Opener:
Well Good morning church! Wow! It is so nice to see every here this morning. If you missed last week, I really want to encourage you to go and watch that video. This week, we are building off , what we started last week when we started a new sermon series on the End times.
Last week was a powerful time! We talked about Matthew 24 when Jesus talked to His disciples about the beginning of the end times. We went through so many of the challenges that we are facing globally and how we are on the brink of the end times starting.
Today, I am continuing that series. When talking about the end times, many people may want to avoid the conversation completely while others that is the only thing that they talk about. Wherever you find yourself on this scale, I want to encourage you this morning that we do not have to be afraid of what is to come. As believers, God is on our side, He is completely there for us.
This morning, we are going to talk about a controversial topic, as if last week was not enough right? We are talking about the Rapture. We are talking about the disappearance of millions of people all over the globe. Hollywood has had a field day with making movies off this event. They have of coarse put their own twist on things. The world can feel that the end is near. Some think that the end will be because of global warming or because of a nuclear event or because of aliens coming and taking over the planet.
Us believers, we know a different end result. We believe the bible and the bible says in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 NKJV -16 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. 17 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. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
This is the verse that we get the rapture from. While the actual word rapture does not appear in the bible, the event does.
I. Left behind
A. World gone crazy
a. Can you imagine from the worlds perspective that one day you have your loved ones, your relatives, your brothers and sisters and the next day they just disappear.
b. Pandemonium will ensue no doubt.
c. Those that are left behind will have a ton of questions about what just transpired and they will be running around frantically looking for their lost loved ones.
d. There will be plane crashes and auto mobile accidents. There will be power disruptions and stores closed, the news outlets will be reporting all kinds of different theories as to what happened.
B. Timing of this event
a. With all this disruption, my thoughts turn to the question: What is the timing of this event?
b. The answer to that question is not so easy to answer and there are many different view points on this.
c. For the sake of time, we are going to discuss the three main viewpoints here this morning.
d. We are going to establish what each viewpoint and while you may not agree with my view of the timeline.
e. I hope that we can agree, Jesus is coming back.
C. Tribulation
a. As we look at the tribulation, we can ask, Why do people have to suffer during this time?
b. The book of Deuteronomy chapter four gives us some insight, in this chapter, we see Moses dealing with Israel and urging the people to obey the commandments of God.
c. He goes on to warn them that if they don’t obey, there will be negative consequences and they will be scattered among the nations.
d. We all know how it turned out, they did not obey God and as a result of their disobedience, they were scattered around just like God had warned them.
D. Re-gathered
a. That is why when Israel had re-gathered together in May of 1948, that this was a prophetic sign of the beginning of the end time events.
b. Then in the book of Deuteronomy 4:30-31 NKJV we see a prophetic message which says: 30 When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice 31 (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
c. Let’s be clear, there is a purpose for the tribulation.
d. That purpose of the tribulation is to punish those that continue to reject God, and it will cause the people of Israel to return to God.
e. It is God desire to have Israel back. In fact, Jeremiah the prophet confirms this in Jeremiah 30:7 NKJV7 Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, But he shall be saved out of it.
f. While the tribulation will be a great terror, the people of Israel will come back to God.
II. Pre tribulation
A. Pre-tribulation viewpoint
a. When looking at the three major thoughts of tribulation, we are first going to look at the pre-tribulation.
b. This viewpoint suggest that the church will not have to go through any part of the tribulation and that we will be raptured to meet the Lord in the air.
c. While I could keep you in suspense to what I believe, I will just say that my viewpoint believes that the rapture points to a pre tribulation.
d. I believe this for a number of reason that I will spell out here.
B. Horrendous time
a. While there may be much debate about when the rapture occurs there is not a lot of debate about how horrible it will be.
b. This is where the wrath of God is poured out on human kind.
c. Matthew 24 describes the events as such in Matthew 24:21 NKJV21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
d. This is going to be a terrible time, like no other time in human history except for maybe the flood.
