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The most comforting message for today's saints is the pre-Tribulation Rapture. As believers, we have several compelling reasons for hope despite the overwhelming lawlessness that surrounds us and the suffering we so often endure as the result of living in a fallen world.
The words of Scripture, and in particular those that pertain to Bible prophecy, provide a nonstop source of encouragement to those of us watching for Jesus' appearing.
The assurances of God's Word promise us a joyous future that's beyond what we can fully imagine. Consider what happens to us at the moment of the Rapture:
Our Hope Comforts Us as Nothing Else Can
Whether we are dealing with sickness, physical pain, grief over the death of someone we love, or another form of heartache or loss, the hope of Jesus’ imminent appearing encourages us with the reassurance that a much better life surely lies ahead for us. It’s been sixty-two years since I first heard about the pre-tribulation Rapture, but it still provides a daily source of encouragement and comforts me especially during times of sickness and loss.
When I was ten years old, my dad died suddenly of a heart attack. In the midst of my grief, I read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; friends of my parents had told me about the Rapture months earlier. The Lord used this passage to comfort me after the loss of my believing father. I regarded the meeting in the air as the next time I would see him. I cannot explain how the pre-Tribulation Rapture brought hope to my heart at such an early age, but it did.
In this life, there will be days when we think our pain or distress will never end. I have been there and have found that my Bible-based expectation of this coming glorious day sustains me during such times.
Our Hope Helps Us Understand the Chaos Around Us
We read about natural and manmade disasters almost every week. Lawlessness remains out of control with store chains such as Target and Walmart measuring their annual losses in billions of dollars. Recent revelations from Elon Musk and his D.O.G.E. department reveal the criminal theft and/or waste of trillions of dollars, much of which has lined the pockets of corrupt politicians. Despite the discovery of such vast corruption within our government, America remains on the verge of a devastating financial collapse that will likely play a part in fulfilling Revelation 6:5-6.
I couldn’t even begin to cope with these things apart from the prophetic perspective assuring me that God remains sovereignly in control of all things. The Bible tells me that Jesus is coming for all who believe before the Day of the Lord during which time He will pour out His wrath upon the wicked (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11). The seven-year Tribulation is rapidly approaching; God will justly deal with the vast wickedness of our day.
Such a biblical worldview enables us to thrive in a fear-ridden society. Earth-based theologies of the end times provide no prophetic context into which they can place the terrors of our day. How does one adequately deal with the deadly push for a Marxist New World Order apart from what God’s Word says about the last days in which we now live?
Our Hope Keeps Our Focus on Jesus
When we watch for Jesus'
appearing, we gain a truer perspective on life. Although we continue to plan with aspirations for our future, we do so knowing that the Lord might intervene at any moment.
The result is an outlook that values eternal realities over those that will surely end someday (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Paul summed up this hopeful mindset in Philippians 3:20-21 where he again addresses our glorious expectation of meeting Jesus in the air (see 1 Thessalonians 4:17):
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
We live in a day when the promise of eternal life is scarcely mentioned in churches that claim to adhere to the inerrancy of Scripture. The unbiblical pushing of the believer's hope to a far distant end-of-the age return of Jesus harms the saints in at least three ways:
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The most comforting message for today's saints is the pre-Tribulation Rapture. As believers, we have several compelling reasons for hope despite the overwhelming lawlessness that surrounds us and the suffering we so often endure as the result of living in a fallen world.
The words of Scripture, and in particular those that pertain to Bible prophecy, provide a nonstop source of encouragement to those of us watching for Jesus' appearing.
The assurances of God's Word promise us a joyous future that's beyond what we can fully imagine. Consider what happens to us at the moment of the Rapture:
- Jesus gives us immortal bodies like His that will never grow old or get sick (1 Corinthians 15:50-55; Philippians 3:20-21).
- Jesus takes us to the place He's preparing for us (John 14:2-3; Colossians 3:4).
- Eternal life instantly becomes our experience, which signifies the end of death, loss, tears, and pain for us (Revelation 20:4). Wow!!!
Our Hope Comforts Us as Nothing Else Can
Whether we are dealing with sickness, physical pain, grief over the death of someone we love, or another form of heartache or loss, the hope of Jesus’ imminent appearing encourages us with the reassurance that a much better life surely lies ahead for us. It’s been sixty-two years since I first heard about the pre-tribulation Rapture, but it still provides a daily source of encouragement and comforts me especially during times of sickness and loss.
When I was ten years old, my dad died suddenly of a heart attack. In the midst of my grief, I read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; friends of my parents had told me about the Rapture months earlier. The Lord used this passage to comfort me after the loss of my believing father. I regarded the meeting in the air as the next time I would see him. I cannot explain how the pre-Tribulation Rapture brought hope to my heart at such an early age, but it did.
In this life, there will be days when we think our pain or distress will never end. I have been there and have found that my Bible-based expectation of this coming glorious day sustains me during such times.
Our Hope Helps Us Understand the Chaos Around Us
We read about natural and manmade disasters almost every week. Lawlessness remains out of control with store chains such as Target and Walmart measuring their annual losses in billions of dollars. Recent revelations from Elon Musk and his D.O.G.E. department reveal the criminal theft and/or waste of trillions of dollars, much of which has lined the pockets of corrupt politicians. Despite the discovery of such vast corruption within our government, America remains on the verge of a devastating financial collapse that will likely play a part in fulfilling Revelation 6:5-6.
I couldn’t even begin to cope with these things apart from the prophetic perspective assuring me that God remains sovereignly in control of all things. The Bible tells me that Jesus is coming for all who believe before the Day of the Lord during which time He will pour out His wrath upon the wicked (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11). The seven-year Tribulation is rapidly approaching; God will justly deal with the vast wickedness of our day.
Such a biblical worldview enables us to thrive in a fear-ridden society. Earth-based theologies of the end times provide no prophetic context into which they can place the terrors of our day. How does one adequately deal with the deadly push for a Marxist New World Order apart from what God’s Word says about the last days in which we now live?
Our Hope Keeps Our Focus on Jesus
When we watch for Jesus'
appearing, we gain a truer perspective on life. Although we continue to plan with aspirations for our future, we do so knowing that the Lord might intervene at any moment.
The result is an outlook that values eternal realities over those that will surely end someday (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Paul summed up this hopeful mindset in Philippians 3:20-21 where he again addresses our glorious expectation of meeting Jesus in the air (see 1 Thessalonians 4:17):
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
We live in a day when the promise of eternal life is scarcely mentioned in churches that claim to adhere to the inerrancy of Scripture. The unbiblical pushing of the believer's hope to a far distant end-of-the age return of Jesus harms the saints in at least three ways:
- It causes them to place an undue emphasis on this life.
- It blinds them to the signs of the approaching Tribulation, which gives them the false assumption that Jesus will not intervene in their lives anytime soon.
- It robs them of the comfort and joy of anticipating our imminent homegoing.
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