THE BRIDEGROOM AND THE BRIDE
- IV
"THE
RAPTURE – Part A"
There is a 50% divorce rate
in these times in which we are living. And, this is true for Christians and
non-Christians alike.
"Five years after my
wife, Bridgid, and I were married, we received our final wedding gift - an
ice-cream maker. In an attempt to cover procrastination with humor, the friend
who sent it included a note: "I wanted to make sure the marriage would
last."
Bridgid wasn't amused, but
she thought the present deserved a thank-you note anyway, which she dutifully
sent five years later. Her note read: "I wanted to be sure the ice-cream
maker would last."
I. The Rapture
What is the Rapture? Is the
term RAPTURE something new?
Or has God been "Snatching
People from the very Beginning? Yes He has!!!
..and Jesus is COMING again
to TAKE His church with Him to Heaven!!
You won't find the word
Rapture in the Bible! Rapture is an English version of a word that appears in
Latin Translations. Remember this though, that most of the New Testament was
first written in Greek. It was then Translated into Latin, then English!
"RAPERE" or
RAPTURE means to be CAUGHT UP, PLUCKED UP, or TAKEN BY FORCE.
II. RAPTURED SAINTS:
Here are some Examples of Raptured
Saints, according to the Word of God:
1)
ENOCH: Genesis 5:24 "24 And Enoch walked with God: and HE WAS NOT;
for God TOOK him. (He did not experience death! He went to heaven while still
alive) He was SNATCHED AWAY!
Strong's
03947 laqach {law-kakh'}a primitive root; TWOT - 1124; v AV - take 747, receive
61, take away 51, fetch 31, bring 25, get 6, take out 6, carry away 5, married
4, buy 3, misc 26; 965 (Hebrews 11:5) kjv- " By faith Enoch was translated
that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated
him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Strong's 3346 metatithemi {met-at-ith'-ay-mee} from 3326 and 5087; TDNT -
8:161,1176; v AV - translate 2, carry over 1, REMOVE 1, change 1, turn 1; 6
2) ELIJAH: II
Kings 2:11 "2Ki 2:11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and
talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and
parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Strong's
05927 `alah {aw-law'}a primitive root; TWOT - 1624; v AV - (come, etc...) up
676, offer 67, come 22, bring 18, ascend 15, go 12, chew 9, offering 8, light
6, increase 4, burn 3, depart 3, put 3, spring 2, raised 2, arose 2, break 2,
exalted 2, misc 33; 889
3)_JESUS: Acts
1:9 " And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was TAKEN
UP; and a CLOUD received him out of their sight.
Strong's
1869 epairo {ep-ahee'- ro}from 1909 and 142; TDNT - 1:186,28; v AV - lift up 15,
exalt (one's) self 2, take up 1, hoisted up 1; 19 1) to lift up, raise up,
raise on high; 3) metaph. to be lifted up with pride, to exalt one's self
4) PHILIP: (Acts 8:39) "Act 8:39
And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away
Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
Strong's
726 harpazo {har-pad'-zo}from a derivative of 138; TDNT - 1:472,80; v AV -
catch up 4, take by force 3, catch away 2, pluck 2, catch 1, pull 1; 13 1) to
seize, carry off by force 2) to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly 3) to
snatch out or away
5) PAUL: II Corinthians 12:1-4
"It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and
revelations of the Lord. 2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago,
(whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell:
God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I knew such a
man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4 How
that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is
not to utter.”
Strong's 726 harpazo {har-pad'-zo}(see above ref.)
I saw a picture illustrating
the rapture. It showed a pair of sneakers and only a white glow above them!
III. Fate of the Apostles
An example for us today in
these last days before the Rapture: The apostles all gave their lives for the
sake of the gospel except John, the Beloved, who was spared. These were just
ordinary men who Jesus called to come and follow Him. But, the power of God
rested upon these men and, after walking with Jesus and receiving of Him, and
receiving the power of the Holy Spirit, they were willing even to give their
lives as martyrs for Him.
The Fate of the Apostles:
¨
Matthew: slain with a sword in Ethiopia
¨
Mark: Cruelly dragged through the streets of
¨
Alexandria,
where he died
¨
Luke: hanged on an olive tree in Greece
¨
John: caldron of boiling oil, but did not die and
banished to Patmos
¨ Peter: crucified at Rome with his head downward
¨ James: the Greater - beheaded at Jerusalem
¨ James: the Less - thrown from a pinnacle of the
temple, and then beaten to death with a fuller's club
¨ Philip: hanged up against a pillar in Phrygia
¨ Bartholomew: flayed alive
¨ Andrew: bound to a cross where he preached to his
persecutors until he died
¨ Thomas: run through his body with a lance in East
Indies
¨ Jude: shot to death with arrows
¨ Matthias: First stoned and then beheaded
¨ Barnabas: stoned to death by Jews at Salonica
¨ Paul: various tortures and persecutions and then
at length beheaded at Rome by the Emperor Nero.
God hasn't asked us as yet
to give our lives for Him but we need to be willing to listen to His voice and
do whatever He asks us to do without compromise.
A young man had been to Wed.
night Bible Study. The pastor had shared about listening to God and obeying the
Lord's voice. The
young man couldn't help but
wonder, "Does God still speak to people?"
After service, he went out with
some friends for coffee and pie and they discussed the message. Several
different ones talked about how God had led them in different ways.
