The rapture is never mentioned in the Old Testament. It was kept a secret until the New Testament. But through our enlightenment provided by the New Testament, we see now that Daniel 9:24-27 clearly shows both the time line and the purpose of the rapture. Many have disagreed with this, but those who have taken the time to closely inspect this passage will have to admit that there is something to what I am saying.
If you are at all interested in this topic, stay tuned to my next several blog posts. But for now, for this particular post, I will just copy the text and let you read it.
Daniel 9:24-27
“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision…
The following article is an excerpt from this book.
Here are three possible reasons why your prayers aren’t answered–from my e-book Prayer A to Z.
1. You really aren’t abiding in Jesus and His Word as you think you are. A good test of whether you are abiding or not is whether you bear fruit. Jesus said, “He who abides in Me, and I in him bears much fruit (Jn. 15:5). Fruit is that evidence that you are a Christian—a true Christian that abides in Christ and grows to be like Him.
Are you becoming like Christ? Do you love others as He did? Do you reach out to others and share the love of God with them? Do you have the faith that Jesus had? When you pray do you expect God to answer you? If you can’t say yes to any of these questions I suggest that…
I have been reviewing the sermons of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. I am now covering his chapters on the Lord’s Prayer, from Matthew 6:9-13. So far, from my previous blog post, I wrote shortly on the first line, “Our Father in heaven.” That is the invocation, or we could say, that which takes us into prayer. Those words remind us that He is our Father and a mighty Father-God who is in heaven.
Now we come to the rest of the prayer, which is really an outline that Jesus has given us in order to pray better. And it consists of six petitions as follows:
1. Hallowed be Thy name.
2. Your kingdom come.
3. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
4. Give us this day our daily bread.
5. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
6. And do not lead us unto temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Notice that the first three petitions have regard to God and His glory, and the second three have reference to ourselves. And please take note of this order; for it is the way He wants us to pray. We must never start with ourselves; we must always begin first praying for God and His glory. In this blog, we will examine these first three petitions.
Hallowed be Thy name.
At first glance it doesn’t really appear to be a petition, or request, but more of a statement—that we are sort of willing His name to be hallowed, or holy. But it is definitely a petition, that His name would be hallowed on this earth.
Here are two other translations that may help:
“May your name be honored” (NLT).
“Reveal who you are” (the Message).
Hallowed means to sanctify, or to revere, or to make and keep holy. The petition is that God, in all that is true of Him, would be revered (God has many names, and it would be good to study those names).
Your kingdom come.
This petition is that His kingdom would come into every heart. Then it is also that His kingdom would come into the world and light up the world. His kingdom is His reign, His law, and His rule. This I think is a good missionary prayer. Every Christian should pray this prayer—that all would come to know Him and reign and rule in his or her life.
Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
This is the result of His kingdom coming, that His will would be done on earth just as it is in heaven.
Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
Here the rapture is spoken of as a mystery, or as something previously hidden, but now revealed—for it was never mentioned in the Old Testament and only mentioned one time in the gospels, in John 14:1-3. The Corinthians had not heard of it before, but apparently it was revealed to Paul by the Holy Spirit.
The teaching of the rapture here is quite self-explanatory: (1) all those of the church, living and dead, at the point of the rapture will be changed, or transformed—our corruptible bodies will become incorruptible; (2) it will happen very rapidly—as fast as…
The following article is an excerpt from this book.
The key to answered prayer is to abide in Christ and to let His words abide in us. In John 15:7 it says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (NKJV).
Here are eight things an abiding Christian does to strengthen his faith in order to keep himself abiding in Christ—taken from my e-book Prayer A to Z.
1. He makes it his habit to meditate on the Word every day. This daily meditation time helps him to see things from God’s perspective, gives him a desire for God, and helps him to adjust his desires to God’s desires.
2. He obeys God and keeps himself busy with His work. The abiding believer knows that faith isn’t really faith without obedience and work. …
The following article is an excerpt from this book.
Prayer was never meant to be an end in itself—not an exercise to glory in, to impress someone, or even merely for communion and enjoyment of God (though that is part of prayer). Rather, the main purpose of prayer is to glorify God when we receive from Him the things we ask for (Jn. 14:13). And that is what we should expect when we pray—that He will give us exactly what we ask for, nothing else, nothing different. Here are three reasons why we can know that we can recieve answers to prayer—taken from my book Prayer A to Z.
1. In all of Jesus’ teachings on prayer He has emphasized strongly that we can receive answers. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus instructed His disciples on asking and receiving. He told them that if…
In general, fasting is abstinence from food for spiritual reasons; it is that personal discipline that aids us in our spiritual life.
