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My understanding of Scripture is that the gospel of the kingdom must be preached into all nations, tribes and tongues before the end shall come, just as our Lord Himself said was the case in Matthew 24. The passages which warn believers to be ready for the Lord’s return do not necessarily require one to hold to the idea of an any-moment rapture. One of the most well-known passages, concerning the Foolish and Wise Virgins in Matthew 25, directly follows Matthew 24, in which Jesus expressly teaches that His return and gathering of the elect will be immediately AFTER the tribulation, the worst time of all time, the worst that ever shall be, according to how Jesus describes it. Believers are exhorted in Scripture to watch, to be sober, awake, ready for His appearing, because that is the kind of spiritual alertness we should always possess. We must never grow lax in our spiritual sobriety, nor should we ever slumber spirituality. Also, the statements in Scripture about the Lord coming as a thief each reveal in their own context that the warning is not concerning imminence as such, but is instead about those who are not zealous and awake for the Lord.For example: 1 Thess 5:1Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ESVAnd:Revelation 3:1b “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. 4Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. ESVHope this helps,

joshuaproject.net/resources/articles/has_everyone_heard

Wow! Looks like there is still a lot of work yet to be done. Many years ago when I was a fledgling MIP student the Church of God made it a goal to reach the unreached people groups Alabama was assigned the Gheg of Albania. Whatever happened to that effort?The USA is by far the richest Evangelical nation in the world and yet most of our money goes to keep our buildings operating, pew sitters comfortable and systems in place. Jesus said where much is given, much is required.

What is the difference between the rapture and The coming of Christ. Are many treating it as the same event?By the way, this is one of those deep interesting discussions some say never happen here. ________________

It is not just the Joshua Project. That is just one example. Missions agencies are in full agreement that the gospel has not yet been preached into all ethnic groups. The word translated as “nations” in the Great Commission and in the Matthew 24

It is not just the Joshua Project. That is just one example. Missions agencies are in full agreement that the gospel has not yet been preached into all ethnic groups. The word translated as “nations” in the Great Commission and in the Matthew 24reference is ”ethnos,” and does not mean a modern nation-state. Bro, I hear you. But I have a hard time believing that, if not every person, then every ethnic group (with the possible exception of some Stone Age tribes) have not heard of Jesus. If just one person in an ethnic group has heard of Jesus, that would meet the criteria, no?And if not, consider a making-excuses case can be made that would claim that unless every PERSON has heard the gospel, etc….Further, it might be that some nations were reached GENERATIONS ago…but did not respond to the gospel (or it may have been eradicated in some way). I have heard that some nations that used to be Christian (e.g., Syria) later became Muslim due to the fact that the Muslims didn’t persecute the non-Catholic Christians as badly as did the Catholic Church. Or reduced their taxes, etc.Not good reasons, I know. But if there is a tribe that, 1500 years ago had a missionary come and preach to them, but failed to convert or what have you, it seems it would be fair to check that ethnic group off of our list…unless we mean that each ethnic group must be reached in every generation before the Lord returns.

I think the NT teaches the imminent return of Christ. Therefore, I can’t accept there must be some event that prevents that from happening. There are also scriptures about the future of Israel as a nation that must be reconciled. In my mind, the rapture of the Church helps to reconcile those differences. Revelation devotes a significant amount of attention to the events of the Tribulation. It also seems to center around events in the Middle East, particularly the nation of Israel. Jesus describes the events of the Tribulation with a decided emphasis on Israel and Jerusalem. We read in Revelation that angels participate in the preaching of the Gospel during the Tribulation (Rev 14:6-7). So in my mind, the angel finishes the work left undone at the time of the rapture. Something has to happen to bring the focus of human history back to Israel (remember Paul’s promise for future Israel in Romans 11). The most logical shift would result from the “fulness of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:25