Are You Ready for the Rapture of the Church?

In light of the events happening around the globe like never before, we have to ask the question, how close are we to watching the end time events line up for the possible rapture of the church? That should cause most people to fear what is lining up to happen, while we as believers in Christ, rejoice that once again the Bible is clearly outlining the seasons and times we see coming to light, in reference to Bible prophecy being fulfulled. Trust me, you don't want to be left behind.

God makes sure in the previous chapters in the Book of Revelation, that our hearts are in the right place, when we took an in-depth look at the seven churches written to in letters from Jesus. Which church are you most like in your current spiritual life? Who are you as a Christian? You've been invited by Jesus to get your heart ready for what starts right now in the Book of Revelation 4. All these previous chapters up to this point has simply been an introduction as we discovered who Jesus is, who the church is and needs to be before we really dig into the meat of this powerful book. This is where we get into the actual study of the book of Revelation. The best commentary we could ever have on the Bible is the Bible! Let the Bible interpret the Bible! It is easy to get swayed by people, we hear biases from people. We need to test everything against the word of God. You will never go astray when we do that.

In Revelation, chapter 4, we see John being transported somewhere. John is no longer talking about the things he has seen in the past, he has now been removed and sees heaven in the first three verses of Chapter 4. So you have to ask yourself, John, who is a member of the body of Christ, the church, is now come up here is now viewing everything that happens from heaven what is happening on earth. Who is John? Where is he? What is he seeing? These are the questions we will look at. From this point on, the church on earth is no longer talked about. It is gone. In fact, the next time we meet the church isn't until Revelation 19, where she is with Jesus, in heaven, getting ready to return with Him. The thing most people are searching for in life, is hope. Jesus is Your hope! You can't read the Bible without the star of the Bible, and that is Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:50-53 is a great commentary on the Bible. It is a great commentary on what we will be studying today.  " I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable, must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality." 

He's telling us that something has to change before we get into heaven. The apostle Paul is telling us that a change must happen. As we look at the Book of Revelation, we already know 5 key points from what we have studied.

1. That all those that read this book and hear this book will be blessed.
2. That when something is symbolic or typological, it tells us.
3. That Jesus Christ is revealed as Creator God of all things. (Chapter 1)
4. That Jesus has written seven (far reaching) letters to His churches.  (Chapters 2-3)
5. That there is a divine outline that interprets this book (Revelation 1:17-19)

Revelation 1:17-19 ~ "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said; "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later."

"Write what you have seen," that is Chapter 1 of the Book of Revelation.
"what is now," that is Chapters 2-3 in relations to the letters to the seven churches.
"and what will take place later." that is Chapters 4-22.

The Book of Revelation is divided up into three distinct divisions. The first part, "the things which you have seen," Chapter 1. The second part, " what is now," Chapters 2-3 in the letters from Jesus to the seven churches and finally, the third part, "what will take place later." This includes from the beginning of Chapter 4, all the way to Chapter 22.

Revelation 4:1-3 ~ " After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I head first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was the throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne."

There is an undeniable transition that takes place here in Revelation 4 beginning in verse 1. The question you have to ask yourself is this undeniable transition that takes place here has happened already in verse 1 that has gone on from the closing verse of Chapter 3 to the beginning verse of Chapter 4?

Chapter 4:1 is a clear indication of the rapture of the church. It happens between the earthly events of Chapters 2-3 and the heavenly vantage point from Chapter 4 onward to the end of the book. There is an undeniable transition that has taken point.

It will be at the moment of the rapture.

Revelation 4:1 ~ "After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I head first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."

Here you cannot escape the fact that from Revelation 3:22 to Revelation 4:1, something radical and drastic has occurred. The scene has taken a dramatic shift, from the earthly situation of the church to it's new heavenly position. Special consideration of Chapter 4 to the end of the book, from here on out, you no longer hear about, nor see anything of, the church on earth in any form. The apostle John's vantage point is now in heaven looking down to earth, and the cataclysmic events of the Tribulation Period. It's not until Chapter 19 that we hear from or see the church again, and it's in heaven with Jesus Christ.

The $64,000.00 question is this....How did the church get from earth to heaven in just one chapter?

The answer is priceless, by the rapture of the church! The church is now in heaven.

We now come to those things that take place after the church has been removed from the earth via the rapture of the believers. The timing will be of God.

Revelation 4:1 ~ "After this I looked," 

"After this?"  After what ? After the things of the church are done on earth.  You can't get away from the fact that something radical has happened. When the church age is complete. When will Jesus come again? When He comes again! Seven times to the seven churches the Bible says, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." But the church is gone after Revelation 4:1.

Revelation 13:9 ~ "If anyone has an ear, let him hear." There is no church, only individuals. It's (the church) never again spoken to or referenced except in heaven. So how did they get there? People now come to Jesus independently, there is a body of believers but there is no longer any church. These are the Tribulation saints.

