I have heard of a great man with an inventive maind who in an effort to fly by himself emulated birds by eating insects; he did not suceed in the least; yet by God's Divine Grace man did fly; though not by himself but in machines that he invented. Later on; on gliders too. But not all by himself. Could he ever accomplish that feat?
Imagine soaring upwards at 50 miles or 100 miles or 1000 miles per hour. Superman and likes can fly in books and movies. I'm not talking of them. What force can accomplish the unattainable?
The answer is an emphatic "yes" and it is going to happen very soon.
The Bible says in Luke 18:27 " The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." Also in Luke 1:37 we read, "For with God nothing shall be impossible".
And that force that makes impossible things happen, will make this happen too. Men, women and children soaring towards the skies at God knows what speed to meet their Saviour. Their saviour whom they have been waiting to meet for so long. Tears of joy running down their cheeks.
"Unusual flight"
"Never known joy"
Travel to a King & kingdom that would be theirs forever.
This then will be "RAPTURE"
That which we read about, talk about and wonder about.
"Rapture" means joy. It also means transport. Here is an event where there is joy as well as transport. So shall it be as the Lord has decided.
Friend, have you booked your ticket?
Are you sealed with the Holy Spirit?
For none without Him can fly at that moment.
2 Corinthians 5:5 says "Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit."
The Holy Spirit is the only guarantee.
And who will be there to receive and welcome you; to take you to the Father and His Glory?
1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 says."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 Lod in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
He (Lord Jesus Christ) will come down to receive all who have been faithful to Him.
Why will He receive the faithful? Because God the Father has given Him the authority. Why has God given him the authority?Because he(Jesus Christ) abided by His (God's) will, came down to earth in flesh, took all the sins of humanity on Himself and gave Himself up as a sacrifice on the cross at Calvary. Then by the Father's will he ascended to heaven after he was buried and sits now at the right hand of God.
"Are you sure you are ready to go with Him if He comes today?"
"Are you born again?"
"Are you saved?"
Have you taken Christ in your heart?
Is he your personal Saviour?
Friend, there are only 2 categories of people in the sight of Christ.
Not Black/White, Not Jew/Gentile, Not Indian/Pakistani, Not Russian/American, Only LOST and SAVED. That is All. Nothing less. Nothing more.
We are all born in sin. Nothing can change that status of ours other than Jesus Christ. He died for our sins on the cross. Not for some sins, but all our sins, ALL! that's the key word.
1 John 2:2 we read " And he is the propitation for our sins; and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
It never matters to Him in terms of how great your sins are, if your are ready to accept Him. Murderer / Adulterer / Liar / Fornicator / Thief / Sorcerer. It does not matter to Him if you are ready to accept Him.
AS SOON AS YOU BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART THAT JESUS DIED FOR YOUR SINS & YOU ASK FORGIVENESS FROM GOD WITH A CONTRITE HEART, HE CLEANSES YOU FROM ALL YOUR SINS; ALL THE FILTH THAT YOU ACCUMULATED IN & AFTER YOUR BIRTH.
In 1 John 1:9 we read, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrightousness."
ALL sins, ALL unrighteousness are cleansed.
You are a new being then.
A new soul.
You are washed. Washed in the blood of the lamb. i.e. Jesus Christ. You are a believer then.
In Ephesians 2: 8,9 we read,
"For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." These are very important verses.
No man is saved by his work on earth. However good/generous you are, unless you are saved by grace through faith it does not count. But once you are saved by grace through faith, your deeds sustaining your faith count a lot for they receive rewards ultimately. There is no judgement for your old sinful life once you are born again; once you are a bliever, once you have been washed by the blood of Christ. You don't even have to think of how you were. You have to build on your foundation now. The foundation that you've laid in your heart - JESUS CHRIST.
And when you are born again, you are born of water and the spirit.
Jesus says in John 3:5, "Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdon of God."
