>Title:
>"Perhaps Today!"
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>The rapture of the Church may take place todays! Perhaps today!
What is the rapture?
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Jesus had made this promise to his disciples. "I will come again and receive you into my house."
These verses, in the book of First Thessalonians, tell us the same thing. Jesus will return one day to reclaim his chosen bride, the Church. This great event is known as "The Rapture of the Church." The trumpet is going to sound, and every born again Christian will meet the Lord in the air!
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>When will the rapture take place?
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>No man knoweth the hour?
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>(Mat 25:13 KJV) Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
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>But we do know the signs of the times?
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>Let me share just two thoughts on this:
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>1. The age of the gentiles is to come to an end.
>Luke 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
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>(Luke 21:32) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
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>Jesus was asked the question about when would he establish his Kingdom? If you study these verses in Luke 21, you will find his answer.
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>The days in which we presently live could be called the "Age of the Gentiles." The "Age of the Gentiles" was to come to an end when Jerusalem would no longer be trodden under foot by the Gentiles.
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>That event happened in 1967 in the "Six Day War." Israel is once more in control of the city of Jerusalem. The Age of the Gentiles will be soon coming to a close. Jesus is about ready to establish his earthly kingdom!
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>Jesus made the promise that the generation that witnessed that event, would still be on the scene when "all things are to be fulfilled."
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>If I am understanding this prophecy correctly, that means that the rapture of the Church is to take place in our generation!
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>2. Iniquity shall abound.
>(Mat 24:12 KJV) And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
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>In the days just prior to the rapture, Sin will have no boundaries.
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>And so our world has been corrupted today. Iniquity is abounding!
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>There are three are three emotional effects that the doctrine of the Rapture of the Church brings to my heart:
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>1. The doctrine of the rapture of the church scares me! (The Great Tribulation is coming.)
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>An example of fear, Noah.
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>(Heb 11:7 KJV) By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
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>In Noah’s day, the people were devastated by a world wide flood. Noah moved with fear.
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>The days know as the "Great Tribulation" will follow directly on the heels of the rapture. This will be a time when God’s wrath will be poured out against the sins of mankind. If you have been "saved," you will be saved from the "Wrath which is to come!" (1 Thes. 1:10)
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>I too, am moved with fear, knowing we have little time to bring the lost to Christ.
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2. The doctrine of the rapture of the church shames me! (I have done do little for Christ.)
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>(1 John 2:28) And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
>What are you doing for Heaven?s sake? Have you made time for the things of God? Will you be ashamed at his coming?
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>Consider this parable:
>(Mark 13:34-37) For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
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>The other day I knocked on a door off Leahy Street, and a Lady told me that she had had a gazillion Jehovah Witnesses knock on her door, but that I was the very first Bible Believing Christian to stop by with a gospel tract.
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>Has our Church fallen asleep?
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>An example of Shame, Lot.
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(Gen 19:14) And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
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>Lot would be ashamed. He had little influence upon others concerning the things of God. His testimony for God was so poor that his own sons-in-law laughed at him when he asked them to leave being forewarned that God was going to bring utter destruction upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
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>3. The doctrine of the rapture of the Church brings me great solace.
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>(2 Tim 4:8) Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
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>The prayer of every Christian?s heart ought to be, "Even so Lord Jesus Come."
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>An example of love, Enoch.
>(Gen 5:24) And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
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>Enoch walked with God, and one day God just came and took him!
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>The last verse of our primary text says that we are to "comfort one another with these words."
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>We have the promise of being with the Lord and our departed loved ones again!
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>Do you have that blessed hope?
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(Titus 2:13 KJV) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
