My personal opinion is that the next Biblical prophecy to be fulfilled is the Rapture.  My sincere desire is that our generation will experience this event. The Bible does not use the word Rapture, but it speaks of being caught up. The Latin word rapturus means “to be caught up”, or a more literal definition would be “to be snatched up”. We will be “snatched up” to meet our Lord Jesus Christ in the air, in the twinkling of an eye.

We believers have this great and wonderful promise to look forward to. As the time grows nearer and this world grows darker, we can lift each other up with this hope:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (KJV) – “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.”

In one of the Left Behind series books, The Rapture, it described Jesus shouting our names all at the same time, but we hear our own name individually. I can imagine hearing Jesus shout, “ANNA!” then I am suddenly transcended to Heaven. Whew! My heart is pounding in my ears at the thought! Come now Lord Jesus! But, I digress.

Jesus tells us to remain watchful and describes it this way, Matthew 24:36-41:

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

Although Jesus tells us that no one but His Father knows the day of His return, He does give us signs to watch for. As we survey the world we live in today, it is clear that the same sinful atrocities are being committed as those in the days of Noah. Some are very comfortable in their sinful lifestyles and will be caught unawares when the Rapture catches God’s church up to Heaven. It is urgent that we, His children, do all that we can to let our lights shine and tell people the truth. Whether they listen and turn to God is up to them, but it is detrimental that we share and live accordingly.

One of my very favorite passages about going to meet our King in the sky is John 14:1-3 when Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 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.” I have seen some pretty awesome mansions on earth over the years, but I truly doubt that any of them will even compare to the ones Jesus is preparing for us in Heaven. Jesus has gone to make a place for us to be with Him for eternity. Soon He will come back for us.

This phenomenon we call the Rapture will happen instantly: 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52:

“Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

Yes, it will happen instantaneously. Those who put off repentance and salvation for another time, will have waited too long. In the “twinkling of an eye” all true Christians will be gone from this earth. Those left behind will have the chance to become saved during the tribulation period, but they will have to endure the trials of the end days.

My plea to all who read this is, “Please, please, please make certain that if the Rapture happens tonight or tomorrow or next week, that you will be translated to Heaven with the rest of us for eternity:

We are all sinners: Romans 3:23: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” There is a high price for sin: Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death,…” God looks at our sin as ‘rebellion’, but He loves us in spite of it:

Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We must turn to God and repent to have our sins completely taken away: Acts 3:19: “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,” By God’s grace (generosity), we receive His free gift (eternal life) through faith which is also from God: Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,”

We must confess Jesus and believe that He was raised from the dead by God: Romans 10: 9-10, v.9: “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” v.10: “For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.”

Finally, we must call on (pray to) the Lord and be saved: Romans10:13: “For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” This simply means that if you pray and ask Jesus to come into your life, He will.”

PRAY: “Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and I need your forgiveness. I know that you died on the cross for me. I now turn from my sins and ask you to forgive me. I invite you into my heart and my life. I now trust you as my Savior, and I follow you as my Lord. Thank you for saving me. Amen.”

2 Timothy 4:1-5 – “1. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:” (When Christ appears, He will usher in the judgment and His faithful will be gathered into His kingdom.)

“2. Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” Always be ready to preach God’s Word, whether the time is advantageous to preaching the gospel or not. This is the charge to a Soldier of Christ!

“3. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4. and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” Because so many have become tolerant of sin and more into self-gratification, they have a strong desire to turn to many different teachers of novelty and lies. They are no longer content to hear the sound teachings of the Bible. Look around at all the many different sects of churches today that do not preach the gospel according to God’s Word, in fear of losing members. God’s Word convicts hearts. Too many so-called Christians do not want to be convicted to repentance, they want to feel good and stay in their sin. They are not Good Soldiers of Christ. How can one choose to live in sin and share the gospel? That is hypocritical!

The Comfort of a Soldier of Christ

A Good Finish to Life:

2 Timothy 4:6-8 – “6. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” As a Good soldier of Christ, Paul kept the faith (the recognized body of Christian doctrine, Jude 3). He kept the faith in two senses: he was obedient to it, and he passed it on as he received it. He has the comfort of knowing he has a home in Heaven forever. There will be no sickness, nor sadness, nor evil of any kind.

The Comfort of a Good Future After Life:

2 Timothy 4:8 – “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” Wow, even though Christ died because of our sin, we have the promise of a reward of a royal crown of righteousness simply for loving the coming of Christ. I so look forward to laying that crown, as well as all other rewards I may receive when I get to Heaven, at the feet of Jesus. After all, it was He who took my filthy sin, He being sinless, so that I may live in Paradise with Him for eternity. What a comfort!

Since Daniel had experienced literal fulfillment of prophecy in his life, this was a great revelation for him. He had been praying for many years that Israel would be restored, and he knew that God would fulfill his promise in Jeremiah. Daniel was also a very strong man of God who prayed to Him three times a day, every day; he knew how to move God in prayer.

The following is the prayer Daniel prayed for God to fulfill his promise and deliver his people. Though it was a prayer of confession of the sins of the nation, he did not judge the sinners. He associated himself with the sins of his people 32 times, acknowledged their deserved judgement, and petitioned God for mercy. He approached God on the basis of his loyal love and humbled himself with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.

Daniel 9:3-19(NKJV): 3. “Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5. we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land.”

7. “O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day–to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jeruselem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.”

8. “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9. To the Lord our God belongs mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10. We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.”

11. “Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore, the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12. And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judge us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such never has been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.”

13. “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14. Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice.”

15. “And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day–we have sinned, we have done wickedly!”

16. “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all who are around us.”

17. “Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.”

18. “O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.”

19. “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” (Bold type added by author)

We could very easily substitue “Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem” with the words “The United States” and pray this same prayer for the recovery of our nation’s Godly morals and values. DO YOU EVER WONDER WHY OUR NATION IS NOT MENTIONED IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION?