THE RAPTURE - PART 3
"The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” RM1312
PURPOSE OF THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE
Let’s jump right in. Knowing that the Rapture can happen at any moment does one thing for the believer who is watching for it, it keeps us accountable to holy living. Please don’t misunderstand, I didn’t say ‘perfect living’, but a life that honors Christ in all things, especially if we say we love Him! The Lord tells us that we are to live our lives in light of His return. We are to keep busy doing His work, not only living out the Gospel on a daily basis, but also verbally sharing it with those around us as well.
The bible says in RM1312 that "The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”
Basically, stop living a lukewarm life and get your life right with the Lord, because when the trumpet sounds, you’re either right (with the Lord) or left (behind)! The Lord will either find you ready or you’ll get left behind to go through the horrific seven year tribulation (Daniel’s Seventieth Week). Here’s a passage in scripture that spells it out pretty good.
“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
I know I’ve touched on this before, but, why do you think the Lord said the following in MT7.13-14…“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Did you catch what that says? More will choose the wide gate and road, than those who choose the narrow! That should be very sobering to us.
Here’s another one that’s found in 1TIM3.1-5 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.”
Having a form of godliness. Basically that means that there will be many that will appear to have some form of Christianity, but, in the end, it’s just a facade. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are living in those days. The doctrine of imminency, as it’s called, puts forth the notion that because the rapture will happen at any given moment, we should be living our lives according to that expectation. Which leads us to my next point.
Another purpose of the pre-trib rapture is that of urgency. As I just mentioned, the notion that the Lord will sound the trumpet to call His Bride home (the church) at any moment, should be the impetus for us to get busy sharing the Gospel message of salvation and redemption through Jesus Christ to the world around us. This is our God given responsibility. Remember, times are short, and there are still so many that have not heard the message of salvation or yielded their lives to Christ!
I’ve heard many pastors and speakers use this quote “Witness, witness, witness and if necessary use words”. It might sound pious, but it’s only partly true. RM10.14 says “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” I couldn’t agree more! You cannot have one without the other. Preaching the Gospel must have two co-equal parts, the verbal aspect and the verb aspect. Simply put, you must preach in words and model in deeds. There is no other form of preaching the Gospel.
Remember that the enemy (satan) does not want you to share the Gospel with anyone, and if he can get you to believe that all you have to do is just live by example, then that implies you don’t have to verbally share it with anyone. In this case, silence is not golden, it’s just plain inactivity.
Think of yourself as the Lord told Ezekiel he was, a watchmen on the wall. Here’s exactly what the Lord told Ezekiel in EZ3.17-19 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.” These should serve as sobering words for us present day Christians. The Lord eventually renewed that same call on Ezekiel once again in chapter 33. This tells me that the Lord means what He says! Be bold for the Lord while there’s still time.
As I wrap up this blog post, I want to leave you with some closing thoughts. The Lord says that He does not want any to perish but all to come to salvation offered through Him alone. This means that He’s given humanity ample time to repent and turn from their ways and come to Him. However, you and I both know that unfortunately that’s not the case. Throughout history, millions have rejected the free gift of eternal life Jesus offers. We’ve been duped into believing that we have all the time in the world to repent and come to Him, but I’m here to let you know that couldn’t further from the truth. Tomorrow is promised to no man! The Lord can come back right now and if you didn’t make Him your Lord and Savior, you’d be left behind to endure the most horrific seven years this world and history has ever seen. Don’t make the mistake to think you have all the time in the world…it would be the costliest mistake you’ll ever make! One of these days, there will be no more time, and according to what is going on in the word around us, I believe that day is upon us!
Also, if you’re playing Christian and playing church, stop! First off, you’re giving the Lord a bad name by leading a double life and secondly your only fooling yourself into believing that all’s well. Think on the following words written in MT7.21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Those words should pierce the heart and soul. You don’t want to hear the Lord reject you and say He never knew you, but, rather have Him tell you “‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’” MT25.21
Lastly, remember that the day is at hand! Get out and share your faith with those around you. The harvest is plenty but the workers are few. It’s harvest time, get busy for the Lord! There is an entire world that needs to hear the hope offered through a right relationship with Jesus Christ! God has given each of us gifts to use in order to invest and utilize them into sharing and spreading the Gospel. @DCTALKOFFICIAL had a song on their album #FreeAtLast called “Time Is” and the implication of the song is that we’ve become apathetic with regards to using our gifts and time wisely in order to win others to Christ. Here are the first two stanzas of the song:
You got a gift and you best start using it
'Cause if you don't you're gonna wind up losing it
Just like the brother who buried it deep
The task was simple but the price was steep
We got a mission while we're on this earth
We need to tell people 'bout our second birth
Get busy like a school boy makin' an A
'Cause time my brother is tickin' away
The Rapture is an exclusive event and it is reserved only for those who have truly given their lives over to Christ wholeheartedly. But, here’s the good news, it’s a free gift. If you want to know how and what it means to know God, His plan of salvation and the redemption He offers through His Son Jesus Christ, GO HERE!
Don’t let today pass you by without making Jesus Christ the Lord of your life. It is a decision you will never regret!