The Rapture

Importance of Watchfulness

The command to watch for the Lord's return is a major theme of the New Testament. The word "watch" occurs in such a context twelve times.

35 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;

36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.

37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.

38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.

39 And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.

40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Luke 12:35-40

There are also many texts that give the same command without actually using the word "watch."

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Titus 2:13

The closing words of the Bible frame the prayer that should always be on our lips.

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Revelation 22:20

To insure watchfulness, the Bible teaches that the Lord's return is imminent—that is, so far as we know, He could come at any moment.

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

Philippians 4:5

For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

Hebrews 10:37

Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Revelation 3:11

Why is watching for His return important? For two reasons:

1. It keeps Christ in the center of our thoughts. There is a great danger that we will become so preoccupied with serving Christ that we will forget the One we are serving. Remember Mary and Martha.

38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.

40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Luke 10:38-42

Imagine having Jesus Christ as a guest in your living room and spending all your time in the kitchen. But that is exactly what we are prone to do. Although we faithfully go about the tasks of a Christian—assisting ministries in the church, witnessing to the lost, teaching our children Biblical principles—we fail to sit down at the feet of Jesus. We spend little time talking with Jesus Himself. We should be confiding in Him, earnestly seeking His counsel, treasuring His every word, and lavishing our love and praise upon Him.

One good way to keep our focus on Christ is to remember that we might see Him at any moment. Suddenly, without warning, our bodies will be changed, and in that moment of transformation we will receive the capacity to hear a trumpet that mere mortals cannot hear. From its sound of stupendous majesty, racing from sky to sky, will emerge another sound, the voice of Christ inviting us to ascend into His presence. Then we will joyfully depart from this world of corruption and meet Him face to face. The meeting we long for could be just minutes away. How important it is, then, that we keep our love for Christ warm and fresh, lest we become like the church at Ephesus.

2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.

4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Revelation 2:2-5

The Ephesians were busy doing God's work, but their labor was dry duty, empty of love. We will not neglect to love Christ if we are always looking for Him.

2. The second reason we must watch is that we must not forget how close we are to being judged. The first event after the Rapture will be the Judgment Seat of Christ. According to Paul, that prospect put terror in his heart.

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

2 Corinthians 5:10-11

If God's anointed apostle to the gentiles was afraid of the accounting he must give to Christ, how should we feel? Watchfulness, if combined with recognition that Christ will judge us soon after we meet Him, will deter us from sin. Time and time again, the New Testament warns us that we will fall into sin if we forget how close we are to being judged.

Let us examine some of these warnings:

8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

James 5:8-9

The word "grudge" would be better translated "groan" or "grumble." James is talking about complaining, or gossip, or any use of the tongue to run down a brother. He tells us to be careful. If the Lord comes while we are waging a campaign against our brother, we will go straight to judgment and be condemned. What is the right way to handle any complaint or grievance? The Bible is very clear. We should go to the person who has offended us and talk to him before we talk to anybody else. Let him satisfy us without damage to his own reputation.

15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

Matthew 18:15–17

According to James in the text we have just quoted, the best way to keep sweetness among ourselves is to remember that the judge stands at the door. One danger in not being watchful is that we lose a great incentive to control our tongues. We let poisonous words come out and breed conflict.

Consider another warning.

44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;

50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 24:44-51

Here is urgent divine counsel to pastors and church leaders. Jesus says that if they neglect to be watchful—if they forget that they will soon meet Christ in judgment—they may start abusing the flock entrusted to them. Abuse of power by church leaders has been a recurring problem in church history. Every new movement of God tends to stagnate within a few generations. One reason is that leaders eventually arise who are more interested in career than in Christ, in enlarging their own fame and power than in enlarging the kingdom of God. Jesus calls such a man an evil servant, and the destiny He decrees for such a man is the most terrible we find in Scripture. A Christian leader who is a rank hypocrite mistreating his people and serving his own pleasure will be torn limb from limb and cast into hell.

Pretribulational Rapture

See yet another warning.

34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Luke 21:34-36

This is an amazing text. As we read it, we feel that we can almost hear Jesus’ voice speaking directly to us, in our generation.

Yet perhaps you have ignored it because, like many today, you have no interest in prophecy. Such an interest is rapidly disappearing from evangelical churches. When I was young, prophecy was a major theme of both teaching and preaching. Many people devoted summer vacations to attending Bible conferences on prophecy. They devoured books on the subject and eagerly tuned in such radio Bible teachers as M. R. DeHaan, who faithfully expounded the prophetic Scriptures. Today, prophecy has become the province of weird televangelists, who drum up enthusiasm by making sensational but unscriptural claims. But we cannot afford to neglect prophecy. We see its importance in how much of the Bible is devoted to it. Between one fourth and one third of the Bible has prophecy as its subject.

