'Reviving Sanhedrin may help bridge gaps with Diaspora'

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'Reviving Sanhedrin may help bridge gaps with Diaspora'


By By GIL SHEFLER

DC scholars suggest system based on council of Jewish jurists could improve discourse between Jews in Israel and those around the world.

Powerful forces are tearing the Jewish world asunder, many observers warn. Some say the root cause is Israel’s alleged increasingly illiberal policies, others point toward assimilation or a weakening sense of Jewish identity in the Diaspora.

Either way, almost everyone agrees there is a problem. What, then, can prevent Israel and the Diaspora from drifting apart? One creative proposal tabled at the Herzliya Conference on Monday suggests resurrecting an ancient Jewish body that hasn’t met, at least in a universally recognized form, in more than 1,600 years.


According to a joint proposal penned by Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, academics Tommy Steiner, Maaike van der Brugghen and Lea Landman, a new Jewish council based on the Sanhedrin – a council of Jewish jurists that met in Judea until it was dissolved by the Roman emperor in 358 CE – could provide a better “framework” for discourse between Jews in Israel and those around the world. In its proposed reincarnation, the Sanhedrin consisting of Diaspora and Israelis leaders would advise Israeli politicians – although it would not have a direct part in the decision-making process.


“A new Sanhedrin could be recognized as a consultative body to Israeli decision-makers, to the prime minister, the president, and the Knesset,” they wrote. “This institution should represent the diversity of opinions that exist in Israeli society and in the Diaspora, and should transmit those visions to the senior decision-makers in the only Jewish state in the world.”



Steiner, who is also the Herzliya conference manager, is the first to admit there are massive hurdles that need be addressed before the idea comes to fruition.

“The idea for such a new Sanhedrin is tabled not necessarily as a solution to a problem, but rather as a point of departure for a new dialogue,” the authors wrote.


Indeed, questions such as how the Sanhedrin representatives would be elected or selected, and by which proportion its seats would be allocated to different communities, remain unanswered.


The question of funding, however, is a simple one, Steiner said. The government would pay for it. At the end of the day, the proposal aims at stimulating debate that could help find a way to remedy the rift between Israel and the Diaspora.


“Something has to change between Israel and the Diaspora, and there should be a forum that won’t only deal with education,” Steiner told The Jerusalem Post. “Will it solve all problems? No. But it might help.”


There have been other efforts to revive the Sanhedrin, although with a much greater emphasis on religion. The latest effort was in 2004, when 71 rabbis claiming to represent varied communities in Israel undertook a ceremony in Tiberias, where the original Sanhedrin was disbanded.


That group claimed to reestablish the body, based on the proposal of Maimonides and the Jewish legal rulings of Rabbi Yosef Karo. 

