Is Christ Your Life?
And the Harpazo
"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." -Col 3:4 (KJV)
Some people will ask when will the catching away of the bride of Christ occur? The harpazo, the Greek transliteration, of the phrase "shall be caught up" of 1 Th 4:17 – "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." (KJV) is a topic of much controversy and scorn. For those that believe it will take place, whether you are pre-Trib, pre-Wrath or post-Trib, I want to try and describe today not when it will be or how it will take place but who will go … according to scripture.
Please take a moment and read Col 3:1-4, and maybe read it again a couple of more times. Then let those 4 verses sink into your spirit and pray that the Holy Spirit will give you understanding of just exactly what they mean. Those 4 small verses are a billboard and should be quite impacting to a professing Christian's lifestyle, actions, word and deed. They should even affect your thought patterns. We are to seek those things that are above, in heaven and we are to set (to feel, to think, to have understanding) our affection on the things above or on heaven and not on anything of this earth. Based on these things are you engaged in them? Yes, it takes some work on our part but the Apostle Paul urges that we do this? But why?
I think the main reason and emphasis can be found in verse 4. "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory". This is huge and quite revealing for those that believe in the harpazo or catching away of the saints. Another more commonly used term is the Latin derivative called the rapture. When Christ who is our life. What does this mean? Let me offer some suggestions. We are to live 100% dedicated – heart, mind and soul – to our Lord. That means it's a 24×7 operation and there are no exceptions. Yes, we will fall occasionally but remember Jesus knows our hearts (Jer 17:10) and He knows our intentions and desires. We must as Christians make every effort to live for Him. This means in what we listen to, talk about, read, watch on TV or movies and for that matter the friends we keep. We must focus our lives on what pleases our Lord, we must set our minds on His kingdom and we must set our thoughts on Him. We must daily read His word and learn about who He is in our lives. We cannot be casual Christians. We must be dedicated followers of Christ 100% of the time.
"… and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." -Heb 9:28b (KJV)
Why is this so important? Read what it says in the second half of verse 4… It says that when Christ appears in the rapture or harpazo, if Christ is our Lord and we live for Him then we will appear with Him in glory. In other words, we will be taken. The flip side folks … if you play around with your Christian life and haphazardly engage in reading His word and drawing closer to Him. If you live with one foot in the world and the other in Christianity then you will be left behind! These are the words of the Lord and not mine but where do you hear this today? Certainly, not in our wishy-washy, socially non-offending, so-called Christian churches where there is no mention of sin, Godly sorrow for sin or repentance. I'm afraid there will be many "Christians" who find themselves still here after the sound of the last trump (1 Cor 15:51-53) and their grief will be absolutely terrible and terrifying! I'm also sure that many of these cowardly (also left behind) pastors who stand behind their ineffective pulpits every Sunday, teaching a smooth, easy-to-digest and soft Gospel, will be sought out by their left-behind parishioners and asked quite vehemently, "Why didn't you tell us the truth, now what do we do?"
It's time to get right with Almighty God. Today, not tomorrow or next week. Even if the rapture doesn't come before your time is up here on earth, will you stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and be welcomed into heaven or will you by your flippant earthly lifestyle be shown the door to the "other place"? These are serious no-kidding truths for God is not kidding about His word and the reality of what is to come. In our modern DIY society, way too many people are not taking Almighty God seriously and for those the future will be bleak. Bottom line friends: we must make Christ our life in thought, word and deed while we have breath in this body here on earth. We must read His word daily and pray daily. We must talk to others about the free gift of salvation and His sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. We must win souls for Christ -Prov 11:30. So the big question for all of us right here and now – Have we made Christ our life today and every day?
"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." -Col 3:1-4 (KJV)
-BPWatcher, Internet Preacher and Bible Prophecy Watchman
WILL YOU BE TAKEN AT THE RAPTURE?
