We
step closer everyday to when we will hear the trumpet call of God sound, and in
an instant millions and millions of people will suddenly vanish off the face of
this earth. ‘Where have these people gone’ will be the question the rest of the
world will ask. You know I am referring to the day when Jesus comes for his
Church and suddenly captures those who are walking with him into the eternal
realm. The new world system will have an answer to our disappearance, as they
will say that we have been removed by alien powers.*
If
you read my article, ‘Very, Very Soon’, you may remember how I wrote how
important the rapture is in the plan of God and how soon this day will be, by
using the prophetic word of Jesus to reveal that this day is sooner than most
realize; though some believers are under the impression that they will just let
this day take them by surprise. These individuals have the persistent idea that
they need not even think about this day because they need to occupy or to carry
on business, until he comes. They have this idea from the parable that Jesus
taught about the gentleman who gave his servants money to put to work for him,
because he was going away to be appointed king and then he would return (Lk.19:11-27),
he told them to “Occupy till I come” (Lk.19:13c, KJV). Many will quote this phrase
in response to anyone who brings up the subject of the Lords coming, even
though they are not using this phrase in its proper context; I wonder why they
do this. Nobody is saying that they are not to be about their daily duties
until the Lord comes, indeed, this is exactly what they are to do, doing what
they have been called to do. So why do some use this phrase to justify their
own notions that the catching away of the Church is not important, or that they
are not interested that this glorious day happen until late in their future? It
is plain and simple indifference to the plan of God, because the rapture of the
Church has been Gods will from the beginning. Why would any believer be in
opposition to this day and not want it to happen as soon as possible? Without
all the religious excuses I mean.
The
Lord Jesus had different ideas about his return than do the occupiers, his view
of this day by no means was one of indifference, and he did not teach that the
Church is to pay no attention to his return, he thought the opposite. Why do
you think he gave us signs that would precede the rapture of the Church, and
similarly spoke about the signs that would precede his return for the nation of
Israel
Jesus
sat on the Mount of Olives one day after he
had left the temple and his disciples had some questions for him. Their
questions would lead to Jesus’ predictions of the end times, to the time of his
coming for the Church and to his coming to redeem the nation of Israel Israel
The
Lord taught his disciples that no one will know the day and hour of his return
for the Church (24:36), he was not referring to his coming to save Israel with
this statement because contrary to what many people say the second coming can
be predicted to the very day according to Scripture. If this were not true than
it would mean that the prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27 is false, and if you believe
that God would make a false prediction than you do not know him. Again, when
Jesus said, “But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of
heaven, but my Father only” (Mt.24:36, HNV), he was referring to the rapture
and not his second coming. To help you understand that I am not the one predicting
the actual day of the second coming (which I am not), but it is prophecy
predicting the day of the second coming, you must realize that Israel has only
one more week left of the predicted seventy week period (Dan.9:24). The sixty
ninth week was completed when Christ was on the earth (Dan. 9:25-26a). The seventieth
week begins the day when the one word leader makes a peace agreement with Israel
(Dan.9:27), this peace agreement begins the seventieth and last week of Israel
and as prophesied at the end of the seventieth week Israel is redeemed by the
Lord (Dan.9:24). The seventieth week period is symbolic language for seven
biblical years, which is 2,520 days (Read my book ‘The Day And The Hour, Is
Sooner Than You Think’** for clearer insight). If you fail to be caught up to
meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air at the rapture (1 Thess.4:16-17), before
the seventieth week of Israel begins, than you will be able to calculate from
prophetic Scripture the day when Jesus will come out of the clouds to save
Israel from destruction (Mt.24:30-31; Rev.1:7; 19:11-21).