Nor can we afford to misinterpret prophecy. A popular view today is that the passage just quoted in Luke 21 and many other prophecies of Jesus concerning the end times are referring to events during the Tribulation. I and many others label this view ultradispensationalism—so-called because it carries dispensationalism to an unreasonable extreme. If I am describing what you were taught, I respect your position. As a Baptist, I believe in soul liberty. But I beg to differ with you. It is evident that God has given us this passage as a warning of vital importance. Therefore, you would be wise to consider the arguments against ultradispensationalism. In my book on signs of the times, I show that the ultradispensational view of Jesus' sayings does not stand up to scrutiny. The root problem is that it fails to compare Scripture with Scripture.

Before we can heed the warning in Luke 21:34-36, we must, however, understand it. Let us approach it with some Biblical common sense. What is "that day which as a snare will come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth?" What are "all these things that shall come to pass?" The answer is in the preceding verses 25-28.

25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Luke 21:25-28

Jesus is obviously talking about the coming period of the earth's history when God will pour out His wrath on the whole world—the period that believers today call the Tribulation. But Jesus promises that His people will not have to go through it. A few verses later, in verse 36, He says that they will "escape all these things that shall come to pass"; literally, "escape these things all which are about to come to pass."¹ Back in verse 28, in reference to the same deliverance, the text says that it will happen "when these things begin to come to pass." The clear meaning is that God will deliver His people just when the world descends into all-consuming trouble. In other words, believers will miss the whole Tribulation. How will they escape? The answer should be obvious to every reader. The only way to escape worldwide calamity is to leave the world. We should be able to agree that Jesus in these verses is teaching the rapture of the church. Indeed, this is one of numerous passages undergirding the doctrine of a pretribulational rapture.

The Marks of a True Christian

Now be patient. We have to lay the groundwork for a momentous conclusion—a life-changing conclusion, I hope, for some of you. Despite the obvious importance of this passage in Luke 21, many preachers steer away from it, because it raises hard questions. For example, Jesus clearly teaches that to participate in the Rapture, we must pass a worthiness test. He says, "Watch therefore at every season praying, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape these things all"² (v. 36). The meaning is not that we should be praying always for God to find us worthy, but that we should make ourselves worthy by praying always. The test of worthiness is therefore exactly this: whether we are always watching and praying rather than letting ourselves be absorbed by worldly pleasures and cares. But wait a minute. You do not have to pass a worthiness test to become a Christian. If you did, salvation would not be by faith, but by works. Thus, from the teaching that only the worthy will be taken at the Rapture, some people have drawn false conclusions. They have decided that it will be only a partial rapture, a rapture not of the whole church, but of a few saints selected for their outstanding godliness. Just the worthiest Christians will be taken, they say.

But the people holding this view have failed to study the mind of Jesus. Everywhere in His teaching, Jesus treats faith and works as inseparable. A good example is the following:

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Matthew 7:21-23

Here, Jesus speaks as though eternal destiny depends on works, does He not? Those admitted to heaven have done the will of the Father. Those barred from heaven have practiced iniquity. But what He means is clarified by James.

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

James 2:20-24

We find in this passage that true faith always produces good works. We find elsewhere in Scripture that truly good works, pleasing to God, are impossible without faith.

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:8–10

So, when Jesus calls someone a worker of iniquity, He means that he lacks not only works, but also faith, for a true man of faith is never a worker of iniquity, in the sense that iniquity controls his life. Rather, he is a man who does the Father's will.

Let us reexamine Luke 21:34-36 in the light of these principles. When Jesus says that we must pass a worthiness test to participate in the Rapture, He means that this worthiness test is also a test of our salvation. Works are not the means of our salvation, but the proof of our salvation. At the time when He returns for the church, a saved man will be watching for Him and praying always. No real Christian will instead have a heart overcharged with surfeiting, drunkenness, and cares of this life. "Overcharged" means "weighed down." Jesus is describing someone whose heart has sunk into the world of self instead of rising into the world of eternity. Do you understand the terrible implications of our conclusion? Viewed in this way, the words of this passage fall like a bombshell on the contemporary church, which is overrun by professing Christians absorbed in unspiritual lifestyles. Jesus is saying that such people are self-deceived if they think they have a place reserved at the Rapture.

Laodiceans

A similar warning for our benefit is found in the last of the letters recorded in the opening chapters of Revelation, the letter to Laodicea. It describes a people who sound exactly like many Christians in the modern world. They are smug about their Christianity. They imagine that no one could stand higher in God’s estimation than they do. But they are self-deceived.

