AMEN!
Our pastor did a sermon series awhile ago about the “End Times” and he explained the various ideas on it. Among the four pastors at the church they had four different ideas!
He said it was important for a person to learn about them and develop their ideas through reading scripture and prayer. And to be able to discuss with other Christians their views which would also help clarify them, change them, or whatever. But all part of growing one’s faith.
I had a pastor from another church discuss how he did not believe in the “Rapture” prior to the trials and tribulations.
He used that verse from Matthew 24, about the two people in the field, but pointed out the preceding verses:
36-41: But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 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, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
He asked me: “So - who was ‘taken’ during the flood? And who remained?”
HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE GREAT TRIBULATION AND RAPTURE
As soon as you perceive that the time for the tribulation and rapture may be near, please do the following in context with Matthew 24 (since we must maintain our scriptural foundation):
1. Locate the nearest mountain. (If you are in Kansas, sorry, but you are in serious trouble.) — “Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”
2. Make sure you have a full tank of gas so you can leave your city of residence — “Let those in the city get out.”
3. If you are temporarily out of town, think twice about returning home — “Let those in the country not enter the city.”
4. Make sure you live upstairs — “Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house.”
5. Don’t get pregnant — “How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!”
6. Pray it happens in the summer — “Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.”
7. Make sure you are a farmer that has his cloak — “Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.”
8. Don’t attend a marriage ceremony — “And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage. . . .”
9. But most importantly, take your time machine back in history 2,000 years because Jesus said all prophecy would be fulfilled in his generation (Luke 21:22) and that it would happen while some of his contemporaries were still alive: “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” (Matthew 24:34; see also Matthew 10:23; 16:27-28; 26:64; Revelation 1:1-3; 22:6-20)
10. To better understand what the rapture really is, see my article:
https://prophecyquestions.com/what-is-the-rapture/