The Rapture – Are We There Yet?
I remember when I was a child, every summer my parents would take us to Atlantic City, NJ. Of course, that was when it was still a family-oriented vacation town. No Casinos, just a huge stretch of shimmering white sand with a boardwalk that seemed to go on forever.

In the early mornings, we would rent bicycles before breakfast. I loved the feeling of that salty air hitting my face and blowing through my hair. I can still hear the cries of the seagulls as they soared above our heads. Of all the sights, smells and sounds, the roar of the ocean waves was by far my favorite.

Are We There Yet?

Each year, the trip from Maryland to the beach took about four hours. My dad would always drive. We all brought our pillows to catch a nap – Dad insisted that we leave around 5 a.m., so a nap was much needed.

I remember waking from a nap and asking my parents, “Are we there yet?” I’d see the smiles on their faces as my mom would say, “Not yet – lay your head back down.”

Four hours felt like four days! We all anticipated the fun we would have. When my parents knew that we were getting close, they would open the car windows so that we kids would get that first whiff of salt air.

Then we could hardly contain ourselves!

The Rapture

This morning, as I thought about how we are desperately waiting to hear the trump of God and the shout of our Lord Jesus when He finally comes in the clouds to take us to be with Him, my mind traveled back to my childhood and the yearly trip to the beach.

I realized that when I think about that glorious day, I feel like a child again. I also realized that the Lord delights in this “childlike” anticipation of the Rapture.

Childlike Faith

“And said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven’” (Matthew 18:3).

“Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it” (Luke 18:17).

“Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.’ And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them” (Mark 10:13-16).

“And said to Him, ‘Do You hear what these are saying?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Yes. Have you never read,’ ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?” (Matthew 21:16).

“Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4).

I think that it is very clear that the Lord delights in our childlike yearning for the Rapture! Did you know that there is a special reward in heaven for those who love His appearing?

“Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).

I believe that Jesus smiles when He sees us yearning for His Appearing.

But I also think that He wants us to rest our weary heads on our pillows, and yes, keep watching and waiting and asking, “Are we there – are You coming soon for us?”

But most of all I believe that He doesn’t want us to fret when we see the evil all around us. He wants us to trust Him. He wants us to believe Him.

And He wants us to comfort one another:

“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1Thessalonians 4:15-18).

Don’t Listen to the Scoffers

“Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’” (2 Peter 3:1-4).

To those scoffers we must say:

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).

Are we there yet? Is He coming soon?

He will come at precisely the right moment and we must trust Him!

From “Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”

‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
Oh, for grace to trust Him more!

I’m so glad I learned to trust Him,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend
And I know that He is with me,
Will be with me to the end.

Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood
And in simple faith to plunge me
‘Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Casting Crowns Singing “Tis So Sweet”   <click here

A Sermon For Sunday    < Click here

Shalom b’Yeshua

MARANATHA!

grandmageri422@gmail.com

Articles at grandmageri422.me

 

Since receiving so many emails from brothers and sisters in Christ who are “churchless,” I have been posting “A Sermon for Sunday” at the end of my articles. I really just began doing this, and the preaching I have been sharing is that of Dr. Adrian Rogers.

Pastor Adrian went home to be with his beloved Jesus in 2005. There is no other pastor who touches my soul, or stirs me and causes me to feel closer to Jesus than Pastor Adrian.

He has been walking with the Lord in heaven for 13 years, yet his sermons continue to nourish and bless the brethren. These sermons are still instrumental in bringing the lost to Christ.

This is the last video just hours before Pastor Adrian was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia from which he died and came face to face with the One he loved.

Last Message From Pastor Adrian  <click to watch

His love for Israel

Pastor Adrian was very vocal about his love for Israel and the Jewish people:

Sermon on Pastor Adrian’s Love for Israel  <Click to watch

Dr. Adrian Rogers’ Memorial Service

Pastor Adrian’s Memorial Service  <Click to watch

I have often said that when I get to heaven, I know that first I will see Jesus. I don’t know if I will be able to stand. The thought of seeing the One who knows me best, yet loves me most, and gave His life for me – well, it takes my breath away just thinking of it.

Secondly, I long to see my father, whom the Lord allowed me the privilege of leading to Him so many years ago.

Thirdly, I wish to meet Dr. Adrian Rogers. I just want to hug him and thank him for loving the Lord and His Word, and sharing that love with the world.

