The Great Disappointment

The Great Disappointment

Acts 2:36-38

“Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Most of us have had disappointments in our lives.  We’ve been disappointed in relationships, our children, our jobs and life in general.  Actually disappointment is part of living, but what comes from it is what really counts.  There are those who when disappoint comes, they blame God, or they walk away from the Lord.  What happens then?

I have observed those who have been greatly disappointed about something they thought would happen and when it didn’t they were filled with anger.  They turned their anger on family and friends and God, because like a child, they didn’t get their own way.  It’s hard to think of disappointment being a good thing, but perhaps it wasn’t the right thing for you; maybe God has something better for you.  How will you ever know what God wants if you don’t trust him? 

Before Jesus went to the cross, they had their hearts and minds set on the thought that Jesus would reign and rule in Jerusalem.  In Matthew, 16:21 “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”  Even though Jesus told the disciples what was ahead for all of them, they didn’t listen.

Going on, in Matthew 20.17-19, “Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”  Jesus talked to the disciples as though he was talking about someone else and not himself.  I believe these men were not convinced that what Jesus was telling them was actually going to happen.  They had such hopes and dreams for the Messiah.

In John 13:7, Jesus tells them, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand”, and in verse 19 he says, “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am.”  Like the disciples, we don’t always understand what God is doing in our lives. We read God’s clear promises in the Bible, yet often give in to stress and doubt when life gets tough.  This is when we learn to lean on Jesus. 

Trusting our heavenly Father is far better than letting disappointment get you down.  Did you ever read a manual about how to handle disappointment?  The Bible is a complete book on it.  In Romans 8:28 “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”   This is one of my favorite verses because I have shared it with so many who are discouraged.  Discouragement comes from disappointment! Why? Because no matter how you feel about things that can happen, we can know that God is going to take care of it all.  Even the disciples had to learn this, because losing Jesus was the greatest disappointment of all, but look 

what came of it.

Salvation and Eternal Life!

The Rapture

The Rapture

 “Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He 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 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)

            Let me start at the beginning for the better understanding, “The word Rapture is not in the Bible.”  So if you are unfamiliar with the Word of God, (Bible), don’t waste your time looking.  However there are many scriptures that show places in the Bible that relate to it.  I really don’t know why they brought the word, “Rapture” into the Bible.  After studying the Bible in different languages during revisions, what it really means is a “Catching Up” or a “Catching Away”; a taking up into Heaven. 

  

             At this point, notice today’s Bible verse above, “He was taken up, and a cloud received Him.”  After Jesus died and rose again, he finish his time on earth by taking the disciples outside of Bethany where He rose into heaven. In other words, He was raptured!  Jesus was taken into heaven and there were more taken up after him.  As we study further in the Bible we see others were also taken up into heaven.  

                                                                                                                                                                                In the New Testament we see in the Revelation 11:3 that during the Tribulation, God sent two witnesses to Jerusalem to prophecy and no one could kill them.  Many think God sent Enoch and Elijah to prophecy because they were two people that never died.  The Bible tell us in Hebrews 9:27 that it is appointed man once to die and then the judgement.  Looked what happened to those witnesses. God gave them great power to kill those who came against them for a certain amount of time.  When the time came God allowed them to be killed and their bodies were not put in graves and the people partied for 3 ½ day, they were so glad to be rid of the prophets.

 

            God also told us in Revelation 11:9 that for three and a half days, all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will stare at their bodies lying in the street and no one will be allowed to bury them.  After being dead for 3 ½ days God breathed life back into them and they stood up.  People were terrified, and they heard a voice calling out, “Come up here!”  At that point the witnesses rose up into heaven - they were caught away.  Now get this!  “It’s appointed men to die once.”  They died before God gave them life again. God did not forget what he said in his Word.

            There were two times in the Old Testament people were raptured. The first was in Genesis 5:24, was Enoch who was the father of Methuselah, the man who lived longer than anyone else.  The Bible tells us that, “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”  The second one that was raptured was Elijah the prophet that was talking with Elisha.  “Suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”

            The New Testament gives us more understanding. Look in I Thessalonians 4:17, Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord”.  Another great scripture is 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (NLT) “But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.  

            Jesus led the way by showing the disciples how he would meet us on His return to earth.  Let us be ready whenever it’s our time.  For those of us that are believers, there is only one way to go and that’s UP!

The Third Day

The Third Day

 “And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”   Luke 24:32 (NKJV)

I used to be a walker; I walked two to three miles a day.  I was in my 60’s at that time.  Then came a hip replacement; back surgery and knee replacement and a broken shoulder and the walking fell by the wayside.  It was more fun to walk when someone walked with me, because we could talk about families and current events and time would pass quickly.  I can picture these two friends walking along the road to Emmaus and talking about what happened to Jesus.

The Bible tells us that it was the third day and the same day that the women went to the tomb earlier the same morning.  Jesus drew near to them, but they did not recognize him.  This may seem questionable, but in Hebrews 13:2, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.”  What this is saying is that angels can appear any time and you don’t know they are angels because they have taken on another appearance.  So it was with Jesus; they didn’t recognize him as Jesus, because he didn’t want them to know him.

The men were so sad and the stranger that joined them asked what it was all about. Jesus talked to the men further and shared scriptures with them from Moses and the prophets of old and how these things referred to him. The men urged Jesus to stay with them because it was getting late.  So when they sat down to eat, Jesus took the bread and blessed it and gave them each a piece.  It was then they recognized it was Jesus with them and at that very minute he disappeared.

Then they said, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us when he was sharing the scriptures with us?”  At that time they turned around and went back to Jerusalem.  Perhaps they were so excited, they didn’t stop to think about how dangerous the roads were at night.  There were many thieves and robbers waiting to catch those who were traveling in the dark.  When they made it back to Jerusalem (7 miles) they found Peter and the others together and in great excitement talking that Jesus was risen.  So the men from Emmaus told the disciples how Jesus had joined them and they didn’t know who he was.

Suddenly Jesus appeared in the midst of them and said, “Peace be with you.”  Some screamed and others trembled and tried to hide themselves because they thought he was a ghost. “Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.”  (Luke 24:39 NLT)) They still seemed to doubt, but then he asked them for something to eat, and someone gave him some fish.  They watched him eat the fish and realized ghosts didn’t eat.

Then he began to share the scriptures with them.  “Listen,” he said, “I have already told you that from Moses on, the scriptures tell what was going to happen to me and you didn’t get it.  The thing that you must share is that if they repent, all of their sins are forgiven.”  The prophets told that the Messiah would suffer and die and one the third day would rise again.

The disciples stood there in shock with their mouths hanging open as Jesus opened their minds to understanding, they realized it was really Jesus!  Instead of doubt, they all were filled with wonder and with joy!  Then Jesus said something to them that they didn’t really understand, “Now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”   Luke 24:49 (NLT)   Then Jesus led them all to Bethany.

Next week: The Rapture