At that time Michael the great prince who stands watch over your people will rise up. There will be a time of distress such as has never occurred since nations came into being until that time. But at that time all your people who are found written in the book will escape.       Daniel 12:1 HCSB

Last night at our church we watched a documentary, “Before the Wrath”.  It talked about how the rapture parallels the Galilean weddings of Biblical times. We like to think of God as a warm and fuzzy, loving, merciful Father and He is. But, we must also understand that He is a God of Justice. We are told time and time again in the Bible that the wicked will not go unpunished. Proverbs 11:21 says, “Be assured that the wicked will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will escape.”

When my 8 year old niece was 2 and 3 years old, I would plan various scenarios so that if an emergency occurred, she would know what we needed to do. One morning as we were getting ready for church, my door chime from my alarm sounded. She and I were the only ones at home and this was around 8:00 on a Sunday morning. I wasn’t expecting company. I calmly walked her into my closet. I hid her behind some clothing and told her not to make a sound unless myself or a policeman came in to get her. She was a little over 2 years old. I proceeded to arm myself and check things out around the house. No doors were open and there was no sign that anyone had entered the house. Once I felt sure that no one was in the house and had made sure all the doors were locked, I went in there to get her. I commended her on how well she did with our “game”. I also felt that in a real emergency, I could trust her to do the same. Now that may sound a little crazy, but I have tried to teach her that there are bad people in the world and we must be prepared to deal with difficult situations.

Now in the situation with my niece, I had a plan of defense, but no plan of escape. It’s always better to escape trouble than to have to defend trouble. We are not usually prepared for something like a home invasion, but we should have a plan. We know that the rapture is coming, are you prepared? Do you have a plan of escape?

We can’t escape trouble and suffering in this world. But, we are told in John 16:33 that in Jesus we can have peace. We will experience suffering in this world, but we are to be courageous! We should not be troubled, because Jesus has conquered the world. We are told in 1 Peter 5:10 that the God of all grace, who has called us to His eternal glory in Jesus Christ, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support us after we have suffered a little while. We can’t escape trouble on earth, but we can and definitely want to escape the tribulation.

If you are putting off going to church, ignoring pleas to get right with God, or maybe even ignoring God’s call to salvation, I encourage you to not do this. We are told in Matthew 24:36 that only God, Himself, knows the day and the hour when the rapture will occur.

Look at the world around you. Have you ever seen such moral decay? Have you ever seen such hatred? We are told in our scripture passage today that the tribulation will be a time of distress such as has never been seen. This means that it will get much worse during the tribulation. It will be unbearable.  Revelation 3:10 tells us that if we have kept God’s word that He will spare us from the trial that is coming on the whole world. If you think it’s bad now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

If the angels don’t even know when the rapture will occur, then certainly no human being knows. I beg of you, please don’t put this off. There is no better time than right now to turn to Jesus. Get into a right relationship with Him. Trust in Him today. Turn to Him. Accept the wonderful invitation that He has extended to you before it’s too late. Be sure that your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life. Be sure that your reservation has been made for your place with Him in eternal glory.

I’m not trying to scare you, but you must understand that someday very soon it may be too late to make things right with God. Don’t delay, do it here and now. It is the only way to escape the intense suffering and eternal damnation that is yet to come.

Have a great day!