June 2023 – Are You Ready for the Rapture?

PTNews

P r o p h e tic Truth in the N e w s

October 2024

   Published monthly by Mike Wingfield Ministries

All Bible references are from the KJV   

Are You Ready for the Rapture?

“Therefore, be ye also ready: for in such an hour as

ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Matthew 24:44

By Mike Wingfield

Do you believe the Rapture could happen today? If you answered this question with a “yes,” then you should already be spiritually preparing yourself for the moment you will be ushered into the presence of the Lord.

The sudden Rapture of the church, and the subsequent time of Tribulation, will be like the shocking appearance of “a thief in the night” to the world (1 Thessalonians 5:2). It will be an abrupt and unwanted intrusion into people’s lives. They do not know Him and do not want to be with Him. They do not want Him to come. They are comfortable living in their own selfish and sinful lifestyle. Jesus said that this time will be “as a snare [that will] come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth” (Luke 21:35).

In total contrast to the world of unbelievers, those who know the Lord should not be surprised when He comes for His church. Unlike the world, believers are not living in spiritual darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:1-10). Those who know the Scriptures are looking at the signs of His coming. They are eagerly anticipating His promised coming at any moment. While they do not know the exact time of His coming, they know that it is getting closer with every passing moment. Due to their faith, His coming will be a welcome blessing to them and not an intrusion into their earthly lives!

The promised coming of our Lord and the anticipation of it, should flood our hearts with “comfort” (1 Thessalonians 4:18; 5:11). The prophetic declarations of the end times should not scare us but prepare us for His coming! If the words of His coming cause fear, it is because our faith is weak and incomplete. “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:19). Those who are frightened by the preaching and teaching of the prophetic Word of God are in love with a faith that is anchored in this present world. They are so in love with this world that they do not want to think about leaving it behind. How sad!

The prophetic Scriptures are the very foundation of our faith. True believers are people with a great passion for what lies ahead. True Christianity does not focus upon what is seen and temporary. Our faith looks at the uns een and the eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). The spiritual sight of the believer is not anchored in this world, but in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:1-7). This is the very stuff that biblical prophecy focuses upon! All of this is true because our faith is all about the promise of being with Jesus someday (Colossians 3:1-4).

The Bible exhorts us to be looking, watching, and longing for the coming of the Lord. The Rapture of the church should be a burning passion and a “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13) that drives us to daily cry out “even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).

When Jesus spoke to His disciples about His coming, He commanded them, “Therefore, be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:44). Jesus told them they should be focused upon preparing for His coming. Notice that He was not saying this to a crowd of unbelievers. He was speaking to His disciples who had been with Him for several years. Therefore, preparing for His coming is more than just get-ting saved and becoming a believer. Jesus intended for His disciples to understand that they should have a deep and insatiable desire to be spiritually prepared for His coming. I am convinced that He is essentially telling us that we need to prepare our souls for the very moment we shall see Him face to face for the very first time.

The aged Apostle John, the last living apostle, was thinking about this when he wrote, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3). The thought of seeing Jesus and being with our holy Lord should transform our lives today.

When we do see Him, we will instantly receive a new body and mind that will be fashioned by Him for living in His presence. For the first time in our lives, we will have the perfect mind of Christ. We will be like Him (Philippians 3:20-21). We will not be thinking about ourselves. Our minds and bodies will be made for eternal heavenly worship and service. That is exactly what we need to focus upon now. We can be confident “that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [direct it to completion] it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

Each time we see the church (symbolically referred to as the 24 elders) in the book of Revelation 4-19, they are in heaven worshipping the Lord. We were created to be worshippers of God. It is what the true believer will do for all eternity. Our worship will glorify Him and thrill us forever!

Our expectation of the end time events should be preparing us for these moments of worship, and creating a longing for the day it happens. This is at the heart of preparing for the Rapture.

The life of Enoch gives us a perfect example of how the knowledge of what God is about to do should impact our soul. Genesis 5:21-24 informs us that when Enoch’s son was born, it transformed his life. Apparently, God told Enoch that when his son was born, he was to be named “Methuselah.” This name means “when he dies it shall come.” The Lord told Enoch that when his son would die the great flood of judgment would come upon the earth and all the wicked would perish. Enoch had no idea how long his son would live. This meant the massive global flood God had warned him about could be imminent. Therefore, Enoch was impacted by the fact that at any moment life on this earth would cease and millions of sinners would perish. This truth changed his life.

The Bible tells us that from of the time of Methuselah’s birth, Enoch began to walk with God (Genesis 5:22-24). This means that Enoch was daily seeking the face of God. His personal daily times of worship became a priority. After receiving this special revelation from God, Enoch began to preach about the judgment of God and the Lord’s coming (Jude 14-15). Enoch walked with God for the next 300 years. His walk with the Lord became very intense. The Bible tells us that Enoch was known as a man of God and “that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5). Therefore, one day, God supernaturally translated this special man into His presence. He did not see death, “for God took him” (Genesis 5:24).

