Gone!

Today I was considering the mystery surrounding the imminent rapture of the church. As this thought caromed through my mind a scriptural promise first came to mind; “...I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13: 5 KJV) This gave me a moment of comfort before even more scriptures flooded my thoughts including; “For the mystery of iniquity is already work: only he who now restrains will do so, until He is taken out of the way...”. ( 2 Thessalonians 2: 7) My thinking slowed as I pondered its meaning. Then a barrage of questions gushed forth: What is the rapture? Why is it foretold? When will it occur? Who will be included in the rapture? Who is the restrainer and when will he be taken out of the way? What is the tribulation?

Isaiah 57: 1 KJV The righteous perish and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.

The word rapture is not found in the bible but rather it refers to a spiritual event that evangelicals believe will occur in the near future. The term rapture is derived from the Latin word “rapto” meaning to carry-off, transport or to snatch away. Evangelicals believe the bible foretells of a snatching away of believers to heaven by God preceding the start of the tribulation period. The Apostle Paul states; “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” ( 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18 NKJV). There is a specific time that God has set for the rapture to occur, as the the Apostle Paul explains; “ I want you to know this truth from God, dear brothers, so you will not feel proud and start bragging. Yes, it is true that some of the Jews have set themselves against the gospel now, but that will last only until all of you Gentiles have come to Christ- those of you who will.” (Romans 11: 25 NIV)

John 4: 23-24 AMP A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true(genuine) worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth(reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshippers. God is a Spirit (a spiritual being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality)

During His earthly ministry Jesus began to to call His church. He spoke of a new way to worship which was not according to the old letter of the Mosaic law but according to a new covenant that would soon be ratified in His own blood. The Jewish religious authority resisted change and fought to destroy any intrusion into their beliefs and human traditions. The Apostle Paul, a converted Jewish religious leader, wrote regarding his former colleagues; “none of the rulers of this age recognized and understood this wisdom; for if they had they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.“(1 Corinthians 2: 8 AMP) The leadership of the time could not comprehend that Jesus was their long awaited Messiah who was sent from heaven to proclaim the good news (gospel) to the nation of Israel. Their rejection of Jesus would culminate in His sacrificial death and His resurrection. His sacrifice set the stage for humanity to be freed from spiritual death which mankind had suffered as a result of Adam's original sin. To one curious religious leader Jesus shared this divine truth; “Jesus answered him, I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a person is born again [reborn from above-spiritually transformed, renewed sanctified], he cannot [ever] see and experience the kingdom of God.”(John 3: 3 AMP) additionally, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh [the physical is merely physical], and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3: 5-6 AMP) The Apostle Paul explained; “that if you confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10: 9-10 NKJV)

1 Thessalonians 5: 8-10 But let us, who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

Hope enters into the heart of the believer immediately after accepting Christ as Savior. Jesus taught His disciples saying; “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He will abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14: 15-17 NKJ) The Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian converts saying; “...that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession , to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:12-14 NKJV) This is the hope set before us, as scripture reveals; “We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure, and goes through the curtain of the heavenly temple into the inner sanctuary. On our behalf Jesus has gone in there before us and has become a high priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6: 19-20 GNT) Finally, the scriptures declare of which His saints testify; “The mystery which has been hidden from ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of Glory. “ (Colossians 1: 26-27 KJV)

Ephesians 6: 11-13 NKJV Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

For a long time I wondered why God had gone to such lengths to supernaturally spare me from death. At first, I thought, He must have needed me for some kind of divine mission, however, this was not the purpose for His intervention, instead, as I learned much later, He had been contending with the devil for my soul. Jesus taught His disciples saying; “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3: 16 NKJV) If I had perished my fate would have been sealed, the devil would have claimed victory and I would never have known the love of God or have tasted the fruit of everlasting life. This event was so impactful that after experiencing the power of the unseen realm, I for the first time became more aware of my own eternal existence and of the unseen forces which are continually battling to influence our thoughts and actions. It became clear to me that I had been engaged, since birth, in a spiritual battle unawares. The Apostle Paul's scriptural explanation of the devil's tactics helped me to understand the purpose and urgency of spiritual warfare and to no longer yield to deception. He wrote; “ In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” ( 2 Corinthians 4: 4 KJV)

