By Terry James
Something sinister lurks just ahead within this world of darkening uncertainty. The forewarning thought simmers beneath daily life that change is coming-transformational change that will make these present hours seem like the good old days for the inhabitants of future earth. Princes and presidents, potentates and populations at large sense gnawing dread spawned by the seemingly unstoppable spread of murderous, racial/religious hatreds. Proliferation of nuclear weaponry among the most violence-prone among us appears on the brink of unleashing man’s final war.
The term “Armageddon” is regularly used to describe man’s greatest fear during hourly newscasts. To quote Shakespeare, it is becoming clear that “something wicked this way comes.”
For the believer in Jesus Christ, however, the near horizon that is a harbinger of the worst of times in man’s history presents just beyond that apocalyptic storm front a magnificent future beyond imagination.
Indeed, glorious change is coming. It will happen in a stunning moment of absolutely dazzling transformation and transport for the born-again believer. It will be a catastrophic intervention by the one and only Creator-God of heaven-so long seemingly silent to rebellious mankind.
This author’s commission is to proclaim to this generation-at this moment-that the very end of the age is at hand. Heaven is trumpeting the final siren of appeal for all to come within the shelter offered by the Savior who died and resurrected so that all who trust Him for salvation will be spared the horrors about to occur.
“Don’t spend eternity apart from the Heavenly Father” is the profoundly important message that must be disseminated and accepted. He desires above all else that everyone comes into the safe harbor of His family through His Only Begotten Son-the Lord Jesus Christ.
Whether one is Rapture Ready…Or Not, the disappearance of all true believers is about to occur. The thrilling time of that long-ago prophesied call of Christians to join with Christ will happen at any moment!
That, of course, is the tenet of my new book Rapture Ready…Or Not. I believe with all that is within me that I was prompted to relay the urgent message that the door to the Age of Grace (the Church Age) is on the very brink of closing to a Christ-rejecting generation.
This presents no pleasure to the author. Neither, of course, does it give pleasure to the God of Heaven who must, following the closing of that door, unleash His wrath and judgment upon planet earth. Jesus shed His last drop of blood on the cross at Calvary so that no person need spend one moment in that hellish time on earth we call the Tribulation or spend eternity in the place prepared for the devil and his fallen angelic horde. Being Rapture ready is 1) knowing Christ for Salvation through following this admonition:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)
Once a person complies with this way (the only way) to salvation, that person becomes 2) Rapture Ready through living life according to direction given in God’s Word, the Bible.
I think one of the best verses to summarize this Rapture Readiness is found in the following.
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
In this way we will hear our Lord say, “Well done, good, faithful Servant,” when we see Him face to face at the moment of Rapture. To avoid any questions about whether I am saying one has to live above sin in order to go in the Rapture, I will be absolutely clear.
Every person who truly accepts Christ is going to leave the planet at the time Jesus calls the Church (Revelation 4:1). Not a single believer, whether walking “worthily” or not, will be left behind at Rapture. But, to be truly Rapture Ready in the sense of being “worthy” (in order to receive each and every reward the Lord wants to give us at the bema–the Judgment Seat of Christ), each Christian must be walking according to God’s precepts as taught in His Holy Word.
In that glorious, twinkling-of-an-eye moment of translation–from mortal to immortal, from corruption to incorruption–we will each realize the magnificence that is our Lord and Savior: Bridegroom. We will know Him in the same way He knows each of us. We will, in that eternal moment, want to have lived righteously for Him.
The change that is coming is spectacular beyond all that our imaginations can conjure, the apostle Paul has informed us:
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9)
Let us do all we can in Christ’s service while opportunity is ours. Let us do all within our power to be truly Rapture Ready!
–Terry