For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with 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. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 HCSB
Some believe in the rapture, some don’t. There are different beliefs on whether it will be pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation or post tribulation. Whatever you believe about the rapture, I believe our Scripture passage makes it very clear that there will come a day when we will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. While it’s exciting it sounds a little scary. What’s really scary, however, is the thought of being left behind.
In Revelation 3:10 Jesus is addressing the church of Philadelphia. This is the only church He has no problems with and commends them for their good work. He tells them in verse 10, “Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come over the whole world to test those who live on earth.”
Many people shy away from reading the book of Revelation. I know because for many years, I was one of those people. Our former pastor did a 29-week study on it. We met every Sunday night for about an hour for 29 weeks and I realized that Revelation is not scary at all because we win. Those of us who obey the Lord’s commands will be victorious and we will be in heaven for eternity with our Lord and Savior. We will walk streets of gold and see walls made of precious gemstones. We will have gates made of a single pearl.
Jesus tells us in Luke 17:34-36 not everyone will be raptured. He describes two people in bed with one being taken and another being left. He goes on to describe two women grinding grain together with one being taken and one being left. In verse 33, he said, “Whoever tries to make his life secure will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”
My friend many of us rely on physical work and wealth. There is nothing wrong with hard work. There is nothing wrong with having a good income or financial security, but these things won’t matter in the end. What will matter is how you obeyed the Lord in your time here on earth and how you served Him and served others.
It won’t matter what kind of clothes you wore or what kind of car your drove. It won’t matter how nice your home was. God will not be judging us on these things. He will be judging us on the things we said and did and on how we treated others.
I beg of you, before it’s too late, to look at the way you worship, serve Him and treat others. Would you be happy to have God judge you on these things? Are you lacking in some of these areas? Get it right today. Jesus said in Matthew 24:36 that no one knows when the day and hour will come, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Only God knows when the rapture will take place. What we do know, however, is when it takes place those who have believed in Him and obeyed His commands will be caught up in the air to meet Him and will spend eternity in heaven. Those who have not been obedient will remain on earth to go through the tribulation. Revelation is only scary if you plan on going through the tribulation. I encourage you to read some of the things that will take place during that time and be sure you avoid these things.
Surrender your life to Christ today. Obey God’s commands. Trust in Him as your Lord and Savior before it’s too late. When it’s all said and done, these are the only things that will matter.
Have a great day!