WOW, what BEAUTIFUL day it has been here in Louisiana............... The Bible can be look at in different ways, because people are different, but the main subject of & about the Bible is LOVE.... Since this movie has come out Left Behind it has brought up the subject of the Rapture. Just gonna leave you with some food for thought tonight.. Hope you all have a Blessed week! Revelation is 1 book in the Bible that everybody should read, ( all the others should be a must also ) but Revelation is the only book of the Bible that promises a special blessing to the reader. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. (Rev. 1:3), along with this warning: For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: (Rev. 22:18). The opposition to the pre-trib rapture always likes to point out that the word Rapture is not even in the Bible. I’ve heard that so many times, I wonder if anybody really studies anymore, or if they just parrot what they’ve heard someone else say. The English word rapture is not in the Bible, that’s true. But neither is the word Bible, or Trinity. The Latin translators of the Bible used the word rapturo - the root of the English word rapture. In our Bible, the same Greek word, harpazo, is translated caught up which means to seize upon with force or to snatch up. At the rapture, those who are in Christ (dead or living) will be changed into new glorified, immortal bodies and then we are “caught up” into the air to meet the Lord. The word rapture does not appear in the Bible, but it is a term frequently used to mean the Second Coming of Jesus. The term “secret rapture” refers to the idea that the coming of Jesus will take place in two separate stages. The first will be a secret rapture—or carrying away of the saved to heaven—at the beginning of a seven-year period of tribulation, during which the antichrist will appear. At the close of this time of tribulation, Jesus will return to Earth in triumph and glory. Jesus promised that He would return to Earth to take His people to be with Him. He said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also (John 14:1-3, NKJV). Did Jesus mean that He would return secretly and “rapture” His people from Earth, leaving behind those who are lost to wonder where their raptured friends and relatives have gone? This is what those believe who hold to the idea of the secret rapture. In these verses, Jesus doesn’t say how He will return—secretly or otherwise. But other Bible texts make it plain what will happen when Jesus returns. After His resurrection, Jesus returned to heaven, and the disciples watched as He rose into the sky. The Bible says, “While they [the disciples] watched, He [Jesus] was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men [angels] stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven’ ” (Acts 1:9-11, NKJV). Two points stand out in these verses. First, the Jesus who returns to Earth the second time is the very same Jesus who lived here on Earth with us and went back to heaven following His resurrection. And second, He will return to Earth the same way—“in like manner”—as He went back to heaven. How did Jesus go to heaven following His resurrection? Did He go secretly? No. The disciples watched Him rise, literally, bodily, into the air until a cloud hid Him from their sight. So these verses tell us that Jesus will return to earth the same way—not secretly. Another Bible text is even more clear that Jesus will not return secretly. “Behold, He [Jesus] is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him” (Revelation 1:7, NKJV). This text says that when Jesus comes every eye—everyone on earth—will see Him come. That doesn’t sound like He is coming secretly! Matthew says that Jesus’ coming will be as visible as the lightning that flashes from one end of the sky to the other. “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:27, NKJV). The Bible says that Jesus will come in glory with the angels (see Matthew 16:27); that He will come with the shout of the archangel and a blast from the trumpet of God (see 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17); that the wicked will see Him coming and cry out for the rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them from His face (see Revelation 6:14-17); and that He will return as King of kings, leading the armies of heavenly angels (see Revelation 19:11-16). All these texts make it clear than Jesus’ coming is anything but secret! The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10, NKJV; see also 1 Thessalonians 5:2). But does this mean that He will come secretly and snatch away the saved, leaving the wicked behind? No. This very text that says Jesus will come like a thief in the night, also says that the heavens will pass away with a great noise. That won’t be secret! The apostle Paul says, “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-6, NKJV). Jesus’ coming will be unexpected by those who are not watching and waiting for Him. It will come upon them like a thief in the night. But His people—who are not of the night nor of darkness—will be looking for Him. They will be aware of the signs of His coming and will know that it is near. Jesus’ coming will not overtake them like the unexpected appearance of a thief. That’s what the Bible means by saying that Jesus’ coming will be like a thief in the night—it will be unexpected to those who are not watching for Him. The Rapture, well 1 can believe either way. The good will be taken and the not so good will be left or the bad will be taken & the good left behind which is what many verses in the Bible suggest. The Bible is the Greatest Book ever written & full of info if you choose to share in that info. The most important thing to remember is the book of Revelation is not a road map to the future. It is the declaration that Jesus will return, justice will be granted to the oppressed, and all things will be made new. But it is not attempting to give precise details on how that will happen. Rather than an apocalyptic road map, Revelation is a book of worship. It exists to declare the glory, power, and grace of God. It is not a guidebook to the apocalypse. I absolutely believe that Jesus will return one day to wipe away every tear from our eyes and make all things new But that is the Second Coming, not the rapture. Those are two very, very different things. One allows us to neglect the present world and let it crumble away while we focus on our own eternal glory. The other beckons us to participate in Gods restoration of creation by loving His people and showing them how to live the life God intended until He does return to bring that work of redemption to final completion. We are absolutely living in the last days, but, I believe we have been ever since Jesus walked about of the tomb on Easter morning. So, let us live as if these truly are the last days, not by running around telling the world Good luck, well see you later!But by incarnating the love of God to a world desperately in need of His grace. By doing that, we affirm the truth and hope of the resurrection while showing the world that the return of our Lord is not something to be feared.......... Its something to CELEBRATE!
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 02:08:06 +0000
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