Caught Up

Death is not an issue for God's children... some of them won't even do it.

Genesis 5:21-24 When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 23 Enoch lived 365 years, 24 walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.

2 Kings 2:11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.

Mark 16:19 When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand.

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God loves us so much that he gave us a very important warning way back at the beginning of his love story to us, he warned us that the penalty for our sin would be death, and since Adam sinned we all sin and we all will die.

But that's not completely true, God changed the rules for a couple of privileged men that had a special relationship with him, these two were promoted to Heaven without going through the formality of dying. (Hebrews 11:5)

The first one was Enoch, the exception to a long list of men that begot a son and then died at a very old age. (Genesis 4:17-5:32) Enoch had a short life for people back in those days, after only 365 years God walked him right up into Heaven. I don't know how his family felt about this but what a way to go!

Jude 1:14-15 Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, "Listen! The Lord is coming with countless thousands of His holy ones 15 to execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

Think you have it bad as a follower of Christ? Enoch lived a godly life in a culture that was so bad that God wanted to destroy it with a flood. There were far more people that followed the way of Cain that brought the culture down spiritually, but there is good news for God's people.

Enoch is a picture of the rapture before the judgment that was on the way. God will take up his church just as sure as he took up Enoch, this is a picture of the rapture of the bride of Christ before the tribulation.

Matthew 24:36-39 "However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son Himself. Only the Father knows. 37 "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn't realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.

The days before Jesus’ return will be similar to the days before the Flood. All of the everyday things that happen will keep on happening, plans will be made to marry, have a family, change jobs and go to parties, it will be business as usual for the planet right up to the end.

God could have provided the Ark and flooded the Earth immediately but instead there was a season of grace that allowed people to change their minds and call upon God to save them. God's grace saved eight people from the flood while everyone else lived for themselves.

They had plenty of warning during the time that it took for Noah and his construction crews to finish building and stocking the Ark with supplies. Imagine being one of the laborers or a supplier of the materials that got stuck outside the Ark when the waters started getting high. Surely Noah and his family let you know what you were building and why.

Noah's predictions were too incredible, even the people that helped build the boat didn't care that Noah could be correct. Life goes on for most people without any serious consideration of where they came from or where they are going.

1 Corinthians 15:22-23 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when He comes back. 

God's grace will be seen by his children that are alive when he comes back to take them to the home he has prepared. I want to walk in close fellowship with God and be a part of the multitude that God will take up without dying.

We all belong to Adam, we all have the craving to go the way of Cain, but we can choose to belong to Jesus and live a new life that will not end or be marred with sin.

Are you ready to be caught up?

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The Alpha And The Omega Returns

We have no reason to doubt that Jesus is returning.

 

Revelation 1:7-8  Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see Him--even those who pierced Him. And all the nations of the world will mourn for Him. Yes! Amen!  8  "I am the Alpha and the Omega--the beginning and the end," says the Lord God. "I am the One who is, who always was, and who is still to come--the Almighty One."

Revelation 1:17-18  When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if I were dead. But He laid His right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last.  18  I am the living One. I died, but look--I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.

Revelation 21:5-6  And the One sitting on the throne said, "Look, I am making everything new!" And then He said to me, "Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true."  6  And He also said, "It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega--the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.

Revelation 22:12-13  "Look, I am coming soon, bringing My reward with Me to repay all people according to their deeds.  13  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."

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From the very first verse of Revelation you will find that the purpose of this book is to reveal Jesus to us. Revelation was written to reveal his character, his power and his plan for the future.

While Jesus was here with us he made many "I Am" statements that are recorded in the Gospel of John to reveal to us different characteristics of who he is. In these statements he claimed to be everything that we need for this world and for eternity. In the book of Revelation Jesus' claims are supplemented with another "I Am" statement that reveals more about his character and power.

The book of Revelation reveals that Jesus is the Alpha and Omega just the same as God the Father is. The fact that this name is applied to both of them is a strong argument for the deity of Jesus. They are both eternal in both directions, from eternity past to eternity future, they exist now, they always did exist and they always will exist. They are one in their plans and purpose and in power.

Our creator cannot be caught off guard and there isn't any power that is greater that can keep his plans from happening. He doesn't have to rule from a position of power alone, the fact that he is all knowing and also present everywhere at all times tells me that there is nothing that surprises him and he is in complete control.