The Judgment Seat Of Christ by Lambert Dolphin


                               The Judgment Seat Of Christ by Lambert Dolphin



By nature God is both holy and just. He can not act contrary to who He is as a Person. Therefore it is inevitable that He must evaluate men and nations from time to time. According to the Epistle to the Romans, God judges everyone on the basis of his or her knowledge ("according to truth"), and according to his or her deeds. This applies to Christians and non-Christians alike. (This does not mean that people are saved by their deeds or works).
"...we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who "will render to each one according to his deeds": eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God." (Romans 2:2-11)
Because God is longsuffering and reluctant to judge (He prefers showing mercy). Many people think God will never judge them at all, or that he can overlook sin and forget to honor his servants. This view is very far from reality--when God does judge He is thorough, and--if necessary "ruthless" (See my article, The Ruthlessness of God).
What is commonly called "The Judgment Seat of Christ" is one of several distinctive judgments described in the Bible. This judgment is a judgment of individual believers who have been part of the church, from Pentecost to the Rapture. Whether a Christian dies before his time from an accident or tragedy, or whether he or she lives out a normal life span of 70 or 80 years, each and every one of us must, at death, pass a special reviewing stand of God known in Scripture as the "Judgment Seat of Christ."
Because of the use of the word "judgment" in describing this particular evaluation God makes of His people, many jump to the conclusion that this is event is a judgment for sins committed after conversion. But the Judgment Seat of Christ can not be a judgment for the sins of a Christian since Christ paid the full price for all of the believer's sins whether past, present or future. This truth is hard to accept and difficult to get used to because Christians fail and mess up often, sometimes grievously. It is hard to imagine that having been our "justified by faith" could be so all encompassing. But it is!
"And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." (Colossians 2:13-14)
Even those who remain alive on earth until the rapture will experience this judgment as they pass from the earthly realm to the heavenly. The Greek word, (bema), basically means a law tribunal where defendant and accuser stand in front of a magistrate in a court. A second meaning drawn from classical Greek usage of the word is that thebema is the evaluation stand for athletes. The athletes in Greek and Roman games passed the judges' reviewing stand in order to win the rewards appropriate to how well they have run the race. This "athletes' reward ceremony" aspect of the Judgment Seat of Christ is based upon such Scriptures as 1 Corinthians 9:24-27:
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."
John's Gospel, and Romans 8, promise that Christians have passed out from under all condemnation and will not fail to pass the test of the Judgment Seat of the Christ. Without negating the notion that this judgment does involve the rewarding of all those running the race, the notion of a legal tribunal is also implied by key passages in Corinthians:
"According to the commission of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or stubble---each man's work will become manifest (openly visible), for the Day (of the Lord) will disclose it, because it will be revealed (unveiled) with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men..." (2 Corinthians 5:10-11)
Every Christian is given the opportunity of building a Christian life, like a house, upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. Hay, wood, and stubble are insubstantial building materials which are neither structurally sound nor fireproof. These materials represent all our self efforts---whether on behalf of our own interests or in the service of God. Gold, silver and precious stones---which do survive fire---are those permanent enduring things which God is building in us and in others. The Lord has promised to shake our entire universe one day so that only what He has built will remain:
"'Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.' This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of what is shaken, as of what has been made, in order that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:25b-28)
While the prospects of endless delights, joy, and freedom of sin forever when we all get to heaven are held before us in the Bible and vividly pictured for us by inspiring Christian writers such as C.S. Lewis in The Great Divorce, none of us shall reach the other side without passing through a process of seeing ourselves as we really always were and have finally become. This will be a time when God makes known "the thoughts and intentions of the heart." All those activities in our lives undertaken in the energy of self-effort will be burned up and lost to us forever. It is perhaps because he knew more than we do about the awesomeness of facing God and leaving our present world of darkness and illusion for the glorious light of holy reality, that the Apostle Peter urged his readers to look forward to, and count upon the "extra" grace that is coming to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ, (1 Peter 1:13). Our Lord himself spoke of the end of life, and the end of the age as carrying with it great agony like that of a woman in travail, but He said,
"...your sorrow will be turned into joy...you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you." (John 16:20-22)
The Apostle Paul writes regarding the Apostolic calling to ministry and advises us to practice self-evaluation. Note that the judgment seat of Christ is one of rewards, approval and commendation,
"This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart." Then every man will receive his commendation from God. (1 Cor.. 4:1-5)
"None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, 'As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.' So each of us shall give account of himself to God. Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother." (Romans 14:7-13)
First Corinthians 4:5 is an important verse: God will commend, not condemn his people when they enter heaven. But it is obvious that some Christians have little desire to serve their Lord fervently and whole-heartedly in this present life. Others serve God their entire lives, hardly ever faltering or compromising, giving to Him all they have to give, even losing their lives if that is required of them. Doing the will good can be evaluated to have been "good" or "acceptable" or "perfect," according to Romans 12. The "good works" done by the believer are, however, not what he or she does for God, (in the energy of the flesh) but the works Jesus is permitted to do through us. Only what Jesus does survives, all else is burned up.
It is better for us to grow more and more aware of our sins through diligent pursuit of holy living, through prayer and fellowship, through study of the Word of God and regular self-judgment that averts the judgment of God. Otherwise we may drift away with the crowd into compromises that leave us in the end no different from the pagans around us. If that occurs we are in jeopardy of losing our rewards which God desires to give us.
"Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality." (Colossians 3:23-25)
This present life is not where our goals, hopes and dreams and fulfillment are to be found---God's purpose is for us to regain our lost humanity and become whole persons who will live forever in a new creation. It is not for this life only that God is preparing us, but for something far more glorious and splendid. This is all made possible not by our best efforts but by the grace and mercy He has already lavished upon us and is ready to supply anew if we will but ask.
C. S. Lewis writes in this connection,
"It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor's glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.
"All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations---these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, marry, snub, and exploit- immortal horrors or everlasting splendours." (from The Weight of Glory)
On the "Crowns"
The usual misunderstanding of "rewards" is that hard-working Christians end up with a nicer house or a bigger Cadillac in heaven. The values of the fallen world are like that!
Christ is our inheritance. We have an inheritance in Him and He has an inheritance in us!
If you think about it, what is happening to us as we walk with the Lord daily in this life? We are learning and growing and developing a deeper capacity to hold God (as earthen vessels), are we not? We serve Him not out of duty nor because we want big rewards. We want to be found well-pleasing in His sight. We love Him because He first loved us.
Take the case of Lot. He is a righteous man (2 Peter 2:7) and therefore will be in heaven. What will he have to show for his entire life? Not very much. He will be forgiven sinner like the rest of us. But his life was full of missed opportunities and bad choices. So he did not learn much about God--especially compared to Abraham. (Abraham was also an unbelieving sinner when he started his journey). Lot will not have a great capacity to serve God compared to Abraham. But he will be righteous and without sin in heaven.
We are in boot camp now, basic training. In the army, some do well in boot camp, others less well. If we are learning here and now how to obey God in this life, then He can use us in heaven for more advanced, more honorable assignments. We don't earn rewards, though they are merited by some: God will honor those who have served Him well.
Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You." So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time--houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions--and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first." 
Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again."
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask." And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?" They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able." So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; "but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared." (Mark 10:28-40)
Those who are interested might research the NT topic of "crowns," that is, the specific rewards in heaven. These are not, however, "merit badges" as I see it.
1 Corinthians 9:25. "...and everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.
Philippians 4:1. "Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved."
1 Thess.alonians 2:19. "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?"
2 Timothy 4:8. "Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing." (Paul speaking)
James 1:12. "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."
1 Peter 5:4. and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
Revelation 2:10. "Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life."
Revelation 3:11. "Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown."
What we are piling up now is a great, eternal weight of glory. We don't earn this by good works however--it is by grace.
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." ( 2 Cor. 4:16-18)

A Comment: Revelation 4:10, 11 pictures what I see as the culmination of the whole matter of rewards and crowns:
"...the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
This speaks to me of the worship and gratitude that motivates all "good works". It is the acknowledgment of God's work in our hearts to accomplish His good and perfect will. As the Apostle Paul says, it is "Christ in you, the hope of glory". Since everything of value in our lives is the result of His working in us, it is altogether appropriate that in laying our crowns before His throne we acknowledge Him as the source of anything of merit in us. In the end, all praise belongs to Him! It is our astounding privilege to share His glory! (Elaine Stedman, 11/11/03)

THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD PSALM
(A Psalm of David)
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all that is in me, bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The LORD works vindication
and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.

The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor requite us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father pities his children,
so the LORD pities those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.

