“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.”
Psalms 2:4
That is where the world is right now. Nations believe they are in charge, but we know they are not. The world is utterly falling apart, and I see little chance of it ever returning to a stable state. I’m not a pessimist but rather an optimist; nevertheless, I see things happening in our beloved America and around the world that we are no longer able to turn around. We have far passed the point of no return. The signs of the times are clear. I believe we are getting closer to the Lord’s second coming than ever. But first, the body of Christ, the church, must be taken off the scene during the Rapture.
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
I Corinthians 15:51-52
A group of people from all over the world will be taken off the planet at some point in the future, never having died physically. This group will be made up of members of the body of Christ, which is His Church. This is not the second coming. This is the “rapture” of the Church, which is His body, the body of Christ. The rapture was a mystery or secret hidden until revealed to the apostle Paul alone. By the risen and glorified Lord Jesus around 37 AD.
The Rapture is Delineated by the Apostle Paul Alone
The apostle Paul makes it so clear that the grace-age saints will be taken off the planet. Believers who have died physically will go first, second will be those of us who are still alive. We all meet the Lord in the air and be with the Lord forever.
I Thessalonians 4:17
“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.”
“Then we (believers) which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them (all believers from around the planet) in the clouds (in the atmosphere), to meet the Lord (Where?)… in the air:…” And then we will go back into Heaven with Him to go before the Bema Seat and have the marriage of the Lamb, and then we’ll be ready to come back with Him seven years later, in time, at His Second Coming; as the two angels told the apostles in Acts 1. And in Zechariah 14 we read identical words.
‘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 1:11
‘And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.’
Zechariah 14:4
How to Make Sure You are Caught Up in the Clouds to be with the Lord Forever?
Verse 14 of 1 Thessalonians tells us, where Paul writes.
‘For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.’
‘who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ‘
Hebrews 1:3
The finished work of the cross was so perfect, absolutely flawless.
There was nothing more that needed to be done.
So when Christ alone had purged our sins, He sat down.
It was finished.
And what has mankind been doing ever since? Adding to what is flawless! Do this, do that, add this, one thing after another. Mankind in their unbelief, will not believe what the Lord said on the cross. “It is finished”.
Above all, we must have faith in His word. When God says it is finished, that salvation is a free gift, by faith alone in the gospel alone. We believe Him.
‘For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ‘
‘God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.’
I Corinthians 1:9
It’s not because we are faithful, or those back in Paul’s day in the Corinthian church were faithful, but WHO is? God is!
We can go all the way back to the Abrahamic covenant. A covenant that the Jewish people broke over and over but did that void the covenants? No way. Because the Abrahamic covenant and all the promises God made to Israel originated with God. And God can not break His promises.
The same is true for us today. When God opens the heart of a person to the gospel of grace and calls that person His own that person is sealed with the Holy Spirit, and baptized into the body of Christ. We are in Christ in God and He will never give up on us. We may fail over and over but as verse 9 says “God is faithful”, He will never forsake us or leave us.
‘God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.’
I Corinthians 1:9
We are More than Conquerors
‘For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
The moment you believe the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Romans 1:16) you are saved.
Instantly sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13).
Immediately become a member of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:13) which is His Church.
Indwelled with the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5, 8:9) and blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly’s (Ephesians 1:3).
The Blessed Hope
From the moment we believe the gospel, we are looking forward to that “Blessed Hope” the glorious appearance of Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the clouds. (1 Thessalonians 4:16; Titus 2:13)
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