"SELAH"-GEMS OF DR.JOH

BOOK OF REVELATION,THE BOOK OF TODAY

Revelation 1:3"Blessed is he who read(aloud)and those who hear the word of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it,for the time is near"

The time is near.TODAY,we are living in the book of Revelation.This book is the revelation of Jesus Christ .Jesus is showing us the past,present and future events to every believer.Jesus Christ is coming to take His bride,the Church and most of all every born again,Spirit filled child of God who is living a holy life in line with His perfect will.I don't want you to miss the Rapture event.Should you be left behind,read the book of Revelation!.Should Jesus come at 12 midnight,we are living at the 11th hour!

THE RAPTURE DOCTRINAL CONFLICT- 1

Much theological debates have been presented by many bible scholars in regard to the subject of the Rapture or the snatching away of the saints.However,all theologians do agree that the Church of Jesus Christ will be raptured at the second coming of the Lord.The argument was about the "TIMING"of the rapture event.

The three main doctrinal belief that has influenced much mainstream church denominations are the Pre-Tribulationist,Mid-Tribulationist and the Post-Tribulationist.I consider myself a PPT (Pre-Partial -Tribulationist) and I'll put up my stand on this matter later on.The the golden bible verses that refer to the imminent return of the Lord and the rapture of the saints are found in I Thessalonians 4:15-17:

"For this we say to you by the word of the Lord,that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those those who are asleep.For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,with a trumpet of God.And the dead in Christ will rise first.Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.And thus we shall always be with with the Lord"

This scripture clearly mentioned that Jesus Christ Himself will descend from heaven but will not come down to earth,rather He will be hovering in the mid-air (in between the heaven and earth)calling His saints with a loud voice/shout.I wonder what kind of commanding shout that the Lord will be uttering at.Will He be uttering the shout of command like the way He spoke to the dead man Lazarus in the graveyard "Come forth!"or perhaps the good Lord might be shouting as to John in Patmos "Come up here!"?(Rev 4:1) One thing for sure,every sanctified saints will hear His heavenly shout of command because His voice will be accompanied by loud trumpet call.So he who has an ear,let him hear what the Spirit says to His Church (Rev 1:11).

This is the first phase of Christ second coming,the blessed hope of rapturing the saints unto Him.I always have this conviction that the saints will be snatch by the Lord before the tribulation wrath occur.How ever,I will not be too dogmatic to the point of being judgemental with other viewers.The scripture indeed didn't revealed the exact time of the rapture.Therefore,there will be always a room for honest differences of opinion and I will always give them my due respect.Herewith I present a brief history on the emergence of Pre-Trib,Mid-Trib and Post-Trib schools of thought.

PRE-TRIBULATION:Many Pre-Tribulationist owe their opinion to the teachings of John Darby.In 1827,John Darby came into a conclusion in his doctrine that there were not one but"two second coming" what he means was that there will be a 'secret rapture' event to occur before the advent of tribulation.Darby,formerly an Anglican priest born in London was the founder of the Plymouth Brethren movement.He was the catalyst to the creation of a modern theological system called Dispensationalism.However,tribute was also given to Reverend Morgans Edward ,a Baptist pastor in Philadelphia who in 1742 saw this truth about Christ's pre-Tribulation return.He published a book Millennium,Last Days Novelties in 1788 and make his stand ,although he only saw a three and a half-year Tribulation,the doctrine he taught was that the Rapture occurs before the Tribulation.Few noted Pre-Tribulationist of today are Grant Jeffrey,Dr.Tim Lahaye and Dr.David Reagan(Lamb& Lion Ministries)

MID-TRIBULATION: These group of scholars teaches that the Church will go through the three and a half years of Tribulation period but will be rapture just prior to the last three and the half years of Great Tribulation period.In other word,the rapture of the Church will occur right in the middle of the seven years Tribulation period.Mid-Tribulationist teachers include Harold Ockenga,James Buswell and Norman Harrisson.Mid-Tribulationist hold unto their stand based on 1 Corithians 15:52.They were arguing that upon the "blowing of the last trumpet"which is the seven trumpet of judgement in the book of Revelation,the saints of God shall be raptured.Since Revelation chapter 11 recorded the blowing of this seventh trumpet,they now argue that the rapture must have occurred in the middle of the Tribulation.If we carefully study the scripture,we will notice that trumpet mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15 is the blowing sound command for believers whereby the last trumpet mentioned in Revelation 8.9 and 11 were blown for the unbelievers!Therefore the trumpet in Revelation is irrelevance to the believers.The last trumpet in Rev 11 is for the unrighteous and the last trumpet in 1 Corinthians 15 is for the Spirit Filled righteous saints.

