Hello, John and Doves,As regards the Rapture, it is FIFO:Many O.T. saints were raised the same day Jesus rose from the dead.It is written,50"And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.51"At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people."
If Christ ascended after 40 days, there could be a time of intense witnessing by an awakened Bride, followed by the Rapture. The date is set in stone. The only trouble is that it is a backwards count to an known event, but probably not unidentified as such. The prophetic weight of that event can only be verified after the fact, not before. Did the 40 days commence on the evening of March 30--the start of Nisan 16, according to http://www.aish.com/jl/hol/o/48970511.html? No one knows.It is written,"And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power."And yet, it is written,"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."What does this mean to us? We should neither be slackers nor blockers, neither delaying nor preventing the spread of the gospel.Doves, there is no "second chance" for ANY of us to spread the gospel.It is written,27"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."Either you live now for Christ, or you will be cut off and burned up.It is written,1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."
Let's let Jesus unpack that scripture. It is written,15"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified."What does it mean to be sanctified unto God?1"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,a we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.4"Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him."
Therein lies our surety. It is written,3"I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."Now hear this: God has spilled the beans to His prophets. Will we have to wait until the end, so that we may have beans and wedding rice? Who knows. I really think that the Bride of Christ is going to be a "war bride."It is written,"The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name."More on military discipline as a disciple of Jesus Christ: http://www.victorshepherd.on.ca/Sermons/A%20Little%20Sermon%20In%20A%20Nutshell.htmFinally, if we are all disciplined as is an army with but one Commander-in Chief, the Lord Jesus Christ, then we will have done everything in its order, and thus we shall bring about the Rapture at the proper time.Hymn: I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS~Blessings,Mike