What Is the True Meaning of Rapture in the Bible? (Part 2)
By Zhang Li
The True Meaning of Rapture
Han Meihua smiled and said: “As for being raptured, there’s a mystery here that we human beings can’t see into and can’t clearly explain. However, after reading something in a book recently, I understood what it really is. Let’s take a look at it together.” Hearing this, Chen Li nodded happily, and Han Meihua pulled a book out of her bag as she spoke. She opened it up and read the following: “‘Being caught up’ does not mean being taken from a low place to a high place, as people might imagine; that is a huge misconception. ‘Being caught up’ refers to My predestining and then selecting. It is directed at all those I have predestined and chosen. … Those who will have a share in My house in the future are all ones who have been caught up before Me. This is absolutely true, never-changing, and irrefutable. It is a counterattack against Satan. Anyone I predestined shall be caught up before Me” (“Chapter 104” of Utterances of Christ in the Beginning). Han Meihua then shared this fellowship: “We can see from this passage that being raptured isn’t at all what we have imagined it to be, lifting people from the earth up into heaven or being raised up into the sky to meet with the Lord. Instead, it refers to the time that the Lord Jesus returns to earth and all those who have been pre-determined, selected by God will be able to recognize His voice from His words, and they will accept and submit to God’s new work. They will follow God’s footsteps and be raptured before God’s throne. This is the true meaning of rapture.
“We’re in the last days now and the Lord Jesus prophesied that He would return. He also very clearly told us: ‘I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth’ (John 16:12–13). ‘He that rejects Me, and receives not My words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day’ (John 12:48). ‘For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son’ (John 5:22). And it says in 1 Peter 4:17: ‘For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.’ And there’s Hebrews 9:28: ‘So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin to salvation.’ These prophecies show that when the Lord returns in the last days, He is going to utter more words and do the work of judgment beginning with the house of God, leading us to enter into all truths, allowing us to attain God’s full salvation. Only by accepting God’s work of judgment in the last days and keeping up with His footsteps can we gain God’s salvation of the last days, be raptured up before God, and attend the wedding feast of the Lamb. Just like the latter part of the Age of Law when the Lord Jesus came to do the work of redemption, Peter, John, Matthew, and others came out from the Age of Law and accepted the Lord Jesus’ salvation—they were people who were raptured up before God. Now that we are in the last days, if we are able to seek and accept the work of the returned Lord Jesus, that is being raptured up before God!”
Hearing this, Chen Li suddenly saw the light and said: “Wow, so being raptured refers to God coming to work, and people seeking and accepting His new work, keeping up with the footsteps of the Lamb. Thanks be to the Lord! Meihua, I’ve also read those same biblical prophecies a number of times, but I never received the light that you just shared from them. Now I understand that when the Lord Jesus returns in the last days, He will utter new words and do the work of judgment beginning with the house of God. Only accepting God’s new work of the last days and keeping up with the footsteps of the Lamb is truly being raptured. God working this way is so practical! Now that I think of how we haven’t understood God’s work, but have just been longing to be raptured into heaven and meet with the Lord in the sky, I see how absurd it is. So it seems that believing in the Lord without understanding the truth means there’s no way to act in accordance with God’s will! Hey, Meihua, since the Lord is going to do new work when He comes in the last days, what should we do so that we can welcome the Lord and be raptured up before His throne?”
Han Meihua smiled and said: “Thanks be to the Lord! In fact, the Lord Jesus pointed out the path for us long ago. The Lord Jesus said, ‘And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him’ (Matthew 25:6). And in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, it is prophesied many times that: ‘He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ And chapter 3, verse 20 of Revelation says: ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.’ The Lord requires us to be wise virgins, so if we hear someone spread news of the Lord’s return, we should treat it with caution, seeking and investigating with an open mind. We should focus our attention on hearing the voice of God, and if we determine that it is His voice, that it is an expression of the truth and the words contain authority and power, we must waste no time in accepting it. This is the only way we can welcome the Lord, keep up with the footsteps of the Lamb, and be raptured up before God’s throne. Just like Peter, James, John, and the others who followed the Lord Jesus—they really yearned to hear the Lord Jesus preach and maintained an open heart of seeking. They recognized God’s voice from the work and words of the Lord, so they accepted and followed Him, in the end receiving salvation from the Lord. But the Pharisees, haters of the truth, clearly saw that the Lord Jesus’ work and words contained authority and power and that they came from God, but because His work and words weren’t in line with their notions and imaginings, they madly opposed and condemned Him, ultimately nailing the Lord Jesus to the cross. This brought down God’s punishment upon them. So, we should learn this lesson from the failure of the Pharisees and be wise virgins who focus on hearing the voice of God. When we do hear news that the Lord has returned and is doing new work, we should proactively seek and investigate it; this is the only way we’ll have the chance to be raptured up before God. If we just blindly cling to our own notions and imaginings and do not focus on hearing God’s voice, if we don’t seek or investigate God’s new work, that would make us the foolish virgins, and we will lose our chance to be raptured!”
Chen Li said excitedly: “Thanks be to the Lord! It turns out that the key to whether we can be raptured is whether we are able to be wise virgins and place importance on hearing God’s voice. If we hear people preach that the Lord has returned yet we arrogantly stick to our own notions and imaginings and aren’t focused on hearing God’s voice, we won’t be able to follow God’s footsteps. We will just be cast away and eliminated by God. Oh, Meihua, in our gathering today Sister Wang told me that the Lord Jesus has already returned and wanted me to go listen to a sermon at her house this afternoon. Just now, I was hesitant and wasn’t sure if I should go, but now that I’ve heard your fellowship I think that I have to be a wise virgin and go out to seek and investigate as soon as I can. Would you like to go with me?”
Happily, Han Meihua said: “Wonderful! Let’s go right now!”
Source From: A Guidebook for Faith
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