The Great Evacuation (Part 2)
We will repeat some of the material from last week for emphasis, because in a week’s time it is easy to let things fall through the cracks…. I want to emphasize that Twenty one percent of the bible is Prophecy and Fourteen percent of those prophecies are still unfulfilled. That means we are living in an unprecedented time in history, where most of all bible prophecy will be fulfilled possibly in the life span of this current generation. The next great event to take place on the prophetic scene is the Rapture and all the events which are centered around it.
Someone saying that they don’t believe all that stuff in the bible is like the guy who got pulled over for running a stop sign and when the Cop asked him if he saw the sign, he said that he had seen it. And when the cop asked, “Well, why didn’t you stop then..” The guy said “I don’t believe everything I read”….. The bible is another whole level of truth above and beyond a stop sign!!!! Salvation is free, but it will require our willingness to offer God everything we have.
We talked about the Pandemonium and Chaos that will follow the Rapture. All who didn’t go in the rapture will be left behind, desperately searching for their missing loved ones….babies, children, spouses, and friends who have disappeared. Pilots will vanish from planes, drivers will suddenly vanish from cars and buses leaving them to crash with their passengers. The world will come to a standstill, as Christian leaders in government, business, the media, the stockmarket, communications, banking, and transportation vanish and the world is left to try to cope with what has happened & where they all went!
Being a good person, being religious, being sincere is not enough, if we don’t receive the truth and life that only Christ can give. Folks will give all kinds of excuses to avoid accepting Christ as Savior…
Someone published some excuses that students gave for not doing homework….and they make about as much sense as the excuses we give for not receiving God’s salvation….
I didn’t do my homework because I don’t believe in dwelling on the past… I didn’t feel that it was challenging enough…My agent won’t allow me to publish my homework until the movie is finalized….It’s against my religion to do homework….I don’t want the other kids to look bad…Our furnace broke and we burned my homework to keep from freezing…I have a solar powered calculator and it was cloudy….I spent the night at a rally to raise money to pay more money for our hard working teachers….and then there’s….Oh, We had homework????
Some folks excuse is that they are so busy getting all they can before they die, they never take the time to prepare for eternity. I mean if you could have everything here…..Where would you put it all!!!! Jesus told of the man who built bigger and bigger barns and then got the message…..”Today you will die”
When believers in Christ get their new body, it’s not an angel body, it’s not a ghost or spirit body, it’s glorified substance. It will be like the body of Jesus, after he was resurrected…. Remember that they touched Jesus and He touched them. Jesus cooked a meal for them and ate with them. We are told that over 500 people personally saw and interacted with Jesus at one occasion following His resurrection.
Romans 8:11 “If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you.” We saw last week, that the word “Rapture” is not actually found in the Bible as a word. The word rapture, is an English version of the Greek word “rapturo” which means to seize or catch up, as the Bible describes, into another place or dimension. (If someone doesn’t want to use the word “rapture” they can replace it with “taken out”, “caught up.” Another Greek word with the same meaning is “harpazo”.
Are there any historical proofs in the Bible that give us a sampling, and validate the Rapture experience? (I’m glad you asked)…Yes there are… Sprinkled throughout scripture, starting from the beginning of the Old Testament, there are little snap shots or proofs for our benefit.
Hebrews 11: 5 “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, and was not found, because God had taken him, for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”
II Kings 2: 11 “Then it happened as they continued on and talked that a chariot of fire appeared with horses and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to Heaven in a whirlwind.”
In Revelation 11: 5-13 (I won’t read it now, but two witnesses who are Old Testament prophets, will stand in Jerusalem during the tribulation, and preach the gospel, and do signs and wonders. They will release plagues, and fire will go out of their mouths to consume those who would attack them. They will be killed and the world will see their dead bodies for 3 ½ days till they are raised from the dead as the world watches. A voice from heaven will say “Come up here” and all will see them ascend into heaven. An earthquake will destroy a tenth of the city and 7000 will perish. All who see it will give glory to God….So we can see that there are several examples in scripture of people being raptured…
1 Thessalonians 4: 17 “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” The Rapture of the church and the coming of Christ are some of the most comforting and encouraging doctrines you can ever share with those who are serving the Lord. We understand that no matter what we may face here in this life, it is just a flash in the pan compared to all eternity that we will have with Christ, our loved ones, and all our Christian friends.
