Finity

I reached for grander words with which to praise You

than magnificent, or love, or shield and sun.

Bumped up against vocabulary's limit; 

e'en praise squared caps, as praise approaches One.

I learned infinity in mathematics,

which taught me how much finity I have.

For just as I can't sum harmonic series

I can't add words enough to praise You half. 

Resplendent, I may cry, kingly or regal,

sublime or sterling, singular, or prime,

celestial, salient, stunning, radiant, gleaming,

and still words fail 'fore I run out of time.

And yet You made me just the way You wanted,

with finity galore and more to spare.

Though You deserve more praise than words can measure,

to "words plus words"--inhabit and grant care. 

May we, who in our finity keep striving,

show paths to higher words with which to praise,

and know, because infinity's infinity away,

You're praised more in our finity always. 

If? When? If and When?

 

In a recent group study of John 12, an interesting question came up concerning verse 32. Let's look at several translations of the verse (incidentally, including each version's use of caps or no caps for God's pronouns). Jesus is speaking:

"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (KJV).

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself " (NIV).

"And I, if and when I am lifted up from the earth [on the cross], will draw all people to Myself [Gentiles, as well as Jews]" (AMP 2015).

Do you see it? If in some places, when in others? A reasonable hypothesis would be that the Greek word has connotations of both English words, each translation committee made its respective decision, and that the Amplified includes both because that's what the Amplified does: offer as many shades of meaning for key Hebrew and Greek terms as possible. 

The concern raised was that Jesus obviously knew He was going to the cross, so why would he say if, as if this were in doubt? We proposed that Jesus might have been using if/then logic, we looked up the meaning of the Greek word for if in Strong's Concordance and found it is indeed a "conditional particle," we brought up that Jewish thought has less trouble with seeming paradoxes than our Western either/or way of thinking, and we pointed out that Jesus had free will and could have said no to the cross. None of us believed He would have considered going against the Father's will for even a moment, but in Gethsemane He did ask for the cup to pass if that were possible. And when Jesus was arrested and Peter cut off the ear of the high priest's slave, Jesus said to him, "Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father and He will immediately provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels" (Matthew 26:53)? Finally, we know Jesus' life wasn't taken from Him. Rather, Jesus gave up His spirit (Matthew 27:50). Jesus explains more in John 10:18--"No one takes it [His life] away from Me, but I lay it down voluntarily. I am authorized and have power to lay it down and to give it up, and I am authorized and have power to take it back. This command I have received from My Father" (AMP 2015). So yes, Jesus could have said no. He could have called down angelic help at any time. Of course, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He had no intention of doing less than the Father's complete and perfect will. 

The morning after this discussion, I was in the shower, and I mention this because if you're anything like me, the ideas, thoughts, and solutions start flowing when the water starts flowing. Suddenly I was singing under my breath a song from decades ago: "Let's lift up Jesus, let's lift up Jesus, lift Him up for the world to see; He said IF I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me." IF. Almost certainly the composer of this little song was following the KJV wording. But what if they had chosen when? Now, for all I know the song was written before the first NIV came out in 1978, but let's try this anyway: 

"He said WHEN I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me."

This is what the NIV is saying, although for some reason the song made it hit home more. For reasons probably best known to the Lord, I then began to think about my mathematics training and the concept of "necessary and sufficient conditions." In short, the statement "When I be lifted up [then] I will draw all men," taken at face value, means that His being lifted up is a sufficient but not necessary condition for drawing all men. In other words, His being lifted up will certainly draw all men, but it cannot be concluded solely from the when/then statement that He must be lifted up--must go to the cross--for that to happen. 

Whoa. 

If Jesus already knew he would ask in Gethsemane for another way if that were God's will, that could explain why the word when, in the above statement, might accurately convey His meaning. But I'm more persuaded to believe that Jesus never intended to imply there could be any other way. As much as Jesus the man wouldn't have wanted to go to the cross, He was never confused about the master plan, and He was never less than One with the Father. So at this point, the word when alone, though we consider it a surer word than if, seems to be the weaker word of the two, because logically it allows uncomfortable wiggle room about whether the cross is actually required. 

