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I have been a Christian for a long time. And when I first came to Lord, I was told of this great event called the rapture. I was excited and thrilled to be taken out here. Everytime I would read what Paul said and what Jesus said in Matthew 24. I did not see a rapture at all. And it plagued me... Paul and Jesus are talking about the same event. You cannot twist scripture because you dont want to be martyrs. It pure selfishness to beleive you deserve to raptured out of here. It's not God wrath. Satan will be in charge during that time. He is in charge now. The Bible says Satan have decieved the whole world..and that's literal. They will kill Christians.
First of all, I don't twist scripture in order to not be a martyr. I have studied and continue to study every aspect of every given Biblical topic. Those who twist the scriptures are those who claim that the Lord is going to first put His church through His wrath and then gather her afterwards. They present partial information! Any contention you or anyone can present I have gone over. As soon as I see your reasoning, I already have the answer.
The whole seven years, also known as the "tribulation period, the Day of the Lord, and the Hour of Trial" is all of God's wrath. That seven years will be the fulfillment of the last seven years of the seventy seven year periods that was decreed upon Israel and Jerusalem as stated in Dan.9:24. And it will be the time when God will pour out His wrath upon a Christ rejecting world. Revelation 12 states that Satan will be angry when he finds himself cast out of heaven knowing that his time is short. However, that takes place within the time period of God's wrath and is in fact the results of the 7th trumpet/3rd woe which is one of the plagues of God's wrath. So, how can you and others call it, Satan's wrath?
Secondly, the gathering of the church is nowhere mentioned in Matt.24, but because of the previous on-going false teachings, I think that I know what you are referring to, which is in error.
I will say this one more time. Are you better than the Christian's before you that were martyred for Christ?
No, I am not better than the Christian's before me and I am prepared to go through trials and tribulations resulting from my faith. However, the Christians before me did not suffer the wrath of God. They suffered the trials and tribulations as a result of faith in Christ. The coming wrath of God is not the same as those trials and tribulations, but will be God's direct wrath. You are correct in that there should not even be a discussion on this, because expositors ought to know God's nature in that He does not punish the righteous with the wicked. And since God's wrath via the seals, trumpets and bowl judgments will be God's direct judgments affecting the entire earth, then we are not appointed to suffer that time of wrath. You need to learn that there is a difference between these two. You've been reading to many of the false teachings of men that are out there.
Regarding that time of wrath, Jesus warns believers to always be watching for His appearing so that this day does not take us by surprise. Because we do not belong to the darkness or to the night, which is referring to the time of God's wrath.
I would advise you to do a study on 'The Day of the Lord' scriptures and understand who God's wrath is directed at. It certainly is not directed at the righteous, but against the arrogant, the prideful, the sexually immoral, as well as those willfully practicing the rest of the sinful nature. I would also suggest that you do a deeper study on the seals, trumpets and bowl judgements. These are not things that the apostle, nor the first century Christians, nor the church in the last days are to suffer.
Do you actually think that God is going to torment his church with those demonic beings who are released from the Abyss at the sounding of the 5th trumpet? This part of God's wrath that you say we should not escape.
What about when those four angels are unbound and they gather their 200 million demonic army who kill a third of mankind. That too is God's wrath. Are we to suffer that too? Boy, if that is how God treats the righteous, I feel sorry for the wicked!
How about when the fourth angel pours his bowl out on the sun, which scorches the inhabitants of the earth with intense heat, searing them? Is the Lord going to put His church through that? Is that the same as the trials and tribulations that the apostles and the first century church endured? You and others don't know what you are talking about! Those are not common trials and tribulations. In fact, none of the seals, trumpets and bowl judgment are common trials and tribulations. They are for the wicked!