The Rapture

Jesus promised to take all believers out of this world before He sends great tribulation upon it to deal with the sin and rebellion of mankind. The means by which this will be done is commonly known as the Rapture. The Rapture simply speaks of the resurrection of believers, both dead and alive. It is that which the Apostle Paul explained to the Church in Thessalonia when he wrote that 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: 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." (I Thessalonians 4:16-17).

The word "Rapture" may not be in the Bible, but the concept certainly is. In Paul's prophecy and description of this event, he uses the phrase "caught up". This phrase is translated from the Greek word "harpazo", which means "to snatch out and away" and "to claim for one's self eagerly." It also means "to carry off by force" and "to rescue from the danger of destruction." Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ will eagerly remove all believers from this world at one event in the future in order to rescue them from the destructive judgment He will pour out during the Great Tribulation period.

The bodies of the dead saints will be resurrected and glorified to meet their souls and spirits in the air. Their souls and spirits were in Heaven with the Lord since their physical death, as the Apostle states in II Corinthians 5:8 when he wrote that "to be absent from the body" is "to be present with the Lord." Those believers who are alive and remain shall be caught up with the dead in Christ shortly thereafter. And then, all the saints of God will leave this world to go with the Lord Jesus Christ to Heaven for a period of time until God pours out judgment on this world and redeems a repentant Israel.

These resurrected saints will return with Jesus Christ to save Israel from the Antichrist and his armies in the Battle of Armageddon at the conclusion of the Great Tribulation Period. The Apostle John describes the Second Coming of Christ with His saints in Revelation 19:11 and 14 when he wrote, "And I saw Heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He Who sat upon him was called Faithful and True; and in Righteousness He does judge and make war...And the armies which were in Heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean."

The Apostle Peter said that "there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep [died], all things continue as they were from the beginning of the Creation." (II Peter 3:3-4). If any person does not believe that the Rapture will occur, then they do not believe the Word of God. This event will truly happen, but only those who know and serve the Lord will escape the Great Tribulation.

Get ready today. Accept that you are a sinner, "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). Then accept God's gracious offer of salvation by believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin. Then give your life to the Lord, seeking Him in His Word and in prayer. Find others who know and serve Him, and then serve the Lord together with those very ones who will meet you in the air when the Lord returns to resurrect His people.

Worry

Worry is a sin. It is a lack of faith and trust in God. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to worry is to feel or experience concern or anxiety. Worry is characterized as a struggle, fear or torment. It is a state of agitation where a person is afraid of the unknown in light of present circumstances. How is a child of God suppose to deal with the trials and difficulties of life? Simply put, they are to have faith in God.

To trust God is to know that He is able and willing to deal with all of our difficulties and that He uses them to develop a greater faith in our hearts. The Lord requires a child-like faith, one that is totally dependent upon Him in all areas of our lives. He has promised to never leave or forsake us; we must believe this in order to allay worry and fear. Turning to God for all of our needs is faith in action. And if faith is truly operating in our lives, we will experience peace and joy during even the most trying of times. In times of uncertainty, one thing is certain, God will not forsake His children.

How is this type of faith, one that is completely dependent upon God, developed in our hearts and lives?

First, we learn faith by hearing the Word of God, for "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." So the true preaching of the Gospel, which develops our proper understanding of the Word of God, is indispensable to the Christian's growth in faith. When the Gospel is preached in its fullness, the focus of the preaching is on "Jesus Christ and Him crucified," as the Apostle Paul stated in I Corinthians 2:2. He also said, "For the preaching of the Cross is to them who perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the Power of God." (I Corinthian 1:17). With a focus on the true meaning of the Gospel, that by faith in Jesus Christ as the Source of Life and the Cross as the means of obtaining that Life, the believer can be fully assured that deliverance from sin, Satan and even the most difficult circumstances of life can be a constant experience.

Secondly, we must change our priorities and focus to God's will, not our own. Jesus said, "Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put o.n" (Matthew 6:25). When our focus is on these things and not on God's promise to provide for us as we live for Him, "taking thought" or worrying is the natural result. Our focus should be on His will, which is to "seek first the Kingdom of God, and His Righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33). When we seek to know and to serve the Lord with all of our hearts, the Lord will always meet our needs. This is His promise to us.

Lastly, we are to submit to God in any and all of the circumstances that He allows to occur in our lives. No matter the trial or tribulation, we must believe that the Lord is causing or allowing certain events to occur for reasons we may not understand. What we should understand, though, is that "all things [good and bad] work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28). The Lord causes or allows trials to test and build our faith, for as Peter wrote, "though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." (I Peter 1:6-7).

