FOUNDATIONS OF THE FAITH:
THE LAST DAYS
A VERY CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE IN CHRISTENDOM TODAY IS ESCATOLOGY OR A STUDY OF THE LAST DAYS. YOUR VIEW OF THE LAST DAYS CAN BE INFLUNCED BY A NUMBER OF ISSUES INCLUDING YOUR BELIEF ON SALVATION, YOUR VIEW OF THE CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST, AND YOUR INTERPRETATION OF THE PROPHETIC WRITINGS.
NOW I WANT TO START OUT BY ASSURING YOU THAT THIS IS NOT A STUDY FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION. YOU WILL NOTE THAT OUR SCRIPTURE READING WAS FROM 1 THESSALONIANS, AND WE WILL BE SPENDING MOST OF OUR TIME HERE AND IN THE BOOK OF MATTHEW AND THE 24 CHAPTER.
THE STUDY OF THE LAST DAYS IS IMPORTANT AS IT SPEAKS TO LIFE AT THE END OF THIS AGE, AND IT CAN GIVE US MORE INSIGHT INTO WHAT LIFE AFTER DEATH WILL BE LIKE. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE? AS BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS WE BELIEVE THAT WE WILL GO TO BE WITH CHRIST IN HEAVEN, BUT HOW DO WE GET THERE, WHAT IS THE TIME FRAME FOR THINGS TO HAPPEN? YOUR VIEW OF THE LAST DAYS WILL DETERMINE THE ANSWERS TO MANY OF THESE QUESTIONS.
THE OTHER THING I WANT TO REASSURE YOU OF IS THAT WE WILL NOT BE USING A LOT OF COMPLICATED THEOLOGICAL TERMS OR THEORIES. THERE ARE MANY THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO US, AND IF WE WENT THERE WE COULD MAKE THIS VERY COMPLICATED AND HARD TO UNDERSTAND.
THERE ARE THREE TERMS THAT YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND:
1. RAPTURE
2. TRIBULATION
3. MILLENNIUM
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THEORIES AND TERMS THAT DEAL WITH HOW THE TRIBULATION AND MILLENNIUM RELATE TO THE TIMING OF THE RAPTURE. WE ARE GOING TO APPROACH OUR STUDY FROM ONLY ONE THEORY, WHICH I BELIEVE TO BE THE ONE CLOSEST TO SCRIPTURE, AND THAT IS THE PRE-MILLENNIUM, AND PRE-TRIBULATION VIEW OF THE LAST DAYS.
THIS VIEW TEACHES:
1. A LITERAL RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH. WE’LL TALK ABOUT THIS LATER.
2. THAT THE RAPTURE WILL OCCUR BEFORE THE TRIBULATION AND MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST.
3. OFFERS INSIGHTS INTO OUR SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL LIFE AFTER WE DIE. IT LOOKS AT THE TIME PERIOD BETWEEN WHEN WE DIE, AND WHEN WE GO TO HEAVEN.
POINT ONE: WHAT IS THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH?
THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH IS A VERY CONTROVERSIAL TOPIC IN MANY CIRCLES TODAY. THERE ARE THOSE WHO CLAIM THAT BECAUSE THE WORD DOESN’T OCCUR IN THE BIBLE THAT IT IS NOT A BIBLICAL TEACHING. I DO NOT FEEL THAT THIS IS A SERIOUS OBJECTION AS THERE ARE OTHER TERMS THAT ARE ACCEPTED IN CHURCH CIRCLES THAT ARE NOT STATED IN SCRIPTURE, CHRISTMAS AND EASTER FOR EXAMPLE. THE IDEA IS DESCRIBED IN SCRIPTURE AND THEREFORE ACCEPTED WITHOUT DISPUTE. I SEE NO REASON THAT RAPTURE SHOULD NOT BE INCLUDED WITH THESE.
ANOTHER ARGUMENT DEALS WITH THE FORMATION OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL AND IS FOUND IN MATTHEW 24:34.
