"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." - Titus 2:13
All Christians know that that "Blessed Hope" is the Rapture of the true believers; that promised hope we long for, for we will be taken to heaven to be with Jesus forever. Actually, after the 7 year Tribulation period, we will return with the Lord to the earth to live for 1000 years under the Millennial Kingdom, with Jesus Christ ruling over us. But that is another subject for another article.
Prior to this post, we have discussed here the Mystery of God and the Mystery of Godliness . Now we will discuss the Mystery of the Rapture. To begin, here is a 59 minute video on that topic where Amir Tsarfati gives an excellent discourse with much information to digest. It was published in January of 2017, as Amir mentions that year in his sermon; however, facts presented here are still relevant and true today.
The purpose of the Rapture is to take believers to heaven with the Lord before God pours out His wrath upon those ungodly and unrepentant persons left behind to face the horrors of the tribulation period. You do not want to be here and face the destruction and plagues and the wrath of God during the 7 year tribulation! Make sure you are ready to meet Jesus by living a godly life; but first, of course, by surrendering your life to Him in faith and belief in Him as the Savior.
1 Corinthians 15:50-54 tells us: (50) "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. (51) Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (54) So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."
In the verses above, the apostle Paul clarifies some of the mystery of the Rapture. I have written often concerning the Rapture. You can go to the "Search this blog" box on the upper right hand side of this page and type in "rapture" and several posts will appear which you can then read the ones that are of interest to you. Here is a link to one of the articles I wrote last year about how the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of the Lord differ.
In the above link, there is a short video featuring author Ron Rhodes, who speaks on the timing of the Rapture. He uses humor to help make his point and it is a pleasure to listen to his reasoning. One thing he mentioned was "Every problem we've got will be fixed by the Rapture." If you are old and falling apart, the Rapture will fix that. If you are tired and just want to be at rest with the good Lord, the Rapture will fix that.
We must make sure that we are ready for the Lord's soon return in the Rapture !!
"The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." - Isaiah 57:1
Praise and thank God for His mercy and love in keeping believers from the wrath of the Tribulation period!
Remember, you must be born again and totally committed to the Lord to escape the tribulation.
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." - John 3:3
When you are born again, you have put your faith and belief in Jesus as the Savior; you have repented of all sin, and you pray to God for forgiveness of your past sins. You believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, and you endeavor to live a godly life; a life of obedience to the Lord. You become a new creature; your carnal nature is transformed into a holy nature, focused on things above, not on things of this evil world scene.
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are past away; behold, all things are become new." - 2 Corinthians 5:17
Colossians 3:1-2 admonishes us: (1) "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. (2) Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth."
Colossians 3:1-2 admonishes us: (1) "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. (2) Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth."
Here is a song about the Rapture, or should I say, about being "left behind".
Don't be left behind! Take to heart the Scriptures found in this article. Make sure you are ready for Jesus' return !
Romans 10:9,10,13 tells us: (9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." - John 14:6
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16
Think about all the good Lord has done for you.
Think about His great love and that He longs to hear from you, to fellowship with you, and to have a strong personal and intimate love relationship with you.
Turn to the Lord and live a life pleasing to Him.
Believe Jesus is the Savior !
Repent and turn from your sins.
Repent and turn from your sins.
He will welcome you with arms wide open in an embrace of love and forgiveness!
As you draw close to Him, He will draw close to you (James 4:8)
Be blessed and have a Christ centered weekend ..... and life !
