THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH PART 2
Last week I began our "Last Days" series with a brief look at the conditions that will precede the rapture of the church...conditions that show us that we are at the very brink of that blessed event.
Today I want to look at the specific details that will take place when the trumpet call of God goes out and the beginning of the end of the world as we know it is initiated.
This will be the most earth shaking, cataclysmic event the world has ever known to date...one that will get the attention of the entire planet. And it will signal the time of final judgment that Scripture says will soon take place.
First I want to address the concept of a general judgment that so many people today have come to believe. This is the idea that Christ will come...gather all people before Him...pass judgment on them, and send them either to heaven or hell.
Many today...even Christians, believe that somehow God will look back over each individual life and say, "Well, the good outweighs the bad...they tried pretty hard to live a good life...did some of the right things...better than many others...so they can come into heaven".....or vice versa.
And if that concept is true, then man is not saved here...he is saved or condemned somewhere in the future. But that whole idea, popular as it may be, flies in the face of Scripture. There is absolutely no place in the Word of God where we find anything even closely resembling that.
Scripture does say that Christ will come in the air and take all true believers to be with Him...leaving all others behind to face the most horrible events in all of human history. Later, he will come back with them in great glory and His followers will reign with Him for a thousand years on the earth...
He will then defeat all his enemies...cast Satan and his followers into the Lake of Fire...and lead His own people into perfect happiness for eternity. ...So now that we all understand that we can go home early today.
Not hardly....because even though that brief summary spells out the general details of what will happen in the last days...it leaves many questions unanswered. I hope to answer some of those questions in the next several weeks.
As I said last week, the next great event to take place will be the rapture of the church. But what exactly is the rapture...who will it include...how much time will we have to prepare for it?
Let's look again to last weeks Scripture text in 1 Thessalonians 4:15 18 which is the first instance in all the Word of God where the details are specifically given. (READ)
Before I get into specifics...I want to look at the last verse of chapter 4 where it says "encourage (comfort KJV) one another with these words." Is the rapture something that will be encouraging or comforting to most people who are around hen it happens?
I find throughout Scripture that this is going to be an event that will be anything but a comfort and encouragement to most people here on earth.. especially church people. And we must keep the context in mind when looking at this verse.
Who is Paul trying to encourage when he speaks about this rapture?...... Paul is addressing a situation where certain believers...who were anxiously awaiting the soon return of Christ...were concerned that those who had died would miss the glorious events that would take place at His coming.
But that is exactly what separates them from most of the church today. The majority of church people today are certainly not looking forward to this event if they even believe it will happen at all.
But these Thessalonians were a group of believers who took the words of the Lord to heart. In John 14 Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for them...and if He went to prepare a place...He would come back for them! And they believed it!
But most professing Christians cringe at the thought of Jesus coming back at any moment. If we were really looking anxiously for the imminent return of the Lord how different would our lifestyles be?
How many that were out sluffing off last Sunday would have been in church? How many dusty Bibles would have been cleaned off and read? How many of our unsaved loved ones would have been contacted and warned?
How many would have to fall to their knees in repentance over the things that they thought they were getting away with...and still don't want to part with or change from?
The rapture of the church is something that we should be able to find comfort in...but that will happen only if we are living in such a way that we would not find ourselves ashamed or embarrassed if the Lord were to come and catch us unawares.
Let's look at the facts as they are revealed to us through the words of Scripture:
The first thing ...I think...is one of the greatest aspects of this whole event. Look at verse 16:
"For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven" Oh, I just love this. The one who comes will be none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. No substitutes...not Michael...or Gabriel...or any others but my Jesus!
He told the disciples in John 14 that He was going to prepare a place... and if He goes...he'll come back to take them to be with Him there. He said, "I !will„Ç come again."
And that is exactly what is going to happen...the heavens are going to burst wide open...HALLELUJAH...and Jesus will come forth in all His glory....waiting there in the heavens to snatch up His children out of this old sinful world and take them home to be with Him.
Once before, Jesus was suspended between heaven and earth...hung on a cross as if He were too good for earth and not good enough for heaven. That was a cross of suffering...but glory to God, there will be no suffering for Him when He comes back.
As He waits there in the heavens I believe His heart will be overflowing with anticipation...because soon He will meet His church...His bride... and He will take those loved ones home to be with Him forever!
He anticipated this as He hung on the cross...and as He looked down through all the ages and saw those who would believe in Him. He knew what they would be saved from...and what was in store for them...and I believe that as He thought of this He must have rejoiced in the privilege of making the supreme sacrifice to save lost men...to save us!!!
But now as He comes in the air His anticipation is even greater. He is going to gather His believers from all over the earth. He is going to raise the bodies of all those who loved Him and died in the faith.
