There’s much talk lately about the nearness of the Rapture of the Gentile Church called “the body of Christ.” No doubt this is because of what we observe of the ever-declining miserable state of fallen mankind. We live in a world of “sin and death” as it has been since the fall of Adam. But today we observe that we have openly corrupt politicians worldwide; and with that we have open street rebellion and leftist socialist/fascistic dogma that has exploded in the formerly Christian free western world. All this is in addition to the push of 2 major communist nations vying for supremacy.

Most sadly, we in the west have also reached a very low ‘spiritual state’ … with most of Christendom being apostate, having forsaken “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints [believers].”

Having all this, the reasoning is that it can’t be much longer before the Lord Jesus comes to judge godless fallen mankind under the promised “wrath of God” during the 7-year Tribulation period. We know the only source of peace to come with the reign of “the Prince of Peace.”

So first, as promised in the Pauline epistles, we as spiritually regenerated believing members of Christ’s body must be Raptured, taken ‘home’ to heaven. For Paul wrote;

²⁰ For our conversation [Old English for: citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Philippians 3:20 (KJV)

¹³ But I would not have you [grace believers] to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep [dead in their graves], that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep [died] in Jesus will God bring with him.

¹⁵ For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep [dead in their graves]. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: ¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (KJV)

A remnant of the believing Gentile Church today lives in the “blessed hope” that the world changing event of the Rapture is relatively soon to occur. Yet, Paul clearly writes that the Lord’s judgment will not come into play until the Antichrist becomes realized, such as if we the believers would surely recognize him, if we were not already Raptured.

³ Let no man deceive you [the believers] by any means: for that day [the ‘day of the Lord’ – 2^nd coming to judge] shall NOT come, except [until] there come a falling away first [Grk. apostasia, ‘the Departure’ which will come by the Rapture first], And That Man of Sin Be Revealed, the son of perdition [Grk. apoleia, ‘son of destruction’]; 2 Thess. 2:3 (KJV)

“That day” mentioned here above is the day that is here and elsewhere referred to “the day of the Lord” coming in judgment, in “wrath.”

Surely, most reason, this evil beyond all evil must already be in the world, waiting in the wing for the Church to be Raptured out of planet earth to heaven, so all these things must happen. The prophesied event of the Rapture of “the body of Christ” is imminent, it must be close.

As seen in Scripture and in Paul’s epistles, “the body of Christ” has to be taken to heaven a while* before the evil dictator rides forth on ‘the white horse’ to rule the world. This happens only after the Lamb opens “the first seal” of Revelation 6:1-2.

(*Read of The Post-Rapture Pretribulation Gap: http://www.artlicursi.com/articles/gap-between-rapture-and-7-year-tribulation)

¹ And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. ² And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he [Antichrist] went forth conquering, and to conquer. Revelation 6:1-2 (KJV)

Paul here in his 2^nd epistle to Timothy describes the behavioral characteristics of generation of man in the day of the Rapture.

¹ This know also, that in the last days PERILOUS [dangerous] TIMES shall come.

² For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

⁴ Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; ⁵ Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (KJV)

Do you recognize these “PERILOUS [dangerous] TIMES” as being what we see today? Most of us have observed the phrase above, translated as “perilous times,” which can also be translated as ‘ragingly insane times’ from the original Biblical Greek. Today, in our contemporary lives, we observe a corrupt media that puts its own spin on the daily story that bubbles and boils into a single irrational drama.

2Timothy 3:1-5 (above) contains (19) nineteen behavioral elements that are used to describe both Paul’s society and what we now can recognize in an ever-intensified way.

First on the list: “… lovers of their own selves” This generation lives with camera in hand daily taking and texting ‘selfies’ of themselves, their possessions, etc.; just another form of self-idolatry.

Let’s now examine and define the other (18) eighteen elements of the society that Paul says will be in place before the Lord returns in wrath to judge and purge out the rebels … before He sets up His Millennial Kingdom on earth.

Second, “covetous” means seeking money and goods. Today these the heart and soul of fallen humanity.

Third, “boasters” is pride on display.

Fourth, “pride” is a rotten arrogance.

Fifth, “blasphemers, refers to those who ruin the lives of others

Sixth, “disobedient to parents” this explains itself.

Seventh, “unthankful,” disregarding the blessing that comes from God and loved ones

Eighth, “unholy,” speaking against God.

Ninth, “Without natural affection,” means having forbidden interpersonal relationships.

Tenth, “Trucebreakers,” are habitually resistant angry opponents

Eleventh, “false accusers,” shift the blame to others

Twelfth, “incontinent,” meaning “without self-control”

Thirteenth, “fierce,” referring to those who demonstrate in the streets with companions and torches

Fourteenth, “despisers of those that are good,” are those who hate anything that is good

Fifteenth, “Traitors,” refers to those who cannot be trusted

Sixteenth, “heady,” are those so wild that they are unpredictable

Seventeenth, “highminded,” are those who are blind to their own pride

Eighteenth, “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;” are those who love entertainment, travel, sports, the beach, and other ‘pleasures’ of life … in the place of God

Nineteenth, “Having a form of godliness” one who presents himself as righteous, but he really does not believe. We see this among a large number of the wide spectrum of Christendom.

Can you agree that the above is an apt description of our culture today in the USA and the west in general? You might reply; ‘This is nothing new, mankind has been fallen to sin since the fall of Adam.’

True, but what is different today is the scale of cultural evil and rot in our once Christian lands of the Reformation and in all the west.

Today, our one-time Christian culture is all but gone, whereby the church itself… by forgoing the Truth of Paul’s “gospel of the grace of God” for today… now lacks the ‘salt’ and ‘light’ that it once shown to influence, and preserve the culture of the western nations.

God has not forsaken man… man has clearly forsaken God.

Clearly, the “man of sin” (Antichrist) is waiting in the wings.

- Portions adapted from an article by Gary Stearman of ‘The Proph