"Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death." Proverbs 10:2 Why is that so? A man can acquire great wealth through planning and through working out the ways he believes will bring him the most prosperity. But if his gain comes through lies, deception, and wickedness, it is doomed to fail him. This is a principle God has placed in his Word, and it will always end this way. What is acquired through wickedness is doomed to fail. The failure can come in a myriad of ways. What if he is imprisoned for the crimes he committed in his quest to acquire wealth? What does it profit him to stare at four walls for years on end? Some will succeed in not getting caught, yet they have to live with the anger and hatred they have acquired as they made their way and accumulated their wealth through wickedness, because perpetrators of evil have no peace. What if unexpected tragedy falls upon his life? What if he comes down with a terminal illness? Yet the many do not understand this, and the multitudes fall into this trap not realizing that "all that glitters is not gold." At the end of their lives they will find that their gold profits them nothing, and they will be surprised to find that their riches have left them empty. The righteous, on the other hand, is not consumed with the love of wealth. He loves God and spends his energies furthering the Kingdom of God. The result is that the Lord blesses that man with all that he needs: "Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ for after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek FIRST the kingdom of God and his righteousness, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED TO YOU." Matthew 6:31-33 The righteous man may never have riches, but he is promised to have all that he needs. At the end of his life he will have acquired the satisfaction of a life well lived, a purpose realized, and fruit stored up for eternal life. The Lord upholds the righteous, but the wicked have no foundation and their wealth will fail them. One cannot walk in opposition to God and prosper. Eventually the pride, rebellion and self-will of the wicked will be his undoing. "A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked, for the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous." Psalm 37:16-17 "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor IN VAIN who build it;" Psalm 127:1 Seek first the purposes of the Lord. Find out from him what his will and purpose is for your life, and then pursue it. Your needs will be met and "joy unspeakable and full of glory" will accompany you in all that you do. There is no joy like the joy that fills the heart dedicated to the Lord. The wise of this world invest for the future, but Jesus Christ tells us to invest for eternity.
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21
"And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 'Make two SILVER trumpets for yourself, you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them FOR CALLING THE CONGREGATION and for directing the movement of the camps.
When they blow both of them, all the congregation SHALL GATHER before you at the door of the Tabernacle of meeting.'" Numbers 10:1-3 This foreshadows the Rapture, the Harpazo, when the Lord will GATHER his saints and bring them to himself before the wrath of God is poured out upon the earth during the last 7-year period known as the Tribulation.
Many reject the pre-tribulation Rapture position because they associate the last trump of 1st Corinthians with the Trumpets in the Book of Revelation. The seven Trumpets in the Book of Revelation are announcing the seven judgments of the wrath of God as they fall on an evil world. But the Trump of 1st Corinthians is not announcing the wrath of God. It's announcing gathering and transformation: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall 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 incorruptible, and we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." 1st Corinthians 15:51-52 At the last trump of The Book Of Revelation the dead are not raised. That trump is a trump of horific judgment. Because they erroneously associate the Trump of 1st Corinthians with the seven trumpets of the Book of Revelation, they believe that the Rapture takes place at the last trumpet in that Book. But those trumpets are the seven trumpets of ANGELS, and they are trumpets of JUDGMENT. As each trumpet sounds, horrific JUDGMENTS fall upon the entire earth. The trumpet associated with the Rapture is not a trumpet of angels, it is "the trumpet of God," and it's not a trumpet of judgment, it's the trumpet call of resurrection and of GATHERING. "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with THE TRUMPET OF GOD. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be CAUGHT UP TOGETHER with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." 1st Thessalonians 4:16-18 Comfort one another??? If believers were to be Raptured only at the end of the Tribulation, or even if they were to be Raptured "pre-wrath" - how could we “comfort one another with these words?” The entire Seals, Trumpets and Bowls passages of the Book of Revelation are all announcements of the terrible judgments of God's wrath falling on an unrepentant, Christ-rejecting, evil world. But believers in Jesus Christ are not appointed to the judgments of God. They are appointed to meet Jesus Christ and be taken to be with him. That is "the blessed hope," with which we are told to comfort one another. "FOR GOD DID NOT APPOINT US TO WRATH, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ..." 1st Thessalonians 5:9 The Bride of Christ is not going to be on earth as the judgments are poured out. The Lord isn't going to beat up his Bride and then take her to supper (the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.) How could the Scripture say "COMFORT one another with these words" if what we have to look forward to is the judgments of God? Anticipating that would certainly not comfort anyone. THE "THEY" AND THE "THE YOU"
The wrath of God will fall upon "they." But it will not fall upon "you." Make that distinction and be sure you are not among "they," but that you are among the "you."
