In 1 Cor. 15:51 Pauls letter to the Corinthian Church it says,
"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. 52 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."
Paul is sharing about the Rapture, which was a mystery to the church back then and continues to be one to a lot of Christians today. The word "mystery" doesnt mean that it is mysterious or hard to understand. The way it is used in this verse it means that Paul is sharing something which God has never revealed to men before. The "mystery" Paul is talking about is the Rapture. "At the last trump" means that moment in time when the Gospel has reached the ends of the earth, the last person to be saved has heard the Good News and accepted Jesus into their heart. The Last Trump could happen at any moment. Now turn to 1 Thess. 4.
First Thess. 4:13-17
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. (14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. (15) For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (16) 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: (17) 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.
There are no signs that have to happen for the Rapture to happen but it is the next thing to be fulfilled before much of the rest of prophecy can take place. Jesus is getting ready to come back and steal away His Bride, the Church. The revivals that are springing up around the nation and the world are putting out a "last call" for those who want to be a part of the Rapture in these last days.
Tonight lets take a look at this subject called the Rapture.
First of all we should all understand that the word "rapture" is not in the Bible. That is usually the first thing someone will bring to your attention if they dont believe in it, and not all Christians do believe in it. They will say, "Well the word Rapture isnt in the Bible so I wont believe in it."But you know what? The word Trinity" isnt in the Bible either but those same Christians accept the fact that the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are Three separate Persons yet One God.
So where does the word rapture come from? Lets do a word study. James Strong did a work over 100 years ago and today we know it as Strongs Concordance. It has been the standard reference of the Body of Christ. Some of you have asked that we do a study on using a Strongs Concordance so tonight were going to do our lesson with the help of Mr. Strong.
(Pass out sample sheets with Strongs numbers, etc.)
Lets look back in your Bibles at 1 Thess. 4:17. Notice the words "caught up". Now lets say you were trying to remember this scripture and wanted to know where it was in the Bible but all you could remember were the words, "caught up". If you have a concordance you could look up one of the words and find chapter and verse for it.
On your sheet you will see that the word "caught" is listed several times. Each time it is listed it is listed in the order of the Books of the Bible, beginning with the Old Testament and working back. If you already know whether the scripture is in the O.T. or N.T. you can save a lot of time. In this case we know it is in the N.T. so we could begin our search there. Looking down through the partial sentences, notice that "caught" is abbreviated to a small italic "c". Keep looking and you will see a familiar verse where it says: "remain shall be c up together". So, now if you wanted to look up the scripture, you have found the Book and verse just by knowing the word "caught".
Now suppose you want to dig a little deeper and would like to know what the word "caught" means. Follow to the right of our phrase and you see the number "726". This is called a reference number. Every word in the Bible has a reference number. At this point you have to realize two things, that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the N.T. was written in Greek. The word we want to look up is in 1 Thessalonians in the N.T. One little aid that they have added is to list the numbers in italics if the word is to be found in the Greek section and normal printing if its in the Hebrew section.
From here we go to the back of our concordance and there you will find words listed in the original language using the number given. In our case we are looking for an 726. The Hebrew words are listed first then the Gr. Words are listed. We look back in the Greek section for the number 726 and we see some Greek letters followed by a more recognizable word. The recognizable word is roughly how you would pronounce the Greek word in English. In this case the Gr. word in English is "harpazo". Just to the right of "harpazo"you see the same word in italics and it is giving the pronunciation "har-pad-zo". Accent on the letters "pad".
It says, "from a derivative of 138" meaning it has its roots from another word. But then it goes on to give the definition, "to seize (in various applications)- catch away, up, pluck, pull, take (by force). That gives us the definition of "caught". It means that Jesus is soon going to come with a shout, at the last trump to seize, pluck, pull and take by force every Born-Again Believer who is ready to go.
Someone might wonder how we get the word "rapture" from "caught up" or "harpadzo". You see, one of the versions of the Bible was written in Latin, called the Latin Vulgate (written by St. Jerome, 4th century. The word for caught up in Latin is "rapere" and from "rapere" comes our more familiar word "Rapture". Whatever word is used it still means the same thing.......Jesus is going to take us out of here!
