The Importance Of The Rapture

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Lord's day! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I'm happy to present another blog and it's called ''The Importance Of The Rapture''. For those of you ladies that may or may not know, since last week Sunday night for Bible study, I'm on a series about the end times and last week we addressed the rapture from Jesus' perspective mentioned in Matthew 24 and 25. This Sunday night for Bible study we'll be digging into what the Spirit through the Apostle Paul shares concerning the rapture and I'm sure many of you have probably heard about it. We will continue on sharing the end times message until Sunday night November 15th which will be the conclusion of it and that's something the Lord's been having me do for the past two years in Bible study! But let me say this. What does the word rapture actually mean? The Greek word for rapture is called harparazo and the latin word is rapturo and both mean the same thing. Remember that the Apostle Paul uses the word ''caught up'' means to ''catch up and to seize away''. Many of you ladies may remember the portion of Scripture mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4;17 when it says ''We shall be caught up together with them in the clouds and meet the Lord in the air''! I'm sure many of you ladies have heard that Scripture passage shared at funerals of those who knew Christ as Lord and Savior before they died and how comforting that is! The passages of Scripture before that mention that the dead in Christ shall rise first. What does that mean? Christians who served the Lord faithfully on earth who physically died from the time of the apostles (You know the Apostle Peter, Apostle Paul, Apostle John etc.) all the way to the end of the Church age's graves will burst open and they shall fly to heaven first! What a scene that will be! The rest of us who are alive when that happens will be caught up with them and I can only imagine what a day that will be! The other thing about the rapture is that it will mark the end of one era and the beginning of a new era. What do I mean by that? I mean that when the rapture happens, it will be the end of the ''Church Age'' (which began on the day of Pentecost see Acts 2) when the saints go up and it will be the beginning of the seven year Tribulation period! (I will write another blog on that as this month progresses!) The question is if we know that the rapture is going to happen, how then shall it impact our lives? Well number one, that should propell us Christians to seek to get closer to the Lord daily by prayer and His Word. We also need His Holy Spirit to help us in the process. The other point is that it should motivate us to want to reach others with the gospel of Christ to urge them to want to give their lives to Christ and want to live for Him. The other point is the rapture should make us want to ask the Holy Spirit to help our character to reflect Christ's character. That's something that each of us needs on a daily basis. Knowing that the rapture is going to happen should motivate us to fulfil our call, destiny, and to be active with our spiritual and natural gifts. Do y'all remember the ''Parable Of The Talents'' mentioned in Matthew 25;14-30? The Master commissioned three men with various talents. One man was given five, one was given two, and the other was given one. As soon as the Master went away, the two men got busy and increased their talents while the other procrastinated and did nothing with his talent! The guy with five talents gained five more and the guy with two talents gained two more and those two were rewarded by the Master! (Side note talents could represent natural or spiritual talents or even money. We know that the Master represents our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!) But the guy with the one talent who did nothing got rebuked sternly by the Master! He also got thrown out where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth! What an important truth for us to know what our talents are and to use them for His kingdom in this life while we have a chance! Another point about the rapture is living in a state of readiness and preparation. Remember the ''Parable Of The Ten Virgins'' also mentioned in Matthew 25;1-13? The Bible says that five were wise and the other five were foolish. How were the five that were wise? The wise ones prepared before time and had oil in their lamps while the others procrastinated and had no oil in their lamps! Oil also represents the Holy Ghost which means the ones with oil had the oil of the Holy Ghost while those who lacked oil lacked the oil of the Holy Ghost! The five wise were able to meet the Bridegroom while the five foolish were unable to enter the door! What a word of warning that is for the body of Christ today! The last point I want to make about the rapture that we often don't talk about is that after the rapture there will be a ''Bema seat'' which is the judgment seat of Christ. It's not a judgment in regards to sin but a judgment in regards to works. What type of work are we talking about? I believe that Christ will judge us for our character, how we helped the least of these, (see Matthew 25;31-46) how intimate we were with Christ, how many lives we impacted for the gospel of Christ, how we stewarded our time as well as talents just to name some things. Some Christians will be highly rewarded while many may make heaven but not be rewarded the way they could have been. The Apostle Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 3;10-15 ''That a Christians's work will be tried by fire to test each one's work of what sort it is. If anyone's work that he built endures shall receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved even so by fire.'' Ladies how we live our lives this side of eternity matters because that can impact the way we receive rewards or not receive rewards for the next life! What rewards can a Christian get? They are crowns and they are the ''Incorruptible crown'', (see 1 Corinthians 9;25) the ''Crown of rejoicing'' which is known as the ''soul winner's crown'', (see 1 Thessalonians 2;19 and Philippians 4;1) the ''Crown of righteousness'', (see 2 Timothy 4;8) the ''Crown of life'', (see James 1;12 and Revelations 2;10) and at last the ''Crown of glory'' (see 1 Peter 5;2-4) The last point I want to make about the rapture is what no one knows the day or hour that Jesus will come back. He confirmed this mentioned in Matthew 24;26 ''The day or the hour knoweth no man nor the angels in heaven but My Father only''. Verse 42 says. ''Keep watch for you knoweth not what hour the Lord will come''. That's an important truth for all of us in the body of Christ to be prepared when Jesus comes in the rapture! That's what I wanted to share with you ladies. Blessings to each of you ladies, happy Lord's day, hope y'all join me for Bible study, and pray that y'all have a blessed week!










