Despite the popular theology of our day, Christians should not expect to get out of experiencing the tribulation or the end times. Nowhere in the Bible does the Lord promise us this, say Michael Brown and Craig Keener, two leading, acclaimed Bible scholars. In fact, they say, Jesus promises us tribulation in this world. Yet this is no reason to fear. In this fascinating, accessible, and personal book, Brown and Keener walk you through what the Bible really says about the rapture, the tribulation, and the end times. What they find will leave you full of hope. God's wrath is not poured out on His people, and He will shield us from it--as he shielded Israel in Egypt during the ten plagues. So instead of taking comfort in what God hasn't promised, take comfort in the words of Jesus: He has overcome the world, and we live in his victory.
Despite the popular theology of our day, Christians should not expect to get out of experiencing the tribulation or the end times. Nowhere in the Bible does the Lord promise us this, say Michael Brown and Craig Keener, two leading, acclaimed Bible scholars. In fact, they say, Jesus promises us tribulation in this world. Yet this is no reason to fear. In this fascinating, accessible, and personal book, Brown and Keener walk you through what the Bible really says about the rapture, the tribulation, and the end times. What they find will leave you full of hope. God's wrath is not poured out on His people, and He will shield us from it--as he shielded Israel in Egypt during the ten plagues. So instead of taking comfort in what God hasn't promised, take comfort in the words of Jesus: He has overcome the world, and we live in his victory.
A description of 2,000 years of Christian persecution of the Jews, written by a Jewish Christian who contends that Christians are almost totally ignorant of the Jews' agony throughout the centuries. Pointing to the Jewish origins of Jesus and the apostles, and to positive aspects of Judaism, decries the Christian distortion of Judaism, and the hatred and lies spread against the Jewish people up to the present day. Although he believes that the Jews will eventually come to accept Jesus as the Messiah, Brown calls on Christians to approach Jews with love, and not with hatred. He states that Satan is the author of the spirit of antisemitism, and that Christians must recognize that when they hate Jews they are heeding not God but Satan.
Many of us have been told that we will be "raptured out of here before the Antichrist arrives." But what if this is wrong? Is this really what the Bible teaches? In this thought-provoking and freshly examined account on the second coming of Christ, Alan Kurschner traces the key topics and passages, providing compelling biblical evidence that the church will first encounter the Antichrist's great tribulation before Christ returns to rapture his people and judge the world. Jesus warns us, "Remember, I have told you ahead of time" (Matt. 24:25). And Paul cautions us, "Let no one in any way deceive you, for that day will not arrive until the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness [Antichrist] is revealed, the son of destruction" (2 Thess. 2:3). Since Jesus and Paul ominously warn us "ahead of time," should this not be an urgent message the church needs to hear? Are we spiritually preparing our hearts to be "overcomers" for what may soon come to pass? Some topics in the book include: Antichrist's Great Tribulation, Jesus' Olivet Discourse, Beginning of Birth Pangs, The Apostasy and Revelation of the Antichrist, The Archangel Michael the Restrainer, The Seven Seals, The Rapture of God's People, Celestial Disturbance Event, Sixth Seal Signals Impending Wrath, The Shekinah Sign, "Gather His Elect", The Thessalonian Letters, Where Do Believers Go after the Rapture?, Four Reasons the Rapture Is in Matthew 24:31, The Jewish Remnant Protected for Future Israel, The Day of the Lord that Jesus Knew, Jesus on Back-to-Back Rapture and Wrath, Seventh Seal Pronounces Wrath, Seven Tormenting Trumpets of God's Wrath, Blitzing Bowls and Battle of Armageddon, Key Terms Related to the Return of Christ, Parallels between Jesus and Paul, Proposed Structure to the Book of Revelation, Expectancy Not Imminency, What Did the Early Church Believe? Also included: Kurschner engages his end-time theology (eschatology) of the prewrath perspective with other positions such as pretribulationism, posttribulationism, and preterism.
The story you are about to read is told from the perspective of Julien, a young journalist in close proximity to a person the Bible calls the “Beast.” Julien will give us a window into the character of the Antichrist and how our last days could unfold according to Scripture’s ultimate plot. This imagined prophetic narrative will also reveal how this coming prince may alter reality and impact humankind--and eventually transform into the most malevolent human in history. But what can be known about this man? What does the Bible actually say about this nefarious individual? How close are we to his unveiling? More than a suspenseful mystery, however, this speculative account will arouse your prophetic curiosity, whetting your appetite for more information, more solid biblical food on the subject. And you’ll find that in the last section of the book. Your imagination and curiosity will soar in this raw, rugged, often shocking account of the rise of the Antichrist. He is real, my friend. And he is coming.