MATTHEW 24:34: “I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, THIS GENERATION WILL CERTAINLY NOT PASS AWAY UNTIL ALL THESE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED.”
NATIONS IN SCRIPTURE ARE SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS DIFFERENT TYPES OF TREES. IT’S NOT AN UNUSUAL PRACTICE. TODAY IF WE ARE INVOLVED IN GENEOLOGY FOR EXAMPLE, WE MIGHT LOOK AT SEVERAL BRANCHES OF OUR FAMILY TREE. SO IN THIS PASSAGE, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE REBIRTH OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL.
THIS PASSAGE IS DEALING WITH A NUMBER OF ISSUES INVOLVING PROPHECY, NOT JUST THE FORMATION OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL. THERE ARE ALSO A NUMBER OF ISSUES WE WOULD HAVE TO DETERMINE IN ORDER TO INTERPRET THE PROPHECY, AND MAKE A DECISION ON ITS VALIDITY.
WE WOULD HAVE TO DETERMINE WHAT THE LENGTH OF A GENERATION WAS ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE, AS WELL AS THE APPROPRIATE BORDERS FOR THE NATION OF ISRAEL. THIS WOULD DETERMINE WHEN THE TIMING OF THE PROPHECY WOULD START. DID THE CLOCK START WHEN IT BECAME A NATION IN 1948, OR AT THE TIME OF THE SIX DAY WAR, WHEN IT REGAINED JERUSALEM, OR HAS THE TIME CLOCK ACTUALLY YET TO BE STARTED AS IT IS WAITING FOR ISREAL TO HAVE IT’S FORMER BIBLICAL BOUNDARIES.
YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE ARE MANY QUESTIONS WITH THIS, MORE THAN WE CAN ADEQUATELY DEAL WITH IN THE SHORT TIME WE HAVE, SO WE ARE GOING TO START BY ACCEPTING AS FACT THAT THE BIBLE DOES TEACH A LITERAL RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH.
IT SEEMS CLEAR TO ME THAT THE BIBLE TEACHES A LITERAL RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH. THERE ARE THREE PASSAGES THAT I FEEL ARE KEY IN STUDYING ABOUT THE RAPTURE. THEY ARE:
1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18
1 CORINTHIANS 15:51-58
MATTHEW 24:
THESE PASSAGES DEAL WITH THE EVENTS THAT WILL PRECEED THE RAPTURE AND GIVE VIVID MENTAL PICTURES OF WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE.
SUB-POINT ONE: DEFINITION OF THE RAPTURE
WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LAST DAYS PROPHECY, WHAT WE ARE SPEAKING ABOUT THE FINAL TIME THAT SIN WILL BE INVOLVED IN THE WORLD. WE ARE SPEAKING OF THE DEMISE OF SATAN AND HIS ANGELS, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF GOD’S ETERNAL KINGDOM ON A REVIVED AND PERFECT PLANET EARTH IN THE NEW JERUSALEM. BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS WILL HAVE PERFECT SINLESS BODIES AND LIVE WITH WITH THE LORD FOR ETERNITY, AND UNFORTUNATELY, THOSE WHO ARE NOT BORN-AGAIN, WILL SPEND THEIR ETERNITY SEPARATED FROM CHRIST IN A PLACE CALLED HELL.
THIS END TIME WE REFER TO AS THE SECOND ADVENT. THE FIRST ADVENT OF CHRIST WAS WHEN JESUS CAME TO EARTH AS A HUMBLE BABE IN BETHLEHEM. THE SECOND ADVENT WILL BE WHEN JESUS RETURNS THIS TIME IN ALL HIS GLORY.
THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST WILL OCCUR IN TWO PARTS:
1. THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH
2. THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
THEY ARE DIFFERENT IN NATURE AND DO NOT HAPPEN AT THE SAME TIME. THE THREE PASSAGES I MENTIONED DEAL WITH THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH. THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST IS DESCRIBED IN THE LATTER PART OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION, FROM CHAPTER 18 TO THE END OF THE BOOK.
