The Blessed Hope Titus 2:13

Introduction

The Bible passage John 14:1-6 is a common choice at funerals in that the first three verses are a promise from Jesus that there is a place prepared for us in heaven: 1  Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me.  2  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.  These words were spoken by Jesus to His disciples in the ‘upper room’ on the occasion of the ‘last supper’. His disciples would have recognised the parallel with the Jewish wedding process, but probably not realised He was telling them that He was the groom and they were His bride. It took Paul to reveal this in his letter to the Ephesians in chapter 5 verses 22-32, talking about the relationship between husbands and wives. In verses 31-32 he writes: 31  "For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two of them shall be one flesh."  32  This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. What I hadn’t recognised until recently is that these words spoken by Jesus in John’s gospel were also speaking of the Rapture of the church. The Rapture is the single event in the future when Jesus will return (not his second coming) to gather His church (believers) to be with Him for ever: I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also . What I then realised is that this text potentially has relevance in these troubling times we live in, and consequently may have some urgency.

The urgency

A sense of urgency is held by many who are watching for signs of the ‘end of this age’ as we know it; commonly referred to as the end-times. The signs are a coming together of two criteria: Biblical teaching/prophecy and events centred on Israel. Since nowhere in the Bible is there a hint of calculable timescales that include the start of the end-times, there are, not unsurprisingly, some interpretations that suggest the key event, the rapture of the church, isn’t really that urgent. The undeniable fact agreed by the varying views is that it will happen at some time in the future. It is better, then, to be aware of it now, and safer to assume it is indeed urgent in that we should all be ‘rapture ready’.

Purpose

The intent is to take you through a process from John 14:1-6, mentioned above, to an understanding of what the near future might have in store for us. For readers who are not yet believers, I would urge you to at least read ‘Reasons to believe’, which can be accessed from the Navigation Bar or the next page. The next page is an overview of this site’s content which, if preferred, is a gentler way of progressing through the pages. Otherwise, go straight to the page ‘The Blessed Hope; The Rapture Of the Church’, either from the Navigation Bar or here . Go to the next page

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Preface

This site has been created to bring your attention to a potential end-times scenario based on the Christian meaning of 'the Blessed Hope', a pre-tribulation view of the Rapture, and the on-going situation involving Israel and surrounding nations. Initially intended to simply expound on The Blessed Hope, the need to show the natural progression to an end-times scenario became apparent. The Blessed Hope remains the central theme, but consequential expansion of pages and addition of others will be apparent. The reader should be aware that this site's view of the Rapture is strictly pre-tribulation, a view with which some will not agree. However, there is no harm, and undoubtedly a benefit, in considering the possibility of a pre-tribulation Rapture and being spiritually prepared. It will happen one day.