June 25, 2025

People Get Ready

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 - 13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death,so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

When I was in my early 20’s I was working at the Greensboro News & Record as a sports writer, I was newly married and was really starting to grow in my faith.

At the time, my wife Kennetha and I lived in my hometown of Troy, NC, so I had about an hour commute to and from work every day. As I said, I was growing in my faith and I would listen to as much worship and preaching as I could on my way back and forth to work.

Little did I know that the Lord had a divine appointment in store for me.

There was only one Christian station that I could pick up on the radio (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, lol). And every day, during the time I commuted to work and also when I returned home from work, Dr. David Jeremiah’s Turning Point radio ministry was playing on the radio. As fate would have it, Dr. Jeremiah was just beginning a 6-month verse-by-verse series on the Book of Revelation.

I had read most of the Bible at that point in my life, but for some reason I had never read through Revelation. I had tried a few times, but I found it confusing and intimidating.

But Dr. Jeremiah helped unlock the mystery and the meaning of the book. I couldn’t wait to get in my car every day to hear more about the prophecy of end time events. I would listen to the same message on the way to work and on the way home and found myself making sure to time out when I started my commute so I wouldn’t miss a word.

I found it all fascinating. But the more I listened and the deeper the study went into the end time events, something shifted in my heart. I went from fascinated to burdened and convicted.

At first, it’s great to know that your team wins in the end, but then you realize that there’s a lot of people you know and love who aren’t currently on the winning team.

One of those people was my Dad, who had a chip on his shoulder towards God for my entire life up to this point. It was only after a series of heart attacks a few years later and a few insane miracles that the Lord changed my Dad’s heart (when they call you the medical miracle of the year at the hospital, you know it was a big deal). It was also the wake-up call that he needed to realize his need for Christ.

But I digress. What that study on Revelation gave me was a deep sense of urgency that people I cared about, people like my Dad, needed to know the truth of the gospel.

That urgency to share Christ led me directly to my call to ministry. In September of 1994, on a day when my boss at the newspaper called me in to give me a promotion, I politely declined and instead offered my resignation to begin a career in ministry.

I can’t say that I have maintained that deep sense of urgency every step of the way - there are ebbs and tides certainly - but recent events have rekindled that urgency.

In fact, I can’t watch the news without thinking of that study of Revelation by Dr. Jeremiah and wonder if we’re not seeing the birth pains of the end times play out before our very eyes.

I have never been an alarmist, and I’m certainly not carrying one of those sandwich billboards around that says, “The End Is Near!” But how could you not look at this recent war between Israel and Iran - two of the principal players in the end times saga - and not realize how quickly things could escalate to that.

To be clear, this is not political. This site doesn’t get into that. There are plenty of other places where you can find that. Simply put, this is biblical.

Am I saying that this is the beginning of the end times? No. What I am saying is that it’s time to be alert and make sure we are ready.

I had an older pastor friend who always used to warn the congregation, “Watch Israel!” They of course are God’s chosen people and will be in the midst of the end time battle as nations will attack them from all sides.

And while this current battle could be a blip on the radar in the grand scheme of things, would it really surprise you if you turned on the TV tomorrow and things had dramatically shifted to the point where the stage was set for such a battle?

And I certainly can’t predict when it will happen, nor can anyone else. And it does seem that some other things would have to fall into place before we entered the Tribulation period. Like a leader rising up that the world would follow. But given the right circumstances, things could develop quickly and shockingly.

The one thing I do know is that NOTHING has to occur before the rapture takes place. Not one thing. It could literally come at any moment.

That’s what the passage in 1 Thessalonians 4 is referring to. The word rapture never appears in scripture but it is certainly scriptural that Jesus will one day come for his people, both believers who are alive and those who have already passed away. The dead in Christ will rise first and then we will all be caught up to be with Christ in Heaven.

How the rapture connects to the end times is found in Revelation 3:10, where Jesus promises, “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.”

There are differing views on the timing of the rapture, but there’s more biblical evidence to support that the rapture will come before the seven-year period of great trial that is known as The Tribulation and The Great Tribulation.

Another proof is in the structure of the prophetic book of Revelation as it lays out the timeline of the end times. It begins with Christ’s words of warning and admonition to seven churches, which is representative of the seven stages of history in the church. There is no more mention of the church as the Tribulation events unfold - at least not until the battle is over - and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb takes place as the church and Christ are united.

By the way, the first 3 1/2 years is known as the Tribulation and the latter 3 1/2 years is known as The Great Tribulation. In the Tribulation, people will still be able to accept Christ as their savior even though believers have been snatched up to Heaven (God will send 144,000 witnesses to give people one last chance) but it will undoubtedly cost those who believe in Christ their lives. The Antichrist will have emerged and will force people to declare their allegiance to him in order to get food or anything to sustain life. It’s known as the mark of the beast. People will be forced to either accept the mark of the beast or literally starve to death over time. There will be great persecution for those who accept Christ during the Tribulation.

During the Great Tribulation, the Lord will harden all men’s hearts and there will be no more opportunity for salvation. A Great War will ensue as nations rise against Israel and it will look like there is no hope for God’s chosen people, but that’s when God shows up in a mighty way and God’s people are avenged.

This all sounds like heady stuff and if you have never heard it before it sounds bizarre. It reads like a sci-fi movie but unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on where you stand with Christ - it is all very real.

And it could all develop at a moment’s notice.

As believers, the time is nigh that we return to a sense of urgency for our lost friends and family members. If they don’t know, who will tell them?

Are you ready for such a shocking event to take place? Are your friends? Are your family members?

People get ready. Jesus is coming.