The Rapture of the Church

Christ Returns for the Saints

1 Thes. 4:13-18

“”For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

We are so blessed that we have this very Word of God as our guide, not only for today and all of burdens today holds, but also as a spiritual guide to take us into the future days, days filled with great hope on the one hand, and terrible despair and anguish on the other.

We don’t need to ride on the coat tails of the Hale-Bopp Comet to find our way home.  We don’t need to follow every false Messiah who claims to have all the answers; we have the Messiah, Jesus Christ and all of His promises and all that He assures.

Never in recent history have their been more questions about what the future holds.  Remember the year 2000 and all that was surmised about that date, as it loomed ever closer?  Y2K became a buzzword and fear spread, fear of the world falling into chaos, economically, morally and spiritually.  As we view the world today, we see instability everywhere, in our economic trends, as world power shifts slowly to the one world government as predicted, as wars abound, death is on every front page, every newscast, as our own government continues its moral decay, legislating against Christianity and its moral principles.  Our schools are becoming laboratories for social and liberal change and the media has all but thrown away any sense of morality and decency.

Little wonder that people believe that the end time is near.  I heard a story of a child who was sitting in front of a grandfather clock in his living room, because he loved to hear the clock strike twelve.  One day, however, the clock broke and continued to strike – thirteen, fourteen, fifteen… whereupon the boy ran into the kitchen yelling, “Mommy, mommy”  “It’s later than it’s ever been before!”

The time of Christ’s return may be close- we don’t know the date or time, but it does feel like it is very close.  We just need to be ready.

The Coming of the Lord, 1Thess. 4:13-18

¹³ Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.  ¹⁴ We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.  ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.  ¹⁶ 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, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.  ¹⁸ Therefore encourage each other with these words. PTL

 1 Thess. 3:2 “We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, ³ so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them.  ⁴ In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted.”

1 Thess 3:11 “Now may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.  ¹² May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.  ¹³ May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.”

The Problem: 2 Thess.2: 1-3 “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, ² not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the Day of the Lord has already come.  ³ Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.”

Even though Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica was brief, it is clear the people had come to believe in and hope for the reality of their Savior’s return (1Thess.1:3, 9,10, (⁹ for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,  ¹⁰ and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath., (2:19; 5:1,2; 2 Thess. 2:1,5). They were living in expectation of that coming, eagerly awaiting Christ. Verse 4:13 (cf. 2 Thess. 2:1–3) indicates they were even agitated about some things that were happening to them that might affect their participation in it. (What things?)

 They knew Christ’s return was the climactic event in redemptive history and didn’t want to miss it. The major question they had was “What happens to the Christians who die before He comes? Do they miss His return?” Clearly, they had an imminent view of Christ’s return and Paul had left the impression it could happen in their lifetime. Their confusion came as they were being persecuted, an experience they thought they were to be delivered from by the Lord’s return.

Those who sleep are identified in 1 Thess.4: 16 as “the dead in Christ.” The people, in ignorance, had come to the conclusion that those who die miss the Lord’s return and they were grieved over their absence at such a glorious event. Losing a loved one brought great anguish to the soul. Futhermore, what would happen to them if they died before Jesus returned?

As Jesus died and rose, so also will those who die believing in Him rise again so they can be taken to heaven with the Lord (John 14:1–3; 1 Cor. 15:51–58). These texts describe the rapture of the church, which takes place when Jesus comes to collect His redeemed and take them back to heaven. Those who have died before that time (called “those who sleep”) will be gathered (their bodies) and taken back to heaven with the Lord.

