The Lamb Slain

 The Lamb Slain

A Word on God's Eternal Plan

I do not believe in Dispensationalism. I believe that God is all knowing and does not change. I believe that we should look at history according to what we can understand about God's power, goodness and character.

Dispensationalism is the basic belief that God has treated mankind differently, at different times in history. It also puts forth the idea that God's treatment of mankind was different before Christ died, and before the Holy Spirit came. 

I disagree.

My view of these things comes from the Bible, and biblical concepts. The foundational view is the all powerfulness of God, and the fact that He changes not.(Mal. 3:6)

He does not change, therefore His treatment of man has not changed, despite what we see or believe. In Malachi chapter 3 referenced above He plainly states that His promises and His workings do not change. We change. We suffer consequences or blessings but His plan does not change.

The scriptures imply that God is a master builder. That means that He has a blue print of what He is building. But, unlike a human builder, the structure is already completed in heaven. It is already done in God's eyes.

Things have occurred "in the fullness of time" on this Earth. You cannot have a roof until the foundation is built. That is a process. This is what dispensationalists see. The process. But, by faith and the power of God, it is already "finished". (Eph. 1:10) Nothing can stop it. Ephesians chapter 1 explains this.

It's like your salvation. When you got saved, you are so saved that according to God, you are already seated in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:6)

History is like that. It's already done. The kingdom is already built. But, it is coming to pass in the flesh, which shall pass away.

Pray on this verse.

" ...book of life of the lamb slain at the foundation of the Earth" (Rev. 13:8)

In the last days the Anti-Christ will make war against the Saints. The saints are the true believers in The Book of Life. 

The next section says "the Lamb SLAIN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH."

That means Jesus was killed as our sacrifice in the eyes and plans of God, before He created the Earth. (Gen.1:1) as Ephesians chapter one explains, in regards to our salvation.

So, what does that mean?

It means that God has been working the same plan from the beginning. This can be seen in Cain slaying Able. That is a picture of the Jews slaying Christ. Brother killing brother. When we see Cain slaying Able, Cain is then sent to wander. Just like Israel was sent to wander in the Diaspora which began in 70 AD. after Christ was slain.

So, from the point that Death and Sin entered the world, God already had the problem solved.

It means that every person who has turned to God by faith, since time began are saved the same way we are today.

As Paul and James said, "it was imputed righteousness unto Abraham  that He believed God."( Romans chapter 4, James 2:23) (James does not preach works, despite what some would have you believe. The works he speaks of are belief, confession, baptism, communion, and service, among other things. Confessing Jesus is the Lord, is a work.)

When Abraham believed the word given to him, God put him in Christ, the lamb slain from the foundation of the Earth. He was written in the Lambs Book of Life.

How does the book work?

When we are born, we are in the book. Babies do not go to hell. This is explained in Romans chapter 5. When Paul says " For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law." (Romans 5:13) Babies have no understanding of right and wrong. Therefore, the guilt of sin is not imputed upon them till they have an understanding.

There comes a point in our lives when God has determined that we understand enough. Then, we are tempted and if we choose to sin, then guilt is imputed upon us. We are covered in Sin and facing the consequences. We know in our heart that whatever it is is wrong. Our conscience warns us. Something tells us. Do not steal that thing. Do not have that sexual action. Do not hurt that person.  Whatever it is. We know it's wrong, and we do it anyway.  Boom. We die spiritually.

When we sin the first time, knowing it's a sin, we are blotted out of the Book of Life.. We then abide in Eternal Death, which is separation. We are headed to hell when we die because we are not washed in the Blood of Jesus to be cleaned. We cannot enter Paradise, or else heaven would be tainted with Sin forever.  Think of a quarantine, and a virus.

When we hear God's call and turn to Him, with faith, believing in Him and confessing Jesus as our Lord, we are saved.

We receive a new name and are written in the Book of Life, never to be removed again.

Just like Abraham. All the saints from Adam till the last one are saved the same way. Because it was already finished at the Foundation.

The Holy Spirit, comes to live in a clean vessel, washed in the Blood. There is nothing that says this changed from days of old.

Jesus tells us that when He leaves, the Comforter comes to be with us and in us. He doesn't say that this is different from the past. The Holy Spirit has worked with and dwelt in people from the beginning, when they are saved.