But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
upon those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children's children,
to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.

The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
hearkening to the voice of his word!

Bless the LORD, all his hosts,
his ministers that do his will!
Bless the LORD, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
 lambert@ldolphin.org
I send out periodic Bible-study newsletters. They are archived on my web site.
August 14, 1993. November 20, 2003.spelling and punctuation checked 05July02 RPS


When the Dam Breaks


Read the Scripture: Matthew 24:21-22
Jesus is now describing to his disciples the end of the age. That end will not be a single climatic event but a chain of events, all of which are the inevitable consequence of forces that have been at work in society throughout the whole course of this age. The scriptures agree that the "desolating sacrilege" our Lord refers to is a man; a man of world prominence who enters the rebuilt temple in the city of Jerusalem and assumes the prerogatives and claims the powers of Deity. So serious is this act that it precipitates the greatest crisis the world ever will face. In Matthew 24:21,22 Jesus says of it:
"Then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened."


Many have found these words hard to believe. They clearly refer to an hour unlike anything else in history. Till recent times it had been thought incredible that humanity could ever sink to such an ebb as to bring on a judgment of this character. But we must always remember that political leaders only express ideas which have been lying half hidden in human hearts, waiting only for the precise moment to emerge. Hitler did not teach the Nazis to hate the Jews; he only dared express in voluble terms the hatred and smoldering resentment of thousands of Germans who were scarcely aware of the terrible passions hidden in their own hearts. When this man of lawlessness takes his position in the temple of God he will only be expressing what long has lain dormant in human hearts.
But though this philosophy is recognizable within us and around us, this act of man's self-deification, expressing worldwide agreement, could never occur today! You ask, "Why not?" Because there are forces at work now which restrain its full manifestation, so that it cannot take over as a dominant philosophy of the race until these restraining forces are removed. In Matthew 13:30 Jesus said, in another place "Let both [the wheat and the tares, i.e., good and the evil] grow together until the harvest." In verse 39 he said, "The harvest is the close of the age." Till that time arrives, good and evil grow together, but the dominant philosophy is not evil, but good. It is only when the harvest arrives that evil is let loose to dominate the earth.
There's a little jingle that expresses the way most of us feel about right and wrong.
"Our race had an excellent beginning,
But man spoiled his chances by sinning.
We hope that the story,
Will end in God's glory,
But at present the other side's winning!"


It seems to many that evil is triumphant in our day. But every athletic team knows the ease by which the rival team can appear invincible, made up of players ten feet tall. They do everything right, while we do everything wrong. Thus it looks to many as though wrong prevails more often than right, and that we are already in the last day. The dominant thinking of our day, strange as it may sound to our ears, is not evil, but good! Despite widespread injustice and the terrible prevalence of violence and crime, the scales have not been tipped in favor of the wrong. Quite rightly do we sing, "Though the wrong seem oft so strong, God is the ruler yet."
The proof of this is that evil must constantly disguise itself as good to be able to survive. Swindlers try to appear respectable. They never boldly and blatantly label themselves crooks. Prostitutes want to be called ladies. Tyrants pose as benefactors. Liars strive to appear truthful. Cheats and misers and perverts, and a whole host of others, hunger after more respectable titles. Only good is really acceptable. Evil must dissemble and appear what it is not, to gain acceptance. This alone is ample proof that against the massive power of evil so evident today is arrayed an even more massive power for good.
Man often lives in open rebellion today, but he lives also in guilt. He knows that he needs God and in the hour of his need he often seeks God. Even communists, who in theory deny the existence of God, in practice often take great pains to disguise their evil to make it look moral and just. Occasionally they even drop expressions which indicate their own deep hunger for God. Evil is under restraint today, hemmed in by forces for good. The majority view for centuries has been truth and justice; evil in the minority. It is powerful, but it is controlled. It is forever breaking out as cruelty and violence, in individuals, in homes and in nations, but it is ceaselessly being beaten back, overpowered and subdued again.
This accounts for the brief optimism of many who profess faith in what they call "human goodness." In their blindness they ascribe this overpowering abundance of good to man himself, and reject utterly the biblical revelation that goodness stems from the kindness of God on our behalf. In his consummate darkness man views good as an inherent trait of the human race.

Restraints Removed

Jesus reveals the truth. In the end of the age, he says, it will be different. Then evil will reign in triumphant, malicious glee. All bonds will be broken, restraints will be cast aside, and lawlessness will fill the earth. God will move in judgment, terrible catastrophes will sweep the earth, but still man will not repent. Fear will not drive men to prayer but to further defiance. They will not wish to be delivered but only to be destroyed. They will take no delight in good, but will be made happy but the triumph of evil.
It is easy to document this by three very vivid pictures from the book of Revelation. The larger part of that book traces the course of events in the Great Tribulation. It especially reveals the condition of human hearts during the time of worldwide crisis. The first picture comes from Revelation 9:20, 21:
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshipping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot either see or hear or walk; nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries, or their immorality or their thefts.


The second is from Revelation 6:12-17 and depicts the fear men experience, but the stubbornness they cherish: "When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale; the sky vanished like a scroll that is rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the generals and the rich and the strong, and every one, slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand before it?'"
The third picture, perhaps the most hideous of all, is found in Revelation 11:7-10:
"And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them[the two witnesses from God]and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three days and a half men from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth."


You can see that these are very different days from those in which we live. They may not be very far removed in time, but they are very far removed in point of character. We are drawing nearer to them all the time, but we have not yet reached the point of such blatant, unblushing and worldwide delight in evil. What will happen to bring this about? Why this terrible difference?

