What should we do to prepare for the rapture?

[ZNP]

1. Be Dressed Ready for Service​

"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him" (Luke 12:35-37). This is not a passive posture. Dressed and burning are both active states requiring continual maintenance — a robe can come untucked, a lamp can run dry of oil. Readiness is not a decision made once; it is a condition kept.

Notice what the servants are actually waiting for: a master returning from a wedding banquet. That detail is usually read as incidental — wedding feasts ran long, so nobody knew exactly when the master would walk back through the door. But sit with the picture a moment longer. The servants themselves were not at that banquet. They stayed home, dressed, lamps lit, doing the work of the house while somewhere else a celebration was happening without them. Their entire assignment was to be found faithful at the door regardless of how long the celebration outside dragged on.

That is the position of the faithful in every age: excluded from whatever counterfeit celebration is running its course elsewhere, and entirely undistracted by the fact that it's happening. The servants don't send someone to check on the party. They don't grow anxious that they're missing out. They tend the lamp.

And the payoff for this posture is astonishing, and easy to miss on a quick read: "Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them" (v. 37). The master, upon finding his servants ready, reverses the entire household order. He serves them. This is the picture behind every warning in this study — Eden's expulsion, Sinai's golden calf, Adonijah's interrupted feast, Samson's collapsing temple, the letters to the seven churches. In every instance, a false celebration is underway, and the true Lord's return breaks in on it. But the outcome for the ones who kept watch is not merely survival. It's reward, intimacy, and being served by the very One they were waiting for.

So "be dressed ready for service" is not a grim, white-knuckled command to avoid getting caught unprepared. It's an invitation into the best possible outcome available to any servant: the master returning not to scold you for missing the party, but to sit you down and serve you himself.

 

[ZNP]

2. The Wedding Banquet Isn't Just Background Detail​

Most readers slide past the wedding banquet in Luke 12:36 as cultural color — first-century weddings ran long and unpredictably, so of course the servants didn't know when the master would return. Under that reading, the wedding is simply the vehicle for a point about uncertainty. It could have been a wedding, a business trip, a long journey; the specific occasion wouldn't matter.

But Scripture doesn't waste its details. Once you notice the pattern running underneath this parable — a counterfeit union, celebrated while the true Lord is away, that triggers His sudden return in judgment — the wedding banquet stops looking incidental. Eden: a false covenant with the serpent, followed immediately by God's arrival "in the cool of the day." Sinai: Israel joined in a covenant feast to a golden calf, followed by Moses' furious descent from the mountain. Adonijah: a coronation banquet celebrating a false king, interrupted by the sound of Solomon's anointing. Samson: a festival to Dagon at its height, brought down in an instant. In every one of these, a wedding-like ratification of loyalty to the wrong lord is the very thing that summons the true Lord's arrival.

Read this way, Luke 12:36 is not describing "a wedding" as a random plausible reason for delay. It is naming, specifically, the wedding — the final apostasy of the visible church, her formal union with the world and the Antichrist system, described later in the same body of teaching as the harlot riding the beast in Revelation 17-18. Paul tells us plainly that this apostasy must come before the day of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 2:3). The wedding banquet in Luke 12 is that apostasy. The master's return is the Second Coming, triggered by exactly the union the parable pictures.

So what does it mean to "watch," if this reading holds? It does not mean staring at a clock or a headline feed waiting for a date. It means watching the bride — observing whether the visible church is drifting toward, or has already entered, formal union with the world's system. Just as the prophetic calendar can be read by watching Israel, the church's clock is read by watching the church herself. The wedding banquet isn't scenery in this parable. It's the sign. And recognizing it as a sign, rather than mere cultural detail, changes what watching actually requires of us.

 

[Drich]

I 100% believe in the rapture, but I do not believe that this current iteration of the church will experience it. Meaning our current church is primarily made up of gentile believers from every nation and language. This version of the church is to be targeted by the anti christ, and is set to be martyred. After our current church is martyred, God will send/reveal the 144K Jews who will be sealed and protected from the anti christ. Once the 144K has completed their task, God will rapture them.