At this point I knew it was time to rest the speculation and pull out my concordance. The Greek word for "if" is ean, pronounced eh-AN, according to Strong's, and that same Greek word can also mean when. As mentioned above, Strong's Concordance says that, in terms of grammar, ean is a conditional particle. We may think the word "conditional" suggests that if is the more correct translation, but in fact the word when can also be a conditional particle in certain usages. Specifically, in sentences that express known truths, if and when can be used interchangeably without really altering meaning. 

If you drop a brick, it will hit the ground.

When you drop a brick, it will hit the ground.

If you strike a match, it ignites.

When you strike a match, it ignites. 

Can you argue that these sentences don't mean exactly the same thing? Sure. But I think you'll agree that in everyday speech, both the "if" and "when" sentences will get the same meaning across equally well. 

To close, let's go back to necessary and sufficient conditions. Jesus said that going to the cross would draw us to Himself (the cross was sufficient), but did He say He must go to the cross for that to happen (the cross was necessary)? I believe He did. Because the Greek word ean can be translated "provided." I think Jesus was saying, "And I, provided I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself." 

Rose of Ascents

 She has a name--Gertrude Jekyll--and she's born to climb. Climb, lovely rose, climb, toward the sun our God made, to worship your Maker according to your kind, in the simple unfolding of a perfect pink bloom. 

Like pilgrims journeyed up to Jerusalem for the feasts, singing as they went, lift your face to the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. Lead buds and blossoms of worshippers in your train, ascending toward He Who is enthroned in the heavens. 

We look to the Lord our God, until He is gracious and favorable toward us. Our mouths fill with laughter and our tongues with joyful shouting; even though the grass withers and the flowers fade, we, each humble flower, sing praise to our God while we have our being. 

Prayer Answer Breakthrough (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this article, we looked at some Scriptures that promise we will receive whatever we pray for--most of them spoken by Jesus Himself. While these are beautiful promises, they are also hard to understand, because we know by experience that we can't call high-paying jobs, perfect marriage partners, or hey, even a candy bar and a pair of jeans, into being with merely a word and a snap of the fingers. So why does Jesus tell us we can throw a mountain into the sea just by commanding it? We examined the relevant Scriptures and found that the promise holds--we receive whatever we ask for in prayer--if the following conditions are met: 

• We persist in prayer and don't give up
• We have faith and don't doubt 
• We ask in Jesus' name
• We seek to glorify the Father, bear fruit, and be disciples
• We remain in Jesus and delight in the Lord
• We pray in God's will
• We don't ask for something merely to indulge our appetites

What does this look like in our actual prayer closets?

Well, to begin with, I think too often we give up too soon. Some will argue that praying for the same thing repeatedly displays lack of faith, but the "ask, seek, knock" scripture and the Parable of the Unjust Judge teach otherwise. We need to keep going until we either get our answer or it becomes abundantly clear that we won't because some immutable, irreversible, undeniable deadline has passed. If neither has happened, keep praying! Two common examples that can require years of persistence are prayers for salvation and prayers for healing. Tough cases appear to require a lot of prayer energy and power for breakthrough, not because God is unwilling--we are never, ever, trying to twist God's arm--but because He has ordained that human beings help bring about His will on Earth through prayer. This is how we participate with Him in worldly and heavenly events. There is power in prayer, and sometimes it takes a lot of prayer to release enough power to win the victory. 

And speaking of faith without doubt, that doesn't mean never, ever doubting even for a moment. It means, when we waver and wobble because that thing we're praying for is desperate, precious, and precarious, we tell God about it, pick ourselves up quickly, repent, and return to a faith stance. This is far different from the wishy-washy "yesterday I believed but today I don't" seesaw, which we want to avoid. How can we become firmer in our faith, though? By placing it in Jesus rather than circumstances. Instead of putting our eyes on the result we want, we need to fix them firmly on Jesus and Him alone. All other ground is sinking sand. 