It was about ten o'clock
when the young man started driving home. Sitting in his car, he just began to
pray,
"God…If you still speak
to people, speak to me. I will listen. I will do my best to obey."
As he drove down the main
street of his town, he had the strangest thought to stop and buy a gallon of
milk. He shook his head and said out loud,
"God is that you?"
He didn't get a reply and
started on toward home. But again, the thought, buy a gallon of milk. The young
man thought about Samuel and how he didn't recognize the voice of God, and how
little Samuel ran to Eli.
"Okay, God, in case
that is you, I will buy the milk."
It didn't seem like too hard
a test of obedience. He could always use the milk. He stopped and purchased the
gallon of milk and started off toward home.
As he passed Seventh Street,
he again felt the urge. "Turn down that street.
"This is crazy!” he though and drove on past the
intersection. Again, he felt that he should turn down Seventh Street.
At the next intersection, he
turned back and headed down Seventh. Half jokingly, he said out loud,
"Okay, God, I
will!"
He drove several blocks,
when suddenly, he felt like he should stop. He pulled over to the curb and
looked around. He was in a semi-commercial area of town. It wasn't the best but
it wasn't the worst of neighborhoods either. The businesses were closed and
most of the houses looked dark like the people were already in bed. Again, he
sensed something,
"Go and give the milk
to the people in the house across the street."
The young man looked at the house.
It was dark and it looked like the people were either gone or they were already
asleep. He started to open the door and then sat back in the car seat.
"Lord, this is insane.
Those people are asleep and if I wake them up, they are going to be mad and I
will look stupid."
Again, he felt like he
should go and give the milk. Finally, he opened the door.
"Okay God, if this is
you, I will go to the door and I will give them the milk. If you want me to
look like a crazy person, okay. I want to be obedient. I guess that will count
for something but if they don't answer right away, I am out of here.”
He walked across the street
and rang the bell. He could hear some noise inside. A man's voice yelled out,
"Who is it? What do you
want?"
Then the door opened before
the young man could get away. The man was standing there in his jeans and
t-shirt. He looked like he just got out of bed. He had a strange look on his
face and he didn't seem too happy to have some stranger standing on his
doorstep.
"What is it?"
The young man thrust out the
gallon of milk.
"Here, I brought this
to you."
The man took the milk and
rushed down a hallway, speaking loudly in Spanish. Then from down the hall came
a woman carrying the milk toward the kitchen. The man was following her holding
a baby. The baby was crying. The man had tears streaming down his face. The man
began speaking and hal-crying,
"We were just praying.
We had some big bills this month and we ran out of money. We didn't have any
milk for our baby. I was just praying and asking God to show me how to get some
milk."
His wife in the kitchen
yelled out,
"I ask him to send an
angel with some. Are you an angel?"
The young man reached into his
wallet and pulled out all the money he had on him and put it in the man's hand.
He turned and walked back toward his car and the tears were streaming down his
face. He knew that God still answers prayers. []
This story shows the importance,
even of a small act of obedience.
Some years ago, when Bob and
I lived in the Seattle area, I was driving to the store. On the way, a couple
of miles from where we lived, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and told me to stop
at a small house and give the people there the way of salvation. I had some
"Four Spiritual laws" booklets in my purse, so I got out one.
Then, I went and knocked on
their door. An elderly couple lived there. They were friendly and invited me
in. I shared the way of salvation with them and prayed for them to receive
Christ. A couple of month's later, I once again was on my way to the store,
when the Holy Spirit stopped me once again and told me to return to that same
house. I knocked on the door and the lady answered the door. But, all around
were flowers and the fragrance of them filled the little house. She informed me
that her husband had passed away. I once again prayed with the lady and thanked
God to myself that I had been obedient and stopped there those two times.
Some years ago, God spoke to
me to go and clean the house weekly of a relative of my daughter, by marriage.
He only had one leg and sat in a wheelchair. This man had been raised in a
Christian home by his mother, who had now long since passed away. But, somewhere
along the line, he had changed his attitude about Christianity and thought that
all Christians were hypocrites.
When we got together for
family dinners, he would mock the things of God. But, when God spoke to me to
clean his house on a regular basis, He showed me that this man needed to see
reality of genuineness in someone he knew was a Christian. I never charged him
a cent to do it.
I came weekly and cleaned
and washed his laundry. I would get down on my hands and knees in order to get
his large kitchen floor spotless. Then, we would sit down together and have
coffee together. He began to ask me questions about the rapture and other
things. It was the first time I had ever seen him seriously concerned.
Our son Corey, used to go
with me at times and help me clean. I believe that this touched his heart that
a young man would be willing to do this free of charge. Then, Corey and I would
lay hands upon him and pray for him.
Well, the day came when Bob
and I went to the hospital to visit one of our people at our meetings. We then
learned that this man was in the hospital, so after visiting her, we went to
see him. I laid hands on him and began to pray that right then he would ask
Jesus to come into his heart and forgive his sins and be his Savior.
When Bob and I finished
praying for him, there were tears rolling down his cheeks. Later we learned
that he only lived another forty-five minutes.
Sometimes God will ask us to
do small things but they can still be very important. But, we should be ready
to do anything that He asks us to do.
Be sure to continue this
study with me – in PART B of
Watch, and Be Ready!
Esther Thornton