I am going to starting in rev 6 with the breaking of the 5th seal. and just fast forward. to the next chronological event concerning the church. Meaning This is not some scrap book exegesis where you have to go to 15 different verse fragments through out the OT and NT to force the bible to support this idea. Rather we start in rev 6 :9 and just read straight though and let things play out:

Rev 6: 9When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.

Remember what is Going on here. we are at the point in the tribulation where Jesus has broken 5 of the 7 seals on the title deed to the earth. Meaning these events must take place before Jesus can take possession of the world back from Satan. We are 3/4 of the way through the great tribulation (this will be noted in a coming verse) and the servants of God (The church) are being killed by the anti christ/The rest of this world. And the souls of the martyrs are crying out to God to avenge them. Then they are given White robes and told to wait for everyone else who is to be martyred (Their fellow believers) to be martyred... Meaning there can't be a pretrib or even a mid trib rapture, because these guys die in the great tribulation. which rev 7:9 talks about right after the 144K jewish remnant is introduced in verses 1-8.

9After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.

(This is the current gentile church who is standing before the lamb in Heaven.)

They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

White robes Just like the Martyrs in Rev 6's 5th seal who where crying out for God to avenge their Deaths, for maintaining their faith during the great tribulation; and God said wait till all the servants/brothers and sisters of God who is slated to be martyred are slain, and they where given white robes.

So, Now we see a crowd of souls so large from all nations and people that no one could count them. And they too are given white robes.. Now you might want to say these are the souls of all saints for the last 2000 years...

Fast forward to verse 13 and we are told who there souls belong to:

10And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

11All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
13Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

"These are the souls of those who came out of the great tribulation." Meaning these souls (who are faithful to God during the tribulation) where not raptured. They where murdered/beheaded during the great tribulation. So again, the current church is not the church of the rapture.
Remember i am a believer in the rapture. Which is described of the 144,000 jewish remnant in Rev 14. It's not something 'we' will have to worry about.

You asked what should we do to prepare for the rapture? We need to be ready to die for what we believe, even if it means there will be no rapture for us.

 

[ZNP]

I 100% believe in the rapture, but I do not believe that this current iteration of the church will experience it. Meaning our current church is primarily made up of gentile believers from every nation and language. This version of the church is to be targeted by the anti christ, and is set to be martyred. After our current church is martyred, God will send/reveal the 144K Jews who will be sealed and protected from the anti christ. Once the 144K has completed their task, God will rapture them.

I am going to starting in rev 6 with the breaking of the 5th seal. and just fast forward. to the next chronological event concerning the church. Meaning This is not some scrap book exegesis where you have to go to 15 different verse fragments through out the OT and NT to force the bible to support this idea. Rather we start in rev 6 :9 and just read straight though and let things play out:

Rev 6: 9When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.

Remember what is Going on here. we are at the point in the tribulation where Jesus has broken 5 of the 7 seals on the title deed to the earth. Meaning these events must take place before Jesus can take possession of the world back from Satan. We are 3/4 of the way through the great tribulation (this will be noted in a coming verse) and the servants of God (The church) are being killed by the anti christ/The rest of this world. And the souls of the martyrs are crying out to God to avenge them. Then they are given White robes and told to wait for everyone else who is to be martyred (Their fellow believers) to be martyred... Meaning there can't be a pretrib or even a mid trib rapture, because these guys die in the great tribulation. which rev 7:9 talks about right after the 144K jewish remnant is introduced in verses 1-8.



(This is the current gentile church who is standing before the lamb in Heaven.)



White robes Just like the Martyrs in Rev 6's 5th seal who where crying out for God to avenge their Deaths, for maintaining their faith during the great tribulation; and God said wait till all the servants/brothers and sisters of God who is slated to be martyred are slain, and they where given white robes.

So, Now we see a crowd of souls so large from all nations and people that no one could count them. And they too are given white robes.. Now you might want to say these are the souls of all saints for the last 2000 years...