THE RAPTURE AND THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST ARE DIFFERENT IN THAT WHEN WE SPEAK OF THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH, CHRIST COMES DOWN IN THE CLOUDS AND CALLS THE CHURCH UP TO BE WITH HIM.
ALTHOUGH THIS EVENT WILL BE GLORIOUS FOR THE CHURCH, THIS IS NOT HIS GLORIOUS SECOND COMING WHEN HE WILL DESCEND TO THE EARTH AND SET UP HIS MILLENNIAL KINGDOM.
THE PASSAGES IN 1 THESSALONIANS AND 1 CORINTHIANS GIVE US A DESCRIPTION OF WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE.
THE CHURCH IN THESSALONICA WAS A YOUNG AND VERY ACTIVE CHURCH. IT’S MEMBERS WERE KEEN AT WORKING FOR THE LORD AND BUILDING HIS KINGDOM. THEY EXPECTED THE LORD TO COME BACK DURING THEIR LIFETIMES. WHAT THEY EVENTUALLY FOUND IS THAT HE WAS NOT GOING TO COME BACK DURING THEIR LIFETIMES, AND MEMBERS OF THEIR CHURCH STARTED TO DIE. THEY WANTED PAUL TO TELL THEM WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO THEIR LOVED ONES WHO HAD DIED.
IN RESPONSE TO THEIR QUESTIONS, PAUL WROTE THIS VIVID DESCRIPTION THAT WE HAVE IN 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18. YOU CAN TURN THERE IN YOUR BIBLES AS WE WILL BE DEALING WITH THIS PASSAGE AND SUPPORTING IT FROM 1 CORINTHIANS 15.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-14:
“13 ¶ BROTHERS, 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.
THE FIRST THING I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE RAPTURE IS THAT IT ONLY EFFECTS BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS. PAUL WRITES TO THE THESSALONIANS HE USES THE TERM “FALL ASLEEP” TO DESCRIBE THOSE WHO HAVE DIED.
THE NEW TESTAMENT DESCRIBES THE DEATH OF CHRISTIANS AS “FALLING ASLEEP.” THE THOUGHT IT GIVES US IS THAT DEATH IS A TEMPORARY STATE. JUST AS WE WAKE UP IN THE MORNING, SOME DAY, THE CHRISTIAN WILL WAKE UP FROM THE SLEEP OF DEATH.
PAUL IS TELLING THE THESSALONIAN CHURCH, AND HE IS TELLING US AS WELL, THAT HE WANTS US TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO US AFTER WE AND THOSE WE LOVE DIE. HE WANTS TO ALLOW THE CHURCH TO GRIEVE BUT TO GRIEVE IN THE CERTAIN HOPE OF THE RESURRECTION.
IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT A UNIVERSAL HOPE. IT IS ONLY FOR THE BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN, THE PERSON WHO HAS A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST, ESTABLISHED BY ACCEPTING HIM AS SAVIOR AND LORD. THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE THAT RELATIONSHIP HAVE NO SUCH HOPE.
15 ACCORDING TO THE LORD’S OWN WORD, WE TELL YOU THAT WE WHO ARE STILL ALIVE, WHO ARE LEFT TILL THE COMING OF THE LORD, WILL CERTAINLY NOT PRECEDE THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP.
VERSE 15 REASSURES THE THESSALONIAN CHURCH THAT THOSE WHO HAVE DIED ARE ALSO GOING TO BE INCLUDED IN THE RAPTURE THAT HE IS ABOUT TO DESCRIBE. IT TELLS US THAT BOTH THE LIVING AND THE DEAD ARE GOING TO BE A PART OF THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH.
HE TAUGHT THE CORINTHIANS CHURCH THIS SAME THOUGHT IN VERSES 51 AND 52.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:51-52: “51 ¶ 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.”
