The Glorious Rapture of the Believer

  God's Word  gives believers this  wonderful hope!

I Thessalonians 4:13-18

13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death,  (Those  who have already died) so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For 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. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 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. 17 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. 18 Therefore encourage one anotherwith these words.

This passage  describes the rapture of the church..  You will note that the word "rapture is not   written,, but  it's meaning is.  To be caught up   is translated in the Latin   as rapturo.  in Greek the word is harpazo, which means to snatch or take away.  

This will be instantaneous and invisible to the world...  suddenly millions of people  will just simply disappear...

In 1 Corinthians 15  Paul was inspired by the Spirit of God to write.

51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 

52 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. 

53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

In a twinkling  our bodies will be changed  from  perishable, to imperishable..    from mortal to immortal.. Just as  when  a believer dies  the next moment, his/her spirit escapes the body and  is  immediately  translated to heaven..  asleep in death, awake in heaven  in a twinkling, as well. For those who  do not taste death on that day,  their  bodies must be changed in order to  withstand the  instantaneous flight  from  earth to  the heavenly realm.  Almost too glorious to contemplate.  God in his Word in several places  wrote  about   how  His children would be  kept from His wrath to come.

God's original purpose   for man was    when He created Adam was  for fellowship  and    to bring God glory..  through praise  and adoration..But  we look at  the unregenerate man today and he is  self consumed   and generally  has no  thought for God.  Instead,  he spends his time  adoring  the  man-made things  of  the earth..  money, drugs, alcohol, lust,   and all the things  that  have become idols of worship to  him and her.  Where they spend their time and energy...   I can  spend way too much on my computer...  or watching tv...  But I try to  find a  good balance    in my life..   God is not  a task-master..  He doesnt demand this or that..  because then  what we do give to him  is not satisfying to Him.. He wants  us to choose to  come to him with our time... i  prayer, praise and  just love communing with Him because I want to.. Then He knows  I really love Him!  

• Jesus promised  his followers they would be with him in  heaven  in John 14:3  3 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.
• the day  and the hour   are unknown:Mark 13:32  

  32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

• A word for believers  from Revelation 3:10    
  10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth!
• Thessalonians 5:9-11  Paul  taught  us  this  glorious truth 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

The rapture  is  a glorious  event that  every believer  dreams about  experiencing.. My mother  hoped to  be alive  at the time of the rapture...   because even  years ago  things were in  a societal decline..  but other  things were not happening at the alarming rate they a re now like frequency of earthquakes,      debauchery  among the peoples, severity of storms.  Mom fell asleep and awakened in heaven  4 years ago.

Of course, we also know  that  even the first century church was expecting the  rapture of  the church in their lifetime...for  some had seem  Jesus  ascend into heaven, and he  had told them,  he would return  in the same  fashion.

 But He will not  return to earth  at the time of the rapture,  but  His second coming will be at the end of that terrible  time of the  Tribulation  which  occurs  after the rapture  when the church is  taken out of the earth!

Beloved reader, You do not want to  be left on earth  for this  terrible  time of great darkness.. for when the church is  removed from the earth, they take  the Holy Spirit with them ,, that part of God that resides inside every believer ...  The Holy Spirit is the light of the world.  All goodness will be gone.  Only the deep depravity of  those left behind will fill the earth...  and they will be  left to their own devices  doing what they do best ... every evil under the sun.  A time of complete lawlessness!

 There will be no more common grace that every one  enjoys today. Even the earth itself will  mourn and groan..  The Bible says there will be a global earthquakes unlike anything  that has ever happened... so strong that they  could   actually  tip the electromagnetic field  so strongly it would turn the earth upside down on its axis.. Volcanoes will surely erupt.. and if  Yellowstone erupts, it will forever  change the face of America..The blast alone will kill  inhabitants of  many states instantly..  The great    gas and  dust cloud  would kill  people past the Mississippi River  over a few weeks time.  But  worse still  the dust  will be so  huge and  high  it will encircle the earth  and block out the sun on earth  along with the dust of other  volcanoes..  Darkness will truly fall on the earth.. and  the earth will begin to heat  up...  



  food shortages  will be massive,  but  there again  the Bible says  that 1/4 of the  earth's population will  be gone!   Fear and    madness will become rampant and  evil will flourish...  Reality will  be  much worse than any  Sci-fi film man can imagine!And that is just the  first  few months of the 7 year period  of trial and  tribulation.. 

Reader, you might  want to turn to God then and  you should.  But know this,  once the Antichrist comes on the scene after 3 and 1/2 years,  he will demand  everyone to bow down and worship him and if they do not,  they will be martyred...  but if they do,  they will  have cast their lot to be cast into the fiery pit at the Great  White Throne  Judgment of God that  occurs  after the Tribulation. It is all described in the  Revelation,  God's  final book of the Bible!

I shutter to think of  some loved ones I have who to this day still shake their fist in God's face  by denying Him as Lord and Savior.  Let me be perfectly clear here...  whether  people want to believe it or not,  there are  two realities  for  every human  when the end comes..  Believers will  be in heaven for eternity, naysayers and the unrepentant will be cast into the fiery pit of hell to   actually  feel  burning hell fire for eternity.. It isn't  over in a flash..  the agony endures...  because  of the many times  each one denied  the opportunity  they were given to   chose Jesus  as their Savior..  for each  denial  was as if  that person   were  crucifying him on the cross yet again!  That is how  God sees them..lost in their sin.. Redeemed  Christians  have  the  blood  of Jesus    paid to their account..

