Whenever I come across the
ongoing debate
among Christians
about the timing
of the Rapture,
I am always
amazed at a very
important
element that is
often overlooked
from those that
do not support a
Pre-Tribulation
Rapture, and
that is – God
cannot judge
Himself! Allow
me to explain.
After Jesus ascended back up to
heaven to sit at
the right hand
of the Father to
wait until the
time of earth’s
judgment, He
sent His Holy
Spirit down to
earth to dwell
in believers and
carry on the
mission and
ministry that He
had begun. This
is known as the
Church Age and
it began on
Pentecost
Sunday.
The Holy
Spirit is the
third Person of
the Triune God
and His presence
is here on earth
through
believers.
“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?”
(1 Corinthians
6:19).
A believer receives God’s Holy
Spirit at the
moment that he
or she accepts
God’s Son, Jesus
Christ as their
personal Savior.
After this takes
place the
believer is now
equipped to
carry out the
will of God on
earth. The Holy
Spirit indwelt
church, are His
hands, feet and
mouth in this
lost world. So
if the Spirit
indwelt church
of Jesus Christ
were to have to
endure the
judgment of the
Tribulation,
then wouldn’t
God be judging
Himself? Since
God is the
ultimate Judge
and there is no
authority higher
than Him, then
the Judge cannot
judge Himself.
This does not mean that
believers won’t
appear before
the Judgment
Seat of Christ
because they
will, (2
Corinthians 5:10
and Romans
14:10). However,
the judgment of
believers is a
judgment of our
rewards for our
service to Him
and our
cleansing
process to
prepare us for
our eternal
lives. It is not
a judgment of
wrath or
condemnation.
That particular
judgment is
reserved for
non-believers.
When Jesus was telling His
disciples
beforehand that
He would send
His Holy Spirit
after He would
leave earth, He
described the
Holy Spirit as
being a
conviction
toward the world
(see John
16:8-11).
This
current work of
conviction
toward the world
is one of grace
to bring sinners
to repentance
and salvation.
Eventually this
Age of Grace
will end and the
Holy Spirit
indwelt church
will be removed
before the
judgment of the
world begins.
Otherwise God
would be judging
Himself, would
He not?
Since God cannot judge Himself,
He will have to
pull Himself out
of the way of
His own judgment
upon the earth
since the Spirit
indwelt church
is His presence
in the world.
Yes, it is true
that God is
everywhere but
His ministry of
spreading the
gospel to lost
sinners is
conducted by His
church. In past
times the Lord
has pulled
Himself out of
the way of His
own judgment. In
Ezekiel 10:4; 18
and 11:23, we
read that the
glory of God
departed from
Solomon’s temple
just before He
judged Judea by
the hands of the
Babylonians and
had the temple
destroyed. And
when Jesus was
lamenting over
Jerusalem from
the Mount of
Olives, He said
while looking
down at the
second temple:
“See! Your house is left to you
desolate; for I
say to you, you
shall see Me no
more till you
say, ‘Blessed is
He who comes in
the name of the
Lord!’” (Matthew
23:38-39).
Once again the glory of the Lord
departed from
Israel as the
Lord Jesus
Christ willingly
went to the
cross to die and
pay the price
for all our sins
and four decades
later the Romans
would destroy
the city and the
temple in 70
A.D. as God’s
judgment towards
Israel for
rejecting His
Son. When God
judges Israel
for the third
time, a.k.a.
“the time of
Jacob’s trouble”
(Jeremiah
30:7)—His
presence will be
removed out of
the way again by
way of the
Rapture of the
church.
This is because the entire earth
and all the
nations will be
judged
simultaneously,
(Jeremiah
30:11),
resulting in the
nation of Israel
being saved
through the
judgment and
coming to know
that Jesus
Christ has been
their Lord all
this time. The
church cannot be
on earth when
this judgment
begins.
For one thing God the Father has
already laid His
judgment upon
His Son at the
cross and Jesus
Christ is the
propitiation for
our sins.
It
is done and
anyone that is a
member of the
church of Jesus
Christ is not
under
condemnation,
(Romans 8:1).
The reason
Israel has
received
judgment more
than once is
because they
have not
accepted that
free gift of
salvation
through Jesus
Christ. When
they do, and
they eventually
will (Zechariah
12:10), then
judgment will be
no more for
Israel.
