The Rapture

After Jesus taught the multitudes, his disciples needed help understanding his parables and asked him to explain their meanings. Jesus said Blessed are your eyes for what you see and your ears for what you hear, many prophets and righteous men of all the previous generations desired to see what you are experiencing, but they did not. Jesus was revealing to his disciples’ secrets hidden from the beginning of time. Most of the New Testament reveals the spiritual truths behind the symbolism's of the Old Testament. There were around 100 prophecies regarding Jesus' first coming. But there are 800 prophesies about the end times and Christ's second coming; how blessed are our eyes to see what the prophets foretold from Enoch to the time of the Apostles.

Some things are outside the boundaries of human comprehension, and only after the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of our understanding can we perceive and grasp them. Those who are not born again cannot see the things of God (John 3:3), and they are foolish to them. To think that God will remove his faithful followers from the earth in a mass resurrection, transforming their bodies and transporting their souls to heaven, only impacts Spirit-filled believers. Some carnal church people hear the teaching but mock it; others ignore it, but those who hear the message and believe it live in expectation of the imminent return of Christ.

Paul, by the Holy Spirit, revealed the hidden mysteries of the church as the body and bride of Christ. One of the most popular Bible verses, John 3:16, says, "For God so loved the world he gave his Son," but a lesser-known verse says that Jesus so loved the church that he gave himself for her. Part of the mystery of the rapture is the mystery of the church because only the Spirit-filled followers of Jesus will get raptured. There is a difference between the Bride and all other believers throughout all the ages, like the difference between the Bride and the guest at a wedding. The gospels say nothing of the Bride, speaking only of the bridegroom and the guests, most likely because the Bride was a mystery until after the Apostles received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Will all professing Christians be raptured? For some people that's like asking, how deep can I go into sin and still be saved? Or, what are the bare minimum requirements to go up in the rapture? It is far better to look at it from the opposite direction of considering this world’s pleasures as dung compared to the eternal riches we gain by knowing Christ. We should be motivated to run after Christ with everything within us so we win the race and prize of being Christ's bride at the rapture.

One of the best tools of evangelism is the teaching of the end times and the second coming of Christ. Many people are seeing how the world is going crazy, and they want to know what is going on. When we identify how current events are coming into alignment with the scriptures, it validates the accuracy of the Bible, answers their questions, and points them to Christ. We know that only God can open the eyes of the heart and change people's lives, but we can do our part by being watchmen and warn others of what's coming and get them into the ark of salvation, Christ.

This book is part of a series of studies that all Christians should know and teach. We call it the "toolbox series" because these studies are tools to equip you to share your faith with others. For free resources and study materials, visit our website at Ears2Hear.online.