Will UFOs Be Used to Explain Away the Rapture?

To answer this question, we invited Billy Crone, the senior pastor of Sunrise Baptist Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, and founder of Get A Life! Ministries, to our television program Christ in Prophecy. Billy covered a number of sensationalist Bible prophecy topics such as UFOs and the Nephilim.

Nathan Jones: Billy, when it comes to sensationalist Bible prophecy, often we’re talking about UFOs. You’ve done a lot of research into UFOs. Can you explain why you approach UFOs so often in your teachings?

Billy Crone: UFOs were part of my background when I was involved in the occult and New Age before I became saved. In the New Age, one of the big subjects is UFOs and the lie that is going on about them. Quite a lot of sensationalism and deception has been going on with that topic. It’s a topic that we the Church do need to get equipped on because the Scriptures, I believe, give us the answer.

Whether we accept it or not, our world is enthralled with the topic of UFOs and aliens. Right now, just looking at current statistics in the United States of America, more people believe in the existence of UFOs and aliens than they do in the existence of God. More people in the United States of America believe that aliens have visited planet Earth than Jesus is the Son of God.

So many people are obsessed with UFO-ology, because Hollywood has been promoting it. The lie of Evolution sets the foundation for this study. UFO-ology has become the new religion of the 21st Century in our own country. Its adherents believe that aliens are going to save them, not God.

We need to deal with this new religion because our world is being led astray. Plus, the Scriptures say we are to give a defense for the hope that lies within us.

From a biblical perspective, number one, you know that there is something deceptive going on because the very nature and the whole premise of UFOs is built on a lie. It is called the lie of Evolution. When these aliens are supposedly going to show up, they’re expected to say, “We’re a higher, evolved race.”

Stop right there! Evolved? Wait a second. Evolved equals Evolution. Well, Evolution is not true. We were created by God! We didn’t come from the goo, to the zoo, to me and you. No, we came from God, right?

But, the whole alien premise, their whole identity when they supposedly show up on the scene, is a lie. Now, go back to the Scriptures. In John 8, what does Jesus say? “Satan is not only a murderer, and he’s been one since the beginning, he’s a liar, and he’s the father of all lies.” The alien’s claim to evolutionary superiority tells you right out of the gate that you are being deceived.

The other lie aliens are supposed to make, too, is they’ll claim, “We are here to give you some incredible messages, and we’ve come all the way across the universe to give you this important information.” When you look at what they are “sharing,” it’s all about debunking Jesus, the Bible, God, and salvation. These supposed alien visitors claim there is no such thing as sin. They say that we need to combine into a one-world religion and a one-world government. I kid you not! They claim humanity needs to follow a one-world ruler, or we are going to be destroyed. They say that we need to worship Mother Earth.

These alien visitors actually have the audacity to say that Satan is a good guy who has come to free us! Now, excuse me, that is demonic, that is a deception, that is a lie.

Then they say, in order to receive these messages, you have to let them take over a person’s vocal cords, and speak through people with their messages. Stop right there! These aliens are supposed to be this highly evolved, technologically advanced race, much more scientific than we are, for that’s how they supposedly traveled here across the cosmos, right? But then, they cannot communicate to us by just sending a text message or calling us on the phone? I’ll even take an old handwritten letter. Why do they have to take over people’s vocal cords and speak through them?

I believe the bulk of UFO sightings can be explained by natural experiences. But then, there’s an element that we need to take a look at closely to see what is going on there. Secular guys are confirming that there is one way to get rid of these aliens 100% of the time. When you command them in the name of Jesus Christ to flee, they flee instantly!

One lady I interviewed in Oregon who had this encounter said when she did that, not only did the “aliens” flee out of there, they fled out of there so fast they were tripping over each other. Now, wait a second; who flees in the name of Jesus? That’d be a demon. They didn’t flee due to the name of Mohammed, or Buddha, or Confucius. No, just the name of Jesus Christ.

Billy Crone: UFO-ology is leading to the last day’s deception. In order to fall for the lie of UFOs, you first have to fall for the lie of Evolution. This tells you how slowly and methodically the Enemy has been setting up the planet for this great deception. He started back in the 1850’s with Charles Darwin who has now permeated the planet with his Theory of Evolution.

