What gets me is the fact that in all these discussions as it relates to the rapture they always bring up 1 Thessalonians 5:9. You know, "For God has not destined us for wrath." Which means we will be raptured to avoid God's wrath. Please read my post #39 where I explain how they are taking the verse out of context. Tell me what you think! And keep up the good work.
IN GOD THE SON,
bluto
You can back up several verses to verse 2 to easily refute their heresy.
1 Thessalonians 5:2
"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."
Compare this to what Jesus said here:
Rev 16:1
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
Rev 16:2
And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and
upon them which worshipped his image.
Rev 16:3
And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead
man: and every living soul died in the sea.
Rev 16:4
And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
Rev 16:5
And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
Rev 16:6
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
Rev 16:7
And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous
are thy judgments.
Rev 16:8
And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
Rev 16:9
And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Rev 16:10
And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Rev 16:11
And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Rev 16:12
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
Rev 16:13
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs
come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
Rev 16:14
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles,
which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Rev 16:15
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed
is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Rev 16:16
And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
As the sixth angel is pouring out his vial of the wrath of God, Jesus has still not "come as a thief" (vs. 15).
Of course, the mark of the beast and his image are already here (vs. 2) prior to Christ's coming as a thief, and so are the seat of the beast and his kingdom (vs. 10).