The Reality of The Rapture
Chapter 4:1,2
Last time we saw Christ standing in the midst of the churches. May I say that this assures my heart, even though His churches struggle at time, He will never abandon His people!
Even though His churches have struggled over the centuries – this I know, that His church will never fade away, or drop out losing, but instead will always be triumphant! Though we may lose some battles, the war will be won by the power of God and with the sure presence of Jesus Christ standing with His people!
The testimony of the churches over the centuries has never faulted and never been silent as they would say… “We overcame by the blood of the Lamb!”
Napoleon said in one of his journals and some of the last known words before he died, “…Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ and the founders of empires, and the gods of other religions. That resemblance does not exist…everything in Christ astonishes me. His Spirit overwhelms me, and His will confounds me…His ideas and sentiments, the truth that he announces, His manner of convincing, are not explained by human organization or by nature of things…His religion is a revelation from an intelligence and certainly is not that of man…I search in vain in history, nor humanity, nor ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or explain it…”
So up to this point, John has been writing about the past and the present (chapter 1-3) now he takes a turn toward the future hope for all believers.
1:19 - “The things which you have seen” = his vision of Christ in chapter 1. “The things which are” = chapter 2,3 with the 7 churches. “The things which will take place after this” = chapter 4-19 the rapture and then tribulation of ch.6 on.
Chapter 4 and 5 are the introduction to the tremendously sweeping prophetic picture predicted for a generation to come. Could we be that generation?
We live in an epic or space of time that is purely unique to mankind past. For 2000 years, Christians have experienced God move in 3 unique ways:
· The age of grace
· The age of the church
· And the age of the Spirit.
What’s unique about this time is that never before this time has God move in the affairs of man! Which tells me that never before has God pulled out all the stops to bring people to salvation!
I do not think it’s a coincidence that the first thing that happens to John after describing the church age that is wrapped up in grace and the Spirit, --- is him now “caught up to heaven”.
I give you 3 reasons why I believe the “rapture” fits in verse 1 and 2:
a. It fits naturally and chronologically.
Chapters 6-19 we see the 7-year tribulation and then the second coming of Christ with His saints in ch. 20-22.
b. The absence of any mention of church from the rest of the book.
Why? Several reasons:
· It’s going to be a terrible place to be. How bad will it be, you ask? Matthew 24:22 “Unless those days be shortened, no flesh would be saved.”
· Luke 21:36 “Watch therefore, and always pray that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and stand before the Son of God.”
· The rapture is key to the start of judgment on earth with the non-believers and the believers in heaven.
2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we (Christians) must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…”
Matthew 24:36-39,44
“Noah” = rest
c. The extensive use of O.T. language and symbolism.
Which indicates that God is speaking to Israel and the rest of the world.
You will notice words used by John in the next several chapters like:“seals”, “bowls”, “alters”, “censers”,
“tabernacle” and “plagues”.
In Daniel chapter 9, he uses the phrase, “Jacobs trouble” to describe his vision of the last half of the tribulation.
3 Key Words to Help Understand The Rapture:
· “Caught up” = to spring up or ascend. Used in Vs. 1.
· “Carried up” = to receive up. Literally to elevate and exalt. Used in Luke 24:51, Mark 16:19 and Acts 1:2
· “Catch up” = to snatched up. Seizing from the temporal to the eternal.
Latin = “raptus”, where we get our English word “rapture”.
This word is used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17
Luke 17:34-37 “I tell you on that night two will be in one bed: one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding grain together: one will be taken and the other will be left. Two will be in a field: one will be taken and the other will be left…”
John 14:2,3 “In My Father’s house are many mansions…I am going away to prepare a place for you…I will comeback to receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.”
Maybe your wondering “If I experience the rapture, will it hurt? How fast will it take?”…“But Pastor, I hate to fly!”
1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Paul uses 3 vivid phrases to describe this event:
· “In a moment” = that which cannot be cut or divided, the smallest in size. We get our word atom from this.
· “Twinkling of an eye” = the time it takes to cast a glance or flutter an eyelid.
The rapture ushers the Christians that are alive into a totally new dimension. Think of it as the ultimate intervention in our lives and a force greater than gravity, a supernatural power greater than the space shuttle lifting from earth.
· “The last trumpet” = this will herald the end of the 3-fold age of grace, the church and the Spirit.
Let me clarify 4 things about the resurrection and the rapture:
· Those that have died before the rapture are already with the Lord. Their bodies will be resurrected at the rapture.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 “…and the dead in Christ will rise first.”
· Those that died during the tribulation in Revelation chapters 6-19, their bodies will also be resurrected at Christ’s return.
John 5:26 “…the dead (a Christian’s body) will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”
· Those “who are alive and remain” when the rapture takes place, their bodies will be changed immediately! This will be their resurrection!
· There is a resurrection for the unbeliever - John 5:28-30
But now the big question for those left behind, how would the world explain this sudden event?
I believe that the New Age and UFOologists will play a major role in explaining the absence of 2.5 billion people!
Did you know that:
· 100 million in the U.S. practice New Age theology.
· 65 % of Americans believe in UFO.
· 1 in 11 people believe they have seen a UFO.
- July 2000 U.S. News & World Report
Here’s my proof:
John Price a world leader in the New Age says in the 1998 New Age Journal, “The new world order is on its way. Space beings are working to bring peace and only select humans will bring in this New World Order.”
Ruth Montgomery another leader and powerful spokeswoman for the New Age states in 2003, “People very soon will leave this planet in planetary fashion.”
Brad Steiger says, “In the last 30 years the extra terrestrials have been accelerating for a fast paced, fast approaching time of transition and transformation.”
Gabriel Green founder of the largest New Age group in America say, “If Armageddon comes, so will the aliens, swooping down in spaceships to evacuate one-tenth of the population in what Christians call “the rapture”…Only one tenth of the population will be spiritually qualified to live in an environment of harmony and peace.”
