THE RAPTURE
1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18
INTRODUCTION:
IT COULD HAPPEN DURING THE DAYTIME. A HUSBAND GETS READY FOR WORK AND KISSES HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN GOOD-BYE. HE GETS CALLED OUT OF A MEETING TO BE TOLD BY A NEIGHBOR THAT HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN HAVE DISAPPEARED FROM THEIR FRONT YARD. THE ONLY THINGS LEFT ARE THE CLOTHES THEY WERE WEARING AND HIS WIFE’S JEWELLERY.
PERHAPS IT WILL HAPPEN AT NIGHT. YOU ARE HAVING A VISIT WITH YOUR PARENTS. YOU SAY YOUR GOODNIGHTS AND TUCK THE CHILDREN INTO BED. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT YOU ARE AWAKENED BY YOUR MOTHER. SHE ASKS YOU TO HELP HER FIND HER HUSBAND AS SHE FEARS SOMETHING STRANGE HAS HAPPENED TO HIM. SHE TELLS YOU SHE JUST ROLLED OVER TO FIND ONLY HIS PAJAMAS AND JEWELLERY IN THE BED. STRANGLY ENOUGH WHEN YOU TRY TO WAKE YOUR WIFE, YOU DISCOVER ONLY HER NIGHTGOWN AND JEWELLERY AS WELL. YOU CHECK FOR THE CHILDREN AND THEY ARE ALL GONE.
PERHAPS IT WILL HAPPEN WHILE ON A TRIP OF SOME KIND. YOU’RE ON BOARD AN AIRPLANE FLYING AT 30,000 FEET. THE CABIN IS FILLED TO CAPACITY. THERE’S NOT A SEAT LEFT ANYWHERE. ALL OF A SUDDEN THE PLANE TAKES A NOSEDIVE AND BEGINS TO CRASH.
YOU LOOK AROUND TO FIND THAT THERE ARE NOW MANY EMPTY SEATS IN THE CABIN. THE ONLY THING LEFT WHERE PEOPLE HAD BEEN ARE THEIR CLOTHES AND JEWELLERY. TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE YOU OVERHEAR THAT THE PILOT AND CO-PILOT ARE NOW MISSING. HOW DO YOU LOSE SO MANY PEOPLE AT 30,000 FEET?
ALL THESE SCENARIOS AND MANY MORE ARE POSSIBLE WHEN IT COMES TO THE NEXT EVENT ON THE PROPHETIC CALENDAR. THIS EVENT WHICH WE CALL “THE RAPTURE” OR “THE BLESSED HOPE” OF THE CHURCH, IS NOT THE FINAL COMPONANT OF OUR STUDY ON THE LAST DAYS, BUT IT DOES GIVE US A MUCH FIRMER BASIS OF UNDERSTANDING AS FAR AS TIME IS CONCERNED. THE FINAL COMPONANTS WILL DEAL WITH THE TIME PERIOD THAT WE CALL THE “TRIBULATION” PERIOD AND THEN JESUS’ “GLORIOUS APPEARING” TO USHER IN HIS MILLENNIAL REIGN.
INTERESTINGLY BAPTISTS FOR A LONG TIME HAVE HAD A GREAT DEAL OF DIFFICULTY WITH THIS ELEMENT OF ESCHATOLOGY. YOU WILL NOT FIND THE WORD “RAPTURE” MENTIONED ANYWHERE IN SCRIPTURE, AND BEING “PEOPLE OF THE BOOK” THIS POSED A PROBLEM FOR SOME.
I REMEMBER BEING IN A CHURCH IN THE MONCTON AREA DURING MY ABC DAYS AND ATTENDING A CONCERT BY THE GOSPELAIRES. NOW THE GOSPELAIRES WERE PRIMARILY A WESLEYAN GROUP, AND I CAN CLEARLY RECALL BILL LAPOINTE INTRODUCING A SONG ENTITLED “I’LL SEE YOU IN THE RAPTURE”. IN HIS INTRODUCTION HE MADE THE STATEMENT “I REALIZE WE DON’T AGREE ON THIS PARTICULAR THEOLOGY, BUT IT IS WHAT WE AS A GROUP BELIEVE AND SO WE INCLUDE IT IN OUR CONCERTS”.
I DO FEEL THAT THE “RAPTURE” WILL BE THE NEXT EVENT ON THE PROPHETIC CALENDAR. THERE IS NOTHING ELSE THAT NEED OCCUR TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR IT. IT COULD HAPPEN AT ANY TIME, EVEN PERHAPS DURING THIS CHURCH SERIVCE. CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT, JUST SITTING IN WORSHIP AND THEN BEING TRANSFORMED AS THE SCRIPTURES STATE “IN THE BLINKING OF AN EYE” INTO THE ETERNAL PRESENCE OF GOD.
