Luke 21:34-36 (KJV)
34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
In verse 36 we see (as stated by Finis Dake) “the first plain reference in all Scripture of the rapture—of some escaping all the terrible events of Luk 21:25-28. How they were to escape, if they met conditions, is stated here as “to stand before the Son of Man.” How could all worthy ones go to be before Him unless by rapture as stated in Jhn 14:1-3; 1Th 4:13-18? “
“John 14:1-4 (KJV) Let not your heart be troubled: ye 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 unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.”
“1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (KJV) But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
Today we are closer to to the rapture of the church than yesterday.
How can we be accounted worthy to be taken up in the rapture?
The scripture says “Romans 3:10-12 (KJV) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Therefore, no one is worthy by themself or whatever we do in our own effort to be counted worthy. We all have sinned “Romans 3:23 (KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
What doe sit say above and below Romans 3:23?
“Romans 3:21-26 (KJV) But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
It is Jesus Christ who justifies. It is Jesus Christ righteousness. All we need to do is to believe in the gospel of Christ and call on Jesus Christ to be saved.
Through the cross and faith in Jesus Christ we are counted worthy by GOD’s grace, having received His mercy and forgiveness. Jesus Christ has given us right standing with GOD the Father (we have now His righteousness).
As a result of faith in Christ, we start obeying the words of Jesus following Him.
There is a possibility to get so entangled with the affairs of life that some will not be ready. Baker’s New Testament Commentary writes “He (Jesus the good shepherd) knows that often a person’s inner drives, his emotions, or else perhaps his friends or associates, may bring him to a fall. So he admonishes them to be on their guard, and this always. ” “Are we shocked to read that he even issued a warning against such evils as dissipation, that is, excessive indulgence in pleasures, and drunkenness? But is it not true that when we today look back or even look round about us, we see a good many church members, or perhaps former church members, who have ruined or are ruining their lives by yielding to these very temptations? And is anyone free from the temptation of giving in to worrying about the cares of day by day living? By leaning on one’s own imagined resources, and by neglecting prayer, one can easily fall into a trap. Against this the Savior issues a badly needed warning. ”
Therefore let us be rapture ready and not rely on ourself but on Christ and ensure that we lay hold by faith and don’t loose what Jesus Christ gained for us by following Jesus directions: “Luke 21:34-36 (KJV) 34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”