Back in my old Bible school days, some of my friends liked to get a little "punchy" when they got tired. And that's when you would see them doing what they would call "rapture practice." Yeah, you probably know the Bible describes Christ's coming for His own people, and a trumpet will sound and Christians caught up in the air to meet Him.
Well, one of my crazy friends would suddenly walk into the room and announce, "Rapture practice!" And then he'd go "ta-da!" That's the trumpet. And the other guys would respond. They would raise their hands above their heads and jump into the air. Okay, I'm sorry. I'm just telling you about it. I did not invent this.
Christians have had the opportunity for a much more serious rapture practice. I mean, a popular book predicted a date on which the author had rather, he thought, scientifically calculated that Christ would return. Many believers knew about that date and thought about it, even though Christ did not return as predicted at that point.
Look, He will when He's ready; not when we set the date. He said no man would know the day or the hour when He would come.
But many believers started to think about it a lot. And even though some of us are uncomfortable with date setting, and we should be, that prediction made a lot of folks look at their lives.
And that's a good thing just in case it was the right date. Jesus will return - maybe soon. Maybe we could use a little preparation.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Rapture Practice."
Our word for today from the Word of God is from 1 Peter 4:7 where Peter begins,
"The end of all things is near."
These are instructions for how to live when time is short. I feel that shortness of time. Do you? I feel it with my children. I feel it with my grandchildren. I feel like I'm running out of time to mark their lives. I feel that as my life seems to just fly by, and you don't have to have many birthdays to be like, "How can I be this old this fast?"
I look at the prophetic stage that seems to be set right now. I mean, a volatile middle east and Israel in the middle of it all. And the incredible rise of anti-Christian theology, and the marginalization of those who are loyal to Christ. And the Bible describes the falling away of Christians, global warming alarms, and all kinds of unprecedented occurrences and recurrences of natural disasters.
However you cut it, these are urgent times. I can't say Jesus is coming back at a certain time. I can say I'm not sure the world has ever looked more like the world He said He's return to than it looks right now.
Look, this is a blueprint for people who are running out of time.
1 Peter 4:7 gives this instruction to people living in urgent times.
"The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray."
Any proper response to urgent times begins on your knees. And there are two prerequisites here to urgent times praying. First, you've got to have a clear mind. In other words, before you pray, make sure your mind is in neutral - that you're objective. That you come to God, not with your mind all made up, but you come with a blank piece of paper that says, "God, whatever you say to me, that's it. I'll do it."
Then it says to be self-controlled. You have to come to Him with controlled emotions.
A pre-conceived mindset when you pray, or run-away feelings can lead you astray. They can confuse you. They can distort things, destroy judgment. They can drown out the voice of God. God wants to direct you, especially in these urgent times. He wants you to pray boldly. Before you can, you have to dethrone your own pre-conceptions and your own emotions, and then totally center on your sovereign Lord.
If you feel the shortness of time, don't panic. Don't go running around all over the place. First, get on your knees a lot more and listen for God's direction. It's never been more important that you have a God-directed day. There's no time to waste on your bright ideas or your personally conceived plans. The best practice for Christ's return is to spend time in His powerful presence.
Today's WORD from the Bible by Dr. Hutchcraft is directed at BELIEVERS in Jesus Christ already. Too often we neglect fellowship in prayer with our Lord and grow cold and indifferent. I know, I have been there, and it is not a good place to be.
Let me address those who may be reading and are NOT a member of GOD's FAMILY.
There are ony two places your eternal soul will go upon your death. One is a place Jesus has prepared for YOU inparticular. He went to prepare a place for you so when HE comes again, He will receive YOU unto HIMSELF, that WHERE HE IS, you may be also.
The other place is a place of eternal, unrelenting, non-stop torment called hell. It was aplace GOD made for the Devil and his rebellious angels whom God through out of heaven. It was not intended for men or women.
HEAVEN cannot have ANY taint of sin in it. It is a place of PURITY and Holiness, as God is HOLY so He has made us HOLY by the BLOOD of HIS SON Jesus!
Only those whom JESUS has cleansed and given HIS OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS to and placed HIS ROBE upon US will enter into HIS presence with rejoicing and gladness.
He is coming. Soon. Brother Ron addressed it. I have taught the coming of Christ many tie=mes in Churches and Sunday Schools. The signs are all lined up and there are no more prophecies to be fulfilled. All is in readiness and awaiting the decision of GOD HIMSELF as to when to send Jesus to gather HIS OWN from this world.
THEN it will be too late. Allthose who have trusted in Jesus will be raptured off this planet. Those who have died before will be resurrected and caught up in the air in new and gloriously incorrupt bodies. Our bodies will change because they too must be incorruptible to last an eternity.
WHY don;t you surrender to the one who loves you and gave HIMSELF for you? Just bow your head and ask Jesus to forgive you and to be your Savior, trusting only in HIM for your salvation, not ANYTHING that you have done. The Bible says in Isaia that ALL OUR RIGHTEPOUSNESS (goodness, good works) are as filthy rags in the sight of GOD.
We are totally dependent upon the mercy and grace of almighty God through his dear SON Jesus, who loves us and gavehimself for us!
Won;t you ask Christ into your heart today and ask HIM to be your Savior? You will never regret it.
WHERE are you going to spend eternity when you die? In HELL, being tormented by scorpion stings relentlessly, being burned by hot ashen fire that never ends, yet you never will die. You will be tormented for eternity for rejecting GOD's SON who came to this world and was born in a dirty manger as a child. He grew up as a man and was tempted to sin like we are, yet he never did. He then was crucified on a cross for your sins and mine and shed HIS BLOOD for the remission of our sins. ALL HE asks is for US to place our HOPE, our faith in HIM and depend upon HIM alone. Nothing we did. Only HIM.
How easy HE has made it. Nothing hard. Come to HIM today. HAve your name written down in HIS Book of Life. The time is SHORT and getting shorter every minute. Don't delay. COme to Jesus now....
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