Until He Comes

Since Christmas we have been studying the topic of the rapture of the church on Sunday mornings at Grace Church. We have learned many characteristics of this event when Jesus comes back in the future for His church. But how should the coming rapture of the church affect my life now as a follower of Christ? This Sunday at Grace Church we will look at 10 ways the Bible says that knowing about the rapture should change our lives today. One of these ways is our participating in observing the bread and the cup. In First Corinthians 11:26, Paul wrote this to the church at Corinth about this observance:

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

We are to proclaim the Lord’s death through observing the bread (which symbolizes His body broken for us) and the cup (which symbolizes His blood shed for the remission of our sins). And how long are we to participate in this? Until He comes…until the rapture. As a result, that is exactly what we will do this Sunday as part of both of our morning worship services.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ who has put your faith and trust in His death and resurrection alone for the forgiveness of your sin and for your eternal home in heaven, then we invite you to participate. What if you are not a member of Grace Church, can you still take part? Absolutely. Observing the bread and the cup until Jesus comes is not a Grace Church thing it is a Body of Christ thing.

I would encourage you to take some time Saturday evening or early Sunday morning in advance of coming to church to prepare your heart and your spirit for this celebration. Later in First Corinthians 11:27 and 28, Paul speaks to this need when he writes:

“Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”

To help you in this self-examination, here are some questions for you to prayerfully meditate on and honestly answer before the Lord:

1. Am I sure that I am a genuine follower of Christ who has put my faith and trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus alone for the forgiveness of my sin?

2. Is there any unconfessed sin in my life that I need to bring before the Lord to receive His cleansing for according to 1 John 1:9 before observing the bread and the cup?

3. Is there any fellow believer in Jesus Christ that I am at odds with or have ill feelings toward that I need to apologize to before observing the bread and the cup?