POST-TRIBULATION: Bible scholars who hold this theories teaches that the Church will pass through the seven years Tribulation and Great tribulation period and that the saints will pass through all God's wrath and judgements upon the earth(six seals,seven trumpets,seven vials of judgments).Noted Post-Tribulationist are Pat Robertson.Walter Martin,Brian Bailey and John Piper.Post-Tribulationist put up the argument base on the parable in Matthew 13 and the Lord's Olivet Discourse in Mathew 24.One such strong stand was when Jesus said "Immediately after the tribulation of those days..."(Matt 24:29).This passages does look like the saints will be raptured after the tribulation.However,we need to understand that the gospel of Matthew was written to the Jews and therefore Jesus's speech when Matthew penned them were consist of Jewish flavour in it compare to the same speech when Luke wrote in his book.

One distinguish example is how Matthew wrote about fleeing from the towns of Judea to the mountains and the Jewish law on traveling during the sabbath (Matt 24:15-20).However in Luke's account on this same occasion,it was omitted.Instead,Luke told the saints to listen to Jesus's hopefull words to "look up and lift up your heads,because your redemption draws near"(Matt 21:28) and also "..be counted worthy to escape all these things..."Matt 21:36).Therefore we see that that both Matthew and Luke were speaking on two distinct saints.The saints in Luke's account would probably those who receive Christ before the Tribulation,whereby in Matthew's account,the saints are the Jews who receive their Messiah during the Tribulation period.The same thing with the parable of the wheat and the dragnet (Matt 13:24-30,Matt 13:47-50).This parable refers to the separation of the saints and sinners at the the end of the seven years of Tribulation.Those living saints are the Jews and non-Jews who receive Jesus Christ as their Saviour/Messiah during the tribulation period.These saints were the result of the end time great evangelization by the 144,000 Spirit filled Jews evangelist (Rev 7) being raised by God including the Two Anointed witness (Rev 11:3)

MY INITIAL REVELATION ON A PRE-PARTIAL TRIBULATION BELIEF
When I was a young Christian, the LORD showed to me some good things and shadow of the End-Time prophetic events.God even showed me in visions on the end time events.The Holy Spirit showed me a glimpse vision on revelation 6:12-17 some few years ago and I was terrified.I was still young then,but I knew for certain that there is going to be an End time rapture event and that the Lord will come to gather all His elect and snatch them away to meet the Lord in the air.These are some of the scriptures that the Holy Spirit has showed to me:-

1.I was reading about Philip the Evengelist,how the the Holy Spirit lead him to meet an Ethiopian man who was on his way back to his country riding on a chariot.(Acts 8:26-40).The Spirit of the Lord spoke to Philip"Go near and overtake the chariot"(Verse 29).So Philip ran to catch up with him.Philip then began to preached Jesus to him.The eunuch became a believer and requested Philip to baptize him.The Bible said "And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water;and he baptized him.Now when they came up out of the water,the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away,so that the eunuch saw him no more;and he went on his way rejoicing.But Philip was found at Azotus"(Verse 38-40)The Lord showed me that Philip symbolizes the sanctified,Spirit filled saints and that the Holy Spirit will be the divine transporter on the rapture day. God showed me that it is the wrapping power of the blessed Holy Spirit that will transport us from this earth to meet the Lord Jesus in the air on the day of rapture.

