A brother posted that he thinks most Christians will be killed off by the time of Antichrist's reign, whether by war, natural disasters, or persecution. I don't know what his position is on the timing of the Rapture of the Church.
I find that interesting not because I 100% agree with it, but because it allows me to improve my position somewhat. Of course, this is theoretical, because the future is hard to know with any precision.
I'm not Pretrib, so I don't accept that the international Church is removed from the earth during the last 3.5 years of the age. But I do agree that the vast majority of Christians will be gone by that time from other causes. As Christians become less and less popular with the waning of Christian civilization, there will be relatively few who will be raptured alive at the end of the age.
Think of Elijah who was raptured to heaven. He was only one person in Israel who went missing. Only a few missed him.
Similarly, at the end of the age there will be relatively few Christians among the nations, I think. And when Christ comes back, those few he takes up to heaven will hardly be missed!
Israel is the template for all this. It was the nation who developed the pattern that we now see among all Christian nations. The baton was passed from Israel to the Roman Empire--think: "the Kingdom will be taken from Israel and given to a nation worthy of it."
So just as Israel was worthy at one time, so in the present age many European nations have been worthy in the past. But as Israel fell away, so now many Christian nations are turning to apostasy.
And so, just like the multitudes initially followed Jesus and then turned away, learning how unpopular the cross was, so now the multitudes of Christians in Christian nations have now been turning away from Christianity due to its unpopularity in the world. And I do think the vast numbers of Christians are dwindling in our time.
Yes, many are Christian in name only, just as in Jesus' time, Jews were God's Chosen in name only. What we're seeing is a fulfillment, I think, of what Jesus said: "when the Son of Man comes will he find faith on the earth?"
What this means to me is that even though we're seeing the beginning of the end of Christian civilization in the present age, there are still way too many Christians for things to go completely south yet. There is still room for ministry.
And we should encourage one another to remain faithful as we see many fall away due to the unpopularity of the message of the cross. When the Rapture of the Church finally takes place at Christ's 2nd Coming, there will likely be relatively few Christians noticed who are "missing."
When Christ comes, the nations, including Israel, will show fear at the coming of the Son of Man in judgment from heaven. They will be ashamed of their ways, and will suffer great remorse for their hardness of hearts.
But Christ's Coming will open up the door for renewal in the world, both for Israel and for the nations. Christian Civilization will, I think, be restarted.
I find that interesting not because I 100% agree with it, but because it allows me to improve my position somewhat. Of course, this is theoretical, because the future is hard to know with any precision.
I'm not Pretrib, so I don't accept that the international Church is removed from the earth during the last 3.5 years of the age. But I do agree that the vast majority of Christians will be gone by that time from other causes. As Christians become less and less popular with the waning of Christian civilization, there will be relatively few who will be raptured alive at the end of the age.
Think of Elijah who was raptured to heaven. He was only one person in Israel who went missing. Only a few missed him.
Similarly, at the end of the age there will be relatively few Christians among the nations, I think. And when Christ comes back, those few he takes up to heaven will hardly be missed!
Israel is the template for all this. It was the nation who developed the pattern that we now see among all Christian nations. The baton was passed from Israel to the Roman Empire--think: "the Kingdom will be taken from Israel and given to a nation worthy of it."
So just as Israel was worthy at one time, so in the present age many European nations have been worthy in the past. But as Israel fell away, so now many Christian nations are turning to apostasy.
And so, just like the multitudes initially followed Jesus and then turned away, learning how unpopular the cross was, so now the multitudes of Christians in Christian nations have now been turning away from Christianity due to its unpopularity in the world. And I do think the vast numbers of Christians are dwindling in our time.
Yes, many are Christian in name only, just as in Jesus' time, Jews were God's Chosen in name only. What we're seeing is a fulfillment, I think, of what Jesus said: "when the Son of Man comes will he find faith on the earth?"
What this means to me is that even though we're seeing the beginning of the end of Christian civilization in the present age, there are still way too many Christians for things to go completely south yet. There is still room for ministry.
And we should encourage one another to remain faithful as we see many fall away due to the unpopularity of the message of the cross. When the Rapture of the Church finally takes place at Christ's 2nd Coming, there will likely be relatively few Christians noticed who are "missing."
When Christ comes, the nations, including Israel, will show fear at the coming of the Son of Man in judgment from heaven. They will be ashamed of their ways, and will suffer great remorse for their hardness of hearts.
But Christ's Coming will open up the door for renewal in the world, both for Israel and for the nations. Christian Civilization will, I think, be restarted.
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