WE KNOW FROM THESE VERSES THAT THE RAPTURE IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN AN INSTANT, “THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE”.
WE KNOW THAT THE RAPTURE IS GOING TO BE A GLORIOUS EXPERIENCE FOR THE CHURCH. BOTH PASSAGES SPEAK OF THE SOUNDING OF THE TRUMPET. I THINK OF MANY TIMES WE HAVE WITNESSED OCCASIONS INVOLVING THE ROYALTY. THEY WOULD ALMOST ALWAYS BE PRECEDED BY THE SOUNDING OF THE TRUMPETS. THE MEN WOULD BE DRESSED IN REGALTY, AND FOLLOWED BY THE PROCESSION OF ROYALTY.
PAUL IS TELLING US THAT AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE THERE WILL BE A FANFARE OF TRUMPETS. THIS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY THE APPEARANCE OF JESUS IN THE CLOUDS. THERE CAN BE NOTHING MORE GLORIOUS THAN THIS.
THE NEXT THINGS THAT WE ARE TAUGHT ARE FOUND IN VERSE 16:
16 FOR THE LORD HIMSELF WILL COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, WITH A LOUD COMMAND, WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL AND WITH THE TRUMPET CALL OF GOD, AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST.
NOTE TWO THINGS FROM THIS VERSE. IT SAYS THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL AND THAT THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST.
I CAN STILL REMEMBER MY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. WHAT I REMEMBER IS MOM STANDING AT THE FOOT OF THE STAIRS AND GIVING THE COMMAND FOR US TO GET UP OUT OF BED. IT WAS SO LOUD AND I WAS EXCITED BECAUSE I KNEW IT MEANT IT WAS TIME TO BEGIN A NEW EXPERIENCE IN MY LIFE.
HOW MUCH MORE SHOULD WE BE EXCITED ABOUT THE FACT THAT ONE DAY WE WILL HEAR THE LOUD CALL OF THE ARCHANGEL TO BEGIN A NEW AND ETERNAL PHASE OF OUR LIFE.
PAUL TEACHES THAT THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL HEAR IT FIRST, BUT ALL CHRISTIANS WILL BE CHANGED BY IT. HE TEACHES THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH WHY THIS OCCURS.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:53-57:
53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." 55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
PAUL TAUGHT THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH A FACT THAT WE ALL KNOW. ETERNITY IS GOING TO BE SPENT IN A SINLESS STATE. HE STATES “THE PERISHABLE MUST CLOTHE ITSELF WITH THE IMPERISHABLE, AND THE MORTAL WITH IMMORTALITY.”
WE ARE ALL GOING TO BE CHANGED. THIS BODY THAT WE HAVE NOW, IS TAINTED BY SIN. IT FACES THE CONSEQUENCES OF THAT SIN NATURE. WE AGE, WE GET SICK, WE DIE, ALL BECAUSE OF THE SIN NATURE.
THIS SIN NATURE CANNOT AND WILLNOT BE PRESENT IN ETERNITY. WE WILL ALL BE CHANGED. FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE ALIVE AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE THAT CHANGE WILL BE INSTANTANEOUS. WE’LL TALK ABOUT THAT NEXT WEEK.