Fast forward to verse 13 and we are told who there souls belong to:


"These are the souls of those who came out of the great tribulation." Meaning these souls (who are faithful to God during the tribulation) where not raptured. They where murdered/beheaded during the great tribulation. So again, the current church is not the church of the rapture.
Remember i am a believer in the rapture. Which is described of the 144,000 jewish remnant in Rev 14. It's not something 'we' will have to worry about.

You asked what should we do to prepare for the rapture? We need to be ready to die for what we believe, even if it means there will be no rapture for us.

So I'm confused, were James and Stephen and all the martyred apostles included in these ones who were slain because of the word of God and because of their testimony which they had? And if so, didn't we see all of them in Fox's book of Martyrs? That seems like a very strong voice to the whole earth about how long until God judges, and so if you include them it seems to me that the 5th seall has been opened ever since the book of Acts and Paul's epistles to Timothy were written.

 

[tablet123]

Matthew 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;

50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

We prepare ourselves by hating sin, and not wanting sin, and allowing the Spirit to lead us to accomplish that.

2 Timothy 3:4 lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Not everybody comes to the truth because they will not let go of the flesh.

 

[Drich]

So I'm confused,

I'll try and help.

were James and Stephen and all the martyred apostles included in these ones who were slain because of the word of God and because of their testimony which they had?

There were two groups of martyrs. one group under the alter in heaven crying out to God to avenge their deaths. These saint may have very well ,included stephen or any one else who was killed for their faith before the 5th seal was broken.

The second group are identified in Rev 7: 9 forward. These martyrs are identified by one of the 24 elders who sit around the throne of God as "Having come out of the great tribulation."

13Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Remember the white robes where given to those who had been martyred 1st and their souls where kept under the alter in Heaven. They where told to wait to be avenged by God till the rest of their brothers and sisters in Christ where also killed. Rev 7:9 (the great multitude who could not be numbered) was whom the saints under the alter where waiting on to be martyred.

And if so, didn't we see all of them in Fox's book of Martyrs?

No. Fox's book is very finite. even if it documented everyone from the time of Christ to it's publication, every martyr after the book's publication would have been omitted. So no. Fox's book of Martyrs is not complete. Not by a long shot.

As again John of Patmos who wrote the book of revelation says that there is this multitude So large in Heaven comprised of every race, and language on earth that no one could count everyone. This crowd is repersenitive of the martyers who came out of the great tribulation.

According to google's AI there are about 2300 people referenced in Fox's book of martyrs. So again, no. Not every martyrs is listed in fox's book of martyrs.

That seems like a very strong voice to the whole earth about how long until God judges, and so if you include them it seems to me that the 5th seall has been opened ever since the book of Acts and Paul's epistles to Timothy were written.

Again the 2300 people found in Fox's book of martyrs can be counted. The prerequisite for this large group standing before God in Heaven comprised of all nations was that it was so large, no one could number all of them.
here is the passage again:

Rev 7:9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

The bible in several different places counts people over 5000. More than double of Fox's book.

To be honest there are single venue mega churches that meet every week who boast over 60 thousand members every week. In south korea their largest church has over 480,000 people who show up and worship God every week.

List of the largest evangelical churches - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Just one of these local churches has 10 times the members than everyone mentioned in Fox's book of martyrs. so no.. Fox's book if multiplied by 10 still would not represent enough martyred christians to full fill what Revelation 7: 9 says here

 

[ZNP]

I'll try and help.

There were two groups of martyrs. one group under the alter in heaven crying out to God to avenge their deaths. These saint may have very well ,included stephen or any one else who was killed for their faith before the 5th seal was broken.

The second group are identified in Rev 7: 9 forward. These martyrs are identified by one of the 24 elders who sit around the throne of God as "Having come out of the great tribulation."

13Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Remember the white robes where given to those who had been martyred 1st and their souls where kept under the alter in Heaven. They where told to wait to be avenged by God till the rest of their brothers and sisters in Christ where also killed. Rev 7:9 (the great multitude who could not be numbered) was whom the saints under the alter where waiting on to be martyred.


No. Fox's book is very finite. even if it documented everyone from the time of Christ to it's publication, every martyr after the book's publication would have been omitted. So no. Fox's book of Martyrs is not complete. Not by a long shot.

