Last Days Ready – Part 2: What’s Next?

Matthew 24:3-8 (NLT)

Jesus’ disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?” 4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 5 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.

Matthew 24:36 (NLT)
“No one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.”

[1]    The “Rapture” is a -Only Event!

John 14:1-3 (NLT)
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.
2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (NLT)

We tell you this directly from the Lord (a divine revelation): For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.

        At the “Rapture”, Jesus meets believers in the air! (1 Thess. 4:17)

        At the “Second Coming”, Jesus returns to the earth! (Zech. 14:4)

        At the “Rapture”, believers are instantly and eternally changed!

        At the “Second Coming”, changed believers will return with Jesus!

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (MSG)
Let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed.
52 You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed.

Revelation 19:11-14 (NLT)
Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war … 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God.
14 The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses.

        The “Rapture” is an imminent (could happen at any moment) event!

        The “Second Coming” is at the end of the Great Tribulation!

1 John 2:2 (TLB) — Jesus is the one who took God’s wrath against our sins upon himself and brought us into fellowship with God; and he is the forgiveness for our sins,

1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NIV)
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[2]    The “Rapture” is a -Fueling Event!

• First, Jesus returns!
• Secondly, there will be a resurrection!
• Thirdly, there will be a reunion!

1 Thessalonians 4:18 (NIV)

…There will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.

[3]    The “Rapture” is a Life- Event!

• The “Rapture” is meant to be call!

Romans 13:11-13 (MSG)

 Make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. 12 The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing …13 We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight.

• The “Rapture” is meant to be a call!

1 Thessalonians 5:8 (NIV)

Since we belong to the day, let us … putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

• The “Rapture” is a call!

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NLT)
So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

Hebrews 10:25 (CEV)
Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging, building each other up, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer.