"...LOOKING FOR the blessed hope
and glorious appearing
of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ..."
Titus 2:13
and glorious appearing
of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ..."
Titus 2:13
In the late 60's and early 70's there was a great world-wide revival wherein multitudes came to the Lord. In the 70's and for quite a while later there was a lot of excitement about the coming of the Lord for his church, the event called "the Rapture." Books were being written about it, sermons were teaching on it, and there was a general hopeful expectation in the air.
But as time went on, the fervor cooled down and this subject got less and less attention. Apparently, many who heard it years ago got tired of it, lost interest in it, to the extent that today VERY FEW pastors even mention it anymore.
So will believers who are no longer interested, no longer eagerly watching, still be taken when the Rapture does take place?
I don't know. There is one Scripture that suggests that NOT ALL will be taken. The Scripture says the Lord will appear the second time "to those who eagerly wait for him." What about those who are no longer "eagerly waiting for him?"
"And as it is appointed for men to die once,
but after this the judgment,
so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.
TO THOSE WHO EAGERLY WAIT FOR HIM
he will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation."
Hebrews 9:28
but after this the judgment,
so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.
TO THOSE WHO EAGERLY WAIT FOR HIM
he will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation."
Hebrews 9:28
Have you lost your eager anticipation of the coming of the Bridegroom? Does the passage of time mean the Lord has forgotten about it? Or - rather - is he separating out those who truly are eagerly waiting for him?
Will those who don't even believe in the pre-trib Rapture go with him when he comes? Perhaps. I hope so, for their sake. But there are many who are "preparing" for the Tribulation and many of those in that camp actually mock those who are eagerly waiting for the Bridegroom. One passage speaks specifically to that:
"...knowing this first:
that SCOFFERS will come in the last days,
walking according to their own lusts, and saying,
“Where is the promise of His coming?
For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were
from the beginning of creation."
2 Peter 3:3-4
that SCOFFERS will come in the last days,
walking according to their own lusts, and saying,
“Where is the promise of His coming?
For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were
from the beginning of creation."
2 Peter 3:3-4
It's amazing that what is so absolutely clear - is something many just cannot see. The obvious question is whether the scoffers will be penalized for not having the revelation. Well ...Jesus had harsh words for the religious leaders and scoffers of the time for not knowing the signs of the times.
"He answered and said to them,
'When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather,
for the sky is red;’
and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today,
for the sky is red and threatening.’
Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky,
but you cannot discern the signs of the times.'"
Matthew 16:2-3
'When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather,
for the sky is red;’
and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today,
for the sky is red and threatening.’
Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky,
but you cannot discern the signs of the times.'"
Matthew 16:2-3
For those of you who have once longed for the Lord but have lost "the blessed hope," I suggest you go back to your first love. Don't take a chance on missing it.