14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Revelation 3:14-22

As we show in another lesson, the church of Laodicea pictures a typical evangelical church church in the Last Days, just before Christ returns. It is a church that is outwardly prosperous. Its people even have the audacity to boast that they have need of nothing. Perceiving the bustling success of their church as a sign of God’s favor, they freely thank God for His special blessings upon them. In their hearts they feel secure in their salvation, and they have no doubt that they will go to heaven. If they believe in the Rapture, they expect to be included.

But what is their true condition? Jesus says that despite the size and wealth of Laodicean churches, He does not take any pleasure in them. They are, in fact, disgusting, like the taste of lukewarm water. The terms He uses to describe their members show clearly that, with few exceptions, they are not born again. In reality, they are wretched and miserable. That is, they are still in bondage to sin.

23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Romans 7:23-24

Although it is a believer speaking here, he is talking about man's natural condition apart from the Holy Spirit. Wretchedness and misery are the lot of every unsaved man. The Laodiceans are also poor. That is, they lack the true riches of an inheritance in heaven.

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, . . .

Ephesians 1:18

They are blind. That is, they walk in darkness and know not the light of Christ.

6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

1 John 1:6-7

They are naked. That is, they are not clothed with the righteousness of Christ.

And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Revelation 19:8

To be wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—these are terms describing unsaved people. The point is, evangelical churches in the Last Days will be filled with unsaved people who are oblivious to their true spiritual condition.

What will happen to them? They will suffer the fate described in verse 16 of Revelation 3. Jesus says that He will spew them out of His mouth. The obvious meaning is that He will judge them to be strangers to His body, with no right to be included among the raptured saints. As a result, they will not escape the horrors of history’s final hour. Some, as a result of being left behind, will repent. These are the ones mentioned in verse 19. Yet when they finally live in a manner pleasing to God, they will suffer terrible persecution. We will show later that the Tribulation will produce a host of martyrs.

Dare I assume that I am not a typical Laodicean? Dare you assume that you are not? Because we are all human, with an immense capacity for self-deception, we must all examine ourselves to see whether we are truly saved.

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

2 Corinthians 13:5

How do we know? The telltale sign that end-time Laodiceans will be playacting at their religion is given in Revelation 3:15-16. Their works will be neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm. They will be exactly the kind of people Jesus describes when He reveals who will be excluded from the Rapture (Luke 21:34–36). Although they may profess a relationship with Christ, they will be preoccupied with life in this world. Instead of praying and watching, they will devote themselves to earthly pleasures and cares

Three Miseries of the Self-Deceived

According to Jesus’ words in the same passage, the lives of worldlings who miss the Rapture will center on three things: surfeiting, drunkenness, and cares of this life. The result? Instead of escaping from the Tribulation, they will be its victims. It will descend upon them by surprise and swallow them up.

What is meant by "surfeiting"? The English word is a poor attempt to translate kraipale (ϰϱαιπαλή).³ Scholars agree that in its core meaning, the Greek word suggests unpleasant sensations in a person’s head. One authority defined it as "both carousing, intoxication, and its result drunken headache, hangover, since it means dizziness, staggering, when the head refuses to function."⁴ Another says, "In the medical writings it is used of drunken nausea or headache."⁵ Yet another points out that it is a compound of two roots, the Greek words "head" and "toss about."⁶

The second preoccupation Jesus predicts in the lives of many in the Last Days is "drunkenness," another reference to their use of intoxicating beverages. The unavoidable question is why Jesus referred to both surfeiting and drunkenness if both terms name essentially the same vice. Was not the mention of only one sufficient to convey His intended meaning? Perhaps He used both for the sake of emphasis. But since they are not exact synonyms, it is more likely that He used both to give us a larger picture of how alcohol hurts people. Although the terms overlap in meaning, they highlight slightly different evils on the world scene. The first, because it vividly describes the immediate physical and neurological effects of drinking, points to all the harm that an inebriated person can do to himself and others. The second, because it serves as Jesus’ description of people left behind at the Rapture, suggests a habitual practice. Therefore, it points to the vice known as alcoholism, which causes decay of both mind and body.

There is no doubt that today’s world is madly in love with alcohol, as well as with many other mind-altering chemicals. One recent study found that the total volume of alcohol consumed per year around the world increased 70% between 1990 and 2017.⁷ In the same period, global population increased only 29%.⁸ Yet these statistics do not mean that drinking more alcohol is a uniform trend. On the contrary, the percentage of drinkers in all countries actually decreased between 2000 and 2016.⁹ But at the same time there was an even sharper increase in per capita consumption of alcohol by those who were still drinkers.

For a proper understanding of Luke 21:34–36, we must see the sharp contrast between this passage and Matthew 24:37–39.

