What Does it Take to Make the Rapture?
Can a Born Again, Faithful Christian Miss the Rapture?
By Pastor Jim May
For some of you tonight who have been living for the Lord for a long time, you may find most of what I have to say tonight to be nothing new. I hope that is true for if it isn’t then maybe you really need to hear what I’m about to say more than anyone else here. If this becomes boring to you, just think about Heaven and the coming of the Lord and it won’t be so boring after that. Remember that not everyone has been blessed with a good scriptural background and many do not have the foundation in the Word that you may have. God’s Word is not a secret and he wants all men to know him by studying it.
For some of you, who perhaps have been serving the Lord only a short time, or who have come from other denominations where you did not receive much teaching or preaching like we often hear in full gospel circles, this may be an eye-opener for you and help you to understand what the requirements of going in the rapture are all about. On the outside it may seem confusing, but it really isn’t. Just listen and learn, and let the Holy Ghost and the Word of God speak to you.
I will not give you opinion, at least not my opinion, nor the opinion of any man concerning the requirements for going in the rapture. I will only attempt to use scripture to back up scripture and allow God’s living Word to do the work that it must in your heart and mind. The Holy Ghost will drive this home and if you will only ask, he will open your understanding so that from this day on, the question of what it takes to make the Rapture will be forever answered in your heart.
First, let’s begin by establishing that there really will be a rapture. The work “rapture” never appears, not even once, in the scriptures and yet it is one of the great doctrinal teachings of the church. While the rapture is never mentioned, the idea and fact of such an event happening is spoken of in many passages.
According to the English Dictionary there are at least two meanings to the word “Rapture” that pertain to our study tonight. 1) ecstatic joy, and absolute delight, 2) the carrying of a person to another place or sphere of existence.
At the rapture of the church, both of these definitions will definitely be appropriate and so we describe the great “catching away” of God’s people, to meet Jesus in the air, and to go with him to Heaven, a place of ecstasy, delight and absolute joy, as the Rapture. This “catching away” is proclaimed by the Bible as an event that will happen in the last days just prior to the revealing of the Antichrist and only a few years (about 7) before the establishment of the Millennial Reign of Christ upon the earth.
One of the primary passages of the scriptures used to prove this teaching can be found in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 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."
Other references can be found in the parables of the 10 Virgins, and in the parable of the unprofitable servant found in Matthew chapter 25.
Another reference can be found in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way." This is referring, at least in part, to the fact that the church will no longer be on planet earth to interfere with the workings of the devil.
A really good reference appears in 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, "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. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
A few references can also be found in Revelation 3:10, "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”
Luke 21:36, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
1 Thessalonians 1:10, "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."
1 Thessalonians 5:9, "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,"
The Bible declares that every word must be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses. Now we believe that even if anything is said only once the Word of God, that it is still truth because God’s Word is true and he will never tell a lie. But just to make a point, we have established the idea and fact of a rapture of God’s people from at 6 places, under three writers, namely Paul, Luke and John.
That should establish that, in fact, there will be a rapture.
Now that we have established the fact of the rapture, what will it take for a man or woman to be caught away in that rapture?
Here is where much confusion lies and the confusion is there because we have tried to combine the traditions of men and the truth of God’s Word and build our own interpretation of this doctrine. Instead of going through a lot of the traditions, let me just say that mankind, and preachers in particular, love to have power and control over the lives of other people. It makes them feel needed, superior and important.
Men love to establish their own ability to earn a way into Heaven, but the Bible clearly says that no man can do so.
Titus 3:5-7, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
Thus we can see that no one can make himself ready for the rapture by good works alone. If that were true, then why did Jesus have to die upon the cross. Our idea of what righteous works are, doesn’t coincide with God’s determination of what good works are.
Isaiah said in Isaiah 64:6, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."
God established that man would have no part in providing the means of salvation for his eternal soul, only that man could partake in the way that God had made on his own.
The Apostle Paul said in Romans 3:20-21, "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;"
Paul also penned these words in 1 Corinthians 1:23-31, "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
Paul also wrote in his letter to the Galatians 2:16, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
By examining these scriptures then we must come to two conclusions: first, there will be a rapture, and second) good works alone won’t get you there. You can only be ready by faith in Jesus and the power of his blood to cleanse you from sin.
Now comes the confusing part of this equation. Can we be ready for the rapture without good works? This is where so many people get confused. It seems that on one side of our mouth we are saying one thing, while on another side, we are saying something contrary. Which is it? Do you need good works to go to Heaven or not? Must you live by a set of legalistic laws to be ready for the rapture, or can you live any way that you want to?
What we must realize before we can begin to understand the relationship between salvation, the rapture and works is that works is a separate issue altogether.
Let me begin by saying that works cannot save you, but if you are saved, you will have good works. That may sound to some like double talk, but it isn’t at all. You are saved by faith; faith in the shed blood of Jesus and in the Word of God that says you are saved, not by works, but by faith in Jesus.
Remember what is said in Titus 3:5, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;" Paul also wrote in Romans 11:6, "And if [salvation is] by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work." You can’t have it both ways. If works can save, why do we need grace? And if we are saved by grace then works has no part in it.
