The world is becoming a very dark place to live. In my lifetime, I’ve seen so much change in people’s attitudes, and very little is good. I count myself blessed that I was raised in a God-fearing family. I was taught about God right along with being taught to walk and talk. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

I don’t take this blessing lightly. When my family was touched by tragedy, I could see the adults handle the pain through prayer and trusting God. As I entered my teen years, much changed in the world around me. It was the 1960s, and it seemed as if there was a spirit of evil all around. The portal for that evil was opened by the hippies who promoted free love and drugs. Still, the foundation of my life was built upon Jesus Christ, and I was able to avoid any involvement in that lifestyle. I’m so thankful.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m far from perfect. God is still working with me, and the more I submit to Him, the more peace I find. As I look back, I can see that those days of free sex and drugs are still an influence in the world today. It’s a very bad influence. I take heart knowing that the Rapture is coming.

I don’t understand the controversy over the Rapture. It’s all very clear in Scripture. That is, it’s clear if you don’t try to twist God’s words. Whenever I write about the Rapture, I get emails (very lengthy emails) explaining to me why I’m wrong. I appreciate the information, but please be assured that I’ve held a pre-tribulation view for many, many years. I have studied the subject and didn’t just flip a coin in order to decide what to believe.

Christians tend to be confused over many important Biblical subjects because they don’t study. Scripture encourages us to study. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

If you don’t study, then you can’t defend your faith. The preacher at the last church I attended decided to preach through Revelation. He made it clear for 3 weeks prior that he didn’t understand it but would teach on it anyway. Oh my. I gave him some information about some excellent Bible teachers who have great teachings on it, but he didn’t want help. His teaching was very poor and showed a total lack of understanding.

Revelation is a worthwhile study and is really very comforting to all believers, as well as a witnessing tool. When I met my husband, he was not a Christian. He had some ideas of what was in Scripture but no true knowledge. One of his favorite movies was The Ten Commandments. I kept telling him, “If you like the movie, you should read the book.” His other evidence of “knowledge” was 666. He had no idea what that was all about but knew it wasn’t good. Well, he finally read the Book, he accepted Christ for salvation, and was filled with the Holy Spirit. His knowledge of Scripture grew every day because he prayerfully studied daily.

Something you will come to understand as you honestly study Scripture is that demons are real. God is real and teaches us about the supernatural, but we aren’t to seek after the evil. God has always given rules in order to protect us from the evil one. Adam and Eve chose to defy God and listen to Satan’s twisted words. After that, the evil in the world spread. The fallen angels mated with human women, and the Nephilim were born. Most of the world allowed themselves to be corrupted by the evil, but there did remain one pure human line from Adam’s son Seth.

One of Seth’s descendants was Enoch. He was a man who had a change in his life when he was 65 years old. “And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters” (Genesis 5:21-22).

God’s judgment on a rebellious world, which was consumed by sin, was coming soon. God saves those who love Him, and prior to God’s judgment through the Flood, God raptured Enoch. “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Genesis 5:24).

Noah was Enoch’s great-grandson and followed the godly example of his forefathers. Noah obeyed God and didn’t mingle with the fallen angels. He chose a godly wife and raised 3 sons who also honored God. Enoch was taken prior to the judgment (a picture of Christians being Raptured prior to judgment), while Noah and his family were protected through the judgment (a picture of God’s protection over Israel through the Tribulation). We can take heart as we watch this world fall deeper and deeper into sin; the Rapture is coming.

Throughout the Old Testament, we can see hints of the Rapture. For instance, Isaiah wrote, “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain” (Isaiah 26:19-21).

Christians are the only group of people who have the promise of not facing God’s wrath. This passage in Isaiah seems to be what Paul refers to in his first letter to the Thessalonians. Remember, the Rapture is not the same event as the Second Coming. At the time of the Rapture, Christians will meet our Lord in the air prior to God’s judgment, but at the Second Coming, we will come with Him after the final battle.

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18).

