The Rapture of the Church

The Rapture of the Church

Let’s begin this lesson with the one thought in mind; the rapture of the saints will no doubt take place in our time.  How do we prepare for this marvelous event?  First we need to look at the scriptures to be absolutely sure that there is such a thing as “The Rapture”. 

 I Thess. 4:16-18   “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

 What a wonderful account of the Christians being caught up to meet Jesus in the air.  Notice that this catching away is for both those believers who are living and those who have already died.  That word “caught up together” comes from the Greek word harpazo. It literally means “to snatch out” or “to seize.” It’s like a thief grabbing a purse. He seizes it. The word Rapture comes from the Latin Bible rendering of raptus from which we get the popular term Rapture. So if you were reading your Latin Bible and you got down to verse 17 you would see raptus, rapture.

Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you. If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” Where is He now? He is preparing a place for us in Heaven. We meet the Lord in the air. We put these two passages together and we learn that we meet the Lord in the air and He takes us to the Father’s house. From this we see this is not just a made-up word, but has the true meaning for “caught up”. 

 In another great scripture Jesus describes this event in much detail.  “Then everyone will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds with power and great glory.  So when all these things begin to happen, stand straight and look up, for your salvation is near!" Then he gave them this illustration: "Notice the fig tree, or any other tree. When the leaves come out, you know without being told that summer is near. Just so, when you see the events I've described taking place, you can be sure that the Kingdom of God is near.  I assure you, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these events have taken place. Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will remain forever. "Watch out! Don't let me find you living in careless ease and drunkenness, and filled with the worries of this life. Don't let that day catch you unaware, as in a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth. Keep a constant watch. And pray that, if possible, you may escape these horrors and stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:27-36

 What is Jesus talking about? He is talking about the Wrath of God coming on this earth.  He warns us to be on a constant lookout for this event and even praying that we can escape it. This is reality and for those who don’t believe it, the shock will be overwhelming.  We have a great example of something very similar that took place on this earth about 4000 years ago.

Luke 17: 26-29  "And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: "They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. "Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; "but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.”

In both events the believers escaped the wrath to come!  When did they escape is the question! With Noah and his family it happened on the very day the Wrath of God fell on the earth.  What about Lot?  The Bibles says it was “on the day” that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.  It wasn’t seven years before God told Noah to get in the ark with his family – it was the day of!  Lot didn’t have seven years to get out of that wicked city – it was the very day God destroyed it. The thing we want to remember is that both escaped the Wrath of God. 

I Cor. 15:50-55 gives us more details of the rapture.  “What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These perishable bodies of ours are not able to live forever. But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. It will happen in a moment, in the blinking [twinkling] of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown [7^th trumpet]. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies.  We aren’t going to just disappear, but we are going to be transformed.  Remember when Jesus left the earth, he rose up in the air and disappeared into the clouds.  It will happen just that way for the Believers. 

 If you are still wondering if Jesus is really going to come for us, turn to the book of I Thessalonians.  There are five chapters in this book and every chapter references the return of Christ.   

 

I Thess. 1:10 “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” 

2:19 “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?” 

3:13 “So that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.”  

4:14-17 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” 

5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

           At this time, Jesus will meet us ‘in the air’; he does not come down to earth.  So, we don’t want you to be confused, there is another time that Jesus will come to earth and his feet will once again touch Israel’s soil. This return to earth will be at the time of the Battle of Armageddon.    

             “Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south.” Zechariah 14:1-4

So when will the Rapture of the Church take place?  Non one knows for sure.  Looking at other references in the bible makes us unsure of the time.  Many great men of God believe it will happen before the 7-year tribulation begins.  That would be wonderful if it happens that way.  However, the Bible also tells us that we will escape the 'Wrath to Come'.  As this series continues and we talk about things in the book of Revelation, we find that the ‘Wrath of God’ does not occur until the last trumpet sounds.  That won’t take place until later in the last 3 ½ years of the 7-year Tribulation.  The main thought on this is to serve the Lord to the best of your ability and always be ready for Him when he comes.

 

 The 4^th in our End Times study next week will be:  “Understanding the Great Tribulation”.