I believe those who are expecting Jesus to come at any moment should be following the example of Enoch. This is the very core of what it means to prepare for our Lord’s coming. Adam and Eve were created as worshippers. They were created in the image of God with the full po-tential to know God and worship Him. Genesis 3:8 indi-cates that from the time of their creation, the Lord visited them in the cool of the day [the morning] and they had a physical and spiritual encounter with God. When they sinned, they spiritually died and the unique time of wor-ship with God ceased. At that point they became spiritual-ly dead. They were dead toward the spiritual world and all the things that mattered to God. In their spiritual deadness, they became the “enemies” of God (Romans 5:10).

When all the children of Adam and Eve were conceived, the spiritual DNA to naturally be sinful was transmitted to them, and ultimately throughout the entire human race (Psalm 51:5). People have no spiritual capacity to know and worship God until they are born-again. When a person is saved, they become spiritually alive and they have the divine capacity to know, worship, and serve God once again. At the heart of being born-again is the renewed daily experience of worshipping God. This must become the priority of the Christian life. This is what a true believer will do for all eternity.

This is the passion of my life. The greatest moments of my life are those spent in the presence of my Lord.Psalm 16:11says, “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” All men of God make worship and being in God’s presence the passion of their life. King David, known as a man of God, wrote, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2). Notice that David’s worship compelled him to be in the presence of God. Do you experience a deep and abiding joy while being in the presence of God? Are you longing for the day when you will stand in His presence the moment the Rapture takes place?

I have been in ministry for more than 50 years and I have learned that such a lifestyle is very rare among professing born-again Christians. The lifestyle of a born-again believer does not revolve around religion. The Bible says a true believer bases his life on a relationship with God.Eternal life is not a possession, it is a person! “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:11-12).

As the Christian grows in his relationship with God, his walk with God becomes deeper and purer than any other relationship. My wife and I have been married for 54 years. Our relationship is deep and rich, but it pales in comparison to our relationship with God. I cherish my wife dearly, but I do not worship her. Worship is reserved for God, and God alone. God knows me better than my wife. He is always with me. He died for me. I will be one with Him for eternity. My relationship with God is on another level that cannot be experienced on the human level with anyone else!

Our relationship with God was created by Him. He chose me and called me into a relationship with Him. However, it is my responsibility to maintain and grow that relationship with Him. Knowing God and walking with Him daily requires two life changing habits. Let us examine them.

Life Changing Habit #1

Being Alone with God

I ntimacy with God requires that we spend time alone with Him. God’s time with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before they sinned, was a quiet and intimate experience. I am sure that Enoch spent many hours alone with God. The expression that Enoch “walked with God” carries the idea of fellowship and obedience. Enoch shared life with God. He knew that God was his Creator and Redeemer. He praised God for His mercy and goodness. His worship created a natural and normal passion to serve God and obey Him. It was this combination of worship and service that pleased God (Hebrews 11:5).

I have noted that in the Bible, godly people were alone with God when He spoke to them. Think about Jacob (Genesis 28:10-22), Moses (Exodus 3), Elijah (1 Kings 19:8-18), and Jonah (Jonah 2:1-9). In the New Testa-ment, God spoke to Zechariah, the father of John the Bap-tist (Luke 1:8-20), and Mary, the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:26-28) when they were alone in His presence. I have noted that it was Jesus’ frequent experience to find a place to be alone with His Father (Matthew 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12; John 6:15). When I am in Israel and I look at the mountains around the Sea of Galilee, I think of how Jesus spent time alone with His Father on those mountains. I have thought, “If Jesus needed to do this, how much more do I as a sinner saved by God’s grace need to seek His face in solitude!”

My friend, is this a habit in your life? Do you spend time alone with God on a regular basis? If so, when, and where? I have discovered that these times alone with Him must be accompanied by times of a spiritual longing to hear Him speak to me through His Word. How rewarding and precious are those times when I am alone with Him! Sometimes, I am on a mountain, in a car, or simply in a room at my house in the early hours of the morning.

I have found that this must be the longing of my heart. These times must be the highlights of my day. I must seek Him. I must want to be in His presence. Like King David, I must thirst to be with Him (Psalm 42:1-3). By His grace, I expect Him to meet with me. I want Him to be in me and around me, manifesting His glorious presence. This is the real stuff that life is made of!

Do not ever think you are too busy to daily take time to be alone with God. Who controls your schedule? He does! If we put Him first, He will orchestrate the details of our schedule for His glory and our good. Jesus demands, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things [life matters] shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

If you are not willing to sacrifice the time to be alone with God, you really do not love Him! I have observed that people do what they want to do. They willingly sacrifice things to do what really matters to them. Does God really matter to you?

