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Sounding the Rapture Alert!
By Chris Schang
One of the most intriguing aspects of end time bible prophecy is the doctrine of the rapture of the church. The rapture is the event that could occur at anytime and especially when people least expect it. The rapture is the event when the Lord Jesus comes in the air and wisks away his church before the coming of the seven year tribulation period. In the rapture, the Lord Jesus will return to the air and with the trumpet call of the archangel will "snatch" up his church (bride) and take them to Heaven to the place he has prepared for them. The only people who will participate in the rapture are those people who have placed their faith and trust in the completed work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
With the signs of the end times all around us, it is definitely time that we sound the rapture alert to the unbelievers in the world who have not made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The offer of salvation is FREE to all who will simply repent of their sins and turn to the Lord Jesus thereby accepting his payment of sin on the Cross. The term repent means to simply change one's mind about the need for a Savior. So in order to be saved, one must have a genuine recognition and embrace of Jesus' completed work on the Cross. God sent his only begotten Son to come to Earth and die in our place on the Cross so that the sin debt could be payed for once and for all. Jesus did this because he knows we can't pay that sin debt on our own. Many will try to enter Heaven on their own accord and they will be surprised to find that there was only one way to Heaven which was through Jesus Christ. Fallen men are simply not able to enter Heaven on their own, we need the shed blood of Jesus Christ to atone for our sins.
One thing I want to make absolutely clear and that is that simply repeating a sinner's prayer does not do what is required to be saved. While a sinner's prayer provides a nice template of what one could confess to God and ask to be reconciled with him, the most important part is the status of one's heart when making this request to be saved. The heart must be in agreement with God in that man must recognize that he is a sinner in need of a Savior, and then believe upon the Lord Jesus and his completed work on the Cross.
The reason we are talking about what is needed for salvation is that it is central to our theme of the rapture alert. With the world beginning to take a definite spiral downward and clearly heading for the foretold seven year tribulation period, it has become imperative that people make that decision for the Lord as soon as possible as the rapture could happen at anytime. In fact, the Bible tells us that today is the day for salvation.
The rapture is not an event that we will get a prior warning to before it happens. The rapture will happen suddenly and unexpectedly, when people least expect it. This is the purpose of sounding the rapture alert. We want to alert people to the fact that the rapture of the church is verily at the door as we see the final end times puzzle pieces move around the prophetic board. While there is nothing that must happen before the rapture can occur, we must remember that it is much better to make that decision for Christ now while there is still time. Let us shout from the rooftops and sound the rapture alert!! The Lord Jesus is coming soon, let us be rapture ready for that moment when millions upon millions will suddenly disappear without warning and be taken home to glory in Heaven.
While time is short and every second counts, join with me in sounding the rapture alert! Let us be bold and persistent in warning the world that the rapture of the church is at hand. Let it be so Lord Jesus!! Amen!!
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