Why I believe in the rapture.

[David in NJ]

Good scripture - the First Seal opened with the Rider with a Crown and Bow on a White Horse is not Jesus/God.
That First Seal has been opened.

 

[Timtofly]

But this is exactly my point. Yes, we existed fleshly before our new birth. And yes, all those unsaved do as well. But the bible is clear that before we were “In Christ” we were “dead in our sins” (Eph 2:1-6). We may have had the ‘life’ of air within our bodies, but we didn’t know true, spiritual life before Christ. That’s why ‘new birth’ in him is such a big deal, and why it, and it alone, can save us from the second death. Yes, sure, the physical resurrection of our new, perfected bodies is necessary for eternal life, but in point of fact, the bible tells us that without that first ‘spiritual’ life into Christ, we would still be dead, and be headed for the second death.

That makes it absolutely essential to any talk about what it is that makes us worthy of escaping or not fearing the second death.

John 5:24-29

[24] Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

[25] “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the deadwill hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.




Not in Rev 20, but it surely does elsewhere:


John 5:24-29

[24] Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

[25] “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. [26] For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. [27] And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. [28] Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice [29] and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.


So, we can see, not just the “Just” have a resurrection, but so too do the “Unjust”.

And interestingly enough, you can see at the beginning of this passage where Jesus clearly differentiates between ‘hearing the Son of God’ and will live…the dead will hear ‘and live’. It doesn’t say in Vv25 that “an hour is coming and is NOW HETE that those who are in the tombs will live”…no, he saves that til later, and he doesn’t say the time is “now here”…he says a time “will come”.

Basically, he’s clearly telling us that spiritually dead people where even then, hearing him and coming to life…eternal life. But an hour was still to come when those in their tombs would ‘live’.

Clear delineation between the first resurrection and second.





You said:

“The GWT is not really a when either. It is not even in time. It is after this current heaven and earth pass, which to us places it after the end of time, but not in time. The only thing that does exist is the throne. No where do your verses state we have to wait until time is no more to receive our eternal life. If you are waiting for the "hour to come", it is definitely not the non-literal hour that does not even exist, is it? If it is not a literal hour, and Jesus pointed out it was already there, then it is ongoing from the time Jesus spoke, until time stops.”


Okay. Let’s unpack this in a bit more depth. It seems to me you did say that the GWT is apart from, “after the end of” time, which means, time has stopped, for all intents and purposes. That’s a sort of ipso facto thing, right?

I also wonder where you draw your conclusion that “the GWT is the only thing that does exist”. Where on earth does it either tell us that, or allow us to assume everything beyond it is gone.

Or…are you saying it in a figurative manner….”to the attention and purposes of those standing there, nothing else exists”. Because, one might imagine that might be true, so important will it be, but again, the text hardly tells us that, does it?


Further more, my ‘expectation’ that the resurrection and judgment will be ‘on a day’, is quite clearly backed up by scripture.

(1 Co 15:20-55; John 5:24-29; John 11:24; 1 Thess 4:16-17; 2 Thess 7-10)


I believe you are taking John 5 out of context…see above, please. You cannot use that passage to claim an ongoing, constant stream of ‘resurrections’. One, it doesn’t say that, and two, it would clearly violate other scriptures speaking of a single, end time event, 1 Cor 15 being the most obvious:


1 Corinthians 15:20-26

[20] But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. [21] For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. [23] But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. [24] Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. [25] For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. [26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death.


This passage clearly tells us that we shall receive our ‘first fruit’ bodies…our resurrection bodies, AT Christ’s return.




Again, you seem to be making quite an assumption here. What text tells you that the dead, when standing before the GWT, were neither in “this reality, nor the future NHNE”? How do you know these people will not be aware of time as they suffer punishment?

I agree we are not told of the relationship between the lake of fire and NHNE…I’m pleased you haven’t decided to make wild guesses here as well.




This is classic “already not yet” eschatology. Yes, spiritually, we have access to many of the promises given the children of God. However, we see obvious passages in the NT and Revelation, that also promise physical fulfilment. And that, clearly, is “not yet”. It’s like the first and second resurrections. The first, spiritual, we have now in Christ. The second, physical, we must await for his return.

Why would this resurrection you claim, having a future hour, not apply to Lazarus?

You seem to want it for those in sheol, and for those not even named in the Lamb's book of life. Yet most refuse to allow this very same resurrection for Lazarus. Lazarus was proof the "hour" was already available before the Cross. I think we only disagree that it can only happen at one defined particular hour.

 

[Oseas]

Good scripture - the First Seal opened with the Rider with a Crown and Bow on a White Horse is not Jesus/God.
That First Seal has been opened.

