Be Alert

The Bible is full of amazing historical events and mysteries. These are mysteries to us for several reasons. Some mysteries happened way back in history, and since we were not present at that time or place, we may never understand what people saw, heard, or even felt; it remains mysterious to us.

Then there are those things like how the Trinity works and what Jesus really went through on the day He died upon the cross. These are mysteries that we will probably never know or understand on this side of Heaven. Then there is the mystery of the “End of Days.” Jesus tells us in Mark 13:32-33, “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.” The mystery of the rapture is one of great interest. As followers of Jesus, we know that there will be a day when the Lord will come to collect His church, but I want us to see who knows when this day is going to happen, or better yet, who doesn’t know. Jesus tells us that the angels don’t know. They are God’s messengers and His servants, and yet God has not given them this information. But look who else doesn’t know, Jesus Himself has no idea when this day is going to be. It is a great mystery. The Apostle Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15:51-52, “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” The day of our rapture is a great and wonderful mystery. We do not have to know when it is going to happen, or even how the rapture works. We have this promise from Jesus that He is going to prepare a place for us, and if He goes to prepare a place, He will come again and receive us to Himself that wherever He is, we may be also. That comes from John 14:1-3.  We see this again in I Thessalonians 4:13-18, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 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 not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

We may not know or even understand when and how this is going to happen, but we do know it will. So, we are left with the challenge of staying alert. This means we are to be about the Father’s business. I don’t think any of us wants to be caught sleeping when the Lord comes to get us.