FALL OR RISE?

"This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come...." II Timothy 3:1

Yesterday was a disastrous day in the life of our country. Life as we have known it will never be the same after the passing of the Healthcare Reform Bill by Congress.

Things have been escalating in Israel for the past several weeks. The U.S., always a firm ally of Israel in the past, has been at odds with them over their strong stance to continue building settlements in Jerusalem. Our President has been making untold numbers of DEMANDS upon them and the tensions between him and Israeli Prime Minister Netayahu have grown greater and greater.

In prophetic scripture there are numerous countries that are mentioned....Russia, Israel, Syria, and other middle eastern nations. There is nothing about America. No Biblical reference to anything that could be deemed as America. The Bible is silent where we are concerned.

It makes one wonder....could possibly the FALL of America be the ushering in or at least bringing us one step closer to the RISE of the church? Specifically, the Rapture!? "For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain [on earth] shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord". I Thessalonians 4: 16, 17.

If so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!!!!!!!!! Come!!

But until then "comfort one another with these words....warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward ALL men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus conerning you. Quench not the Spirit....test all things and hold fast that which is good. Abstain from every appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly and I pray God your whole spirit an dsoul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." I Thes. 4:18, 5: 14-23

WHO ARE YOU TAKING WITH YOU?

I have heard several amazing sermons over the last couple of weeks by various pastors, all with the same theme....time of our departure is at hand!! There are NO prophecies left to be fulfilled before the rapture of the Church can take place. There are many things taking place worldwide that are laying the framework for the end times as prophecied in the Bible.

One pastor this morning posed a very interesting question though. He asked, "Is ALL of your family ready to go?" Thought provoking question.

He went on to say that many evangelicals are very mission minded, and there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that. We are commissioned to go into all the world with the Gospel message. BUT....how sad to think that we would travel around the world to share Christ with strangers and yet never tell the ones we love the most.

Having sat by the bedside of one who was dying recently, I can tell you when that time comes you realize very quickly what is REALLY important.

Understandably it is hard to broach the subject sometimes. We are not sure what to say, don't want to seem "pushy", don't want to alienate anyone or damage a relationship. But maybe we need to ask ourselves, what is more important...a few moments of discomfort or an eternity spent in Hell?

It is something for each of us to ponder and to take before the Lord. So I ask you today. When the trumpet sounds and the Lord takes you UP, WHO are you going to take with you?

THE RAPTURE

Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins wrote a phenomenal series of books based on the scriptures regarding the rapture of the church and the days that are to follow. Although this was a fiction book, it held very closely to scripture and gave the reader a good idea of what it may actually be like when that wonderful day arrives.

The word 'rapture' is not actually used in the Bible. I Thessalonians 4: 15-17 describes it this way:


For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and
remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep [dead]
for the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.


The LEFT BEHIND series written by LaHaye and Jenkins did quite a job of painting a picture of just what it will be like on that day. Imagine with me for a moment, if you will, that you are driving to Walmart in your car. Suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye (which is faster than you can blink) we are gone! Cars will go crashing into others as drivers vanish. Planes, trains and all sorts of transportation will suddenly crash as drivers, pilots and engineers are no longer at their controls. Cashiers will vanish from their cash registers. Nail techs and hairdressers will leave customers with their hair and nails half done. Doctors will be examining a patient and suddenly the patient will no longer be on the table. Dentists will be extracting a tooth one moment and the next their chair will be empty...or maybe the patient and the densist will BOTH be gone and the hygienist will be left. I am convinced that should the rapture occur on a Sunday, there will be both preachers and pew sitters left in the churches in many churches across this land.

Yes, it is going to be quite a day as thousands of believers are caught up into the air with the Lord Jesus to meet Him in the air while the world is flung wildly into chaos and CNN goes into overdrive to explain these wild and crazy happenings. I have a feeling it will be just as it is portrayed in LEFT BEHIND. Lots of theories will surmise what happened...from UFO snatchings to terrorism to some sort of vaporization.

But, make no mistake, it WILL happen. It could be today. It could be tomorrow. No one knows the day nor the hour. But, it IS coming. And oh what a day that will be!!

And to be quite honest...I am looking more and more forward to that day.

Many Bible scholars feel it could be very near. There are no further prophecies that have to be fulfilled before it occurs. So according to scripture it COULD be any day. Or, it could be decades or centuries away...we do not know.

But it does give us hope to think about it in light of the downward spiral that our world seems to be taking. As Revelation 22: 20 says "Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus."