The Rapture of the Church

1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and it will be no surprise that we're going to speak a little bit on the rapture. It's interesting, older saints have said this to me many times, you've probably heard it. Years ago there was hardly a conference that went by where the truth of the rapture was not ministered upon.

And I've heard older saints say as well that we don't hear it as much as we used to. I think that's kind of sad. There's something about the future and the glory that should thrill us.

Of course, many of you know I had a few weeks of ministry on Revelation in Ontario, so my head is a little full of prophecy, and therefore this might be new to some, old to others, but just a summary of some of the things regarding the rapture. So 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and we're actually going to read the word, where we get the word rapture from, but we'll read it just here, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse number 13, Paul by the Spirit of God would say, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope. Now, it's interesting to notice where the rapture comes into play.

It's going to emphasize different aspects of what the rapture will do. First Corinthians 15 is really focusing upon the power that is in the rapture in a moment of time. But here it seems to be that these believers were troubled, those that had died.

Did they miss out on something? And it seems to be that's the truth that the Spirit of God is going to develop. Verse 14, For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain, that little expression, are alive and remain, the remaining ones, is going to appear twice here.

It almost gives the sense that the bulk of the church is already in heaven, and we are just the remaining ones. Interesting to think of it. I think it brings before us the nearness of the rapture.

Unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent or go before them which are asleep. You've noticed that's the third time now sleep is referred to. This is a very common point, but there might be some younger people here that do not know this.

The voice of verbs is very important. It really focuses upon who is doing the action. So if a voice of a verb was active, I hit you or I pushed you, you're on the receiving end of my action.

I'm active, you're passive. Well, the Spirit of God has put these three, the same Greek words, sleep, sleep, sleep, it's all in the passive voice. They have been put to sleep by God.

That's a comfort. That should be a comfort to us as believers. I've often said it, God might use an accident, God might use a disease, God could use a heart attack, God could use anything that He wants.

But ultimately what we're being told here is, it's always according to His time. He's the one that does it. So I have a 90-year-old father at home who wants to go to heaven.

That is a comfort to me, to know God will take him at the right time. And I just look to God to continue to believe that when it happens. Verse number 16, for the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God.

I do like Harold Paisley's comment at this point, a shout for the dead, the voice of the archangel for the living, and the trump brings them both together. So you can see them whatever way you would like to, but I call that a HP. I sort of like that one.

Anyways, verse number 16, with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we, which are, here's the second time, are alive and remain. Now here's the Greek word for English words, shall be caught up.

That's where we get the word rapture from. So in the Greek language, it's the word harpazo. If you're dealing with translations, when that Greek word was carried over into the Latin and eventually into English, you know, you have a bird here, a raptor.

There's where it comes from. It comes down quickly and it snatches away. That same Greek word is used with Philip preaching to the eunuch.

The Spirit of God caught away Philip. There's the same word. So there is how we get the word rapture, raptura.

It's all coming through. So somebody might say, well, the word rapture is not in the Bible, so it can't be a truth in the Bible. Well, we can very easily prove that it is a truth in the Bible, and the word rapture is snatching away certainly captures that idea.

Verse 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. Wherefore, comfort, exhort one another with these words. The truth of the rapture is a comfort, dear brother and sister.

We know that. What I find interesting is in my preparation for the weeks I did on Revelation, I'm amazed that the Apostle Paul was only, Acts 17, he was only three Sabbath days in and with the saints in Thessalonia. Three Sabbath days, now that's 21 days, maybe a few extra days, I'm not too sure.

But you're talking about an assembly that is very young, extremely young, okay? When I come over to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, do you know what I read there? Paul says, do you not remember that I told you these things? And the context there is the day of the Lord and the man of sin being revealed. And you would almost think, whoa, isn't that sort of heavy truth, Paul, for a young assembly? I mean, they're just new in the faith. Maybe we should be giving them just a little bit of milk.

There's milk in the rapture. Oh, there's meat if you want to get into it. There's all kinds of meat.

But I believe the word of God, the spirit of God, wants us right from infancy to get a hold of the glory that lies before us. In our Bible study, and yesterday it was made, Enoch, now there's a fascinating man I have been enjoying, Enoch. We're told that he's the seventh from Adam, okay.

And here he is, Jude, tells us that he's prophesying of the Lord coming with 10,000 of his saints. The first coming hasn't even happened yet. The birth of the Lord Jesus hasn't even happened yet.