How we react in times of testing acts as a barometer to measure the strength or weakness of our faith. When trouble comes, do we worry or are we at peace, trusting in God. If our reaction is less than acceptable to God, we can simply repent and ask Him to build our faith as we seek Him, His Word and His Will.

When worry is defeated in our lives by our faith in God, then we can claim, as the Saints of old, that "in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us" (Romans 8:37).

A Zeal of God

The Apostle Paul stated, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:1-3). The Lord is willing to forgive Israel for rejecting their Messiah, if they will repent.

The same holds true today for the modern Church. The Lord will save those in the Church who will accept His righteousness and who will not attempt to establish their own righteousness. In other words, God does not accept righteousness based on our own works. He only accepts the righteousness of His Son and those to whom His Son imputes righteousness. The only true way to be righteous in the eyes of God is to receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ by faith in what He did for us on the Cross of Calvary. That's it -- I am only righteous in the eyes of God by believing that Jesus Christ paid the price for my sin on the Cross of Calvary, for the wages of sin is death. And I can only live righteous by a faith that believes that the righteousness of Jesus Christ is given unto me and reigns in my life, for "sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14). "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." (Romans 6:17-18).

The "form of doctrine" that we are to believe to be free from sin and become servants of righteousness is the preaching of the Cross, "For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God...we preach Christ crucified" (I Corinthians 1:18, 23). The Apostle Paul also stated, "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." (I Corinthians 2:2).

This is my desire as well for all who have rejected Jesus Christ and what He did on the Cross of Calvary to redeem humanity. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). But, "God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16).

Accept the righteousness of Jesus Christ by faith and His righteousness will be manifest in your life!

The Promise of the Father

"And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the Promise of the Father, which, said He, you have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence...you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1:4-5, 8).

Jesus spoke these words to His disciples just prior to His ascension. He commanded them to wait for the promise of the Father, which is the baptism in the Holy Spirit, a separate work of grace where the born again believer who is born of the Spirit is then immersed or baptized into the Spirit. Being born of the Spirit simply means being born again or saved. Being baptized in the Holy Spirit means to be filled or controlled by the Spirit to become powerful witnesses of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist prophesied of that day when the body of Christ would be given the Holy Spirit to continue the work that Christ Himself began in His own ministry. John said, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He Who comes after me is mightier than I, Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire" (Matthew 3:11).

That this is a separate work of grace is proven in the history of the early Church. For example, in Acts 19, "it came to pass, that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, 'Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?' And they said unto him, 'We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Spirit.'" (Acts 19:1-2). These were believers, and even more so, disciples. But they were born again believers who had not heard of or received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. In verse 3 of the same chapter, they stated that they also were baptized in water, but again, not in the Holy Spirit. "And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues, and prophesied." (Acts 19:6).

In addition, Peter found that the believers in the house of Cornelius had not received the baptism in the Holy Spirit after they were saved. As Peter preached unto them, "the Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the Word. And they of the circumcision [the Jews] were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the Gift of the Holy Spirit. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 'Can any man forbid water, that these should be baptized, which have received the Holy Spirit as well as we?'" (Acts 10:44-47). In this case, these believers were saved, but not baptized in water or in the Holy Spirit. They received the Holy Spirit and then were baptized in water at the direction of the Apostle Peter.

These experiences of the early Church portray several truths that are still applicable to the present day Church. First, the Lord commanded the Church to receive the Holy Spirit and this is what the Church leaders in the early Church preached and taught new converts. This is the message that Church leaders today should be preaching as well. Secondly, the only prerequisites to receive the Holy Spirit is to be born again and to seek God for the gift of the the Spirit. Jesus said, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:13). Thirdly, whenever a person receives the baptism in the Holy Spirit, they speak with other tongues, just as the believers did in the examples mentioned above and on the day of Pentecost during the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When those disciples received the Holy Spirit, they "began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 2:4).

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a supernatural gift from God to His Church. This gift is always accompanied by the speaking in other tongues, a language that the believer does not know and has not learned. The utterances come from the Spirit of God and the believer simply yields the tongue to the Spirit to speak words from God. Tongues are used for several reasons: to pray, worship and to give messages from the Lord to the Church by way of interpretation of tongues.

First, "the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He Who searches the hearts knows what is the Mind of the Spirit, because He makes intercession for the Saints according to the Will of God." (Romans 8:26-27). So we need the baptism in the Holy Spirit so that the Spirit of God can help us to pray according to the Word of God. Of course, the only way to have full assurance that our prayers will be answered by God is to pray according to His will, for the Apostle John said, "And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His Will, He hears us: And if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." (I John 5:14-15).

