“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:”- Isaiah 55:6
It’s kind of odd to think that there will come a time when God will not be near for us to call upon Him, but it will come. Right now, God abides with us. He indwells every believer in the person of the Holy Spirit, but one day soon, Jesus will return to take Christians back to heaven with Him. Currently, He is preparing a place for us there, and when that is completed, God the Father will send His Son to claim His bride… the Church. “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 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.” (John 14:2-3) This event, known as the Rapture of the Church, is recorded in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. “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: 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 the Rapture happens and all the Christians leave this world, the Holy Spirit, who dwells within each believer, will also be removed from the earth at that time. No longer will the Spirit of God be here. How will this impact life on earth? To understand the impact, it’s important to know that one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to restrain sin (2 Thessalonians 2:7). He does this by convicting the world of sin which restrains evil from being worse than it is. In regard to the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:” (John 16:8). When the Christians, whose bodies are the temple of the indwelling Spirit of God, are no longer here, neither is the Holy Spirit.
Once He is gone, there will be no restrainer of sin, and evil and wickedness will be loosed upon this world as never before… well, except maybe in the days of Noah. Jesus said “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:37-39). In those days, mankind grieved God so much that He finally exercised His judgment upon the earth. He will do the same after the Rapture of the Church.
So, what does this mean for Christians? It means that we need to be sharing the gospel with those around us. Time is truly short. We can see the signs of Jesus’ coming everywhere! Maybe you’re thinking, “I wouldn’t know what to say…” Just tell people what Jesus has done for you. That’s the best testimony because it’s real! God will do the rest! Remember, He wants everyone to come to Him with a penitent heart and accept salvation through His Son. 2 Peter 3:9 reminds us, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Tonight a man is somewhere proclaiming the good news
Winning families to Jesus all around his neighborhood
He tells them that God is able to make their house a home
He wants to win his world for Christ, but he can’t do it alone
The message is unchanging, go ye into all the world
And share the love of Jesus far away or door to door
You see, just like somebody told you that Jesus loves you so
You must tell someone, who will tell someone
Until the whole world knows
But each one can reach one
As we follow after Christ, we all can lead one
We can lead one to the Savior
And together we can tell the world that Jesus is the way
If we each one reach one
(from “Each One, Reach One” by Babbie Mason)
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” – Proverbs 11:30
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Instead of looking for the signs, we need to be listening for the trumpet!