Life Changing Habit #2

Be Still and Focus Upon Him

God commands us, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). The Hebrew word that is translated “be still” is an imperative. God commands us to put down our hands and cease from any activity. God commands us to stop working and seek His face. We are to take time out of our busy work schedule and give that time solely to Him.

Being still or quiet before God is a big problem for us in our culture. In the last 100 years, this planet has become a very noisy and hurried place. We fill our ears, minds, and souls with the meaningless chatter of those who are far away from God. We have become totally occupied with work, pleasure, entertainment, sports, and hobbies, while chasing our dreams and desires. Many have become so busy that they do not have time for God or their family. It is all about pleasing self.

We fill our ears, eyes, and mind with the gadgets and words of this world. We watch television, but do not have time for God. We immerse our minds into computer games or flood our thoughts with overwhelming knowledge to satisfy our desires. We endlessly talk or text our friends while we never give God a moment of our time. Americans are addicted to their cell phones! They have become a hindrance to the work and worship of God in our lives. As the Bible says, we have become those who are “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7).

At the heart of worship is to force our hands and minds to stop all mental and physical activity. With great intensity, we are to meditate upon the person and work of God. We must desire that our lives would be filled with a time that is completely devoted to God.

We live in a world full of tantalizing things that demand our attention. More than any other generation we are completely preoccupied with those things that are eternally worthless. Many of the devices and gratifications that capture our attention are not godless or immoral, but they are of lesser value than the Lord and His eternal work. Psalm 10:4says, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” God is looking “down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God” (Psalm 53:2).

If you know God, there is only one place to go to have the thirsting of your soul quenched. David, the man after God’s own heart, wrote, “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is” (Psalm 63:1). The stuff of this world cannot satisfy the spiritual longing of our soul. The things of this world do not bring real joy and pleasure.

We walk about in a world that is a spiritual desert. There is nothing this world has to offer that will satisfy the longing of our soul. Our time alone with God as we seek His face should be like an oasis that we crave to visit often as we move across the desert sands of this world.

No one can take the place of Jesus. He is our Rock, Redeemer, and Friend. He is the Shepherd of our soul and our High Priest. He is our life! We must set our minds upon Him! “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4).

Living in this 21^st century, pastors and church attendees think that we have arrived at a special spiritual pinnacle of the age. The mega church has created a false impression of our spirituality. However, our spiritual barometer is broken. The average believer today is a spiritual midget when compared to the believers of more than 100-200 years ago. People living several generations ago lived in a very slow-paced culture. They did not have electricity, cars, television, computers, or cell phones. They were not immersed in sports, traveling, shopping, or entertainment. They did not have the temptations we have to distract them from spending time with God. Their minds were not cluttered with the stuff of this world. They were content with the simple way of life. Read 1 Timothy 6:6-10.

We probably think of our current lifestyle as being a blessing. However, our modern way of life is more like a curse. We must work harder at not being distracted from spending time alone with God, while we cease from our busy schedules.

God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5). He demands that we have no other idols or gods before Him. He commands first place in our heart and life. Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37).

There is coming a day when God is going to take away all our toys and distractions. During the Tribulation Period, the Lord will decimate our current lifestyle. Speaking of that day, Isaiah wrote, “And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth” (Isaiah 2:17-19).

The judgments of God in this age and in the Tribulation Period, are aimed at bringing us to repentance. He wants us to come to Him, love Him, and serve Him. When He takes away our earthly treasures, I can hear Him say, “Will you now give Me your full attention? Will you now look to Me and discover the path of life? Will you now give Me first place in your life?”

Some of our greatest hymns of worship were written hundreds of years ago by godly men and women who lived alone with God. For example, Katharina Von Schlegel was a German hymn writer that lived in the mid-1700s. She never married and lived a life of complete devotion to God, living in a Lutheran convent. One of the great hymns she wrote is “Be Still my Soul.” This hymn is a great testimony to this godly saint. In light of this challenge to prepare our souls for the Rapture, please meditate upon the following lines of this great hymn.

“Be still, my soul: the hour is hast’ning on

When we shall be forever with the Lord.

When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,

Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.

Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past,

All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.”

If the Lord is speaking to your heart about preparing your soul for the Rapture, you need to find a quiet place and get alone with God. I suggest reading and meditating upon the Psalms. Quiet your soul and seek His presence.

If you need a reminder to make this a priority, I suggest that you write the following words on a piece of paper and put it in a place where you will see this during the day and be reminded of getting alone with God. Write these words, “Be Still My Soul.”

Be ready for the shout that will take us out!

Our July Newsletter

In all the years I have been following the events in our world in the light of biblical prophecy, I have never seen anything that is more disturbing or deceptive than what the master minds are creating in the name of Artificial Intelligence. I believe this is the work of the devil that will deceive the entire world to prepare the way of the Antichrist. I have entitled this message, “The Final Rebellion.” Pray for the impact this message will have on all who will hear it and read it. This will be the subject of the July newsletter.