Do you think the rapture is going to happen soon?
Yes I do. Although no one can know the day the Lord Jesus will come in the air to take His church to glory, surely that day is getting nearer. Romans 13:11 says, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” This salvation refers to the salvation of our bodies. It is the same time that is referred to in Ephesians 4:30, which says, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been saved and we have been redeemed, but the full manifestation of these will take place the day the Lord returns for us. Romans 13:11 tells us that that day is nearer now that on the day we first believed on the Lord Jesus.
When will the Lord return for his Church? I don’t know. No one does. But we are instructed to live in anticipation of His return. Those in the city of Thessalonica were commended by the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, where he says, “For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” That’s how the Lord wants us to live. He wants us to wait for the Lord Jesus. He wants us to live as if the Lord could return today, because He could indeed come today. There is no prophesy that has to be fulfilled or event that has to take place before the Lord returns. Any second now, He could return as we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. That says, “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Speaking of that same event, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
If the Lord should return today, and you are a believer, you will not have to die. You will be changed very, very fast. Your corruptible body will be changed to an incorruptible body; a body fit to live in Heaven. And when this happens, like we read in 1 Thessalonians, “thus shall we ever be with the Lord.”
It’s most important to realize that if the Lord should come today, and you have refused to accept Him as your savior, you will not be given a second chance to believe on Him. To those who have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior, we read in 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 that, “For this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” If the Lord should return today, and you are still rejecting Him as your savior, you will be damned. What a terrible thought.
It is so important that you obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ today. You may not have a tomorrow. If you should die, or if the Lord should return and you are still in your sins, you will face an eternity in Hell. I know you don’t want that, and neither does the Lord. He wants you to be saved before it’s too late. Won’t you bow your knee to Him today? You will bow your knee someday: everyone will. Romans 14:11-12 says, “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” Everyone will one day acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the son of God who died for sinful men. If you wait until you face God at the Great White Throne judgment, then you will bow your knee to God as your judge. Won’t you bow your knee to the Lord today as your savior?
Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Christ died for sinners like you and me. It was an act of the love of God that caused Jesus to die so that we might be saved. 1 Timothy 1:15 says, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” He came to save sinners and He will save you right where you are…right now. Simply bow your knee to Him and “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house”, as we read in Acts 16:31.
Do I believe that the rapture is going to happen soon? I certainly do. I pray that you are ready for that day when the Lord returns to take his Church home to glory.