If timing is everything, then understand this, the church is gone from the earth, gone from the Book of Revelation until Chapter 19, contrary to the teachings of Mormon, the Seventh Day Adventists and the Roman Catholic Church. You can't find any other proof of the church in Scripture after this moment, unless you do damage to the Scriptures, which cults are famous for. Their very background of the churches mentioned here shows that they believe the church has to endure this all the way to the end. They do damage to other portions of scriptures when they take away the security we have in the Lord.

At the moment of the rapture, the place will be with God. That's the wonderful thing about the rapture is it takes us to the glory of the Lord.

Revelation 4:1 ~ "After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I head first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here,"

The very next event that pertains to the church in a global sense is the opening of a door in heaven. There is an invitation, to "Come up!" with a strong military command and the Holy Spirit will obey that command. It is not an option to decline. The rapture of the church.

Revelation 2:5 ~ "Behold, I will come to you quickly." That is urgent!

Revelation 2:16 ~ "Behold, I will come to you quickly." That is urgent too!

Revelation 3:3 ~ "Behold if you do not watch, I will come to you as a thief." That is serious.

Revelation 3:11 ~ "Behold I am coming quickly." That is even more urgent.

Revelation 3:20 ~ "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." That is intense!

Jesus is warning and warning for us to pay attention and take heed. There is an urgency in each of these progressions of these verses. There is going to be one amazing worship service when we get to heaven. There will be horns, shouting, praising, throwing down of crowns.

What Are the Reason for Jesus Coming Back?

Some people are intimated by the study into the Book of Revelation, but it is the only book in the Bible that promises to bless those that read its Word and that hear what it says. That is why we are taking our time to go through this book of 22 chapters slowly. Give us ears to hear what the Spirit would say to us.

The Book of Revelation highlights the fact that Jesus is coming again. There is a line being drawn in people's heart and when people hear that Jesus is coming soon, they get nervous. Perhaps they don't understand what it means and they know nothing about who He is. The Bible says that Jesus is coming back.

Acts 1:10-11 ~ They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said,"why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

The Bible says that Jesus is coming again. It depends on where you are with God how you respond when you hear that. Some will be excited and some are fearful.

Titus 2:13 ~ " While we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ."

Reasons for Jesus' return. Why would Jesus come back?

1. Political Reasons. God establishes the nations and powers. He established kings and removes kings. God is in every election. He gives them leaders based on what is needed. God is moving nations to a point of time when Jesus will return. Does that mean that God is overseeing the United States, no, everything is moving to an appointed time when Jesus will return. There is no Messiah on earth right now. There is no person sitting in an office of human government, that is going to solve the world's ills. Don't look to a man or woman to do that. Should we vote? Yes! God somehow uses our interaction with society and brings about change. That's like saying, "Can I eat?" Of course you can eat, but if you sit there with your hands full you will starve to death. You got to get up and go to the refrigerator or drive thru, but you got to eat. You have to do it. God is in control, no doubt about it. But regarding politics,

Matthew 24:3 ~ " As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, "Tell us,"they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

These are pertaining to end time events because the disciples understood that He was coming back even before He ever left.

Matthew 24:4-7 ~ "Jesus answered, "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors or wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. "

Politic against politic, governmental powers against governmental powers. God presides over the nations and right before He comes back, there will be an alignment of nations that God has allowed to come together. From the book of Daniel, the book of Revelation, from the Book of Zechariah, we know that there will be a unified Europe. What do we have today since 1991? A unified Europe. We now have seen them move to a single economy or a single currency. We've seen them taking down the walls, we know have the United States of Europe, which is why they so affectionately call themselves the US of E. I don't know if you are aware of that. They are trying to mimic quite frankly what God has done here in the United States of America.

The Bible tells us that from that unification of Europe, that there will be a great political leader that will arise, we know him as the antichrist. We may not know his name but we have all see the bumper stickers that read 666 with a line through it, that is the mark of the beast or the coming address of the Antichrist. The word Antichrist, doesn't mean that he is coming with horns on his head, and he keeps trying to put a hat on so you don't see it. He wears a red suit and his tail keeps sticking out. That's not what this means. He will come like a human, like a man in the place of Christ, meaning to solve the worlds' ills to solve the world's problems. The Bible says he will arise out of Europe, he will be an impostor Christ. The Bible says he will reign over the Ancient Roman Empire. Here we see Europe unifying and we see God governing over the political powers.

These are the names of some political powers that must be in existence in the last days, Libya, the Old Testament mentions a nation in North Africa named Libya, is there a Libya on the globe today? Yes! What about Ethiopia? Yes! What about Saudi Arabia? Yes! What about Iran and Iraq? Yes! Here's the best part of it all, what about Israel? One of,  if not the oldest nation is God's establishment of Israel. But under it's captivity it dissolved as a nation. Then after 200 years on May 14, 1948, in one day, the world under the leadership of the United States of America, acknowledged the existence of Israel, and declared it to be a nation in one day. Guess what, the Bible says in the last days, before the end, Israel will be established as a nation in one day! So when you put Jeremiah and Zechariah together and when you put the Old Testament passages together, there God says in the Bible, I will bring my nation together, as Ezekiel says, the graves will open up and they will come from all the nations of the world to Israel and they will be re-established. And the Bible says it will happen in one day. May 14, 1948, the first time in human history a nation was born a second time. It's name is Israel. God's country! Why do you think it's in the news all the time for? It's God's country. It's His place. He loves it!

