In a Twinkling of an Eye

   The sky glowed red behind me. Two people fell over me as I was leaning on a marble column.  I was far enough away that the blast and shock wave didn’t reach me, but I felt a warm wind engulf me from behind. It felt like contrast flowing through my body. My veins and arteries were warm. My face was flush, and then I became very nauseous. My hair started falling out and then my exposed skin on my arms and face started to fall off. I felt intense pain and agony as I slowly felt myself falling away…………. There are descriptions of two nuclear exchanges in the Bible. During the first exchange one-quarter of the earth’s population is destroyed, and with the second exchange, one-third of the remaining population is destroyed. In  Zechariah 14:12 we read, “Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.”

There are three instances recorded in God’s Holy Word when Jesus Christ comes to earth. The first time He came as a baby born of a virgin. He came to pay the sin-debt of the world. He gave His life as a ransom to purchase the redemption of our lost souls. He paid that price with His blood by sacrificing Himself on the cross so we may have a personal relationship with God the Father through the Holy Spirit.   For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,  but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 1 Peter 1:18-19 NIV 

   The  next time He will come to the sky above the earth. “For with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven, and those who died in Christ will rise first. Afterward we, the living who remain, will be caught up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall forever be with the Lord” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17) NIV  He will call out all of us who know Him, and we will join Him in heaven, while the tribulation period rages on earth. Christ’s church is the apple of His eye. …For I am going away to prepare a place for you. And when I have gone and have prepared a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself so that where I am, you also will be.” John 14:2-3 NKJV 

I urge you not to take a chance with your salvation.  There are simple steps we can take to ensure our place with God. Call upon the name of the Lord and you shall be saved. Believe that He is the Son of God. The Bible says, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 NJV  Through prayer you can invite Jesus into your life. Start by saying, “Dear Heavenly Father,  I admit that I am a sinner. I believe Your Son, Jesus Christ, died for my sins and has risen from the grave so that I can have fellowship with You.  Please come into my life and lead me in Your ways. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray,  Amen.”

  We are to be sanctified or set apart from the world because the world judges God by our behavior. Many people do not read the Bible. They look at us  for and note everything we say and do. We are God’s representatives here on earth.  We are the sinner’s Bible. God has called us to be pure in mind, body and soul. Sanctification literally means to be holy. We are to be entirely devoted to God. That holiness comes from the price Jesus Christ paid on the cross. When we accept Christ as our Savior, when we develop a personal relationship with God through daily Bible study and prayer, when we surrender our lives to Christ the Holy Spirit can begin a work through us.  And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. Romans 10:9  NKJV  Our salvation is complete and instantaneous when we believe, however, our sanctification (our separation or holiness) grows over time as we seek to take on God’s divine nature. At first we are weak in Christ, but the more we learn the more confidence we will have.

 In 1 Thessalonians we are instructed on how we should live as Christians. We find that all of His true believers, His saints, His holy ones, who Jesus Christ will acknowledge, will be taken up to heaven. People who trusted Christ by living in His will, people who loved Him and abides in His Word, people who posses the Holy Spirit, will hear His voice, and will instantly be transformed and meet Jesus in the sky. “In a twinkling of an eye” all the saints will be caught up to meet Jesus.  “Take notice, I am telling you a secret. We shall not all die but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet call. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NKJV  When Christ comes in the Rapture all the spirits of all the saints, dead and alive, will be changed instantaneously. Our bodies will be raised incorruptible and we will enjoy the fruits of our labor during the marriage feast of the Lamb. There the true church and Christ will be united. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope  that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.  And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.  For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” Romans 8:18-25 KJV

God has called us to live holy and pure lives. We are to devote ourselves to Bible study and prayer so we will be prepared when Satan calls upon us to tempt us in his evil ways. We are to abstain from sexual immorality.  Homosexual promiscuity, adultery, and sex out of marriage is forbidden. We should know how to control our body with our mind and not let our body control us like so many people today. We are to conduct our personal and business lives in an honest manner. We are to possess integrity and be trusted by the relationships we develop. We are to be quiet and respectful, working with our own hands. We are not to depend on others for food and shelter. We are to work extra hard so we can support our families and those families around us that are less fortunate. We are to lead by example letting our words and actions point to Christ. Jesus says, “he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Just because we have believed in God doesn’t mean we will be saved at the end. God promises everlasting life to those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We are saved by grace through faith. Both have to be present for salvation to occur. Faith comes from daily Bible study and prayer. Jesus says, “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.”  Read Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV  We are seeing this in the news every day. Hatred is at an all time high.

Christ’s final visit will be when He takes the earth back from evil and will crush the Anti-Christ and his cohorts. Our souls, our bodies, and the earth will be redeemed. The curse that Adam brought on man and creation when he sinned,  will be lifted.  The period between these two final visits, when He comes for His church, and when He sets foot on the Mount Olives,  will be the most devastating age ever witnessed. The tribulation period will last seven years. It will bring extreme inflation, poverty, and food will cost a day’s wages. One quarter of the earth’s population will die of war, famines, and pestilence. There will be earthquakes where every island will disappear and every mountain will be moved. One third of all the living creatures, trees and grass will be burned up. There will be plague after plague, and if Jesus Christ did not return, there will be nothing left. Those of us who believed in God will see the errors of our ways and repent. Many will be saved during the tribulation period, but the suffering will be extreme. “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Rev 7:14 NASB

There are many signs that will escape you as to the coming of Christ during the Rapture. The apostasy, or the falling away of the church, will come first. Many people will stop going to church. They will say they believe in God, but will refuse to worship Him. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,  unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.  For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,  always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Timothy 3:2-7 NASB  Violence will increase all over the world. Nation against nation, race against race, and brother against brother. Leadership will be the worst since the beginning of the world and right after the rapture of the church a man will arise who will win political victory after political victory. He will take control of the entire world through false words and pretenses. He will be easily identified by his rapid rise in popularity. Through his deceit he will offer false peace on earth. For three and a half years tranquility will abound, and then all hell will break loose.

An amazing fulfillment of prophecy occurred on May 14,1948. After 2,000 years of being scattered all over the earth Israel became  a nation. The Bible states that Israel will be born a nation in one day, and that is exactly how it occurred. Before she goes into labor she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor she gives birth to her children. Isaiah 66:7-8 NIV  After World War II there were only 7 million Jews left on earth and now their numbers are only 13 million which  matched their pre-war numbers.  The Bible records that after Israel becomes a nation again, “surely the next generation will see the return of Jesus Christ.”  The Bible tells us that no one knows when these events will take place. We are to “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:36  I believe the time is at hand, and the millennial generation could possibly see the rapture of the church. So I urge you now to take the time to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through daily Bible study and prayer. You can start by reading a Millennial Christian article a day. It doesn’t matter where you start. Just pick one and read. The average article takes 15 minutes to read and every single one of them points to Jesus Christ. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:30–31). NASB  They will grow in faith on a daily basis and will come to know the Lord as their own.