It
is written that no man knows the day and the hour of the rapture, and there are
some reasons for that. When Jesus comes for those who follow him the day and
hour will vary from time zone to time zone, so the day and hour will be at
different times considering where you live on this planet. You must understand
that there will be believers from every nation in the world who will be caught
up to meet the Lord in the twinkling of an eye at the day of the rapture, unlike
the second coming of Christ which is concentrated only in the nation of Israel,
in Jerusalem, with its one time zone (Zech.14:4). No one knows the day and hour
of the rapture because it is symbolic to the day when an ancient Jewish husband
goes to retrieve his virgin bride at his fathers command, the bridegroom did
not even know what day and hour his father would send him to get his virgin
bride to bring her back to the new home he prepared for her (See Jn. 14:1-4).
If you want to understand what it will be like when Christ comes for his bride
than consider the symbolic message Jesus was speaking with the parable of the
ten virgins in Matthew, chapter twenty five. The virgins were suppose to be
watching and ready for their bridegroom when he came for them but some were
ready and some were not, this is why Jesus makes this demand: “Watch therefore,
for you don't know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming”
(Mt.25:13,HNV).
Earlier
Jesus informed his disciples that his return will be like in the days of Noah
(Mt.24:37-41; Lk.17:26-27), and like the days of Lot
(Lk.17:28-29), meaning that on the day and hour he comes for the Church it will
be like any other day. People will be living their life like they do any other
day, with all the laughs and happy plans being made, with all the challenges
and heartaches we face, then when it is least expected a trumpet will sound and
people will vanish (1 Thess.4:16-17). Jesus is giving his followers warning of
his appearance and commanding that we keep watch: “Watch therefore, for you
don't know in what hour your Lord comes” (Mt.24:42, HNV). Does this mean we are
to just ‘occupy’ and not think about his return — it will happen when it
happens — or are we to occupy and watch for his return. Are you watching for
his return or are you giving it any thought? I know, your life is so busy, your
job, your ministry, making plans. You don’t have time to think and watch as the
Lord commanded.
If
you look at the Scriptures Jesus wants our attention when he makes this
comparative illustration in verse forty three saying, “But know this, that if
the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was
coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be
broken into” (Mt.24:43, HNV). What in the world is he saying? He is comparing
his coming for the Church to a man who has had his house broken into, by
describing how if a man had any idea his house would be burglarized, and at
what time it would happen, he would have stood guard and not have let it happen;
he would have been watching for this burglar to come. We know the Lord is
coming for those of us who are following him but he does not only want us to
know he is coming, he also wants us to be watching for this day; and by
watching I mean with a heart of expectation: “But we are citizens of heaven,
where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return
as our Savior” (Phil.3:20, NLT; See also, Rom.8:19, 23; 1 Cor.1:7; 1
Thess.1:10; 2 Tim.4:8; Titus 2:13; Heb.9:28).
Jesus
adds, “Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don't expect, the Son
of Man will come” (Matthew 24:44, HNV). He says this to further explain the
illustration in verse forty three, although he pinpoints the urgency of the
alert with the phrase “in an hour.” If a man knew someone was coming to rob his
home he would not only be watching for him but he would be ready for him, maybe
with a baseball bat, because the burglar is going to come at a particular hour
and the man would want to be ready when this intruder breaks into his house.
The point to this illustration is if the master of the house knew at what hour
the burglar was coming he would have been prepared to meet him. Jesus is
warning his followers to watch for his coming so we can be ready for it, not
being apathetic and being caught off guard. If you can see even clearer the
Lord is demanding that we be ready even waiting for him at the very hour he
returns.
The
Apostle Paul writes that the believer is not to be in the dark concerning the
day and hour of the Lords coming; it should not take us off guard like a thief
in the night. He said that the coming of the Lord would be like a thief coming
in the night like Jesus’ illustration above, but only to those who are in the
dark, not to us who are in the light (See 1 Thess.5:1-11).
* The worlds answer for those who
go in the rapture:
http://www.redmoonrising.com/newage.htm
** ‘The Day And The Hour, Is
Sooner Than You Think’
http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61777-046-3(KJV) King James Version: Public Domain
(HNV) Hebrew Names Version:
Public Domain
(NLT) New Living Translation:
Scripture quotations marked (NLT)
are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004,
2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, 