Secondly, "other tongues" helps us to offer up worship that is acceptable unto God, for "the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him." (John 4:23). The Apostle Paul told the Church in Corinth, "I will pray with the Spirit [in tongues, which he did not understand], and I will pray with understanding also [in his native language that he understood]: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." (I Corinthians 14:15).

The third use for tongues is to give messages to the Church through an individual who possesses the gift of the Spirit known as "divers kinds of tongues" and an individual who has the gift of the Spirit known as "interpretation of tongues", both mentioned in I Corinthians, Chapter 12. If the person with the gift of the Spirit of divers kinds of tongues is not sure that another person is present with the gift of the Spirit "interpretation of tongues," then the Apostle Paul said that "if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the Church; and let him speak to himself, and to God [in tongues]." (I Corinthians 14:28). Therefore, speaking in tongues to pray and worship can be done in the Church during times of prayer and worship, but the gift of the Spirit "divers kinds of tongues" should not be spoken without a person with the corresponding gift of the Spirit "interpretation of tongues."

Jesus commanded the Church to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit in order to continue the work of God after His ascension. Anyone who refuses to believe or receive this gift is living in disobedience to God. This gift is necessary to give the Church the power to be witnesses of Jesus Christ in this world. It's the same power Jesus possessed after the Spirit came upon Him while being baptized in water by John the Baptist. Any Christian that is attempting to do the work of God without the baptism in the Holy Spirit is operating in what Paul called the "flesh," which is in our own abilities. We are told to operate in the Spirit, which is with God's abilities [the gifts of the Spirit].

I encourage every believer to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues and experience what Jesus commanded us to receive when He said, "He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of Living Water (But this spoke He of the Spirit, which they Who believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)." (John 7:38-39). Jesus was glorified shortly after speaking these words, and since then has been baptizing His followers with the Holy Spirit whenever the believer seeks and believes this Word from God.

God's Wonderful Plan

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Knowing that God sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our sins so that we would not have to pay the penalty ourselves, should engender a response of love and devotion to the Lord. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Jesus experienced various responses from the many people that He healed and delivered from sickness and sin.

For instance, Jesus entered a certain village near the border of Samaria and Galilee on His way to Jerusalem and there met ten leperous men (Luke 17:11-19). They cried out to Him saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." They were asking Jesus for help that they knew they did not deserve, for that is the very nature of mercy. Jesus responded to them saying, "Go show yourselves unto the priests."

First of all, these men were obviously aware of the power Jesus possessed to heal them from leprosy. His reputation preceded Him. Therefore, they exhibited faith by seeking for healing from Him. Anyone who truly seeks for mercy from God, will always receive it. Jesus did not immediately heal them though, but waited for them to respond to His commandment to go to the priests. Of course, this was in accordance with the Levitical Law, which stated that the healing of lepers must be verified before they would be accepted back into society. At that time lepers lived in colonies separated from society because of the contagious nature of that disease. The Scriptures record that all ten lepers began to go to the priests in obedience to Jesus before they were actually healed, for it states that "as they went, they were cleansed." Remember that obeying the Word of God always produces a powerful experience in our lives. So true faith produces obedience to God. Anyone can claim to have faith in God, but only those who obey His Word actually possess faith.

Sadly the Scriptures state that only one of those lepers that were healed "turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God." Not only did he show appreciation to God by worshipping Him, he also "fell down on his face at His feet." This was an act of submission. In other words, after this man received healing from the Lord, he humbly gave his heart and life to Him. This should be the response of every individual who receives mercy and grace from God. Unfortunately, as stated before, many people receive blessings from the Lord and then leave Him instead of devote their lives to Him. Many try to make Jesus the Savior of the souls, but not the Lord of their lives. This is tragic indeed.

Jesus said unto this ex-leper, "Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger." But he said unto the one that did give God the glory, "Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole." We should always seek God to meet our every need, but not just the physical and temporal ones. This man was made "whole," which means he received physical and spiritual blessings that were both temporal and eternal. Praise God!

This man wanted and received by faith all that God offered him, but the other nine only received healing for their bodies. This man received cleansing for his soul and was given eternal life as well. The Lord wants to relieve the suffering and oppression in your life too. But He also wants to save your soul and give you an abundant life. If you will go to Him in faith and surrender your life to Him, He will give you blessings untold.