Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Question Two - Jesus Coming like a Thief

Strange as it may seem, the Scriptures describing Jesus coming like a "Thief" can cause a Pondered Question for Pre-Tribbers. There are several Scripture passages using the words, "Come as a Thief," and Pre-Trib Study Bible foot notes and Pre-Trib Textbooks consider very few of these as Rapture texts.  Pre-Trib Promoters say these Scripture Passages are Second Coming and NOT to their Rapture! They say there'll be a Rapture exactly seven years before Christ's Second Coming. If the Second Coming will be a "thief like," surprise event, obviously it CANNOT be preceded by a Rapture exactly 7 years earlier. Pre-Trib says millions of Church people will vanish without a trace and millions of graves will instantly open and the occupants go up in a Rapture. Pre-Trib says millions of cars will crash for lack of drivers, airplanes fall from the skies because pilots have vanished, and thousands of Trains will have no Engineers!! Should such an event happen exactly 7 years before Jesus comes, it would be more newsworthy than Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 Twin Towers. If a Rapture happens as described by Pre-Trib, it'll surpass every event since Noah's Flood!! Every year thereafter all TV Networks in every country would commemorate it!! With billions of Rapture books, pamphlets, and DVD's scattered all over the planet explaining that exactly 7 years after all those Church people vanished, and if those books and movies are correct, Jesus would return EXACTLY on time and set up His Kingdom here on Earth. EVERY TV station on the planet would have their cameras fixed on the sky on the 7th Anniversary of the Rapture? They'd search the skies all day! And, if our Pre-Trib Promoters are correct, the Second Coming would occur, right on time! If Pre-Trib is correct, the Second Coming of Jesus CANNOT be a "Thief in the Night" event! Of course Christ's appearing will happen exactly as Jesus said, which means there cannot be any Pre-Tribulation Rapture. One thing is ABSOLUTELY certain! Christ's Second Coming will be like a "Thief in the Night." 

It'll Happen EXACTLY as Jesus Said!
Jesus, and later His Apostles, said Christ's Second Coming will be, "Like a Thief in the Night" and it will! Jesus said, "No one knoweth the day  nor the hour" (Matt.24:36, see also vs 42,44,50, and 25:13)! So we have another Question to Ponder, and the Question arises by the very Books and Bible Footnotes that were designed to promote Pre-Trib.

 Day of the Lord Shall Come as a Thief in the Night
"But the Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat! The Earth also, and the works that are in it, shall be burned up" (2Pt.3:10)! Now let's look at the Scofield Bible Footnote about this text:
"The expression 'in the which' refers to the close of the Day of the Lord at the end of the millennium, when the destruction of the heavens and earth ends the Day of the Lord (Rev.20:11;21:1)"  (Scofield Footnote under 2Pt.3:10).
The Scofield Footnote is correct because the Bible teaches exactly this from beginning to end. We must apply this same wisdom to all Bible Prophecies of End-Times. But, if Pre-Trib admits that there'll be a massive destruction of heaven and earth at the end of what they call a Millennial Kingdom here on Earth, they create another massive problem for their Rapture Theory:
 
Is God's Kingdom Millennial or Everlasting?
If God's Kingdom is an Earthly Millennial Kingdom, and it is located here on Earth, and this Earth is to be destroyed by Fire at the end of the Millennium, then God's Kingdom is not EVERLASTING - it'll be Temporary!!! We have a Website, The REAL Everlasting Kingdom of God, devoted to this and several  Questions Pre-Trib Ponders, so we'll not spend time on this here. We will say, however, that if we take what the Bible REALLY says and build our Theories and Doctrines upon the Word of God, there will be No Un-Answerable Questions. Bible Prophecies fit like a glove when the Bible and the Bible ONLY is our source.

Conclusion
We'll conclude this Website by simply saying that Jesus will come as "Thief in the Night" and He will "Take His People to the Mansions He has Prepared for them IN His Father's House" (Jn.14:1-3)! When Jesus comes and says to His People, "Come ye Blessed, inherit the Kingdom Prepared for you from the foundation of the earth" (Matt.24:34), the Kingdom He refers to is NOT this earth devastated by 7 plagues and a massive world-wide earthquake, as is taught by Pre-Trib! Jesus will be referring again to the Grand and Glorious Everlasting Kingdom of God never to be destroyed! At each of the Scriptures about Jesus coming as a Thief in the Night, we are admonished to "Watch!" Let's do it!!

Thank you, Dear Reader, for your time and interest. Let's Pray together that God will sen His Holy Spirit so that we can know the Truth about Christ's Coming.
Yours in Christ
Walter C. Martin Jr.
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Check Our Other Websites:

Pre-Tribulation Rapture
Post-Tribulation Second Coming of Jesus
Will We Eat Pigs During the Millennium?

Planet Earth WILL be Destroyed After the 1000 Years!
New Jerusalem - How BIG is It?
Great White Throne Judgment Seat - When and Where
Christ's Kingdom - Millennial or EVERLASTING?

Hell Fire
Is God Torturing People Now
Did Jesus Suffer ALL of Your Hell?
The Rich Man and Lazarus?
Death
The Dead - Dead or Alive - What is Death?
Did Jesus Die YOUR Death for You?
Will Satan Ever Die - Bible Says "YES!"
Testing Our Doctrine About Death
The Dead Stand Before Great White Throne Judgment Seat

The Gnostics Attack the Sabbath
Were Gnostics Really Christian?
Were Gnostics Satan's Implants into the Church?
Is Gnosticism Alive and Well in Today's Churches
Church is Israel - Israel is Church
Is the Church Israel and Israel the Church?
Is the Bride of Jesus the 144 Thousand?
Did Jesus Offer the Jews a Millennial Kingdom in His Ministry?
Will New Jerusalem Sit in Israel? How Big is It?
Christ's REAL EVERLASTING Kingdom is for ALL Believers!

The Sabbath
Is it a Sin to Observe the Sabbath?
Is There a Connection Between the Rapture and the Sabbath?
Will the Sabbath Be Observed By God's People During the Tribulation?
Who REALLY Changed the Sabbath in Early Christianity?
Un-Answered and Un-Answerable Sabbath Questions For Popular Preachers
How to Test Your Doctrine Concerning the Sabbath

Heaven
Marriage in Heaven - Millennial Kingdom?
Strange Animal/Demons the Millennium?
Why Jesus Hasn't Come to Take Us To Heaven?
Teachers of Anomia (Law Annulling)
Good Ministers Teaching Against God's 10 Commandments?
Teaching of Anomia - The Reason Jesus Hasn't Come Yet?
Pre-Trib Rapture and Sabbath
Pre-Trib Rapture and the Sabbath?

Walter C. Martin Jr.
Everlasting Gospel Ministries

These are just a few of the questions we examine in our Websites.
Thank you, Dear Reader,  for checking them. Please feel free to give us your comments and feedback if you look at our Sites.  If you send us your questions or comments, we will try to answer and add your question to these Websites. We will Not give your name or E-Mail address to ANY ONE or ANY Church Group or Denomination! Nor will we send you ANY annoying E-Mails!! It is NOT our purpose to get you to withdraw from your present Church, but to invite you to present things you learn here to your Pastor and Friends.
Let's pray that God will continue sending His Holy Spirit to guide as we prepare for Jesus to come. Thank You!
Your Brother in Christ!
Walter C. Martin Jr