To Take His Church Home

CHRIST’ S COMING IS FAST APPROACHING. IT SEEMS THAT ALL THE PROPHECIES WHICH MUST BE COMPLETED BEFORE HIS RETURN HAVE BEEN FULFILLED. THE LORD WILL DESCEND WITH A SHOUT AND THE TRUMPET OF GOD. ALL BELIEVERS, LIVING AND DEAD, WILL SUDDENLY MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. LIKE AN EAGER BRIDE, THE CHURCH WAITS FOR THE FINAL CULMINATION OF THE UNION WITH HER GROOM.

As bad as it is today in our world, it could (and will) get worse. A restraining influence in our world holds this evil— this dark satanic tide of perversion and lawlessness—in check. Who has the power to restrain Satan? Only God. And it is God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, who draws the line today and keeps the ocean of evil at bay.

What is the Rapture?

According to my online dictionary, the word rapture means “an expression or manifestation of ecstasy or passion” and “being carried away by overwhelming emotion.” But the Bible tells us it means that millions of people will disappear from the face of the earth in less than a millisecond. And the purpose of that evacuation is to avoid horrific devastation. This evacuation will remove God’s people from the disastrous effects of coming earthquakes, fire, and global chaos.

The word Rapture is the Latin version of a phrase the Bible uses to describe the catching away of all Christians before the end times. The Lord will descend with a shout and a trumpet of God. All believers, living and dead, will suddenly meet the Lord in the air.

The focus of the Rapture is on looking at the event not from the viewpoint of those who remain, but from that of those who are evacuated. Before the period of the Tribulation breaks out, all true followers of the Lord will be caught up from the earth and right into the presence of the Lord. The Rapture will fulfill the promise He made to His disciples in John 14:1–3:

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Followers of Christ who are raptured will be spared the trauma of death and the coming disasters that will occur when the Tribulation breaks out upon the earth.

That is indeed a cause for true rapture on the part of those who love the Lord and long to be with Him. The New Testament indicates that the Rapture of those who have put their trust in Christ is the next major event on the prophetic calendar. In other words, the Rapture awaits us on the horizon . . . it could happen at any moment. This is the clear message of the Bible, and it is a truth I have taught consistently throughout my years of ministry.

What is the difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming?

A lot of misunderstanding comes from confusing these two events. When we talk about the signs that signal the return of Christ, we speak not of the Rapture, but of the Lord’s ultimate return to the earth with all His saints. According to the book of Revelation, this coming of Christ occurs after the Rapture and differs from it in at least two ways.

First, the Rapture will be a “stealth event” in which Christ will be witnessed by believers only. His Second Coming, on the other hand, will be a public event. Everyone will see Him: “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him: even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him” (Revelation 1:7; see also Zechariah 14:1, 3–5, Revelation 19:1–21).

Second, all believers are raptured. Jesus will immediately take them back into heaven with Him. But when Christ returns to earth seven years later in the Second Coming, He is coming to stay. This return, usually referred to as “the Second Advent,” will take place at the end of the Tribulation period and usher in the Millennium—a thousand-year reign of Christ on this earth. So, first, the Rapture will occur seven years before the Second Advent. At that time Christ will take us to be with Him in heaven, immediately before the seven-year Tribulation period. Then, secondly, we will return to earth with Him at His Second Advent.

There is another important difference. There are no events that must take place before the Rapture occurs. It’s all a matter of God’s perfect timing. When I preach that signs are developing concerning the Lord’s return, I’m referring to events that must yet occur before the return of Christ in the Second Advent.

As bad as things are becoming, we can hardly overstate the horror that will occur when society loses the tempering influence of Christians.

What does the apostle Paul say about the Rapture?

In this passage Paul tells us all we need to know about the Rapture:
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 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. 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. Therefore comfort one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18).

First, Paul wrote: “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope” (1Thessalonians 4:13). In this passage the apostle addresses the ignorance of the Thessalonians concerning the state of those who had died believing in Christ. The word he used to describe that state has great significance for every believer today. Paul said that they had fallen asleep. For the word translated asleep, he used the Greek word koimaw, which has as one of its meanings “to sleep in death.” The same word is used to describe the deaths of Lazarus, Stephen, David, and Jesus Christ.

Lazarus: “These things He said, and after that He said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up’” (John 11:11 emphasis added).

Stephen: “Then he [Stephen] knelt down and cried out with a loud voice ‘Lord, do not charge them with this sin.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7:60 emphasis added).

David: “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption” (Acts 13:36 emphasis added).

Jesus Christ: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20 emphasis added).

This concept of death is emphasized in the wonderful word early Christians adopted for the burying places of their loved ones. It was the Greek word koimeterion, which means “a rest house for strangers, a sleeping place.” It is the word from which we get our English word cemetery. In Paul’s day this word was used for inns, or what we would call a hotel or motel. We check in at a Hilton Hotel or a Ramada Inn expecting to spend the night in sleep before we wake up in the morning refreshed and raring to go. That is exactly the thought Paul expresses in words such as koimaw and koimeterion. When Christians die, it’s as if they are slumbering peacefully in a place of rest, ready to be awakened at the return of the Lord. The words have great import, for they convey the Christian concept of death not as a tragic finality, but as a temporary sleep.

