First the Question: The anointing, the sealing, and the baptism with the Holy Spirit, are received at the moment the sinner believes unto Salvation. True or False?
Take a moment to respond at the LLM Question of the Day
And now the answer to the LLM Question of 8-15-2012
Question: Will the Church, the Body of Christ, be IN the Great Tribulation? Yes or no?
Answer: NO! The very purpose of the Great Tribulation is to punish disobedient unbelievers; NOT members of the Body of Christ. If members of the Body of Christ are to go into the tribulation, then DEATH would certainly be the believer’s Blessed Hope; anything to escape that awful day of wrath. Why should such wrath of God be visited upon those who are without condemnation in Christ? Now, out of the 791 responses we received to this question, 82.8% of you got it right! Praise the LORD! Therefore, NOW, let us take a look at an in depth look at…
WILL THE BODY OF CHRIST BE IN THE TRIBULATION?
Here at the Lion and Lamb ministry, we believe the experience of Lot and the destruction of Sodom will give us light on this question: Will the Church be in the Tribulation?.
“But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:29-30.
“Thus shall it be when the Son of man is revealed.” “Thus”...“Thus shall it be.” The revelation of the Son of man refers here to His coming in judgment. According to the Word of God the Nation Israel is headed for judgment, the Great Tribulation. Jeremiah 30:5-11. Israel is going to be saved out of that time of sorrow. At the same time the wrath of the LORD will fall in great judgment upon the nations.
Christ is NOT called the “Son of man” in His relation to the Church, which is His Body. However, He IS the "Son of man” to Israel and as judge of the nation. It is as the “Son of man” that He is coming to deliver Israel. It is as the “Son of man” that He is coming to sit, as Judge, on the throne of His glory. Matthew 25:31-46. Inasmuch as the experience of Lot in Sodom is linked up with the coming of the Son of man in judgment, we should carefully study the experience of Lot.
In 2 Peter we have some statements concerning the coming of Christ in judgment, and the escape of Lot from Sodom. Scoffers are to arise and ask, “Where is the promise of His coming?” 2 Peter 3:4. But this Epistle declares that He is coming in judgment. Now as to Lot and Sodom, “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds)” 2 Peter 2:6-9. “Delivered just Lot”. Why did God deliver just Lot? From these verses in 2 Peter we would certainly conclude that Lot was a consecrated saint of God; such a true, noble faithful man of God that God could not think of sending judgment upon Sodom until that spiritual saint had been delivered. Well, God did deliver just Lot before His work of destruction.
And, therefore, we must conclude from 2 Peter 2:7 and Luke 17:29-30 that all of the just Lots, every sinner, saved by grace, who is alive at the coming of the LORD, shall be delivered BEFORE God’s judgment falls upon the world.
But now let us read about this man who is called “just Lot”, the man with the righteous soul.
We quote several verses from Genesis...
“And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous.” “And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” “And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake” . . . “And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom; and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.” “For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it;” “Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither.” “Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.” “And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.” Genesis 18:20, Genesis 18:23, and Genesis 18:32; Genesis 19:1, Genesis 19:13, Genesis 19:22, Genesis 19:24, and Genesis 19:29.
God remembered Abraham and saved Lot. Later on, God remembered Abraham and saved Israel. Exodus 2:24-25. God again remembered and saved Israel. Deuteronomy 9:27. God will once again remember Abraham and deliver Israel. Romans 11:25-29.
Lot was delivered before Abram became Abraham. Neither Abram nor Lot were Israelites. They were Gentiles. God had preached the Gospel to Abram and Abram believed and was declared righteous. Galatians 3:6-8. Now note Galatians 3:8, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen (Gentiles) through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.”
The Scripture foresaw our justification by the Faith at the time Abram was declared righteous by faith. “The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the LORD knoweth them that are His”, 2 Timothy 2:19.
God’s servants said to Lot, “I cannot do anything until thou be come thither.” Thus shall it be when the Son of man is revealed.
Now note the question in Luke 18:8, “When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” The Greek calls for the negative answer. Therefore the Son of man will not come until all the people of faith have been delivered. This is verified in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-11. The LORD shall be revealed to take vengeance upon the wicked “when He shall (shall have) come to be glorified in His saints, in that day.” (2 Thessalonians 1:10).
The very purpose of the tribulation is to punish disobedient unbelievers; NOT members of the Body of Christ.
If members of the Body of Christ are to go into the tribulation, then DEATH would certainly be the believer’s blessed hope; anything to escape that awful day of wrath. Why should such wrath of God be visited upon those who are without condemnation in Christ? It won’t!
Lot was anything but a victorious consecrated saint and if God could not and did not destroy Sodom until Lot was free from that awful judgment, (and thus shall it be when the Son of man is revealed), surely we have no Scriptural authority to support the teaching that there is to be a partial rapture of God’s saints; that is, that only Spirit-filled saints are to be taken to glory when Christ comes for His Church. Therefore, the parable of the ten virgins does NOT refer to the members of the Body of Christ but to Israel.
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In Ephesians 1:13 the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul declares that men are saved and sealed by hearing and BELIEVING the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation. Therefore, here, now, is declared unto you the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation: "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. BELIEVE today. The time is short.
So There You Have it!
Spread this message to everyone you know, far and wide.
Grace be to you and peace, from God: our Father, and The LORD Jesus Christ.
In The LORD Jesus Christ,
The Lion and Lamb Ministry
Pastor David Picos, D.D.
Minister and Ambassador for Christ in the Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20)
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