Restraining Forces

To put the question another way: What is it that restrains the enormity of human evil today? What force is it that prevents the grinning ghouls of darkness from beginning their macabre dance of death right now? The clue is found in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5. There Jesus said to the little band of disciples gathered around him-ordinary men, fishermen, tax collectors, farmers-these amazing words: "You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world." (vv. 13, 14).
What did he mean? He meant they were light because they had life. John's Gospel says, "In him was life, and the life was the light of men." (John 1:4) Men have light only when they are in touch with the life that comes from Jesus Christ. Here were men, simple men, who possessed life. And because they had life, they had light. They were salt, because they had savor. Jesus spoke of salt which is without savor. It is good for nothing, he said. Men will cast it out and tread it under their feet. But here were men who had savor, a different flavor. The life they possessed, the life of Jesus Christ, made them different. It gave them a different kind of character. It made them a different kind of people. They had a different light on their faces, and a different reason for living. They had a different authority in their lives and a different power than other men.
Because of this, they were salt, arresting corruption. That is the purpose of salt. We use it in meat to stop it from spoiling, to arrest rottenness. So Jesus said they were as salt pervading society, molding human thought, challenging evil, restraining, controlling, limiting, binding, resisting the malignancy of evil in human affairs. It is for this reason that Christians must not isolate themselves from society. They must not attempt to create "Bible Cities," Christian communities set off from the world, away from the flow and stream of life around them. Christians are intended to permeate every level of life. They are salt, but salt is of no value while it remains in the salt shaker!

A Revealed Secret

When Paul wrote to the Thessalonian Christians about the coming of the Lawless One, he said, "You know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time" (2 Thessalonians 2:6). The restraining force was evidently something they knew about themselves. They had only to look into their own lives to see what restrained lawlessness within them. They knew, as we also know, that the "desires of the flesh are against the Spirit" (Galatians 5:17). But they were also discovering that "the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh...to prevent you from doing what you would." The restrainer of evil is the Holy Spirit within the Christian. It is the glorious secret that Paul calls "Christ in you, the hope of glory," the life of Jesus, imparted by the Holy Spirit, acting as a dam against the manifestation of evil.
Again Paul told the Thessalonians: "He who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed." All restraints must be removed before what man is without God can be fully revealed. The salt must be taken out of society to allow the rottenness to be evident. When the restraints are removed man's arrogant pride will soon break out in an assumption of Deity. Then the sirens will moan, the powers of darkness will be set free, the witches of terror will ride through the sky, and the dark night of judgment will begin. "Then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be" (Matthew 24:21).

God's Time Table

When does this removal of the salt of society occur? That is the question that shrieks for an answer now. If we expect to tie it to some specific date on the calendar we are doomed to disappointment. Jesus continually warned against any attempt to set dates. But we can know the time of this removal in relation to other events at the close of the age. Since Paul says plainly that it will be before the Antichrist is revealed-"And then the lawless one will be revealed" (2 Thessalonians 2:8)-we know that this removal occurs somewhere between the events recorded in verse 14 of Matthew 24, and those referred to in verse 15. It will be sometime before the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel stands in the holy place.
Exactly how long before no one knows. Many Bible scholars feel it will be at least three and a half years before (at the beginning of the seven year period which is Daniel's seventieth week). This would allow some time for the corruption of society, which has been held in restraint by the presence of Christian "salt," to spread and entrench itself, and ultimately produce the worldwide delight in the blasphemies of the Lawless One when he is revealed in the temple. When all references in Scripture to this event are taken into consideration this seems to be the most likely time for the great removal to occur.
How will it take place? By what means is the Holy Spirit taken "out of the way" so that evil is permitted to run rampant? From many Scriptures the answer comes: the church is suddenly taken out of the world! This does not mean the organized, institutional church, as such. It means the true church, consisting of Christians in all denominations (and in no denomination) who possess, through the new birth the indwelling life of Jesus Christ. As we have already seen, it is through such Christians that the Holy Spirit exercises his restraining work in society. So to remove the Christians is to remove the restraints and take the wraps off evil.
To expect such a fantastic event as this would be nothing but extreme religious fanaticism unless the Bible itself teaches that is true. Does Jesus say anything about this? The answer is yes! And right here in the Olivet Discourse too! He does not mention it at the time it occurs chronologically (before verse 15), but late in the message he describes it (verses 36-42), and introduces it with a warning that it cannot be tied to any specific date:
"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming [parousia, presence] of the Son of man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming [parousia, presence] of the Son of man. Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left. Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming."

Two Phases of His "Presence"

When Jesus speaks about his return he is not referring to a single moment of time when he will appear, but his talking about a return that covers a period of time. It will begin with a secret arrival, when he will come like a thief in the night. This will be the beginning of his "presence." But that presence will continue throughout all the time of trouble on earth, but behind the scenes, as it were, invisible to the world. Then, "after the tribulation of those days," he will manifest his presence visibly, appearing in power and great glory.
This invisible presence of Jesus on earth is not something wholly new. During the forty days after his resurrection he was in exactly this condition. He appeared and disappeared among his disciples and they never knew when he was coming or when he would go. He was suddenly there, and just as suddenly gone. He was here, but not here. For forty days this manifestation went on until he ascended into heaven. When he comes again he will resume the same relationship to the believing Jews and Gentiles of that time. The church will be caught up to be with him, to join him in that remarkable presence during the terrible days of trouble on earth.

The Church Removed

The removal of the church is described also in other passages. Paul writes to the Thessalonians about that, too in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18:
"For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming [parousia] of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep [died]. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."


