Pastor’s Note: As I stated last week I have been doing a lot of studying lately on the end times, what is commonly referred to as eschatology and I’ve noticed that Biblical prophecy is so often overlooked for the more “modern” prophets foretelling what tomorrow is supposed to bring.
However, the more I study, and especially from prophetic teachers relying on the Bible, prophecy is not something that should breed fear, but in the Christian should actually be a comfort. Like the Bible states about the Rapture or the “snatching away of the saints,” it is our “blessed hope!” (Titus 2:13).
As with last week the following article I am posting is not mine, rather like the one I posted several weeks ago, it is only one of them that I have been reading and studying. Like the Apostle Paul told the Thessalonians, we SHOULD be comforting one another with the Scriptural prophecies that have been given us in God’s written word. Don’t be deceived by the sensational that you see and hear going around us for the sensational will soon be the routine of the day used to deceive many. Rather, trust in the eternal word!
As with the previous two articles, the credit is listed at the end of the excerpted article and all rights are reserved to the author and publisher.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-21, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” KNJV (Bold emphasis, added).
It has always fascinated me that every key New Testament passage on the Rapture contains a practical application closely associated with it. The message is crystal clear—anticipating the Rapture should change the way we live. According to the Bible, understanding the Rapture should have at least six life-changing influences on our hearts.
The Rapture Has a Converting Influence on Seeking Hearts
No person knows how much time he or she has left on this earth, either personally or prophetically. Personally, all of us are painfully aware of our mortality. We have no guarantee we will see tomorrow. Prophetically, Christ could come at any moment to take His bride, the church, to heaven, and all unbelievers will be left behind to endure the Tribulation period.
With life’s brevity in mind, the most important question for every reader to face is whether he or she has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior. Salvation through Jesus Christ is a message that contains both bad news and good news.
The bad news is that the Bible declares that all people, including you and me, are sinful and therefore separated from the holy God of the universe (Isaiah 59:2; Romans 3:23). God is holy and cannot simply overlook sin. A just payment for the debt must be made. But we are spiritually bankrupt and have no resources within ourselves to pay the huge debt we owe.
The Good News, or gospel, is that Jesus Christ has come and satisfied our sin debt. He bore our judgment and paid the price for our sins. He died on the cross for our sins and was raised to life on the third day to complete the work of salvation. Colossians 2:14 says that God “canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (NASB). First Peter 3:18 says, “Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (NASB).
The salvation that Christ accomplished is offered to all of us through faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation from sin is a free gift that God offers to sinful people who deserve judgment. Won’t you receive the gift today? Place your faith and trust in Christ, and in Him alone, for your eternal salvation (Acts 16:31). Now that you know the truth of the Rapture and that those who fail to trust Christ will be left behind to endure the Tribulation, won’t you respond to the invitation before it is too late? Accept Christ personally by calling upon Him to save you from your sins. Make sure you are Rapture ready![1]
[1] Mark Hitchcock, The End: Everything You’ll Want to Know about the Apocalypse (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2012), 195–196.
*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
**Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
William Ashley Sunday (November 19, 1862 – November 6, 1935) was an American outfielder in baseball’s National League and widely considered the most influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century. Converting to evangelical Christianity in the 1880s, Sunday left baseball for the Christian ministry. He gradually developed his skills as a pulpit evangelist in the Midwest and then, during the early 20th century, he became the nation’s most famous evangelist with his colloquial sermons and frenetic delivery. Sunday held widely reported campaigns in America’s largest cities, and he attracted the largest crowds of any evangelist before the advent of electronic sound systems. He was often accused of being too harsh of which he never apologized for stating that “the absolute truth can be harsh.”
