Caught up to God/ The Return of Christ

                                           Caught Up to God at the Second Coming of the Lord 

                                          

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.(Rev. 1:7)

Here John the apostle tells us every eye will see the returning Jesus Christ in all His glory. It will not be some quiet, unobservable, event unknown to people on the earth. It be be brillant and will heard by all. 

For on the day of the Lord the Son of God Jesus Christ 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. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thess. 4:18-18))

                                                                  

There is a vast number of people in the evangelical community who believe the Lord will return invisibly to rapture (catch up) His people before the great tribulation. The verses from which they get this doctrine though seems to indicate the whole world will see, hear, witness  and be affected in some way by this event. {1 Thess chapter 5 tells us that the Aposlte  when talking about our "catching up" he is referring to Jesus 2nd coming in glory...The Day of the Lord.} It won't be a secret. Every eye will see Him. Paul spoke about this time because much talk or gossip  was effecting the church members as to what would happen when Jesus returns. The believers had a concern about the fate of those who had died in Christ. Paul reassured them that despite their grief, they would not be left behind.   

Paul continues in 1 thess chapter 5 "But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.  For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. (see 2 Peter 3:10-14) For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape"..."when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,  in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,  when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed." (2 Thess 1:7-10)  This day of the Lord, this day of God, the return of our savior and Lord  (see 2Peter 3:10-14) This will be a wonderful and glorious day for all who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.              

But for the unredeemed, the unrepentant, those who believe not, it will be  a  day of trouble and terror..... "And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,  and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!  For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Rev. 6:15-17) This  Day is spoken about in a number of ways as  the day of His visitation, the day of wrath, the great day of God Almighty, the day of Christ and the day of the lord.                                                                                                                                                         

The apostle Peter talks about this day it in his second letter to the church: But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. "(2 Peter 3:10) He also said of His second coming as did  Paul that it will be like a thief: when it will be a time of great darkness; when there will be little faith in the earth, he will come suddenly,  when he is not expected, to the great surprise of men, and especially of the scoffers; when such  awful things that happen will surround and confound them:                                                                                                                                                                                         

                                                                     

Thus Jesus said:" So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. (Mt. 24:44)13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. (Mt. 25:30) Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matt. 24:29-31) In these verses we see God gathering together those who are his, chosen before the foundation of the world, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own special people. All those who have confessed Jesus Christ is Lord and believe God has raised Him from the dead.  Those people who have put their thrust and faith in the only name under heaven by which anyone is saved from God's wrath.                                                                                                                    

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.  And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.  Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:11-15)  

                                                               

                                                                                                                                             

Jesus Christ Himself talked about Hell more than anyone else in scripture. And of his betrayer Judas He said  "The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”(Matt. 26:24) If the doctrine of Hell is the annihilation of an individual. Then there was no need to explain of the horror of Hell in Matthew 25, that the righteous will inherit the kingdom prepared for them  from the foundation of the world: yet of the unrighteous Jesus will condemn with the words ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. They will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”   Eternal punishment is a doctrine within Christian theology that signifies the everlasting consequences for individuals who die in a state of sin, having rejected the salvation offered through Jesus Christ. It describes the fate of those who reject God, stating, "And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever." This imagery underscores the perpetual (never ending)  aspect of the punishment.

                                                        

Yet for the redeemed, those rescued from darkness to light,  as Jesus Christ explained,  “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:13) and as the apostle Paul explained to believers in Colossians that God has rescued us (believers) from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,  in whom we have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.(Col 1:13-14) It is a lost and dying world. It is all temporary and will one day be brought to nothing and return to the dust from which it came. When our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ  returns and restores this creation  from the hopelessness of this present evil age. To the time after His creation when God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.     

                                                       

                                                                                                                                                               Scripture tells us the future home of all God's people in eternity is fast approaching according to God's timetable. For with the Lord one day is as a thousand years. And a thousand years as one day. The Lord isn’t slow to keep his promise, as some think of slowness, but he is patient toward you,  not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)   The apostle John experienced a future time when he proclaimed  "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”  Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.  He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Rev. 21:1-8)   

                                              

Whether Jesus comes in your lifetime or not. Scripture emphasizes the importance of vigilance and readiness.Matthew 24:42-44: "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." Mark 13:33: "Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come." 1 Thessalonians 5:6: "So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober." Romans 13:11: "And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed." 

One Way, One Truth, One life. Jesus is the only name under heaven by which anyone is saved. (Acts 4:14)  No one comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6) You may ask, "saved? Saved from what?" Saved from the wrath of God. For without the shedding of blood there is no remission (forgiveness, cancellation of sins). That is why Jesus Christ, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He lived that perfect life none of us could.  For mankinds disobedience to a Holy, Righteous, Perfect  God requires either forgiveness or condemnation: separated in eternity from the presence of God and the glory of His power. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All need the Savior.                                                                                                                                                                                                           

                                            

Prophet, priest and king David understood this when he wrote the psalm "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, (Wickedness) And in sin my mother conceived me. (51:5) We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. All of us born in a fallen state, tainted in the very flesh we inhabit with a sin nature handed down to us from our first parents who believed the lie of the serpent, rather than the truth from God.                                                                                                                                    

                                             

Satan, the devil of old, tempted them with the words,  "Has God said You shall die if you eat from the tree in the midst of the garden? You won't die but you'll be like God knowing good and evil. Their disobedience to God's command and believing the lie of satan provoked God to subject all creation to futility and death came into the world. "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.  (Romans 5:12-20) 

                                           

                                                                                                                  