The impact of The Late Great Planet Earth cannot be overstated. The New York Times called it the "no. 1 non-fiction bestseller of the decade." For Christians and non-Christians of the 1970s, Hal Lindsey's blockbuster served as a wake-up call on events soon to come and events already unfolding -- all leading up to the greatest event of all: the return of Jesus Christ. The years since have confirmed Lindsey's insights into what biblical prophecy says about the times we live in. Whether you're a church-going believer or someone who wouldn't darken the door of a Christian institution, the Bible has much to tell you about the imminent future of this planet. In the midst of an out-of-control generation, it reveals a grand design that's unfolding exactly according to plan. The rebirth of Israel. The threat of war in the Middle East. An increase in natural catastrophes. The revival of Satanism and witchcraft. These and other signs, foreseen by prophets from Moses to Jesus, portend the coming of an antichrist . . . of a war which will bring humanity to the brink of destruction . . . and of incredible deliverance for a desperate, dying planet.
Early in the 1800's-as the second wave of the Great Awakening reached its zenith-a tiny religious sect in Britain began to publicly teach a new end-of-the-world doctrine. Later in the 1800's, a second British sect-afraid the millions of ordinary Christians would learn of the bizarre origin of this new view-plotted to cover up its origins. And now it has grown to be the popular and sensational fundamentalist and evangelical any-moment, pretribulation rapture theory. MacPherson carefully documents, step by step, its origin in the 1820's, and follows its subsequent development and popularization in America by Darby and Scofield. This book is the never-before-told true story of how visions, subtle document changes, plagiarism, and what MacPherson called the mother of all revisionisms, has obscured the true origin of what has now become the sensationalist end-of-the-world doctrine pervading evangelicalism today.
Why are the seriously ill seldom healed? Why do people fall in the Spirit yet remain unchanged? Why can believers speak in tongues and wage spiritual warfare without impacting society? This book confronts you with its life-changing answers.
It has been nearly two years since the day of the mass disappearances. In one cataclysmic instant, millions all over the globe simply vanished, leaving everything but flesh and bone behind. Global war has erupted, and the Tribulation Force sets a suicidal course that places them in direct opposition to the rise of Antichrist. A repackage of the third book in the New York Times best-selling Left Behind series.
The rapture of the church is perhaps the most awaited hour of Christianity and perhaps one of the most disputed events. The irony is that scripture never mentions the word rapture but the event is accounted for in other language. It is referred to as the day of the Lord, the catching away, the resurrection, the second coming, and the gathering of the elect. It is the time when the Lord Jesus Christ will return to redeem His church out of this world. So, what is the mystery? What is the dispute? Like many things in scripture, the rapture is clouded in mystery. In the modern world, the events surrounding the rapture, to include the rapture itself, makes for great cinema and story. A picture of cataclysmic destruction and agony strike fear and anxiety in the heart of the hearer. Couple that with confusion to its timing and sequence in events leads to a misunderstanding of the times that Jesus said we are supposed to know. People like the shroud of mystery and inconclusive understanding. It tickles the ears of those who seek to have a divine revelation of these events and perpetuates the interests of the seemingly unknown. End time prophecy existed from the beginning and as we read throughout the Old Testament we find many scriptures that pertain to those times. Nearly one-third of the Bible discusses prophecy so its importance is significant. It seems that the Lord wanted us to know something. This is what He told His disciples. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. (John 14:28-30) Jesus spoke of His ascension to Heaven and His return from Heaven, the rapture. He said that He tells us things before they happen so when they happen, we might believe. His disciples worried about His going away but He reassured them of His return and as we look at what Jesus said throughout His ministry, He was not shy about discussing His return. After studying the Word and prophecy for many years, I know this truth. There is no doubt as we see the world shaping up today that the events discussed throughout scripture are happening. The news headlines are saying the same thing that scripture foretold and it builds my faith. It is so clear that those who profess Christianity around the world see that the prophecies are coming to pass. There seems to be a stirring among believers that Jesus Christ is getting ready to return. There is no doubt in their minds of this truth. The problem is the confusion surrounding end time prophecies and there doesn't have to be. While writing this book I was very careful to use scripture and nothing but scripture. Anything outside of scripture is opinion. I don't want opinion. I want to know what God has to say about these topics. The popular view of end time events sees it one way and in their view it as absolute, even if the possible shows another way. I wrote this book on tribulation and rapture so we can see what the Bible says. I hope to show you truth through scripture. You must evaluate that for yourself through study and prayer. This work has much scripture in it because people tend not to look up references. I encourage you, have your Bible with this book and look it up for yourself. We can know certain things by looking at the scriptures and we can understand with confidence how things will happen, to a certain degree. That's why God gave it to us, so we can know the signs of the time.
