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THE CHURCH AGE

What is “the church age?”

Paul says the church age is a HIDDEN MYSTERY not revealed to the priests and prophets of the Old Testament.

“…THE MYSTERY WHICH HAS BEEN HIDDEN from ages and from generations,
but now has been revealed to his saints.”
Colossians 1:26

The church age, the mystery age, was birthed on Pentecost. It came in by total surprise, and it will go out the same way. Suddenly and unexpectedly.

The Book of Revelation, written by the apostle John, gives us details about the last seven years of the age. The first three chapters of the Book of Revelation are all about the Church. In these first three chapters we see Jesus addressing seven churches and giving his message to them in great detail. In these chapters there is no mention of the Tribulation, no, it’s all about the Church and only the church.

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The Church Is Missing

In Revelation chapter 4 the messages to the churches ends, and the church is no more seen on earth until the end.

“After these things I looked, and behold, a door opened 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.’”
Revelation 4:1

Note: From chapter 4:1, John is in heaven seeing the things unfolding on the earth.

The following chapters are all about the Tribulation. From this point on, the rest of the Book of Revelation describes the terrible plagues that fall onto the earth during the seven last years. The details of these judgments unfold in increasing horror throughout the “Seals,” the Trumpets,” and the “Vials.” They continue until chapter 19 where we see Jesus Christ coming to end the war of Armageddon, to bind Satan, and it proceeds to reveal the ensuing thousand-year reign of Christ over all the entire earth.

It must be noted again that throughout the Tribulation there is no mention of the church, with the exception of the people who turned to Christ during the early Tribulation chapters and are martyred for not accepting the Antichrist. They are shown to be martyred and are then seen in heaven. These are referred to as “the Tribulation saints.”

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The Restrainer

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work;
only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
And then the lawless one will be revealed…”
2nd Thessalonians 2:7-8

Who is “the Restrainer?”

First of all, the Restrainer is not the Holy Spirit, because we know that no one can be saved without the Holy Spirit, and there are people saved in the early parts of the Tribulation, so the Holy Spirit has to be on earth at that time.

So who IS the Restrainer?

The one restraining iniquity is the Body of Christ on earth.

. The Body of Christ is the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
. The Body of Christ is to occupy until Jesus comes.
. The Body of Christ is hindering the working of iniquity.

If the Body of Christ weren’t here, all wickedness would have free reign without any restraint whatsoever.

When the Body of Christ, the church is removed, THEN the Antichrist will be revealed and when there isn’t a single righteous person to restrain him he will carry out the unprecedented evil he will bring over the entire earth as the wrath of God is unleashed in unprecedented fury. Jesus said of this time:

“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.”
Matthew 24:21

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The Last Trump

There is more than one kind of Trumpet in the Bible.

There are two FUNCTIONS of Biblical Trumpets:

1. the Trumpet call to war
2. the Trumpet call to assembly

The seven trumps of the Book of Revelation are trumps of judgment. The last trumpet in Revelation 10:7 is presented as the last of seven trumpets blown in a sequence as God releases His WRATH upon a Christ-rejecting world.

The Trump of the Rapture is not one of the judgment trumps from the Book of Revelation. The Rapture trump is in 1st Corinthians. It is not a trumpet of war, it is a trump of assembly.

When Jesus comes, he’s coming to assemble the Church, not pour judgment on her.

“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 in the air. And thus we shall ever be with the Lord.
Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
1st Thessalonians 4:16-18

If this last trump were referring to the trumps in the Book of Revelation, we would not hardly be able to say, “Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

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Are Pre-Trib Rapture Believers Escapists?

“Why,” critics say, “should we get the easy way out when so many others are suffering all over the world?”

Why? Because Jesus TOLD us to ask for it!

“Watch therefore, and PRAY always
that you may be counted worthy to ESCAPE
all these things that will come to pass,
and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Luke 21:36

It’s not a matter of suffering. There has been suffering from the beginning of the world. No, those who are taken in the Rapture are not taken on the basis of how much they have suffered. They are taken on the basis of their faith in Jesus Christ as the church age is being closed. The Rapture takes place independently of what any believers anywhere have or have not suffered. The Rapture is Jesus rescuing his believers before the wrath of God is poured out upon the world.

To pray this is something he counsels us to do, it’s not a suggestion.

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