TRUE.

 

[Timtofly]

But…let us just assume, for a moment, you may be correct, and Gog and Magog are ‘Nations’ that have claimed ownership over the whole globe. That still means that the peoples of ALL the earth will be gathered for battle against the Saints.
Like I said…nonsensical.

Your claim it was every nation.

I said it was only one or two.

Look on any ancient map of Turkey and you can see the territories of all those armies listed in Ezekiel. Turkey is hardly the edge of the Roman Empire or Greek. It may be the edge of any Mesopotamian kingdom. Turkey is just the northern neighbor of Israel.


Tell me how the area of Turkey got to be the edge of the map and encompassed all the other nations. You seem to think I am crazy. You must have a better explanation of how the map got so small.

 

[Timtofly]

There must, inevitably, come a point where you question if the “literal” reading of a text is turning the ‘clear meaning’ into plain nonsense.

So being literal is just making stuff up?

Use the word symbolism and magically what ever you make up has to be the truth?

 

[Timtofly]

There is a big difference between taking God’s word “literally” and taking it as true. For something to be ‘symbolic’ does not make it ‘untrue’. For example, to use the same analogy as before, if I said it was raining “cats and dogs”, when it was raining torrents, am I lying? I’m not. I’m using figurative language to make my meaning clear.

Thus you do not NEED to have something written in “literalistic” fashion to make it true, or real.


Let’s look at “Armageddon” shall we?


Revelation 16:12-16

[12] The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. [13] And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. [14] For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. [15] (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) [16] And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.


This is the “sixth bowl”. We see that they “assemble for battle on the great day of God”. We also see it is directly linked to what Jesus told them in Matt 24:42-43 - “I am coming like a thief!”

This means that this ‘battle’ is taking place just before Christ’s return, or even AT it.

Indeed, what happens immediately AFTER bowl Six?


Revelation 16:17-21

[17] The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” [18] And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. [19] The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. [20] And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. [21] And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.


“It is done”. Flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a great earthquake.

Where else do we see this in Revelation?


Revelation 4:5

[5] From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God,


Revelation 8:1-5

[1] When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. [2] Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. [3] And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, [4] and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. [5] Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.


Revelation 11:15-19

[15] Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” [16] And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, [17] saying,

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,

who is and who was,

for you have taken your great power

and begun to reign.

[18] The nations raged,

but your wrath came,

and the time for the dead to be judged,

and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,

and those who fear your name,

both small and great,

and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

[19] Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.


Okay…we see this same language in several other places in Revelation. The first place is about the Throne, where God himself sits in heaven and the 24 elders are around him.

The second is when the 7th seal is opened, and the third is when the 7th trumpet is sounded. Both seal and trumpet have heavenly scenes as well, showing God’s temple and altar. And in both occasions we see that God is either viewed or interacts with the earth, resulting in clear signs of a theophany: flashes of lightning, peals of thunder, etc. When we look back at Mt Sinai, we see the same things about the Mt when God ‘came down’.

Coupled together with the sort of language we see: “it is finished”, “you HAVE taken your power and begun to reign”, “but your wrath CAME and the time for the dead to be judged”.

This language points to the clear idea that the ‘seal, trumpet and bowl’ judgments all end with a theophany, and what we may expect at Christ’s return…things to be done, completed….for the dead to be judged and God’s servants rewarded.


And what else can this conclusion lead us to? To the fact that the book itself is NOT written in a strictly chronological manner. Else you end up with several theophanies, several ‘last battles’ that judges all the nations and those opposing the people of God.

That means that saying that the battle of Rev 20 cannot be “Armageddon” is not, strictly, correct.

And you can cry out that that is not a “literal” reading of the book, but a literal reading gets you several theophanies and several battles.

Where else in scripture supports the idea that Christ is going to crack the sky open several times? Or that we may expect multiple battles where Satan gathers the unsaved of the earth in order to slay God’s chosen?

You don’t. Which ought to point rather strongly towards the fact that much of Revelation will end up distorted and deformed if you attempt to read it in a ‘strictly literal’ manner.




See above.

Also….perhaps you ought to do a word study throughout the whole bible. How often, when it is used, is 1000 meant literally?

There is a logical explanation for 3 different battles.

Refusing to identify the reason and claim the same words mean the same thing, you still fail to point out the reason, but you have a single battle for no reason at all, but the word battle.

 

[Naomi25]

@Naomi25 At many a funeral of a saint of God, part of 1 Corinthians 15 has been very relevantly read...

For very good reason!

 

[Timtofly]

This is something plainly stated, why not accept that it is true on it's face?

