Preparing For The Rapture

I Thessalonians 5:4-11

We know that the Lord has promised to return, and to take his people with him, He has told us that it will be unannounced. As a result, we are like the homeowner who lives in a area which has many home break-ins. It is incumbent on the home owner to take appropriate actions to avoid being robbed. It is incumbent that we take appropriate action preparing for the Lord’s return. Paul described this in this passage.

“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.” (I Thessalonians 5:4-7)

We are not uninformed, and should not be caught unawares, as if we were taking a nap or drunk. We need to be alert to what is happening around us, in order to keep from falling into sin. As Paul points out we need to focus on what Christ has promised, and what he has done for us, and in us.

“But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.” (I Thessalonians 5:8-11)

So many in our day have become like the Church at Laodicea described in Revelation 3: 14-22, lukewarm in their efforts to serve God. Church is just something you ought to do. Attendance is based on what else they want to do, Doctrine is unimportant, so that what a church practices is far less important that how they feel at the services. They can accept almost anything. They do not see the importance of Paul’s teaching in Hebrews 10:21-27



Because we know that we are saved, and that we must be judged, we need to be in a church where we are encouraged to serve the Lord. Each Christian is responsible for helping others to grow. They are also responsible practice their faith, and the purpose of the church is to encourage and teach Christians to serve God. By attending a sound church, we receive the teaching we need, and encourage others in their Christian life. Those who have not fully committed to Christ may be encouraged to do so, rather than turning away, and being lost. The vast majority of those who turn away were never fully committed, and thus have never yielded to him for salvation. Many are like the lady who said “I’ll get saved if the Lord will let me travel, not committed to salvation, but to what they desire.

Unsound teaching plays on such lusts and desires to manipulate people, rather than teaching them to serve God, and leaves them unsaved and lost. Sound teaching is crucial for real spiritual growth.