Second Coming of Christ # 9

Second Coming of Christ # 9

A worse time than the reign of Nero; worse than during the Spanish inquisition; worse than when Cortes destroyed the Aztecs; worse than during the French revolution and the communists, and worse than during the Dark Ages.

A worse time than when men were skinned alive; worse than when they were pulled asunder by horses; worse than when men, women and children were thrown to hungry lions, and worse than when they were dipped in pitch and burned as torches.

Do you want to live in that kind of a time? Well, the only thing that can surely save you from it is to have a part in that meeting in the air, for no others who are living at that time escape from it, and that awful time may be upon us within the next ten minutes, for it will begin at the very moment the Rapture takes place.

There is now not a single prophecy remaining to be fulfilled before the Lord may come, and the members of His Body be caught up to be with Him in the air.

It stands to reason that the tribulation must be the most awful time known, because for the only time in all history the devil will then be loose and have unhindered sway. Everything he can do that will add to human woe will certainly be done. Governments will go to pieces, and there will be no security of life and property. A man may be a millionaire one day and a beggar the next. Every chaos of crime and outrage of every kind will be turned loose. God will let the world and the universe see for a time what it will mean to live under the devil's rule, and will let those who pass through the tribulation see that the good they so long enjoyed was because of the presence of the good.

Some of you people who throw your votes and influence in favor of whisky and all kinds of hellishness that go with it may live to to find out in the bitterness of the tribulation just what is meant by sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind.

It is supposed that the tribulation will cover a period of seven years. It might be seven hundred years, but it cannot be less than seven years. God in His mercy will make it as short as possible. That the real Church of God, believers, members of the Body of Christ, are to be taken out of the world before the world is saved is as clearly taught in the Bible as that through the atonement made by Christ man may have salvation from sin.

What will it mean to the world? Every believer will be instantly taken out of the world, homes will be rent in twain, husbands will be robbed of Godly wives, children will be taken out of the world and those left behind will wring their hands in grief.

No doubt newspapers will print extra editions. Universal consternation will reign. The world will neither see the Lord, neither will they see their loved ones go. Those who have died in the faith will be raised. The statement of Jesus shows that not all the people are to be caught up in the air in clouds,but one here and there.

"There shall be two men in the bed; one shall be taken and the other left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken and the other left" (Luke 17:34-36).

This makes it look as if the number caught up in the air would not be large. When will the meeting in the air occur? In regard to this Jesus said:

"But if that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven - neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is" (Mark 13:32-33).

But also said, after speaking of conditions that would prevail about that time: "So, likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors" (Matt. 24:33).

Will the world come to an end when Jesus comes and takes away the members of His Body? No, not for at least 1,000 years; perhaps longer. The Millennium must come after Jesus comes, and must have its beginning at the close of the great tribulation.

The real truth is, that great event will not bring destruction to anything that is good, but will, on the contrary, introduce an era of the greatest progress and prosperity the world has ever known.

The coming of Christ will bring the Millennium - the golden age of man in this world - when the arts and sciences, and everything else that man ought to delight in, will flourish as never before, and never until Jesus comes will the knowledge of the glory of God cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

~Billy Sunday~

(continued with # 10)