Rapture Ready Part II
I Thessalonians 4:16-17
I Thessalonians 4:16-17
16 - 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:
17 - 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.
This evening I would like to give us 3 more signs that the Rapture is near.
Last time we covered 3 and since we are doing a series I will give you a little recap of what we talked about.
1. Increase of knowledge and travel.
Daniel 12:4 "But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase."
2. The birth of nuclear warfare.
Zechariah 14:12 -
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
3. Technology for the mark of the beast.
Revelation 13:16-17 "And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name."
Tonight I would like to look at 3 more signs that show us that the rapture is near.
Now to start off I would like us to know that there is a difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus.
Let me give you a few differences and then I will talk about the 3 signs that show us that the rapture is near.
The Rapture - is when Jesus returns to remove the Church all believers in Jesus Christ from the earth. I Thessalonians 4:13-18 I Corinthians 15:50-54
Believers who have died their bodies will be resurrected and those still living meet the Lord in the air..
This will all happen in a moment in the twinkling of an eye.
The Second Coming - Jesus returns to defeat the Anti-Christ and destroy Evil and Establish His Millennial Kingdom - Revelations 19:11-16
Rapture
- Meet the Lord in the air
- Before the trib I Thessalonians 5:9
- removal of believer’s act of deliverance
- secret and instant
- rapture can take place at any moment
Second Coming
- Return with Him
- After the great destruction Revelations Chapter 6-19
- remove unbelievers as an act of Judgement
- visible to all
- certain events must take place before the Second Coming
Ok lets take a look at a few more signs that show us that the Rapture is near.
Now as we mention these signs keep in mind that we recently got the technology that some of these signs needed in order to come to pass.
1. Wars and rumors of war - Mark 13:7
And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troubled: for [such things] must needs be; but the end [shall] not [be] yet.
We can say that this is not a sign because all these things have been happening for centuries, but when you look at the stats you can see that the frequency and intensity is greatly increasing.
For instance, over the past century there has been well over 200 wars and conflicts that has brought about the death of well over 150 million people.
And there hasn't been one single day where a war or conflict hasn't been fought.
The last 100 years have seen more wars than any time since creation.
2. The final generation will be the one that witnesses the blossoming of the "fig tree."(Matthew 24:32)
Fulfillment: Israel returned as a nation in 1948 fulfilling God's promise to Abraham. Israel is always referred to as the "fig tree" and Christ taught that Israel’s forefathers were the first fruits in his fig tree.
The Bible says in Luke 21:29-32 the generation alive at the time will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened and that is including the return of Christ with His saints.
Now what is the length of a generation - well depending on the scripture reference, but a Biblical generation can be anywhere from 40-70 years. We are more than 60 years into Israel being returned as a nation.
3. The sun will be given power to scorch people with fire - people will be seared because of its intense heat -
Revelation 16:8
And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
Revelation 16:9
And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Well did you know that the global ozone depletion is being blamed for the blinding of kangaroos in Australia - as well as penguins and polar bears at the north pole. Children in So. America are being told to wear sun glasses while most of the shrimp of the tip of So. America are gone.
Frogs are mutating and dying in No. America and skin cancers and cataracts are up 50 - 75 percent.
The U.N. reports that some areas of the earth have lost nearly all ozone. The ozone hole is now 3-times the size of Europe.
4. INSTANT COMMUNICATION AROUND THE WORLD
Instant worldwide communications and God's final witnesses
In His major end-time prophecy of Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, Jesus gave an outline of disasters that would occur on the world scene with increasing frequency and magnitude—to the point where people would be shaken with fear Luke 21:26
If people are going to react to these events and they are going to cause fear in the lives of people - then one must know about these events.
How many know that you can’t know about earthquakes, disasters, famine, wars and rumors of wars unless you hear about them.
Today we have the technology that can let the world know in an instant of what is going on around the world.
Before you had newspaper, tv, internet, and now we have 24 hour cable - you can find out what is going on around the world every 30 minutes.