To start, I want to tell you that I am not a regular faster, nor do I enjoy even the thought of it. But as any discipline, I know that it has its purpose; and so, as I present this information—which happens to be in the chapter of the book I am blogging through, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount—I am now trying to follow God’s will if He should guide me to fast. I will now present to you the follow four points:
The Biblical Basis for Fasting
Some would argue that in this day of grace, in this New Testament era, we should not be fasting. But clearly, there is a biblical basis for it, both in the Old and New Testament. As D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones points out, under the Law of Moses the children of Israel were commanded to fast once a year. And there are several examples of Old Testament fasting. Fasting is also mentioned in the New Testament. It is not directly commanded or taught by Jesus, but is indirectly taught and approved of by Jesus, since He Himself fasted (Matt. 4:2), and so did the early church (Acts13:2-3; 14:23).
Lloyd-Jones points out that the problem many are having now with fasting is clearly an over-reaction against Catholicism; for you recall from history that fasting was a huge part of the Catholic religion and clearly was an incorrect use of it.
The Wrong Use of Fasting
If we stick to what fasting basically is, a discipline that aids us in pray and in our spiritual relationship with God, that will keep us from any wrong use of it. With that being said, here are four wrong uses:
1. Fasting should not be done as a good work in itself.
2. Fasting should not be done to try to make yourself more disciplined or more spiritual.
3. Fasting should not be done to get a blessing from God or to be more prosperous.
4. Fasting should not be done to see if we can achieve some personal fasting goal—for example, to try to fast for a certain length of time. Overall, fasting itself will not please God. It should not be an end it itself. It is always to be regarded as a means to an end and not as an end in itself.
Correct Purposes for Fasting
Again, we will begin with the definition of fasting, which is a discipline to aid us in our spiritual life. From there we derive the following purposes:
1. To aid us in our lack of faith in doing some spiritual work (example: casting out a demon, Matt. 17:19-21).
2. Basically it is to be closer to God. We get this from Mark 2:18-20, where Jesus explains that His disciples did not fast because they were with Him, and so they had no need to fast. But after Jesus would be “taken away from them,” then they would fast—for obvious reasons.
3. As an aid in doing a special work of God, which would require a special spiritual guidance (example: Acts 14:2-3, choosing Barnabas and Saul as missionaries; Acts 14:23, appointing elders).
4. To receive help from God when faith is lacking (Example: the nation of Israel fasted when Moab and Ammon came against them and they were afraid, 2 Chron. 20:3).
How to Act When Fasting
Just as with giving and praying, fasting, Jesus said, is a practice of righteousness (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16), and therefore, we should do these things without sounding a trumpet, as to inform those around us what we are doing. For any act of our Christianity should be an act of humility and just between us and God. Fasting therefore should be done in secret, or, without people knowing that we are doing it. Hence, we shouldn’t draw attention to what we are doing by not washing or shaving. We should rather look as normal as possible. And if we are worried that we will not get our proper recognition, we can take comfort in the fact that God sees everything we do and will secretly reward us (Matt. 6:18).
Matthew 6:16-18
“And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17 “But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face 18 so that you may not be seen fasting by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. NASB
Let this vandalism represent the corruption of evil.
So how will the evils of today be stopped? This is the question many are pondering. It seems that evil is rampant and ever growing, and no one is putting out much effort to stop it—not even our highest elected officials or our judges. Our police forces are being defunded and stifled, and as a result the crime rate is sky-rocketing—thefts, murder, rape and more. We have allowed mail-in-voting, and as a result we have voter fraud that has jeopardized the results of our elections. A tragedy! We have a media that is covering up crime and corruption so that many are not even aware of what is going on. We have an entertainment industry that makes a profit on feeding the flames of lust and greed and murder.
We indeed are living in the last days and Paul’s list of evils (2 Tim. 3:2-4) definitely can be seen today. Here are the ones I see most clearly: Men are “lovers of self, lovers of money… ungrateful, unholy…without self-control…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
Later in verse 13, Paul says, “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse.” We definitely see this happening. Evil, if left unchecked will multiply. If there is one bad apple in the barrel that is not removed, soon the entire barrel will be rotten.
Let me say as strongly as I can: unless we deal with those that have corrupted out elections, unless we find and prosecute them, many more will be encouraged to do the same thing and our election system will never be the same.
Similarity, unless we restore and correctly fund our police department, and thus crack down on crime, we will continue to see wide-spread crime all over our country.
Unless we are able to vote out (by fair voting) the corrupt and evil people in our government, we will continue to see corrupt and self-seeking power grabbers in our leadership, which in turn will leave out society defenseless against crime and evil.
I want to say as strongly as I can that God sees what is happening and He cannot be mocked.
He will judge evil. No one will get away with anything. Soon, very soon all true Christians will be taken from this world and the rest will be left to be judged by God. You who have rejected Him will experience His wrath for 7-years or until you die. Then you will be resurrected and judged by God to be cast into the lake of fire forever.
Here are three Scripture passages that describe the soon-coming 7-year Tribulation, which is also called “The Day of the LORD.” I will highlight the words I want to emphasize.
Isaiah 24:3-6
[In that Day] The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word. 4 The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. 5 The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. NASB
Zephaniah 1:14-18
Near is thegreat day of the Lord,
Near and coming very quickly;
Listen, the day of the Lord!