This event is call the departure of the church. An older word for it is the "rapture" of the church. As you will note in what Paul says about it, it is intended to be a source of comfort to Christians. It is called in Titus 2:13 "our blessed hope." It means that one whole generation of Christians will not physically die, but will pass directly into a glorified state, as Jesus did on the Mount of Transfiguration before the astonished eyes of Peter, James and John (Matthew 17:2). No wonder one Christian said, "I'm not waiting for the undertaker; I'm waiting for the uppertaker!"
Don't let your imagination run away with you in trying to conceive what this event will be like. It is highly likely that it will not be visible to the world. It will be unseen and unfelt, with no disturbance of graves and nothing to indicate that anything has happened other than the strange disappearance of thousands. Just as the body of Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and passed out through the tomb in which he had resided without any physical manifestation whatever, so this event will take place. The stone was not rolled away from Jesus' tomb to let him out; it was rolled away to let the disciples in-so they could see what had happened. When Peter came in and found the grave clothes still lying as though wrapped around a body, but with the body absent, he was convinced that something unusual had occurred.
So this will be a silent event, recognizable only by the unexplained disappearance of many. Paul describes it in 1 Corinthians 15:51,52:
"Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed."


The whole point of our Lord's revelation of this fantastic event is, as he puts it, "Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." Do not be deceived, do not be misled or swept off your feet by the persuasive lies of unbelief in this day. Do not be distracted by the siren sounds of a deceived society which vainly imagines that all will go on forever as it does now. Do not be deterred in your service by the growing power of evil or the dark gloom of deluded men who can switch suddenly from glowing optimism to shuddering despair. The great removal can come at any time. Are you watching?

Prayer

Thank you, Father, for the marvelous power at work in human society, arresting evil, limiting the awful rottenness of fallen human nature, so that it does not manifest itself in full power yet. Help us to be alert, aware, undeceived, available to you as you are prepared to be as available to us, till the hour strikes when the restraints of grace will be removed. In Jesus' name, Amen.

http://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/matthew/when-the-dam-breaks 

ASPECTS OF THE RETURN OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST


ASPECTS OF THE RETURN OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

The Rapture and the Second Coming

The First and Second Advents of Jesus the Lord are both described in Titus. Notice that the Second Advent is divided into two phases: The coming of Jesus for his saints (his parousia, the event we call the rapture) and his coming in glory (his epiphaneia,with his saints:
"For the grace of God has appeared [the First Advent of Jesus] 
for the salvation of all men,
training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions,
and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world,
awaiting our blessed hope, 
[the rapture] 
and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 
[the Second Coming in glory] 
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity
and to purify for himself a people of his own
who are zealous for good deeds."
 (Titus 2:11-14)
Jesus will come for his bride, the true church at an unexpected hour. This is made clear by the use of the term "like a thief in the night." Seven years later Jesus will be publicly unveiled on earth, with his saints:
"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man. Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left. Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect." (Matthew 24:36-44)

"For the Lord [Jesus] himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. But as to the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people say, 'There is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them as travail comes upon a woman with child, and there will be no escape. But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But, since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we wake or sleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." (1 Thessalonian 4:16-5:11)
The Greek word used to describe the return of the Lord Jesus for his church, parousia, occurs in 2 Peter 1:16, 1 Cor. 15:23, 1 Thess. 3:13, 4:15, 5:23; 2 Thess. 2:1, James 5:7,8, 2 Peter 3:4, Matthew 24:3, 27, 37; 1 John 2:28. The Greek word means an arrival and a consequent remaining with someone.
2Pet. 1:16 "For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty."

1Cor. 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

1Ths. 3:13 "...so that he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

1Ths. 4:15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.

1Ths. 5:23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the comingof our Lord Jesus Christ.

2Ths. 2:1-2 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet him, we beg you, brethren, not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

James 5: 7-8 Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and the late rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

2 Peter 3:3-4 First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation."
2 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at hiscoming.
Matthew 24:3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?"

Matthew 24:27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man.

Matthew 24:37 As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man.
The Second Coming of Jesus in power and great glory openly before the whole world is described by the Greek word epiphaneia which means a shining forth. This word occurs in 1 Tim. 6:14, 2 Tim. 4:1-8; 2 Thess. 2:8, Titus 2:13.
1 Tim. 6:14-16 I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

2 Tim. 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom.
2 Thess. 2:8-10 And then the lawless one will be revealed (apokalupsis), and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing (epiphaneia) and his coming (parousia).

The coming (parousia) of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved

Titus 13-14 "...awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds
The following passages refer to the Second Coming of Jesus, His open unveiling in glory at the time He comes to set up His kingdom on earth:
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matthew 24:29-31)

"Behold, a day of the LORD is coming, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in the midst of you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women ravished; half of the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that one half of the Mount shall withdraw northward, and the other half southward. And the valley of my mountains shall be stopped up, for the valley of the mountains shall touch the side of it; and you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD your God will come, and all the holy ones with him. On that day there shall be neither cold nor frost. And there shall be continuous day (it is known to the LORD), not day and not night, for at evening time there shall be light. On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter. And the LORD will become king over all the earth; on that day the LORD will be one and his name one." (Zechariah 14:1-9)

"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself. He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords." (Revelation 19:11-16)


Ray C. Stedman says,
Two Phases of His "Presence"

When Jesus speaks about his return he is not referring to a single moment of time when he will appear, but his talking about a return that covers a period of time. It will begin with a secret arrival, when he will come like a thief in the night. This will be the beginning of his "presence." But that presence will continue throughout all the time of trouble on earth, but behind the scenes, as it were, invisible to the world. Then, "after the tribulation of those days," he will manifest his presence visibly, appearing in power and great glory.