We can certainly see that God
has a track
record of
removing Himself
away from the
object of His
judgment before
He pours out His
wrath. So then
why are there
Christians out
there that think
they will have
to endure God’s
severe judgment
of the earth
during the
Tribulation
period?
It is
because Satan
hates the Church
and attacks it
by instilling
fear in some of
its members.
Fear has the
strong ability
to takes one’s
eyes off of
Jesus. Just look
at Peter when he
took his eyes
off of Jesus
while walking on
the water to
Him.
The waves of the sea,
(representing
the troubles of
the world), took
him over and
caused him to
begin to sink,
but Jesus
grabbed His hand
and brought him
back up to
safety. When we
take our eyes
off of Jesus all
kinds of fearful
lies from the
enemy come
creeping in.
If we are
in fear of the
things that are
soon coming upon
the earth, we
can easily
forget the
Lord’s promise
that: “God did
not appoint us
to wrath, but to
obtain salvation
through our Lord
Jesus Christ” (1
Thessalonians
5:9).
In Paul’s second letter to the
Thessalonians he
gives edifying
words concerning
the “gathering
together to Him”
to the church
and he warns not
to be shaken in
mind or troubled
either by
spirit, or by
word, or by
letter as though
the day of
Christ had come,
(2 Thess.
2:1-2). If you
are a born again
believer in
Jesus Christ,
don’t worry you
won’t miss the
Rapture and have
to be here for
the judgment
period of the
Tribulation
because you have
His Holy Spirit
in you as His
seal and
guarantee of
that day! (See
Ephesians
1:13-14 and
4:30.) And God’s
own Word says
that He will
remove His
Restraining Holy
Spirit before
the time of His
judgment comes
(2 Thess. 2:7).
God’s current presence on earth
in the form of
the Holy Spirit
is “restraining”
Satan from
manifesting
himself in the
form of the
Antichrist, the
man of
lawlessness and
sin, from taking
over the world.
Jesus
said that the
gates of hell
shall not
prevail over His
church (Matthew
16:18). Christ
will protect His
church by
removing it way
before hell is
unleashed upon
earth
(Revelation
9:1-12). Jesus
also said to His
disciples, (and
us, the church)
that we are the
salt of the
earth (Matthew
5:13).
Salt was especially known in
those times as a
preservative and
the presence of
the Spirit
indwelt church
is preserving
the earth from
being overcome
by Satanic evil.
This is because
the church is
HIS church
and not ours. We
can do nothing
aside from His
empowering in us
via His Holy
Spirit.
No matter
how strong
anyone is in
body or mind,
you cannot
combat Satan on
your own.
It is the
Holy Spirit in
the believer
that protects
Him from Satan’s
evil influences
and deception
and it is
important to be
in communion
with Him who
dwells in you on
a daily basis to
remain
victorious in
this fallen
world.
“He who is in you is greater
than he who is
in the world” (1
John 4:4b.)
If you have not received Jesus
Christ as your
Savior and
invited Him into
your heart,
there is still
time but its
running very
short. Do it
today and you
will be sealed
with the promise
and guarantee to
be saved from
the wrath to
come and your
current life
will be filled
with a new joy
of the
anticipation of
the blessed hope
of His coming
(Titus 2:13).
If you are a new believer you
may ask…“How do
I know that I’m
saved and have
the Holy Spirit
in me?” First,
tell someone
else that you’ve
accepted Jesus
Christ as your
personal Savior.
“That if you confess with your
mouth the Lord
Jesus and
believe in your
heart that God
has raised Him
from the dead,
you will be
saved. For with
the heart one
believes unto
righteousness,
and with the
mouth confession
is made unto
salvation”
(Romans
10:9-10).
If you can say that with genuine
heartfelt truth,
then you will
know within
yourself that
you are a Holy
Spirit indwelt
believer because
God’s Word says:
“…no one can say that Jesus is
Lord except by
the Holy Spirit”
(1 Corinthians
12:3b).
Now when the Rapture of the
church comes,
you will go to
be with the
Lord, (1 Thess.
4:16-17),
because God
isn’t just
removing His
faithful
believing people
out of the way
of His wrath, He
is also removing
Himself…since
God can’t be
judged!