2.Again as I was meditating on the book of Revelation,I was drawn to the scenario where during the sabbathical seclusion of John the apostle in the island of Patmos he received a vision from Jesus.John wrote "After these things I looked and behold ,a door standing open in heaven.And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me saying,"Come up here,and I will show you things which must take place after this"Immediately I was in the Spirit and behold,a throne set in heaven and One sat on the throne"(Rev 4:1-2)

After John heard the voice of Jesus commanding him to come up ,immediately John was caught up by the Spirit and found himself at the throne of God in heaven.John was literally transported from the island of Patmos by the Holy Spirit to heaven.John then saw God's throne and One sitting on it.John said"I was in the Spirit".He was filled with the Spirit and wrap under the power of the Spirit that enabled him to be transported unto God's heavenly throne.I believe John was taken up or raptured to heaven because Jesus did command to"Come up here".The Lord open my understanding upon reading this passage.John is the symbol of the Church of Jesus Christ and upon hearing the loud command of the Lord "come up here",he was literally translated or raptured up to heaven by the Holy Spirit.After the masseges to the seven Churches in Revelation 2-4,and after John was raptured to the throne of God,the Church was never again mentioned or even quoted until Revelation 19:1-10 where Christ's bride ,the Church participated in the marriage supper of the Lamb,Jesus Christ.

3.I was astounded to read on how God judged the two sin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by raining brimstone and fire from heaven.God first send His angels to save Lot,his wife and his two daughters from being destroyed(Genesis 19:12-29).Spiritually speaking,this is the type of end time God's seven years of tribulation judgment period and that the Saints of God were delivered from the wrath that was coming.No doubt God's servant Lot,his wife and his two daughters did escape but then Lot's "...wife looked back behind him,and she became a pillar of salt"(Genesis 19:26).Lot's wife symbolized believers who were saved,born again Christian but became a lukewarm,compromising living in between the work of the flesh and the Spirit,found themselves being "left behind".

The Lord Jesus even quote this example as similar to His imminent return."Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot:They ate,they drank,they bought,they sold,they planted,they built.But on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.."(Luke 17:28-30).Jesus then specifically,highlighted this incident "Remember Lot's wife"(Luke 17:32)

4.God showed me that the seven Churches in the book of Revelation represent all the Churches and its spiritual condition of today and generation to come should the Lord tarry(Rev 2-4).However,the Lord specifically mentioned the Church in Sardis as a "Dead"Church i.e.spritually dead and thus when Jesus come to rapture His Church,His coming will be like "thief"in the night that they won't even know that rapture has occurred .Should the Sardis Church continue to be "Spiritually dead"and not watchful, I believe this Church will not be caught up to meet the Lord on His coming.Will this type of Church go through the seven years tribulation?I believe so unless they repent!The same thing with the Church of the Laodiceans(Rev 3:14-22).This" Lukewarm"Church who are spiritually poor without the fullness of the Spirit in them will not be "caught up"to meet the Lord in the air but rather will be vomited out(Rev 14:16).Jesus always admonish His Church to repent,to be watchful always and be slumber spiritually so that they be ready for His imminent return.

Some scholars mentioned that the Bible should be interpreted literally but some disagree and instead they believe that it should be interpreted spiritually.I believe the Bible should be interpreted both literally and spiritually.But again the interpretation should be in the context of human common sense.Dr.D.A.White, a famous Bible Scholar,once wrote:"The golden rule of interpretation was that :When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense,seek no other sense,therefore,take every word at its primary,ordinary ,usual,literal meaning,unless the facts of the immediate context ,studies in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truth,indicates clearly otherwise".(Dr.D.A.Waite -Ephesians-P10).I do agree with his statement to some points. I will continue to post my belief with a strong scriptural proof and conviction as to why I believe in Pre-Partial Tribulation doctrine in my next posting.God bless us all

CHRIST IMMINENT RETURN -COUNTDOWN TO RAPTURE

"Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives,the disciples came to Him privately,saying,"Tell us,when will these things be?And what will be the sign of Your coming,and of the end of the age?"(Matt 24:3)

The imminent return of the Lord was very certain that even His disciple knew this well.The only uncertainty was the exact TIMING of His return.That is why they ask the Lord Jesus what will be the "sign"of His coming and of the end time be.Jesus said "But of the day and hour no one knows,not even the angels of heaven but My Father only"(Matt 24:36).Therefore His imminent return to"snatch away"the saints from passing through the seven years tribulation period will be exactly like what He said "...I will come upon you as a thief,and you will not know what hour I will come upon you"(Rev 3:3b).The apostle Peter even emphasized this significant day when he wrote "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night..."(2Peter3:10).Any common thief who plan to steal won't tell the victim at what hour or day that he would come.Figuratively,this "DAY"of His coming is that"thief"that will invade the time capsule of humanities with a full element of surprise events.Therefore we are warn by the Lord to be on guard and be watchful.

