As we progress with the signs which will portend the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, we find ourselves immersed in a world that is out of control. All systems of human government and culture seem to lack even common sense, much less righteousness or any other virtue. A power struggle of gigantic proportions is going on and the average individual will feel sucked into its vortex. The inconsistencies and disconnects apparent in the president's speech the other night will seem like child's play by comparison. The temptation to go along so that one might get along will never have seemed greater. The true followers of Christ will not be able to put much trust in organized religion, which will become more and more apostate by the day. Just what will it be like living in a day described by these words: "If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened." (Matthew 24:22, NIV)
When put into context, what is cut short is not Daniel's 70th week, but that portion of it beginning at the mid-point, known as "The Great Tribulation." For the sake of the elect (the faithful followers of Christ) those days will be cut short, and the remainder of the latter half of Daniel's 70th week will be taken up by The Day of the Lord. Another label for this is the time of God's wrath. So what is it that cuts short (amputates, if you will) the Great Tribulation? My friends, it is the Rapture - the resurrection of all the faithful from centuries past, followed by the immediate changing of all the faithful on earth (called glorification) and then all being caught up into the air to meet the Lord in the clouds, and so to be with Him forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Now that's encouraging!
We are at a point now where it is necessary to explain a couple of things from 1 Thessalonians 5. There we read "for you know that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." (v. 2) and "For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." (v.9) The "thief in the night" phrase is used by the Lord when He says, "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him." (Matthew 24:42-44)
What Jesus and Paul are telling us here is that with everything happening (all of the signs and events mentioned thus far) only those who are watching and expecting the return of Christ will be ready for it. Others will be caught up in the world running amok and in the apostate church of the hodge-podge religion. They will even be saying "Peace, peace" when the sudden destruction comes. The Lord reminded me that when you have to keep talking about the thing (in this case "peace") that usually means that the genuine article is absent. The same thing is true with the anointing, miracles, the next great move of God, etc. When the genuine is present, you just have to experience it; no hype needed. It's not the Rapture that comes on the believer like a "thief in the night" but the Day of the Lord coming upon the unbelieving world immediately following.
We'll go into that in more detail next time. Meanwhile, let these words encourage you. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." (1 John 3:1-3)
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