Secondly, Evolution gets some help from Hollywood. They glamorize aliens and UFOs. Everybody then “knows” there must be real live aliens out there. As a matter of fact, you’re considered a wacko for not believing that aliens must be real. Folks, science fiction is leading society to somewhere.

I remember back before I was saved and was immersed in the New Age. I received these so-called “channeled messages” from supposed space aliens. Now that I’m saved, I know that was all demonic. In my documentary, I actually quote these demons who are continually preparing the way to explain away the Rapture of the Church.

The Rapture of the Church is true. The Bible teaches about that soon- coming event. Put yourself, if you will, in the Enemy’s shoes. Soon there will be an event that will occur around the globe where millions of people from all across the planet instantaneously disappear, and they’ll specifically only be Christians. You just can’t spin that baby. You can’t hide that event. So, you better come up with some good excuse.

Think about how slowly and methodically the Enemy has been preparing their lie to explain away the Rapture. It started with Evolution back in the 1850s, and Hollywood has perpetuated it today. All somebody has to do right after the Rapture is stand up on the world scene, maybe somebody even like the pope, and try to reassure people. He may say, “Hey, people! I just want you to know you were right all along. The government has been hiding this truth from you. UFOs and aliens are real. See, that’s why all of these people have disappeared. It was aliens. They beamed all of those Christians up to their ships.”

Nathan Jones: Isn’t that a central tenant of New Age teaching, that when Maitreya returns, after Christians have been taken off this planet, that humanity can at last evolve to their true states without those accursed Christians holding people back?

Billy Crone: That is another one of Satan’s lies. It’s very convenient, I dare say. Think about how much UFOs have permeated the mindset of people. They are going to fall for that excuse for the Rapture lickety-split.

They’ll actually spin the fact that the world has been left behind into a seemingly good thing. Jesus said the seven-year Tribulation will be the worse time in the history of mankind. But, no, these deceivers will spin that being left behind was a blessing. “You are a chosen one. Now you get to be a part of the Age of Utopia as we rebuild the planet in a wonderful time of peace.”

How crazy! After all, the event that starts the seven-year Tribulation will be the Antichrist. As Daniel 9:27 and Revelation 6:1 reveal, this White Horse Rider initiates a false peace. The people will go, “This is true. Look! He made a deal in the Middle East that nobody could do. How amazing! We’ve at last got peace on our planet. Everybody has come together, even religion and government. How amazing! How wonderful!” Nope! You just found yourself left behind in the seven-year Tribulation. It wasn’t UFOs that sucked those people up. That was Jesus Christ coming back to collect His Bride.

Especially in a time of crisis and on such a massive scale, human nature gravitates toward any lame excuse just to maintain one’s sanity. Aliens are not a lame excuse for the Rapture because, with this one, the world is ripe to fall for it.

Nathan Jones: Some people theorize that the Antichrist might arrive claiming that he is an alien, sort of like Superman. I don’t know where they get that, but do you think they may be correct?

Billy Crone: Well, sure. Why not? You’ve got some people who say the Antichrist will be a Muslim. Where in the Bible are they reading that one? The origins of the Antichrist, unfortunately, is often a topic people sensationalize. In doing so, they lead people astray from the biblical teaching. Such a theory may warrant our attention, but stick purely with the Bible.

I’m convinced this fascination with UFOs provides us a great opportunity to witness to the lost. The lost are enthralled with UFOs and aliens, and to me, it provides a fantastic opportunity to share the Gospel with them.

You can view the full interview titled “Sensationalism in Bible Prophecy with Billy Crone” at this link.

There are no aliens. There will be no rapture. There is just us, living side by side. There will be no “get out early card.” Plan accordingly. And yes, I do enjoy some science reading.

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How are you at some bible reading?

I agree with you and so does the bible

Every one of these pre trib rapture believers gets the texts wrong. They all believe they are going to be “taken” up to meet Christ in the clouds and the others are “left behind” It’s actually those left behind, according to the bible, that go to heaven. Those taken, die.

Luke 17:35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Luke 17:36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Mat 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Mat 24:41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Where are they “taken?”