That's why the scriptures are "God Breathed". By inspiration. The scriptures tell the life of Saints. If they didn't have the Spirit then how could their lives be special enough to put in the Word? It's not just the words, it is the person's life and events described in the Word.

The Holy Spirit has always dwelt with the Saints. Sometimes there's a greater infilling, but He is there, from the Foundation of the Earth.

Paradise is heaven. That is where saved people go when they die to be with Christ. Paradise will come down to Earth. The City of God which is in Paradise will come to Earth when God creates a New Sky (heaven) and New Earth, after it is cleansed. (Luke 23:43, 2 Cor. 12:4, Rev. 2:7, Revelation Chapter 21)

The Saints of Old are in Paradise, and have been since they died. 

God defeated Death, Sin and Satan, before anything was created. We are just watching the building being built.

But it was already finished. Long before.

 

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

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Sin Vs. Love

 Sin vs. Love

A Word on our relationship with God.

The Bible plainly shows in Matthew 25, what Christ will ask when He returns.

He doesn't ask, "Did you watch porn?"

He doesn't ask "Did you have sex before marriage, or did you have an abortion"

He doesn't ask "Did you vote right, or did you go to church or did you obey leaders and pay what you owe?"

Nope.

He asks if you visited prisoners? Did help you the poor? Did you clothe the naked? Did you give a cool drink to the thirsty? Did you love your neighbor? Did you love? Show kindness and compassion? Did you reconcile people to God?

I can hear you squirming in your seat dying to say..."yeah...but"

No.

Jesus died for our sins and rose for our justification. If you are saved then you are in Him and are dead to sins.  It is not held against you. Do the dead sin? No. Paul explains this in Romans.

That means that you have power over it. But, it also means that it is irrelevant to your eternity. You are washed. You are hid in Christ.  (Col. 3:1-3)

You confess your sins and God forgives you, and works to help you overcome. But, it's dead. (1 John 1:1-10)

Those sins can open doors to the enemy to destroy us and ruin our lives. 

Yes!

But, all things work together for our good. God will use that destruction to help us. God will use it to grow us. He is not trying to hurt us but gives a hope and a future. (Romans 8: 28)

And we still are saved forever.

BUT...

Our willingness to have a relationship with Christ and let the Holy Spirit, love through us is what we are called to do. (Eph 2:8-10)

Our service and our love is a reflection of our relationship with God.

When you read Matthew 25. It's obvious that the people thought they were saved. But, they never knew the King, so they never did the compassionate loving things God desired.

They never knew Him.

It's not about works. It's about who you know and who you have a relationship with.

Let God take care of your sins. Focus on serving and loving others. Focus on the relationship with God.

And you will find that those sins you worry about, get less and less. We grow. We build faith. We build our relationship with God. We overcome the sin that so easily besets us. By following the Holy Spirit and doing the service God calls us to do. Not by works, but by His power.

Love covers a multitude of sins. God is love, and He works to drive those things out of us through Love. (1 Peter 4:7-8)

 

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

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Read more from Chris. HERE.

The God Who Answers

 The God Who Answers

A Word on God's Movement in our Life.

We live our lives in this world, where we seem to have no control. Where we look every where for answers.

We seek answers from gods, idols and wisemen. We seek answers from deep within ourselves. We seek solutions from sorcerors and alchemists. We seek to join pop culture and the knowledge of our world. But we continue to flounder in the dark.

In the Bible, there's a story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. (1 Kings Chapter 18)

Evil had taken over the land. The government was corrupt. The religion had become corrupt and wicked. There was drought and famine in the land and all the people were corrupted as well.

But God called Elijah to challenge the enemy. And Elijah went. He told the prophets of Baal.

"Let us pray over the alter of sacrifice and the God who sends fire is the real true God."

The prophets of Baal cried out to their god. They tried everything they could but nothing happened.

Then Elijah told them to pour water on the altar. Then more water. Then Elijah prayed, and fire fell from heaven consuming the sacrifice, altar and even the water.

The Lord, is the one true God, and he is the one who answers.

Our lives are broken and we've tried everything. And nothing has helped. Everything has failed.

God is calling you to turn to Him and ask Him. You've tried everything else.

It doesn't matter how evil, how corrupt, or how much water you have poured on it. God will come as a consuming fire and save you. Then, He will change your life, if you give yourself to Him. (Acts 2:21 KJV)

Just call on Him. He is waiting. He is seeking you. Just ask Him to save you and confess that Jesus is the Lord, and you want Him to be your Lord. (Romans 10:9-10 KJV)

Believe in Him. Learn of Him, and trust Him and His promises.