FOR THE CHRISTIAN THIS WILL TRULY BE A “RAPTUROUS” TIME. IT MEANS AN EXPRESSION OR MANIFESTATION OF ECSTACY OR PASSION.” AND “BEING CARRIED AWAY BY OVERWEALMING EMOTION.” WE WILL BE AS WE WERE MEANT TO BE ALL ALONG. WE WILL BE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD ENJOYING THE JOYS OF HEAVEN. FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE ALIVE AT THIS TIME, WE SHALL NOT KNOW DEATH, AND FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE FELT THE STING OF THE DEATH OF A LOVED ONE, THROUGH OUR COMMON FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR, WE SHALL BE REUNITED AGAIN FOR ETERNITY.
BUT FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT SAVED A FAR MORE HORRIBLE FUTURE AWAITS. THE SCRIPTURE TELLS US THAT FOR THOSE LEFT BEHIND, THEER WILL BE A TIME OF INTENSE SUFFERING AND PERSECUTION, THAT WE CALL “THE TRIBULATION.” NOW AS TO AN EXACT TIMING OF WHEN THE TRIBULATION PERIOD STARTS, THERE ARE DIFFERENT VIEWS ON THAT, BUT FOR ME, THE ONLY LOGICAL ONE WOULD BE THE PRE-TRIBULATION VIEW. THIS MEANS THAT THE CHURCH IS RAPTURED BEFORE THIS TRIBULATION PERIOD BEGINS, AND THAT THE TRIBULATION PERIOD WILL END WITH THE GLORIOUS APPEARING OF CHRIST, HIS SECOND ADVENT.
FOR THOSE LEFT BEHIND THE HORROR BEGINS WITH THE RESULTS OF THE RAPTURE. PLANES WILL CRASH AS PILOTS THAT KNOW JESUS VANISH FROM AT THEIR CONTROLS. BUSES AND CARS WILL VERE OFF ROADS AND HAVE ACCIDENTS AS NOONE SITS AT THE CONTROLS. DOCTORS WILL SUDDENLY VANISH IN THE MIDDLE OF OPERATIONS, AND PATIENTS WILL VANISH FROM DOCTORS IN THE SAME WAY. MORTICIANS WILL GO INTO FUNERAL HOMES TO MAKE THE FINAL PREPARATIONS OF BODIES FOR BURIAL ONLY TO FIND SOME OF THE CASKETS EMPTY.
THERE WILL BE NO CHILDREN LEFT HERE AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE. I BELIEVE THE SCRIPTURES TEACH THAT ANYONE TOO YOUNG TO UNDERSTAND NOT ONLY THE MEANING OF RIGHT AND WRONG, BUT ALSO TO HAVE SOME UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT SALVATION MEANS WILL BE PART OF THE RAPTURE. I BELIEVE THAT THOSE ADULTS WHO DO NOT HAVE THE MENTAL CAPACITY TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT SALVATION OR SIN WILL BE PART OF THOSE RAPTURED. THE SCRIPTURES TELL US THAT THIS EVENT WILL BE SO GIGANTIC THAT THOSE WHO ARE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL ALSO BE PART OF THE RAPTURE.
LET ME MAKE THIS PERFECTLY CLEAR. THE RAPTURE IS GOING TO SEPARATE TRUE BELIEVERS FROM THOSE WHO ONLY THINK THEY BELIEVE. IT WILL SEPARATE TRUE BELIEVERS FROM THOSE WHO ARE ONLY PRACTICING A RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF BELIEFS. THE RAPTURE WILL SEPARATE TRUE BELIEVERS FROM THOSE WHO BELIEVE THEY CAN HAVE SALVATION IN ANY WAY OTHER THAN WHAT SCRIPTURE STATES. ONLY TRUE BELIEVERS, THOSE WHO HAVE ACCEPTED JESUS AS LORD AND SAVIOR IN THEIR LIVES, THOSE WHO ARE PART OF THE INVISIBLE CHURCH AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD ARE GOING TO BE RAPTURED. THE SCRIPTURE CLEARLY STATES THAT ONLY BLOOD WASHED TRUE BELIEVERS WILL BE RAPTURED BY CHRIST. SO IF THE RAPTURE WERE TO OCCUR TODAY, AND YOU ARE LEFT BEHIND, WHAT DOES THIS TELL YOU?
SO WHAT EXACTLY DOES THE SCRIPTURE TEACH CONCERNING THE RAPTURE? LET ME SHARE WITH YOU MY THOUGHTS CONCERNING THIS.
THE APOSTLE PAUL WAS THE FIRST TO REVEAL THE DETAILS OF THE RAPTURE. HE MADE GENERAL STATEMENTS ABOUT TO THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH, BUT HE ADDRESSED THE ISSUE IN GREAT DETAIL ALSO TO THE CHURCH IN THESSALONICA.