"For when THEY say, 'Peace and safety!'
then sudden destruction comes upon them,
as labor pains upon a pregnant woman,
and THEY shall not escape.
But YOU, brethren, are not in darkness,
so that this day should overtake YOU as a thief."
1st Thessalonians 5:3-4
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the pattern for the Rapture:
When the Trump of 1st Corinthians sounds, the dead in Christ will rise and we see a picture of this in the ascension of Jesus Christ, as he rose into the clouds. That's what the Rapture is: the dead are raised and we are gathered together with them in the clouds as we rise to heaven. NOW it makes sense to read, "Therefore, comfort one another with the these words."
The Lord Jesus Christ will remove his Bride from the earth BEFORE even the first judgments, the seals, are launched. These are found in Revelation chapter 6, but the believers in Christ are in heaven in Revelation chapter 4. When the Lamb takes the scroll, the believers are in heaven before he breaks even the first seal.
We have this "blessed hope," not a blessed fear of the judgments of God.
"...we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing
of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ..."
Titus 2:12-13
More:
The Doctrine Of The Rapture
“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning those who have fallen asleep (died),
lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so God will bring with him those who
sleep in Jesus.”
1st Thessalonians 4:13-14
Paul is saying that we are not to sorrow over lost loved ones as though we had no hope of seeing them again. And then he reveals the doctrine of the Rapture which he called "a mystery" (1st Corinthians 15:51 ), something that was not revealed in the past but is being revealed now. It is the hope that no other religion can give.
Vs 16:
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.
And the dead in Christ will rise first.”
Imagine it. Jesus Christ himself is going to descend from heaven and all those who died believing in him are going to rise from their graves. Interestingly, when Jesus himself rose from the dead, saints of old also rose and were seen by many:
"...and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many." Matthew 27:52-53 At the Rapture, believers who have died are resurrected, and then ...believers in Jesus who have not died, those who are alive on earth at this time, will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air and from that day to never be separated again. “THEN …we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall ever be with the Lord.” 1st Thessalonians 4:17 This is such an astonishing teaching that many reject it because it sounds preposterous. But the same God who parted the waters of the Red Sea, the same God who brought forth his Son through a virgin, the same God who gave sight to the blind and healed the infirm, the same God who himself was Raptured when he ascended to heaven after his resurrection ― this same God will once again do something that defies science and all that is known to man. He will gather all born-again believers together to himself before the great Tribulation that will be unleashed upon the unbelieving world. Paul said our “blessed hope” comforts us when we lose our loved ones. We will see them again, and rejoice with them in the presence of the Lord. It is such a wonderful promise that he continued: “THEREFORE …comfort one another with these words.” 1st Thessalonians 4:18 Some say believers will be here during the Tribulation. If that were true, no way could we “comfort one another." Don't tell us we're going to experience the horrors of the Tribulation, and then tell us to comfort one another with those words. Jesus said the Tribulation will be the worst time the earth has ever known or ever will. You couldn’t comfort one another if that were the case. "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be." Matthew 24:21 We are accused of being "escapists." And we say a resounding YES! Why? Because Jesus TOLD US TO BE: "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy TO ESCAPE all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Luke 21:36 Those who believe are: “...looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ...” Titus 2:13 MORE: The Rapture