Tag: Luke 17:26-37

Light in the Last Days – Day 8

On By KateIn Devotionals, Light in the Last DaysLeave a comment
Photography by Jill Petrillo

Isaiah 13:6-13  Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.  (7)  Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:  ( 8 )  And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.  (9)  Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.  (10)  For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.  (11)  And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.  (12)  I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.  (13)  Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

We’re diving into a heavy topic today. Isaiah calls the Great Tribulation the “day of God’s wrath.” Some believe Christians will have to face part or all of that time, but as we’ve discussed before, that doesn’t align with Scripture. We can take comfort in the fact that God didn’t design His wrath for those who follow Him.

1 Thessalonians 5:9  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Jesus used Noah and Lot to show us how God handles judgment. Just as they were pulled out of harm’s way before the destruction started, we see a blueprint for the Rapture. It’s hard to square a Mid- or Post-Tribulation view with these stories, isn’t it? God consistently rescues His own before the judgment falls.

Luke 17:26-37  And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.  (27)  They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.  (28)  Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;  (29)  But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.  (30)  Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.  (31)  In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.  (32)  Remember Lot’s wife.  (33)  Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.  (34)  I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.  (35)  Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  (36)  Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  (37)  And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

It is significant that the word “church” disappears from the Book of Revelation after chapter 3, verse 22. Immediately following this, Revelation 4:1 issues the command: “Come up hither!” This shift suggests a change in location; the Church is no longer mentioned on Earth during the dispensing of judgments because we have been delivered from the coming wrath. Through the grace of our Groom, Jesus Christ, we have been granted a way to escape the judgment intended for the world.

Luke 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

I find such joy in these promises, and I hope you do too. But if you aren’t sure of your future, don’t ignore this moment. You aren’t here by chance; you are here by divine appointment. Today is the day to step into the safety of God’s grace. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

Any Day now – Day 8

On By KateIn Any Day Now, DevotionalsLeave a comment
Photography by Jill Petrillo

Isa 13:6-13  Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.  (7)  Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:  ( 8 )  And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.  (9)  Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.  (10)  For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.  (11)  And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.  (12)  I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.  (13)  Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

Good morning! Today’s topic is frightening, to say the least. According to Isaiah, the Great Tribulation is referred to as the day of God’s wrath. Those who believe in the Rapture occurring in the middle of the Tribulation or after the Tribulation, believe that Christians will go through part or all of God’s wrath. But we have learned that this cannot be possible as we covered in previous posts. God did not appoint born again believers to wrath.

1 Th 5:9  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Jesus referred to both Noah and Lot when He spoke of the Tribulation. In both instances, Noah and Lot were removed from the coming judgment on the unbelieving world. This is not possible when one believes in the mid or post Tribulation Rapture, amen?

Luk 17:26-37  And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.  (27)  They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.  (28)  Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;  (29)  But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.  (30)  Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.  (31)  In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.  (32)  Remember Lot’s wife.  (33)  Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.  (34)  I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.  (35)  Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  (36)  Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  (37)  And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

The last time the Book of Revelation refers to the church is in Revelation 3:22. The very next verse, Revelation 4:1, calls the church up: “Come up hither”! The word “church” does not appear again. Why is this? It is because we are not on earth but have been removed from the wrath that is to come on the whole earth. We have been given an opportunity to escape this wrath because of our Groom, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Luke 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Does this excite you, reader? 😃 It surely does me  But to the one who is not saved, it is a different story. Friend, it is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

The Rapture vs. The Second Coming – Day 36

On By KateIn Devotionals, End Times, Rapture, Second Coming of Jesus ChristLeave a comment
Photography by Bob Sabo

Good morning, dear reader! What a beautiful picture!!! Doesn’t this picture fill you with expectation? What is your expectation for today? The Rapture of Christ’s Bride, the Church, could happen today! What a wonderful expectation it is indeed! It gives you something to look forward to! There is nothing on God’s prophetic clock that has to happen before the Church is raptured forever to be with the Lord! Some people keep saying the Rapture will happen in the middle of the Tribulation or at the end. So let’s take a look at what God’s Word says, not what “people” think! God’s Word is final, after all.

Because we are expecting the Rapture to occur at any time, this indicates that Jesus’ return is imminent. How do we know this? Let’s open the Bible and read for ourselves:

Matt 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Oh but Kate, that’s only one verse! Dear reader, encourage yourself and learn of God 😊

Mar 13:32-37  But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.  (33)  Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.  (34)  For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.  (35)  Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:  (36)  Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.  (37)  And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

What do you see as the criteria here? I see two things: no one knows when and He will come suddenly when you least expect Him to. The other Rapture views cannot answer to this. Why? Their beliefs are tied to actual dates. Once the antichrist signs the peace treaty with Israel, one only needs to count the days: 1,260 for mid-Tribulation and 2,520 for post-Tribulation. What did Jesus say above? He said no one knows the day or the hour. Their belief makes Jesus a liar. How can one trust anything in the Bible if this one point isn’t true?

Why do you think there are different viewpoints? When a believer holds to the pre-Tribulation Rapture, he is busy working to lead as many people to Christ before it is too late for them. If the Rapture would not occur until mid or post-Tribulation, the believers would be focusing on the antichrist, the judgments and how to survive; they wouldn’t be as diligent to lead others to Christ. Instead, the Church is eagerly awaiting her Groom, the Lord Jesus! Comfort yourselves, Church!

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11  But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.  (2)  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.  (3)  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.  (4)  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.  (5)  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.  (6)  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.  (7)  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.  (8)  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.  (9)  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,  (10)  Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.  (11)  Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Paul spent time with the Thessalonians and taught them all about the Rapture. He said, “For yourselves know PERFECTLY that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night! If you were to know the day, as mid and post-Tribulation believers do, you wouldn’t be expecting a thief but the Lord Himself on a specific day! However, when believers don’t know the day, as pre-Tribulation believers, we are comforting each other and encouraging one another that it could be any day now! We’re not appointed unto wrath whether we are awake or asleep so why would those who are awake go through the Tribulation??? What would those comforting words be if the Church would go through the Tribulation? Paul didn’t write this for nothing! For God hath not appointed us to wrath! Noah Webster defines “wrath” as:

WRATH, n. [L.] Violent anger; vehement exasperation; indignation;
The effects of anger. The just punishment of an offense or crime.

Friend, the Book of Revelation is filled with the wrath of God toward the disobedient world so why should the Church be subjected to that wrath when we are promised that God’s wrath is not upon the saved:

Rom 5:9  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

Those who enter the Tribulation are those who were willfully disobedient and did not accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour! The unsaved who have been disobedient to God’s Word are the ones who will receive His wrath. Granted, there will be some who will get saved during the Tribulation; however, they will have to experience the judgments and possibly death.

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 5:6  Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
Col 3:6  For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:

We are not to experience this horrible time that is to come upon the whole disobedient earth. Luk 21:35-36  For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.  (36)  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Friend, why would Jesus talk about an escape for the worthy if we were to go through the Tribulation?

If you never learned about the Rapture and the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray that these devotionals have been a blessing to you. Friend, it is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!