An Important Prophecy
At the time Jesus Christ was taken up into heaven, just after His resurrection, a very important prophecy was made that Bible students often miss. Let us notice it in Acts 1. "And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel (angels); which also said, You men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come IN LIKE MANNER as you have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:10-11).
Many do not grasp the significance of this prophecy of God — given by angels. But, the clear statement was that Jesus' ultimate return to this earth would be in exactly the same manner in which He left. Jesus Christ went straight up into the atmosphere of this earth and disappeared into the clouds as He made His ascent into heaven. Jesus Christ is going to return in precisely the same way — straight down out of the clouds of the air to the solid ground of this earth. Jesus is not going to pause in mid-air to rapture His saints and then return to heaven. If this were so, these angels lied.
There is simply no room for a secret rapture in any of these scriptures.
Returns to the Mount of Olives
The prophet Zechariah also prophesied of this same day. He writes, "Behold the day of the Lord cometh (the exact same day and time spoken of in I Thessalonians and in the book of Revelation) . . . and his feet shall stand IN THAT DAY upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east (Zech. 14:1, 4).
Yes, Jesus Christ will return to this earth exactly as He left it! He will return visibly — in the midst of the time of great trouble and tribulation upon the earth such as has never been since the beginning of time nor shall ever be again (Matt. 24:21). He will resurrect the dead in Christ and at the same time transform the living who have obeyed Jesus Christ, and they together shall be "caught up" (not raptured) to meet the returning Christ in the air as He descends upon the Mount of Olives. IN THAT VERY DAY and at that exact time Jesus Christ will set His feet upon the Mount of Olives and the Kingdom of God will begin upon this earth.
Notice Revelation 5, verses 9 and 10, ". . . Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us (men) to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign ON THE EARTH."
Those who teach the Rapture Theory are deceiving many into believing in an event that will NEVER COME! It is time we look into our Bibles and prove the truth of Jesus Christ's second coming to this earth.
Events Soon To Come
The time order of events from now until the return of Jesus Christ to this earth are crystal clear in your Bible. Let us examine them carefully — for in them we will find the real comfort and hope of protection that Jesus Christ promised us. We must not place our hope in a FALSE RAPTURE — but in the truth of Almighty God.
As we have previously seen, Jesus, upon being asked about His second coming, showed there would be a time of false ministers coming in the name of Christ deceiving many; wars and rumors of wars; famine and pestilence (Matt. 24:3-7). He then showed there would be persecution upon the very Church of God — while at the same time the Gospel of the Kingdom of God would be preached in all the world for a witness (Verses 8-14).
Following this a period of time would occur called the "Great Tribulation," a time in which Jesus promised God would intervene or else all mankind would be wiped off the face of the earth (verses 21-22).
Those Days — Now!
We have entered these very days! Never in the history of mankind have there ever been so many sects, denominations and religious organizations on earth. False doctrine and false teachings are rife throughout the world.
No other time in history has been fraught with as many wars and rumors of wars as we have today!
Trial, tribulation and persecution are at this very time coming upon the true believers in Jesus Christ.
But the greatest event of all — prophesied in Matthew 24 — is being fulfilled before your very eyes and in the ears of millions upon millions of people on the face of this earth. THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST — THE TRUE GOSPEL OF HIS RETURN TO THIS EARTH AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HIS KINGDOM AND RULE UPON EARTH — IS NOW BEING PREACHED TO ALL OF THE WORLD AS A WITNESS! YOU ARE READING THE VERY WORDS FULFILLING THAT PROPHECY! You HEAR THE VERY WORDS OF THAT GOSPEL WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THE WORLD TOMMORROW PROGRAM — THE MOST POWERFUL RADIO PROGRAM ON EARTH TODAY!
We have truly entered the days of which Jesus Christ spoke in Matthew 24.
These same days are mentioned in Revelation 6. The understanding of the correlation between Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 is the KEY to the book of Revelation. If you have not already read Mr. Armstrong's booklet, "The Key to the Book of Revelation," you should send for it immediately.
In the sixth chapter of Revelation we read of seven great seals of God which are opened. The events depicted in these seals are the precise same events prophesied by Jesus Christ in Matthew 24. They are the events preceding His second coming.
We notice that the first seal is a white horse — here are the false prophets prophesied by Jesus Christ. The second seal depicts a red horse which has the power to take peace from the earth. Here are the wars and rumors of wars mentioned by Jesus Christ in Matthew 24.
The third seal shows the black horse whose rider has a pair of balances in his hand measuring out wheat and barley — showing the time of famine upon the earth that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24.
The fourth seal portrays a pale horse with power to kill one-fourth of the inhabitants of the earth with the sword and with hunger and with death and with the beasts of the earth.
Our newspapers and news magazines continue to portray the increase of sickness, and death from dreadful diseases which are growing more rampant — WORLD-WIDE. These seals, described in Revelation 6, are depicting the days we are NOW hurtling into.
The next seal in Revelation 6 depicts the event Christ spoke of in Matthew 24, verse 9. It is a time of martyrdom of saints! It is a time when the true followers of Jesus Christ shall be hated of all nations for His name's sake. It is the final culminating event before Almighty God steps in and intervenes in world affairs.
These first five seals are Satan's wrath upon this earth. These events are caused by man disobeying God and following the ways of Satan the Devil to his own hurt and destruction.
Our Real Hope
It is at this time that Jesus Christ makes known to His true Church the comforting knowledge that there is a WAY TO ESCAPE the terrible events which will follow.
Notice Revelation, the 12th Chapter! Here is the culmination of Satan's wrath upon the earth. ". . . Woe to the inhabitors of the earth and of the sea! For the Devil has come down unto you, HAVING GREAT WRATH, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon (Devil) saw that he was cast into the earth, he PERSECUTED THE WOMAN which brought forth the man-child" (Rev. 12:12-13). Here we see the Church of God portrayed as a woman (the Church is portrayed as a woman in the Bible and is the symbol for the Church, notice II Cor. 11:2).
Now notice what happens to the woman, or the Church of God. "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent" (verse 14).
Did you catch the significance of that verse? Do you see the promise of Jesus Christ that He will take His Church away while He pours out His wrath upon the disobedient nations of the world? Here is the true hope of Christians! Here is the real truth of the Bible of how the Church of God will be spared from a time of trouble which is to come upon this earth such as has never been since the beginning of time.
Satan continues to try to devour the true Church of God — the woman — by casting out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood (verse 15). However, God will not allow the Church to be hurt after this time! He uses the very earth itself to swallow up the flood which Satan casts out of his mouth to destroy the Church (verse 16).
Another Warning
Verse 17 also reveals a significant event. Satan turns from his attempts to destroy the faithful and turns back to those who were lukewarm and did not have the courage and dedication to go all the way with God! Many will realize they were just not diligent enough in prayer, Bible study and in proving where God's true Church is. They will also realize TOO LATE that God's way is true and right and because of their lack of faith to go all the way with God, they will have to go through this time of great wrath. Many of them will be killed and martyred for their testimony and because they now want to keep the law of God.