Now lets go back to the beginning of our scripture in 1 Thess. 4 :13
"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope."
Paul is writing to the Church in Thessalonica and he says that he doesnt want them to be "ignorant". If someone told us that today we would be offended. But Paul is talking about the things of God and in this particular case he is sharing something with them which he received by divine revelation. The word "ignorant" is another one which should be looked up in the concordance because it gives a little better definition.
If you were to look it up the word for ignorant you would find it is agnoeo, (ag-no-eh) which means "not to know, either through lack of information or intelligence". But by implication it means "to ignore through disinclination or, indifference." In other words, you just dont care.
So, what Paul is telling them is that they should be concerned about this doctrine of the Rapture. He is saying, "Dont ignore it because it is a comfort to know that Jesus is going to come back for His Bride, the Church before the Tribulation begins." You see, we have to realize that Paul has previously been to the city of Thess. and established a church there. The church came under persecution and Paul had to leave. While he was there he had taught them about the rapture but questions had come up since then. Some of them may have thought the Tribulation had already started because of the persecution they were going through and Paul had previously taught them they wouldnt go through the Tribulation. This is something we still get confused on. When we go through trials and tribulations we ask, "Where is God. I thought we wouldnt be going through all this!" Paul isnt talking about the trials of life we all go through. Hes talking about the 7 years of Tribulation that is coming on the earth. So the Church at Thessalonica had a lot of questions and Paul is answering some of them by this letter.
If Paul didnt want them to be ignorant about the Rapture 2000 years ago, with so many signs today showing us that it could happen any moment, we shouldnt be ignorant either.
Where does the Bible first mention a reference to the Rapture? It doesnt come right out and say we will be Raptured but in the N.T. the first reference is very familiar to all of us.
Its John 14:1-3,
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Fathers house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 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.
This is where Jesus comes back just to receive His Bride, the Church.
The next reference is in John 11:25-26, Jesus is talking to Martha about Lazarus.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: (there He is talking about the dead in Christ rising up out of their graves at the Rapture) 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. (Meaning those Believers who are alive at the time of the Rapture) Believest thou this?
Let me take you to another scripture but, this time, lets go to the O.T. and see if we can find a reference to the Rapture. Turn to Isaiah 57:1,
The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
Here is a place that a word study can really help. Lets take them a few at a time and see what we come up with. The word "perisheth" in the original Hebrew is "avadh". It has several meanings. Most of them are related to destruction just as we understand the word perish. But one of the meanings is "to disappear".
Lets go on to the phrase "no man layeth it to heart". This means no one cares.
Then on to "merciful men". In my Bible there is a center column reference which tells me that "merciful men" means "men of godliness".
The next phrase is "are taken away". Another translation is "to be gathered up" or "harvested". Then lets go on down to the last few words, "from the evil to come". What is the evil to come? The Tribulation.
Now, let me read the verse again to you using the new words in place of the old.
"The righteous disappear, and no one cares that godly men are gathered up. No one even considers that the righteous are being harvested, or taken away, from the Tribulation."
Let me ask you something. Has there ever been a "rapture" before our time? Yes, there has been 3 raptures. Moses recorded the first one. Turn to Gen. 5:21-24
"And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24 And Enoch walked with God: ("walked" in the original means “to walk up and down and talk") and he was not; for God took him."
Enoch is one of my favorite people from the Bible. In my minds eye I see Enoch as a small and thin man, a little thin on top with a toothless grin. But who wouldnt grin walking with God as Enoch did? Look back at verse 24. Pay particular attention to the words, "and he was not; for God took him". One minute he was on earth and the next he was with the Lord. People were going around looking for him but he was no where to be found. You might ask, how do you know that? Maybe he just died and they couldnt find his body.
Turn to Hebrews 11:5:
"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. (6) but without faith it is impossible to please him . . . ."
