Text:
Revelation 1:19.
“Write the things which you have
seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after
this” Revelation 1:19.
We do not hear preaching about the
second coming of Jesus the Christ, because we all have too many long term plans
of our own. Some in this room today have already made plans for 2013 or even
later. Plus we have retirement plans even further off. Starting a family plans,
college plans, holiday plans, etc.
If the doctor said you today “you only
had three months to live,” would you start a new hobby like garden (planting
seeds, young plants for the future? Maybe join a keep fit club, to build up
your body strength? I would like to think (more so as Christians) we would be wise
with our time left.
Maybe putting right our relationships
within the family, with our loved ones, or friends. Maybe we would put our
house in order with bills, investments, mortgages etc. Check our life cover is
up to date, maybe even to choose the hymns for the service, or the readings.
You see time is running out and we need to be wise with the time left.
We are told that Christ could come at
any time? We will not even have three months’ notice of His coming, so let us
live that Christ could come today, and let us make the most of our time in the
wisdom of God.
1.
THE CHURCH AND CHRIST’S COMING.
The
church (made up of born again believers) has taken the centre stage for the
first three chapters of Revelation, as a matter of fact, the word church
appears 19 times in chapters 2 & 3. But in Revelation 4:1, the church disappears, and is not seen again until chapter 19 when we find the church
returning with Christ to earth at the battle of Armageddon!
“After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing
open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet
speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must
take place after this” Revelation 4:1. This
verse is a picture of the rapture of the church! We can only imagine that
glorious ride! Are you excited about making that trip? Are you
watching for Him? Waiting? Working? Witnessing.
The
rapture is the next event on God’s time table. It will not be long, it
cannot be! For all the prophecies have been fulfilled. There is
nothing holding back the return of Jesus Christ, it is imminent, it could
happen ANY moment.
Though we
do not know the day or the hour of Christ’s coming, right now, we are closer to
the return of Christ than any humans have ever been in the history of the
world! He is almost at the door! He will open it and invite His
children in!
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will
rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always
be with the Lord” 1 Thessalonians
4:16-17.
When
Jesus comes again, those who are heaven-born will be heaven-bound. Those who
have the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, the dead in Christ, will rise first,
and we which remain will be caught up to meet them in the air.
The world
scoffs at these things, just as they did in Noah’s day, but no one will be
laughing on the day when millions shall suddenly vanish!
Here are
SIX reasons for a Pre-Tribulation Rapture:
1. Not one time is the church
mentioned in a Bible text discussing the tribulations.
2. In all the writings of Paul, the
church is never mentioned in connections with the tribulation or the wrath to
come.
3. The church has already been
judged at Calvary (The purpose of the Tribulations is Judgement).
4. The picture of Enoch, Lot etc.
(Which are all Bible types of the Tribulations).
5. Revelation 19 pictures the church
in Heaven during the tribulation.
6. The coming of Christ for His
saints is always pictured as sudden and unexpected.
Right
now, God is still striving with rebellious mankind, calling, and convicting,
convincing and saving sinners. But there is coming a day very soon when God’s
patience will give way to God’s wrath and there will be an avalanche of God’s
judgment poured down upon the world which rejects Christ.
The
Tribulation is a judgment so terrible, so stark, so beyond comprehension, that
God will not allow His church to go through it! 1
Thessalonians 1:10 says we
as God’s children are waiting for Christ’s return, and that we are not
appointed unto wrath! “And to
wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus
who delivers us from the wrath to come.”
There is
a feeling in the air that the return of Christ is very soon. Why do
so many feel that way? Certainly signs of the times are all around
us. The nuclear threats of our day alone have many thinking that we just
cannot continue on this way for long.
But think
of it this way: Many people in this room, in
their lifetime, have seen mankind harness the atom, and develop capabilities to
destroy the entire earth in less than 30 minutes.
Israel
established as a nation and the dispersed Jews return to Israel by the hundreds
of thousands (just as the Bible predicted would happen just before Christ
returns). Israel has become the hub, the hotbed of all that goes on in the
world.
Computers
and the internet has change the world, linked together with instant communication;
the cashless society is nearly a done deal, we have heard of more earthquakes
in our lifetime than the last 500 years put together, technology advance from
airplanes to space shuttles!
The new
world order, one-world church movement, unmatched increases in famines, natural
disasters, incurable diseases, there is an intensity building up, an expectancy
is in the air, but as believers, we need not run around with headline hysteria,
we are to simply look up, for our redemption draws nigh!
2.
MAKING THE MOST OF OUR TIME.
We are to
be faithful and patient waiting for our Saviour, who will soon come bursting
through the blue with the sound of a trumpet, in the twinkling of an eye. When the Bible says that, it means in a
millisecond, in an instant, therefore, when the rapture occurs, if you are not
saved, there will not be time to get saved, it will be too late for you.
If you
are a Christian, and not living for God, there will be no time to make it
right. Will you be ashamed when He comes of wasted callings on your life? You
will not be able to ask Him to wait. Wait, Lord, I want to win a soul
for you! My brother, my father, my spouse, my kids, my friend, neighbour,
my co-worker!
CONCLUSION:
The message
of the rapture is “be ready.” For or the Lord could come at any moment. Be
watching, be ready!