Because I am accused of being a strict litaralist. I know symbolism when I see it.

Reconcile your Scripture with these verses: 2 Corinthians 5:1-4.

1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

Yea this vile body needs changed. Would you a changed body, or the permanent one made by God?

 

[farouk]

For very good reason!

@Naomi25 Indeed! it's a wonderful, Christ-exalting passage full of hope.

 

[n2thelight]

1. Do those that believe in a rapture study the Book of Revelation, if so why ,when you not gonna be here ?

Do any of us know whether we will be here tomorrow or not? I study all of God's Word.

2. Why does one need to have on the whole armor of God if you not gonna be here ,ie, standing against the wiles of the devil

Afflictions and persecutions come at all times.

3. Why would you want to leave , instead of being a witness against satan live and in person when the elect are delivered up , meaning the next time true tongues will be spoken

It's up to God, not us, when and how we leave this world.

Much love!

1 No we don't know ,yet we are to know the season, and all of God's Word tells me there is no rapture ,yes one should be ready at all times , however the rapture doctrine set's one up to be deceived by the first supernatural being that shall appear, whom is satan himself ,pretending to be Christ . If you die in Christ before He returns ,you good , my point is those who are alive.

2. My point exactly ,so why are rapturist afraid of the tribulation of satan ,scripture teaches that he (satan) can't harm a hair on your head ,if you have the seal of God. I mean looking at scripture , it's clear how he comes, in peace

3.I'm not speaking on us leaving this world, heck I could die while typing this, my point is the deception that is about to come to those who are still in this world.

Now going back to 2 ,and I will leave you with this

Ephesians 6:13 "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to with stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

What evil day is this? The evil day is when satan will be on this earth , not no man possessed , not no spirits , but live and in living color, along with his evil angels .

Like scripture says ,satan shall come first , let's look at what happens with those who follow him thinking he's Christ..

Revelation 6:15 "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;"

All mankind except for God's elect, the remnant, and the 144,000 of chapter seven, will be part of Satan's [Antichrist's] kingdom. When the rest of the Christians see our Lord Jesus Christ coming, they will all know immediately what they have done. Then the shame will be great, to the point of wishing to perish, if it were possible. But it will not be possible for all souls will be changed into their incorruptible bodies at the coming of Christ. I Corinthians 15:50-54 reveals that no flesh and blood can nor will exist at that time, nor will any of the things dealing with the flesh body exist.

Revelation 6:16 "And said to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:"

This bears repeating, but if you simply cannot understand that the Antichrist comes first, before Jesus Christ's return, you will worship the Antichrist as the true Christ. This verse is describing how you will feel when you see the true Christ at the seventh trumpet. The fear will be so great that it will be a terror to your mind for the sins that you have committed in worshipping the false christ.

Revelation 9:6 "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."

Many people who have sat in church all their lives looking for this "Rapture" to take place, in an instant will fall to Satan. When they finally wake up to the fact that they were deceived by Satan, the shame will be great and on them. These are those deceived Christians taken out of season who will pray for the mountains to fall on them. They will seek death, but it will not come. The death of this physical life will be over, and then all will be in the spirit, or soul body.

The above is why the rapture is a dangerous doctrine ,if you don't have the seal you will have the mark, it's no escape ,ie, rapture..

 

[Timtofly]

1 No we don't know ,yet we are to know the season, and all of God's Word tells me there is no rapture ,yes one should be ready at all times , however the rapture doctrine set's one up to be deceived by the first supernatural being that shall appear, whom is satan himself ,pretending to be Christ . If you die in Christ before He returns ,you good , my point is those who are alive.

2. My point exactly ,so why are rapturist afraid of the tribulation of satan ,scripture teaches that he (satan) can't harm a hair on your head ,if you have the seal of God. I mean looking at scripture , it's clear how he comes, in peace

3.I'm not speaking on us leaving this world, heck I could die while typing this, my point is the deception that is about to come to those who are still in this world.

Now going back to 2 ,and I will leave you with this

Ephesians 6:13 "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to with stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

What evil day is this? The evil day is when satan will be on this earth , not no man possessed , not no spirits , but live and in living color, along with his evil angels .

Like scripture says ,satan shall come first , let's look at what happens with those who follow him thinking he's Christ..

Revelation 6:15 "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;"

All mankind except for God's elect, the remnant, and the 144,000 of chapter seven, will be part of Satan's [Antichrist's] kingdom. When the rest of the Christians see our Lord Jesus Christ coming, they will all know immediately what they have done. Then the shame will be great, to the point of wishing to perish, if it were possible. But it will not be possible for all souls will be changed into their incorruptible bodies at the coming of Christ. I Corinthians 15:50-54 reveals that no flesh and blood can nor will exist at that time, nor will any of the things dealing with the flesh body exist.

