Do You Believe in the Rapture?

Do You Believe in the Rapture?

“That night two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.” Luke 17:34-35 NLT

Whether or not you believe in the Rapture of the Church, I’m going to try to explain three things that Christians may disagree with.

First:  Do you believe that Jesus will return someday and take all the Christians up to heaven with him? 

Second:  Will you go straight to heaven when you die?

Third:  Do you believe there’s an “End of the World?”

This week:  Let’s begin with the first question and the scripture above.  I am going to share several scriptures with you.  There will be a taking away of people and it reads that it will happen at night.  However, it will be a world-wide phenomenon because some will be taken from their beds and others will be working during the day. Let’s look back at what happened in Noah’s time; (Luke 17:26-27) “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.”  Only Noah and his family who trusted in God escaped the flood and it happened suddenly. 

A day like that will happen again and it may be sooner than we think the way things are going.  These verses in Luke 21:34-36 show us that in Noah’s day things were so similar to what our days are like. “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

What is it that the Believers will escape?  1 Thessalonians 1:10 tells us to “wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”  There is coming a time when God will be finished waiting for those who do not follow Him. Here’s what is coming someday, “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.” [Revelation 16:1]

Some believe the catching away of the church (meaning those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior) will happen any day.  Others believe it will take place in the middle of the 7-year tribulation and others believe it will happen when the Battle of Armageddon takes place at the end of the Tribulation.  I only know this, when it happens I want to be ready.

Here’s how it’s going to happen. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”   [I Thess. 4:16-17]

The Apostle Paul was looking forward to this day and in his letter to the Corinthians, he shared this with them.   “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.” (15:51-52) This event is going to happen so quickly we won’t have a chance to think.  My prayer is that in Luke 21:36, “Lord, may I be counted ‘worthy to escape the wrath to come?”