Enoch didnt die. He went straight to heaven. If we were to look up "translate" in Strongs concordance we would find that it means to "transport, change sides, carry over or remove". Anyway you look at it, Enoch was removed by being transported over to the other side, meaning Heaven. Enoch is a type of the church being raptured just before the Tribulation begins. How do we know this?
Look back at Gen. 5:21 "And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:"
Weve all heard of Methuselah. Whenever his name is mentioned people usually remember that, at 969 years, he was the oldest man who ever lived. What most dont realize is that there is a special meaning behind his name. When you know the meaning of Methuselah you realize that Enoch walked so close to God that God gave him a revelation of things to come. You see, Methuselah means, "after he goes, then it happens". After who goes? Methusaleh. What happens after he goes? The great flood of Noahs time. Enoch knew it was coming.
You see, back in our verse in Hebrews it says of Enoch,
"for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. (6) but without faith it is impossible to please him . . . ."
God blessed Enochs faithfulness by letting him in on this prophecy. Then he blessed Enoch again by giving his son, Methuselah, the longest life of anyone recorded in the Bible. Methuselah died when the flood came. But Enoch was blessed beyond measure because he was raptured before the wrath of God fell upon the earth. There is a scripture that is the best proof I know of when it comes to convincing someone that the church of Jesus Christ wont go through the next Judgment of God called the Tribulation.
Its in the Book of Nahum 1:2, "God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies"
Is the Church of Jesus Christ a friend or an enemy of God?
Another point to be made to prove that we wont go through the Tribulation is because its a time of Gods wrath and Judgment. What did Paul write in Romans 8:1? "There is therefore now no condemnation (or judgment) to those who are in Christ Jesus"
If you are washed in the Blood of the Lamb you are in Christ Jesus and He is in you by His Holy Spirit. Youre not in Gods Judgment because you are under His Grace.
In Genesis it says Enoch walked with God and in Hebrews it says he pleased God because of his faith. Without a doubt, Enoch was a friend of God and the reason he was raptured before the flood is because God reserves His wrath for his enemies. And that is the reason the Church of Jesus Christ will be raptured before the Tribulation.
Lot, in the O.T. is another example of someone missing the wrath of God because of his faith. In Gen 19, two Angels of God came to the city of Sodom to warn Lot that God was going to destroy the city. Lot begs the Angels to let him and his family flee to a city a little closer than the mountain that the angels wanted them to go to. Reading verses 19-22 (This is Lot speaking to the Angels)
Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: 20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. 21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. 22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.” (21 thru 22 best from Living Bible)
The Angels could not destroy the city of Sodom until Lot and his family (a reference to household salvation) were far enough away from harm. Lot was counted worthy to escape the wrath of God.
Lu 21:36 says, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
As individuals and on our own merits were not worthy to escape the Tribulation but because of our faith in the redeeming Blood of Jesus Christ and because He imparts His righteousness to us, we are counted worthy.
Now, a question may come up about Noah. The Bible says Noah was just as qualified to be raptured and miss the flood. Turn to Gen. 6:8-9.
"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (9) These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God."
Noah also walked with God so why wasnt he raptured? The simplest answer is because only 8 people survived the flood. Without Noah and his family we wouldnt be here today and Jesus would never have been born to a virgin. But, as we know, Noah and his family did escape the wrath of God because God told him to build the ark. But there is just a little more than that.
See, just as Enoch was a type of the Church of Jesus Christ being raptured, Noah was another type. Actually you could say Noah served as two types. One was the Church being saved from the wrath of God. The second type, and more significantly is that Noah was symbolic of Israel.
Enoch was raptured before the judgment of the flood but Noah and his family had to ride it out in the ark. Noah is a type of Israel. Although the church will be raptured before the Tribulation and miss the wrath of God, Israel will suffer the wrath of God and have to go thru the Tribulation. The primary purpose of the Tribulation is to restore Israel back to God. (Duet. 4:29-30, Jer. 30:4-11) And it works too. It tells us in Zech. 13:8-9, Romans 11:26 that the ones who live through the Tribulation will be saved, just as Noah and his family went through he flood and were saved by the Ark.
