Rapture Series

John in chapter four of Revelation says he heard a loud voice, the sound of a trumpet and then he was caught up in the sky and came before the throne of God. The first three books of Revelation deal with the seven churches of Asia but after John hears the voice, the trumpet and goes up into the air to heaven there is not a single reference to any church until last chapter of the book Revelation. In John’s prophetic voice, the church passes from the scene of human history with the Rapture of the Lord.

When will this happen? I Thessalonians 5:1. I Corinthians 15:52 says in a “twinkling of an eye,” the trumpet will sound and we will be changed. At an unknown time, when we least expect it, in a flash, a blink of the eye Christ will have returned. Do you have an idea of how instantaneous, how suddenly that will be? Did you know it has been estimated that the blink of an eye happens in 1/50th of a second and that we blink 25 times per minute. That means if you drive your car 55 mph on a 10 hour trip that you would have driven thirty three miles with your eyes closed. Scare-y, huh!

In 1/50th of a second, so suddenly so unexpectently in the blink of an eye the trumpet will resound the Lord will call his church, his saints, dead and alive, into the air to be with him in heaven.

I Thess 5:4 – The Lord will come as a thief in the night but we, as Christians, as believers, should not be surprised, for we don’t live in the darkness that a thief sneaks in but in the we live light of Christ. We have been told that Christ is coming and we should be prepared at all times for his return.

There is a story about a young couple, Jeff and Janell Youngbluth’s first date. Jenell was expecting Jeff to show up. She was dressed and ready for the date. She waited patiently for an hour for him to show up and finally gave up. She figured that he stood her up… So she went to the bathroom took off her makeup, and slipped into her pajama’s. Grabbed a pint of ice cream and sat down in front of the TV. Two hours had passed since the designated time of the date when guess who showed up at the front door, that right, Jeff… Jeff took one look at Jenell in her pajamas and said “I’m two hours late and your still not ready!

Personally, I don’t understand how Jeff is still alive to tell the story or how in the world there ever came into being a Mr. and Mrs. Youngbluth. But the point of the story is obvious. We know Christ is coming and it matters not matter when or what time he will comes, but whether we are ready.

In fact Paul writes let us be self controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet while we wait on the Lord, so that we are ready for his return. We should live orderly, disciplined controlled lives. We are not fools running around in chaos not knowing the truths of this time. We are sons and daughters of light and as sons and daughters we should live lives exercising restraint over our primal nature of selfish impulses and desires. We should live as mature Christians with discipline over our tongues and deeds of life. Our mental and moral character should be trained and liken to that of Christ. We should be given to living life through and guided by the holy spirit. Pretty interesting how Pentecost, the giving of the holy spirit and the end of times all wraps together in one isn’t it.