We should also dig deeply, every day, into relationship with Jesus, through prayer, Scripture, praise, worship, speaking to Him throughout the day, asking Him to speak and listening for His voice, inviting Him into every aspect of our comings and goings. This is remaining in Jesus and delighting in Him. We can check our motives, making sure we seek to glorify God in our requests rather than please our flesh. This alone may help us weed out prayers we really shouldn't be praying. 

But is there a practical way to implement these points--for example, increase faith and decrease doubt? I believe there is, and the key lies in the second-last point above: We pray in God's will. At first this sounds like another conundrum: But what if I don't know what that is? The Bible doesn't tell me whether I should marry Mr. Hotstuff from apartment 2C, or whether I should go to law school, or whether it's His will to heal my Grandma or if it's her time to go to heaven. Well, let's look at that last example.

I have a dear family member with a serious congenital, genetic disability. There is no realistic chance in the natural for complete healing, at least with today's medicine. There's not even a chance for much improvement, honestly. Could I pray for her complete healing? Absolutely I could, but there are two problems: (a) I don't know if this is God's will, and (b) I don't have the faith for it. Lacking these, I can't pray an effective prayer. What, then, can I do? I can construct my prayer in such a way that I know it is God's will, and therefore, knowing He delights to do His will, I can pray it in faith. I don't pray, "Please heal her completely," or even just, "Please heal her." I pray, "In Jesus' name, Father, please heal her to the greatest extent You can in keeping with Your call upon her life." That I have the faith for, and that I know is God's will. I'm prepared to pray it for the rest of my life.

And what about Mr. Hotstuff from 2C? Relying on the above points, construct a prayer you know is in God's will. "Father, at this point I don't know whether Mr. H is the husband You've chosen for me or not. In fact, it would be a mistake to even assume I'm called to marriage, because sometimes people aren't. I would like to be married, and I'm interested in Mr. H. Lord, I pray that if he's meant to be my husband, You will show us both how we are meant to serve the Kingdom as a couple, that our marriage would glorify You, that we would bear Holy Spirit fruit, and that we will show ourselves to be Your disciples so that people see Jesus in us. I lift Mr. H up to You in Jesus' name and ask You to meet his needs, and I pray that his relationship with You will keep on growing. If it's Your will for us to be together, I ask You to open that door, and if it's not Your will, I ask You to close the door. I admit my feelings for him because You know them anyway, but I ask that You take them away if they are not of You. Please have Your way, Lord." 

When you pray in God's known will, then your faith level will rise, because He rejoices to do us good (Jeremiah 32:41). When you remain in Jesus and delight yourself in the Lord, you won't indulge your flesh. When you seek the Kingdom, all these things will be added. And now keep praying until your answer comes. 

Prayer Answer Breakthrough (Part 1)

 

For some time now, I've been studying the Scripture passages that say we have what we ask for in prayer. There are a lot of them. When God repeats Himself many times, it's a big clue that we should listen up.

Though "have what we ask" may sound too simplistic to be believed, or, on the other hand, like the "name it and claim it" concept that says we can basically have anything at all if we just say the word, I want to avoid either extreme and examine this issue carefully. I mean, we know life disappoints us at times. We know we don't get everything we want. This isn't news. Yet we certainly can't dismiss the words of Jesus, even if they sound too good to be true. There's something here we're not getting, something we need to uncover.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says this about prayer: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him" (Matthew 7:7-11, NIV)! The verb tense for "ask," "seek," and "knock" is actually "keep on asking, keep on seeking," etc. We learn here that persistence is key. 

Matthew also tells the story of Jesus cursing a fig tree (which He apparently could tell was not going to fruit as it should), and as a result the tree withered. Though this is an example to Christians of the need to produce fruit in our own lives, it's also a lesson in prayer. By way of explaining this to His disciples, He said, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer" (Matthew 21:22, NIV). Faith without doubt, then, is key.

The book of John discusses Jesus' teachings on this at the most length. John 14:13-14 says, "And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in My name and I will do it." What do we learn here? Asking in Jesus' name, with an intent to glorify the Father, is key. 