God the Father must have good reason for such element of surprise as to what hour Jesus would come down from heaven to rapture His saints.For example,Jesus said "I tell you,in the night there will be two men in one bed:one will be taken and the other will be left.Two women will be grinding together:the one will be taken and other will be left.Two men will be in the field:the one will be taken and the other left" (Luke 17:34-36).The countdown of His coming and prophetic time of the rapture is ticking fast but we will not know at what hour Jesus will come for His Church.

However,the Lord did reveal to us the many signs that precede His coming.He said"Now learn this parable from the fig tree:When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves,you know that summer is near.So you also,when you see all these things,know that its is near at the doors!" (Matt24:32).We need to open our eyes to "see"and to know the seasons of time in order to read the signs of His coming.What are the major signs of His second coming?By now we know that the second coming of the Lord happened once but in two phase.We know that the phase II of His second coming i.e.the glorious public appearance of the Lord will occur sometime after the seven years tribulation period has passed.I will touch this phase 2 glorious appearance teaching on my next posting.This posting will touch mainly on the phase 1 of Christ's imminent coming(the coming of the Lord in the air to meet His Church-I Thes 4:17).I want us to see,observe,study and learn the signs and why I believe that we are living on a borrowed time of His imminent return!

SPIRITUAL SIGNS

Let get back to what Jesus said in Matthew 24.We will be able to see a certain spiritual signs such as:

1. the appearance of many false Christ and their cult teachings.

'And Jesus answered and said to them:"Take heed that no one deceives you.For many will come in My name,saying,'I am the Christ,'and will deceive many"(verse 5).-This is the work of deceiving spirit who come to divert the faith of many unbelievers and even Christian who are not Spirit filled and ignorant of God's word.This is the spirit of the antichrist who demand to be worships by his/her followers.Even the apostle John wrote "Little children,it is the last hour:and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming,even now many antichrist have come,by which we know that it is the last hour.They went out from us,but they were not of us..."(I John 2:19) .John further wrote :""..and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus has come in the flesh is not of God.And this is the spirit of the Antichrist...."(I John 4:3)

What suprises me much is that some of these false Christ were formerly followers or even ministers(NOTE:"They went out from us") of Jesus but then they were deceived by the devil and came out to start a new cult religion that reject the Lordship and the gift of saving grace in Jesus Christ.They may even preach the gospel of Jesus BUT not the Jesus of the bible.These are the work of false apostles,transforming as apostle of Christ(2 Cor 11:13-14).Jesus also mentioned about the appearance of many false prophets and deceive many people to follow their teachings or religion(Matt 24:11).Mormon church,Jehovah witness,Church of christian science,Yahweh extreme worshipers,Sun Yung Moon(The Moonies) under the pretext of his "Unification Church"are some example of such Christian cults.

2.Sign of Church apostasy

"Let no one deceive you by any means;for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first...."(I Tess 2:3).Many bible schools and seminaries have been invaded by a strange philosophies which undermined the authority of the bible and many church denominations today are having a form of godliness but denying the power of the Holy Spirit.

3.Satanic teachings flourish(satanism)

I Tim 4:1 "Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter time some will depart from the faith,giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons"-Astrology,numerology,Feng shui,crystal gazing,New age movement and transcendental meditation have been spreading fast via mass media,books and Television programs.

4.Global prosecution to the saints of God

Matthew 24:9"They they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you,an you will be hated by all nations fro My name's sake"

5.Worldwide spreading of the Gospel

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations,and then the end will come"(Matt 24:14)-Not only the mass evangelism campaign such as crusades,open field meeting,mega churches outreach but also Satelite -TV and the internet have become the main contributor to the efectiveness in spreading the gospel of of Jesus Christ. Only the Holy Spirit will know the time when every ear will hear about Jesus the Messiah and it won't be long.

SIGNS OF NATURE

"For since the creation of the world,His invisible attributes are clearly seen,being understood by the things that are made,even His eternal power and God-head,so that they are without excuse"(Roman 1:20)

Jesus told us to watch the sign such as earthquakes,famines,pestilence and great signs from heaven (Matt 24:7,Luke 21:11)-These are the signs i.e."the beginning of sorrows"Matt 24:8.The word "Sorrow"in the greek translation means"Odinon"which also means the "beginning of pangs"as in the "birth pangs"situation.Therefore,these natural disasters will increase in frequency and intensity as the time get closer to Christ's imminent return.There will be more intense earthquakes and more frequent one to occur.