But now consider this.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:13-17that, "Every man’s work shall be made manifest:[including the Christian], for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. [If the works that you do will stand the test of God, can’t we consider those as good works?]
Paul continues on to say, “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
What does that mean? It simply means that the works you do in the body will be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ. You will be judged according to the motive of your heart, or why did you do the work; and secondly, whether the work was according to God’s will? There are a lot of people out there today who are doing good things to help people, but is what they are doing truly ordained of God, or does God have something else in store for them to do, and they refuse to listen?
Good works appear to be always be good to men, but in the eyes of God, even some good works can become sin if they are done while in disobedience to God’s will and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Paul continues on to say, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."
Now what can that mean? It means that even though you are a Christian, and Jesus lives in you, that you are still capable of committing gross sin and defiling, or making you body an unfit place for Jesus to dwell. When this happens, we call it backsliding. Jesus cannot dwell where sin lives, and when Jesus departs your temple, the presence of God is gone and you are left to your own devices, ripe for the return of the devil into your heart. If sin reigns, then you no longer have any part in the Kingdom of God, and Paul emphatically says, you shall be destroyed under those conditions.
For Jesus to remain, your temple must remain holy. And how can your temple remain holy? The condition of holiness is based upon two things. First and foremost upon the cleansing power of the blood of the Lamb, and secondly, on the continued obedience to the Word of God and submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in your life, and continual sanctification of the flesh in obedience to God’s Laws that is written in your heart and enforced by the convicting power of the Holy Ghost.
I’m not talking about the laws and legalism of a church, a preacher or an organization. Those are man’s laws and many times they do not line up with God’s Word, and in fact, become more like a heavy weight tied around your neck that keeps you from experiencing complete victory in Christ.
God’s law is a law of the heart and is revealed to each of you each day as you grow in the Lord. With every passing day, you will become a little more like Jesus and little less like the old you. Each of us is dealt with personally by the Holy Spirit down inside. What he convicts you of today may be completely different than what he convicts me of. What he wants me to do, and what he wants me to change will probably quite different from you. The object of this process of sanctification, or growing in the Lord is laid out for us in Ephesians 4:13, "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:"
Trying to reach this position in Christ of being a perfect man is nearly impossible to reach, and in fact, will never be reached in this life, only in the life to come. But the continual struggle to reach that point must go on, and this constitutes the battle that we face every day that we live.
It is with this thought in mind that Paul wrote to the church in Colossians 1:9-10, "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;"
So, as you can see, salvation is of grace and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but sanctification and walking worthy are wrapped up in a daily walk with the Lord, doing good works.
If you truly have faith, you will have good works because it is a natural by-product of serving the Lord as a faithful servant. If those good works are not there, then it is a clean indicator that the heart is not right with God.
James 2:18-20, "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" Dead faith will not get you into Heaven, nor will you go in the Rapture. Your faith must be alive and strong, and if it is, then good works will also be there.
Let me come to a few closing points. To answer the question, “can you go to Heaven without good works?” I would have to answer that you cannot. Even if your good works only consist of the good work of repenting of your sins, accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior, and then trusting in his blood to cleanse your sin. That is still a good work. If you were saved and immediately went home to be with Jesus, that’s all the good works you would need to prove that your faith was alive.
The thief, hanging on the cross next to Jesus, had that much good works and he obtained eternal life because of it.
But what if you continue to live on after salvation? Are good works necessary to go in the rapture? Yes they are, because if you have no good works, then your faith is dead, and dead faith will not enter Heaven’s gates.
Again, I’m not talking about a set of laws saying do this, do that, don’t do this or don’t do that. I’m talking about the law of God that is written in your heart and administered by the Holy Ghost inside of you. The Good Works are a natural part of your life in Christ.
What could some of those good works be? Faithfulness – to the call of God and the purpose of God in your life. Obedience – obeying the voice of the Lord, and doing the job that he has placed before you. Trust – trusting the Lord to lead you through life no matter what the world may throw against you. Belief – believing that Jesus is real, that salvation is real, that Heaven is real and that there is really a reward waiting for you on the other side.
Wrapped up in your good works, as a natural by-product of faith, trust, obedience and belief, will also be prayer, fasting, faithfulness to the House of God, study of the Word of God, living above reproach, forsaking the sin of this world, and separating yourself unto the Lord for his service.
All of these things comprise good works and define sanctification and holiness in your life. All of us are at different levels or degrees in these areas of life. But God looks upon the heart, not upon just how much we do.
If your heart is right with God, your sins are covered under the blood of Jesus, and you are doing your best to serve the Lord, keeping Jesus at the center of your life, then you have nothing to fear.
A truly born again Christian cannot miss the Rapture unless they have allowed their commitment to Christ to slip away. As long as we remain faithful, watching, waiting, hoping, praying, trusting and desiring the coming of the Lord, I believe it would be nearly impossible to miss it and be left behind.
Only those who have allowed these things, that we refer to as good works, to slip will be left behind.
1 Peter 5:8-10, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you."
There’s the key to being rapture ready – remain sober, be serious in your commitment to the Lord, serious in your desire to serve him in faithfulness. Be vigilant – never let your guard down and always be watching and waiting. Resist the devil’s attempts to draw you away from God. If you will do those things you will not miss the Rapture.