Jesus said, you are born again "of water;" Water which is the "Word of God" as we read in Ephesians 5:26. "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word." The (it) here is the Church.
If we read Luke 23:40-43 we understand that the thief on the cross ,crucified next to Jesus, believed that Christ was truly the Saviour and immediately Christ accepted him.
That's what is important, confessing that you are truly a sinner and accepting Him as your Saviour; believing in His saving ability.
Once Jesus was resurrected, he placed emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit.
If we read Acts 1:5 after Jesus was resurrected he met His disciples and told them. "For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."
Also he asked his disciples to baptize those who have accepted him as Saviour and His Word in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Mathew 28:19)
Next as Jesus said, "You are born again of the Spirit."
The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, with whom we are sealed for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30)
He is a distinct personality of the triune God (GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON (JESUS) and GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT)
As Jesus told His disciples before He was crucified. In John 14:16 we read, 'And I will pray the father and he shall give you another 'COMFORTER' that he may abide with you forever."
Also in John 14:26 Jesus says "But the COMFORTER, which is the Holy spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, what so ever I have said unto you."
He is the one who teaches us all things once we have accepted Christ as our personal Saviour. And through what does he teach us? Through the WORD OF GOD - THE BIBLE
As the psalmist says, "Thy word is lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105)
So once you are born again you do not stagnate in that condition. You read the Word of God. It is a storehouse of knowledge and it has answers to all questions that you may face in your day-to-day life. There is no fixed time to read it. Any time is good time to read the Bible.
Psalm 119:130 says
"The entrance of thy words giveth light, it giveth understanding unto the simple."
Then pray to God. Prayer is talking to God. It is very important. There need not be any fixed; guideliness. "Praise Him; Thank Him; Ask forgiveness for any shortcoming or sin in thought, word or deed, make your supplications known to Him, ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit; His fruits and gifts, thank Him again. Any time is good time for prayer and reading the word of God.
Have you made up your mind my friend? This is the day. Just think of it. Would you prefer to live in a place where there is torment always. Its called "THE LAKE OF FIRE" and its real. There the fire doesn't quench. It burns on and on for eternity; And there is no total death. Torture, torture and only torture.
Or
Would you prefer to live in a New Earth, New Heaven with the holy city Jerusalem in it. Not the present one in Israel; for that will pass away with this earth and heaven.
"Peace, tranquility, satisfaction, health are all that will be there for ever."
No pain! No sickness! No worries!
Never! Never! Never!
All this is real my friend. A person of the new testament age, who has not accepted Jesus Christ as his or her personal Saviour will not able to spend eternity with God.
Remember, "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
You may be a great leader, a great inventor, a great business man, a great engineer, a great doctor, but unless you have Christ in you, you are LOST & that is a fact.
"Rapture" i.e. the catching up of born again believers with the Saviour in midair can occur any time now. World events are moving at a rapid rate. Most Bible prophesies (this side of Rapture) have been fulfilled. There are a few that are yet unfulfilled, they may be being fulfilled now as I write this.
The Saviour Jesus may come today. Are you ready to meet Him? Be sure you are not left behind to suffer a very trying period in your life and in the history of the whole world. It's called "The Tribulation" and its coming soon beginning just after Rapture.
The question is "ARE YOU SAVED"? If not call upon the Lord today and he will answer you. As Jesus says in Mathew 4:17 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Events during "The Rapture" can be summarized as follows:
a)Lord Jesus coming down from heaven with
1)a loud command
2)a voice of an archangel
3)the trumpet call of God.
b)Dead in Christ rise first and fly towards the clouds.
c)Born again believers who are alive fly towards the clouds.
d)Arisen dead in Christ and alive born again believers meet Christ in the clouds and be with Him forever.
As Paul writes to the Thessalonians.
"Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
"AWAKE THOU THAT SLEEPEST, AND ARISE FROM THE DEAD AND CHRIST SHALL GIVE THEE LIGHT." (Ephesians 5:14)