Luke 17:37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

Mat 24:28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Note that in verse 39, the wicked who perished in the flood are described as being taken away. The wicked are taken first, not the righteous. Next, it tells us that it shall be exactly the same at the second coming of the Lord. Clearly in in days of Noah, those taken first perished, and so it will be again at the second coming. The Greek word translated as "took" in verse 39 is:

142. airo, ah'ee-ro; a prim. verb; to lift; by impl. to take up or away; fig. to raise (the voice), keep in suspense (the mind); spec. to sail away (i.e. weigh anchor); by Heb. [comp. H5375] to expiate sin:--away with, bear (up), carry, lift up, loose, make to doubt, put away, remove, take (away, up).

Note that the word means to remove or to take away, as in to dispose of. Now notice that in Luke 17:37, a question is asked: "Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together". This answer given by Jesus refers to the vultures gathering over the bodies of the wicked, those taken first and disposed of in Mat 24:39, which are all slain at the second coming (See also Rev 19:20-21).

New International Version "Where, Lord?" they asked. He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather."

Berean Study Bible “Where, Lord?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.”

New American Standard Bible And answering they said to Him, "Where, Lord?" And He said to them, "Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered."

International Standard Version Then they asked him, "Where, Lord, will this take place?" He told them, "Wherever there's a corpse, there the vultures will gather."

And on and on.....

The 17th chapter of Luke, which we began this study with, again makes it plain that the wicked will all perish at the return of Christ:

Luke 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. Luke 17:27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Luke 17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; Luke 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Luke 17:30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

The lesson is clear. Sudden destruction comes upon the wicked at the second coming, they will all perish as in the days of Noah: Gen 7:21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

Gen 7:22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. Gen 7:23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

So in Luke 17 and Matt 24, Jesus was not teaching a mysterious, silent, or secret rapture of the righteous away from the world. He was making it clear, that at His second coming, all the wicked will be taken and slain first, leaving only the righteous alive, who will then accompany Jesus to heaven. This utter destruction of the wicked at Jesus' return is completely ignored by those teaching the secret rapture.

And the icing on the cake....

The Parable of the Tares of the Field.

Now, in the book of Matthew, Jesus tells a parable about the end of the world, which is intended to explain some end time events of the second coming:

Mat 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Mat 13:26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
Mat 13:27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
Mat 13:28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
Mat 13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Jesus then explains the parable in detail to His disciples:

Mat 13:36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
Mat 13:37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
Mat 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Mat 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
Mat 13:40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
Mat 13:41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Mat 13:42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 13:43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Note the timing of events Jesus describes, and how it compares with those taken first in Matthew 24:39-42. At the end of the world, when the time for the harvest of humanity has come, it is not the righteous who are gathered first, it is the wicked! The wicked are taken and dealt with first, while the people of God are still among them. Advocates of the popular pre-tribulation rapture propose that all righteous Christians will first be taken up by Jesus secretly, in an instant, leaving behind a totally non-Christian world in startled ignorance of why a significant portion of the population has simply disappeared off the face of the earth. The secret rapture theory is the reverse sequence of the parable as told by Jesus, and so can be dismissed on this point alone! Jesus in the book of Matthew again confirms that the wicked will be taken out from among the righteous:

Mat 13:49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
Mat 13:50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Note that the pre-tribulation rapture advocates generally all say:

1. None of the seals have been opened.
2. None of the trumpets have sounded.
3. The Antichrist has not yet been revealed.
4. The form of the mark of the beast is not yet completely known.
5. The Seal of God is not yet clear.
6. The False Prophet is still unidentified.
7. The church will leave in the rapture prior to the antichrist, plagues and mark of the beast.
8. If you miss the rapture, you will get a second chance during the millennium, when God will rule on this earth for the 1000 years.
9. God is dealing differently with the Jews today, when compared to the Gentiles.

In each case, scriptural evidence can be presented which proves each of their points to be incorrect. Here I have dealt mostly with point #7, but do you notice there is a trend of ignorance and lack of concern advocated by pre-tribbers? They say that since the righteous will leave this earth before most of the events of the end times, you need not be concerned with any of it. Interesting stuff they say, but not really relevant to today’s believer. Besides, according to them, what you do now does not matter anyway, you will get a second chance in the millennium. Nothing could be farther from the truth - it is a satanic lie. If your church advocates the pre-tribulation rapture, I submit that you are being misled and need to study the matter closely for yourself, and perhaps find a new church that teaches the truth.

