Well, we’re going to know after the fact who was right.
The best thing is to be prepared for all contingencies.
If we’re walking in Christ as we ought, then no matter what happens we’re good.
Personally, I’d PREFER the pre-trib rapture scenario. Sounds like the most fun. But what I want does not dictate God’s actions.
Worth repeating.
If we’re walking in Christ as we ought, then no matter what happens we’re good.
What if you are grading your own tests? Clearly you are thinking that relative Truth is OK with God with your opening statement "we're going to know after the fact who was right"
The Apostle Paul felt that doctrine was important, so much that in Galatians he writes that he went and corrected the first Pope ;)
Personally, I’d PREFER the pre-trib rapture scenario. Sounds like the most fun. But what I want does not dictate God’s actions.
Well, the campfire stories sound like fun, unless, of course you are "Left Behind"
The problem with that sentiment, and I don't want to offend you here as I am convinced that you "walking in Christ", is that the Pre-trib rapture presupposes a future Tribulation and invents a "rapture" when the Parable of the Wheat and Tares says exactly the opposite.
Furthermore, and I think most important, is that it makes the entire body of prophetic literature irrelevant to the entire Church Age. If you are engaged in a cosmic rave of seven years, why do you care now about any "two witnesses" or any increase in earthquakes and battles?
A pre-trib rapture mentality, as has been stated by more articulate Freepers than me, facilitates a temporary mindset in a very bad sort of way. Why pursue a doctorate or invest long term for the Kingdom if the return of Christ is predicated on some troop movement in northeastern Iran which could happen tomorrow?
A realized millennial view makes the prophetic literature relevant to every generation, in that we don't have to wait for a future victory, we are victors now in Christ.
Will things get worse and worse? Unlike the Post-mils, I am pessimistic about the future, yet unlike the Pre-Mils, I'm not secretly hoping for the "birth pains" increase so that we can conveniently bug out now and leave our crappy jobs and tired lives behind.
Try reading Foxe's Book of Martyrs, and then ask yourself, why we think things now are worse than then, so much so that the "rapture" will happen this next year but somehow wasn't bad enough to warrant His return then.
The passage in 2 Peter 3:9, which when understood under the context of the scope of the "us" says that the LORD will indeed return when the Last of the Elect is Redeemed.
You want to hasten the return of the LORD? Then follow the command to "Go" and make disciples of all men of every nation.
So let me replace your hope for a life-shortening pre-trib rapture with this thought:
Eccl 9:7-10 Go, eat your bread with joy, And drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted your works. Let your garments always be white, And let your head lack no oil. Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.