THE CHANGE WILL OCCUR FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE AS WELL, BUT THIS CHANGE WILL OCCUR AS A RESULT OF THEIR BODILY RESURRECTION.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-38; 42-50
35 ¶ BUT SOMEONE MAY ASK, "HOW ARE THE DEAD RAISED? WITH WHAT KIND OF BODY WILL THEY COME?" 36 HOW FOOLISH! WHAT YOU SOW DOES NOT COME TO LIFE UNLESS IT DIES. 37 WHEN YOU SOW, YOU DO NOT PLANT THE BODY THAT WILL BE, BUT JUST A SEED, PERHAPS OF WHEAT OR OF SOMETHING ELSE. 38 BUT GOD GIVES IT A BODY AS HE HAS DETERMINED, AND TO EACH KIND OF SEED HE GIVES ITS OWN BODY
42 SO WILL IT BE WITH THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. THE BODY THAT IS SOWN IS PERISHABLE, IT IS RAISED IMPERISHABLE; 43 IT IS SOWN IN DISHONOR, IT IS RAISED IN GLORY; IT IS SOWN IN WEAKNESS, IT IS RAISED IN POWER; 44 IT IS SOWN A NATURAL BODY, IT IS RAISED A SPIRITUAL BODY. IF THERE IS A NATURAL BODY, THERE IS ALSO A SPIRITUAL BODY. 45 SO IT IS WRITTEN: "THE FIRST MAN ADAM BECAME A LIVING BEING"; THE LAST ADAM, A LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT. 46 THE SPIRITUAL DID NOT COME FIRST, BUT THE NATURAL, AND AFTER THAT THE SPIRITUAL. 47 THE FIRST MAN WAS OF THE DUST OF THE EARTH, THE SECOND MAN FROM HEAVEN. 48 AS WAS THE EARTHLY MAN, SO ARE THOSE WHO ARE OF THE EARTH; AND AS IS THE MAN FROM HEAVEN, SO ALSO ARE THOSE WHO ARE OF HEAVEN. 49 AND JUST AS WE HAVE BORNE THE LIKENESS OF THE EARTHLY MAN, SO SHALL WE BEAR THE LIKENESS OF THE MAN FROM HEAVEN. 50 I DECLARE TO YOU, BROTHERS, THAT FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD, NOR DOES THE PERISHABLE INHERIT THE IMPERISHABLE.
WHEN WE DIE OUR SPIRIT GOES DIRECTLY INTO THE PRESENCE OF GOD, AND OUR BODIES, OR OUR ASHES, GO INTO THE GRAVE. THEY DO NOT STAY THERE FOR THE CHRISTIAN. THERE WILL COME A DAY WHEN WE WILL HEAR THE CALL OF THE ARCH-ANGEL, AND OUR BODIES THAT ARE IN THE GRAVE, SOME FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, WILL REFORM, AND ARISE TO THE PRAISE OF GOD.
WE WILL ARISE IN A SINLESS STATE, THE SAME STATE THAT ADAM AND EVE WERE IN BEFORE THEY HAD SINNED. WE WILL HAVE A BODY THAT WILL NEVER KNOW THE STING OF DEATH AGAIN. IT WILL NEVER KNOW DISEASE OR PAIN. WE WILL BE AS STRONG AT THE AGE OF 1000, THAN WE ARE AT THE AGE OF 20.
THIS IS WHY PAUL COULD ENCOURAGE THE THESSALONIAN AND THE CHURCH IN CORINTH
17 AFTER THAT, WE WHO ARE STILL ALIVE AND ARE LEFT WILL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. AND SO WE WILL BE WITH THE LORD FOREVER. 18 THEREFORE ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER WITH THESE WORDS.”
58 ¶ THEREFORE, MY DEAR BROTHERS, STAND FIRM. LET NOTHING MOVE YOU. ALWAYS GIVE YOURSELVES FULLY TO THE WORK OF THE LORD, BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT YOUR LABOR IN THE LORD IS NOT IN VAIN.”
FOLKS THE RAPTURE IS GOING TO BE A GLORIOUS TIME FOR THE CHURCH, FOR YOU AND ME. IT WILL BE THE TIME WHERE WE REALIZE WHAT WE HAVE ACCEPTED BY FAITH AND THAT IS THAT WE WILL BE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD. WE WILL SEE THE GREAT SAINTS OF THE FAITH WHO HAVE GONE ON BEFORE US. LOVED ONES WHO “FELL ASLEEP” IN CHRIST WILL BE THERE.
THE IMPORTANT THING FOR US IS TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD IS RIGHT AND THAT WE ARE READY FOR THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE. YOU CAN BE READY AND I WANT TO INVITE YOU, THAT IF YOU ARE NOT READY TO GET READY TODAY.