The Certainty Of Jesus Return

We must open up our understanding to the greatness of this event by sort of getting our arms around how important it is in the Scripture. Some have calculated that there are over 660 general prophecies, 333 about Christ, 109 fulfilled at His first coming, 224 at His second coming.  So the Bible has much to say about His second coming.

Of the 46 Old Testament prophets, less than 10 of them speak of His first coming; 36 of them speak of His second coming.  There are over 1,500 Old Testament passages that refer in some way to the second coming of Jesus Christ.  One out of every 25 New Testament verses directly refers to the second coming of Jesus Christ.  For every time the Bible mentions the first coming of Christ, it mentions the second coming 8 times.

-John MacArthur "The Certainty Of The Second Coming" 

The promise of God 

God came through with his promises concerning Jesus first coming so we should take serious the promise of the second coming and what he promises will happen. (Isaiah 9:6, 11:1-5, 62:11 / Jeremiah 23:5-6 / Ezekiel 21:27 / Daniel 9:25)

The words of Jesus 

Jesus told us that he is preparing a place that isn't ready yet but when it is he will come back and take us home. (John 14:3 / Matthew 16:27, 24:30-31, 25:31, 26:63-64 / Luke 12:37-40, 17:28-30, 21:34-36)

The guarantee of the Holy Spirit 

The Spirit of Truth inspired the New Testament writers to give us scriptures that assure us that Jesus is returning and some of the details about what is going to happen. (1 Corinthians 1:4-8 / Philippians 3:20-21 / Colossians 3:4 / James 5:8 / 1 Peter 1:13 / 1 John 3:2-3)

The humiliation of Jesus Christ

Is there any chance that God is going to allow the humiliation of Jesus to be the final chapter? The Bible has a lot to say about the future reign of the descendant of King David. The disgrace, disrespect and harsh treatment that he endured for our sake is not the end of his story.

Isaiah 9:7 His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!

Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: “The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.”

The Alpha and Omega is coming back without a doubt, he is all knowing, he is everywhere and he is all powerful, there isn't anything that can happen to make this fact not come true.

The next time he leaves Heaven it will be to gather up his children, it will happen suddenly and secretly like a thief in the night so you better be ready. (Matthew 25:1-30)

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Business As Usual

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Luke 17:26-30 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 27 In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all.

28 “And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building— 29 until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

30 Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

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Throughout scripture we can see plenty of examples of people being caught off guard when God decides that it is time to judge. It could be that he judges the whole world or a single individual, the people involved are never ready for God's mercy to end.

Imagine what you would think the first time that you saw Noah building a huge boat, would you be concerned at all? How about when the animals started gathering around in pairs? Would it still be business as usual? (Genesis 6:1-22)

The people of Sodom were carrying on with their lives doing whatever they pleased when the day came that God ended their lives. The fiances of Lot's daughters thought it was a big joke. Nobody realized that they would not be having breakfast that morning. (Genesis 19:1-29)

The children of Israel were losing battles and didn't have any idea why. Achan knew why, but he thought that he would get away with it, so he was living his life "business as usual" when judgement came he definitely wasn't ready. (Joshua 7:1-26)

Judgment will come, but God prefers mercy

Ezekiel 33:10-11 “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?’ As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?

We can kid ourselves into thinking that everything is going to be okay and live life "business as usual" but God is in control and his plans will go on, judgement will happen. Man has been trying to figure out the date of Christ return ever since Jesus day.  We are so busy asking the wrong question, one that we cannot even answer, that we neglect the most important question. Here is a better question: When he comes will you be ready?

When Christ returns to get his church it will be business as usual for most people, that isn't the way that God wants it to be, he is a God of love and so he gives us many opportunities to accept his gift of mercy, but he knows that some people will not accept it.

Your complacency will do you in

Zephaniah 1:12 “I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem’s darkest corners to punish those who sit complacent in their sins. They think the LORD will do nothing to them, either good or bad.

Prophecy has been coming true for thousands of years but does anybody really care? Are we paying attention? God has proven his love and mercy for so long and he has also shown us what he must do if we refuse it, but do we care? Judgment day is coming and we must be careful that we not grow complacent and allow it to catch us by surprise like a thief in the night. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4)

Thank you Lord for your free gift of salvation that you have given to me because of your love and mercy. I must tell others of your love and how you want to give mercy and love instead of judgement.