Heres the picture:
Enoch represents the Church of Jesus Christ who inherits its place in heaven and Noah represents Israel who will inherit a kingdom here on earth, just as God promised Abraham back in Genesis. You see, Israel has never received all of the land promised to them but after the Tribulation Jesus will return to earth and it is then that the remnant of Israel will see Him coming and will say, according to Zec 13:6: ". . . . What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends."
Israel will see Jesus as the true Messiah and will be saved. At that time Israel will receive its inheritance of land that had been promised through Abraham. Then Jesus will reign from Jerusalem as King for 1000 years and we will be here with Him.
At the beginning I said there have been 3 raptures in the history of the world. The first was Enoch. The second was Elijah.
Turn to: 2 Kings 2:1, 8-11, Verse 1: "And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal."
Down to verse 8: "And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. 9 And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. (10) And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. (11) And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. (12) And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more:"
Elijah went up with a lot more flair than Enoch did. Ive often wondered why, Hollywood doesnt make more stories from the Bible instead of all the junk they do make. Just think what they could do with a film showing Elijah going up riding in a chariot of fire! There are so many stories and interesting people in the Bible that would make great movies and would minister to people.
Now, we have a problem with Enoch and Elijah. 1Co 15:50 says this, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."
Right about here we have to ask the question, how can Enoch and Elijah go to Heaven in the flesh, without being transformed into glorified bodies. They didnt die, they were just raptured, or translated. Lets turn to Rev. 11 and see if we can clear this up. At this particular time in the Book of Revelation the world is going through the first half of the Tribulation
Beginning with verse 1:
"And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. 3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.. 4 These are the two olive trees, (meaning the two witnesses) and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. 6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves 10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."
Hallelujah! I personally believe these two witnesses of God to be Enoch and Elijah because neither one of them had died before they were Raptured. Now we see that they are sent back to earth as witnesses to perform miracles demonstrating the Power of God. Then the Antichrist will have them killed. Their bodies will lie in the street of Jerusualem for 3 and a half days. The whole world will see them there. You know, until TV was invented this could not have been possible, in the natural. Because of satellite TV, CNN and other networks now give us world-wide coverage of the news as it happens and that wasnt possible just a few years ago. This is another sign to show us how close we are.
But after 3 and a half days what happens to the two witnesses? Verse 11 says the Spirit of life from God entered them and they stood on their feet..and verse 12 says they heard a great voice from heaven saying, "Come up hither".and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud;"
They were raptured again but this time they have died, rose from the dead and now they have glorified bodies, ones that will never die again.
If you remember our study on the Book of Revelation a few years ago there was a place in verse 1 of Chapter 4 that we said was an indication that the Church was raptured. Lets turn there:
"After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, (there is the same command given to the two witnesses only this time it is symbolic of the Rapture of the Church) and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."
Well we began this by saying there have been 3 Raptures and have named two of them, Enoch and Elijah. The third one has to happen before the Church can be raptured because the third One that was Raptured was Jesus. Go to Acts 1. Jesus has died, rose from the dead and has just spent 40 days on earth. His body at this time is already glorified, in other words it is eternal.
Verse 9: "And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."
I love that expression, "this same Jesus". He IS the same yesterday, today and forever. And He is coming back the same way He left . . . in Glory! Are we ready?
Are you ready to be a Bride? You know, back in the time of Christ there was a certain custom that went with every wedding. There were several steps to a Jewish wedding.
First of all there was:
The Contract:
The Bridegroom would go to the father of the girl he wanted to marry and present the contract. That contract would give the rules of things to happen before the Bridegroom came back for his bride.
The Price:
The next thing the contract would mention was the price that had to be paid for the Bride. They didnt come cheap. This was before sidewalk sales.
The Cup:
The Bride had the choice of accepting or rejecting the Bridegrooms offer of marriage. A cup of wine was poured by the Bridegroom and he would propose a toast to her. She could pick it up and drink it or turn it down. That was her way of saying "yes" or "no" to his proposal of marriage.