The Rapture is truly a comfort. Whatever this world brings, we always have the Blessed Hope. We might face some very evil times, but Christians will never face God’s wrath. Jesus Christ took all of God’s wrath upon Himself as He hung on the cross. All we have to do is understand we are sinners, repent of our sin and rebellion to God, and truly believe in His death, burial, and resurrection. Then we can take heart because the Rapture is coming.

Now let’s take a quick look at Revelation. Jesus dictated seven letters to John, and those letters describe the history of the church in advance. Each letter describes a specific “age.” The last letter was written to the Laodiceans and describes the modern church; God isn’t welcome within its walls. They have all they need and are lukewarm in their faith. They are “woke.” Jesus is on the outside and knocking to be welcomed in. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me“ (Revelation 3:20).

Do you hear Jesus knocking at the door of your heart? Don’t delay. Open the door and invite Him in because this is the last age. After this is the Rapture. “After this I looked, and, behold a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter” (Revelation 4:1).

Both “after this” and “hereafter” are from the Greek words meta tauta, which means the next in a sequence of events. So, after the 7 letters describing the church age, John saw a door open in Heaven (the Rapture), and he was shown the events that would happen after that. Those events are God’s judgment upon the people who have chosen to live in rebellion and sin. The ekklesia (translated “church”) is last mentioned in the letter to Laodicea. Chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation describe what happens in Heaven after the Rapture, and beginning with chapter 6, we read of the judgment upon Earth with no mention of Christians being on Earth.

We can see the signs of the times getting stronger. Earthquakes, love growing cold, wickedness everywhere, war. The days of Noah and the days of Lot are being repeated, just as Jesus said would happen. Don’t despair, and don’t deny your faith. God has given us a wonderful promise: Jesus is preparing a place for us and will take us there to be with him forever. “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know” (John 14:2-4). Thank You, Jesus, for loving us.

Are you lost? If you need to find the way, you will only find it through faith in Jesus. The directions are found in Scripture. Jesus is the only way. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me“ (John 14:6).

Those words bring so much comfort. Jesus is preparing a place for us to be with Him always. Is this what Isaiah wrote about? I believe it is. No matter how dark and ugly the world becomes, take heart: the Rapture is coming!

God bless you all

Nathele Graham
twotug@embarqmail.com

Recommended prophecy sites:

www.raptureready.com
www.prophecyupdate.com
www.raptureforums.com

If you would like to be on my mailing list to receive the commentaries, just drop me an email and let me know.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).

I hear it so often: “I’m ready for the Rapture.” I must admit that I say it quite often myself. The world situation seems to get worse and worse each day.

The hatred toward Israel is supernaturally evil, and there are so many people who hate Donald Trump because he’s trying to get America back on the right track. There’s a war between Russia and Ukraine, and Hamas just spreads its evil violence everywhere. Syria has just had an upheaval of their leadership; Assad ran off to Russia for protection while another group of terrorists took over. It’s just a matter of time until Isaiah 17:1 is fulfilled and Damascus becomes a ruinous heap.

It amazes me that so many people seem to support all things that are opposed to God. Not only politically but morally. The “alphabet” group who want respect and acceptance but do nothing to earn respect are truly in need of salvation.

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).

That seems to describe life today. What is it that causes people to choose evil ways over good?

Satan is the one who influences us to choose evil. He has been around since the beginning, and he is opposed to God. Satan encourages the spirit of antichrist. “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time” (1 John 2:18).

We are living in the last days. The Apostle John wrote those words many centuries ago, and it seems as if he was expecting Jesus to return at any moment. Brothers and sisters, we should have that same mindset. It’s obvious that the spirit of antichrist is strong, and that should tell us that the Rapture is nearing.

What does John mean when he uses the term “antichrist”? The Greek word is “antichristos,” and according to Vines Expository Dictionary, it can mean either “against Christ” or “instead of Christ.” We can see that spirit all around us. So many people choose to worship the god of this world, Satan, and allow his evil to rule. Instead of repenting of sin and letting Christ rule in one’s life, many choose to embrace the god of self and worship the ways of the world.