Revelation 6:16 "And said to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:"

This bears repeating, but if you simply cannot understand that the Antichrist comes first, before Jesus Christ's return, you will worship the Antichrist as the true Christ. This verse is describing how you will feel when you see the true Christ at the seventh trumpet. The fear will be so great that it will be a terror to your mind for the sins that you have committed in worshipping the false christ.

Revelation 9:6 "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."

Many people who have sat in church all their lives looking for this "Rapture" to take place, in an instant will fall to Satan. When they finally wake up to the fact that they were deceived by Satan, the shame will be great and on them. These are those deceived Christians taken out of season who will pray for the mountains to fall on them. They will seek death, but it will not come. The death of this physical life will be over, and then all will be in the spirit, or soul body.

The above is why the rapture is a dangerous doctrine ,if you don't have the seal you will have the mark, it's no escape ,ie, rapture..

Those who are raptured when Christ shows up will be raptured when Christ shows up. They will not be raptured when Satan and his beast show up.


Those who hang out with Satan waiting for the 7th Trumpet to end will not be raptured.

 

[n2thelight]

Those who are raptured when Christ shows up will be raptured when Christ shows up. They will not be raptured when Satan and his beast show up.


Those who hang out with Satan waiting for the 7th Trumpet to end will not be raptured.

Does not the rapture teach the rapture happens before satan sets foot on this earth?
Is that not the whole purpose ,to fly away before ?

 

[n2thelight]

When is this rapture ? How may I ask can it happen before the 2nd coming of Christ ,oh I forgot He comes two more times .

 

[n2thelight]

Another question , how can you all do the whole Book of Revelations , if you'll not gonna be here?

Revelation 22:7 "Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book."

Or do you keep the sayings up until this rapture ?

Also how can this rapture happen at anytime when Christ told us in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 all that will and must happen before His return , so where is the rapture in those two chapters ?

 

[n2thelight]

Does one not see the seals from the Book of Revelations in Mark 13 and Matthew 24 , if not I can help you

 

[n2thelight]

Good scripture - the First Seal opened with the Rider with a Crown and Bow on a White Horse is not Jesus/God.
That First Seal has been opened.

that rider I totally agree is not Christ ,however that seal has yet to be opened

notice what the scripture says

Revelation 6:1 "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."

It does not say the first seal, it say one of the seals, not which one and in this case this is the 6th
satan comes at 666

Christ returns at 777

The seals are not in order

 

[Timtofly]

Does not the rapture teach the rapture happens before satan sets foot on this earth?
Is that not the whole purpose ,to fly away before ?

No. Satan is already walking around on earth. Has been since the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were not raptured, and they were after Satan was walking around on earth.

We only know the rapture by what Paul calls it as happening at the Second Coming.

All this false eschatology on either side of the issue with dozens of private interpretations some think is from God is what has led to: "I don't like that interpretation, so I will make up my own interpretation instead."


It may be true that someone came up with a false story to counteract an accusation. Then it just spiraled back and forth between 3 different ideologies. Yet no one was using the totality of Scripture. One side would find a verse that seemed to support their view, and then the other side would find verses to outdo the other side. The churches became entrenched in their private interpretations, and "their view" of Scripture, that just made their trenches deeper.

The most recent thing is that now the rapture is just an escape clause.

The point is no one can know when the Second Coming will happen, yet every one thinks they know when the Second Coming is. So who was the first to claim they knew exactly the moment of the Second Coming? When you figure that one out, you will have the source of all confusion. Revelation was not written to declare the Second Coming and it's exact time, any more than to declare when Satan and his FP and the beast would arrive. What we have are two different series of Judgment. A third, that John could not reveal, and a 4th that is poured out on those who follow Satan.

This has not been resolved historically. If it was, why does history not record what the 7 Thunders were?

John does not include the timing of the Second Coming nor places the Rapture and Second Coming in any definitive way. So unfortunately, no one should trust any one who disparages the rapture as given by Paul to not be at the Second Coming as given by Paul. If any interpretation cannot resolve it exactly how Paul describes it, then separating the two events will not prove any one's interpretation of Revelation.

Most people refuse to see Christ at all on the earth in Revelation. Jesus Christ Himself states He will be on the earth to set up a throne, and that implies a kingdom. How does one prove in Revelation when exactly, for how long, and why Christ is on the earth? Because until one can prove Christ is literally on the earth on a throne, whatever else besides those points, is not a Second Coming.

