WHAT IS THE RAPTURE? (2 of 3)
Unchanging Faith ❧ Part 21
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 ❧ Pastor, Dr. John Denney
We’re in a series of messages called: Unchanging Faith: What Every Believer Should Know and Why. This morning we’re going to look at part two: What Is the Rapture? The Bible tells us one day all of those who’ve placed their faith in Christ will suddenly be caught up to be with the Lord in Heaven. The sixty-four-thousand-dollar question for many is not if the rapture will happen but rather when it will happen. This is, without doubt, one of the most disputed beliefs among believers. Many believe the rapture will be before the seven-year Tribulation (pretribulationist), others believe it will take place in the middle of the Tribulation (mid-tribulationist), others believe it will take place toward the end of the Tribulation (prewrath tribulationist), still others believe it will take place at the very end of the Tribulation (post-tribulationist). And then there are those who believe in what is called a partial rapture; only faithful believers will be raptured. Unfortunately carnal believers will be left behind to go through the Tribulation.
With so many sharply pointed views you can understand why this is what I call a porcupine prophecy. Attempting to hold one view over the others is like trying to hold a porcupine without getting poked! You have to handle it very carefully! Some might wonder if this is such a problematic doctrine, why do I include it in our series? For one simple reason: Because I believe the rapture is the next great event scheduled on God’s prophetic calendar. God tells us over and over to be ready for His Son’s any-moment return. As believers we are to be awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ(1 Corinthians 1:7, NAS). we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own(Philippians 3:20-21, NLT). We are looking for the blessed of the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus (Titus 3:12, NAS). Jesus will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him (Hebrews 9:28b, NLT). The early Church had a special greeting they used to identify themselves with one another. It is the word Maranatha!(1Corinthians 16:22). It is an Aramaic word made up of three words in one: Mar(Lord), ana(our), and tha (come). Our Lord, Come! The Bride of Christ’s eager expectation of Jesus’ any-moment return is wrapped up in that one word: Maranatha!
(Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Five Phases of The Rapture: 1)The Lord will unexpectedly reappear in the sky. 2) The dead in Christ will receive a glorified body. 3) The living in Christ will receive a glorified body. 4) All believers will meet the Lord in the air. 5) All believers will be with the Lord forever. We’re going to look at phases 2-3 today.
Last week we looked at Phase #1: The Lord will unexpectedly reappear in the sky. 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(1 Thess. 4:16a, b). Some believe these are not three separate sounds, but one. Paul was merely describing one sound in three different ways. Whether he meant three sounds or one, each sound points to the authority, clarity, and certainty of the rapture. It may not be clear now, but there will be no mistaking it when it happens! The point behind what Paul is saying is Jesus’ appearing can happen at any moment; no sign or prophecy needs to happen before Jesus returns for His Church. That reminds me of a little girl who after hearing about the rapture at church began quizzing her mother. “Mommy, do you believe Jesus will come back?” “Yes.” “Could He come today?” “Yes.” “In a few minutes?” “Yes, dear.” “Mommy, would you comb my hair?” The Bible tells us the rapture can happen at any moment and therefore we should be ready. Phase One: One day, at any moment, Jesus will reappear in the sky for His Church.
- Phase #2: The dead in Christ will receive a glorified body. We know Jesus is going to
appear, but what next? . . .and the dead in Christ will rise first (1 Thess. 4:16c). Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed(1 Cor. 15:51-52). Paul says first those who have died believing in Christ will rise first from their graves into their gloried bodies. Then those who are still alive will be caught up. During the Civil War a group of soldiers had to spend the night in an open field without tents. A chaplain who saw this said something very strange happened. During the night it snowed several inches so that the soldiers looked like mounds of new graves. When morning came and the bugle sounded reveille, the men rose from their snow-covered mounds dramatically reminding the chaplain of God’s promise to raise the dead.