C. The beginning
a. This time period all starts when the anti-christ comes on to the scene, promising peace and the sad part is that most of the world will buy into it.
b. This counterfeit peace will be short lived. Almost, overnight, this peace will be stripped from the earth.
c. Any kind of decency and kindness will be a vague memory of the past.
d. As we talked about last week, Nation will rise against nation, children will turn on their parents, neighbors against neighbors.
D. A taste
a. While we certainly have already seen a taste of this.
b. During the tribulation, it will not be isolated acts of violence here and there, it will be common place.
c. The world will be in a global famine, not any nation will go unaffected.
d. People will work an entire day just for one loaf of bread. Think about that.
e. Everybody will be required to take a mark on their hand or forehead and if they refuse this mark, they will be killed immediately.
f. One quarter of the population will be totally wiped out in the first half of the tribulation by war, famine, and even wild animal attacks.
E. Appointed to wrath?
a. The Apostle Paul gives us some further insight of this event in his letter to the church in Thessalonica.
b. These believers were experiencing a tremendous amount of pressure, due to their faith and were experiencing a great persecution and they were wondering if this was the tribulation.
c. Paul assures that it is not and then explains that the tribulation cannot start until the anti-christ is revealed.
d. Turn with me to 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 NKJV 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
F. When is this time
a. This anti-christ will exalt himself to be god and demand that the world worships him and him alone.
b. He will evaporate all other religions and traditions and all will be required to follow him.
c. This anti-christ will have the power to influence people in a powerful way. He will be used by satan to work to defeat the work of God.
d. This antichrist will rule the entire earth with the power of satan.
G. Holy Spirit taken away
a. This antichrist will only be able to be revealed until the as the apostle Paul says that the restrainer is removed there in verse 7 of our text : He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
b. The term restrainer is speaking about the Holy Spirit.
c. So for the believer, you received the Holy Spirit when you accepted Jesus in your life.
d. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 3:16 NK JV16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
e. The Holy Spirit is inside of you! That is powerful friend!
H. Church rapture
a. So when the church is raptured away, the earth will then become void of the Holy Spirit.
b. This will open up the door then for the anti-christ to be revealed.
c. The church is a powerful force! Especially when they pray and seek the Lord and operate in unity with one another.
d. It is the church that God is using to prolong these events.
e. After all, the Bible tells us 2 Peter 3:9 NKJV9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward [a]us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
I. Wonderful days
a. Truly, the rapture of the church will be a glorious day indeed for the church and for the Lord!
b. On the flip side, the rapture will also mean a glorious day for satan.
c. It is then when satan will no longer be constrained by the church and the Holy Spirit.
d. He will have full power dominating the inhabitants of the earth through the anti-christ.
J. With a shout
a. I believe that God will rescue His church before all this tribulation starts.
b. The book of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 NKJV16 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. 17 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. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
c. It is quite encouraging knowing that God has planned a way of escape for His people, before the chaos of the rule of the anti-christ.
d. Our response just need to be “Come Lord Jesus, Come”
III. Mid -Tribulation Rapture
A. Mid-tribulation
a. The second thought about the rapture is that it will occur half way through the tribulation period. This is the Mid-Tribulation theory.
b. With this viewpoint, we see the antichrist has now taken control over the earth politics, money system, everything.
c. The bible tells us that the antichrist will rule for 7 years in total and then the end will be.
d. So this viewpoint says the church is raptured 31/2 years after the antichrist takes over.
e. There are several Scriptures that seem to point towards a mid-tribulation rapture, however the viewpoint begins to struggle when you take into account the history and nature of God.