Paul emphasizes that if we truly believe these truths, it should affect the way we live, it should affect the way we love, and it should affect the way we see the souls of men and women that we meet every day.
We should live as though at any moment, He could appear, therefore we look for and prepare for His coming. You don’t want to be late for this one…You don’t want to be left behind with all that is coming on the earth.
When it comes to getting ready for eternity, we should not be like the student who was asked by his teacher, why he was always late for school…. The student said “because you always ring the bell before I get there”! Don’t let the trumpet sound before you get there!
Titus 2: 11-15 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed, and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous (or enthusiastic) for good works…”
Grace is when God gives us what we don’t deserve….Mercy is when He doesn’t give us what we do deserve”! Many folks approach the subject of what we do and don’t deserve, like the guy who got both a humidifier and a dehumidifier for his birthday. So he put them both in a room and let them fight it out! Thank God Jesus won that fight for us so that His mercy doesn’t let us get what we deserve to get and His Grace allows us to receive what we don’t deserve.
Philippians 3: 20-21 “For our citizenship is in Heaven for which cause we eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…” The reason you don’t feel at home here, is because this isn’t your home… this is your tent. That’s what Paul calls it. Tents are meant to be temporary shelters and one day we’re going to fold up this tent and move to our permanent home! And our eternal home is a glorified, eternal, imperishable body.
The rapture is not a one way ticket to heaven, because we will only be in heaven for 7 years, while the tribulation is going on in the earth. While we are in heaven, the first thing that will happen is that those who were raptured will appear at the Judgment seat of Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all (believers) appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to all he has done….” (this is for believers in Christ only)
Revelation 20:4 “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them….v6 Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years”.
The next event following the Judgment Seat of Christ, will be the Marriage Super of the Lamb. When we will Celebrate the great Lord’s supper as a fulfillment and a culmination of all that the finished work of Christ has meant, in giving us the victory that overcomes the world, the flesh and the devil.
Revelation 19:6 “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. v7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife (all who believe upon and serve Him) has made herself ready. v8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. v9 And He said unto me, “Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb”. And He said unto me, “These are the true sayings of God”.
When we return with Christ to the earth, after the tribulation, we will ride into the battle of Armageddon, where all who follow the Antichrist will be slain and Satan will be bound for 1000 years. Our weapon will be a sword going forth out of our mouth, which is the word of God. The earth will be free of sin, sickness and all workers of evil and wickedness. The Thousand year reign of Christ with the raptured saints will be ushered in.
Revelation 20 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled.”…. .. Once Satan is removed from the earth, we have a glimpse of the difference it makes, from Isaiah 11:6 “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat and the calf and the young lion and the bullock together; and a little child shall lead them. v7 And the cow and the bear shall feed their young ones and they shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. v8 And the nursing child shall play on the hole of the viper, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the scorpion’s nest. v9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea”.
Friends, Satan already knows his end, and he just wants to take as many with him as he possible can. He knows where he’s headed and he is busy deceiving and blinding as many from the truth as he is able. At the end of the thousand years the world still hasn’t learned. After a thousand years with no sickness, no evil, no politics, no sin of any form… many will still follow Satan and revolt against the Reign of Christ.
Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. v8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, to gather them together to battle of Gog, and Magog. The number of them is as the sand of the sea. v9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. v10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever”.
The bible tells us that the next prophetic event after this, will be the Great White throne of judgment. Revelation 20:11 “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. v12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
v13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. v14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. v15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Those who went in the rapture, along with those who were faithful to Christ thru the tribulation, will be in attendance as witnesses at this event. Husbands and wives will watch from the gallery as their unbelieving spouses receive their sentence…”I never knew you, depart from me into eternal punishment” Parents will watch as their children are told by God, “You had many opportunities, but you never received my salvation”… Depart from me! Children will watch as God passes sentence upon their parents, as brothers and sisters are eternally separated with no chance ever again, at redemption.