1 Peter 5: 8 NKJ Be sober be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

The road to the tribulation is not a new one but it is one that God never intended for mankind to travel down. King Solomon wrote; “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14: 12 NKJV) It is the devils goal, in the unseen realm, to seize control of God's divine rule. As a master of deception, the devil cleverly manipulates his unwary participants to unwittingly collaborate with him in achieving his evil ambition. The Apostle Paul describes our adversary; “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

( Ephesians 6: 12 KJV) Aware of the character and motivation of the devil, Jesus taught His followers to; “ Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the door that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7: 13-4 NIV) It is now more important than ever for believers to discern the times, to know the truth and to hold on to the eternal promises of God before choosing the road on which they wish to travel. There have been many who have chosen the wrong road, like Judas the betrayer of Jesus, and have paid dearly for their error. As this world approaches the darkest days of human history, don't be deceived, just remember Jesus's teaching; “ The thief does not come except to steal, to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” ( John 10: 10 NKJV)

2 Peter 2: 1-3 AMP But [in those days] false prophets rose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will subtly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned. And in their greed they will exploit you with false arguments and twisted doctrine...

In our nation as in other Christian nations, the signs of the devil's activity are everywhere. He has gone to great lengths to dilute the Christian influence, to discredit Christian integrity, to distract its followers and to create division within the body. In my lifetime I have experienced both a nation who had embraced Christian principles and one that has rejected them. Just ask yourself;

Question: Today, in this nation, are our Christian freedoms slowly being eroded? Has the world impacted our churches? Has the church's impact on the world been equally impactful? Has the God of the bible been removed from the schools, the government, the courts, the media, and our public places? Is the nation better or worse off for this? Have the negative actions by an organization, church or individual effected your decision regarding which road to travel?

Unlike God, all the devil's actions are motivated by selfish ambition, whereas, God's actions are selfless, motivated by love. In John 3:16 NKJV Jesus revealed this truth; “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." “You will continually hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end [of the age]. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these are merely the beginning of the birth pangs”[of intolerable anguish and the time of unprecedented trouble].”(Matthew 24: 6-8 AMP) No one knows for certain the exact time when “...the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God...”(1Thessalonians 4:16 NKJ) but one thing is certain, God would be unjust to initiate the tribulation prior to the rapture, for several reasons:

1. The scriptures declare that we have been saved from God's wrath; “But God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.” (Romans 5: 8-9 RSV)
   

2. We are the righteous of God in Christ! “...For He made Him who know no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (1 Corinthians 5: 21NKJ) Since we have been made righteous in God, He is able to indwell the believer through the Holy Spirit; “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” ( Ephesians 1: 13-14 NKJV)
   

3.  God cannot destroy his Temple; “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” (1Corinthians 3: 16-17 NKJV)
   

4. The rapture will occur on God's timetable but not “...until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”(Romans 11: 25 NKJV)
   

5. The Holy Spirit was sent by God to indwell the believer and will remain until He is taken out of the way; “ For the mystery of lawlessness [rebellion against divine authority and the coming reign of lawlessness] is already at work; but it is restrained] only until he who now restrains is taken out of the way.” ( 2 Thessalonians 2: 7AMP)
   
   
   

6. At the command of God and without warning; “ In a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at [the sound of] the last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [who believed in Christ] will be raised imperishable, and we will be[completely] changed [wondrously] transformed. For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable[nature], and this mortal [part of us that is capable of dying] must put on immortality [which is freedom from death].” (1 Corinthians: 15: 52 AMP)The Apostle Paul provides even more clarity and hope for the believer;“...the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” ( 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18 NKJV)

The tribulation is a soon to be revealed 7 year period of global as well as spiritual unrest occurring only after the restrainer is; “ taken out of the way”. This event will make way for the reign of “the lawless one” (2 Thessalonians 2: 7 AMP) and the outpouring of God's wrath through which lawlessness and deception will abound with ever increasing intensity. The unnecessary and barbaric treatment of Jesus, the innocent one, by the devil and his unbelieving participants, is a reminder to us of the devil's desperate but failed attempt to seize control of the throne of God and the lengths to which he will go to achieve his goal. Isaiah 52: 14 NIV states; “ Just as there were many who were appalled at Him, His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and His form marred beyond human likeness.” God's judgment will be first felt by the unbelieving world, then by the nation of Israel who will face discipline for their disobedience, bloodshed, deliverance from their enemies, reconciliation for rejecting Christ and finally national restoration. These events were foretold by Jesus when He prophesied; “For then will be a great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened”. (Matthew 24: 21-22 NKJV) Then Satan, his unbelieving participants and all of his effort will be cast into the lake of fire.