On Tuesday,January 2010,the country Haiti was rocked by the the worst devastation earth quakes in nearly 200 years.The massive quake has flattened the capital of Port-Au-prince . Schools,hospitals,cathedrals ,main prison and even the president's palace have been levelled.It was estimated that over 200,000 lives were lost and even increasing up to 500,000.,Just a week earlier ,Solomons island were rocked with series of quakes at magnitude of -6.2.This is not a coincidence disaster as Jesus already predicted that natural disaster such as earthquakes will occur as one of the sign that He is coming soon

SIGN IN THE COLLAPSE OF MORAL SOCIETY

Jesus said :"And because lawlessness will abound,the love of many will grow cold"Matt 24:13,Matt 24:10

"For as the days of Noah,were,so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.For as in the days before the flood,they were eating,drinking,marrying and giving in marriage,until the day Noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away,so also will the coming of the Son of Man be"Matt 24:37-39.These prophecies are being full filed today before our very eyes as we watch society rejecting its christian value/heritage.We are today seeing a loose and immoral society.Immoral and violent movies and are easily accessible via the Internet or TV as a new social normal trend .

ISRAEL-THE CENTRAL SIGN

Jesus Said :"Now learn this parable from the fig tree:when its branch has already become tender and put forth leaves,you know that summer is near.So you also,when you see all these things,know that it is near at the doors!"Matt 24:32

Figuratively,the nation of Israel is this fig tree.In May 14, 1948 the re-establishment of Israel occured.This is another prophetic fulfilment of how the Jewish people will be re-gathered from the "four corners of the earth"(Isaiah 11:10-12)Another significant sign of Israel is that we are told to watch for the end time when Israel will reoccupy Jerusalem(Luke 21:24),Israel become a military power (Zechariah 12:6)and world politic are beginning to focus on Israel (Zechariah 12:3).Isn't it a miracle ?After more that 1800 years since the Jews was dispersed(A.D.70),Israel the "the branch "finally put forth its leaves in 1948 and become the legitimate Independence country and miraculously their mother tongue the Hebrew language was again revived as the fulfilment of Zephaniah's prophecies (Zephaniah 3:9).If we would migrate to another country and stayed there just for over one generation,we would have immersed into that country's culture and perhaps even our children won't be speaking our native language anymore.

There is no doubt that much of these signs are being fulfilled before our eyes and many more prophecies are begining to be unfold as the time of His coming draw near.Jesus said :"Assuredly.I say to you,this generation will by no means pass away till all these things place"(Matt 24:34)

The fig tree has blossomed.We have seen these prophetic signs being fullfil before our very eyes.We are that generation and that Jesus is at the gate of heaven,ready to come down to call us home.The countdown to rapture has begun.The trumpet of God is ready to be blown and the Holy Spirit is ready to arise within us with His anointing power to bring us up to meet the Lord in the air. Jesus said "Now when these things begin to happen,look up and lift up your heads,because your redemption draws near"Luke 21:27

He who has an ear,let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Maranatha!Come Lord Jesus!

GLORIOUS APPEARING-SECOND COMING OF JESUS PHASE II

(PICTURE:MOUNT OF OLIVE)
I must admit, I'm so eager to start unveiling the first chapter of the Book of Revelation right away and continue unto the last chapter of this great book hopefully by the end of this year.Yet again I'm prompt by the Holy Spirit still,to continue this second coming of our Lord prophetic series for a good reason.In my early years as a young christian,my theological understanding concerning the "parousia"of the Lord Jesus was that Christ's second coming was a ONE time imminent return to earth to judge His saints as well as sinners.With so much significant prophetic End time Signs prior to His coming,I just couldn't gather all these pieces of biblical understanding from all four Gospels,Pauline epistles and most of all the Book of the Apocalypse.

