An Examination Of The Rapture Of The Church – Part 2 Of 4 Series

AN EXAMINATION OF THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH – PART 2 OF 4

Greetings everyone. We are going to continue today with the second part of the examination of the Rapture, having done PART 1 last time, and we might start with just one verse that contains a beautiful expression. It is this one – {{Titus 2:13 “looking for [the blessed hope] and [the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Christ Jesus.”]}} This is a remarkable verse for it contains both future comings of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first one is “the blessed hope” and this is what we are all waiting for. It is the coming of the Lord for His Church, His Bride which He will rapture from this earth into His own presence. This is the Christian’s hope, and I am going to ask you, “Do you have this hope burning in your heart? Are you looking forward to the coming of the Lord?”

I know that many of you are working and raising families and your activity is somewhat divided among many aspects of living. I suppose retired people have the luxury of devoting a lot more of their time to the things of the Lord but in all of us there needs to be that hope of the Lord’s return burning bright. Are you hoping for the Rapture, or are you not wanting it because you are too implanted in the world and love the world’s things?

Let me share a verse that is not too often considered. It is this one – {{2Timothy 4:8 “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”}} For those who are living in the blessed hope of the Lord’s coming in the Rapture, He has promised a crown of righteousness for them. For all those who have loved His appearing, and those who look forward to it earnestly, He has something special. It is a crown of righteousness reserved for you. As I try to think into this, I think it is those who are in a deeper commitment with Christ who are more likely to have the love for His coming again. Is this not a reason to get your life right, and your priorities correct? What use is a half-hearted servant? What use in the Christian race set before us, is one who is tied down by the shackles of the world and serving self, and makes poor progress?

The blessed hope is a joyous privilege as we wait and expect. The Lord is coming for His Bride and it is very close today. This world is preparing itself for judgement as it pulls itself apart, but the Lord will remove His Bride from the judgement to come. The second part of the Titus verse we opened with, “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Christ Jesus,” refers to the Second Coming which is 7 years after the Rapture. In that Coming, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah comes back to earth. This is not part of our study today so we leave that one there.

In the next section I will touch on the Titus verse again as we carry on from last time.

[D2]. A SMALL LOOK AT GALATIANS AND TITUS

There are two verses by Paul that focus very much on the Rapture and these are they – {{Galatians 5 :5 “We, by faith, through the Spirit, are [waiting for the hope of righteousness]” AND Titus 2:13 “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Christ Jesus”.}} The “hope of our righteousness” is that time when the completion of personal righteousness comes; equipped with the new bodies and that happens at the Rapture. Christ our righteousness will come and our righteousness is complete in Him. In Titus, the “blessed hope”, “glorious hope” (KJV), is what we must look out for. It is the coming of the Lord for His redeemed Church. It is our hope. The Rapture is the great hope of new creation in Jesus Christ. Hope does not make us ashamed, and the hope of His coming for us ought to grow stronger as we advance in years. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

The word “hope” in the bible is not as we use the word today. If we hope for something it is like a wishful thinking, a maybe it will happen. “I hope the weather will be fine.” That is not the biblical use. When the word is used in God’s word, it means a settled assurance, a certainty. There is never a doubt about it.