In the Twinkling of an Eye

There are three instances recorded in God’s Holy Word when
Jesus Christ comes to earth. The first time He came as a baby born of
a virgin. He came to pay the sin-debt of the world. He gave His life as
a ransom to purchase the redemption of our lost souls. He paid that
price with His blood by sacrificing Himself on the cross so we may
have a personal relationship with God the Father through the Holy
Spirit. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as
silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of
life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious
blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.1

An amazing fulfillment of prophecy occurred on May 14, 1948.
After 2,000 years of being scattered all over the earth, Israel became a
nation. The Bible states that Israel will be born a nation in one day,
and that is exactly how it occurred. Before she goes into labor, she
gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who
has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this?
Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a
moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor she gives birth to her
children.2 After World War II there were only seven million Jews left
on earth and now their numbers are only thirteen million,
which matches their pre-war numbers. The Bible records that after
Israel becomes a nation again, “surely the next generation will see the
return of Jesus Christ.” The Bible tells us that no one knows when
these events will take place. We are to always be on the watch and
pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and
that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.3 I believe the
time is at hand, and the millennial generation could possibly see the
rapture of the church. So, I urge you now to take the time to develop a
personal relationship with Jesus Christ through daily Bible study and
prayer. You can start by reading a Millennial Christian article a day. It
doesn’t matter where you start. Just pick one and read. The average
article takes only fifteen minutes to read and every single one of them
points to Jesus Christ. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young
men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew
their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and
not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.4 They will grow in
faith daily and will come to know the Lord as their own.

The very next thing on God’s timeline is the removal of the true
church from earth. There is not one prophecy which needs to be
fulfilled before the second greatest event on earth occurs. Only our
heavenly Father knows the date and time when Jesus Christ will meet
us in the air and snatch us away. We could be waiting on you to
surrender your life to Christ. We may be just a few decisions away.
We just don’t know for sure, so I urge you to study the directions
listed below. We don’t have to wonder what is required to qualify us
for the greatest journey in the history of the universe.

There is a list of things that will be happening prior that prepares
us for this up-and-coming event. It is important to know that this list
is in general terms and these events have been singled out through
history as an occurrence that points to the rapture, but up until this
time the rapture has not occurred. It is very important that we do not
take these signs out of context, bending them and shaping them to
conform to our time. Regardless of God’s timeline, the things He asks
of us to do are the least we could do in response to the sacrifice He
paid for our salvation.

In Matthew 24 we are given, “The Signs of the Times and the End
of the Age.” Regardless of what scientists tell us today about how
many hundreds of thousands of years man has walked this earth,
we, as spirit beings, enabled in a vessel of flesh, have only been here
for six thousand years. There is no doubt that we overcame the other
humanoids that were here prior to us by our intelligence. It took six
days for God to set this planet in order, and on the seventh day He
rested. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord
one day is a thousand years,

and a thousand years as one day.5 We are coming to the seventh day,
or to the end of the six-thousand-year period. The last thousand years
in God’s timeline will bring about the millennial kingdom. During
this time Satan and sin will have been defeated and Jesus Christ will
reign over the kingdoms of the earth. Peace will rule throughout, and
the knowledge of the Lord will be known among all the people.
We need to be aware, alert, so that no man can deceive us. Many
liars will claim to be Christ. Brothers will betray brothers, and parents
will betray their own children, and likewise, children will betray their
parents. People will stop going to church, and the love of many will
wax cold. If you are a surrendered Christian, many people will hate
you because of the example you set. Many of our brothers and sisters
in Christ will die at the hands of evildoers. There will be wars and
rumors of wars. Nation will fight against nation and the people of
many kingdoms will revolt against their government. The whole
world will be in anarchy and chaos. Many people will die of
starvation and disease. Earthquakes will multiply in size and volume.

In Thessalonians 4 we receive instructions: We are to grow in
numbers of believers. We do this by our own personal growth in faith
through Bible study and prayer. This is the killer of the church
today—believers failing to study and listen to God’s direction. So,
how then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they
preach unless they are sent?6 Every person we meet and fail to share
the Gospel of Jesus Christ with, we are sending into the worst period
on earth without the knowledge of Christ. We very well could be
sending them to their death.