 

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“  a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Follow Him on Free Life Blog: https://myfreelifeblog.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

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Be Ye Holy

 Be Ye Holy

A Word on True Holiness.

 

God tells us in His Word "Be Ye Holy for I am Holy" (1 Peter 1:16, Lev. 11:45)

So, let's rightly divide this verse so that we are interpreting it correctly, Because often times we get told that this verse is about our behavior or not sinning. So, we fight and struggle to try to please God. We fail and fail, then finally give up. Because let's be real. What human can be as Holy as God is?

What human, born with a corrupted nature, surrounded by sin and full of sinfulness can even understand what holiness is let alone do it?

We can't. And that's why God commands us to be Holy. To get us to turn to Him.

Holiness means to be set apart. In the Temple there were tools made of gold. They were set apart for the Temple use. That's all they were for. But, they were just tools. Their holiness came from God and the dedication for their use.

So, how does that apply to us?

To be holy we must first be saved, by turning to God (repent) and asking Him to save us and Confessing Jesus as our Lord. (Romans 10:9-10, Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16)

Holiness means to maintain the relationship with the Lord and abide in Him. It means that when the devil attacks us or life gets hard, we don't just throw God away and go our own way. This implies that we never knew Him. Build that relationship. People sin. But when we sin we run back to God. Not run away from Him.

We wash our feet  by confessing our sins to Him. ( 1 John 1:8-10) This is part of Walking in the Spirit. (Gal. 5:22-25)

We grow in Him. We listen to Him as He grows us.

We are totally devoted to His work. This doesn't mean all of us are in the ministry professionally. But, in our lives we respond when God leads us to do something. In our jobs, in our families we always seek to do what God wants and acknowledge Him  in all our ways.

Holiness does not mean being a perfect goody two shoes. We are perfect in Him. We are holy in Him. We are set apart for Him. We are golden, because He is refining us. Holiness like God is peace. Not worry about whether you are obeying the rules. 

Be ye Holy as I am Holy means that we turn to Him. Because he is the only one who can clean us and teach us.

And make us holy.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

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Elder Brother, Younger Brother

 Elder Brother, Younger Brother

A Word on Acceptance

In the parable of the prodigal son, we see many truths about our spiritual lives. But, there is one aspect that I would like to point out here. (Luke 15:11-32) First we have the prodigal son who goes into the world and lives for himself. He lives a riotous life, that mirrors what a rock star might live. You get the picture. He took the blessings of the father and went into the world and partied with it.
      

We also see in the parable that there is an elder brother, who stays at home with the father. He obeys everything the father tells him to obey. He lives a humble, austere life at home. He never ventures out into the world very far. He grows bitter, resentful, and judgmental. He feels he is owed a blessing for obedience.
      

We can see these two characters played out today in our churches. You have the person who grew up living in the world and went full tilt in it. Then trouble comes into his life and God uses that time of trouble to draw him to be saved. Then, the person starts trying to live right and do what they are being led by God to do. But, they are still very rough around the edges, and know it. They then come to church where they encounter the elder brother.
      

This is the person who grew up in church. The elder brother never strayed too far from the laws of God. Oh sure they “sinned”.  They missed church that Sunday, and kissed a boy behind the woodshed. They went to that party and got drunk and had to call their parents from jail that one time. “Never again!” they promised God, and they kept it. But, they did other things secretly, or unknowingly, or unadmittedly.
      

The Elder Brother thinks, whether they know it or not, “This guy comes to the church, because he’s in trouble. He took the life, and the gifts, and the image of God and then wallowed in the mud with the pigs. He’s not well churched. He doesn’t talk right. He’s rough, and he doesn’t fit in. He will never totally fit in. He still smokes, he cusses, he has a woman he meets, he drinks, and he just tries to hide it all. He won’t last long.”
      

The younger brother feels it. He can feel that some people in the church will never accept him because of who he was. He can tell by how they look at him and exclude him, that he is not one of them. Oh sure they invite him. But, it feels like charity or pity. He hears the sermons and listens to the teachings and knows he doesn’t measure up. He knows that he never will. But, they all seem to. They seem to be perfect, even though he knows they aren’t. Next Sunday he’ll just sleep in.
      