My personal favorite of these verses is John 15:7-8. Jesus says, "If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to My Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples." Here the conditions are two: remain in Jesus and follow his words; and have in mind the Father's glory, bearing Holy Spirit fruit, and showing yourself to be a disciple of Jesus. These are key. 

Similarly, King David the psalmist wrote in Psalm 37:5, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." This isn't to say that delighting in the Lord gives us a blank check; rather, over time it adjusts our desires to what God desires for us--desires that He will delight to fulfill. Delighting in Jesus is part of remaining in Him.

John wrote, in 1 John 5:14-15, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of Him." Praying in God's will is key. 

Jesus also said, as recorded in Matthew 18:19, "Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven." While agreement among two or more isn't required for answered prayer, it helps. 

And, along with the Do verses, there's a Don't verse. James 4:3 says, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." Are you asking for a Mercedes just so you can look rich or one-up your neighbor? Chances are good you won't get it. If you've ever heard the phrase "praying amiss," that is the KJV wording for asking with wrong motives. We can't always have whatever we want just because we want it.

This will get much too long if I I quote the other Scriptures at length, so I will list them here:

Mark 11:24

Luke 11: 9 and 13; 17:6; 18:1-8

John 16:24

James 1:5-8

1 John 3:22

1 Kings 3:5

What we learn from the Scriptures, most of them Jesus' own words, is that we can have whatever we ask for in prayer, if:

• We persist in prayer and don't give up
• We have faith and don't doubt 
• We ask in Jesus' name
• We seek to glorify the Father, bear fruit, and be disciples
• We remain in Jesus and delight in the Lord
• We pray in God's will
• We don't ask for something merely to indulge our appetites  

In addition, agreeing with at least one other person about what you pray for will help. 

Fine, but how do we DO all this?  On Wednesday, June 18, I'll discuss that in Part 2. 

If Jesus Isn't the Messiah...

 ...it all falls apart. 

As a child, I once heard a speaker say, "I don't believe Jesus was the Messiah, but I believe He was a good man." This "good man" part was somewhat meant to mollify the mostly nominal Christian audience, and everyone politely let the statement stand. It wasn't until years later that I understood it can't. It doesn't pass the logic test.

I've heard it claimed more than once that Jesus never owned up to being the Messiah, but He certainly did. When He was speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, she said, "I know that Messiah is coming; when that One comes, He will tell us everything," and He responded, "I who speak to you am He" (John 4:25-26). It doesn't get any clearer than that. 

At the beginning of His public ministry, He went into the synagogue at Nazareth and read aloud the messianic prophecy from Isaiah 61:1-2: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. To set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." Then He sat down and said to the people, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." They knew exactly what He meant to imply, because some began to grumble, "Isn't this just Joseph's son?"

Jesus stated many times that He came from God, was One with God, and wrapped up His discussion of Abraham by telling the Jewish leaders, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, before Abraham was born, I Am" (John 8:58). 

Before the Sanhedrin, when asked, "Are You the Son of God, then?" Jesus replied, "It is just as you say" (Luke 22:70). When Pilate asked, "Are You the King of the Jews?" He again answered, "It is just as you say." 

Here's the rub, though: someone who would falsely claim to be the Messiah, to be One with God, isn't a good man. At best he's deceived, which would mean he is a false teacher. Long ago, someone said, and I paraphrase, "Jesus is either exactly Who He claimed to be, or He's a phony, a fraud, mentally ill. You must put Him in one camp or the other. There is no middle ground. He didn't intend there to be."

That's not all. Jesus fulfilled every Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah, as Matthew went to great lengths to demonstrate in his gospel. If the Messiah were anyone else, that one would also have to fulfill every single prophecy (and also live a sinless life). A mathematician named Peter Stoner calculated that out of 60-some prophecies, the chance of one man fulfilling even EIGHT of them was 1 out of 10 to the 17th power--in other words, impossible except by supernatural means. To make a serious claim for a different Messiah, one would then have to give a plausible explanation for why God would bring about this supernatural fulfilling of all Messianic prophecies twice--and allow this to happen even though one of them wasn't Messiah.   