We are to abide by the commandments Jesus gave us. We are to
love our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. We are
to love our enemies and we are to love others as we love ourselves.
We have far too many churchgoers practicing Christianity on Sunday,
then the rest of the week blending in with the secular world, acting no
differently than nonbelievers. How are we possibly going to be able to
stand when the persecution comes? How are we going to be able to
withstand the coming pressure of the Antichrist when we will not be
able to buy or sell goods? We will cower in our homes because of our
lack of faith. We will end up bending to the pressure and spending an
eternity in hell. We are to abstain from sexual
immorality. Homosexual promiscuity, adultery, and sex out of
marriage are forbidden. We should know how to control our body
with our mind and not let our body control us like so many people
today. When we live in sexually promiscuous behavior, we are
sinning against ourselves. We are a triune being and when we practice
sexual immorality with another person, our spirit becomes attached to
their spirit. When we live a lifetime of marriage this is good, but when
we are going from one sexual partner to the next, we become
damaged goods. Our spirit is the part of us that knows. For what man
knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man who is in him?7

Love and hate come from a person’s soul. It is the base of our
emotions and affections. It is the spirit that makes us different from all
other humanoids that came before us. It makes us conscious, aware of
God. It is how we communicate with our Creator. Our body is the
vessel or home where the soul and the spirit live. It is a temporary
place of residence while we are here on earth. When we accept Jesus
Christ as our Savior the Holy Spirit resides in our heart, which
collectively is our being. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man
does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins
against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the
temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God,
and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore,
glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.8 We are
to be separated from the world. As Christians, God sets us apart
(sanctified) from the behavior of the rest of the world. “I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your
reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove
what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.9

We are to be honest with other people. We are to conduct ourselves in
a manner that is becoming to Jesus. Honesty, dependability,
truthfulness, and punctuality are some of the character traits we
should try to possess. Integrity is an extremely rare quality these days.
The Bible tells us the Lord is our avenger. Those who defraud us will
answer to Him. We are to forgive those who sin against us so God can
forgive our sins. We are instructed to study quietly, doing our own
business, and to work with our hands. We are to walk honestly toward
those who are less fortunate, earning enough to support our family
and hopefully supporting others who are in need.

All of us who have come to the point that we are reading an article
in the Millennial Christian have been exposed to the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. All of us who refuse to obey the guidelines that are set forth
here in this article and surrender our hearts to God would be better off
if we were born in the deepest, darkest jungle on earth, never hearing
the Gospel, because those of us who hear and refuse to submit to His
will are condemned already. God is a righteous judge, and we will be
judged by the light we have received and the opportunities we have
had. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not
believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation,
that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil.”10 When we hear and refuse
to obey, we are rejecting God and calling Him a liar. “He who rejects
Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the
word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”11

The Word of God is what brings the good news of salvation. It is
what the Holy Spirit uses to convict us of our sins. The Bible and the
power within it produce the new birth. Through God’s Holy Word we
develop our service and ministry to others. Through daily Bible study
and prayer, we grow in faith and we agree to the terms of our
forgiveness. We boldly walk with confidence that we are servants of
Jesus Christ and sons of God. Won’t you stop this moment and reflect
on your life and see what you are missing without a personal
relationship with God?

He abides in a position of power and glory where all things are
His to do as He pleases. With all the angels in heaven at His mercy
and infinite luxuries at His disposal, He stepped off His throne and
took on the form of a lowly human being and took on the misery that
all of us deal with on a daily basis. He suffered like no other human
being has on this earth. He was beaten, humiliated, and nailed to a
cross. He virtually separated Himself from His own being and gave
Himself up to death. We will never know what it was like for Him on
that cross. We will never know the punishment He bore for our sins.
He did all these things so that we may have life, and that we may
have life more abundantly. There is no greater love than when
someone gives up his life for another. He did all these things for you.
He is not asking you to pay a price for entrance into the kingdom of
heaven. He has already paid the price for you. He doesn’t ask you to
do anything but to believe. Won’t you come? You don’t need to
change anything now because that will come later through Bible study
and prayer. He asks you to come just as you are, because God’s blood
was shed for you. He bids you to come.

There are several theories as to when the church will be removed
from the earth. We are going to focus our attention on only one
because I do not believe the others meet scriptural requirements. The
church will be removed before the last week of years or the tribulation
period begins. This cannot occur until the apostasy of the church,
which is the falling away or the desertion of faith by those who claim
to be believers. I believe we are living in this period today and the
snatching away of the church is at hand.

The pretribulation rapture theory is based on the literal
interpretation of scriptures and I believe it meets all the qualifications
based on the following findings that there are two distinct programs in
the Bible. One is for the nation of Israel and the second is for the
church. There are times when both programs are mentioned in a
single Bible verse. It is for this reason so many people are confused
and apply scripture that is meant for Israel to the church.