B. Abomination
a. At the midpoint of the tribulation is also referred to as the Abomination of Desolation.
b. This is when the anti-christ takes over the temple in Jerusalem.
c. The temple was created and consecrated to be a place to worship God.
d. This anti-christ will desecrate this temple and he will take over God’s city and set up an image of the beast in the temple.
e. When this event occurs, it will trigger the last half of the tribulation.
f. This trigger will begin the worst three and half years of human history.
C. Pouring out
a. The bible tells us that God will begin pouring out His wrath on the earth at the beginning of the tribulation.
b. Additionally, then His wrath will be intensified three-and-a-half years later.
c. The Old Testament gives us a picture of the nature of God and when we see the story about Abraham and Lot we see how God refuses to pour out His wrath on the righteous.
d. This story is found in Genesis chapter 18 where God was planning to destroy the city of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their great wickedness.
e. Abraham interacts with God and we can pick up that interaction in Genesis NKJV -23 And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”26 So the LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”
f. This conversation continues with God as Abraham said in verse thirty two: 32 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?”And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” 33 So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
g. While there was not even ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah there was one and his name was Lot.
h. Lot was commanded to leave the city before the wrath of God is poured out.
i. The same thing is true for Noah as God did not send the flood until the righteous were safely aboard the ark.
D. Not once
a. In studying the bible, I have not accounted for one single time where God poured out His wrath on the righteous. Not one time.
b. So for those considering taking the mid-tribulation viewpoint, you would have to come to terms that God is fine with pouring out His wrath on some of the righteous.
c. God does not desire to pour out His wrath. In fact, the bible say in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 NKJV9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
IV. Post -Tribulation Rapture
A. All the way
a. This leads us to our third and final viewpoint that we are looking at this morning.
b. The post-tribulation viewpoint suggests that we will go through the entire seven-year tribulation and then in the end we will be raptured.
c. Then immediately after being raptured, we will return back to the earth for the millennial reign of Christ.
d. Pretty much everything that we talked about during the mid-tribulation rapture applies to this one as well.
B. Destruction
a. During this time period, we will see an unprecedented amount of destruction taking place.
b. One third of the vegetation on the earth will be completely burned up.
c. One third of all living things in the sea will perish.
d. A third of the drinking water will become bitter and kill those who drink it.
C. Darkness
a. One third of the day will become dark, there will be no light coming from the sky.
b. As if this was not bad enough, after this, the bottomless pit will be opened and locust will descend upon the earth to torture those that are left.
c. These are not normal locust either. They have a face like a human and teeth like a lion. They will have tails like a scorpion and will sting people.
Tech Team: Picture of locust
d. In those days, people will seek death, but will not be able to find it.
D. Torture
a. After these five months of torture, God will release four angels to kill one third of all people from the earth.
b. Then at the very end of the tribulation, there will come seven final plagues in quick succession.
Tech Team: picture of bowls
c. Every person that took the mark of the beast will break out in horrible sores all over their body.
d. Then everything in the sea will die, all the drinking water will turn to blood. The sun will scorch everyone with its fire.
E. Armageddon
a. Then all the kings of the earth will gather with their armies together for the greatest war ever fought.
b. This war is called Armageddon.
Tech Team: Picture of Armageddon
c. Lastly, an earthquake like none other will shake the entire earth. Every single city will be destroyed. Every island will disappear and every mountain will be leveled.
d. There will be a hailstorm like nothing we have ever seen, there will be 75 pound hailstones pummeling the earth.
Closing:
As we close here this morning, the rapture of the Bride of Christ is an exciting time for the church. At the same token, it will be a devastating time for the unbeliever. The participants of this rapture will only occur for those who have repented of their sins and have trusted in Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. Those that will be left behind, they will need to ponder their lives and repent quickly. This is a challenge for us believers to always be ready for the return of the Lord. Always, living right. Now I am not saying you have to be perfect, cause we know that is not possible, but I am saying is abandoning your way of living for self and embrace living for Jesus. Jesus gave you a new life and He wants that new life to shine to a dark world. Would you be that light to someone else that is living in darkness?