37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 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,

39 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

Although both provide Jesus’ description of the masses who will be unprepared for His return, they look at the spiritually ignorant from different perspectives. In Matthew 24, where Jesus likens the days before His coming to the days of Noah, He says that the Flood took most people by surprise because their attention was wholly given to such everyday pleasures as eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage. In essence, they just wanted to enjoy life. Likewise in the Last Days, people will attach no importance to things spiritual. They too will be seeking a world-centered happiness. But whereas in Matthew 24, Jesus tells what they will be seeking, in Luke 21 He tells what they will find. Their compulsive pursuit of worldly pleasure will take them at last to a life of misery. Instead of boundless joy in eating and drinking, they will, if they surrender their hearts to food and drink, find only surfeiting and drunkenness. Also, instead of perfect happiness in marriage, they will find only cares of this life if they become obsessed with searching for a perfect sexual partner of their own choosing, without God’s help, or even for a perfect family of their own making, without God’s help.

Christian duty. Have Christians stood firm in opposition to alcoholic beverages? A generation ago, Christians were strongly opposed to them. My mother was a member of the WCTU (the Women’s Christian Temperance Union), the driving force behind Prohibition. Back in the ’50s, I knew the president of this organization. She belonged to a good fundamental church. But today, the standards against drinking are crumbling away. At one time, Christians would not go to a restaurant that served alcohol. That standard has evaporated, has it not? Now, in some evangelical circles, drinking itself has become acceptable. This is an alarming trend in light of Jesus’ warning to us who live in the Last Days that we should stay away from drunkenness. Even opposition to psychoactive drugs is weakening in the Christian world. Professing Christians here and there have argued that it makes sense to legalize marijuana for treatment of certain medical conditions. But any church that wishes to remain a good influence on society and to avoid sliding into Laodicea must stand firm in opposition to use of both alcohol and drugs.

Another misery that Jesus says will be pervasive in the Last Days, even hitting many false Christians, is cares of this life. Also, when we see Matthew 24:37–39 and Luke 21:34–36 as contrastive parallels, He suggests how these cares will enter their experience. The source will be a devotion of self to enjoying the kind of intimate personal relationships that are normally provided by marriage and family. It may seem to you that anyone who at least succeeds in building a marriage and family must be climbing fairly high on the scale of happiness, but despite the great advantages in marriage, the dominant view of Scripture is that it embroils us in trouble and sorrow.

28 But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.

29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;

30 And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;

31 And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.

32 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:

33 But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.

1 Corinthians 7:28–33

So, it is not surprising that in the two passages where Jesus foresees the obsessions of unsaved people on the eve of His return, He appears to set marriage parallel to cares of this world. He knew that marriage-centered cares would be especially severe in the Last Days, because the institution of marriage would then break down, making it hard for families to remain whole and happy. And for the many people who would then cast aside marriage and pursue sex instead, the cares of life would eventually mount to a terrible climax of disease and unbearable loneliness.

There are crucial applications even for saved people. Do not let the difficulty of finding a good mate in perilous times pull you down into deep sadness. If you do marry but discover afterward that your mate has serious flaws, do not let disappointment and discontent become the theme of your thoughts. If you are cast aside by a mate who proves faithless, do not surrender to anger and bitterness. On the other hand, if you have a good marriage, do not let family life become an idol, drawing your heart away from the worship and service of God. Nor should you let family life become an obsession, robbing you of time for fruitful ministry outside your family. In summary, do not let anything in your life as a partner or parent chase from your mind a wholesome meditation on "the blessed hope" of Christ’s return. Remember, Scripture suggests that the worldly cares distracting us from being watchful will include cares of marriage and family.

Meager Harvest

When we examined the letter to Laodicea, we discovered that the number of believers taken at the Rapture will be small in relation to the total number who think they are saved. In the course of these lessons, we have pointed out several ways that Jesus Himself expressed the same idea. More than once, He compared the time right before the Tribulation to the days of Noah (Luke 17:26–27; Matt. 24:37–39). How many in Noah’s day did God deem worthy to save from the Flood? Only eight out of the millions or billions who may have been alive at that time. Also, on one occasion Jesus used a sobering question to warn us that the harvest of souls at the Rapture will be exceedingly small.

I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Luke 18:8

The question is rhetorical; in other words, it suggests the right answer. By asking it, Jesus implied that the presence of faith at His return is rather doubtful. So, there will be either none with faith or very few with faith.

Now we come to the most important question you will ever face—the most important because it is equivalent to asking whether you are saved. This is it. Are you ready for Christ to come? Are you watching for Him always? Are you praying always? Or have you turned your eyes downward to see only the things of this world? Are you living mainly for the sake of the next good meal, the next good time, the next good video? Is your mind largely centered on family cares and other problems? Or is one theme of your thoughts the hope of soon meeting the precious person of Christ?

Think on these things, brethren. I have discharged my responsibility by preparing you for this question as well as I could, and by putting the question to you as clearly as I could. You will never ponder a more important question.