November 19, 2000

The Raptured Church

Introduction to Rev. 4

How many of you would like to know the future? How many of you wish that you had known the future 15 or 20 years ago? We wouldn't have made quite so many stupid mistakes, would we?
As we continue our study of Revelation, we need to remember that God is showing us the future, a future that is very likely to apply to us. No other generation in history has seen the things of Bible prophecy come together like the present generation. God is unveiling the future, and if current events are any indication, it is our future that He is unveiling. If you are driving down the road, and suddenly you come around a curve and see some body standing in the road and waving, what do you do? Most of us slow down and find out what's happening, right? God gives us the Book of Revelation so that while the rest of the world is heading for a crash, we can turn off and take a different road, go a different way, because we know what the future holds, we know how to plan for it.

Today I want to talk about the Rapture of the Church. When is it going to happen, who is it going to happen to, who goes and who gets left out? If by some chance you have heard the term rapture before, but aren't sure what it means, let me quickly tell you. It means that for the Christian, we are outta here, and there is no more problem with sin. It means that for the Christian, heaven comes down and rescues us, there is no more problem with death. It means that we are going to transition from an earthly existence to a spiritual existence, from earthly things to heavenly things. Let me show you how this will work. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15:35, we will cover this chapter very quickly. The Apostle Paul is speaking here, giving us some insight on what will happen when Jesus returns for His church.
Verse 35 "But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?"
Verse 39 "All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds."
Verse 47 "The first man -Adam- is of the earth, earthy; the second man -Jesus Christ- is the Lord from heaven.
:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, -not all of us will die- but we shall all be changed,
:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."

We learn here that if we belong to Jesus Christ, the day will come that we will be transformed to be just like Him. We have been formed in the likeness of Adam, and Jesus was also, except He did not have any sin. Jesus now has a spiritual body, and we will also. He became like us so that we might become like Him. The question is when? Paul just got done telling us that not everyone will die, not everyone will see death, most will, but some won't. Eventually everyone that is redeemed in Christ will be changed to be like Him. When? What is the time frame? How does this whole thing work?

Turn to 1 Thessalonians 4:13 "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, -referring again to death- that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. (Referring to the unsaved)
:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus -the dead in Christ- will God bring with him.
:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent -or go ahead of-them which are asleep.
:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

There is coming a day that Jesus will descend from heaven into the clouds, into the atmosphere, and the dead in Christ will rise, to the clouds, to meet Jesus. At that same instant, all Christians that are alive at that time will join them. All of them will have their bodies changed to be like His glorious body. All human corruptible bodies will become like His incorruptible body, all earthly bodies will become like His glorious body. This is only for Christians, this is what the church refers to as the Rapture. Hallelujah!
But when does Jesus come for His church? When does this happen? Before the tribulation? During the tribulation? After the tribulation? And does He come for all the church, or only the ones that are being good? Does he take up just the faithful ones and leave the backslidden ones behind, or does He take all believers? Important questions. If we think that the time is near for the return of Christ, and the beginning of the tribulation, then we need to know these things. It is not just something nice to know, it means the difference between we believers and our saved loved ones being with Christ, or running and hiding from the Antichrist.

Let me deal with the last situation first, the idea that Christ comes for His church after the tribulation. If Christ comes for His church after the tribulation, then obviously the church goes through the tribulation. Bummer. Some denominations take this position, they teach that when Christ comes in judgement at the battle of Armageddon, at the end of the tribulation, He will resurrect His dead saints, then those Christians who are alive on earth will be transformed, all of them join with Jesus in the sky, and then every body comes right back to earth again with Christ to rule and reign.

Are there any problems with this teaching? Yes, there are several. First, what is the purpose of the tribulation? What's the point? Jeremiah 30:7 calls it "the time of Jacob's trouble." Jacob: who does Jacob symbolize? The nation of Israel. Is the nation of Israel in prophecy the same as the church in prophecy? No, it is not. There are a few places in the Bible where God's promises to believers overlap both Israel and the church, but there are a lot more places where God has different plans for the two groups. And prophecy is one of those places. God's future plans for Israel and the church are wonderful, but they are not identical, we don't just lump them together.

We read three weeks ago in Rev. 3:10, Jesus telling the church at Philadelphia that He would keep them "from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." Those that dwell upon the earth; The Book of Revelation uses that term nine times, it refers to unsaved people, earth dwellers, un-heavenly people. Would that refer to the church? No, it is God dealing with unsaved people, calling them to repent, to become heavenly people. It is not God dealing with His church, they are already heavenly people.

Here's another aspect of the post trib position: the Bible teaches and the church has always believed that the return of Christ was to happen at an unknown time. The Bible teaches and the church believes that the return of Christ has always been imminent, it could happen at any time, but no one could ever know when, so we are always told to watch for Christ's return. If the church is to go through the tribulation, that changes everything. Instead of watching for Christ, we can watch for signs. We can watch for the rise of Antichrist, we can watch for Israel to be converted, we can watch for the mark of the beast, 666, we can watch for all kinds of things, because we could and would see them all happen before Christ returns, right? The point is, that in this scenario the time of the coming of Christ would not be unknown for the Christian, you could just read the papers and watch Dan Rather and figure it out. So that is also an argument against the post-tribulation doctrine.