I believe that Pastor Adrian Rogers was the last well-known Baptist minister to teach about the Rapture of the church. He preached boldly from the book of Revelation. Oh, how we need that today!

From bpnews.net

November 16th, 2005

In his final days, Adrian Rogers told those gathered around him, ‘I am at perfect peace.’

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BP)–Even in the face of death, friends say, Adrian Rogers exemplified the Christian faith he spent a lifetime sharing.

The longtime pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in suburban Memphis and the three-time Southern Baptist Convention president died Nov. 15 at the age of 74 following a battle with pneumonia and cancer.

But days earlier — before he slipped into unconsciousness — Rogers delivered a message to those gathered in his hospital room that won’t soon be forgotten. At the time, doctors were preparing to place Rogers on a ventilator, which would prevent him from speaking.

Steve Gaines, Rogers’ successor at Bellevue, was in the room.

“The last thing I heard him say was, ‘I am at perfect peace,'” Gaines, who succeeded Rogers this year, told Baptist Press.

Gaines and others then left the room, but Gaines decided to go back in to see Rogers “one more time.” By then, Rogers was on the ventilator, unable to talk, surrounded by doctors and nurses.

“His eyes and my eyes caught one another,” Gaines said. “He looked right at me and he gave me a thumbs up. That’s just him — he was Mr. Positive. He was an awesome guy.”

Rogers died just five weeks after leading a one-day preaching conference in Naples, Fla., as part of his newly founded Pastor Training Institute. It was the first time he had led such a conference. In hindsight, it also was the last.

“I can’t believe [he’s dead],” Gaines said. “It just happened so quickly…. I believed with all my heart that when he went into the hospital just a little over a week ago, that he would be coming home, that this was just sort of a temporary setback, that they would hook him up with some oxygen and he would be OK. And that’s just not what happened.”

Yet in the few short weeks that Gaines was Rogers’ pastor (Rogers kept his membership at Bellevue), Rogers provided a shining example of both leadership and humility.

Immediately before Gaines preached his first sermon as Bellevue pastor Sept. 11, Rogers washed Gaines’ feet on the Bellevue platform, using a basin of water and a towel as Gaines sat in the pastor’s chair. It was all Rogers’ idea.

“At first we were going to do it in a private time, in just a simple way,” Gaines said. “He did not do that for a show or anything like that. But he and I both prayed about it, and we both felt like it would really be a wonderful thing for the church to experience.”

Rogers also placed a cloth mantle on Gaines to symbolize the passing of the torch.

“After the foot washing, Dr. Rogers … called my wife up and his wife up, and they laid hands on us and prayed for us,” Gaines said.

Foot washing, Gaines said, “symbolizes the heart of a servant” and is modeled after Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet.

Rogers, Gaines said, epitomized humility.

“He was never impressed with himself. He never was one to brag about himself,” Gaines said. “The Bible says, ‘Let another person’s lips praise you and not your own.’ He never, ever brought attention to himself in any way. I believe that one of the reasons that God exalted him is because he humbled himself. That’s just the way he lived.

“He was aware, obviously, that God had done great things through him. But he always gave Jesus the glory.”

Paul Pressler, the retired judge who was a leader in the Southern Baptist Conservative Resurgence, said Rogers “was always a reluctant candidate” for SBC president.

“He loved preaching more than leading the convention, which spoke to his humility,” Pressler said.

Amazingly, Rogers’ first great-grandchild was born the day before he died, in a hospital across town. The family, Gaines said, had prayed that the birth would not take place the same day Rogers died.

“And the Lord honored that,” he said.

In addition to his great-grandchild, Rogers is survived by nine grandchildren, four children, and his wife, Joyce Rogers, whom Rogers often referred to as his “grade school sweetheart.” Bellevue Baptist church members were known to look up to the Rogers as the model Christian couple. Joyce Rogers still has a love note that her then-future husband dropped on her desk in sixth grade.

They met in fourth grade and married in college.

“She’s the only person he’s ever dated, and vice versa,” Gaines said. “I just talked to her. She’s doing well, but it’s hard.”

Gaines’ sermon Nov. 20 will be on heaven, but not because the church’s former pastor died.

“That was just the way the sermons fell,” he said. ” … I had planned this sermon series back in August, and had no idea at that time he would be … in heaven. That’s just the way the Lord arranged it.” — Michael Foust, Baptist Press.

He ran the race and certainly finished well!

Shalom b’Yeshua

MARANATHA!

grandmageri422@gmail.com

Articles at grandmageri422.me