4 May 2025

PREPARE TO BE TAKEN UP

(Biblical & Spiritual Exhortations: BSE 10)

The Resurrection and Exaltation of Christ confirms His Promise that He will come and take us to be with Him. He told the disciples: “I am going to prepare a place for you…I will come back and take you to be with Me so that you also may also be where I am” (John 14:2-3). This will happen at the Rapture of the Church: “For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the Archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thess.4:16-17). What a glorious day that will be!

Notice that Christ will not come down to earth but will meet us “in the air”. We will be taken up by His mighty power and our bodies will be miraculously changed to be like His own glorious Body instantly (1 Cor.15:51-53; Phil.3:20-21; 1 John 3:2-3). The translations of Enoch and Elijah and the Ascension of Christ are types of the Rapture. Just like them, we will be taken up to be with Christ forever. Then after the 7-Year Tribulation, we will come down with Christ at His Second Coming to destroy His enemies and reign with Him in the Millenium.

All the signs given by Christ in Matthew 24 about the Rapture have been fulfilled. Now it is only a matter of time – in God’s time – when the trumpet will sound. Christ warns the Church, “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matt.24:44). Are you ready? How can we be ready for this great momentous event?

1. We need to be Holy, for “Without holiness no one shall see the Lord” (Heb.12:14). The Bible exhorts us: “Just as He Who called you is Holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, ‘Be holy, because I Am Holy” (1 Pet.1:15-16). Are you living a holy life?

2. We need Surrender our lives totally to God. Our life is not our own; it belongs to God by right of Creation and Redemption. He bought us with the Price of the Blood of Christ, and He demands that Jesus be Lord of all in our life (1 Pet.1:18-19; 1 Cor.6:19-20; Rom.14:8-10).

3. We need to be Faithfully Serving the Lord. We serve God with our fervent Worship and lovingly serve one another. We serve God in love and obedience with the gifts He has blessed us with. We do all these with the motive of glorifying our Lord in everything we do (1 Cor. 10:31). We will have to give an account of our life at His Judgment Throne one day at the end of time (2 Cor.5:10). Will He say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant”?

4. We need to be Committed to the Great Commission of Christ (Mk 16:15; Matt.28:19-20; Acts 1:8). We are commanded to be involved in His Mission to reach the world with the Gospel and make disciples of all peoples. Like Paul, our mission should be to reach those who have never heard of His Love and Saving Grace (Rom.15:20-21). Let us not go up empty-handed when the trumpet sounds. Let us be sure to bring many up with us!

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