keeping your
garments,’ is a warning to keep your heart right, and not be a part of
the “falling away.”There has been some much-criticized research by Dave MacPherson to
indicate that the Pre-Tribulation Rapture may be a fairly recent
creation. Great men of God like John Wesley, Charles Wesley, Charles
Spurgeon, Matthew Henry, John Knox, John Calvin, Isaac Newton,
George Whitfield, John Newton, Jonathan Edwards and John Wycliffe
never talked about a Pre-Trib Rapture, because the concept literally did