This scenario plays out in churches all across this land. Someone wants to change their lives, but the perfect people become a stumbling block to them. The person who has been involved in church their whole life cannot understand that the person who has been in the world, has many layers of things that God must remove over time. It doesn’t happen overnight.  A person gets saved the minute they confess Jesus as their Lord, but it takes a life time to get totally healed of the damage that has been done to them.

      

Don’t let the elder brother drive you away from God or from church. Church is a place to learn, and to grow. It is a place to serve and reach out to others. It has great value in your spiritual walk. Seek people in your church who have a similar background, or who are more understanding. They are there. Pray and ask God to show you. Likewise, Elder brothers need to realize this occurs and figure out ways to make it easier for folks to integrate into the Body.   

 

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

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Matthew 25 Church

 Mathew 25 Church

A Word on Church Reform

 

Matthew Chapter 25 is a chapter in the New Testament that describes what will happen when Christ returns. It states that He will separate the sheep from the goats. It appears that this judgment is not the Great White Throne judgment, where the lost are judged. This judgment is the judgment of the nations. It seems to be a judgment of people who assume they are right with Christ. The sheep enter into the kingdom, and the goats go into fire. There are many verses that speak of this judgment.

      

The criteria in this judgment will be based upon how people have treated others. It will be based upon their charity, or love in action. In the Chapter Jesus says “ And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” --- (Matt 25:40)
      

He takes it personally. Now we can say all kinds of things about Matthew 25. First, we can say that we are saved by grace, not by works. Our salvation is not based upon what we do, but upon what Christ did for us, and because we know Him, and He knows us.
      

This is true. But, it’s also true, that if we know Him, and He knows us, we will do the things He calls us to do. Not saying we won’t fail, or sin, but we will have an abiding desire to help and love others, which leads to action. This is the Fruit of The Spirit that grows in us. This is our warfare, our duty. It becomes who we are; if we are really saved.


If you'll notice the goats in Matthew 25, never knew Him. They were not really born again, or saved. This can be seen in other verses where Jesus tells us that many religious people will think they are saved, but are not. It’s not about works, it’s about being washed in the Blood, confessing Him as Lord, and letting the Spirit work in you and through you to teach, and tell others about Jesus. Saving people for eternity is the goal of everything we do.
      

There are justifications that people will give based upon the wording of Matthew 25 above. Some will claim that since it says “My brethren.” Jesus is talking about the Jewish people, and that this is a judgment against people or nations who have mistreated Israel.  Another view could be that it’s referring to Christians, because we are grafted into Israel, and become His brethren, and we are also His spiritual brothers. This justification attempts to leave out the gentile or the unbeliever as someone we do not need to show charity to. It’s an attempt to create a loop hole. But, all of scripture works against this concept. We are to show charity to those around us, even our enemies.
      

Another justification is that this is a judgment of nations not individuals. But, the actions of nations are made up of the actions of individuals. We can see this when God is talking to Abraham about Sodom. Abraham says, “Will you destroy it if there are 10 righteous?”  (Gen. 18:16-33)   There were not any righteous in the city, righteousness comes by believing God. Not believing in God, but believing what He has told us. Turning to Him, and confessing Jesus as the Lord, trusting Him. (Rom. 4:1-12) No one in that city, except for Lot put their faith in God. But, this shows that the Faith of individuals can save or affect nations. If only 10 righteous people existed, God would have spared all of them. The actions of individuals matter.
      

Some will claim that this judgment is describing how God will treat the Nations who do not support the nation of Israel, during the tribulation period, or the time of Jacobs’s trouble. We are called to support the nation of Israel and are blessed for doing so, but as shown above, this verse has more meaning than that.
      

But, let’s assume that every justification that is given by people who do not want to hear the truth of this verse is true. It still doesn’t change the fact that we are to love our neighbor, and that God is serious about it. Those who do not, regardless of how you justify or explain it will be thrown into the Lake of Fire with the Devil and his angels; because, that is who they have followed. Satan. Now, do not get me wrong. I am not making a political statement here. I’m not claiming that our nation needs to adopt certain socialistic or globalist ideologies. Or that churches need to adopt a social gospel. Those things are from the spirit of antichrist, in order to build the Kingdom of the Anti-Christ.
      