Why the dead first? Someone once suggested that the dead in Christ will rise first because they have six feet further to go. No one knows for sure. A more concerning question people have is if the dead in Christ rise first then where are they now? Are they in the grave? No, they’re with the Lord right now at this very moment. How do we know this? Paul told us in v.14 when Jesus returns in the air for the Church…God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
A number of years ago I visited a man in the hospital who was dying of terminal heart disease. When I stepped into his room, I saw a man who was tormented with overwhelming fear. As we spoke he shared with me that he had surrendered his life to Christ but he was desperately afraid of dying. He did not want to be buried in the ground until Christ came. I took him to this very passage and showed him deceased believers are with Christ in Heaven right now. They’re not in the ground waiting to be resurrected. The moment we die we are with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). The fear that had tormented him for so long was suddenly gone. His face radiated with joy and peace when I left his room. Not long after this I did his funeral and could confidently tell his family, “Your father is with the Lord right now.” So, Paul says those are deceased are already with the Lord, but when Jesus comes for His Church, they will be first ones to receive their eternal glorified bodies … the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Notice Paul says this will happen in “a flash, a twinkling of an eye.” The word for flash is where we get our word atom from – the smallest particle of matter; here it’s the word atomos – meaning the smallest moment of time. How fast will the dead rise? In an atomic second, a split second, a twinkling of an eye. It takes you about 1/50 of a second to blink your eye. It’s the fastest movement of the body. That’s fast!
Remember, Paul was telling the Thessalonians this to comfort them. They wanted to make sure those who’d already died weren’t going to miss out on Christ’ return. Paul says, “Don’t worry, they’ll have a head start. They’ll be there an atomic second before you.”
There’s an inscription on a gravestone in England for a man named Solomon Peas that sizes Paul’s words up well: Here lies the body of Solomon Peas, Under the grass and under the trees, But Peas is not here – only the pod. Peas shelled out and went to God. The moment your heart stops beating; the moment you take your last breath as a believer in Christ; you are with Him in Heaven forever.
- Phase #3: The living in Christ will receive a glorified body. After that, we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17a). When those who’ve died already are raised with Christ, then those who are still alive will be caught up with Jesus and with all of his or her loved ones who trusted Christ. Won’t that be amazing? Whether I’m alive or dead, I’m so looking forward to that time!
Will everyone see and hear this? My guess is that the world will not see Jesus or us being gathered with Him. What they will see and hear will leave them confused like those who traveled on the road to Damascus with Paul in Acts 9. They heard a voice but didn’t understand it nor see where it came from. The same sort of thing happened in John 12:28-30 shortly after Jesus spoke about His death. The crowd heard God speak but were clueless as to what or who it was. Some thought it thundered. Some thought an angel spoke. The point is, both the living and the dead will in Christ will be literally and instantly caught up, called out of this world while the rest of humanity is left behind. The world will not see or hear the church leaving, but they will see the overwhelming evidence!
We need to be careful here and not miss Paul’s point: As believers we can be fully assured that Jesus is coming back for His Church and our hope in Him is not in vain. Because Jesus overcame sin, death, and the grave, so will those who’ve turned from their sin and place their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Death is not final. The grave is not the end!
It was this very hope that Winston Churchill had that went into the planning of his own funeral. Following the prayer of the archbishop of Canterbury and the singing of: “God Save the Queen,” a trumpeter perched in the highest reaches of St. Peter’s Cathedral slowly, meaningfully sounded what we know to be as “Taps;” the call to rest. As soon as the last sorrowful note to faded, Churchill carefully instructed that high in another gallery another trumpet would loudly blare “Reville;” the call to rise! The call to rest was followed by the call to rise!
I have one final question: are you ready? There’s only one way you can be, by surrendering your life to Jesus Christ. In His death on the cross He took our sins and gave us His righteousness so we could be made right with God. When we put our trust in Him as our Lord and Savior, God promises us our sins, our failures, our guilt is forgiven forever. Because of our faith in Christ we can know that death is not final. The grave is not the end. And we can live with the confident expectation that when the Lord returns for His Church we will be ready! We can say with the early Church, Maranatha!