A Church Ready for the Rapture

Thursday 12 August 2021

A Church Ready for the Rapture

Searching the Scriptures

Here is the marriage feast of the Lamb, and his bride has made herself ready. Revelation 19.7

How will Jesus find the Church when he comes to get her? As has been said, there is a ready church and an unprepared church mixed with the first. To use the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, let's say that there are believers, "wise virgins" and "foolish virgins".

He will find believers who are satisfied with themselves, but not necessarily ready. The Lord sees the reality of the faith of every believer. He made it clear that the love of many will wither away : "Because of the progression of evil, the love of many will grow cold" (Matthew 24:12).

Jesus also said that faith will be scarce : "But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth ?" (Luke 18.8) He did not say that he would no longer find faith, but that a large number of believers would be tempted to give up the faith, as the apostle Paul confirms in 1 Timothy 4.1 : "In the later, some will abandon the faith." So, among all believers, some will be ready, others will not !

If we go back to the parable of the ten virgins, we can observe that the difference between the wise and the carefree is minimal. The ones that are ready are the ones that had a reserve of oil. They had no shortage of oil! The oil is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. Here we can hear the apostle Paul's exhortation : "Be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18).

When someone is filled with the Spirit, it manifests through the fruits of the Spirit which are "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, benevolence, faith, meekness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22).

When you are around these people, not necessarily in a place of worship, you find that these things transpire through their lives. It's not that they're nice in public, but especially in private. In private, they are not touchy, angry or arrogant, they do not complain about others, they speak encouraging, not critical. They serve with joy, and not to be considered. They don't say they are humble, but humility is part of the way they are. The Lord will draw them to him because they have his nature in them.

Take the example of magnets, they attract anything that is ferrous. They do not attract non-ferrous metals, wood, or stones... Likewise, the Lord will attract to him those who have his nature.

Let us therefore follow Jesus' recommendation : "Therefore remain vigilant, since you do not know the day or the hour when the Son of man will come" (Matthew 25:13).

Listen to the voice of God

Let’s take the time to listen to what God means. Ask God to search your heart to help you be ready for the rapture.

Praying is easy. Talk to God as you would your closest friend. God loves you and he can hear everything. Here is an example prayer : "Lord, help me to watch and to be found awake when you return."

Praise God

To praise God is to show him our gratitude. What are your subjects of recognition today ? Take a moment to thank the Lord.

Act today

Now dig deeper into what you have received. What can you do to apply what God has told you ? Write down the concrete actions you can take.

Honor the Lord

Our route for the day comes to an end. Let us pray together to honor our God.

"Thank you Lord for your Holy Spirit who teaches us all things, especially on matters such as your return. Yours be the kingdom, the power and the glory, amen !"

Paul Calzada

Source (The Thought of the Day)