As again John of Patmos who wrote the book of revelation says that there is this multitude So large in Heaven comprised of every race, and language on earth that no one could count everyone. This crowd is repersenitive of the martyers who came out of the great tribulation.

According to google's AI there are about 2300 people referenced in Fox's book of martyrs. So again, no. Not every martyrs is listed in fox's book of martyrs.


Again the 2300 people found in Fox's book of martyrs can be counted. The prerequisite for this large group standing before God in Heaven comprised of all nations was that it was so large, no one could number all of them.
here is the passage again:

Rev 7:9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

The bible in several different places counts people over 5000. More than double of Fox's book.

To be honest there are single venue mega churches that meet every week who boast over 60 thousand members every week. In south korea their largest church has over 480,000 people who show up and worship God every week.

List of the largest evangelical churches - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Just one of these local churches has 10 times the members than everyone mentioned in Fox's book of martyrs. so no.. Fox's book if multiplied by 10 still would not represent enough martyred christians to full fill what Revelation 7: 9 says here

No I get that there are more martyrs to come after the 5th seal is opened. But why couldn't it have been opened when Acts was written? In that book we see all kinds of unrighteousness from rulers towards God's people and according to Hebrews 11 the martyrs go all the way back to Abel, so there would have been many under the altar at that point. All I am asking for is some kind of proof from the Bible that confirms there is a 2,000 year wait from Jesus ascending to the Throne and the fifth seal being opened. The fact that much of Christianities traditional teaching collapses without it doesn't mean squat to me. What does the Bible say?

The fact that Acts, epistles to Timothy, book of Revelation, Hebrews and Fox's book of martyrs is "limited" is not proof, on the contrary we are told that after the seal is opened the loud cry is limited to those already martyred and not to all the martyrs in total.

 

[ZNP]

3. What Happened in Eden When God Came Looking​

The serpent's proposal to Eve was never simply "eat this fruit." It was a covenant offer: "you will be like God" (Genesis 3:5) — a new identity, a new allegiance, a new lord. When Eve and Adam ate, they weren't just breaking a rule. They were ratifying a union — ratifying, in the deepest sense, a marriage to the wrong authority in place of the true one.

And then comes the detail that matters most for us: "the LORD God was walking in the garden in the cool of the day" (Genesis 3:8). His arrival is not a coincidence of timing. It is triggered — the direct consequence of the false union just consummated. The pattern that will recur throughout Scripture is set at its very foundation: a counterfeit covenant precedes and precipitates the Lord's coming.

Here is where the story turns personal. Adam and Eve's response to God's arrival was not to run toward Him but to hide. "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself" (Genesis 3:10). Compare that instinct — hiding from the one who is coming — to the posture Jesus commends in Luke 12: servants who hear the knock and "immediately open the door." Eden gives us the tragic first draft of the exact scene the parable later redeems. One posture is hiding in shame at the Lord's arrival because you've already joined yourself to another lord. The other is standing ready, dressed, lamp burning, delighted rather than terrified that He has come.

Paul makes the application explicit and personal, not merely historical: "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:2-3). Eden is not simply ancient history to be studied. It is the template for a temptation still active against every believer — the pull toward a subtler, more flattering allegiance than simple faithfulness to Christ.

So ask honestly: when you sense the Lord drawing near — through conviction, through Scripture, through correction — is your instinct to hide, the way Adam did after his false union, or to open the door, the way the faithful servant does? Eden shows us both outcomes are still available to every one of us today.

 

[ZNP]

4. Drinking the Cup of Demons vs. the Cup of the Lord​

Moses ascends the mountain to receive the covenant, and in his absence, Israel does not wait. They pool their gold, fashion a calf, and declare, "These are your gods, Israel" (Exodus 32:4). Then comes the telling detail: "the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play" — the language of a covenant feast. This is not a spontaneous lapse. It is a ratified, celebrated union with a false god, conducted precisely because the true mediator was absent.