1.)
The first sixty-nine weeks of years is related to the
program that God has for Israel and it does not include the
church so the conclusion of the seventieth week will not
include the church either. The purpose of the seventh week is
to try those that dwell upon the earth. Jesus will keep His
family from this hour of temptation and testing because we
have put our faith and trust in Him. This time of temptation is
for earth dwellers or those who call their real home the earth—
people who have identified themselves with the things that
make this world what it is. A true Christian’s citizenship is in
heaven. We are in the world, but we are not of the world.

2.)
Our heavenly Father never sees us without the
sacrificial blood of Christ surrounding us like a blanket. This
seventh week is a time of testing and God does not need to test
us to see if our faith is genuine. There is no reason for God to
inflict evils on us because we have already confessed our faith
through Christ. There are, however, two different groups of
proposed believers—those of us who profess our faith as a
reality that is reflected in the way we live, and those who have
no foundation in Christian reality at all. This latter group will
go into the tribulation period, and they will be fooled by the
propaganda of the Antichrist. Their religion will be more of a
professing ideology of political confidence.

3.)
There is also the distinction between (a) the true
church, composed of all those who have received Christ as
their savior, who turn away from sin and turn toward God, and
who follow the directions of Christ in John 15 (to bear fruit
and produce true Christian works), and (b) those who profess
the receiving of Christ without following through, which are
the very ones who are falling away from their faith. The
rapture will remove those who not only make a profession of
faith but who are born again and have received eternal life.

4.)
Then in Revelation 13:7 we are told that during the
seventieth week all are brought into subjection to the beast and
through him Satan, which is in control of the beast, so the
church would be under the control of Satan. Christ would no
longer be the head of the church and I am confident this will
never happen. When the prophecy of the seventy weeks was
written, the church didn’t even exist because the church is a
mystery and was not revealed until the Israelites rejected
Christ. It is fifty days after the rejection of Christ that the
church came into existence. The church is a manifestation or
interruption of the original plan God had for Israel.

5.)
There are many distinctions between Israel and the
church. The Jewish dispensation covers four-fifths of the Bible
while the church only covers one-fifth. Israel receives earthly
promises while the church receives heavenly promises. Israel
is the physical seed while the church is the spiritual seed, and
it is Israel’s physical birth that creates a relationship with God
while the church has a spiritual birthright that creates a
relationship with God. Israel—Abraham; church—Jesus
Christ. There are separate promises for the church and Israel,
and many confuse the two and misinterpret scripture.

6.)
There is the teaching of the imminent return of Christ
where we read in Acts 1:11, “Men of Galilee, why do you
stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken
up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you
saw Him go into heaven.” And in 1 Corinthians 15 we
read, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the
dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

7.)
Right before the beginning of the tribulation period the
Holy Spirit is pulled back from the earth. This is the only way
that Satan can enter the chosen person and create the
Antichrist. This person will already be the head of the political
arena of the world. He will already have tremendous power
but when Satan enters his soul, he will be able to completely
fool all those on earth. There is no way the church will be left
here on earth without the promised comfort and counsel of the
Holy Spirit. He is ours for all eternity. Let no one deceive you
by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling
away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of
perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is
called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the
temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not
remember that when I was still with you, I told you these
things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be
revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is
already at work; only He who now restrains [the Holy Spirit]
will do so until He is taken out of the way.12

8.)
There is the false peace agreement between Israel and
the nations that we hear so much about. This agreement is
negotiated between the Antichrist, who represents Israel, and a
group of Asian and African nations. This agreement will not
come into effect until the church is in heaven. Can you see
now how close we are? There is news almost every day about
this agreement and how it will never come into effect, but
through the conniving craftiness of Satan this agreement
becomes reality.

