Today is pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came to Jesus' disciples in that little room where they were all gathered and waiting for the helper to come and empower them to do great things for the glory of God.
This is what started the church, the continuing acts of the Holy Spirit today is what keeps it going, and according to 2 Thessalonians 2:6-9 when God takes His Spirit out of the world one day this will be the end of the church's time, thus starting the "working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders", because mankind did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
The questions we have to ask ourselves is "are we taken with the Holy Spirit when He is taken out of the way? Or, are we left to perish because we did not love the truth?"
This is the predicament the church finds itself in today about believing in the rapture and the difference between people in the church who know about Jesus and those in the church who are known intimately by Jesus. According to Scripture some of the saints will be left and overcome by Satan ( Rev. 13:7,Dan. 7:25,8:24) while other will be "seized, snatched, raptured, or caught up ("harpazo" is the Greek word here for rapture) to meet the Lord in the air". And they will always be with the Lord (1 Thes. 4:17, 1 Cor. 15:51-52). The most important chapters in the Bible about the church is Revelation 2 and 3. Here we find an outline or report card on how the churches are doing and what Jesus has to say about them. It's very clear that some of the churches are told by Jesus that they'd better shape up fast or "be cast into the great tribulation" (Rev 2:22), and if they will not watch for Jesus' coming then He will "come upon them as a thief" (Rev. 3:3) which Paul says about the church in 1 Thes. 5:4 that we "are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief." And last in Rev. 3:16 that the church is so much like the world around them that He vomits them out of His mouth. The churches that are doing well according to Jesus are told to "hold fast what you have" because I'm coming quickly (Rev. 3:11) and that they are "rich" (Rev. 2:9) even though they have no material possession at all. And the most encouraging words of all that Jesus says to the church that has kept His command to persevere is "I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth" (Rev. 3:10). When you start to outline these seven letters written to the churches by Jesus, you start to see that some of the churches are temporarily on the earth awaiting their departure time while others are slowly being overtaken by the enemy which in turn will leave them here on the earth for the impending judgment that is coming to the earth. This is where the church finds itself today, either looking more and more every day like Christ or every day looking more and more like the world. We need to examen ourselves to see where we stand in the eyes of Jesus and if what we are doing is of earthly value or of greater value for His coming kingdom.
The Day of the Lord is the day when Jesus comes back to the earth to reign on the throne of David and brings with Him the Kingdom from Heaven to the earth. It is a day of judgment and enforced righteousness for the earth and of the peoples/nations dwelling on the earth. It is also the day of salvation for Israel, imprisonment of Satan, and the start of a new time of living on the earth. This is not the start of eternity, that comes at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth when Satan is released from prison and the Father comes to judge man and angels for their works. Eternity starts when the Father enters the scene to conclude time and put all things in its right place. Jesus' reign is at the last phase of man's time to teach man about the Father and how to live and worship correctly on the earth, instead of warring and fighting selfishly with each other. His reign on earth must still be fulfilled in prophecy to conclude the end times (1Cor. 15:25,Micah 4:3-5,Zech. 14:16-17,Dan. 7:13-14, 2:44).
The Rapture or Harpazo is a different time and of a different idea in Scripture. The church is compared to in Ephesians 5 as a Jewish wedding when the bridegroom (Jesus) comes back to get his bride (the church) from her place of residence on the earth and takes her to His home and her new one in heaven. We have to understand the Jewish wedding in order to understand how the church is like a Jewish Bride.
1.) A covenant or a decision by the bridegroom has to be made to marry the bride. (1 Cor. 11:25)
2.) The bridegroom has to purchase the bride, thus making the bride his own. (1 Cor. 6:19-20, Col. 2:14)
3.) A down payment is made to the bride to ensure the bridegroom's intentions to marry her. (2 Cor. 5:5, Eph. 1:13-14)
4.) The bride then goes back to her own place of residence and starts to prepare for her marriage (making her own wedding garments) by sanctifying/setting herself apart from the others who would like to have married her. (Eph. 5:25-27, 1 Cor. 1:2,6:11, Heb. 10:10,13:12, Col. 2:8)
5.) The groom as well goes back to his home and starts to prepare the wedding chambers and extra rooms to his house to have his new bride come live with him. (Jn. 14:2-4, Eph. 2:21-22)
6.) When the groom is finished with his work he leaves (normally at night) with his escort company to go and get his bride. The groom likes to surprise the bride by coming to get her at a time she does not expect. If she is found ready to go, she gets caught up/raptured into the wedding procession back to the groom's house to where the marriage ceremony takes place. (1 Thes. 4:16-17)
7.) If the bride is not found ready or has not set herself apart before the groom comes to get her (has cheated on other lovers), then the groom can break the covenant of marriage and is not required to take her back with him. (Matt. 25:10-12)
Ephraem of Nisibis (306-373 AD) wrote that "All the saints and elect of God are gathered prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins". This is what we see echoed all through Scripture about what Paul says is the "mystery of being changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Cor. 15:51-52). The Old Testament is full of passages about the Holy Ones of God being hidden or missing during the time of God's wrath (Joel 2:15-16, Isaiah 26:20-21, Micah 7, Psalm 12). One of the teachings of Scripture is that God does not punish His children, He simply disciplines/chastises them back to repentance and onto salvation (1 Cor. 11:32). The time of the Great Tribulation is to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their sin and to drive Israel back to God, thus it does not fit Scripture for the bride to be present during this time period.