Paul reads this event with theological precision centuries later: "The sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too" (1 Corinthians 10:20-21). Notice Paul's verb: participants. This is not describing accidental exposure to bad influence. It is describing active, willing entry into communion with a rival power. And his conclusion is a flat impossibility, not a caution: you cannot do both.

This is the sharpest, most uncomfortable application in the whole study, because it exposes divided loyalty for what it actually is. Most of us do not imagine ourselves bowing to a golden calf. But the test Paul gives isn't about idols made of metal. It's about which cup you are actually drinking from in the moments the true mediator seems distant or slow — when prayer feels unanswered, when the wait for the Lord's clear direction stretches longer than comfortable, when everyone around you is celebrating something that requires you to compromise. That is precisely the moment Israel chose the calf: not out of ignorance, but out of impatience with the wait.

God's response to the golden calf was immediate: "Go down, because your people... have become corrupt" (Exodus 32:7). The false union provoked the Lord's descent in judgment. Three thousand fell that day. The stakes of the choice between cups are not abstract.

The practical question this leaves for us is simple but exacting: in the areas of life where you feel the pressure of the wait — financial, relational, vocational, spiritual — which cup are you actually reaching for? Israel's sin wasn't a lapse in theology. It was an unwillingness to keep waiting for the mediator who had not yet returned. Drinking the cup of the Lord means precisely that: continuing to wait, even when a golden calf is being poured all around you.

 

[Drich]

>No I get that there are more martyrs to come after the 5th seal is opened. But why couldn't it have been opened when Acts was written?

I clearly state that it could have been.

In that book we see all kinds of unrighteousness from rulers towards God's people and according to Hebrews 11 the martyrs go all the way back to Abel, so there would have been many under the altar at that point. All I am asking for is some kind of proof from the Bible that confirms there is a 2,000 year wait from Jesus ascending to the Throne and the fifth seal being opened. The fact that much of Christianities traditional teaching collapses without it doesn't mean squat to me. What does the Bible say?

You seem to be confused in what rev 6 is pointing out. John (the writter of rev 6) does not say upon the breaking of the 5th seal a bunch of saints where martyred and placed under the alter. John is saying upon the breaking of the 5th seal He was shown all of the saints who had been martyred. Meaning everyone from Jesus to the breaking of this seal where counted as "saints under the alter who where given white robes." Those who died between Jesus and the 6th seal crying out for God's vengeance are currently under the alter but John is not made aware of them till after the 5th seal is broken. " until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.

In chapter 7 the 144k jews are introduced because at this point, the gentile church in it's entirety has been martyred. Meaning the 144K Jews Become the new church, the church of the rapture.

Then the next scene we have in the 7th chapter is the great multitude who can not be counted made up of all nations. All where white robes, who is identified by one of the 24 elders as the "Martyrs who came out of the Great tribulation."

So chapter 6 seal 5 maryters where all of those who died for Jesus From His time to the point where the 5th seal is broken who where told to wait till all of thier brothers and sisters are killed for Christ as they had been, and chapter 7 martyrs are the full number of brothers and sisters the chapter 6 group was told to wait on.

The fact that Acts, epistles to Timothy, book of Revelation, Hebrews and Fox's book of martyrs is "limited" is not proof, on the contrary we are told that after the seal is opened the loud cry is limited to those already martyred and not to all the martyrs in total.

which is different from what I said, how?

 

[ZNP]

I clearly state that it could have been.


You seem to be confused in what rev 6 is pointing out. John (the writter of rev 6) does not say upon the breaking of the 5th seal a bunch of saints where martyred and placed under the alter. John is saying upon the breaking of the 5th seal He was shown all of the saints who had been martyred. Meaning everyone from Jesus to the breaking of this seal where counted as "saints under the alter who where given white robes." Those who died between Jesus and the 6th seal crying out for God's vengeance are currently under the alter but John is not made aware of them till after the 5th seal is broken. " until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.

In chapter 7 the 144k jews are introduced because at this point, the gentile church in it's entirety has been martyred. Meaning the 144K Jews Become the new church, the church of the rapture.

Then the next scene we have in the 7th chapter is the great multitude who can not be counted made up of all nations. All where white robes, who is identified by one of the 24 elders as the "Martyrs who came out of the Great tribulation."