 

[Timtofly]

Another question , how can you all do the whole Book of Revelations , if you'll not gonna be here?

Revelation 22:7 "Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book."

Or do you keep the sayings up until this rapture ?

Also how can this rapture happen at anytime when Christ told us in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 all that will and must happen before His return , so where is the rapture in those two chapters ?

The only thing Christ said about His Second Coming is the sign of the Second Coming will be the Second Coming. Jesus did not claim a lot of stuff had to happen before the Second Coming. Jesus said a lot of stuff had to happen before the end. The Second Coming is not the end. The Second Coming is just one thing to happen before the end. Jesus did not lay out the order as a road map. Jesus was not telling them when the Second Coming would happen. He just listed it with all the other stuff that happens before the end. He did not even say how it would end or even what the last thing was before the end.

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Jesus did not say that would be the end. He said after that, the end would come. No one can even agree on what is the gospel of the kingdom.

So even after the Second Coming, the gospel of the kingdom will still have to be preached as Jesus stated. The end of what though? The kingdom itself? If the gospel is preached up until the very end, is there an "alter call" and a major decision yet to be made by every human at that point alive on the earth, and then the end?

 

[n2thelight]

The only thing Christ said about His Second Coming is the sign of the Second Coming will be the Second Coming. Jesus did not claim a lot of stuff had to happen before the Second Coming. Jesus said a lot of stuff had to happen before the end. The Second Coming is not the end. The Second Coming is just one thing to happen before the end. Jesus did not lay out the order as a road map. Jesus was not telling them when the Second Coming would happen. He just listed it with all the other stuff that happens before the end. He did not even say how it would end or even what the last thing was before the end.

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Jesus did not say that would be the end. He said after that, the end would come. No one can even agree on what is the gospel of the kingdom.

So even after the Second Coming, the gospel of the kingdom will still have to be preached as Jesus stated. The end of what though? The kingdom itself? If the gospel is preached up until the very end, is there an "alter call" and a major decision yet to be made by every human at that point alive on the earth, and then the end?

Christ told us everything that will and must happen before His return

Matthew 24:3 "And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of "Thy coming, and the end of the world."

It is important that we understand the word "world" as used in the Greek manuscripts, is "aion", and "age, or an age of time". In the Hebrew, " `olam", which denotes a limited, or even an extended period of time, such as the context of each occurrence may demand. So as such, this is talking about the end of our present world age which is characterized by a special form of Divine administration or dispensation.

Jesus is giving us in this chapter the seven events that must come to pass to bring to an end to this age, and the return of Christ. There are many church traditions that have complicate the simplicity the Jesus is teaching here. This is why we should have our ear tuned to the Lord Jesus Christ, and not to man's traditions. So the subject to this entire chapter is, "When is the end of this world age, and what are the events that mark that coming."

Mark 13:3 "And as He sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately,"

Mark 13:4 "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?"

This marks the subject for the entire chapter. Now Jesus is going to tell us the seven seals what will take place before His second advent. These seven seals are the equivalent of the seven trumpets, and the seven plagues. The seals are not in order, however the seven trumpet of Revelation mark the order that the events will come to pass. The "sound of the trumpet" is the sound that executes the order of the event that shall take place. It is God's order of the happenings at the end of this earth age of the flesh. The seals are not in order, but are given in such a way that the deceiver himself is put in the foreground, to where we can understand completely through the seals. It is the deceiver himself that causes the confusion that take place. Jesus is now going to tell us the events that take place when the end will come

If you read the rest of this chapter He lays it out perfectly what must happen ,in other words , Christ cannot return at anytime , we of course can't and won't know the date but we are to know the season.

Oh and satan is not on this earth right now, as he has yet to be kicked out of heaven ,when he does he's coming with his angels ,the locust army

Have you seen satan here, ? he will be here live and in person pretending to be Christ , that's the deception of which the tribulation is all about

Seal or the mark ,period...

 

[n2thelight]

So even after the Second Coming, the gospel of the kingdom will still have to be preached as Jesus stated. The end of what though? The kingdom itself? If the gospel is preached up until the very end, is there an "alter call" and a major decision yet to be made by every human at that point alive on the earth, and then the end?

No ,when Christ feet touch this earth (Mount of olives) 2nd coming, that is the end of this flesh age as ALL at that time will be changed.
No alter call, the alter is calling now .

Scripture says the whole world will be deceived , Christians are the only group of people that can be deceived , as the rest of the world already are.

It's gonna be so bad the they will wish death and not find it.

Why do you think He compares His bride to a virgin ?