"Will UFOs Be Used to Explain Away the Rapture ?"

He, he, he, he, he ....
This has to be the dumbest religious question that I've ever read.

The SO CALLED "Rapture" is one of SATAN's GREATEST DECEPTIONS.

What did Jesus say ?

"BELIEVE IT NOT!"

"It IS in the Bible, in the Latin translation of 1 Thess. 4. "

1 Thessalonians 4:14-18

"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them which sleep [are dead] in Jesus will God bring with Him. "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep [are dead]. "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: "THEN [and not one second before!] we which are alive [Paul wrote to the church, the saints] and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18).

" parousia"

advent

return

There are three different Greek words which are used relative to Christ's return to this earth.
They are:

parousia

epiphaneia

Advent

apokalupsis

Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 are the focus of that :Coming" .

But "Rapture" is NOT in the Bible.

Also notice that do not stay "in the clouds", but we stay "with the Lord".
And WHERE is the LORD going ?

" And His feet shall stand IN THAT DAY upon the mount of Olives,
which is before Jerusalem on the east,
and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west,
and there shall be a very great valley;
and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. "

SO ... REMEMBER this (excerpt):

Paul wrote of Christ's coming, "Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:51,52).

Christ said the dead shall be raised at His coming!

When? At His return; at His coming!

The resurrection does not occur until the moment of Christ's VISIBLE, TUMULTUOUS, POWERFUL, EARTH-SHAKING RETURN!

The Resurrection and
the "Catching Up" of the Saints

Now, notice: "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them which sleep [are dead] in Jesus will God bring with Him.

"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep [are dead].

"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

"THEN [and not one second before!] we which are alive [Paul wrote to the church, the saints] and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18).

Notice that the living saints are not to precede the dead in Christ by so much as a second!

WHEN, then, is the resurrection?

Notice! "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the Firstfruits of them that slept.

"For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

"But every man in his own order: Christ the Firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's at His coming [parousia]" (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

Now, notice another graphic, earth-shaking description of Christ's Second Coming:

"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and true, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war.

"His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself.

"And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God.

"And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

"And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

"And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

"And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

"That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

"And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.

"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

"And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh" (Revelation 19:11-21).

Anyone who believes for one instant there is anything "secretive" about this stupendous series of events is incapable of understanding plain English.

Notice further information about Christ's Second Coming:

"Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

"For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

"Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.

"And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

"And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:

"But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

"And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.

"And the Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and His name" (Zechariah 14:1-9).

This great earthquake is also mentioned in Revelation 16:17-19, in connection with Christ's coming to smash the power of the ten kings comprising the Beast power (Revelation 17:12-14).

Clearly, the prophecy includes the battle of Armageddon (Daniel 11:40-45; Revelation 16:14-16), and the Second Coming of Christ to destroy these arms gathered against Jerusalem!

The time element is inescapable. "His feet shall stand IN THAT DAY UPON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES" is as plain as the nose on your face!

Christ is not coming in "two phases," first, "for" His saints prior to the Tribulation and Day of the Lord, and then, "with" His saints afterwards!

Clearly, the living saints will not precede those who have died down through the ages; those martyred in the first century, including Peter, James, and Paul! Instead, they are to be either resurrected, or changed, in a moment, in the "twinkling of an eye" AT THE LAST TRUMP!

The last trump is the last of the seven trumpet plagues, at the moment of the great earthquake, and the Second Coming of Christ!

What Difference Does it All Make?

Why should someone who believes in the "rapture" get ANGRY when shown, from the Bible, that the so-called "secret rapture" is a myth?

If Christ is going to redeem the saved; if Christ is coming to catch up His people, including the dead in Christ, and descend with them to the mount of Olives in the same day, then His true followers will be SAVED, will they not?

They will be born of God by a resurrection, or an instantaneous change, will they not? (1 Corinthians 15:50-52).

They will then come down from the clouds, perhaps anywhere from 10 to 40,000 feet above the earth, in this earth's atmosphere, and will be with Christ as He begins to rule this earth with a rod of iron.