At the time this prophecy was given, it could be many months or years before people heard about various disasters—and many they would never hear about at all, much less be able to put together the fact that catastrophes were on some kind of global increase.
This is another end-time Bible prophecy that could not be fulfilled until this era of instant worldwide communications.
Now speaking about worldwide communication - let’s take a look at another scripture that needs worldwide communication in order to be fulfilled.
Revelation 11:7-9
7 - Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.
8 - Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
9 - For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial.
The Bible says that the final two witnesses will be killed and every people, tribe, language, and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial.
So that means everyone will see them laying in the streets and that is made possible through instant communication around the world.
This was not possible before satellite television, portable communications devices and the Internet.
Now if you look at the news - you can see live shots of the news from all around the world.
You and I experience this technology when you are watching the news.
The reporter will say - we are going to go live all the way in bagdad.
Hello Dan are you there?
Or we are going to go live all the way to Israel
Hello Barbara are you there?
So in order for the world to see these witnesses lying on the ground dead, we would need the technology to make it possible and guess what - we have the technology now to make it possible.
Only with the technological advances of the last few years has it become possible for the events in Revelation 11 to occur—for people around the world to see the fate of God's final two witnesses.
These two witnesses, reminiscent of other biblical prophets like Elijah and Elisha, will carry God's final warning to the world in the last 3 1/2 years leading up to Christ's return.
Television and the 24-hour news networks make it possible for people around the world to see the dead prophets and rejoice at their deaths.
Luke 21:28 "But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
Luke 21:32 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place."
5. The gospel will be preached in all the world - Matthew 24:14
When Jesus was asked by his disciples "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
After mentioning a number of signs of the nearness of His coming, He reveals that - this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and the end will come."
Matthew 24:14 - And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
The gospel is the good news of the coming Kingdom of God.
Now let’s take a look at this scripture and how this could not be fulfilled until recently.
It was not until the technological advances of television and radio and other means of mass communication after World War II and their widespread acceptance that it became possible to reach hundreds of millions of human beings with the message of the Bible.
The gospel of the Kingdom of God will continue to be preached to all nations as long as we have the freedom to continue.
Even so, during the last 50 years it has not been possible to reach all countries.
The former communist nations did not allow freedom of religion.
China, with one quarter of the world's people, still does not.
Other nations also try to suppress the publication of biblical truth and even the Bible itself.
Many Islamic nations do not allow religious freedom. In some countries people risk the death penalty for changing religions.
But the Internet is changing everything.
It is making it much easier for the Gospel to be preached to everyone and much harder for governments to control it.
You got twitter, facebook, and youtube where you can freely share the Gospel, put your testimony, and be a witness for the Honor and Glory of God.
Even in countries that might not allow you to have Church or Preach the Gospel - the internet is making it possible
Now a days we have the technology for the whole world to hear about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, even in countries that might not allow public worship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ or freedom of religion.
So not only is this true gospel being preached through the pulpit, tv, radio, books etc, but now this gospel of Christ Jesus is now reaching the ends of the world through internet, websites, and international television and the return of Jesus is in sight.
.
This is another Prophesy of scripture that could not be fulfilled until recently.
Now let’s take a look at something in this passage of scripture.
Jesus said that this Gospel should be preached and then the end will come.
There is a key word in this passage of scripture and the key word is THIS...
When Jesus said this Gospel should be preached, He meant the true Gospel.
So that means not any Gospel must be preached and then the end will come, but the true Gospel..
Church I hope this helps you and I to see that we are truly living in the last days, the rapture is near.
The question is are we ready?
You can get ready by inviting Jesus to come into your heart. All it takes is a simple prayer.
If you would like to invite Jesus in your heart and be Rapture Ready just repeat this prayer.
Jesus I come before You and I ask you to forgive me of my sins
I ask you to come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior
I am sorry for hurting You and sinning against You
Thank you for dying for me.
Not only did you die, but you rose again and You are alive today.
Since You are alive I am asking You to live in me. I receive You as my Lord and Savior and help me to live for You from this day forward in Jesus Name I pray. Amen