Every human being born has a sin problem. Inclined to do what they shouldn't. In fact Jesus the Christ said to have a citizenhip in heaven you must be perfect. That's correct. PERFECT. I don't think I have to tell you that no one is perfect. Except One. The Word who was in the beginning with God and was God. The Word that became flesh and dwelt among us. For God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us. So that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. And therefore perfect in God the Fathers eyes by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ's perfection.                                                      

Jesus said, "  My sheep (God's chosen people)  hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are one.”   (John 10:27-29)                                                            

                                                       

 

Have you heard the call? Do you believe the Word?  Eternity awaits. Where will you spend it? For it is appointed once for all to die. But after this the judgement.                                                                           

                                             

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For      He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”                                                                                                                                                                                 Behold, now is the accepted time...                                                               

                                                            behold, now is the day of salvation.                                                                                         

 If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.  For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”    

(1 Cor. 6:1-3;Romans 10:9-13)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

                                                           

Reality of Evil / Necessity of Prayer

                                                       Reality of Evil/Necessity of Prayer

                                                     

                                                             

Evil.... real evil exists in our world today because Humanity exists. Evil, if left to fester and overwhelm may ignite violent wicked emotions that can evolve into a Cain and Abel scenario of death or a challenge of absalom to kill his father David and steal His throne, defeat and death for the victim and punishment of the perpetrator. Messiah Jesus, the Holy One of God, the Son of God, The Word who was in the beginning with God and was God,  Jesus explained such evil in all mankind when He told the people assembled ..."For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,  thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” David: Prophet, Priest and King from the Old Testament realized mankinds predicament in Psalm 51:5 saying "I was brought forth in inquity and in sin my mother conceived me." 

                                                           

Jesus was sent into the world to save his people from their sins. A chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,   who can proclaim the Praises of him who called them from Darkness to life and from death To Life. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous...no not one. No one who understands, No one seeks after God.  No one does good. No not one.  For since by Man Came Death by man also came the resurrection from the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. (Romans 3:10-14; 1 Cor. 15:21-22) 

                                                              

A great surge of evil intentions chains every sinew of a persons nature to its enslavement. (Romans 7:14-25) And left to seethe, untamed can burst forth in unimaginable works of evil. That  seek, to devour, destroy, and kill. Some may try to rationalize evil thoughts to placate their wicked  intentions. That their conclusion to their dilemma will satiate their pain and rid them of the said cause of their unbearable discomfort. It is the ultimate selfishness that plagues mankind that has brought the human race to its sad and dangerous situation we have to this day.

                                                                         

 

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?  You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.  (James 4:1-3)

                                             

We are a society that seeks an immediate solution to what ails or troubles us. For many drugs seem to be the answer. Whether legal or illegal. Yet that may only obscure the deep hidden root of the anxiety that infects a troubled soul. Some drugs may even exacerbate a persons condition to the point of extreme violence upon those they believe are causing all their pain and discomfort. Doing more harm than good. Causing irreparable harm for all involved. 

                                              

In the Bible we are warned that humankind has an enemy who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. That all the world lies under the swary of this evil one.  And are easilty enticed by his allurements. We should not  be unaware of his devices. For he seeks to steal, kill and destroy. We are in a spiritual war against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Those who are Christians are told to clothe themselves with the whole armour of God.  (Eph. 6:10-18) 

                                                       

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, (this truth is sincerity of mind and heart, removal of all guile and hypocrisy. You must practice what you preach. There must be truth in the inward parts. Ps. 51:6. Sincerity is a mighty weapon. Shout it from the rooftops..." One Way, One Truth, One Life." "the only Name by which one is saved!"  Found only in Jesus Christ. And we do that with our lives. Sincerity is a mighty weapon. A sincere person is likely to be a blessing to all those whom he comes in contact with than is the hypocrite.)....                                                                                                  

having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (spiritually the breastplate is the devout and holy life, moral decency, honesty, integrity, virtue. In 2 cor. 6:7 Paul places the great stress on the necessity of living lives worthy of the calling with which believers were called. When righteousness in conduct is present, what a mighty weapon for defense and offense it becomes.)....                                               

and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace ( The gospel --good news--Jesus promised to His followers "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."-Jesus offers peace when there may appear there is not peace.....                                                                                                                  

above all taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (Prominent of the weapons of a Roman solider was the shield for the protection of the body, especially the heart, lungs and other vital organs. Remember dear believer it was by God's grace you were saved though faith and not of yourselves, it was/is a gift of God. Your ability and desire to believe came from God Himself. And He bestows upon His chosen people the faith to survive a lost and fallen world of sin...  God called you from darkness to life and from death to life. And He will never leave you nor forsake  you......                                                                                                                 

 Now faith is the substance (realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (confidence)  of things not seen. (Heb. 1:1)                                                                                                                                              

And take the helmet of salvation, (the helmet provided the Roman solidier with protection  for the head. It is a weapon of defense. It gives the Christian the protection that fortifies him with strenght to continue the fight, in the midst of hardship and persecution, for dear Christian we know that what God has begun in us, will be carried on to completion. Phil. 1:6.....                                                                                          

And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; (For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Heb. 4:12.....) Prayer is beseeching the Almighty, giving Him the praise he deserves, thanking Him for all he has done, and making requests for wisdom, knowledge, understanding and truth.                                                                

praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—(soldiers for Christ handle the word of God, heed it, hide it in their hearts, and hold it forth among the nations. Any victory being won today either at home or abroad is the result of wielding of this sword. God is not dead!!! He lives and speaks through his message) The Apostle Paul says it so  succinctly with the words "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thess. 5:17-19) 

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:4-5) What Paul means is: there must be no decline in the regularity of the habit of "taking hold on God" in the midst of the circumstanses of life.                                                              

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For He says:

“In an acceptable time I have heard you,

And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (1 Cor. 6:1-2)   

If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead hyou will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  (Romans 10:9-10)