Oh, it's promised there in Genesis chapter 3. But here's a man that's going beyond the rapture. Here's a man that's going to the return of Revelation 19 that we had this morning. And he's looking at this vision and he's prophesying.

I wonder if they thought he was crazy. What are you talking about, man? The Lord coming with 10,000 of his saints. This man had a hold of something.

Do you know what Hebrews tells me? He had this testimony that he pleased God. Now, in order to please God, you must be in the will of God. And I believe Enoch was right where God wanted him.

And there is God walking. He walked with God for 300 years. And you just have to look at the surroundings, wicked, wicked environment that he was living in.

He wasn't getting all caught up with all of the wickedness. He was looking at the glory to come. This will depress us, doesn't it? It almost takes the wind out of our sails to even bother trying to preach the gospel.

Just anticipating the possible lawsuits that could come from things that we say publicly from the platform. We need to get our eyes on the glory. That is what it's all about.

It's not only about the glorification of our Savior, the vindication of our Savior, but he is willing to share that glory with us. What a thing it must have been for God, enjoying this man's life. He walked with God for 300 years.

He had his first child at 65, a very unusual thing. It was a very early age for someone to have a child, back in that time. And here's a man that was taken, translated to heaven.

After walking with God on this earth for 300 years, he had this testimony, I already quoted, he pleased God. It's almost like God, I want to get you closer to me, man. I want to take you right there.

And they looked for him, couldn't find him. He was gone. He left earth at a young age, didn't he, 365.

Go and look at the chapter. People were dying at 700, 800. I'm sure many must have thought, he must have did something wrong.

The Lord must have taken him in judgment. No, the Lord took him because he enjoyed him so much. And off into heaven, he took this man.

I'm looking forward to talking to Enoch. What was it like, Enoch, living in the wickedness of that age? Oh, Scott, he says, let me tell you about the glory. The Lord coming with 10,000 of his saints.

So dear child of God, where is the eyesight? Where's the heart? See, that's something that I have been enjoying. There's so many things that you're enjoying about the rapture, but I want you to think for a minute of the heart of the Savior. The only time the Lord Jesus expressed his will, he's speaking to his father, Gospel of John.

I will, those that thou has given me, they be with me where I am. Do you understand? Do I understand that? My Savior, our brother, Joel, tried to bring that out in that right hand this morning. My Savior is longing to have me right where he is in glory.

Am I longing to be there with him? Or am I sort of stuck in this? Now I know, like you got to remember, we're preaching this. I'm not condemning you. I'm looking at my own heart.

And I'm getting a little bit older now. I just told someone at dinnertime, I went in the bathroom there and I washed my hands and looked in the mirror and I thought, man, you're getting old looking boy. It's creeping up on me.

You start to look at life just a little bit different. Hardly can believe it that I got two grandchildren. What? What? What? What happened? Where was I? Life goes by so quick.

Let's not pour too much energy into something that's so short. Let's get occupied with eternal things. That's where the Lord Jesus wants us.

I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter 10 and I want you to notice, I believe this is the heart of the Spirit of God. Hebrews chapter 10. We have a quotation, we're going to go back to 1 Thessalonians in just a minute, but I'm just on a little diversion right now.

Hebrews chapter 10. So there's going to be a quotation taken from the book of Habakkuk. Now Habakkuk, he had a big problem.

Here was God using a Gentile nation, the Babylonians, to discipline God's people. He couldn't understand that. How is it a right thing for God to use a wicked nation to chastise his own people? Now that's where that phrase, the just shall live by faith, comes out of, which is going to be used a number of times in the New Testament.

And Habakkuk is given a vision. And it's kind of interesting when you go back to Habakkuk chapter 2 and you read it, because I think it's like seven times, it, it, it will come, it will not tarry. What is the it? God will deliver his people.

God will not let this nation completely run over the people of God. God, just wait for God's timing. The just shall live by faith.

Just have faith in me, Habakkuk. Now the Spirit of God is going to pick up that vision, and he's going to change the it to he, referring to the rapture now. Marvelous thing.

Let's look at Hebrews chapter 10 and verse number 35. And it all has to do with reward and your faithfulness for God, and it's a great encouragement not to give up. Verse 35, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 35, cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.

For ye have need of patience, endurance, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive, receive the promise for yet a little while. Now here's the quotation, and he, in Habakkuk, and it, no, here. The Spirit of God changed, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry.

Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure with him. Now I want you to look up at verse number 37, the very first phrase. There is a Greek word that is not translated.

