1 John 2:28
And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming ().

The Bible declares that the Lord is coming again. It’s important that we be ready to meet Him. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 tells us that the dead in Christ shall rise first, and those of us who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.

So the question is: Are you in Christ? If you are, then you’re one of the many believers the Lord is coming to receive unto Himself. If however you’re not, you have to give your heart to Christ right away by confessing Him as your Lord and Saviour. The Bible says,
“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” (Hebrews 9:28).

After receiving Christ into your heart, you have to make sure to receive the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 25:1-13, the Lord Jesus likened the Kingdom of heaven to ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The five foolish ones didn’t have extra oil for their lamps. Then, at midnight, there was an announcement for the arrival of the bridegroom. While the foolish ones quickly went to get oil for their lamps, the Bible says, “…the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).

Now, oil, in this context, signifies the anointing or presence of the Holy Spirit. And according to Scriptures Jesus is the Bridegroom, and the Church is His bride. This means therefore that without the Holy Spirit, a man cannot go in with the bridegroom – for the marriage of the Lamb. No wonder the Bible says in Revelation 19:7: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” So, if you’re yet to receive the Holy Spirit, ask Him to come into your life today and He will bring the anointing into your spirit and make you ready for the appearing of the Master.

Prayer
I rejoice that I’m in Christ, and the Holy Spirit lives in me! Therefore I know that when Christ, who is my life, shall appear, I will also appear with Him in glory, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Further Study
Colossians 3:4
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

1 John 3:2
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.

Is there an exhaustive bible passage on this subject rather than cherrypicking and loose meanings!

Fair write up, But I would say that the wife making herself ready doesn't mean to receive the Holy Spirit. Receiving the Holy Spirit is the bethrotal. When we accept Christ and obey Him, we receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32).

The wife makes herself ready by making sure that her gown is clean without spot or blemish -holiness. The Church must prepare for the rapture by pursuing holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

As for the virgins, they all had oil in their lamps(the Holy Spirit) but the wise ones had extra oil to fill their lamps. In other words the foolish ones were careless in waiting for the Lord. They were lukewarm.

We cannot talk about rapture without holiness

TELL PASTOR CHRIS TO READ THE LINK BELOW AND INFORM HIM THAT THERE WILL BE NOTHING LIKE "RAPTURE":

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=550247.msg7149367#msg7149367

Are you taking over form mabell?

wetu:

Fair write up, But I would say that the wife making herself ready doesn't mean to receive the Holy Spirit. Receiving the Holy Spirit is the bethrotal. When we accept Christ and obey Him, we receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32).

The wife makes herself ready by making sure that her gown is clean without spot or blemish -holiness. The Church must prepare for the rapture by pursuing holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

As for the virgins, they all had oil in their lamps(the Holy Spirit) but the wise ones had extra oil to fill their lamps. In other words the foolish ones were careless in waiting for the Lord. They were lukewarm.

We cannot talk about rapture without holiness

Please answer my question: Is it possible to live a truly holy life without the Holy Spirit? If your answer is no, then the OP is an excellent presentation of a call to repentance and readiness for the Lord's appearing for He (the Spirit) is the one that prepares us for His appearing.

Did I talk of holiness without the Holy Spirit?
Can a bride make herself ready for someone she is not espoused to?
If a virgin is espoused to a husband is she automatically ready?
Does she not have any responsibility whatsoever to prepare herself in addition to the help from family and friends?

The Word of God instructs us to be holy because we have a responsibility to follow holiness (Hebrews 12:14, 2 Corinthians 7:1)

A call to repentance is not a call to holiness. I don't know which doctrine is that.

nwakaibe:

Are you taking over form mabell?

meaning?

@Wetu
thanks for your contribution, the post if you observe is focused on the necessity of receiving the holy spirit. He is the one preparing the church.

Romans 8:9
9 . Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Holiness is his manifestation, but I will still want to know what you mean by holiness.

mabell:

meaning?