It is as if  when God looks at a Christian  he sees  Jesus' righteousness...  We are covered by His blood,  as it is written.

  Colossians 1:14 - In whom we have redemption through His blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins:

If you  read Revelation you will know  that  over    the 7 years  other horrible things happen  to decimate the population.  A meteor strike  that  will destroy  all the  fish in the sea  and the much   of the other living things.. The rotting  flesh  will  create a horrible  breeding ground for disease   and another 1/3 of the people  will be gone. That is about  1/2 of the population  after just a couple of years.  but  the  last half of the Tribulation is the worst. The Bible calls that time the Great Tribulation.   during that time  the demons of hell are  let loose on the earth and go around terrorizing everyone...   but even then   the Great Tribulation goes on and on!  

I  will  not  go on   with this..  I am getting  depressed and praise God, I will not  endure this...  but my heart is heavy today  and everyday. every believer's heart is heavy  thinking of this plight which will surely come on those who are not saved in time..this is the impetus  that sends missionaries many times into great harm's way to  preach the gospel and get people saved.  Why believers all over the world give  much money to missions in support of  this effort..  why I am taking my time to  formulate these posts hoping  someone who might  fall upon them, will turn, repent,  and  call on the name of Jesus  for salvation and  restoration to God..Maybe you never read  the first post of the series..  there is a progression of mankind.Every human being)

• God created the world
• Adam was  created to  have fellowship with God and glorify Him

           (That was the purpose for  God creating mankind)

• Adam  was tempted by Eve who was tempted by Satan to  disobey God  who had done and given them everything good,  They  rather  believed Satan and  obey him.. so  *** Sin came in to the world...  Adam's sin  brought sin to every other human who would ever live..
• Therefore, every man and woman is born in sin and  are SINNERS.  You cannot say to God, " but I don't sin, I'm a good person! Even  to think a bad thought is sin.  Everything man does, even the best thing he thinks he does  is filthy rags in God's sight, why?  Because God is  pure HOLINESS! 
• God cannot look at sin.  Sin makes man fallen and    depraved and God  is  necessarily separated  from  sin .  He had to cast Adam and Eden out of His garden  to fend for themselves and   make their own living
• Fellowship  with God is impossible for the sinner
• God  wanted to redeem the people though  because He so loved the world He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus,  into the world to save  the people of the world that who ever believes on Him would  have everlasting life..  and their fellowship  with God is restored.
• How did Jesus save the world?..He is   called  the spotless lamb, a man who never sinned, a holy sacrifice acceptable to God..  
• Jesus  was  smited,  battered,  flogged,  and  nailed to a cross. He died  and  was dead and buried. and   on the third day He arose, walked around  on earth for 40 days in his  immortal body.. was witnessed  by  hundreds  or thousands,  and  then ascended in the clouds into heaven where He sits at the right hand of God, the Father.  The Bible goes on to say  He was wounded  for our transgressions,  (sins)  and  by His stripes  (from the  flogging,)  we are healed..  We claim that healing  when we pray.

Billy Graham, the great evangelist  of the 1900's   preached the gospels to  millions of  people in  huge  gatherings  all over the world  that he called his crusades,  had   his many converts recite this prayer  when they came forward  to  repent and turn to God  and claim Christ as their Savior.

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name.   Amen

Another marvelous    prayer to  God  is  given below:

God our Father, I believe that out of Your infinite love You have created me. In a thousand ways I have shunned Your love. I repent of each and every one of my sins. Please forgive me. Thank You for sending Your Son to die for me, to save me from eternal death. I choose this day to enter into (renew my) covenant with You and to place Jesus at the center of my heart. I surrender to Him as Lord over my whole life. I ask You now to flood my soul with the gift of the Holy Spirit so that my life may be transformed. Give me the grace and courage to live as a disciple in Your Church for the rest of my days. In Jesus name I pray Amen

The Bible declares in Roman's 10:9~~ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 

That is all there is to it...  it is a matter of faith~the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews11:1

Each example, the above  prayers demonstrate  truths in a believer's heart,   admitting their sin, repentance and sorrow  for   denying God,  confession of   sins,   and their desire  for salvation through Jesus,  the perfect  redemptive  savior!    God knows  our hearts... whether we are    true and  real in our desire  for Him...  so  unless you are really ready,  it is a fruitless  exercise.

But, if you  are ready, and  you  really pray believing,   God's Holy Spirit will   come immediately and reside inside your heart..  He will guide you,  and  help you,,, He is known as our helper..a comforter.  And He is constantly  testifying to  our inner spirit that we are  a child a God, so there will be no mistaking it  ...  doubts will  a rise..  and you will continue to sin..I've been  a Christian for 50 years,  and I still sin,  because until we  go to  be with the Lord  we  still have our sin nature we inherited from Adam. Know this Christians are not perfect.  But they love God and want to please Him with their life,  and they still make  mistakes!! Oh, yeah! But  every time you do your sorrow over it will grow and grow until  that particular sin will  be so distasteful to you  you  just  won't want to anymore!  That is  the beautiful part of  it all.  Your inner person begins  transformation!  Your  depression departs,  your  misery  departs,  your  darkness departs, addictions  can be  eradicated,  and  you  discover  you are smiling  a whole lot more because all those old  emotions are   replaced with joy,  happiness, pure love,  and good will.