It's there twice in the Greek text, but the translators only translated it once. If you have a Newberry Bible, you'll notice the very first phrase, for yet a little, do you notice the little h by while? Look over to his margin. He gives you the two Greek words are the same, how little, how little.

So let's read that sentence that way. For yet a little, how little, how little, and he that shall come will come. Now I believe the Spirit of God has led us into a secret.

The Lord Jesus is patiently anticipating how little, how little. That's why the truth of the rapture, the eminent return of the Lord Jesus, there's not another thing that has to happen in this world. If we were to look at the calendar of God today, we would see that the very next event is the coming of the Lord for his church.

You ever done a spell check? Of course, I can't spell very well, so thank God for spell check and all these things that can help us make us look somewhat intelligent after we read a letter. You ever sometimes put like very, very, you're trying to emphasize maybe the shortness of something or the smallness of something very, very, and all of a sudden my little program underlines one of them. Gotta drop one of them off, Scott, too many.

I'm glad the Spirit of God didn't depend on spell check because the Spirit of God wants you and I to know this. How soon can it happen? How little, how little. Now am I on the, am I looking, of course I'm ahead of you because I've been studying a lot of this and I'm a little more excited.

You're probably sitting here going, oh, he's kind of getting wound up for a Sunday afternoon. We just had a big meal. No, no, no, we don't want to settle down.

We want to enjoy this thing. What a thing it's going to be, what a moment. Back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we'll be changed.

That's a lovely word moment in our English Bible. It's actually where we, the Greek word, we get the word atom from, atom. It's something that is indivisible.

Even the composition of that Greek word is a compound word of two words. It's not a, not, and then the word divisible. You can't divide it.

My father, he's always used this example and I tell him it's way too long, Dad. He says, well, the eyelid, he says, look, Scott, this is how fast the rapture is going to happen. Top eyelid, bottom eyelid, and I says, Dad, it's too, too, too slow.

I can measure that and I can divide that time and I can keep dividing and dividing. I go a million seconds, a billion seconds, whatever you want to do. The spirit of God tells me this, you want to know how fast it's going to happen? It's the smallest measurement of time.

You can't divide this any further. You can't get any smaller. So this is an insult.

That's too slow. Think of a dear child of God. Whatever trial you might be in, just over that fast.

Whatever you're laboring in, about to give up, don't give up. The reward is there. Keep looking to the reward.

Come back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. I'll have to sit down here. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. I think it's very kind of God to give us something here. What this reminds me of is I was enjoying the different words that are used to describe the rapture in the Bible.

Titus chapter 2, verse number 13, looking for that blessed hope. What a hope. Blessed hope.

Think of that. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, the hope of salvation. There is a hope that comes from God's salvation.

Not just the fact that we'll be in heaven, but this, I believe in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, he's zeroing in on the rapture. What a tremendous hope that is. Now, I want you to notice here, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and this little expression, verse 17, then we which are alive and remain should be caught up together with them in the clouds.

We miss our loved ones, don't we? I've spoken to individuals today that have lost their spouse of many years, and it breaks the heart, it does. Think of this. There's those believers that have died in Christ.

There's those of us that are alive in Christ. And in an indivisible moment of time, raised, glorified, changed bodies. Us changed bodies together, up.

How kind of God to give us a moment together. And then the next phrase, to meet the Lord in the air. Now, we always get occupied with our side of the rapture.

What a thing to see Him. Have you ever thought of it from His perspective? For the first time, the entire bride will be together. And coming up from the earth, my, what a thrill it'll be to His soul.

Not a wonder, Hebrews chapter 2, we are introduced to the great song leader of eternity. When he's surrounded with all of his children that God gave him, and he starts to lift up his voice. You ever think of Christ singing? I read in the Old Testament that God the Father will sing over a restored nation.

That's going to be a wonderful thing. What a moment when the last time He sang was the eve of His crucifixion. And there was 11 disciples left at the table.

One went out to sell Him. And they sang a hymn and went out into the garden. What a day this will be.

What a moment when the Lord Jesus is surrounded by all His children. Looking forward to it, dear child of God? I am. I am.

I have been praying, Lord, I'm going to ask You to bring the rapture. I would love for the rapture to happen today. Be a marvelous thing.

I trust that we will be encouraged. This is not just Peter. We haven't followed cunningly devised fables.

Oh, this is just something to keep you guys happy. No, no. This is what's really going to happen.

And it could happen just like that. Thank you.