There are 7 Raptures/Harpazo recorded in the Bible.
1. Enoch - Gen. 5:42, Heb. 11:5
2. Elijah - 2 Kings 2:1,11
3. Jesus - Mark 16:19, Acts 1:9-11, Rev. 12:5
4. Philip - Acts 8:39
5. Paul - 2 Cor. 12:2-4
6. The Church - 1 Thess. 4:17
7. John - Rev. 4:1
Flesh and blood can't inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). This is one of the reasons why Jesus had to shed His blood on the cross. Jesus appears to His disciples after His death and says "feel my flesh and bone" (Luke 24:39), all His blood was gone and given to us. This is why we must be changed now by the blood of Christ in order to do meaningful work on the earth by His Spirit and will be changed to His likeness (1Jn. 3:2) in the "twinkling of an eye" when Jesus comes back to get His church. (We will discuss later on what our new bodies will be like and how Jesus will judge His church when He comes to get them)
When you look at the Day of the Lord (The Second Coming of Jesus) and the Rapture or Harpazo of the church in Scripture you begin to see two different events.
The Rapture 2nd Coming
Translation of believers No translation
Translated Saints go to heaven Translated Saints return to earth
Earth is not judged Earth is judged
Imminent, return at any moment, signless Follows definite predicted signs
Not in the Old Testament Predicted in the Old Testament
Believers only Affects everyone on the earth
Before the Day of Wrath Concludes the Day of Wrath
No reference to Satan Satan is bound and put in prison
He comes for His own He comes with His own
He comes in the air He comes to the earth
He claims His bride He comes with His bride
Only His own see Him Every eye will see Him
Great Tribulation begins Millennium reign of Christ begins
Church believers only Old Testament Saints involved
We're going to the house of God, are you coming?
To stay on the earth during the time of Tribulation, distress, and confusion will not be pretty. "The lie" which is coming to the earth will be given by God during this time so that the inhabitants of the world will be condemned (1 Thes. 2:11-12). Satan will overcome the remaining church present at this time who were not found ready, and only martyrdom will be the way of salvation for mankind (Rev. 13:7-10).
This is why it is very important for the church to know where we are going and what it is for. We are a heavenly people passing through the earth for a time. Our birth on this earth marked the continuation of the work of Jesus on the earth to keep on doing good works by the Spirit of God after He left (Eph. 2:10, 1 Tim. 5:25, Titus 2:14, 3:8, 1 Ptr. 2:12). Our hope is in the waiting for Him to come back and get us to take us home where we belong with Him. Nothing can take us away from that, not even death itself. "And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." (1Thes. 4:17-18)
Just like a bride who looks forward to her new life with her groom, we are taught by Scripture to be looking forward with expectation for Jesus' coming back to get us and take us to our new place (1 Thess. 1:10,4:18,5:6, Phil. 3:20, Titus 2:13, Heb. 9:28, Rev. 22:20). Our home is not in heaven, it is with Jesus (Jn. 14:23). Our marriage to Jesus takes place at His Father's house but then we go back to the earth with our groom and after that we will go wherever else Jesus is going to go. That's what a wife does with her husband, she goes where he goes. Jesus is our forever home, when we see Him we will be instantly changed to His likeness and will be forever with Him (Phil. 3:21). How are we setting ourselves apart from the world and making ourselves more desirable to Jesus? Are we going to be found ready with expectation and our wedding garments all made when Jesus comes back or will we be found naked and sleeping with other lovers that have caught our eye since our promised groom has been gone (Rev. 3:18) ? It's never too late to get started on making your wedding clothes, the Holy Spirit is the fabric you are using and the good works/righteous acts you do with Him is the intricate design that's being woven (Rev. 19:8). On our birthday today lets stand up and choose to start getting ready for the return of Christ, lets clean the old junk out by confessing our sins to Jesus (1 Jn. 1:9) and have Him clean us and get us ready for our wedding day to Him.
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