What I am referring to is that individuals and churches need to make a serious effort to change the foundation of church activity from entertaining music and constant milk filled teaching, to one of charity. The seriousness of Matthew 25 warrants that. Of course, we need to worship and teach, but charity and evangelism should be the basis for everything. Matthew 25 does not say that Jesus sends the goats into the Lake of Fire because they didn’t sing the right songs, or raise their hands high enough, or go to church to listen to sermons. Churches and individuals have placed too high of an importance on music instead of on charity. It needs to be flipped.
     

 God tells Israel, ^“ I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.”--- (Amos 5:21-24)
     

 If we are not doing what God wants us to do, then He does not want to hear our worship. Our worship of Him comes through our service to Him and others, not by standing in a building singing songs. That is not real worship. We worship Him with our lips, but our hearts are far from Him. (Isa. 29:13, Matt. 15:18, Mark 7:6)
      

God does not want us sitting in churches singing praises to Him while there are people down the street in need who are going to hell. He doesn’t care about our gatherings, while families are breaking up and cannot afford the basic needs of life in this culture. How about instead of building mega churches, we build mega homeless shelters, or free colleges, or mega job centers. We complain about the cost of government public aid, but public aid exists because the church is not doing its job. The poor is not going to go away just because we refuse to help them, because we think they sin too much. Jesus says in Matthew, that in the last days, “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matt. 24:12)  Do not let your love for others grow cold. How many times have you failed God? How many times have you promised to do better? Has God given up on you? Quit worrying about someone taking advantage of you. How many times have you ripped off God? Can you ever pay Him back for what He has given you?
      

God lets the sun shine on the just and the unjust, we are to do the same. When Jesus returns he will judge. There will be people in that judgment who think they are saved but are unwashed, they have no garment, they have no talents to give the King, and they have no oil. You can twist or justify yourself all you want to, but these verses are clear. There will be those who think they are saved, but are not. Jesus said that Love fulfills God’s law. If you’re saved, charity will flow from you.
      

So, what does a Matthew 25 church look like? Well, a group of people would get together to form a church and that church will be based upon helping Christians and those in the community. They will be built around food pantries, homeless shelters, clothes closets, helping repair people’s houses, disaster relief, classes to teach basic living, visiting and praying for the sick, helping people pay bills, fundraising for causes, providing places to gather instead of bars, helping families, and on and on. Any sort of charitable ministry you can imagine. That would be the church; it’s all about charity and service, for the purpose of showing God’s love and telling people about Jesus so they will be saved. We must always remember that the purpose of it is salvation. We do not want our charity work to become like so many other Christian charity groups that have turned away from teaching the Gospel, while helping the others.
      

But, what about worship? We would worship before we go work in our ministry, before we open the food pantry, before we go visit the sick. We will have a praise service when we come back from the jails and the streets after preaching. We will sing praises outside the courthouses, and the statehouses as we call for national repentance, and for these governmental entities to turn to God’s Law. That’s how and when we worship. What if instead of putting the 10 commandments on the court house lawn, maybe we should stand there and sing praises, while preaching the Gospel?
      

What about teaching? We will have classes or sermons that teach believers how to wage spiritual war, and serve God, and others. We will have preachers who are famous for the amount of families they have helped rise up from poverty, instead of the number of watered down books they have sold. They will be famous for leading people to Christ, instead of for inventing some new doctrine that scratches peoples itching ears. On Sunday morning, they will be praised for the number of believers who follow them out into the community to help people and preach the Gospel, instead of for the number of goats falling asleep in the church pews.
      

Christ is returning. The church needs to judge itself, that we be not judged with the world (1 Cor. 11:31-32) we are saved by Grace, but we need to step up. God’s Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are His. (Rom. 8:16)  How does that happen? When we are stepping out to follow and serve Him, He shows us that we are His, because our flesh would never have done the things we are now doing, and He is there feeding us, and growing us, and giving us more of Himself. Listen to His Spirit, as he leads you to go do things for the Kingdom. Trust Him. 

When we sit and do nothing for the Kingdom, we start to wonder and doubt. We become spiritually starved. Like Paul said, "If they will not work, neither shall they eat." We grow in Christ and faith by going out and serving and trusting Him.

Take up the Cross and follow Him. Do everything in His name.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

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Photo by the author Pere Marquette cross in Pere Marquette State Park.

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture

 The Pre-Tribulation Rapture

A Word on what the future might hold.