Verse 16 also says He'll come with a loud command..."With a shout"
This will be a shout of victory...where Jesus Himself will give a shout that resounds with mighty power. This is a shout that will be heard by every believer upon the face of the earth...in every corner of the universe.
But it is also a shout that will penetrate all the graves...whether on the highest mountains or the depths of the deepest sea.
One of the greatest miracles that took place during Jesus' earthly ministry...one that pierced the hearts of those that were open toward Christ...yet so enraged those that wouldn't believe in Him that from that moment on they set out to kill Him.
It was when Jesus stood one day by a graveyard and cried out, "Lazarus, come forth"!! Lazarus was dead...very dead...Scripture said, "He stinketh"...but even in the grave he heard the voice of His master...and he came forth.
Can you imagine what that must have been like for Lazarus? Down there talking with the other saints...when all of a sudden he hears his name being called by the Master. oh, glory!!!!! "What was that...was that my name...He's calling me!" Very soon...maybe today, He'll call us home
Verse 16 also says with the voice of the archangel...the Greek reads literally voice of archangel...and the intention is not to identify the angelic chief Michael but to emphasize the quality of the voice...it is the voice of authority...all authority in heaven and on earth.
"And with the trumpet call of God"....this means that there is to be a great gathering. When the trumpet was blown in Israel, it was to gather them together...sometimes for battle...sometimes to announce the year of Jubilee...or to begin a great feast.
Today, the trumpet also can be used for occasions where special meaning is desired. Like in the case of Winston Churchill. Churchill planned his own funeral, which took place in St. Paul's Cathedral. After the benediction, at his direction, a bugler who was positioned high up in the church's dome played "Taps"...the universal sign that the day is over.
But as Taps was finished, as Churchill instructed, another bugler, placed on the other side of the dome...played the notes of Reveille... which tell us its time to get up. And this was Churchill's testimony...that at the end of history...the last note will not be Taps...it will be Reveille.
This trumpet call from heaven will not mean the end...it will sound to get us up...to gather the saints in the air to join the great multitude of heaven. And the shout will be so loud...and the voice will be so clear...and the trumpet call so distinct, that every child of God will hear and go up to meet Him.
This will be the greatest reunion the world has ever known. Every trouble will be over...and Jesus will throw His loving arms around His believers...and His own heart will overflow with the greatest joy.
But we must take note here that we get these events in Biblical order.
Verse 16 ends with "...and the dead in Christ will rise first."
But I thought that the instant we die, we go to be with the Lord. Yes, our spirit does...but this old earthly shell remains behind.
Look at 1 Corinthians 15...beginning in verse 50 55 (READ)
So when the trumpet sounds the dead in Christ will rise...this is where the perishable will clothe itself with the imperishable...mortality shall put on immortality.
Those old dead bodies will be reunited with the person's soul and spirit. But it won't be that same broken, worn, decayed, weak body we once had... it will be like the Lord's own resurrection body.
It will be a body that possesses the identity we had in this life...one that others will recognize...but it will be one that is free from decay and death. It will be a glorified body...a powerful body not subject to disease or weakness...one not bound by the laws of nature.
After that, we who are alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air...
Paul says that those will be changed...in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye...We shall be like Him
The rapture of the church......
But there is one last thought I want to touch on. The expression "caught up" from which we pick up the Latin and get the word rapture...has a very important counterpart. We are not only caught up TO heaven...but we are rescued FROM earth and all that is in store for those who remain.
A good illustration of the phrase "caught up" would be a man who, at the last possible second, rescues a child from the path of a speeding truck and rushes off with that child to safety.
Because the church will be snatched away before the Great Tribulation overtakes this godless world. Those that are left behind...those who never made, or kept any commitment to Christ...will be left on earth to face the most awful period of time in all the world.
Now, what will happen to the saints „ªafter„« they are caught up to meet the Lord in the air? Next Sunday we will look at the Judgment Seat of Christ where Christians will be brought before the Lord.
But let me close with this thought...We do not know the exact day or the time of the Lord's coming. It's not for us to know. But from the signs of the times we know it won't be long...maybe even today.
So what is our responsibility? To be ready. Jesus said, "Pray that you be counted worthy to escape all the judgments that will surely come upon the earth."
During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives.
One day in 1789, the sky of Hartford darkened to such an extent that some of the representatives, glancing out of the windows, feared the end was at hand.
As some were crying for an immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, "The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it isn't, there is no need for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought in."
Rather than fearing what is to come, we are to be faithful until Christ returns. Where do you stand this morning. Would you be willing to continue on as you are if you knew the Lord would come today?