In the next part of the Thessalonians passage, we find Paul affirming their hope that their loved ones will live again. He does this by tying that hope to the Resurrection and the Rapture: “lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:13–14). Here Paul tells the Thessalonians (and us) that God’s plan for our future gives us such a new perspective on death that when someone we love dies, we are not overcome with sorrow and despair, for on that day when those who are alive in Christ are raptured, those who died in Christ will be raised to be with Him.

Will Christ return at the Rapture?

Paul states in 1 Thessalonians, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God” (v. 4:16). As you read these words, the Lord Jesus Christ is seated in the heavens at the right hand of the Almighty Father. But when the right moment comes, Jesus will initiate the Rapture by literally and physically rising from the throne, stepping into the corridors of light, and actually descending into the atmosphere of planet earth from which He rose into the heavens over the Mount of Olives two thousand years ago. It is not the angels or the Holy Spirit, but the Lord Himself who is coming to draw believers into the heavens in the Rapture.

Who will be resurrected at the Rapture?

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, “the dead in Christ will rise first.” As he indicates here, the call to resurrection at the Rapture will not summon all the dead, but believers only. A time will come much later when all the dead will be raised to stand before the white throne in judgment. But at this first call, our believing loved ones who have already died will arise to take first place in the program of the Rapture. Paul describes this suddenness in his letter to the Corinthians: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52).

Paul then explains the next event in the Rapture sequence. “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The words caught up are translated from a Greek word which has as one of its meanings “to snatch out or away speedily.” This word emphasizes the sudden nature of the Rapture.

Paul continues his explanation of the Rapture: “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them [the believing dead who have arisen] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Note that Paul begins here with the word then, which is an adverb indicating sequence. It connects the previous events of the Rapture that we have already considered with this final event in a definite order of sequential reunions as follows:

• Dead bodies reunited with their spirits
• Resurrected believers reunited with living believers
• Resurrected believers and raptured believers meet the Lord
As Paul points out, the ultimate consequence of this reunion with the Lord is that there will be no subsequent parting. After His return, our union and communion with Him will be uninterrupted and eternal. This glorious fact alone shows us why the word rapture is an altogether appropriate term for this event.

Will those who have been cremated be a part of the Rapture?

When the Scripture says, “The dead in Christ will rise,” it is speaking of the bodily resurrection of all believers! At this time, the spirits of believers will be united with their perfect and complete resurrection bodies. “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 [no exceptions!]. 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. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–18).

What events will take place in heaven after the Rapture?

After the Rapture, we will come before the Judgment Seat of Christ one by one (2 Corinthians 5:10). The Judgment Seat is not about whether we will enter heaven—we’ll already be there. It will be a time to give an account of the works we have done on earth, and we will be rewarded accordingly. We’ll be assigned places of authority in the coming Millennium based upon our faithfulness to God when we were on earth, as well as the influence we left behind.

Why should I avoid determining a date and time for the Rapture?

The fact is we cannot calculate the day Christ will return because God specifically chose not to reveal it to us.

When the apostles asked Jesus about the end times, He replied gently but firmly, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:7–8). Only God knows what time it is, and only God knows when these times will run out. God’s calendar is the only one that matters (1 Thessalonians 5:1–2; Matthew 24:36, 42, 44, 50; Matthew 25:13).

Future truth impacts present responsibility. It is the knowledge that His coming is soon that puts urgency into our step and determination into our service.

How does the hope of the Rapture influence us today?

After completing his description of the Rapture to the Thessalonians, Paul wraps up the passage with this practical admonition: “Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

Here the apostle tells both the Thessalonians and believers today that it’s not enough simply to passively understand what he has just explained about the Rapture, Christian death, and the Resurrection. Our understanding should spur us toward a certain action—to “comfort one another.” And in the preceding verses He has given us exactly the kind of information that makes true comfort possible. When believers suffer the loss of family members or dearly loved friends, we have in Paul’s descriptions of Christian death and resurrection all that is needed to comfort one another in these losses. Christian death is not permanent; it is merely a “sleep.” A time is coming when we and our loved ones will be reunited in a rapturous meeting, when Christ Himself calls us out of this world or out of our graves to be with Him forever in an ecstatic relationship of eternal love. That is why Paul tells us we should comfort one another with reminders that, for Christians, what we call death is nothing more than a temporary sleep before we are called into our uninterrupted relationship with Christ forever.

Christian death is not permanent; it is merely a sleep.

“The entire world will hear the Gospel before Christ returns . . .” “Jesus could come at any time . . .” How can both of these statements be true?

First of all, Jesus could come tonight! But you may hear people say that the Rapture cannot occur until the whole world has heard the Gospel; therefore, we need to preach the Gospel to every creature so that the “last person to be saved” is brought into the kingdom, at which time Jesus will return for His Church. But this cannot be true.

If there is anything that has yet to happen before Christ’s return, there is no such thing as the “imminent return” of Jesus Christ. The command to take the Gospel into the whole world is certainly pressing upon every generation, but the condition of the Gospel going to the whole world is a condition not of the Rapture, but of the Second Coming of Christ.

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