I’m not going to argue scripture over the timing of the rapture. Because, the scriptures do not tell us when the rapture will occur, nor when Jesus will return. It’s not there. I have heard many views on the timing of the rapture. Pre-trib, mid-trib, pre-wrath, post trib. I have heard that there will be two raptures. I have heard scripture twisted and turned in every way possible to make their own view fit.
     

I have seen prophecy guru’s claim that the Soviet Union was part of the last day’s scenario and built whole story lines about it. They called anyone who didn’t agree with them a heretic, who didn’t know scripture or didn’t know the original language. Then, the Soviet Union fell.
      

I’ve seen these people swear up and down that the European Union is the 10 nation confederacy. If you don’t believe it then you don’t know the Word! They’d claim. But, then the European Union went past 10 nations. Then, Britain left the Union. So, what now?  Well, now the experts scramble to come up with explanations that fit their ideology.
       

I love prophecy, and I believe Jesus is coming soon. I believe we are in the last days, and there might be a pre-tribulation rapture at any moment…But…Hold on…There might not be.
       

Now before you burn me at the stake as a prophecy heretic, please realize that my desire is to follow Jesus Christ. I want the truth. I want to follow the Holy Spirit who leads me into all truth. I don’t want to join a camp or group of Christians who believe a certain way, and refuse to listen to anyone else.
       

I want to believe what the apostles believed. They believed that Jesus Christ was coming soon; in their lifetimes. They seemed to believe they would face tribulation, because they were already facing it. Like Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation.” (John 16:33)
       

I lean in the direction of pre-wrath. The Bible says that believers are not afforded to wrath. I think that this is referring to God’s final wrath. It doesn’t mean we won’t face tribulation. There are some guru’s who call the entire 7 year tribulation God’s wrath. I’m talking about the final destruction. Jesus said, “As in the days” of Lot and Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. (Luke 17:37) In both instances the righteous or the believer, was left living beside the unbeliever until just before the flood came or the fire fell. Noah did not sit in the ark for 7 years having a feast. Lot did not sit in the mountains for seven years as things got worse, in Sodom. In both cases, the door was shut, and the person was removed or made safe, just before the final doom fell. The door being shut, I believe is the end of the Gospel; the end of grace. (Genesis chapters 5-9 and chapter 19)
       

We see in the Exodus story that God sent plague after plague upon Egypt. But, His people were protected from the plagues. There was a distinction made between the Egyptians and God’s People. In the Bible Egypt is often viewed as a picture of the world. God can protect His people through trouble. It will be said that this is referring to the Jews and the Jews will be here but Christians will be gone. My argument is that we as Christians are grafted in. The Bible says it. (Romans chapter 11) God can protect us through tribulation.
       

I think there is plenty of reason and evidence to suggest that believers will be here for large parts of the tribulation period. One reason is that we will be here to try and get more folks saved, up until the time the door is shut. Another possibility is that the church will be weeded out. Just like Lot’s wife, and the great falling away. Which I believe will be one event, but it will also be over time. Time will work on folks to pull them away, and there will be a final event that will bring about the great falling away and create the apostate church. Tribulation could be the reason folks start falling away, and God leaves us here for that to happen. It could be much like the cleansing of the temple. He drove out the money changers. (2 Thess. 2:3)
       

The church could be here, as the Anti-Christ makes war with them. The times are bad, plagues are falling and the saints are telling people about Jesus, but other folks, who have practiced churchianity, instead of Christianity start to fall away, because they never knew Him. The believers are protected, for the most part, but we stay on the earth to save the lost and wake up the backslider, and for God to weed out the unbeliever. Then, Christ returns and we go to meet Him in the air, as God pours out is wrath upon the Earth. Then we return with Him for judgment, and the marriage supper.
       

I’m not saying I’m right. But, I believe that American Christians need to start exercising their faith and start expecting to see tribulation. To me, it’s far wiser for Christians to be ready to endure through hardship, than to expect to be removed. God will remove us when He sees fit. In my experience God almost never does things the way we want Him to. We don’t want to suffer. But, I think we might have some.
       

Anyway, I want to encourage every believer to read God’s Word, and study prophecy. Look at the different views. We do not know the hour. But, we can prepare for whatever might come.

Draw closer to the Lord. When the time comes and if the Church is going through the Tribulation period. It will be very hard to try to build more faith in the Lord at that time. Things will be happening and you will need to make decisions that will lead you down some dark paths. You need to know the Lord is there. That comes through experience and relationship.

Do you really know Him?

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

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