This invisible presence of Jesus on earth is not something wholly new. During the forty days after his resurrection he was in exactly this condition. He appeared and disappeared among his disciples and they never knew when he was coming or when he would go. He was suddenly there, and just as suddenly gone. He was here, but not here. For forty days this manifestation went on until he ascended into heaven. When he comes again he will resume the same relationship to the believing Jews and Gentiles of that time. The church will be caught up to be with him, to join him in that remarkable presence during the terrible days of trouble on earth.

The Church Removed

The removal of the church is described also in other passages. Paul writes to the Thessalonians about that, too in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18:

"For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming [parousia] of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep [died]. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

This event is call the departure of the church. An older word for it is the "rapture" of the church. As you will note in what Paul says about it, it is intended to be a source of comfort to Christians. It is called in Titus 2:13 "our blessed hope." It means that one whole generation of Christians will not physically die, but will pass directly into a glorified state, as Jesus did on the Mount of Transfiguration before the astonished eyes of Peter, James and John (Matthew 17:2). No wonder one Christian said, "I'm not waiting for the undertaker; I'm waiting for the uppertaker!"

Don't let your imagination run away with you in trying to conceive what this event will be like. It is highly likely that it will not be visible to the world. It will be unseen and unfelt, with no disturbance of graves and nothing to indicate that anything has happened other than the strange disappearance of thousands. Just as the body of Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and passed out through the tomb in which he had resided without any physical manifestation whatever, so this event will take place. The stone was not rolled away from Jesus' tomb to let him out; it was rolled away to let the disciples in-so they could see what had happened. When Peter came in and found the grave clothes still lying as though wrapped around a body, but with the body absent, he was convinced that something unusual had occurred. So this will be a silent event, recognizable only by the unexplained disappearance of many. Paul describes it in 1 Corinthians 15:51,52:

"Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed."

The whole point of our Lord's revelation of this fantastic event is, as he puts it, "Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." Do not be deceived, do not be misled or swept off your feet by the persuasive lies of unbelief in this day. Do not be distracted by the siren sounds of a deceived society which vainly imagines that all will go on forever as it does now. Do not be deterred in your service by the growing power of evil or the dark gloom of deluded men who can switch suddenly from glowing optimism to shuddering despair. The great removal can come at any time. Are you watching? (http://raystedman.org/olivet/oliv04.html)
The most dramatic event in all history will be the visible appearing of Jesus Christ. No one can possibly miss it when it occurs. He himself describes it for us in Matthew 24:29-31:

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

This is the most prophesied event in the Bible. The Old Testament contains many references to it, and it has been estimated that in the New Testament one verse out of ten refers to this coming of Jesus Christ. If all the references to this event were taken out of the New Testament, you find it unintelligible in many parts.

From "Presence" to Unveiling

But we must be careful to understand it in relation to the parousia, the presence of Jesus, which has been going on since the Church was taken out of the restrictions of time before the end of the age began. This flaming advent is part of the parousia, actually the event that marks the end of the secret presence. It is the outshining of his presence before the eyes of the whole world. What he has been in secret to his own during the dark days of the tribulation, he now will be openly before the whole world. He will especially manifest himself to the Lawless One. Paul says, "The Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his coming" (2 Thessalonians 2:8).

That last phrase, "his appearing and his coming," is literally, "the epiphany of his parousia." Epiphany is a word that means unveiling, or outshining. Taken in that sense, Paul is calling this dramatic appearance of Jesus Christ, "the unveiling of his presence." It is the startling climax of the whole period which Jesus calls "the close of the age."

The final crashing crescendo of civilization's last hour will be accomplished in three sweeping movements. Each of these is traced in broad strokes by Jesus. The first is a violent activity in nature:

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken."

Notice that the Lord Jesus distinctly separates this event from the Great Tribulation. The tribulation will be essentially the manifestation of the naked brutality of man, the exhibition of the cruelty and unbelievable violence of the human heart unrestrained by grace. It is described for us in detail in the book of the Revelation, especially in the judgments of the seals and the trumpets. It will be a time when the horrors of Nazi persecution, reflected in the gas chambers of Buchenwald and Dachau, will be repeated all over the earth; a time when violence stalks the streets, and the nuclear witches of terror scream through the skies. As Jesus said, it will be a day of unprecedented human evil, of terrible slaughter and human suffering.

But immediately following this tribulation terrifying signs appear in the heavens. The phrase, "the powers of the heavens will be shaken," suggests severe gravitational disturbance of the solar system. This in turn would produce phenomenal effects on the earth. Showers of meteors will flash through the darkening skies. Earthquakes cause the land to heave and shake, and great tidal waves sweep the coasts. Luke reports that, "men [will be] fainting with fear," and there will be great "distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves." Volcanoes erupt, spouting out streams of lava and vast clouds of cinder and ash which obscure the sun and the moon. The sun is darkened and the moon reddens and is finally unable to shine at all. (http://raystedman.org/olivet/oliv08.html)
Also from Ray Stedman,
THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS 
COMMENTATORS HAVE OFTEN portrayed the second coming of Jesus as a single dramatic event (Matt. 24:21, 29), following the Great Tribulation, where the Lord will suddenly appear in power and great glory, visible to every eye (Rev. 1:7). The church will be caught up to meet Him and will then return with Him to earth (1 Thess. 4:13-18) where He will judge the living and dead. This either establishes His millennial kingdom or ushers in the new heaven and new earth, depending on which millennial view the commentator holds.

This scenario has numerous difficulties connected with it, however, not least of which are the several promises in the New Testament that the true church will not be present during the Great Tribulation. A key to understanding the teaching of the New Testament on this subject is the Greek word parousia. This word is commonly translated "coming," which in the mind of the reader projects the vision of the single dramatic appearance described above. But parousia should properly be translated "presence." This is the mean-ing given first by both Thayer and Arndt and Gingrich lexicons and includes the idea of an entrance, a consequent duration, and either an exit or a continued presence. It is not, therefore, a single event (V), but a continuum (I---------I) of unspecified duration.