Nations, we know from indication of political events from around the world, that the Lord's coming is near. And if His second coming is near, how much closer is the rapture of the church at any time.

2. Societal Events Globally. The social trends and ills of society throughout the world. You want to know what they have in common? I'll give you a few,

A. General Lawlessness is invading nations. Jesus said in Matthew 24, that "the love of many will grow cold." People not loving one another. People not caring. Because the love will grow cold, lawlessness will abound. Another words, the crime rates will rise, as we get near the end, because people won't care about other people. That woman up in Seattle up in the rain, swerved in the rain, her car seen by other motorists, went over the side of the freeway, and into the trees. She was found nearly a week later. Surviving still trapped in her car. Nobody stopped to see if she was okay, nobody backed up or called 911, to say "a car just went over the side." I bet this was what people were thinking, giving them the benefit of the doubt." Someone else will call 911." She was there on the side of the road. The woman you saw in Texas on the news, who hit the man walking across the street, with her car, impaled him in the windshield of her car. He only had two broken legs. She drove home, open her electric garage door, and closed the door while the man was still in the windshield of her car, with two broken legs and they had a conversation with each other. She left him there for 3 or 4 days and he was not discovered until she bragged about what happened at a party while she was drunk. He died. She was arrested and convicted for manslaughter and premeditated murder. He had two broken legs and she let him die, based on the extent of his injuries and exposure in her garage.

Jesus said, in the last days there will be such a low esteem for human life that men will kill other men, because lawlessness will abound. Isn't that where we are living? It's an amazing age, general lawlessness, people disobeying laws and rules and enjoying it.

B. Racial Divisions. What this mean when Jesus says in Matthew 24 where it says "for nation will rise against nation?" The word in Greek is "ethnos." So ethnos will rise against ethnos." Ethic groups will fight ethnic groups. It's going to increase. That's sad news isn't it? Have you noticed that everything is ethnicity now? Ethic based. We all bleed the same color. You want to do away with racial divisions, and that isn't going to happen until Christ comes back, but you want to know how to do away with racial divisions? Preach the gospel!!! You want to save the nation billions of dollars with all these stupid programs, preach the gospel and get man's heart changed!

Nobody is black or white or red or yellow. There is no color when Jesus sits on the throne. When the gospel is embraced and received, we don't see people with skins of a different color, because we are all one with Jesus Christ. But what do you hear every day? It's a racial issue. There should never be racial divisions in church. Racism is Satanic, it is a wedge. Jesus Christ is Jewish. How does that sit with you? My boss is a Jewish carpenter. He came to the earth as a Jew because they are the most stubborn and stiff-necked. He picked them because they couldn't save themselves!

C. An Increase in Aberrant Sexual Behavior.  Aberrant meaning strange flesh. The Bible says there will be a violation of natural laws of nature and men will lust sexually after other men. God says that anyone that practices that sexual lifestyle will not inherit the kingdom of God. Why? Because it is against the law of nature. Evolutionists? Think about this. Forget about Christianity. Forget about religion. Aberrant human sexuality on the evolutionary plane, just think of evolution alone, destroys the species. Forget God. Forget that God is. If a woman cohabitats with a woman it breeds death and no more propagation of the race. If evolution were true, than every evolutionist would be out there writing against the destruction of the race. It destroys. Everyone can figure it out. The Bible says in the last days there will be an increase in aberrant sexual behavior and if we look around at TV, movies and music, we see evidence of this everywhere, and we are just suppose to take it and think, "Well that is just the way it's supposed to be." Jesus warned that these days were coming. He said it would be just like the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.

To God sin is sin. God died on the cross for all sin. Whatever it might be. That is what the Bible teaches.

D. Refusal to Recognize Human History. Solomon said there is nothing left to learn under the sun. The more we learn history, if you want to have a smart future, learn history. When we study history we learn not to make certain mistakes. We live in a culture now that is redefining human history. If you look at the history books now, there are more chapters about Marilyn Monroe than there are about George Washington. How do you redefine history? Teach your child nothing about history and they will redefine it. They'll take words and put different meanings onto words. How many people in the world today literally believe, and in Europe it is a big problem, that there was ever a Holocaust? There are people who literally believe it never happened. That it's propaganda. It's true!

The Bible is absolutely true of Jesus' promises that He will come back again. God's Word will never fail us.   So when you look around at the things happening in the world today, you can't help but see these very signs that Jesus warned us about, things that have never happened in the history of the world today, and while we may not know the exact day or hour of His return, Jesus promised us that we would know the seasons based on the signs happening all around us. Much like looking at a tree and knowing it is going to bear fruit, so we can look at the things happening in the world today and see that we are on the verge of Him returning any day for His church. The question is, Are YOU ready if He came today?