For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord.       1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 HCSB

I mentioned a few days ago that we had watched a documentary about the rapture at our church called Before the Wrath. It spoke of the rapture and how it strongly resembled the Galilean weddings of the Old Testament. Since this time, I have been surprised by saved, church going people who question whether or not the rapture is real or whether or not I believe that the rapture will truly take place. My answer to both is yes.

Let me explain something here, if we believe in God then it stands to reason that we would believe in God’s Holy word.  God’s Holy word warns us that we should delete nothing from it, nor should we add anything to it (Deuteronomy 4:2). Now, if we trust in God’s Holy word, or our Bible, then we must understand that there are numerous scripture passages that refer to the rapture. Just like our scripture passage for today, they don’t say the word rapture, but they speak of Jesus’ return with a trumpet blast and our being called up to the Lord.

I’m not sure why some don’t choose to believe in the rapture. Maybe they find it too scary, but my friend, it is real. We must be prepared. As Christians, we must be prepared to leave this world without warning. None of us know when God will call us home either through our physical death or through the rapture, so we must be ready. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the parable of the 10 bridesmaids that were waiting for the groom to appear. Five were foolish and were unprepared. They did not bring any extra oil to keep their lanterns burning. We must always be filled with the Holy Spirit. We must always be ready to be called to our eternal home.

We are told in Matthew 24:40, that two men will be in the field and one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill and one will be taken and one left. We are told to be alert because no one but God, Himself, knows when this will happen. We must be ready.

I want to share some scripture passages with you that speak of the rapture. You don’t have to take my word for it, research it for yourself in God’s Holy Word. These passages refer to the rapture, Matthew 24, Revelation 3:10, Revelation 1:7, 1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, Titus 2:13, Philippians 3:20-21, Luke 17:34-37, Mark 13:32, John 14:3, 2 Peter 3:10, Daniel 12:1, Acts 1:9-11. I encourage you to be ready for however you depart this earth.

But there is still one lingering question. We all know that we will depart this earth at some point, but what is really important is who will come with you or follow you? If you are saved and assured that your eternal home is in heaven with God the Father, that is wonderful. But, will your children be joining you? Will your siblings be joining you? Will your friends be joining you? It is our responsibility to bring as many people as we can with us. So, I ask you today to consider what you are doing to be sure that this happens?

I don’t know about you, but the more I see of this corrupt world, the more I long to get to heaven to be with my Savior. I pray that you will come with me and bring as many of those in your life as you possibly can.

Have a great day!