This meaning is the only way to make sense of Jesus' revelation in Matthew 24 of His return to earth in the last days. There He describes a coming in power and glory immediately following the terrible time of trouble that He calls "the great tribulation" and the darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of the stars from heaven (Matt. 24:28-30). But it would be impossible for such a coming to take anyone by surprise who knew of our Lord's description. For in the same chapter Jesus speaks of His coming as unexpected and sudden as the flood came upon the people of Noah's day; and He likens it to a thief creeping into a household at night, without warning, and surreptitiously removing its treasure (vv. 36-44). Yet how could His coming be both unexpected and preceded by such cosmic events of dramatic character?

The only answer is that one passage describes His initial, totally unheralded and unexpected appearing while the other describes the disclosure of His presence by a dramatic display of power and glory after the Tribulation has run its course and the sun, moon, and stars have done their predicted thing.

Jesus' coming like a thief would be a fulfillment of I Thessalonians 4:13-18: He would catch up His true church to Himself and then remain on earth during all the events of the Tribulation, but in the same conditions He manifested during His forty-day post-resurrection ministry when He appeared and disappeared at will. After the darkening of the sun and the moon He would disclose His presence to the entire earth in fulfillment of Matthew 24:28-30 and Revelation 1:7. Thus His initial, thief-like coming, His continued presence behind the scenes on earth, and His final revelation in power would all be covered by the term parousia. It is noteworthy that where Paul refers to the public revelation of Jesus in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, he calls it "the splendor of his coming" (NIV), which literally means "theepiphaneia ("out-shining") of his parousia ("presence").

But what happens to the church after it is caught up to meet the Lord in the air, as I Thessalonians 4:13-18 describes? The answer of Scripture is "so shall we ever be with the Lord." Wherever the Lord is, there the church will be also, sharing with Him in His work whatever it will be. But some may object, "I thought the church was to be in heaven with the Lord."

And indeed it will--but what and where is heaven? It is certainly not another place in the cosmos, within the time-space continuum with which we are familiar. In the light of the new physics of Einstein and others, many are coming to see that heaven is a term for another dimension of existence. It need not be spatially removed from us at all, but may be as present on earth as it is anywhere else. When Jesus appeared and disappeared in the course of His post-resurrection ministry, He was simply stepping in and out of the invisible dimension where spiritual realities exist--heaven. Yet all the time He was in some sense on earth, for He said that He had not yet ascended to His Father.

While I admit that this may be somewhat speculative and mysterious, it is supported by several passages of Scripture. It simply implies that the church (consisting of believers with glorified bodies) will accompany the Lord in His behind-the-scenes directing of the events of the Tribulation. It is this same church that the apostle John sees under the symbol of a glorious city, coming from heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The marriage supper of the Lamb will already have taken place in those invisible realms while the events of the Tribulation rage on earth.
(Appendix to Ray C. Stedman, Waiting for the Second Coming, Discovery House Publishers, Grand Rapids, 1990. (http://raystedman.org/thessalonians/)


Additional Notes:

Rapture (from Lat. Rapio "seize, carry away") The Rapture is an event where every believer is instantly taken up to meet Jesus in heaven without experiencing death. This event is similar to what Enoch experienced when he walked with God and he was not, for God took him (Gen 5:24). Another similar example is when Elijah: was taken up by the Lord to heaven without seeing death (2 Kings 2:1-15).

The Rapture is to be the eschatological event in which Christians still living on the earth will be "caught up together with them (deceased Christians who have already been resurrected absent from the body present with the Lord 2 Cor.5:8) in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" 

(1Thess. 4:13-18). The rapture contains within it several aspects of eschatological expectation, including the hope for the gathering together of God's people, who have been separated by death, geography or circumstances, and their being united with their Lord (1 Thess. 3:13; 4:16-17; 2 Thess. 2:1); the hope for God's vindication of his people and judgment of their enemies (Luke 18:7-8; 2 Thess. 1:6-10); the hope for unending life (1Cor. 15:51-56); unless those days are shortened the expectation of sudden judgment (Matt. 24:36-44); God did not appoint us to wrath (1Thess. 5:9); His eminent return (1 Cor.1:7; Phil 3:20; Titus 2:13; Heb. 9:28) and the hope of the release of the righteous from a troubled world (Rev. 3:10).

Some people reject the idea of the Rapture because they say it's not in the Bible but that would depend on what Bible you had because if it where the Latin Vulgate you would have the word Rapiemur from which we get the English word Rapture. As far as words go the word Bible cannot be found but we believe in the Bible, we do not see the word Trinity but the Bible teaches the concept of the Trinity.The teaching of the rapture is presented clearly in 1 Thess. 4:13-18 in this passage Paul informs his readers that those living Christians at the time of the rapture will be united with those who have died in Christ before them. In verse 17 the English phrase "caught up" is translated from the Greek word harpazo which means to snatch up; seize by force; lead away forcibly; to steal; carry or drag away. In Acts 8:39 Philip upon completing a baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch is "caught up" and divinely transported from the desert to the coastal town of Azotus. Similarly, the church will in a moment of time be taken from earth to heaven when Christ comes for His church.