I mean taking over Daily Rhapsody posting from you.

Rapture is an infatuation on the part of some Christians. Pls those who believe in it, what happens to the other billions of non-Christians around the world. Pls stop fooling yourselves in thinking heaven is only made for christians. Heaven should be made for good people regardless of their religion. We need more education in Nigeria.

PS. Do you get your own meaning from the bible or is it your pastor's interpretation,or did God actually give you these meanings. Stop letting other's deceive you and stop deceiving yourselves. Most of these pastor's are enjoying themselves and flying around the world (some in their private jets). While their kids go to the best schools. Wake up Nigeria.

Be a good person to yourself and your neighbour, Christian and NON-Christian.

Joagbaje:

@Wetu
thanks for your contribution, the post if you observe is focused on the necessity of receiving the holy spirit. He is the one preparing the church.

Romans 8:9
9 . Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Holiness is his manifestation, but I will still want to know what you mean by holiness.

Definitely, the Holy Spirit prepares the Church but the Church has a responsibility to follow holiness. The manifestation of the Spirit is not necessarily holiness. Prophecy and tongues are manifestations of the Spirit, are all who prophesy holy? No. Matthew 7:21-23.

I agree with Romans 8:9. Having the Spirit of Christ means we are His. His promised wife, the Holy Spirit is our seal of the promise. But the wife has to "make herself ready" . (Revelation 19:7)

The children of Israel were our example. They also drank from the Rock which was Christ but they were "overthrown in the wilderness". Let us pursue holiness without which no man shall see the Lord (1 Corinthians 10:1-11)

^^^
im still waiting for your definition of holiness

^^
Me too

Holiness in CEC means frying your hair like Oga, using fake accent, sowing plenty seeds + mandatory tithing + first fruits and most importantly contributing dangerously to offer 7

^^
Proverbs 15:2
    The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.

I would rather not define holiness, this is a discussion, not a teaching, I hope you are all pursuing holiness according to your own understanding of holiness. If you want to share with us what holiness means to you, go ahead.

I can post scriptures later when I have access to a Bible on my computer. It is important what God says, not pastor or what we think.

LagosShia: TELL PASTOR CHRIS TO READ THE LINK BELOW AND INFORM HIM THAT THERE WILL BE NOTHING LIKE "RAPTURE":

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=550247.msg7149367#msg7149367

Would you read a link or read the Bible??
I prefer the Bible,God's word,to the word of man.
The wisest of men have come and gone,but God remains!

Kay 17: Is there an exhaustive bible passage on this subject rather than cherrypicking and loose meanings!

There is an exhaustive list of Bible passages in the link below https://www.nairaland.com/1473600/rapture-valid-truth-mystical-hoax#18736265
The rapture is a fact, which is soon to happen!

dare2think:
Rapture is an infatuation on the part of some Christians. Pls those who believe in it, what happens to the other billions of non-Christians around the world. Pls stop fooling yourselves in thinking heaven is only made for christians. Heaven should be made for good people regardless of their religion. We need more education in Nigeria.

Except those who didn't have opportunity to reject christ, they may be judge by their conscience

Do you get your own meaning from the bible or is it your pastor's interpretation,.[/quote]

Everybody just love pastor chris

wetu:
I would rather not define holiness, this is a discussion, not a teaching, I hope you are all pursuing holiness according to your own understanding of holiness. If you want to share with us what holiness means to you, go ahead.

I can post scriptures later when I have access to a Bible on my computer. It is important what God says, not pastor or what we think.

E-Sword is a good Bible for your computer with plenty of tools, it's also free.

Download it here: http://www.e-sword.net/downloads.html

2Co 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Perfecting holiness is to stop doing things that are wrong (filthiness of the flesh)
and to stop thinking things that are wrong (filthiness of the spirit)

And if our thinking is right, then what we say should be right also, followed by what we do.
I guess it all starts in our mind-spirit.