Obviously I am covering this very quickly, but I hope I have given you some reasons to think that the post trib position has problems.

Another doctrine that has been around for a while, and is currently gaining a lot of popularity, is the idea that the rapture will occur half way through the tribulation, at the end of the first three and one half years. This is based on the teaching that the wrath of God is not really poured out on the earth in full until the second half of the seven year tribulation period. In this scenario, the church goes through some tribulation, but is removed before God really starts to pour out His wrath on the earth.

One of the main reasons for both the post trib and the mid trib positions is the idea that the church suffers in the tribulation. Some people think that the Bible teaches that. Does the Church go through the tribulation? Or is the tribulation strictly for the unsaved? We need to know! It makes a big difference in what's going to happen, and probably happen to us!

Turn to Matthew 24:3, the Gospel of Matthew is probably the best known passage in the gospels concerning the last days, and I want us to figure out just who it is Jesus is talking to, the church, or to Israel, because it makes a world of difference. "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Context? No ambiguity here, last days, second coming, this is the time of the tribulation, OK?
:4 "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, -be thinking about who He is talking to here, who is Jesus speaking of- and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake."
:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."
Stop right here: if this is the church He is talking to, then the church is not raptured mid trib, it is raptured post-trib, because He is saying that it will have to endure to the end of the tribulation, right?
On the other hand, there is a group that will go through the tribulation, start to finish, and that is the nation of Israel. We need to decide if Jesus is speaking to Israel or to the church in these verses in Matthew.
Verse 14: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:"
Stop here for a second: Jesus just got done saying that the gospel was to be preached in all the world, but now He turns His focus especially on Judea, who does Judea refer to? Israel.
Skip to verse 20: "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day." Apparently either the whole world will be observing the sabbath day, and therefore unable to readily flee on that day, or else these words pertain to a nation that keeps the sabbath, and that would be Israel.
Verse 21 "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." Skip to verse 29:
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Stop here: when the Bible says tribes, it is not referring to the Cherokee, or the Seminoles, or the aborigines, it is referring to the twelve tribes of Israel.
This verse is a direct reference to Zechariah 12:10 "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." A time is coming, toward the end of the tribulation, when God will do a tremendous conversion within the nation of Israel, and they will recognize Jesus Christ as Messiah and Savior, that is what Jesus is referring to here.
Skip down to verse 36, in this next part of Matthew, a lot of people think that Jesus is referring to the rapture, but He is not, follow along close with me here.
Verse 36 "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
Question: when the flood came and took them all away, was it a rapture, or a judgement? A deliverance or a destruction? Bearing that in mind, read the next verses: "Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
:41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left." Taken in what? Deliverance? Or judgement?
:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
:43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up." Broken up: is that deliverance, or disaster?
:44 "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."
This passage in Matthew fits perfectly with the idea of a judgement on the nation of Israel, Jesus here is speaking to His people Israel about what is going to happen to them in the tribulation, but what about the church? Jesus is obviously warning Israel, what about us? Are we in on this? Let me read the companion passage in Luke that goes along with Matthew 24, it reads: "Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
Luke 21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
:23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."
Why would God want vengeance or wrath on His church? God is dealing with those that reject His Son, that doesn't include the church.

John 3:36 tells us: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." When Paul wrote his first letter to the church at Thessalonica, one of the things he mentioned about them was how they had "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
1Th 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."
Paul even tells them about what is going to happen in the Day of the Lord, the tribulation, in chapter 5. Turn there, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5:1, I want you to specially pay attention to who he is speaking to: "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
:4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
:7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
:10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
:11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do."
Notice all the contrasts here: us and them, day and night, light and darkness, drunk and sober, watching and sleeping, salvation and wrath. The tribulation is a time of God pouring His wrath out on the world, and on unbelieving Israel, it is not a time that He pours His wrath out on the church. God has not appointed His church to wrath, but to salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore I do not see the church going through any part of the tribulation. If you belong to Jesus Christ today, whatever wrath for sin that God had for you, has already been poured out on Jesus when He hung on that cross.

If you are part of the Bride of Christ today, then God has no plans to deal with you in wrath, God is not a wife beater. If you are God's child, you have nothing to fear during the time of His wrath, God does not beat or abuse His kids. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, if you are one of His sheep, you have nothing to worry about because the Good Shepherd does not drive His sheep into danger, He leads His sheep beside still waters.

I believe that the Bible plainly teaches that Jesus will take His church out of the picture before the tribulation begins, however does that mean that we have nothing to do but just kick back and wait?
What did Paul just tell us in his letter to Thessalonica? In verse 5 he tells us that we are the children of the day, but then in verse 6, he also tells us not to sleep as others do, but to watch and be sober. Anybody in here ever pull guard duty? Hours of boredom punctuated by moments of terror, right? It's dark, nothing is happening, everything is quiet, you are desperately trying to stay awake, and then you hear some strange noise... Or you hope you hear some strange noise before that strange noise sneaks up on you, right? But staying awake and watching is not always easy.