So chapter 6 seal 5 maryters where all of those who died for Jesus From His time to the point where the 5th seal is broken who where told to wait till all of thier brothers and sisters are killed for Christ as they had been, and chapter 7 martyrs are the full number of brothers and sisters the chapter 6 group was told to wait on.

which is different from what I said, how?

Yes, and John saw this after Stephen, and James and all the other apostles had been martyred as well as Abel and every martyr from the time of Abel. You still have not shown me any verse of the Bible that requires this seal and this vision to take place at the end of the church age instead of at the beginning?

 

[ZNP]

Be careful about what you pray for. When I was 12 I prayed for adventure. I wanted to be able to walk through the shadow of death and fear no evil. To walk with the Lord and all of the evil things we fear hide in terror from Him! I wanted to be able to sit down at a table the Lord prepared for me in the presence of my enemies! Wow!

I didn’t want to fear giants, my prayer was that the Lord would teach my hands to war and my fingers to fight. I didn’t want to fear enemies, I wanted the Lord to teach me how to subdue them under my feet. I didn’t want to fear people who deceive, strange people, who speak vanity and their right hand is the right hand of falsehood. Instead I wanted to be able to discern the falsehood.

I wanted to experience the incredible escapes you see in the movies, where a hundred people are hunting you but unable to catch you. Where they are the most evil and yet I can laugh at them and hold them in derision. I wanted to experience a knowledge that God rules in Jerusalem, that these evil people are nothing but dust scattered to the four winds. I wanted to be the one singing of God’s mercy while the proud and arrogant are consumed and become the very thing they mocked.

I realized I needed a coach, someone who would teach me the fear of the Lord. Someone who would Keep my tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Someone who would teach me to depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. Because what I needed more than anything was to be able to pray to God and for Him to answer me. I realized that is the greatest superpower.

Be careful, because if you are secretly seeking this adventure, if you don’t want a comfortable life in which nothing exciting ever happens, then the Lord will answer that prayer, so don’t pray it unless you mean it. The Lord will take you to a place where you cannot trust anyone but the Lord Himself. And then you will realize, you can’t fight this battle on your own, you will plead for mercy and that is when you will discover the ones who have been cast off by the world, the ones everyone else despises, these are the ones the Lord has sent to you to help you. You are surrounded by lions who want to devour you, and people who are filled with guile trying to snare you, and the only ones you can trust are those who have experienced the same things, the ones with the fellowship of the Lord’s sufferings. Jesus doesn’t promise a comfortable life, His promise is a life that conquers death. If you follow Him He will lead you into the ring to defeat death. So think twice before praying that you want a life that conquers death, because the only way to know for sure that God has given you this life is if you are tested by death. Strangers will rise up, oppressors will seek after your soul. That is the prerequisite for anyone who wants to rule and reign with Jesus Christ. You will discover that Jesus Christ is the water of life when you are led through a dry and thirsty land. You cannot rule and reign with Christ until you learn that He is your strength. He is your rock, your fortress, your deliverer. These are scary lessons to learn, you have been warned. You will make mistakes, you will put trust in your own strength and you will be cast off and scattered and only when you repent and realize it is God who will tread down your enemies can you do valiantly.

If you want to be victorious, to be lifted up, to conquer your foes then you need to know that first you must go through weeping. The weeping may endure for a night, but then joy comes in the morning.

So then, be very careful, you may think God is not listening to your prayer, but He is and He will do beyond all you ask and think.

 

[Drich]

Yes, and John saw this after Stephen, and James and all the other apostles had been martyred as well as Abel and every martyr from the time of Abel. You still have not shown me any verse of the Bible that requires this seal and this vision to take place at the end of the church age instead of at the beginning?

I do not understand what you are asking, or why.

As the information I gave you sourced from rev 6 isn't about the beginning or the end of the church age.

Remember the whole point of the OP is to prepare the church for the rapture. My argument is the current version of the church will be destroyed as Rev 7 clearly states that church will be martyred during the great tribulation.

