What is the rapture and what is the second coming? The rapture is an appearance by the Lord in the air. During the rapture, Christians are caught up in the air to be forever with the Lord. During the rapture, Jesus comes as a groom for His bride. He delivers His Church from the end-time plagues that are designed to bring the unrepentant to repentance. During the ten plagues on Egypt, Satan’s people, the Egyptians, experienced the plagues, God’s did not. During the second coming, Christ returns to the earth as a mighty conqueror on a horse with the saints following Him. He returns in wrath and vengeance to judge the world with righteousness. He returns as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The second coming of Christ brings an end to this world and begins a new one.
What does the Bible say about Jesus Christ our blessed hope?
“Many will come from the east and west and take their place at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” [2] Most of us enjoy fine dining with wonderful people. Jesus described heaven as a place of dining and fellowship. No one will be hungry or outcast there.
Those who enter into eternity with Jesus enter into the joy of the Lord. [3]
Jesus called eternity with God paradise. “Truly I tell you, TODAY, you will be with Me in paradise.” [4] The word paradise comes from the Persian language. It means a beautiful garden or park. The Garden of Eden was a paradise. The second coming of Christ will be paradise restored.
The resurrection of believers in Christ happens in this way: “The body that is sown is perishable, is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.” [5] These earth suits are sown into the soil and come up heavenly bodies. We are currently wearing seed-bodies. These seed-bodies shall turn into heavenly bodies by the power of God. It is like being planted as an orchid seed and coming up an orchid flower.
“We will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed! For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” [6] What kind of bodies will we have in heaven? We will have imperishable bodies.
Christians encourage one another to hope in the Lord’s appearance. “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” [7]
The Day of the Lord is an award ceremony for servants of Christ. “There is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.” [8]
Abraham “looked forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” We believers in Christ share a longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called our God, for He has prepared a city for us.” [9]
The Heavenly Jerusalem is a city so large that it covers most of the continental USA. It is made of precious jewels and metals. No earthly city can be compared with it. It is a place of righteousness, peace, and joy. It’s a place of abundance! Of angels singing! People loving God! No more war or death! The parties and parks here do not compare with the joy and splendor of heaven. [10]
To reject Jesus Christ is to excuse self from heaven. Entrance into heaven is via Jesus Christ. He is the door to heaven. No one gets in apart from faith in Him. [11]
Some people won’t be in heaven. It is disturbing to think that they will be excluded from heaven. They will be cast into hell with the devil and his angels. [12]
The movie, “Like a Thief in the Night” begins with a young man telling people about the return of Christ. As he speaks, the movie camera pans the room. Some were listening, others were not. After the message, a trio sang the song, “I Wish We’d All Been Ready” by Larry Norman. Verse two goes like this:
“A man and wife asleep in bed,
She hears a noise and turns her head,
He’s gone.
I wish we’d all be ready.
Two men walking up a hill,
One disappears and one’s left standing still.
I wish we’d all been ready.
There’s no time to change your mind.
The Son has come, and you’ve been left behind.” [13]
While we need to be deeply concerned for those who will be left behind, we need to consider our Lord’s return as our blessed hope. “At that time, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and all the peoples of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” This is our bridegroom returning for us His bride. [14]
Jesus said in: “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep watch because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” [15]
What is “the thief” breaking into steal? His people! Jesus is coming for His elect! “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if that were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and TAKE YOU to be with Me that you also may be where I am.” [16]
Tribulations are coming, but so is the Lord! He will not forsake us. Yes, our nation may continue to backslide. Our world may continue to become more evil, but the Lord will not forget us. He will remember His own. He WILL save us!
“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and OUR BEING GATHERED TO HIM, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the Day of the Lord has already come.” [17] Can you imagine how terrified you would be if someone convinced you by a letter or prophecy that the rapture had already happened? You were left behind! That’s what some false teachers did to the Thessalonians. They told them that the Lord had come, and they had been left behind.
“Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the apostasy occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be god.” [18] Remember this: Apostasy precedes Parousia. Apostasy means to stand apart from God. Parousia means appearance – meaning the Lord’s appearance. When we see more and more people who once attended Church turn away from Jesus, it is a sign that He is coming soon for His elect.
Beware of becoming bitter about those left behind. In the 1940’s, there were two evangelists who led thousands of souls to Christ. One’s name is well known the others’ is not. Have you heard of Billy Graham? Yes! Have you heard of Torrey Johnson? Most likely not! Torrey Johnson started out well but was overtaken by grief for the perishing. At first, it troubled him. Later, it became a bitter root in his soul. Finally, he stopped evangelizing because he forsook the Lord.
“Be careful lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.” [19] We have to leave those who reject Jesus to God. Only God sees the whole picture.
The rich man in a parable of Jesus did not want his five brothers to end up in hell with him. He begged Father Abraham to send Lazarus to testify to them so that they would not end up in the place of torment. Lost souls do not want us in hell with them. The rich man ended up in hell because he disregarded God and neighbor. He gambled that God would not condemn him. He sure changed his tune in hell. No one should take God lightly. [20]
“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” [21] For believers, the appearance of Christ is about redemption. Jesus returns to redeem us. Though we are sinners just like the rest, we have repented, and washed our robes in His blood. He has written our names in His Book of Life! Therefore, we are looking up. We expect to see Him soon.
[1] Titus 2:13
[2] Matthew 8:11
[3] Matthew 25:21
[4] Luke 23:24
[5] 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 49
[6] 1 Corinthians 15:51-53
[7] 1Thessalonians 4:16-18
[8] 2 Timothy 4:8
[9] Hebrews 11:10, 16
[10] Revelation 19; 21-22
[11] John 10:1-7; 14:6
[12] Revelation 20:10-15
[13] Matthew 24:40-44
[14] Matthew 24:30-31
[15] Matthew 24:40-44
[16] John 14:1-3
[17] 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2
[18] 2 Thessalonians 2:2-4
[19] Hebrews 11:15
[20] Luke 16:27-28
[21] Luke 21:28
No comments:
Post a Comment