Your comments and questions are always welcome. To send comments and questions please click here to go to our main page. August 22, 2002 Statement I enjoyed your beautiful web page, but I have to disagree on regards to the rapture. I believe that Christians today are not going to have God's favor by escaping the tribulation, while millions of Christians in the past have suffered torture. Christians today are not more special than Christians in the past.
Don't forget St-Paul said that Christ will come at the sound of the last trumpet, the last trumpet in revelation sounds at the end of the tribulation when Christ comes. Response Unfortunately, the last trump and the trumpet judgments are two entirely different events. The trump of God is the final call and saints will be raptured at that moment. It doesn't make any sense to blast the last trumpet and then go through seven more vial judgments. For one, we don't know the amount of time that will take place between vial
judgments. It could be days, weeks or even months. Besides, Jesus isn't coming back to plagues but to fight the armies of the world gathered at Armageddon. How many Christian's do you think are on the earth today? Most whom I have talked to
regarding this subject for some reason believe that everyone who says the sinner's prayer or proclaims they are a Christian
is! Sadly, they're fooling themselves. The only one's who are going in the rapture are true born again, and repentant Christian's who are living for Jesus.
Surprisingly, that's the same people who will go after the tribulation is
over. Trust me, no one will be raptured who God doesn't want to be
raptured. You can't fool God on a technicality (Matthew 7:21)...He knows your heart. Personally, I'm not trying to change your mind, if you wish to believe that Christian's will go through the tribulation period that's fine. It doesn't matter because I could die before the tribulation period even begins of some horrible accident that could be long and painful. I'm certainly not going to turn from the Lord because He has caused this to happen to me and neither would any real Christian. The truth is, the pretribulation view only makes a
Christian to stay focused and attentive to being right with the Lord. I
have never come in contact with a person who became a Christian and then turned
from the Lord because He did not come and rapture them. If you ever do let
me know I'd like to meet them. I have met a lot of people who have read my
website, seen how close the Lord is to coming, and repented or rededicated their
life to Christ. For some reason there is a very small movement of individuals that keep contacting me (I get 2-3 emails a month) that think believing that Jesus will rapture the church before the tribulation period begins is heresy or some false teaching. The fact of the matter is there are massive amounts of research and evidence that point to this conclusion (see my articles for evidence). I am further bewildered that anyone could believe that the rapture has
anything to do with salvation, the loss of salvation or a falling away of any believers. Any falling away will occur only because sin has crept into ones life and blinded them. The only way a person can miss heaven and go to hell is if they reject the gift of God and refuse the paid in full sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. When one gets saved it is a promise to follow the Lord Jesus no matter what the circumstances (Romans 8:35). You need not look any further then the early church or today in modern day China or any Arab nation to realize that. You have to realize that the rapture is an interpretation of the scripture that I believe
to be true just as 'once saved always saved' as opposed to a person believing
they can lose their salvation. If you want to believe you can lose your
salvation I'm not going to call you a heretic, that's your business, and you'll
still go to heaven either way. Only problem is you will question if you
are saved until the day you die or for as long as you feel sinless. But
you're not a false prophet or heretic for believing. The one theme I get from all those who email me (discounting the rapture) is that they are scared to death that spoiled America is not going to have to suffer. That we are fooling ourselves if we think that we are going to dance off to heaven while the rest of the world is persecuted and killed. Well it's too late! I can name a multitude of Christians who were spoiled to death and lived charmed lives and died during our generation. What about them, why did they get to serve the Lord, live in luxury and die in peace? They weren't tested or tried through the tribulation fire. As I stated earlier, I could die tomorrow and I would have lived a blessed life serving the Lord free of tribulation persecution and go to heaven. There is one thing I believe that many people are forgetting that I have never forgotten. When
I became a Christian it was like being inducted into the armed forces. I may be called upon to die for
my faith. The Bible is very explicit about that possible fate…meaning it shouldn't be a surprise if we are persecuted, beaten, or put to death. In fact, the Bible goes even further to state, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:26)." If you're not willing to die for the Lord or even love your family more than the Lord you aren't worthy to be His disciple.
These are strong requirements that cannot be accomplished without the working of
the Holy Spirit in one's life. If a person is a true born again Christian
he will not fall away on either side of the tribulation period...it's simply
impossible. By you saying that Christian's could fall away is to say the
Bible is telling a lie and discounting the true power of the Holy Spirit that
lives within each Christian. You can't live the Christian life in your own
power and by you saying that Christian's will fall away once they realize they
won't be rapture before the tribulation completely discounts why the Holy Spirit
was sent back in the first place (I Timothy 1:14). I'm sorry, but there is
no New Testament reference where the Holy Spirit possesses a believer and ever
leaves. I can show you plenty of scripture where God said He would never
leave us nor forsake us (Hebrew 13:5).
Be sure to check out our prophecy page for all the latest updates. You may click on the link below to find out what will happen during the tribulation period in chronological order.
You have forgotten that the Bible tells us that to be persecuted or to be put to death for the sake of the Gospel is a good thing. God does not allow any Christian to go through anything that they cannot handle (I Corinthians 10:2). To be put to death or persecuted for the sake of the Gospel is an honor that God grants you. One of the five crowns you can receive at the judgment for Christians (Bema Seat) is for being put to death or persecuted.
Personally, I believe God handpicks those who He deems worthy of that honor (Matthew 5:10). If we as Christians go through the tribulation period and are killed for our faith it will be because God has found us worthy of dying for Him...not because we need to be tried and tested. It's not to be argued over or debated, just count it all joy (James 1:2-3).
One more thing, in all the years I have been teaching prophecy I have never had one person answer this question. If Christian's who are alive today go through the tribulation period (not raptured before) then who will Christ (and the Saints) rule over when He comes to reign for one-thousand years on earth (Millennium)? According to you if the rapture and the Second Coming occur at the end of the tribulation period who will be left on the earth for us to reign over? You must remember that I Thessalonians 4:13-18 says that every Christian will be raptured who is on the earth. The Bible also says that everyone outside of Christians will take the mark and it's clear they will be executed at the coming of the Lord. With that said, I ask again, who will be left on the earth to enter into the Millennium?
Pastor Malone