It is very likely that the rapture is referenced in 2 Thessalonias 2:3. The first three verses of 2 Thessalonians 2 read as follows: 1. Now, brethren, concerning the coming [parousia] of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2. not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away [Greek apostasia] comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." Thomas Ice discusses in detail why the apostasia is probably a reference to the rapture. I agree with this interpretation as did my mentor the late Ray C. Stedman. See http://www.pre-trib.org/article-view.php?id=165

Christ coming for His church (Rapture) is not to be confused with His second coming (Judgment) these are two separate events:
 Rapture Passages Second Coming Passages
John 14:1-3
Romans 8:19
1 Corinthians 1:7-8
1 Corinthians 15:51-53
1 Corinthians 16:22
Philippians 3:20
Philippians 4:5
Colossians 3:4
1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2:19
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
1 Thessalonians 5:19
2 Thessalonians 2:1
1 Timothy 6:14
2 Timothy 4:1, 8
Titus 2:13
Hebrews 9:28
1 Peter 1:7, 13; 5:4
Revelation 2:25; 3:10
Daniel 2:44-45
Daniel 7:9-14
Daniel 12:1-3
Zechariah 12:10
Zechariah 14:1-15
Matthew 13:41
Matthew 24:15-31
Matthew 26:64
Mark 13: 14-27
Mark 14:62 , 23
Luke 21:25-28
Acts 1:9-11
Acts 3:19-21
1 Thessalonians 3:13
Jude 14, 15
Revelation 1:7
Revelation 19:11-20:6
Revelation 22:7, 12, 20
Rapture and Second Coming Contrasted
Could return at any moment
Don't know the time
Earth not judged
Translated saints go to heaven
Rapture is a mystery
Before the day of wrath
No reference to Satan
He comes for His own (bride)
He comes in the air
Comes for believers only
Only His own will see Him
Tribulation begins
Before the day of wrath
 Following timed events
31/2 years after Abomination of Desolation
Earthed judged
Translated saints return to earth
Predicted often in Old Testament
Concluding the day of wrath
Satan bound
He comes with His own (bride)
He comes to the earth
His return will impact all people
Every eye will see Him
Millennial kingdom begins
Concluding the day of wrath

Prophetic outline of Revelation explained in Revelation 1:19 

John is told by Jesus to write down the things which he has seen, the things that are, and the things which will take place after this.

Revelation 1:9-18 the things which John has seen
Revelation 2:1-3:22 the things that are: letters to the seven churches (church age)
Revelation 4:1-22:21 the things which will take place after the church age.
In Revelation 4:1 it says after these things, which are, is when the rapture occurs: The Greek word here is meta tauta "after these things" referring to the church being received in heaven. After this event the church is not mentioned on earth but in heaven.
Revelation 4:1-5:14 the church worshipping in heaven
Revelation 6:1-18:24 the tribulation period
Revelation 19:1-21 the second coming of Christ, coming with His church
Revelation 20:1-5 millennium kingdom
Revelation 21:1-22:21 new earth

The premillennialism view sees Christ's return as preceded by a definite seven-year period of tribulation and followed by the millennium. Premillennialism (prior to great tribulation) and midtribulation (midpoint) views of the rapture tend to think of that event mainly as the escape provided for believers from the troubled world of the end times. Pretribulationism positions, in effect, two second comings of Christ, the first an invisible "secret rapture" (of Christians) before the tribulation, the second a return with the previously raptured saints to judge the wicked and inaugurate the millennium.

Partial rapturism, another variant of pretribulationism, warns that only those in a sanctified state will be caught up before the tribulation; backsliders must endure the tribulation until the final coming of Christ (1Pet. 1:6-7; cf. Matt. 6:13; Luke 21:34-36; Rev. 3:10).

What does the New Testament say about the time of Jesus' Coming? Christ said, "No one knows about the day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Matt. 24:36). Since we cannot place Christ's return in any given century or decade, Christians are told to "keep watch." Jesus taught, "You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him" (Matt. 24:42-44).

Suggestions For further Reading:The Rapture Question by John Walvoord
The Prophecy Knowledge Handbook by John Walvoord
The Return by Thomas Ice and Timothy J. Demy
Rapture Under Attack by Tim Lahaye
Caught up by Brian Brodersen
From: Net Bible Institute
Are There Some People Who Will Never Die? (The Rapture Of The Church) Since the fall of humanity, with Adam and Eve, the normal experience for each human has been death. The writer to the Hebrews stated.
"...it is appointed for humans to die once, and after that the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27).
As we read through the pages of the Old Testament, we find this truth emphasized. There were, however, two exceptions to this rule - Enoch and Elijah. Neither of these men died. The Bible says of them.
"Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." (Genesis 5:24).
 "As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven." (2 Kings 2:11).
A Mystery Revealed

Not only are Enoch and Elijah the exception to the rule about death, the New Testament reveals to us something that had not been foretold - there will be a generation of people who will never die.
Rapture Of The Church

Before Christ returns to earth there will be an event known as the "rapture," or "translation" of the church. The Scripture explains it in the following manner.
"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord Himself, with a shout, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Another explanation is given in First Corinthians.
"Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:51-58).
Observations

From these passages we can make the following observations.
1. Not Everyone Will Die

Although death has been the norm for humanity, the Old Testament recorded two prominent exceptions - Enoch and Elijah. The New Testament also says that a living generation of Christians will not experience death, but will be taken up to meet the Lord.

2. No Need Of Resurrection

Those believers who are living at the time of the rapture, or translation, of the church, will not have to be resurrected. They will be changed, while they are alive, from mortal to immortal, from corruptible to incorruptible.

3. Meet Christ

Those who are instantaneously changed at the time of the rapture of the church will be with Christ forever in their glorified body.

Summary

The resurrection from the dead will be what most believers experience. A small number in comparison will not die but will be changed as was the case with the Old Testament characters Enoch and Elijah. This event is known as the "rapture" or "translation" of the church.