It doesn't make sense. 

I will also argue it's a slam against God's goodness and trustworthiness.

Some vary the argument a bit; instead of opining that Jesus is good but not Messiah, they say there's no hell and maybe no heaven either. But then things fall apart even more completely. If there's no hell, then there's nothing to be saved from, there's no need of a Messiah, Jesus died for nothing, and God is not good. I suppose if people are willing to follow their belief to its logical conclusion, that's their prerogative. But I've found that most aren't, or don't realize the implications. 

Yes, faith is huge in Christianity. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Without faith in Christ it is impossible to be saved. But it's never blind faith. And maybe that's a point we should be trying harder to get across. 

Happy Pentecost: Why the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is For Today (Controversies #8)

 

There's disagreement in the church today concerning what Christians should expect regarding infilling and empowerment by the Holy Spirit: two separate experiences, a single experience that encompasses two aspects, or whether there were two distinct events at the launching of the church and at some unrecorded point one of them just kind of went away and now there's only one. 

You can probably guess by my wording that I don't believe the last one, simply because the thrust of the New Testament doesn't support the cessation of NT gifts or impartations. (1 Corinthians 13:8-10 doesn't work as an argument; the "end" or "completion" to come is almost certainly the second coming of Christ, not the compilation of the New Testament canon, and there's a danger in drawing doctrine from a single "proof text," especially one that's "not quite.") A much more likely explanation for most of the church's powerlessness today is that we are living in Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22), or that we have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof (2 Timothy 3-5). Sadly, the evidence of the latter is all around us. 

I cannot escape stating this: Scripture is abundantly clear about two separate Holy Spirit experiences for the Christian. John 20 not only describes the discovery of the empty tomb, but goes on to tell of Jesus' first appearances to people in His resurrected body. The evening of the day He rose, He miraculously entered the barred upper room where the disciples were secretly meeting, and verse 22 records that He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." This is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the experience all believers have at the time they place their faith in the risen Christ: when the Holy Spirit comes to live inside them. If this were also the infilling and empowerment of the Holy Spirit for ministry, why would Pentecost have even happened? Why would Jesus have said they must tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49), and why would that have happened 50 days after the resurrection? 

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit that seals believers for the day of redemption and the infilling of the Holy Spirit that empowers them for ministry are two separate events. And if the eleven apostles who spent three years in person with Jesus dared not start public ministry until the Holy Spirit baptized them and enabled them to function in every spiritual gift, how dare we presume we can? Really--we need to look around at some of our ministry efforts and ask, "How dare we?" instead of saying, "Well, I guess that book of Acts stuff just doesn't happen anymore." Simon Peter, the most striking example in all of scripture of the change in a man brought about by the baptism, would like a word. 

So I wish you a happy, blessed Pentecost, with a full understanding and recognition of its meaning. For any who have not received the baptism in the Holy Spirit with fire and power for ministry, I suggest that what we need to do is tarry in Jerusalem--praying and seeking God continually in our prayer closets, groups, and meetings, until we are endued with power from on high. After all, Paul said that the Kingdom is not a matter of talk, but of power. 

 

How Fragrant the Perfume

How fragrant the perfume

that fills the whole house

when lilacs in bloom

pour their scent

give their all

praise their Maker

as only they can do.

How much more the spikenard

that filled the whole house

when Mary broke the jar

bathed His feet

gave her all

anointed Jesus

as only she would do.

How much more the wisdom

at The Feet, in the house,

than in the reclining,

the schooling--

even the serving.

How sublime the reminder

breathed down the ages

by the Spirit

and the breath

of a lilac.

 

We Shall Not All Sleep (Controversies #7, His Mysteries #4)

 

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul writes at length about resurrection, first Jesus', and then ours. In verses 51-54 he reaches the climax of the topic when he says, "Listen very carefully, I tell you a mystery [a secret truth decreed by God and previously hidden, but now revealed]; we will not all sleep [in death], but we will all be [completely] changed [wondrously transformed], in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at [the sound of] the last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [who believe in Christ] will be raised imperishable, and we will be [completely] changed [wondrously transformed]. For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable [nature], and this mortal [part of us that is capable of dying] must put on immortality [which is freedom from death]. And when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the Scripture will be fulfilled that says, 'Death is swallowed up in victory (vanquished forever)'" (AMP 2015). 