9.)
Don’t let anyone tell you that the church goes through
the tribulation period because this earth is not big enough for
the church of Jesus Christ and the followers of Satan. “For
God did not appoint us to wrath…”13 “Because you have kept
My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour
of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those
who dwell on the earth.”14

There are events that take place in heaven during this seven-year
period. We have the judgment seat of Christ where all true believers
are tried by fire, which is the Word of God. We have the presentation
of the church to Christ as his bride, and the marriage supper of the
Lamb. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is
laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this
foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each
one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it
will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what
sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will
receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but
he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.15

The church is to be presented as a gift from the heavenly Father to
His Son and it is revealed that the church precedes the second coming
of Christ. “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the
marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself
ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and
bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he
said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage
supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings
of God.”16 Then we see Christ on a white horse coming to earth to
defeat the beast and his armies. Now I saw heaven opened, and
behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and
True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His
eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He
had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed
with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of
God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
followed Him on white horses.17

There are several differences between the removal of the church,
or the rapture, and the return of Christ to the Mount of Olives, which
is known as the second advent. One is the removal of believers where
Christ only comes to the atmosphere of earth. For the Lord Himself
will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an
archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will
rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.18 Those
who hear His voice are instantly transformed into immortal beings.
Whereas for the second advent, Christ physically touches the
ground. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be
split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the
mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the
south.19 We see where in the transition period of the rapture, Christ
comes in the air to claim His bride, and in the second advent He
returns with His bride. With the rapture the tribulation period begins
and with the second advent Christ comes to defeat the beast,
establishing the Millennial Kingdom. The rapture is imminent; there
will be no more signs and the second advent will be preceded by a
multitude of signs. One brings comfort and the other brings judgment.
The rapture is for the church alone while the second advent is for
Israel and the world.

The rapture is the theme of 1 Thessalonians while the revelation
of the return of Christ to earth is the theme of 2 Thessalonians. The
day of the Lord begins with the rapture. But concerning the times and
the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For
you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a
thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden
destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman.
And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so
that this Day should overtake you as a thief.20 It continues through the
tribulation period and comes to its completion at the end of the
millennial kingdom right up to the establishment of the new heavens
and the new earth, which is the beginning of eternal future. The term
“The day of the Lord” is mentioned seventy-five times in the Old
Testament and has a definite reference to the return of Christ to the
earth to establish His kingdom. Another expression to describe this
time is “in that day,” which is mentioned 114 times in the Bible.
Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, and your spoil will be divided
in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against
Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women
ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of
the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go
forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of
battle.21

Now please take notice that the Hebrew day begins at sundown.
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw
the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the
darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called
Night. So, the evening and the morning were the first day.22 So, the
“Day of the Lord” will also begin in the evening, in the darkness of
the early night. Blow the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in My
holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day
of the LORD is coming, for it is at hand: A day of darkness and
gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the
morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and
strong, the like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be
any such after them, even for many successive generations.23

I urge you to heed these warnings: For then there will be great
tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until
this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened,
no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be
shortened.24 The great day of the LORD is near; It is near and hastens
quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; There the mighty
men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and
distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and
gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness.25

There are many signs that will escape you as to the coming of
Christ during the rapture. The apostasy, or the falling away of the
church, will come first. Many people will stop going to church. They
will say they believe in God but will refuse to worship Him. For men
will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers,
disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable,
malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of
good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than
lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they
have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are
those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed
down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and
never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.26 Violence will
increase all over the world. Nation against nation, race against race,
and brother against brother. Leadership will be the worst since the
beginning of the world, and right after the rapture of the church a man
will arise who will win political victory after political victory. He will
take control of the entire world through false words and pretenses. He
will be easily identified by his rapid rise in popularity. Through his
deceit he will offer false peace on earth. For three and a half years
tranquility will abound, and then all hell will break loose.
I urge you to rethink your position and turn to Christ before the
decree is issued and you must face the fierce anger of the Lord.

Before the day of the Lord’s anger, seek Him while he is still
available to you as the sacrificial Lamb that saved all those who
would believe on His name. Better to seek the Lamb than to face the
justice of God where no man can stand on their own. Believe on His
name and be saved so that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s
anger.

1.) 1 Peter 1:18-19
2.) Isaiah 66:7-8
3.) Luke 21:36
4.) Isaiah 40:30-31
5.) 2 Peter 3:8
6.) Romans 10:14-15
7.) 1 Corinthians 2:11
8.) 1 Corinthians 6:18-20
9.) Romans 12:1-2
10.) John 3:18-19
11.) John 12:48
12.) 2 Thessalonians 2:3-7
13.) 1 Thessalonians 5:9
14.) Revelation 3:10
15.) 1 Corinthians 3:11-16
16.) Revelation 19:7-9
17.) Revelation 19:11-14
18.) 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
19.) Zechariah 14:4
20.) 1 Thessalonians 5:1-4
21.) Zechariah 14:1-3
22.) Genesis 1:3-5
23.) Joel 2:1-2
24.) Matthew 24:21-22
25.) Zephaniah 1:14-15
26.) 2 Timothy 3:2-7 NASB