My confusions will be mostly the time of events,such as the opening of the seven seals(Rev 6-8),Seven trumpets(Rev 8:1-11:19)seven vials(bowls)(Rev 16)the woman,the dragon,the beast,the false prophet,the Antichrist,the two witness and so forth.I keep asking myself :"when will this or that to happen in the calendar of God?".Therefore,for almost twenty long years I didn't really studied or taught much on Eschatology doctrine.Not until the year 2007 when the Holy Spirit began to stir my heart with a hunger to learn deeply on the book of revelation.
I started to read and meditate upon God's word on this book of Revelation night and day.I've even bought many bible commentaries on this subject.I earnestly prayed to God for His divine wisdom to understand His book.Believe me,when I say this that as the result of my years of intense meditation upon the book of revelation,I'm able to memorize and quote up to almost 2500 words and sentences from the book without even looking at it.God have shown me many wonder full revelations in this book and I'd love to share in this blog.One of the most paramount truth that I've learned was that the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ are a TWO PHASE.In other word,the Lord Jesus is coming again ONCE but in two phase,that is:-

"Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ"(Titus 2:13)

I.PHASE I-RAPTURE,THE COMING OF THE LORD IN THE AIR,THE BLESSED HOPE
Jesus will come down from heaven to take up His church from the earth.This is called the "Rapture"or the "snatching away of the saints" (I Thessalonians 4:15-17).Indeed it was the coming of the Lord BUT His feet will not touch the ground of the earth but rather He positioned Himself in between the heaven and the earth.The Bible clearly mentioned that we shall be caught up together with them(the risen saint's)in the clouds to ..."meet the Lord in the air"(I Thess 4:17b).Clouds speaks of the literal clouds above the earth,the sky above and after that will be the earth atmosphere or as the bible says"the air".Jesus with his angels,positioned Himself in the mid- air and meet His Church.In this scenario only the saints are aware of His coming and but experience the rapture.Its was not a public appearance of Christ ,so the people of the earth was not able to see Him.
Therefore,Jesus warned His church in Revelation 3:3 "Remember therefore how you have received and heard.Hold fast and repent.Therefore if you will not watch,I will come upon you as a thief,and you will not know what hour I will come upon you"Again,this word of Christ confirmed that many believers who are not spiritually watchfull and " sleeping spiritually"will not aware that Christ has come to rapture His Church and they will be left behind.This Rapture event and the coming of the Lord in the air will happened before the 7 years of tribulation period.We are living today waiting upon the Lord to "snatch us away". Jesus said "BE wacthfull"(Rev 3:2)

II. PHASE II-GLORIOUS SECOND COMING,PUBLIC APPEARANCE OF CHRIST
After the Rapture has occurred,by then the superman Antichrist are finally being revealed will sign a seven years peace treaty with the nation of Israel(Daniel 9:27).This will immediately trigger the seven years tribulation period.After the last three and a half years of Great Tribulation occurred,the Lord Jesus will come down from heaven and will go down to earth to rule for a thousand years.His second coming in this manner will be a public appearance.All the inhabitants of the earth will see Him coming down with his saints.The bible said : "Behold He is coming with clouds,and every eye will see Him even they who pierce Him.And all the tribe of the earth will mourn because of Him..."(Rev 1:7).

In this second phase of Christ second coming ,He will come down with His feet firstly touch the ground of the Mount of olive( about 2km from Jerusalem)."Now when He had spoken these things,while they watched,He was taken up,and a cloud received Him out of their sight.And while they look steadfastly toward heaven as He went up,behold two men stood by them in white apparel,who said,"Man of Galilee why do you stand gazing up into heaven?This same Jesus who is taken up from you in heaven,will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven"Act 1:9-11

Christ glorious appearance on His second coming is another significant sign that the 1000 millennium reign has started.Jesus Christ has come back to earth,together with His glorious saints to rule as the King of Kings and Lord of lords for a thousand years.The timing is just after the 7 years tribulation period are done.So whenever we mentioned about Jesus's second coming,we will then need to know whether we are talking about Christ being in the air above the clouds or His second coming with the clouds coming down to earth .

Once we understand and have accepted the fact that the second coming of the Lord are in fact TWO phases (The coming of the Lord in the air (Rapture) & The Glorious second coming of the Lord appearing publicly)its much easier to understand the many facets of eschatological scriptures.Let us examine some of these scriptures .