What is so wrong with these wondrous promises of your Bible that "pretribulationists" and "secret rapturists" seem to violently object?

It is simply this: Somehow, they cannot bring themselves to believe the "saved" could suffer any harm! For some reason, an insidious false assumption has crept into the minds of millions of people, an assumption which says God would not think of allowing His saints to come to any physical harm! No, any such terrible event is reserved only for the wicked, so they think! What they do not realize is that such a false assumption makes them out to be better than Christ!

Did not Christ say, "If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also"? Did He not say, "In this world ye shall tribulation"? Did He not say, "The time will come when they that killeth you will think they do God a service"?

Another equation in this false assumption is that martyrdom is reserved for the spiritually weak!

Those who cling to the false notion of "church eras" point out how God will allegedly throw those in the so-called "Laodicean attitude" of lukewarmness into the Great Tribulation, while spiriting away into a desert wilderness the "good" people in the "Philadelphian era."

According to this scenario, those closest to God; those on fire with zeal; those with the most faith, the most works, the most spiritual character, will be PROTECTED from the Tribulation, miraculously "taken to a place of safety."

But those who are less faithful, not so close to God; those without zeal; those who are lukewarm, who have weak spiritual character, will be chosen as God's martyrs!

As they suffer, they will realize how terribly weak, and lukewarm they have been, as the theory goes, and, under torture and eventual death, they will repent!

But WHO did God choose as His martyrs?

Look at the list: Jesus Christ, Peter, James, Paul, Stephen, Antipas, dozens of others in the first century. Read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, how God's greatest prophets were oftentimes martyred for their faith.

John saw a vision of the witness of two prophets, two human beings who will personally testify against the Beast and the False Prophet! Their Prophecy is to take place during the Tribulation!

"And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

"These are the two olive trees [mentioned in symbol in Zechariah 4:3], and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

"And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

"These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

"And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit [the abyss—a spiritual metaphor] shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

"And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

"And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

"And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts to one another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth.

"And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

"And they heard a great voice out from heaven saying unto them, ‘Come up hither,’ And they ascended to heaven [this earth's atmosphere, where vapors form clouds—not the "third heaven" of God's throne] in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

"And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted: and gave glory to the God of heaven" (Revelation 11:2-13).

These two men are in Jerusalem all during the Tribulation and the Day Of the Lord. Their three and one-half year's testimony coincides exactly with the "time of Jacob's trouble," of three and one-half years; with the "times of the Gentiles" of three and one-half years; with the "treading down of Jerusalem" of three and one-half years!

God gives them power far above that of Moses or Elijah. The plagues they call down upon sinning mankind, upon the Beast and False Prophet, are global in nature, not national, or local, as in the former cases.

These two prophets, the "two witnesses" of the future, are human beings, converted, Spirit-led SAINTS! They are Christ's servants, conducting the last-minute, FINAL phase of God's work on this earth of PERSONALLY witnessing to the Beast and False Prophet in the name of Christ!

What happens to them?

They are martyred!

When the Beast is finally able to "make war" against them, overcome them, and kill them, the Bible does not tell us specifically how they die. You can be sure it will not be pleasant! Yet, after lying dead in the street for three and one-half days, they are obviously resurrected, and will be given eternal life! Are these two great prophets "Laodicean"?

Are they "left behind" when the saints are "raptured," or the so-called "Philadelphia era" goes to a "place of safety"?

Do they suffer a horrible death because they are spiritually inferior?

No, God does not choose the spiritually WEAK, the lukewarm, to be His martyrs!

Instead, He chooses those who are so close to God that they literally count all things in this life "as dung" (Philippians 3:8) in comparison with the Kingdom of God, and eternal life!

"Rapturists," like "survivalists" and "escapists," have their minds on the preservation of this physical life!

Jesus Christ tells them that those who seek to save their lives in this world, who have their minds on physical things, are likely to lose out on salvation!

No, God is NOT going to "rapture" away His saints secretly. The lady with the bumper sticker will not suddenly disappear through her roof, after all!

Let us not trust in false hopes, but in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and God the Father, Who loves us, and Who promises eternal life with Him in His Kingdom to all those who "endure unto the end," whether that means the end of our own physical lives or the end of the Tribulation and the Day of the Lord!

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