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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Ron Rhodes
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April 2 - April 7, 2022
false teachers would emerge who would seek to lead church members into apostasy: “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30).
Scripture tells us that there will be an increase of apostasy in the end times.
some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of ...
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Many of the cults and false religions that pepper our land today emerged out of the Christian church. The leaders of these groups received alleged revelations from angels—which we know to be fallen angels, or demons. Mormonism is a classic example. It was founded by Joseph Smith after he received a revelation from the alleged angel Moroni. Another exampl...
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people will not endure sound teaching,
Who can doubt that these words describe the very days in which we live? Channel-surfing
in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to
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Scripture is clear that apostasy will rise to a fever pitch during the future tribulation period. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 we read, “Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first.” Many believe this refers to a rebellion against the truth.
The Bible is clear that the United States of Europe—the revived Roman Empire that will be headed by the antichrist—will be the political and economic superpower in the end times (see Daniel 2;
many prophecy scholars believe the United States will progressively weaken by the time the tribulation period begins. I personally believe this is a strong possibility.
It is happening now.
If this country’s moral fiber continues to erode, its demise is only a matter of time.
He blesses nations that submit to Him and brings down nations that rebel against Him.
is America ripe for judgment? We have cause for concern.
America is in a free fall, plummeting morally and spiritually, with no repentance in sight.
We must therefore ask whether God might sovereignly judge America in the end times for turning away from Him.
If this passage tells us anything, it is that when a nation continues to willfully reject God and His Word, turning its back on His moral requirements, God eventually reveals His wrath against that nation.
one way God reveals His wrath is by allowing the people of that nation to experience the full brunt of the ravaging consequences of their sin.
each empire suffered a gross moral decline, and God rendered appropriate judgment.
Another possibility is that the United States could be weakened by a nuclear detonation on its soil.
Government advisors are presently saying that a nuclear attack on US soil within the next ten years is more likely than not.
Yet another possibility is that the United States could be incapacitated by an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack.
the technology is now here to bring America’s way of life to an end.
A major EMP attack could potentially lead to starvation and disease.
Instead of cars, buses, and trains, people would be reduced to using bikes, horses, and buggies.
Perhaps the United States will weaken due to its gross overdependence on oil.
One final possibility is that the rapture will catastrophically weaken the United States—more so than it will affect most other nations—because of the high concentration of Christians in this country.
Yes! Lord please let it be this!
This seems likely to happen because prophecy reveals that in the end times, the balance of power will shift toward the United States of Europe—that is, the revived Roman Empire, which will be led by the antichrist.
The Bible offers several clues that the rapture will take place prior to the tribulation period.
In Revelation 3:10, for example, Jesus promises the church in Philadelphia, “I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.” Notice the definite article (the) before the word hour in this verse. This indicates that a specific and distinctive time period is in view, not just any “hour of trial” in church history. The context clearly points to the future seven-year tribulation, which is described in detail in Revelation 6–19. This is the hour of trial from which the church is to be kept.
This verse reveals that the church saints will be kept from the actual hour of testing, not just the testing itself.
Notice that Revelation 3:10 promises only that church saints will be kept out of this hour of trial coming upon the entire earth. Those who become believers during the hour of trial itself (those we might call tribulation saints) will go through tribulation.
Throughout the Tribulation, saints are being killed on a massive scale (Rev. 6:9-11; 11:7; 12:11; 13:7, 15; 14:13; 17:6; 18:24). If these saints are Church saints, they are not being kept safe and Revelation 3:10 is meaningless.
Only if Church saints and Tribulation saints are kept distinct does the promise of Revelation 3:10 make any sense.2
no Old Testament passage on the tribulation mentions the church
no New Testament passage on the tribulation mentions the church
The church’s complete absence would seem to indicate that it is not on earth during the tribulation.
a pretribulational rapture best explains the massive apostasy that engulfs the world following the removal of “the restrainer”—apparently the Holy Spirit
If the Holy Spirit is removed, how do people become Christians during the tribulation?
Scripture assures us that the church is not appointed to wrath
the church cannot go through the great day of wrath—the tribulation period
First Thessalonians 1:9 explicitly states that Jesus “delivers us from the wrath to come.”
Throughout Scripture, God protects His people before judgment falls (see 2 Peter 2:5-9).
This is confirmed in the fact that the rapture involves Christ coming for His saints in the air prior to the tribulation, whereas at the second coming He will come with His saints to the earth to reign for a thousand years (Revelation 19; 20:1-6). The fact that Christ comes with His holy ones (redeemed believers) at the second coming presumes they have been previously raptured. (He cannot come with them until He has first come for them.)
The rapture of the church is a mystery because it had never been revealed in Old Testament times. It was revealed for the first time in the New Testament.
One moment they will be on earth in mortal bodies, and the next moment they will meet Christ in the clouds, instantly transformed into their glorified resurrection bodies.
it seems more natural to the text to interpret this shout as actually coming from the voice of the archangel himself.
angels are often portrayed as being heavily involved in end-time events
Jesus paid a purchase price for the church
the church is declared sanctified and set apart for Christ the Bridegroom
the church is unaware of the exact time that Jesus the Bridegroom will come, though it is an imminent event.
The term “blessed hope” in Scripture is a general reference to the rapture of the church.
