Where is the promise of His coming?

2 Peter 3:3-4 "Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.'"

Notice that Peter under Divine inspiration tells us that in the last days scoffers would arise questioning the authenticity of the promise of Christ's imminent return. And since the 1st Century when these words were penned, the Doctrine of the 2nd Coming of Christ and the Rapture of the Church has been scrutinized and attacked from within the Church maybe more so than any other doctrine. Now, there are many different views concerning the return of Christ and when it will happen. I will only deal briefly with the 3 major views.

1. The Amillennialist says that there will be no Great Tribulation (7 yrs. of Hell on Earth preceding the Revelation of Jesus Christ as Messiah/King.). They say there will be no millennial reign of Christ, therefore there is no need for a rapture just a general resurrection and dividing of the sheep from the goats.

2. The Postmillennialist says that Christ will return after 1,000 yrs. of peace and righteous rule. The strangest of all who have held this view is that many are Calvinists. My question for them is, "If mankind is totally depraved, how are we going to usher in 1,000 yrs. of righteous rule and maintain it that long?"

3. The Premillennialist, of which I am one, says that Christ will return prior to the the Millennial Reign of Christ. This view can then be broken down further into 3 views concerning the Rapture or catching away of the Church to be with Christ.

a. Post-Tribulation Rapture. Christ will return for the church after the Great Tribulation but before the 1,000 yr. reign.
b. Mid-Tribulation Rapture. Christ will come 3.5 yrs. or 42 months into the Great Tribulation to rapture his Bride. The 144,000 among them.
c. Pre-Tribulation Rapture. Christ will come in the clouds to catch away his bride prior to the 7 yrs. of Tribulation which will try the entire world. He come with clouds of people at the end of the Tribulation, at which time he will set up his rule.

So who is right? What does the Bible teach? It is easy to see with so many conflicting views within the church why the scoffer might say, so when's He coming!?! It is the view of this author that Christ will return to rapture His Bride prior to the Tribulation period. In later posts, we will get more in depth into the why of that statement. We will also look at the signs of the times that are appearing everywhere, as the song-writer put it and the prophecies we are seeing fulfilled before our very eyes.

But for now, I want you to remember what Jesus told the church at Philadelphia, which is the true/on-fire church in the last days. He told them, "Because you have kept the kept the word of my patience, I will also will keep you from the hour of temptation which shall come upon the whole world, to try those that dwell upon the earth. - Revelation 3:10" Furthermore, Paul tells the Thessalonian believers in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 to "Wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." As the Bride of Christ, just as with any Jewish wedding, we will have our "week" of concealment in Heaven with our bridegroom, during which time the Father will collect on all the debts owed to the son!

BEHOLD THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH, GO YE OUT TO MEET HIM!!!