WHEN THE CHURCH IS GONE

I THESS. 4:13-18, II THESS. 1:7-10

I have just read two passages of scripture that to some might appear to be talking about the same event or the same time period. However, the first passage speaks of the Rapture of the Church. The second, however, speaks of the Second Coming of the Lord. These are two distinct events, separated by a time period. In the Rapture, those who are in Christ shall meet the Lord in the air and go back to be with Him forever. The Day of the Lord begins when Christ comes to set up His kingdom here on earth (Zech 14:1-9). In the Rapture, Jesus never touches the ground. At the Second Coming not only does He touch the ground, but He also sets up His kingdom and rules here on earth. The Bible gives plenty of evidence that distinguishes these two events. But my task here today is not to prove to you that the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming are different. I want to talk to you about what will happen when the Church is Gone. I believe the Book of Revelation is the one Book in the Bible that is written predominantly for the sinner who in rebellion refuses to accept Jesus as Savior. The sad part is that those of us who have taken time to really study Revelation, will not be here to interpret for those sinners the events that are there. For those of you who are here today I hope to help you to see what is written in Revelation. I want to minister today on the subject “WHEN THE CHURCH IS GONE”.

Let me mention here that those who have studied Rev. and Daniel show that the time period between the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of Christ is considered the 70th week in the prophecy of Daniel and is seven years. This is based on Daniel 9:24-27 and the fact that the events that were to occur in 69 weeks actually took 483 years, which means that one of Daniel’s weeks equals 7 years.

REV. 1:1, 19

What is written here in this Book is what God revealed to Jesus and gave him permission to show to us his servants. Jesus then shows these events to John who is commanded to write them down. (has seen - 1:10 - 18, which are - 1:20 - 3:22 (this is the church age) here after - 4:2- (note that the Church is referenced 16 times in the first three chapters of Revelation, but is not referenced once from chapter 6 through 18. When next we see the Church it is as the Bride of Christ at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9).

REV. 5:1

This book is a scroll closed with 7 seals. We are not told what is in this book. But in chapter 5 we are told that only Jesus is worthy to break the seals and open the book.

REV. 6:1-2

This depicts the rise of a new world leader. This is a man who comes into power after the turmoil of the rapture. At the onset he looks simply like a world leader who has a plan to pull things back together after millions are reported missing. He is riding on a white horse because he is a counterfeit of Christ.

Dan. 9:27

The world leader will make a 7 year covenant with Israel were he promises them peace, freedom of religion and control over Jerusalem and the promised land. But midway through the 7 years he is break his covenant.

REV. 6:3-4

The second horseman is one of war. This is a great war between those who resist the authority of the new world leader and those who side with him. This world leader will later be recognized as the antichrist and described as a beast.

REV. 13:1-2

This man will declare himself ruler over the 7 continents. This will bring about the war described in chapter 6:3-4. The beast or antichrist will win this war and will establish a world government based 10 regions over which he will appoint rulers. The description given in verse 2 is explained in Daniel 7:1-7 and means that the beast, or the government that he establishes, has characteristics of three empire that existed before this final empire (leopard -Greek, bear-Medo-Persian, lion-Babylonian). Of most importance is that the beast got his power from Satan (Rev. 12:7-9).

REV. 6:5-6

This horse denotes a great famine in the land. This is not unusual after a large war. The announce is that one could buy one quart of wheat or 3 quarts of barley for a day’s wages. One quart of wheat would feed one person one meal and 3 quarts of barley would provide three meals. But neither of these options would leave enough money to buy oil or wine.

REV. 6:7-8

This final horse represents death and hell. Death is a result of war and famine. Also present here is the attack of wild animals and disease. At this point one fourth of the earth’s population will die. Many of these will die and go to hell.

REV. 6:9-11

The 5th seal shows us a group who have been killed because of their faith. These are people who get saved after the rapture and are martyred because of their beliefs.

REV. 7:1-4

When the Church is raptured, the nonbelieving Jews will then recognize Jesus as the long awaited Messiah. At that time they will turn to him as Savior. This is what Paul was speaking of in Romans.

ROM. 11:25-28

Though Israel was blind to who Jesus was when he walked the earth, God did not cast them aside forever. God’s purpose in allowing them to be blinded was to make room for the gentiles. But once the Church age is over, the Jews will again be grafted back into the vine. These Jews will then be the major witnesses for Christ during the tribulation.

Matt. 24:3-14

After the rapture of the Church many Jews and gentiles will get saved. However, it will be a terrible time to be a Christian and things will only get worse for the Christian as the 7 years progress. Families and friends will begin to turn on one another. The world will be divided into those who support the antichrist and those who do not. Failure to stand with the antichrist and his policies could result in death. But this is called just the beginning of sorrows. For there is an even greater sorrow coming. You see we are still in the first 3.5 years, where the beast has not shown his true colors.

REV. 6:12-17

The 6th seal brings about an earthquake so great that there is a shifting in the locations of mountains and islands of the earth. But even worse than the earthquake is the fact that the sun turns black or is darkened, the moon turns red like blood, and the stars fall to the earth like fruit falling off a tree. A black sun means world-wide darkness and bitter cold during what would be day. An could this mean that the moon will be red hot during what would be night. The sky is in turmoil. It is such a painful and torturous time that people, rich and poor, powerful men and common men, everyone, cried out to die so that they would have to face no more of the wrath of God.

REV. 8:1-2, 7-13

By the time the first four trumpets have sounded 1/3 of the trees on the earth and all of the green grass has been destroyed, 1/3 of the sea life is dead, 1/3 of the supply of drinking water is poisoned, and 1/3 of a day is pitch black. If all of this is not bad enough, an angel is flying around pronouncing three woes on the earth because of what is yet to come.

REV. 9:1-12

There is no reference to these creatures anywhere else in the Bible. Whether these are literal creatures or symbolic of something else can not be said. We do know that they are no ordinary locust. They are intelligent beings; they follow a leader and are capable of receiving and obeying commands. Some suggest that these are demonic creatures. We do know that they were locked in a pit and have been released so that they can torment men . It appears that they would sting men much like a scorpion and that the affect of the sting would last 5 months. Their torment is so bad that again men cry out to die, but death escapes them. These locust were not allowed to sting everyone. Who was exempt. Only those who had the seal of God in their forehead. This would be the 144000 Jew that were sealed in Chapter 7. They alone are exempt. This torment is but the first woe.

REV. 9:13-19

Here we have 4 fallen angels that have been bound up and reserved for the day when they will be loosed to lead an army of 200 million. Is this an army of men being lead by demonic influences or is this a literal army of demons. We don’t know. But what we do know is that 1/3 of earth’s population will be killed by this army.

REV. 9:20-21

At this time those on the earth have gone through about 3.5 years and the new world leader has not truly shown himself to be the antichrist. But the earth is in a terrible fix. Famine, earthquakes, pestilence, disease, wars with weird armies, people dying all around and sometimes people crying out to die and finding it impossible to do so. All the things that Jesus called the beginning of sorrows in Matt. 24 will have happened. Yet with all that has happened there will be those who will not repent of their evil and turn to God.