Until Christ calls us Home, we have to live in this world. Temptations and sin are all around us, and the evil seems to be growing stronger. It would be a relief if we didn’t have to live where so many people are opposed to Jesus and see Christians as a threat to their “fun.” In many countries, it is unlawful to follow Christ. Persecution is strong, and I admire any Christian who can rise above the persecution and stand firm on their faith. Jesus knew that His followers would face many challenges, and His final prayer included a prayer for you and me. He asked for God the Father to protect us.

“And now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth…. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (John 17:13-17, 20).

If all Christians were gone from the world, there would be great tribulation. We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and He restrains the full spirit of antichrist from controlling all people. A day is coming when all Christians will be taken Home to be with the Lord, and students of prophecy can see it will be soon. Evil is growing stronger, many preachers are preaching to tickle ears instead of standing solid on Scripture, and the evil hatred of Israel is growing stronger. These are all attitudes that tell us time is growing short.

The spirit of antichrist is powerful but has no power over the true Christ. Christians must not embrace the world but be strong in our faith and follow Christ without wavering. There will be a man who is more than the spirit of antichrist. He will be known as the Antichrist. It’s my belief that this man is alive today and will only show himself after Christians are raptured.

The Apostle Paul spent three weeks in Thessalonica and taught the new believers there about the Rapture. Life held troubles for them, and they became concerned that they had missed the Rapture. They listened to false teachers who confused God’s truth, so Paul wrote to straighten out their thinking.

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way” (2 Thessalonians 2:7).

The King James wording is a bit hard to understand, so let’s see it in the New King James. “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way” (2 Thessalonians 2:7, NKJ).

Only God can restrain sin, so we can be sure it is God the Holy Spirit restraining the evil that will take over the earth. Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, so when we are taken Home in the Rapture, the Antichrist will have nothing to restrain his evil. Don’t misunderstand me; the Holy Spirit will still be active on earth, and people will come to faith during the Tribulation, but they will not be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It will be very difficult for them.

I would like to rush the Rapture. This world is getting darker and more wicked every day. Prophecy is being fulfilled rapidly, and it’s hard to keep up with it all. The pieces are all falling into place quickly. As we watch the signs of the times, we can see that Israel is under tremendous attack, but they are beginning to get ready to rebuild the Temple, and the Anti-Christ will allow that to happen. He will occupy the Temple, causing the Abomination of Desolation described by Daniel and by Jesus to happen. We can also see the stage being set for the Ezekiel war.

AI will certainly play a huge part in the final days, and I believe it is making the way for the Mark of the Beast. These are things that will take place after the Rapture. Brothers and sisters, the Rapture is our Blessed Hope. God has not appointed us to wrath, but Christ will take His bride to be with Him to protect us.

“Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works, These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee” (Titus 2:12-15).

Only God knows when the Rapture will take place. It isn’t dependent upon a day or Jewish feast, but it is dependent upon a number. When Jesus walked this earth, He fulfilled hundreds of prophecies. The Scribes and Pharisees studied the Law and the Prophets but twisted God’s words to fit their own self-interest. Many modern preachers do that same thing. Because Christ, the Messiah, was rejected by the Jewish leaders, the nation was blinded, so they couldn’t accept Him. At that time, God turned His focus from Israel to Christians, but that will change after the Rapture. God’s focus will return to Israel, and when they call upon Jesus as their Messiah, He will fight for them. Much will happen before then. The Rapture must happen first. If you desire to rush the Rapture, then share the Gospel with others; bring them to faith in Christ.

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Romans 11:25).

Be sure of your own faith and have answers for questions you will be asked. Prepare in advance, and pray continually.

God doesn’t want anybody to die without coming to salvation through Jesus. Sometimes it seems as if God is very slow to take us Home, but that’s because He wants everyone to have the opportunity for salvation.

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:19).

We can’t rush the Rapture, but we can share the Gospel and give others the opportunity to come to Christ before it’s too late. Maybe that is rushing it.

Keep listening for His call for all Christians to join Him in eternity. What a day that will be!

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham

twotug@embarqmail.com

Recommended prophecy sites:

www.raptureready.com
www.prophecyupdate.com
www.raptureforums.com

If you would like to be on my mailing list to receive the commentaries, just drop me an email and let me know.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).