THE CHURCH IN THEDSSALONICA WAS A YOUNG CHURCH, ALIVE FOR THE LORD. THEY BELIEVED THAT CHRIST WAS GOING TO COME BACK IN THEIR LIFETIME, AND SO WHEN PEOPLE IN THEIR CHURCH STARTED TO DIE, THEY ASKED PAUL WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO THEM.
PAUL BEGINS BY ADDRESSING THE QUESTION OF THOSE WHO HAVE “FALLEN ASLEEP”. NOW PAUL HERE IS TALKING OF THE BELIEVERS OF THE CHURCH WHO HAVE DIED. NOW THE GREEK WORD FOR SLEEP USED HERE IS “KOIMAO” AND USED IN OTHER PLACES:
JOHN 11:11: After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
ACTS 7:60: Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 13:36: “For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed.
1 Corinthians 15:20: But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
THIS CONCEPT OF DEATH IS EMPHASIZED IN THE WORD USED BY EARLY CHRISTIANS FOR THE BURIAL PLACES OF THEIR LOVED ONES. THE WORD IS “KOIMETERION” WHICH MEANS “A REST HOUSE FOR STRANGERS” WE GET OUR ENGLISH WORD “CEMETERY” FROM IT.
THINK OF WHAT IT MEANS. FOR CHRISTIANS IT MEANS THAT WE ARE SLEEPING PEACEFULLY IN A PLACE OF REST, UNTIL WE ARE AWAKENED BY THE MIGHTY SHOUT OF GOD. DEATH IS NOT A FINAL REALITY BUT A TEMPORARY SLEEP.
PAUL THEN AFFIRMS THAT THEIR LOVED ONES WILL RISE AGAIN. HE TIED THEIR HOPES THAT THEIR LOVED ONES WOULD LIVE AGAIN TO THE RESURRECTION AND THE RAPTURE.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:13C-14:
we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
PAUL REASONED THAT PEOPLE WOULD BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION BECAUSE IT WAS BACKED UP BY CHRIST’S RESURRECTION, AND TIED IN THE RAPTURE WITH THIS BELIEF.
NOW I WANT TO MAKE SOMETHING CLEAR ABOUT THIS PART OF THE PASSAGE. PAUL IS NOT TEACHING THAT CHRISTIANS SHOULDN’T GRIEVE THE LOSS OF LOVED ONES, BUT THAT WE SHOULD NOT GRIEVE AS THOSE WHO HAVE NO HOPE. JESUS HIMSELF WEPT AT THE TOMB OF LAZARUS, DO WE NOT DESERVE THE SAME FREEDOM?
WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT HOW WE TELL THE TRUTH AT TIMES. THERE IS A PROPER TIME TO REMIND SOMEONE THAT A LOVED ONE HAS GONE TO A BETTER PLACE, BUT YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE OF A COUPLE OF THINGS. FIRST, THAT THE LOVED ONE HAS GONE TO A BETTER PLACE, IN SHORT DOES THEIR LIFESTYLE DISPLAY THAT OF A BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN. AND TWO, MAKE SURE THAT THESE WORDS OF COMFORT ARE FOR THE PERSON GREIVING AND NOT YOU TO FEEL BETTER.
WE ARE NOT TO GREIVE AS THOSE WHO HAVE NO HOPE GRIEVE, BUT WE ARE TO GRIEVE.
PAUL ALSO TEACHES AN ORDER TO THESE EVENTS.
HE STARTS OUT BY SAYING “BY THE WORD OF GOD” THIS STATES HIS AUTHORITY COMES FROM THE WORD OF GOD. IT IS NOT HIS TEACHING BUT FROM GOD AND NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY.
THIS THEN IS THE ORDER.
1. THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST. THEY HAVE LONGER TO GO THAN WE WHO ARE ALIVE.
2. THERE WILL BE A RETURN. 1 THESS. 4;16 THE LORD WILL DESCEND, BUT NOT TOUCH THE EARTH.
3. THERE WILL BE SOUNDS THAT WILL BE HEARD BY CHRISTIANS ONLY 1. A SHOUT, THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL, AND THE TRUMPET OF GOD.
4. IT WILL BE A REALITY. 1 THESS 4:16. THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST AND THEN WE WHO ARE ALIVE WILL BE CHANGED.
1 COR. 15:51-54:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
5. THERE WILL BE A REUNION 1 THESS. 4:17
LETS ASK A LAST QUESTION, WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS PASSAGE? WHAT DOES THE RAPTURE MEAN FOR US?.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS PASSAGE IS TO ENCOURAGE BELIEVERS.
THERE IS LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.
IT WARNS US TO BE READY. THERE WILL BE NO SAINTLY INTERVENTION DURING THE TRIBULATION. CHRISTIANS WILL BE SPARED THIS AS WE LEARN FROM THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA.
REV. 3:10: Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:9-11:
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