Folks say they’re Christian, but there’s no intimacy in their relationship with Christ. They don’t spend time in prayer, they read the bible very little, the last thing on their list is attending God’s house, they don’t tithe, and they spend little time with God’s family. Very few relationships could survive that lack of concern and distance. Men and women that live that way have an arrangement not a relationship and people who treat the Lord that way may call themselves Christian, but God calls them backsliden.
The Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ is coming back for all those who have placed their faith in Him. Who love Him, serve Him and live for Him/ If you have not done that, you will be left behind. You can have your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life right now by saying, “Lord Jesus, I receive you as my Savior.”
There is a story that appeared in the newspaper, about a tug boat in New York Harbor, that they had nicknamed “Bust em Up”… It got the name because invariably whenever she came into the harbor she would ram into buoys, and bash into ships and cause a general mess-up, after which the captain of the unruly tug would storm out on deck and give all within hearing distance a royal cussing out. The other tug boat owners would come out to see when "Old bust 'em up" came into the harbor, as it was sure to be a good show. One day a cry went out along the dock that "Old bust 'em up" was coming in. Everyone dropped what they were doing and went to watch the fun. To the surprise of all, "Bust 'em up" came gliding into the harbor as nice as could be. No ramming into buoys. No smashing into ships. And not one outburst from the captain. One of them called out across the water, "What in the world has happened to "Old bust 'em up"? A big burly captain came out on deck and roared back so everyone could hear, "There's a new skipper on board!" That’s what happens to us when there’s a new skipper on board.
John 14: 6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
We live in an age of pluralism where tolerance is the key word. But when it comes to where you will spend eternity, it’s very clear that conventional wisdom, is not the path, our preferences will fall short, all paths do not lead to heaven. When it comes to making sure you get there, it’s God’s way or the highway. It’s not up for a vote, and the majority doesn’t rule. God hasn’t compromised on it for 2000 years, and we could safely say that He won’t start now.
The Bible tells us that God has a plan that will never fail, and He has put His own personal guarantee on it, since He cannot lie.. You can be assured of this right now by accepting His way.
Then when the Rapture comes, you will hear the call – the shout – the voice of an archangel, the trump of God. And you will be called up to be with him forever and ever. Since God’s word is true, and He doesn’t make mistakes, we can know that we are the generation who will see the return of Christ.
The Bible tells us that those who were alive to see the Jews return to their homeland will be the generation to see the return of Christ. I was born on July 1st, 1943, which makes me 73 years old at the time of this writing. I saw the Jews take back their homeland in the 6 day war, and I’m sure of how close we are to the Rapture. I’ve studied Bible prophecy for 50 years, and that belief only grows stronger with time. I have absolutely no doubt. The signs of the Lord’s coming are everywhere.
Matthew 24:30-36 “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory… Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth it’s leaves, you know that summer [is] nigh:
So likewise, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, [even] at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” The symbol for Israel is the fig tree… and the fig tree is flourishing. Israel the fig tree has been reborn as a nation therefore the coming of Christ draws near. Luke 21:32 also states that the generation would not pass away that saw the nation reborn.
30 percent of this generation are boomers, they were alive when the Jews took back Israel. A generation in this scripture is the span of time when people who are part of the same significant event, begin to die, Israel was reborn on May 15, 1948, so that generation would be the period of time when those who saw Israel’s rebirth begin to die out. It is normally 40 to 70 years, depending on the event they share in common. 1948 + 70 equals 2018…so we are close. Another sign is when Israel is surrounded by her enemies and that is now true. In other words….It could be at any time!
Please friends, share the gospel with others and pray for those who have never asked Christ to be their personal Savior and Lord. God’s part is “Settled in Heaven” but our part is our choice…..Let the family and friends know the gift of salvation is for everyone if they’ll only accept it. Christ already paid the price for our sins. All we have to do is accept His free pardon. That’s how much He loves us.
If you’re not sure, don’t get left behind, don’t be late….pray this prayer…. Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins, and I ask you to be my savior. Come into my life and give me your forgiveness. I receive you now and call you my Lord. Thank you Jesus for your grace and mercy. I praise your mighty name…..Amen
