ARE YOU READY?
I Thessalonians 4:13-18 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word,, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 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 with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
This is one of the verses that many set their doctrine of the rapture on. The rapture is the event that we see in Matthew 24:40-44. It says speaking of how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man, “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 the other left.” It is the taking up to heaven to be with Jesus for his believers or disciples. Paul and most of the early church expected it to happen in their lifetime, but it didn’t. Like the return of Jesus, no one knows when either will take place, but only the Heavenly Father knows as Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:36. We know that Jesus will return at the end of the seven years of tribulation, but we don’t really know when it will start, although there are signs we can look for during the tribulation.
There are basically three thoughts to the rapture; pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation or post tribulation. There are three verse that may indicate that it could be any of the three. For pre-tribulation rapture it is Rev 3:10. This says that I will keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. Those who believe in a mid-tribulation rapture look to Rev 14:14-16. It says that there will be a great harvest of the righteous and unrighteous over the earth. As we look to scripture we see that his is about 3 ½ years into the 7 years of tribulation. Then the post-tribulation rapture people look to Rev 19:7-9. At this time just before Jesus return it says that Jesus’ Bride the Church has made herself ready and that there is a great wedding banquet in heaven for them. Then the return of Jesus happens. As he returns he brings his bride with him and his army to stop the antichrist and false prophet, along with all rebellion against him. To say that one is more likely than another isn’t really scripturally sound. We do know that we need to be ready as Jesus points out in the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25:1-13.
In this parable Jesus said that there were ten virgins that were waiting for their bridegroom to come and get them. He said that five were wise and five were foolish. The wise virgins had extra oil beside the oil in their lamps. When the groom was a long time in coming they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out that the bridegroom was there for his bride. When the virgins woke up the wise had extra oil to go to their bridegroom. The foolish virgins were not ready and missed their groom. Then Jesus concluded that you will not know the day or hour of his return and you must be ready.
Some Christians believe that the oil represents the Holy Spirit and if a Christian is not baptized with the Holy Spirit and even able to speak in tongues they will be left behind. I personally don’t believe this. Our relationship is not based on maturity or the amount of powerful gifts we have to serve Jesus. We are saved by asking Jesus to forgive us of our sins. It is a matter of having faith in the grace of his atonement and nothing else. Since this is true with salvation, it is also true with the rapture of the church. It is a matter of staying true to Jesus trusting in him alone and not giving up on him. We do have a free will and can turn from him. This is why is says in Colossians 1:23a, “if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.” It is much like our earthly union of a man and woman in marriage. They will continue to be married until they they choose to no longer love each other and divorce.
When we look to the parable of the sower in Luke 8:1-15, we see that only one of four become all they should be as a Christian. Some reject Jesus all together, some become discouraged and others get caught up in the things of the world and drift away from Jesus. For these people their oil will have run out. There is also another important point that this passage makes and that is those that are caught up in the rapture will not precede those that have died previously. When a Christian dies they immediately go to be with Jesus as we see in I Cor 15:35-58. We do not go to the abode of the dead as non-Christians do.
As with the thief on the cross with Jesus, that day he was with Jesus. This is why see Christians in heaven standing before the throne of Jesus in Rev 7:9-17. A Christian will never experience being in a casket or buried in the ground. Our place will to be with Jesus. He even said in John 14:3 that he went to prepare a place for us and would return to take us to be with him.
Whether we die and go to be with Jesus, or if we get raptured up like Enoch or Elijah we will be with the Lord. We can’t imagine how wonderful it will be to be before him for all eternity. There will be no more sorrow, pain or death. The old order of things will be gone for good. Satan, the powers of darkness and the evil of this world will not be able to bother us any more. And it all takes place in a twinkling of an eyes I Cor 15:52 tells us.
If you would die today or the rapture would take place, would you be ready? Jesus said that no one can come to the Heavenly Father but through him. Have you asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart? If you haven’t then you are not ready. You are like the virgin without oil. If you have become a Christian, then with each passing day you are one day closer to going to be with Jesus. Live in a state of excited expectation, with love for Jesus in your heart and you will not be found lacking.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, please help us to keep trusting in Jesus and with each passing day love him more. We ask this in Jesus’ name.
