Category: Rapture

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, will be snatched away at the same time together with them in the clouds for a meeting with the Lord in the air, and thus we will be together with the Lord always. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”  1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:51-53).

These are very remarkable verses that describe the snatching away of the church to meet Christ in the air.  This event is imminent, meaning that it could come at any time. It is unlike the second coming of Christ which needs certain events to take place before it can take place.

It is important to remember that rapture and second coming are similar but separate events. Both involve Jesus’ returning. Both are end-times events. The rapture is the return of Christ in the clouds to remove all believers from the earth before the time of God’s wrath. The second coming is the return of Christ to the earth to bring the tribulation to an end and to defeat the Antichrist and his evil world empire.

That is a very brief summary of two cataclysmic end-time events, but the above verses have a very important place in our lives today.  Even though the rapture will come on us without warning and takes place at the beginning of the seven-year tribulation (some disagree, but they are not writing here this morning, so they can save their thoughts for their own devotionals), there are things that are going on in our world give us hints that the rapture could be soon upon us.

The word “maranatha” is a Syriac expression that means: “our Lord comes.” It was used as a greeting in the early church. When believers gathered or parted, they didn’t say “hello” or “goodbye” but “Maranatha!”  It is too bad that Christians don’t have that same upward look today.  How it would change the church if we all looked at the return of Christ with certainty and conviction.  How differently would we look at all those around us.  I have a friend who says, “See you here, there (pointing upward), or in air,”  instead of goodbye.  It is really the three choices two believers have- they will see each other on this earth, or in heaven, or in transit.  It is a neat way to remember the “where” in “till we meet again.”

It is true that certain things must take place before the second-coming at the end of the tribulation and many of those things have already happened or are happening right now.  The stage must be set for the tribulation and anyone who has even the slightest interest in prophesy and current events can see that the table is being set for the end times.  For instance, the nation of Israel was scattered across the face of the earth, but yet just fewer than 60 years ago was brought back together and is today one of the most powerful nations in the world.  That process of scattering a people then reestablishing them has never taken place before. That had to take place as a prerequisite before all the other events could occur.

So, why worry (oops, I mean think) about all this? Because we never know when the Lord will come again.  It is important that we are looking for opportunities to share with those who do not know the Lord because the instant Christ comes that chance will be lost forever.  In fact, if you share the gospel with someone and if that person put his belief in Christ, look up, because the word says that the rapture will not happen until the body of Christ is filled.  That person that you just shared with might be the last one to fill it, and so we all might be leaving right then!

One of my favorite men of courage is the British explorer Ernest Shackleton.  I have read several books chronicling his incredible voyages to the South Pole. While on one of the voyages he had to leave a few men on Elephant Island because their ship was crushed and there was not enough room for the entire crew. He promised them that he would return. Later, when he tried to go back, huge icebergs blocked the way. But suddenly, as if by a miracle, the huge icebergs shifted and a channel opened in the ice and Shackleton was able to get through. His men, ready and waiting, quickly scrambled aboard. No sooner had the ship cleared the island than the ice crashed together behind them. Contemplating their narrow escape, Shackleton said to his men, “It was fortunate you were all packed and ready to go!”

They replied, “We never gave up hope. Whenever the sea was clear of ice, we rolled up our sleeping bags and reminded each other, ‘The boss may come today.'”  That is the same attitude that we should have!

We should not fear the coming of The Lord because it will be a glorious event, but unlike Elephant Island, we do know that there will be many “left behind.”  We should do all we can to make sure that our friends and family are not part of that number by living our lives for Christ and sharing Him in word and deed.  What incredible verses Paul left for us to remind us of the spectacular transfer of believers from this world to glorious presence of Christ.  Let’s just make sure we are rapture ready and let’s encourage those around us to be ready as well!  Like the men on Elephant Island we should be packed and ready to go. The “Boss” may come today.

“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18

I remember when the grandkids were small and we would have them stay with us for a few days to experience Nana Camp.  We would have lots of food, catch snakes and lizards, play baseball, tag, ride an ATV,  sleep on the porch, water slide down our hill, play hide and seek in the dark, have  waterfights, read books, go to pizza, play board games, and watched a cool movie or Bible video. But one thing I  noticed was that no matter what we did, the kids are ready to do the next thing with great anticipation. We may have just come off setting up a tent, making houses for small animals, or even having milkshakes, but if they hear we are going to something else, they are ready. They are always ready.

As believers we should be the same way. One day, perhaps sooner than we realize, Jesus may return. For the believer that is a day to be anticipated. We will get to heaven in one of two ways- we will go to Him or He will come for us. According to Thessalonians if He comes for us, we will not be getting several warnings like we give the grandkids when we are going to go somewhere. We let the kids go back several times to get the shoes they forgot or the fishing pole they wanted to take or to say goodbye to someone who is not going with us. We will not have that opportunity when Jesus comes. We will just be “caught up” and be gone.

That term, “caught up” is translated from that Greek word harpazō, which means to take forcibly, to snatch, or to catch up. And that is what the Rapture will be. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”  There will be no warning that allows us to go say good bye, gather our things, or even read a couple of quick verses to impress God. We will be gone.

The word “maranatha” is a Syriac expression that means: “our Lord comes.” In the early church it was used as a greeting instead of hello or goodbye. Some Christians today have a similar thing in mind when they say, “See you there (some place here) or in the air (heading for heaven). Regardless of how we say it, we need to carry that awareness of the imminent return of the Savior with us all the time.

I have read two books on British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and they are two of the best I have read. When the expedition’s main boat was crushed by enclosing ice while headed toward the South Pole, Shackleton had to leave part of his crew on Elephant Island while he took the other half to try to reach civilization. He promised the crew that he would return. Later, when he tried to go back to rescue the crew left behind, huge icebergs blocked the way and it looked like the men would perish. But suddenly an avenue opened in the ice and Shackleton was able to get through. His men, ready and waiting, quickly scrambled aboard and no sooner had the ship cleared the island than the ice crashed together behind them. Shackleton said to his men, “It was fortunate you were all packed and ready to go!” They replied, “We never gave up hope. Whenever the sea was clear of ice, we rolled up our sleeping bags and reminded each other, ‘The boss may come today.'”

We need to be like kids anticipating the arrival of the coming event. At our house it is Nana who is the boss and the kids are excited when they know she is coming. How excited we should be when we know that the arrival of our boss, Jesus, may happen any minute. We should always be ready. We don’t want to be half-packed or carrying things we shouldn’t. It could be this afternoon, so when we see each other, let’s not say goodbye, but say “Maranatha!” See you there or in the air!  The Boss may come today!!