In short, not only will believers in Christ who have died be resurrected no later than His second coming, but the people alive at that time will experience their bodies changing from mortal to immortal form without having to go through death. This was a mystery--a hidden truth of God--revealed for the first time ever to these first-generation Christians. The depths of our God, the ways of our God, will never cease to amaze, and because he is infinite and we are finite, there will be no end of His mysteries to search out (Proverbs 25:2). 

Wait, though. Why did I say dead believers would be resurrected "no later" than His second coming? Because of what is commonly called the rapture, which is a word that doesn't appear in any English translation of the Bible, but which is said to describe an event in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 that uses the Greek word harpazo, which means "to snatch" or "to catch up." The Latin Vulgate Bible actually translates harpazo as rapturo, further explaining how the English word "rapture" came into use. Verses 16-17 say, "For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the [blast of the] trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will simultaneously be caught up (raptured) together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord" (AMP 2015)! 

Are these the same event, or separate events? They certainly have in common the trumpet blast, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and the transformation of the living in Christ. As you will guess if you don't already know, there are differing beliefs about this. For one thing, we know that the second coming will involve Jesus literally ruling from Jerusalem, but the 1 Thessalonians passage doesn't even show Him coming all the way to Earth; it appears to bring us up to Him rather than He coming down to us. On the other hand, support for the "same event" view might lie in the passage's context. Is Paul's primary goal here to teach a "catching away of the saints to heaven" that occurs some time before the second coming of Christ to the earth (and the raptured saints returning with Him) when every eye will see Him? I don't think so; I think Paul's purpose is to explain to the Thessalonians, who had asked questions about the fate of the dead, that their deceased loved ones will not miss out on the return of Christ. Those who argue for a rapture usually say that verse 18--"Therefore comfort one another with these words"--means comfort one another with the fact that there will be a rapture, but I don't believe the context proves that. In fact, the Amplified 2015 version of the Bible expands on the meaning in the way I believe is correct: "Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these words [concerning our reunion with believers who have died]. Paul's whole point is to reassure them that their friends and family who have passed away won't miss out on reunion with Jesus and His people, not to reassure them that they will be snatched off a sinful planet. 

Many who don't believe in a rapture argue that all of Revelation has already been fulfilled by horrific events that Israel endured in the years soon after Jesus' resurrection and the deaths of the twelve apostles; in other words, there is no future great tribulation to be raptured out of. Most who do believe in a rapture place themselves in either a pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib camp, depending on when they think the rapture will occur relative to a future seven-year tribulation they believe is described by the books of Revelation and Daniel. This can get complicated fast, so much so that many thinkers have devoted their scholarly lives to the topic of eschatology and end-times prophecy. I don't want to get too far into the weeds here. Let's just say that there is mystery and controversy about these things, that many well-meaning, studious, and honest people come down on different sides of the argument, and that as long as they confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior for forgiveness of their own sins and believe in His resurrection, they are all born again. 

What do I believe? I lean toward a pre-tribulation rapture of the church, in large part because I spent most of my adult life in a denomination that taught the final timeline in great biblical detail. While some on the other side of the issue argue convincingly that the events of Revelation have already happened, that doesn't rule out a possible double fulfillment, so on that basis I don't think we can assume there's nothing left to happen except the actual second coming. 

One thing we do know is that first-century Christians believed Jesus could and probably would come back in their lifetime, because they wrote their letters, which became canonized Scripture, in that spirit. Skeptics could argue they were wrong. I think the better take is that they were examples to us, and we, too, should live as though He could come at any time--staying busy with the assignments He gives us, staying in fellowship with Him and each other, and always keeping watch, because we do not know when our Lord is coming. It's one of His mysteries.