Imagine if you asked someone to marry you and your bride-to-be was not looking forward to her wedding day. How would that make you feel? The Church is the bride of Christ and every believer should be looking forward to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
I had been attending services at a healing ministry led by Rich Vera in Orlando, Florida. One night during one of his services I turned to a woman seated next to me and asked, “Are you getting excited about the Rapture?” She replied, “I don’t believe in the Rapture.” I was dumbfounded. The following Sunday, I asked Pastor Rich himself, “Does your ministry believe in the Rapture?” He quoted I Thessalonians 4:16-17 and replied, “It’s possible.”
“It’s possible.” Does that sound like someone who believes in the Rapture? The Rapture is scriptural and Paul makes that very clear.
“To those who eagerly await for Him He will appear a second time” (Hebrews 9:28).
America is filled with false prophets. Any person presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ who does not teach or preach the literal Word of God is a false prophet. I encourage you to “recognize those who labor among you” (1 Thessalonians 5:12) and refuse to follow, in any manner, those wolves in sheep’s clothing who are masters of deception in our generation. Some of these false prophets are now teaching there will be no Rapture of the Church! What does God’s Word say? Why is it extremely important for you to know the truth about this doctrine?
Jesus Himself warned His disciples:
“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).
Satan has used Hollywood to take the world’s eyes of the Word of God; Jesus warned against false doctrine in the last days. Shirley MacLaine wrote that off-the-wall book, Out On A Limb to promote the New Age Movement and Tom Cruise garnered a lot of publicity as to how he has embraced Scientology.
“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.
And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18).
This is one of the most beloved passages about the Rapture, and it is also one of the most detailed. We are told that there will be a threefold announcement of the Lord’s coming: A shout, the voice of an archangel, and the trumpet of God. In addition, there is a threefold promise to believers: 1) the dead in Christ shall arise; 2) we who are alive will be caught away with them; and 3) we shall always be with the Lord.
The word “rapture” is not used in the Bible, but the idea of saints being taken in the Rapture is clearly spoken of in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 and in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54:
“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will 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 has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’”
The hope of His coming is to be a source of comfort for us who await Him.
Pray for those who are blinded by Satan. I had been writing articles for the website Phantoms & Monsters to warn that the New Age Movement is one of the false doctrines Jesus warned against in the last days and that extraterrestrials are demonic entities sent by Satan to deceive mankind. The website’s owner is Lon Strickler – one of the nation’s leading paranormal investigators and a frequent guest on the radio show, Coast to Coast. Lon’s wife, Vanessa, is battling cancer so he created an on-line fund to raise money to help defray costs for her treatments.
Brett Butler – former star of ABC-TV’s “Grace Under Fire” is now a practicing psychic and offered to give free readings to anyone who donated $20 or more to Vanessa’s fund. I emailed Brett to tell her what she was doing is an abomination to God and sorcerers will have no place in the Kingdom of Heaven. I told the comedienne-turned-psychic if she doesn’t renounce her sorceries and accept Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior her life in eternity will be “Grace OVER Fire.” She send my email to Lon and as a result he will no longer post my articles on his website.
Satan is busy in these last days as he is blinding the eyes of mankind to prevent them from finding healing and everlasting life through the blood of Jesus Christ.