Jesus is Coming! Are You Ready?

Jesus is coming! The question is are you ready? The signs of the times are here even though many people debate whether or not this generation will see Jesus crack the clouds. The reality is that whether you believe that we are in the last days or not, you are in your last days. You are not going to live forever so anything that you are going to do to advance the kingdom of God you must do it now! The truth is that Jesus Christ is coming soon and it is going to be a glorious day.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 says, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 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. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

1. THE RAPTURE THE NEXT MAJOR EVENT ON GOD’S PROPHETIC TIMELINE

The next major event on God’s prophetic timeline is the rapture of the church. This event is also known as the blessed hope. One of the issues with this generation is that they are being told that the word rapture is not even in the Bible. They are correct that the word rapture is not in the Bible! The word trinity is not in the Bible either, but we all believe that there is one God who is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Though the word rapture is not in the Bible it comes from the Greek word harpazo. Saint Jerome translated the Bible from Greek into Latin in the fourth century and that is where we got the word rapture. The Greek word harpazo means to transport from one place to another, To be caught up, to seize by force, or to snatch up by the hair of your head. The word harpazo alludes to a person being removed from one place and placed in another. In Greek culture the word harpazo carries the idea of a child in danger and the father steps in and removes him from danger. The word rapture means exactly what the Greek word harpazo means to be caught up. As you watch the video attached to this article I give biblical examples of raptures that took place in the Word of God from Enoch, Elijah, Paul, Philipp, Jesus, and John.

2. THE BELIEVERS WILL ESCAPE THE WRATH TO COME

Allow me to give you three reasons why I believe that that the believer in Jesus Christ will escape the wrath to come which is the seven-year tribulation.

1. THE BIBLE SAYS SO

Luke 21:26 says, “watch therefore and pray always that you may be accounted to be worthy to escape the wrath to come.”

Nahum 1:2 reveals that the wrath of God is reserved for God’s enemies and Jesus calls us His friend, not his enemy. Romans 1:18 reveals the wrath of God is revealed against the ungodly. This is why we plan on living Godly until he comes.

Isaiah 13:9 reveals that the day of the Lord comes and He shall destroy the sinners out of it. We are the church that is washed in the blood of Jesus Christ and we are no longer aslave of sin.

John 3:36 reveals that whoever believes not on the son of man that the wrath of God abides on him. We as believers have confessed with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus died and rose again.

Ephesians 5:6 reveals that the wrath of god comes upon the children of disobedience. The tribulation is known as the wrath of God which is for the unrighteous and ungodly sinner. If Jesus forgave your sin why would he hold a penalty against your life and punish you with the tribulation?

2. GOD HAS A PATTERN OF SAVING THE RIGHTEOUS

If you want to be certain that God is going to save you from tribulation you must know the heart of God and how He has responded in the past.

-The Days of Noah

During the Days of Noah, God did not judge the righteous family of 8 people with the wicked when He flooded the earth. Hebrews 11:7 says, “Noah was warned of the things of God and he moved in Godly Fear and built an ark for the saving of his household.” We have an ark of escape for the coming tribulation and His name is Jesus Christ.

Matthew 24:37 says, “As in the days of Noah so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” In the Days of Noah God saved the righteous from His wrath and when the rapture of the church occurs He will save His people from the wrath of the tribulation.

-The Days of Lot

When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sin in Genesis 18:25. Abraham cried out and said, “Far be it from you to slay the righteous with the wicked.” When God found one righteous man named Lot and his wife that was still in the city He sent the two angels that were going to destroy the city to get them out of the city first. This had to happen before God could destroy the city. Genesis 19:22 reveals that God would not do anything to the city until righteous Lot was removed. God’s wrath could not come until the righteous were removed! Jesus compared His coming to the Days of Lot In Luke 17:28-30. It only makes sense for Christ to rescue His Church before He unleashes His wrath on the earth.

3. IF WE HAVE AUTHORITY OVER THE DEVIL THEN WE HAVE AUTHORITY

OVER THE ANTICHRIST

I believe that the rapture of the church is coming quickly and is coming before the seven-year tribulation because if the church was left here during the tribulation then the authority we have in Christ would restrict the antichrist from fulfilling his plan. If the church has authority over the devil and the devil is the driving force of the antichrist then we would have authority over the antichrist to cast the devil out of him if we were still here. Nowhere in scripture can I find where all the promises concerning the authority we have over the devil through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are suddenly suspended so that hell can abuse the bride of Christ. I do believe that there is a lack of authority with the believers who get saved during the tribulation as they have to seal their testimony with their lives.

Revelation 20:4 says, “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

However, this is not the case for the glorious church of Jesus Christ that will be alive at the rapture of church that has power and authority. The scripture also reveals that the restrainer which is the Holy Spirit inside of the glorious church must be removed before the antichrist can be revealed. The rapture of the church is the only way that this can happen.

Luke 10:18-19 says, “And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

2 Thessalonians 2:6-12 says, “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”