***THOUGHT OF THE DAY*** ***11/3/14*** 1st Corinthians 15:52 says, “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.” This verse came to my mind one night as I awoke to some headlights shining up the driveway and into my window from a car turning around. The light from the headlights was only shining through my windows for a couple of seconds and then was gone but I had to think, if it was Jesus’ returning it would be even faster than that. A philosopher by the name of Jack Van Impe said that a single twinkling of an eye takes place in just 0.11 seconds. In other words, there is approximately nine twinkles that takes place in a single second. That means Jesus will come back, the dead in Christ will rise from the grave, and all of the saved individuals on the planet will fly into the air in less than a second. Wow, that is hard for the human mind to wrap itself around but it once again shows the awesome power of God. Many people would say that what I just mentioned is way too much to happen in such a short frame of time but you have to realize, when we are talking about God we are talking about the one who created time. Some people argue as to whether it will be day or night when Jesus returns, honestly both sides are right at any given moment one side of the world is facing the sun and one is not so it will be daytime for half the world when Jesus returns and nighttime for half the world when Jesus returns. Also, not that it really matters for those who would be left behind, no one will be able to put an exact time to when Jesus will return as the world is broken into various time zones. So if Jesus returned at 1:00 here it would be 2:00 somewhere else and 12:00 somewhere else. Anyway, I thought that was interesting. Now for my actual thought, back to what I was saying about the twinkling of an eye. There are many people in the world today that thinks the grave is all they have to worry about and as long as they remember to get saved before their heart beats its last everything will be fine. The bible does say in John 6:37, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” And many people use this verse as the backbone of their argument about waiting until they are on their deathbed to get saved. This is not what God intended for mankind however. The bible says in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” One could after hearing this infer that if man’s whole duty is to fear God and keep his commandments then God would want us to do it for as long a period in our lives as possible. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that deathbed repentance does not happen. What I am saying however is I wouldn’t want to chance it. Awhile back I told a story about some drunk boys that came into a church one night while service was going on yelling at the preacher “how far away is Hell?” Then after service there was a wreck and the boys were killed. You see, we don’t know when or where our deathbed will be and we don’t have to be feeling ill for us to be there. The bible tells a story in the book of Acts about a man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira and about how they sold a possession and got a sum of money out of it. Then they lied about the amount of money they got for it and were both struck dead by God for it. These two most likely had many plans for the money that they kept back. They may have wanted to buy clothes, a home, animals, or any other thing a person could desire back in those days. I’m even sure that they were happy when they sold the possession and made their plan to keep back part of the money to do with as they saw fit. Death was probably the last thing that was on their mind that day but death is no respecter of persons. It comes for the old, young, rich, and poor. Jesus Christ even died (though he raised from the dead three days later) and there is none of us that are better than he is. The bible says in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”, which means death is an appointment that we all are going to keep. We just have to be ready when it comes. But then again, what if death doesn’t come for us? Jesus said in Matthew 24:40-41, “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” In other words, the day in which Jesus returns will be a day that starts out business as usual. No one will be expecting it. People across the world will be sleeping, having meals, going to work, returning home from work, and all other things people do on a daily basis but somewhere in amongst all of the normalcy in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the world will change. Jesus and all those who are saved will be gone and the rest will be left to suffer the wrath of God before facing the final judgment. Some people ignorantly say that they will ask forgiveness at the last minute but honestly since it will be business as usual on that day and considering how fast the twinkling of an eye is, asking forgiveness at the last moment would be impossible. This is why the bible says in 2nd Corinthians 6:2, “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)” Jesus is telling us to get ready now. The world is showing the signs that things are quickly going downhill. Sin is not only opening shown to the world but is being accepted and embraced. Standing for God is being less and less tolerated. The government is getting bigger and the rights of the people are getting smaller. This is all shaping a world that will be ripe for the Antichrist to rise up in and take control of. Praise be the God though that the bible says in 1st Thessalonians 5:9-10, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.” In other words, when everything goes south Jesus is going to take his home so that we do not have to face the wrath of God. That is reserved for all of those who reject him and his son Jesus. Now at this point I am sure there are some out there that is picking apart what I just said and using the scripture I sited in Hebrews to do it. You are probably saying, “if we are all appointed to die then how can there be ones that death doesn’t come for?” You have a valid question but I have a valid answer. For those who are saved and alive when Jesus returns, the fleshly body will die as it is part of the earth but as it dies, it is transformed into a heavenly body like Jesus’ that will last forever. Then those who are left behind on the earth, they will face eternal death in Hell, the exception being the 144,000 Jews mentioned in the book of Revelation but that is a thought for another day. The question today, as it is every day, is which side are you on? Are you one of those who say you are going to be put getting saved off and wait until the last minute? I already told you how long the twinkling of an eye is and beyond that, even if you don’t live to see Jesus coming back you don’t know when the end of your allotted time on this earth is. You could right now be living in the last day of your life. Having Jesus Christ as your personal savior is like having a life insurance policy except you are the beneficiary. When you die in Christ or when he comes back and you are transformed that policy kicks in and it pays out more than you could ever dream. Eternal life where there is no more sickness and no separation, walking on streets of gold, and being able to be with Jesus Christ for all time. That can all be yours if you choose Jesus. Christian, you need to stand your ground and keep up the good fight. Troubling times are going to come, some are already here, but remember that anything you have to go through will be worth it on the other side. Jesus said in John 15:18-20, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.” What is happening in this world to the Christians is just what Jesus said coming to pass. We just have to keep pressing on because we have too much to gain to lose.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 05:02:14 +0000
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