Imposters!

In one chapter alone, Jesus warns us three times about imposters!

Matthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

(Many shall come in Jesus's name and shall deceive many.)

Matthew 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

(Many. That's not just a few, then.)

Matthew 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

(This is the third time just in chapter 24 that Jesus has warned us! We should consider ourselves warned. Then, He goes on to tell us exactly how to know when the "Real Jesus" returns. He goes into detail to describe His return just so we will all know without a shadow of a doubt that it's really Him!)

Matthew 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

(We won't be able to miss it! It won't be a secret! The whole sky is going to light up! Get that picture? Any questions?)

Furthermore, He goes on to tell us exactly when this phenomenal return is going to take place.

Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

(It will be very obvious that "something's going down" when all of a sudden the sun and the moon go black! Hard to miss that! The powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Can't wait to see that! It doesn't sound like a secret "rapture", does it?)

30 And then (and only then) shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

(Italics, brackets and underlining have been added. I'm quoting the King James version of the Holy Bible.)

Matthew 24:31 And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

(There you go! So, even if you are blind and deaf and you don't see that the sun and moon are black and that the entire sky has lit up with the return of our Lord; even if you don't hear the great sound of the trumpet, He's going to make it very clear by "gathering" us together! And, then, guess what happens!

You should know this already, right?)

I Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive 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.

(Can you imagine that? Does that please you? Will that make you happy?

The Final Grand Climax!

Isn't that worth suffering for? Going to prison for? Sacrificing for? What wonderful encouragement. You could just take that one verse of scripture and hold it in your heart for the rest of your life and it would get you through just about anything, wouldn't it? What a promise to cling to!

To me, that's just a whole lot better than some wimpy, secret snatching away of the believers in a hidden so-called "Pre-tribulation Rapture" that is a fabrication of someone's fearful imagination. Those who believe in that think,

"Our God is so merciful, He would never allow us to suffer going through the tribulation."

He wouldn't? If you think that, take a look at the history of believers since the crucifixion of Christ!

Give me a break! And read Hebrews chapter 11! Ever hear of martyrdom?

And yes, our God is merciful. That means we won't go through anything alone. He'll be right there with us and help us get through whatever we need to go through and He'll help us to be a testimony for Him, too.

But, we will not suffer the "Wrath of God". The wrath is reserved for the most unbelieving, wicked who have persecuted and killed the true believers. Right? We need to understand the difference between God's wrath and the "Great Tribulation". That may require some Bible reading.

Here's another suggestion: Just read the Bible word for word exactly as it is. And, by all means, ask God to help you understand what you're reading. Don't allow preconceived ideas and man's interpretations to interfere with your relationship with the naked, pure Word of God. Allow it to speak personally to you. Don't worry if you don't understand it all. Nobody does.)