In it the warrior cries out bitterly.
15 A day of wrath is that day,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of trumpet and battle cry,
Against the fortified cities
And the high corner towers.
17 And I will bring distress on men,
So that they will walk like the blind,
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
And their blood will be poured out like dust,
And their flesh like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
Will be able to deliver them
On the day of the Lord’s wrath;
And all the earth will be devoured
In the fire of His jealousy,
For He will make a complete end,
Indeed a terrifying one,
Of all the inhabitants of the earth.
NASB
Revelation 6:12-17
And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14 And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?” NASB
This is your doom! This will be God’s wrath upon you unless you change your ways, unless you give up your sin and turn to Him. Yes, God will eventually be the one to stop all the evils of today—His way! If you don’t want to experience His wrath you must repent now before it is too late.
The 7-year Tribulation is coming soon. It is closer than we think. We must prepare for it, and Christians must warn sinners of its horrors.
So far, I’ve written three books on bible prophecy, all focused on the Rapture of the church. Now I’m excited about writing on the Tribulation, the 7-year Tribulation. Most books I’ve seen on this subject focus mainly on the judgments in Revelation: the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls; and they also go at length to try to figure out all the details of Revelation. My focus will be different. I want to pin-point my focus on what the Tribulation will be like in all of its horrors. And I will not only look at the book of Revelation, I will look at all of the bible, especially the Old Testament books. We sometimes miss those books. And sometimes we see them just as history. But they also are prophetic.
My idea is to stir people up as to what is ahead and thus to bring sinners to repentance before it is too late. I know that we as Christians will be raptured just before the Tribulation, but that does not mean that we can relax and just wait to be taken. I think we have a responsibility to warn unbelievers of what is coming. I think I will try to show how the world is leaning toward these terrible days, and that it is closer than we think. I will show the indicators of these soon coming tribulation events.
I am just now doing my research, mostly gathering Scripture from the Old Testament: from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Amos, Zephaniah, Zechariah and others. And many of those references can be cross referenced to Revelation. I’m getting a lot of help from the book Things To Come, by the late Dwight Pentecost. He has gathered a lot of material on the subject of the Tribulation. But what he has is more of an outline, and he shows many different views. My work will be more focused, and, like I said, pin-pointed toward what it will be like—the wrath of God on the earth!
I’m just starting my research, so my ideas could change along the way. Of course, I will want to show and explain the reasons, or God’s purpose for the Tribulation, and to detail as well as possible the whole doctrine of the Tribulation. As is my usual approach, it will be well organized and a teaching not just for the reader but to me. I’m sure I will get more out of it than anyone else.
This work may take a couple of years, so patience is required. Please, your prayers are very welcome and needed, that I will be persistent and patient in the work, especially in the research and study—to lay the foundation for the writing.
This passage (2 Peter 2:1-9, at the end) has brought me great comfort in these evil times, knowing that God will rescue and comfort me, but that He will not allow the wicked to go unpunished!
For the last few years, since I have been more tuned in to political things, and paying more attention to what is happening in the world, and particularly in America, I have been grieved and distressed by all the evil going on. It seems like the entire democrat party was, and is, out to get the President with a variety of unjust practices, including an unjust impeachment. Such hatred and lawlessness and lying—particularly by Adam Shift, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Jerry Nadler. And such underhandedness and corruption and evil scheming by the former president Barack Obama, and also by the Clintons. Then we have seen the continual attacks by Antifa and BLM and all that they stand for: their supporting of homosexuality and queers and transgender folks, and their attacks against the traditional family and against the police.
And now, in just the last few days we have seen an election falsified, and the entire democrat party and all the media will not admit to it. And this for me is the most egregious, because if it isn’t corrected, we could see America fall in no time at all. With what we see now in the Democrat party, how evil it has become, in no time at all we will lose our constitution to liberalism; and lawlessness and homosexuality will be what is normal. Hence, all that was good about America will be gone. Rioting, lawlessness and lasciviousness will take its place. It will be just like the ancient world before the flood and like Sodom and Gomorrah.
But after reading 2 Peter 2:1-9, I feel so much better. This passage gives me perspective and assures me with comfort that He will save me out of it all, and will keep all the unrighteous ones like prisoners, awaiting their final eternal prison. Yes, this passage reminds us of how God did not spare the fallen angels, or the evil ancient world, but destroyed all of them, except Noah and his family in the great flood. And then later He destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. Thus, He made an example of what will happen to ungodly people.
My contentment and comfort now is realizing that just as God rescued Lot out of Sodom, and how at the same time He rightly judged the evil ones, He will surely do the same for America. He will comfort the righteous and will bring His righteous judgment on all who are evil—on all those that I have been grieved over. Yes, none of those who plotted evil will get away with it.Their punishment awaits them!!
Here is the passage I have been talking about:
2 Peter 2:1-9
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. 4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter; 7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men 8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with their lawless deeds), 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.
Stephen Nielsen 