For the Lord himself with descend with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will arise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air so we will always be with the Lord.    1 Thessalonians 4:16-17  HCSB

That passage sounds so good to me. I am so tired of this corrupt old world, that I am just ready to get out of here. I am ready to go to my eternal destination to be with the Lord forever and ever. I am ready to see those that I love that have gone ahead of me. I am ready to spend the rest of my days praising the Lord. It will be a wondrous homecoming.

Our scripture passage today describes the rapture. I know for some of you it’s scary, but I would like to remove the fear if you will give me a few minutes of your time.

I think where it gets scary for some is they are unsure whether or not they are truly saved. The other scary thing is being left behind when the rapture occurs. In Luke 17:34-37, Jesus says that on that night two will be in bed, one will be taken and the other left. He tells that two women will be grinding grain together, one will be taken and one left. He says that two will be a in a field, with one taken and one left. In Matthew 7:22-23 Jesus tells that on that day many will call to Him, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name and drive our demons in Your name and do many miracles in Your name?” But He says that He will tell them He never knew them and to depart from Him and address them as sinners. This tells us that many church going people will be left behind as well. I think this is why many consider the rapture to be scary. But Jesus was telling these people that He never knew them because they were sinners. There are many good people, even church members, who are in bondage to sin. Their sin creates a barrier between them and God (Isaiah 59:2). Deliberate sin removes the sacrifice for our sin (Hebrews 10:26-27).

We must be in a right relationship with God. When we are in right relationship with God, we have righteousness. Not self righteousness, but God given righteousness. This means that we love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. This means that we trust in Him wholeheartedly and we strive to be obedient to Him. This is what being in a right relationship with God is all about. It’s not about how many pies you baked for the church bake sale. It’s about your love and dedication to Him.

My friend none of us know whether we will die a natural physical death or get called up in the rapture. None of us know the day and the hour that we will leave planet earth. But one thing we do know is that we will either spend eternity in heaven or in hell.

There is one thing I also want you to understand. Right now you have the freedom to choose to serve the Lord. You can choose to attend church. You can pray out loud. You can read your Bible whenever you want. You have not yet been forced to take the mark of the beast. If you are left behind after the rapture, you will have a hard time being a Christian. It won’t be impossible, but it will be very difficult. You now live in a time where being a Christian is much easier than it will be. Don’t get me wrong, it’s never easy, but during the tribulation being a Christian will be a real hardship. You don’t want to be left behind to endure that. I beg of you today to get right with God. Be sure that you are in a right relationship with Him. Ask Him to search your heart and show you any error in your ways (Psalm 139). Trust in Him in all that you do and allow Him to guide you (Proverbs 3:5-6).

If you aren’t 100 per cent sure you are going to spend eternity in heaven with God the Father, then I beg of you to draw near to Him. James 4:8 tells us to draw near to Him and He will draw near to us. He urges us to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts and get rid of any double-minded behavior.

I beg of you today to be sure that you are headed to heaven. If we aren’t right with God, we will be left to the devil. Please don’t let that happen to you. And for as much as it is in your power, don’t let it happen to anyone you love.

Have a great day!