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Are You Rapture Ready?
What exactly does the term "Are you Rapture Ready" mean? It is simply the idea that if Jesus appeared today and called His church home, would you be a part of that group? The subject of the Rapture has caused great controversy within Christiandom. Many Christians say the idea of the Rapture and the phrase, "Are you Rapture Ready?" are just wishful thinking on the part of some Christians. The secular world views the idea of the sudden disappearance of thousands if not millions of people from planet Earth as something out of a science fiction novel. Admittedly, the ideasounds a little crazy but it is clearly taught in the Bible. This event 16. 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: 17. 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. 18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. will happen. God cannot lie. The controversy surrounding the above prophetic verse is not if it will happen but when will it happen. Some Christians beleive this event occurs before the Tribulation period. I totally agree. We are to watch and wait for the coming of the Lord. If the "snatching away" of Christians occurred during the middle or the end of the Tribulation, then there would be no point in "watching and waiting" for the Lord. Instead, we would be "watching and waiting" for the Tribulation period. Jesus said, "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 24:44). Others believe this event will occur at the end of the millennium. The timing of the "rapture" is what divides the churches not the event itself. If the "catching away" of Christians happened during the middle or the end of the tribulation, man could calculate the time when "the Son of Man cometh". Another point to be made about the phrase "Are you Rapture Ready"? is that at the moment of your death, your spirit will either go to hell or it will go to heaven. To be "Rapture Ready" means that you are also ready to meet God if you were to pass away today. There is actually a website called Rapture Ready. There are some very good articles there on the subject. What surprises me the most about this subject is that the concept is despised by many so-called Christian denominations. Part of the problem lies in the way scripture is read. Many groups take some of the Bible literally and allegorize other parts. In other words they say, "I know what the Bible says, but that's not what it means." They keep the parts they agree with intact and the parts they don't understand, they change the meaning of. There exists a large faction of Christians who claim that all prophecy was fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. You have to be very creative to explain certain passages when you accept this point of view. Understanding scripture this way leaves many unanswered questions concerning and explaining the existence of Israel in this present world. Literalists know that Israel's existence is prophecy being fulfilled in our lifetime. Their argument would be that the church has replaced Israel. That is a great error in judgment.In fact, my understanding of the prophetic word indicates that the age of grace or the church age is coming to a close so God can focus all of His attention on Israel. Think about it for a moment. The Church and Israel co-existed from 33 AD to 70 Ad. Then Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans and the Israelites (Jews) were scattered among the nations with no homeland for 2000 years. It is a miracle in and of itself that this race of people maintained their national identity for such a long period of time. In 1948, the Jews once again could live in their homeland of Israel. The church and Israel has coexisted since 1948. The work and the purpose of the church is near its end and when the work is complete Jesus will call His church home. Then Israel will once again become the focus of the world because many of the end time prophecies focus on Israel. We are seeing the buildup toward that fulfillment in world events of today. Sincere but foolish Christians who have tried to set a date for Christ's return has done much harm to the concept of the Rapture. All we really know about the timing of this event is connected to this verse, "37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.Matthew 24. When Christ returns for His church, people will be "eating, drinking, and marrying" which indicates that people will be caught up in the affairs of the world giving little heed or regard to the possibility that Jesus Christ might show up today. Jesus said, Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8. That is a strong indictment on the church. A church that despises true biblical doctrine and replaces it with fairy tales. A church that is more interested in money than saving souls. A church that is like the foolish virgins without any oil in their lamps. The majority of the people who claim the title of Christian and regularly attend church services will not be ready for the Rapture...they will be too busy focusing on world affairs. They forget that we are not permanent citizens here...we are just passing through on our journey into heaven.If God called His church home today, would you be "Rapture Ready"? Copyright 2009 by Gary Goodworth
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