Don’t know if you knew or if you have heard, so I wanted to inform you that Jesus is coming back! Lately, thanks to social media, there seems to be a constant attack on the idea of a rapture (especially a pre-tribulation rapture) and it seems that there is an attempt to get people to think that there is nothing to this preaching of Christ’s second coming – that the Church has better things to talk about than the possibility of a rapture and the end of the world. So, in response to that mindset, let me propose this thought: That the message of the angel at the ascension of Christ is still the message of the church today: (Acts 1:11B – "…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." What was the angel saying? JESUS IS COMING BACK. There is, in fact, a great deal in the Bible about His second coming. It is mentioned some 127 times in the New Testament. In fact, for every single verse of prophecy concerning His first coming, there are two that refer to his second coming. The words of Matthew should ring as a quiet warning to all of us – especially to the lukewarm and complacent: "For in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh…" It seems to me, considering the multitude of Bible verses that warn of the coming end, that no Christian would doubt the eminent return of Christ. It stands to reason that no truly serious believer would ever allow his or herself to view the return of Christ in an indifferent or even sarcastic way – but many do. Here’s what I believe: One day, the faith of simple saints will be rewarded when all of a sudden a global call will be heard (whether audible or just deep in a ready heart, I don't know) but it will be a shout of some kind – an archangel's voice – and there will be a trumpet blast and an instantaneous transformation and translation of millions of people! The Bible says that we shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. It says that the Lord himself will 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. When that day comes, don't call me on the phone, don't look for me at the church or in my office. Because, like the Stamps Baxter Hymn says, "I’m getting ready to leave this world" and like that old southern gospel song says, "I'm gonna be gone!" How about you? Will you be caught up or caught looking?