1.1 Thess 4:16-18 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,with a trumpet of God.And the dead in Christ will rise first.Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught to meet the Lord in the air"-PHASE I-Rapture-Jesus coming in the air

2.John 14:2-3 "In My Father's house are many mansions;if it were not so,I would have told you.I go to prepare a place for you.And if I go and prepare a place for you,I will come again and receive you to Myself;that where I am,there you may be also" -PHASE I-Rapture-Jesus coming in the air

3.Acts 1:9-11"Now when He had spoken these things,while they watch,He was taken up,and a cloud received Him out of the sight.And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up,behold two men stood by them in white apparel,who also said,"Men of Galilee,why do you stand gazing up into heaven?This same Jesus,who was taken up from you into heaven,will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven"-PHASE II-Glorious second coming,public appearance of Christ

4.Zechariah 14:1-15 "Behold,the day of the LORD is coming.."(Verse 1)"An in that day His feet will stand on the mount of olives,which faces Jerusalem on the east.And the mount of olives shall be split into two.."(verse 4)"Thus the LORD my God will come And all the saints with you"(verse 5b)-PHASE II-Glorious second coming,public appearance of Christ

5.I Corinthians 15:51-52"Behold,I tell you a mystery;We shall not all asleep,but we shall all be change in a moment,in the twinkling of an eye,at the last trumpet.For the trumpet will sound,and the dead will be raised incorruptible,and we shall changed"-PHASE I-RAPTURE-Christ coming in the air

6.I Cor I:7-8 "so that you come short in no gift,eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,who is will also confirm you to the end,that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ"-PHASE I-RAPTURE

7.I Thess 3:13"so that He may establish your hearts blameless in the holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints"-PHASE II-Glorious second coming,public appearance of Christ

8.II Thess 1:7-10 "and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels..(verse 9)..."When He comes,in that Day,to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe..."(Verse 10)-PHASE II-Glorious second coming,public appearance of Christ

9.II Timothy 4:8"Finally,there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,which the Lord,the righteous Judge,will give me on that Day,and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing"-PHASE I-RAPTURE-Coming of Christ in the air

10.Hebrew 9:28 "so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.To those who eagerly wait fro Him He will appear a second time,apart from sin,for salvation"-PHASE I-RAPTURE-Second coming of Christ in the air

11.Daniel 2:44-45 "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed;and the kingdom shall not be left to other people;it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,and it shall stand forever....."(verse 44)-PHASE II-Glorious second coming,public appearance and Christ establish the 1000 years kingdom on earth

12.Daniel 7:13-14"I was watching in the night visions And behold,one like the Son of Man,Coming with the clouds of heaven!He came to the Ancient of Days,And they brought Him near before Him.Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,that all peoples,nations,and languages should serve Him.His dominion is an everlasting dominion.Which shall not pass away,And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed "-PHASE II-Glorious second coming,public appearance and the establishment of His 1000 years kingdom

13.I Peter I:7 "that the genuineness of you faith,being much more precious that gold that perishes,though it is tested by fire,may be found to praise,honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ"-PHASE I-THE RAPTURE-Revelation of Christ the air

14.I John 2:28 "And now,little children,abide in Him,that when He appears,we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming"-PHASE I-RAPTURE -Christ second coming in the air

15.Matthew 24:15-31 "For then there will be great tribulation,such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time,no nor ever shall be..."(Verse 21)"Then if anyone says to you,"look here is the Christ!'or"There!'do not believe it" (Verse 23).."For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west,so also will the coming of the Son of Man be" (Verse 27)-PHASE II-Glorious second coming,public appearance

16.Matthew 26:64 "Jesus Said to him"It is as you said.Nevertheless,I say to you,hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power,and coming on the clouds of heaven"PHASE II-Glorious second coming,public appearance of Christ

17.Mark 14:62 "Jesus said"I am,And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power,and coming with the clouds of heaven"-PHASE II-Glorious second coming

18.Rev 2:5 "But hold fast what you have till I come"-PHASE I-THE RAPTURE

19.Rev 3:10"Because you have kept My command to persevere,I will also keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the world,to test those who dwell on the earth"-PHASE I-RAPTURE

20.Rev 1:7"Behold He is coming with clouds and every eye will see Him even they who pierced Him.And all the tribe of the earth will mourn because of Him.Even so.Amen"-PHASE II-Glorious second coming,public appearance

21.Rev 19:11-20 "Now I saw heaven opened,and behold a white horse.and He who sat on it was called Faithfull and True..."(Verse 11)"And the armies in heaven,clothed in fine linen,white and clean,followed Him on white horses"(Verse 14)-PHASE II-Glorious second coming,public appearance with his saints coming down to earth and ready for the battle of Armageddon