The Departure of the Bridegroom:
If the Bride chose to drink the cup of wine the Bridegroom would make a little speech to the effect that he was leaving her for the time being but he would go to his fathers house and build a bridal chamber for their honeymoon. Then he would leave to go build the Bridal Chamber. It was up to the Bridegrooms father to let the young man know when the everything was ready. That would stop the Bridegroom from putting up a flimsy "lean-to" or a shack so he could hurry back for his bride. The Bridal Chamber had to be just right before the Father would give His OK.
The Stealing of the Bride:
As long as two years would lapse before he returned to get his Bride. In the meantime the Bride was expected to be ready at all times. The Bride would have her bags packed and oil in her lamp in case he came during the night. Traditionally the Groom would come about midnight with some of his friends leading the way. The Bridegroom would come quietly and knock on the door. He was coming like a thief to "steal" the Bride away. As soon as they got to the Brides home they would shout to let the Bride know they had arrived. Remember the 5 wise & 5 foolish virgins? They were the waiting with the Bride for the Bridegroom to come steal her away. In Mat. 25:1-13 it tells the story. As the Bridegroom and his friends approached her house they shouted out, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him."
The Bridal Chamber:
The Bride was taken from her home with a lot of laughing and shouting because they were all happy for the couple who were to be married. The bridegroom would enter the house and act like he was taking the Bride by force while she pretended that she was being taken against her will. Well, the Bridegroom would take his Bride to the newly build chamber and shut the door behind them. The "best man" would be stationed outside the door and as soon as the marriage had been consumated the Bridegroom would call out through the door to the best man. The Best Man would tell the other guests and the real celebrating would begin.
The Marriage Supper:
Today we call it a reception but back in Bible days it was a banquet, a big feast, or a Marriage Supper.
Now most of you already recognize some of the details as being related to our position as the Bride of Christ. After all, there has been a contract drawn up and presented by our Bridegroom.
Our contract is a new covenant and was announced in Jer. 31:31 but the "gist" of it is outlined in:
Isa 1:18, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
We have all accepted the terms of the contract. We accept the fact that our salvation came by the Blood of an innocent Sacrifice and not by the Law or works. Jesus poured out the cup of wine at the Last Supper (Mt. 26:27-28) and said, " . . . Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins".
You know what? Every time we take the cup of wine at communion we are, in effect, renewing those wedding vows with our Groom, Jesus.
Well, your price has been paid. You didnt come cheap. Throughout the history of Creation there has never been a higher price paid for anything, especially for someone who never deserved it. But that was part of the contract. It gives our Bridegroom the right to buy His Bride at any cost.
Before you were saved the only value you knew was what the world gave you. Do you drive a new car? Is it the latest color? Do you live in a nice, expensive home? Do you wear the latest fashions? How much do you make? We try to fulfill all these things so the world will think more of us and give us some value. But then a day comes when the car depreciates. A new color comes out and youre stuck with last years. Your home needs a new water heater, a furnace and a roof. One day you wake up and the worst happens! To the women skirts are longer this year and to the men ties are wider. Jeans with holes in the knees are now looked down on and here you have rubbed large ones into every pair you own. No, the value that the world has to offer only lasts a short time and besides, its insincere and artificial.
But before you knew the Lord, before you owned a dime, before you were born, before your father and mother or their ancestors were born. Before Adam and Eve were created, Jesus looked down into time from the foundations of the world and hung a value on you. Youre his Pearl of Great Price.
Yes, we have a contract with Him and the title on it says, "The Grace of God".
Our Bridegroom has departed but before He left He said this:
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Fathers house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 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."
Now the only thing left is for Him to come back to steal His Bride. Are we ready? Are your bags packed with the garment of salvation and a robe of righteousness? Is your lamp filled with the oil of the Holy Ghost? Then youre ready. Watch and listen for Gabriel to shout, "The Bridegroom Cometh, Come on up here and meet Him!"