In verse 8, God tells us: "Let us, who are of the day, be sober," and this word sober doesn't just mean non-intoxicated, it means sober minded, not frivilous. Since I'm retired, I could spend all my time watching TV, chasing a little white ball around with a golf club, fooling around in the garage, but would that be sober minded, or would it be frivilous?

We are told to put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. That sounds like what you do when you are getting ready to fight, doesn't it? How many of you enjoy wearing body armor? It's hot and uncomfortable, isn't it? How about a helmet? When I ride my motorcycle any distance, what gets me the worst is not the seat, it's where the helmet presses against my forehead, after about an hour, it almost feels like an iron against my head. Beloved, we are in a war, there is an enemy out there, and unless you take steps to protect yourself against him, he'll get to you. He won't steal your salvation, that's forever, but he will wear you down, he will ruin your testimony, and he'll steal your usefulness and your joy in the journey.

In verse 11, we are told to comfort ourselves together, and edify one another, Jesus wants us acting together and meeting each other's mutual needs within the church body. Trying to live the Christian life without the support and comfort of your local church is just asking for trouble and failure. Even the Lone Ranger took Tonto with him.

That brings us to the last question, does Jesus come for all believers, or only those that are prayed up, payed up, sitting up, watching out, and ready to go? There are churches around that teach that not all Christians are going to make the cut, some of us are going to get left behind. They like to quote a passage in Luke that we read part of a minute ago, it is Luke 21:36 "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." But that section of Scripture is speaking to the nation of Israel, not the church. They also like to use 2 Timothy 4:8 "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." They also like Heb 9:28, which says: "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." The argument is made that if you are a careless Christian, if you are not actively looking for the Lord's appearing, if you don't love His appearing, then you will get left behind. That is an argument from silence. It is a shame that there are careless Christians, but that does not justify reading into the Scripture something that it doesn't say. Now if someone is not really saved, they will certainly get left behind, but that's a different matter.

If this doctrine was true, then it makes one particular portion of our salvation, being included in the Rapture, dependent on our works. It becomes a situation where Jesus has obtained salvation for us, but if we slack off at the wrong time, we miss out on the rapture and get included among all those unsaved that will suffer the wrath of God. That's wrong. That demeans the death of Christ on the cross. When Christ died, He died for every sin I ever could or would do, including being lazy, stupid, indifferent, unloving, you name it. That sacrifice is already of infinite value to God the Father, and He will not insult it by pouring out any more wrath, or any more judgement on someone His Son has already died for. Whatever wrath or punishment that God ever did, or ever would do towards a believer was done to His Son on the cross at Calvary, once for all, period. I'm not referring to discipline or chastisement, don't confuse or mix things up, I'm talking about wrath or judgement.

When Jesus comes for His Bride, His church, no one that has truly trusted Him for salvation is going to be left behind. Jesus tells us that His bride will be spotless and perfect, not disfigured by Him cutting off part of her and having part of her left behind. That's awful. Nothing in the Bible implies such a thing.

However, just because Jesus is loving and patient and tolerant of our shortcomings is no reason to goof off. Be alert anyway. Be watching anyway. Be loving His appearing. Be busy about the Master's business. Be sober minded. Have fun, there is joy in the journey, but don't be foolish, the time is too short, and we still have too many loved ones still unsaved.

When I first got saved, there was an older man in the church named Henry Beck that encouraged me a lot. I don't know how old Henry was, I was young enough back then that everybody over 50 seemed ancient, so I'm not sure how old Henry really was.
He had a little plaque on his desk, and it said something like this:
Don't say anything you wouldn't want to be saying when Jesus comes
Don't do anything you wouldn't want to be doing when Jesus comes
Don't go anywhere you wouldn't want to be when Jesus Comes
Jesus is coming back soon, and that's good advice. It's a good way to live. Live like Jesus could come back for us today, because there's no reason why He couldn't.

Is there someone that you have wanted to talk to about Jesus, and you have procrastinated? Don't put it off. None of us is promised tomorrow. Is there someone that you love that doesn't know Jesus as Savior and Lord? Have you sat down with them and told them about Jesus and what He means to you? If not, then why not? Jesus tells us that He will be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to those that don't know Him. If there is some unsaved person that you care about, do you care enough to stumble them up now, make them uncomfortable now, and perhaps keep them from torment forever? Or do you just take the path of least resistance? Courtesy is not always kindness, especially if you are failing to warn someone of a sure destruction.

Jesus tells us to work, for the night is coming when no man can work. But before that time of terrible night falls on the world, Jesus also tells us that He will come for us, rescue us, keep us from that time of judgement that will fall on all the world. Thank you Jesus.

Next Sunday, we will see what happens after the Rapture, what does it look like when we leave this place and go to be with Jesus? It will be awesome to the point that John had trouble finding words to describe it. I look forward to telling you about it.