THE DAY OF THE LORD

Many believers look around the world today and ponder whether these prophetic times will be upon us soon. For the church, it will be a great day indeed. For it is biblically correct to state that the Day of the Lord will be ushered in by the rapture of the church.

God has His plan for the earth and His own. Make no mistake: God will execute it according to His revealed will. So that we know the following from scripture:

Until this time of "grace" is over the Holy Spirit (Through the True church) restrains evil in the world (2 Thess.2:1-12). The church is empowered to spread the Salvation message of "the Gospel of Grace".

The church is the corporate vessel that The Spirit indwells. Once the church is removed from the earth evil will have its full day in the first stage of a period called "The Day of The Lord". It is called this because the Lord is suddenly acting on the earth, first in judgment, the darkest time in human history, and then in His sovereign right as King of Kings in His 1000 year rule from Jerusalem. (1 Thess.5:2-4).

These times and seasons leading up to the conclusion of this age of man is NOT for the church. They belong to the "lost" earthly people. The church is looking for Jesus Christ, NOT for times and seasons. The word for "times" in Greek is chronos, from which we get our English word chronology. God's chronology including "The Day of The Lord" and "The Great Tribulation" is for Israel and the gentiles. (1 Thess.5:1).

The church is not in darkness. We are in the light (1 Thess.5:4-5).

We are not appointed to wrath (1 Thess.5:9).

We are to comfort one another with these truths (1 Thess.5:11).

These things cannot happen until the true church is removed from the earth (2 Thess.2:1-12).
*The Holy Spirit will remain on earth to do the works GOD has ordained but will no longer RESTRAIN EVIL. The calling out of the Church by The Spirit is over and it's restraining influence over evil in the world as well. It is the time of terrible judgments Christ will send upon the earth.
In Mt.24:14, a message is preached during the entire "Tribulation" period called "The Gospel of The Kingdom". It is the same message both Jesus and John the Baptist preached to Israel before they rejected Jesus. Once again, IT IS GOD'S MESSAGE TO THE NATION OF ISRAEL FIRST THEN THE GENTILES! And this time God will make it work for the believing remnant as set forth below. (Mt4:17).

This is NOT the message we preach. We direct our witness to individuals to come out of this world to Jesus. We do not know the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, but those in the Tribulation will and that is their ministry. It is a ministry rekindled TO ISRAEL. It is for the believing Jewish remnant to do. We, on the other hand preach "The Gospel of Grace"(Mt. 11:28;20:28).
After this event( the rapture of the church) scripture reveals "the man of sin", The Antichrist, who will come upon the scene arising from the western powers and be possessed by Satan (2 Thess.2:9).
Preceding this will be the falling away of the apostate church (2 Thess.2:3-12) which will enter into the "tribulation" and cozy up to this world ruler in an an unholy union and alliance(Rev.17). This will lead to the world rule of Anti-christ and God's judgments upon the earth culminating with the triumphant return of the Lord to defeat all the world powers (Rev.17:14) and usher in the millennium (Rev.20:1-3).

For the believing Israelites it is good news. This terrible time will lead to a revelation of the true Israel, in belief, in the land God granted them. This will happen as a result of God's actions on their behalf who will deliver them from all their enemies at the conclusion of the great tribulation. The 144,000 of Rev.7:2-4 form the foundation of a new Israel "Born in a day" (Isaiah 66:7-9). Their deliverer will be none other then Jesus Christ, The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. The Old Testament saints will be raised from the dead and they too will complete this miracle promised them by God.

Ample biblical proof exists to conclude that todays efforts to secure peace and safety for Israel are bound for failure according to God's revealed will and His plan for humankind (Isaiah:chapters 12-13; Joel 1-15;2:2).

The day of the Lord, in prophetic times, covers the coming tribulation ( Rev.chaps 6-19) and Christ's reign on David's throne for 1000 years (Rev.20). It ends at the great white throne judgment of the lost of all ages (Rev.20:11-15) and the ushering in of the new heavens and earth called "the day of God" (2Pet.10-13)

Let's take a look at some scripture, directly relating to Israel, that addresses God's fulfillment of His plan for His chosen people.

In Jeremiah 31:27-40 we see God acting in the affairs of Israel according to His covenants with their forefathers. Prophetically it looks into the future time of the day of the Lord when believing Israel will be regathered from all the nations of the world and God will make a " new covenant" with them that will never be forgotten (See: Jeremiah 32:37-40; 50:5; Joel 3:1; Isaiah 11:10-12; Ezekiel 37:21-28; Acts 15:15-18).

It is God who will cause Israel's salvation and bring them peace and security. For Israel will never achieve these goals through the help of worldly powers. They are God's property now and forever. He is their jealous guarantor, their husband and deliverer. And those nations that she makes deals with will have God to answer to now and at the conclusion of mans age.