Archive for July 21st, 2010

How do we know we are in the end times?  Haven’t people always predicted the end?  The key is understanding that the beginning of the very end of the dispensation of grace began when Israel became a nation in 1948.  To understand the rapture, you must understand that God has separate plans for  Jews and Gentiles.  When the dispensation of grace ends, the church age ends.  The first 3 chapters of Revelation deal with the Churches and after Revelation 4:1 when Jesus commands to “come up hither (here)” the church is mentioned no more.  ¹After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
 ⁵¹Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep; but we shall all be changed ⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (I Corinithians 15: 51-53)

Matthew 25

   ”Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom ²And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ³They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, ⁴but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. ⁶And at midnight there was a cry made: `Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.’ <sup>7</sup>Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. <sup>8</sup>And the foolish said unto the wise, `Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.’ ⁹But the wise answered, saying, `Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you; but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.’ <sup>10</sup>And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut <sup>11</sup>Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, `Lord, lord, open to us!’ ¹²But he answered and said, `Verily I say unto you, I know you not.’ ¹³Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.

Five of the ten virgins had fallen in soil three.  What is soil three?  It is found in the parable of the four soils we fall into when we first hear the Word of God.  It shows us four ways we respond when we hear the Word of God.

 ²And He taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in His doctrine:  ³“Hearken! Behold, there went out a sower to sow. ⁴And it came to pass as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. ⁵And some fell on stony ground where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth. ⁶But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.⁷And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. ⁸And other fell on good ground; and it yielded fruit that sprang up and increased and brought forth: some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundredfold.” ⁹And He said unto them, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” ¹⁰And when He was alone, those who were about Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.¹¹And He said unto them, “Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God; but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables ¹²that, `seeing they may see, and not perceive, and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted and their sins should be forgiven them.’”¹³And He said unto them, “Know you not this parable? And how then will ye know all parables? ¹⁴The sower soweth the Word. ¹⁵And these are they by the wayside, where the Word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the Word that was sown in their hearts. (Didn’t understand it or wasn’t listening)¹⁶And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground who, when they have heard the Word, immediately receive it with gladness; ¹⁷but they have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the Word’s sake, immediately they are offended. (a “not worth it selfish” attitude)¹⁸And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the Word, ¹⁹but the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful. (Those that love the world more than God, are lukewarm and have one foot in the world, and one foot in Christ)²⁰And these are they which are sown on good ground, such as hear the Word and receive it and bring forth fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. (those that accept Christ for the right reasons and realize they are lost and owe God everything) 

The Lukewarm Christians are described in Revelation 3:14-17

 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: ¹⁵I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. ¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth. ¹⁷Because 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,”

The rapture is only promised to the Church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3:10, which is soil 4.

   
 ¹⁰Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. ¹¹Behold, I come quickly; hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Life is serious because your future eternity is at stake.  The rapture is only promised to the Church of Philadelphia. 

Remember, salvation can be compared to you drowning in a well.  You are hopelessly lost (thanks to Adam and Eve, the beginning of the human race).  Jesus is throwing down a rope shouting “grab on and come up hither.”  Don’t you want to be set free and have your sins washed away?  Bible prophecy is nothing to be ignored.  Listen to this song again, and then click on how to find Jesus under categories.