The only thing that Rev 6 reveals is the identification of the martyrs at the beginning (or end of the church age,) as being given white robes and told to wait till the full number of martyrs has been full filled. Meaning till all who will be martyred is martyred there will be no vengeance (bowls of wrath) from God.. Eg This passage is telling us No more saints/members of the church will ever die again for standing up for Jesus. when it says "until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been."

At this point in chapter 7 This means we are at the end of the church age, (The anti christ of rev 13 reigns and has christians beheaded for not worshiping the Beast..) During this period, all who will be killed for representing Jesus has been killed and no one else will ever die as a martyr of the christian faith. (As the new church (The 144K jewish remnant are sealed/protected from the beast/anti christ.)

We know they have been martyred because they like those in rev 6 are also given white robes. Then at the end of the chapter one of the 24 elders in Heaven Ask John of patmos who this great multitude is who stands before God wearing white robes. Then John says "Sir You know who they are." then the elder says: “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

We know this is at the end of the age of the church because again the FULL NUMBER of martyred brothers and sisters have come in.. we know this is the full number because what comes next is the rapture of the Jewish remnant. are the 7 trumpets and God pouring out the bowls of wrath.

 

[ZNP]

I do not understand what you are asking, or why.

As the information I gave you sourced from rev 6 isn't about the beginning or the end of the church age.

Remember the whole point of the OP is to prepare the church for the rapture. My argument is the current version of the church will be destroyed as Rev 7 clearly states that church will be martyred during the great tribulation.

Where does Revelation 7 say this? I think you have mashed a whole lot of what the Bible says about the church, the rapture and the tribulation into one confused mess.

 

[ZNP]

I do not understand what you are asking, or why.

As the information I gave you sourced from rev 6 isn't about the beginning or the end of the church age.

Remember the whole point of the OP is to prepare the church for the rapture. My argument is the current version of the church will be destroyed as Rev 7 clearly states that church will be martyred during the great tribulation.

The only thing that Rev 6 reveals is the identification of the martyrs at the beginning (or end of the church age,) as being given white robes and told to wait till the full number of martyrs has been full filled. Meaning till all who will be martyred is martyred there will be no vengeance (bowls of wrath) from God.. Eg This passage is telling us No more saints/members of the church will ever die again for standing up for Jesus. when it says "until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been."

At this point in chapter 7 This means we are at the end of the church age, (The anti christ of rev 13 reigns and has christians beheaded for not worshiping the Beast..) During this period, all who will be killed for representing Jesus has been killed and no one else will ever die as a martyr of the christian faith. (As the new church (The 144K jewish remnant are sealed/protected from the beast/anti christ.)

We know they have been martyred because they like those in rev 6 are also given white robes. Then at the end of the chapter one of the 24 elders in Heaven Ask John of patmos who this great multitude is who stands before God wearing white robes. Then John says "Sir You know who they are." then the elder says: “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

We know this is at the end of the age of the church because again the FULL NUMBER of martyred brothers and sisters have come in.. we know this is the full number because what comes next is the rapture of the Jewish remnant. are the 7 trumpets and God pouring out the bowls of wrath.

Being given white robes means you are a priest, it doesn't mean you are martyred

 

[Delvianna]

What should we do to prepare for the rapture?​

Make sure you're going in it. There's only 1 church out of the 7 in revelation that was promised to be kept from the "trial". Which shows how small of a list that's going to be.

 

[WayneNSO]

Make sure to buy a jumble sale shop - because if you get left behind you can collect all the clothes scattered about that have been left by those that flew away, and make a big profit

 

[Delvianna]

Make sure to buy a jumble sale shop - because if you get left behind you can collect all the clothes scattered about that have been left by those that flew away, and make a big profit

lol I personally think it's such a small group, you'd have trouble finding clothes at all.

 

[WayneNSO]

lol I personally think it's such a small group, you'd have trouble finding clothes at all.

And knowing my luck it will be left behind by very old hippies and Ill be stuck with them

 

[Delvianna]

And knowing my luck it will be left behind by very old hippies and Ill be stuck with them

lol maybe you can bring that era back!