We’re told in the Bible that the end of this age will have distinct signs. Matthew 24 and Luke 21 both tell us what Jesus said would be taking place. John tells us in a couple of chapters in 1 John that there will be false prophets and antichrists already here before the appearance of the ultimate antichrist of Revelation. (ESV – all emphasis is mine)
Zechariah and Ezekiel tell of the struggles Israel will have before Jesus returns to put down the antichrist, and sadly, two-thirds of those present during the wrath/tribulation will perish (Zechariah 13:8)
In Luke 21:27-28, the Savior states, “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” This refers to Jesus’ actual return to earth at the end of the tribulation.
In 2 Timothy 3, Paul details what people’s attitudes and actions will be just before 2 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 take place. That would be what is known as “The Rapture.”
These verses have been posted before, but for those who have not seen them, we look at 2 Timothy 3:1-5; “But understand this, that in the last days, there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”
This is quite a “shopping list,” but the very last sentence speaks volumes; “Avoid such people.” The problem with this is that Jesus spoke of more people being on the road to destruction than on the narrow path to eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14).
In 2 Peter 3:3-4 we’re told, “knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.'”
It’s going to take a major event to happen before some “stiff-necked” people see that God’s word is true and accurate as it always has been. That event is best described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.
To begin, we look at the 1 Thessalonians verses; “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the Trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”
Then Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians, “Behold! I tell 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 trumpet. For the Trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”
For somebody to have the belief they will wait to call on the Lord to save them when they hear the “trumpet and shout,” the phrase “twinkling of an eye” has been calculated by experts to be considerably less than one second.
For anyone who has not studied the love letter from our Father – the Bible – one might say they don’t believe He would care about us enough to go through all of this for totally undeserving people.
First, we must understand that our God will not lie (Titus 1:2), and He has made a covenant that all who have received and accepted Jesus as their Savior will not go through the coming tribulation/wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 and Revelation 3:10).
Also, because of the human-invented nature of man-made deities who “demand” numerous works and donations to please them, they totally underestimate the Love our Father has for us.
A most popular verse is John 3:16; “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
To see the A-B-Cs of this, we look at Romans 10:9-13:
A – admit we’re all sinners and cannot save ourselves.
B – believe Jesus truly came to this earth as a human, to be the only pure, sinless blood sacrifice that our Father could accept. He died on that cross, and His body was raised from the grave three days later. He overcame sin and condemnation for all who will receive and accept Him.
C – All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Our Father wants no one to fail and will accept all who call out to receive and accept His Son before they take their last breath on this earth (2 Peter 3:9). Once that happens, our eternity is set: either Heaven or the Lake of Fire. God will force no one to call out for forgiveness but will accept all who do as long as it’s before their last breath here.
If we look at our world today, it is obvious there have been numerous negative changes taking place that started just about a decade ago. Every day, the negativity seems to increase rapidly. A good example would be the presidential election that just took place.
Before continuing, I would like to state that my wife and I voted, and other than that, we will not make any political statements as to the outcome. I will say that in my 78 years so far, I don’t ever recall any election reaching the disgusting degree of emotions and evil activities as this one. As stated, 2 Timothy 3 has been in full force.
Jesus said we would not know the day or hour of the end of this age (Matthew 24:36), but we can say it’s closer than ever, as evidenced by all the completed prophecies, and especially how God’s chosen people are being treated worldwide.
Now is the time for all believers to get closer to our Savior. We have persecution all around the world, and in some countries, Christians are being martyred for their belief in Jesus.
There are a lot of people going to churches, but without true belief, they are not saved. Paul said it best in 2 Timothy 4:3-4; “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
When the Judgments come, it will be obvious who was actually saved and who was addicted to this world and Satan’s lies.
The first and greatest judgment will be the Judgment Seat of Christ in 2 Corinthians 5:10; “for we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, so that each may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
This judgment condemns no one to the Lake of Fire. All who are here have received and accepted the Savior and will gain or lose rewards. However, they all will still be with Jesus in Heaven through all eternity.
The only other judgment is the Great White Throne of Revelation 20: 11-15. Everyone there will be sentenced to their own degree of eternal punishment in hell. There is no forgiveness. No one is there who has not earned it as everyone had free will choice while they were still alive on this earth.
With all that’s been presented here, right now is the time to determine which eternity you want to be in. Heaven with Jesus, or hell with Satan and his demons. As stated, we don’t know the day or hour Jesus will take all believers up to meet Him in the air, but it’s becoming very obvious we’re right at the door of the Rapture.
Today would not be too early to make your decision to call on Jesus to forgive you and be your eternal Savior. He’s never too busy to accept another soul to be part of His precious flock. Call on Jesus; call on Him now.
Come, Lord Jesus!