RAPTURE - SECOND COMING OF THE LORD- PHASE 1

"For this we say to you by the word of the Lord,that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,with the voice of an archangel,and with the trumpet of God.And the dead in Christ will rise first.Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord.And thus we shall always be with the Lord" I Thessalonians 4 :15-16

Even before I became a born again Christian(I was an ex-roman catholic),as a boy in the late 60's I used to hear the priest in our Sunday church mass service reciting the catholic apostolic creed in our local mother tongue (kadazan).Somehow God has already implanted in my heart a faith to believe that Jesus Christ will come again but I am not ready to meet Him then!Remembering the creed,it says:

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried and He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again and sitteth at the right hand of the Father, From thence HE SHALL COME TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church , the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.Amen"

My in dept research study on biblical Eschatology have further confirmed my belief that Jesus Christ is coming again not only to bring all His saints back to heaven but also to come down from heaven to be the ruler of a Millennial kingdom (1000 years Christ kingdom on earth)as prophesied in the book of revelation (Rev 20:4).A great lenght of theological debates have emerged among the theologians and bible scholars pertaining to the eminent of Christ return.Some scholars believe that Christ will come in the first half quarter of the seven years tribulation period and some were trying to prove that Christ will come at the end of the seven years period.Nevertheless,all of them do agree one thing,and that is the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ as the King/Ruler and the judge who one day will rule for a thousand years.The same issue goes with the Rapture event.

The "pre-tribulation rapture"teaching being originated by John Darby and the Plymouth brethren at the dawn of the nineteenth century suggest that the Lord will come for His Church before the last seven years tribulation.In 1908,over one million copies of William Eugene Blackstone's book entitled "Jesus is coming"was sold promoting this pre-tribulation rapture interpretation.Hal Lidsey,the author of "the great late planet earth"also into it and one current famous theologian who also teaches such belief is Dr.Tim La Haye(Author of "Revelation unveiled")
The "mid-tribulation rapture"scholars claim that the Church will be raptured during the middle of the last seven years,just prior to the last three and a half years of the Great Tribulation.
Scholars such as Harold Ockenga,James Buswell and Norman Harrison initiated such interpretation.
The "post-tribulationist" interpreters are convinced that the Church will undergo the seven years Tribulation.They also perceive the rapture as occurring simultaneously with the second coming of Christ and upon meeting Jesus in the air,the saints will accompany Him in His return to earth.Such view is supported by famous Teachers and Authors such as Pat Robertson,Walter R.Martin and Dr.Brian J.Bailey.Others even predict and claim that they know the exact time and even mention which year that Jesus will come or that rapture will occur!

I'm glad that the Lord didn't send me to study in any Theological seminary/School.He must have some good purposes of not letting me do so even though I did study in deptly Theologies such as Eschatology and the Apocalypse.Believing myself that when the blessed Holy Spirit is within us "He,the Spirit of truth,has come,He will guide you into all truth..."John 16:13 and that the Anointing of the Holy Spirit will enable us to know and being taught on the truth of God's word.(I John 2:27).So as a layman,what will be my belief in these doctrines concerning the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the rapture?.In my previous posting,I did initially mention that I'm comfortable and in the fold with the pre-tribulationist and again in favour with the Postmillennialists group (I'll share this"Postmillennialism" topic in my upcoming post).I believe the Book of Revelation is written to unveil Jesus's prophetic revelation concerning the End time.

I should therefore call myself a Pre-Partial Tribulationist(PPT) and that is,I believe the Church of Jesus Christ will be "caught up"(Raptured)prior to the seven years of tribulation BUT that not all will be raptured and that some Christians Churches will still go through this tribulation period or as Dr.Tom Lahaye wrote in the title of his book will be "Left behind".I believe that only the Spirit filled,obedience Christians who live a holy life will be raptured by the Lord and those who aren't will be left behind .If this is my belief,then I should be become the"Partial Rapture"group of believer then?Absolutely not!.Because the partial rapture interpreters believe that some are raptured before the tribulation and some will be raptured during those seven years tribulation period.

In my next posting,I will put forth my biblical belief and show scriptures on this important doctrines.Till then Maranatha!"Yeshua Hamasiach" the Hebrew name of" Jesus Christ "is coming soon!