Was Paul referring to some saying of Jesus found in the gospels? No. There are none exact or even close. The only explicit reference to the Rapture in the gospel is

John 14:1–3 - “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me.  ² In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.  ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going

Paul affirmed that he taught the Rapture as it was once a hidden truth (1 Cor. 15:51); a “mystery.” Apparently, the Thessalonians were informed fully about the Day of the Lord’s judgment (1 Thess. 5:1-11) – “Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you,  ² for you know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  ³ While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

⁴ But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.  ⁵ You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.  ⁶ So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.  ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.  ⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.  ⁹ For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.  ¹⁰ He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.  ¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Until Paul revealed it as the revelation from God to him, it had been a secret, with the only prior mention being Jesus’ teaching in John 14:1–3. This was new revelation of what had previously been an unrevealed mystery. We who are alive and remain (1 Thess. 4:14). This refers to Christians alive at the time of the Rapture, those who live on this earth to see the coming of the Lord for His own. Since Paul didn’t know God’s timing, he lived and spoke as if it could happen in his lifetime. As with all early Christians, he believed the event was near (cf. Rom. 13:11; 1 Cor. 6:14; 10:11; 16:22; Phil. 3:20,21; 1 Tim. 6:14; Titus 2:13). Those alive at the Rapture will follow those dead who rise first (v. 16).

1 Thess. 4:16 the Lord Himself will descend. This fulfills the promise of John 14:1–3 (cf. Acts 1:11). Until then, He remains in heaven (cf. 1:10; Heb. 1:1–3). Archangel. Very little is known about the organization or rank of angels (cf. Col. 1:17). While only Michael is named as an archangel (Jude 9), there seems to be more than one in the angelic ranks (Dan. 10:13). Perhaps it is Michael, the archangel, whose voice is heard as he is identified with Israel’s resurrection in Dan. 12:1–3. At that moment (cf. 1 Cor. 15:52, “twinkling of an eye”), the dead rise first. They will not miss the Rapture, but be the first participants. Trumpet of God. Cf. 1 Cor. 15:52. This trumpet is not the judgment trumpets of Rev. 8–11, but is illustrated by the trumpet of Ex. 19:16–19, which called the people out of the camp to meet God. It will be a trumpet of deliverance (cf. Zeph. 1:16; Zech. 9:14).

4:17 caught up. After the dead come forth, their spirits already with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23), now being joined to resurrected new bodies, the living Christians will be raptured, lit. snatched away (cf. John 10:28; Acts 8:39). This passage, along with John 14:1–3 and 1 Cor. 15:51,52, form the biblical basis for “the Rapture” of the church. The time of the Rapture cannot be conclusively determined from this passage alone. However, when other texts such as Rev. 3:10 and John 14:3 are consulted and compared to the texts about Christ’s coming in judgment (Matt. 13:34–50; 24:29–44; Rev. 19:11–21) at the end of a 7 year tribulation, it has to be noted that there is a clear difference between the character of the “Rapture” in that there is no mention of any judgment, while the other texts feature judgment. So then, it is best to understand that the Rapture occurs at a time different from the coming of Christ in judgment. Thus, the Rapture has been described as pretribulational (before the wrath of God unfolded in the judgments of Rev. 6–19). This event includes complete transformation (cf. 1 Cor. 15:51,52; Phil 3:20,21) and union with the Lord Jesus Christ that never ends.

4:18 comfort one another. The primary purpose of this passage is to provide encouragement to those Christians whose loved ones have died. The comfort here is based on the following: 1) the dead will be resurrected and will participate in the Lord’s coming for His own; 2) when Christ comes the living will be reunited forever with their loved ones; and 3) they all will be with the Lord eternally (v. 17).

The Resurrection Body, 1 Cor.15: 35-58

^{35  “}But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”  ³⁶ How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.  ³⁷ When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else.  ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.  ³⁹ All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another.  ⁴⁰ There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another.  ⁴¹ The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

⁴² So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; ⁴³ it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.  ⁴⁵ So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.  ⁴⁶ The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.  ⁴⁷ The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.  ⁴⁸ As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.  ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.  ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.   But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you.”

God’s Judgment Period

2 Thess. 1:3, “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.  ⁴ Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

⁵ All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.  ⁶ God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you  ⁷ and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. (The Second Coming at the end of the Trib. period) ⁸ He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  ⁹ They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power  ¹⁰ on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.”

Believers do not have to fear future judgment because it is not part of God’s appointed plan for us.  Will Christians go through the Day of the Lord, that awful period of judgment that God will send on the earth?  Many Bible teachers think not (see 1 Thess.1: 10, 5:9). The Tribulation is appointed for a godless world.  The church is the body of Christ, and He is the Head.  When He died on the cross, He bore for us all the divine judgment necessary for our salvation.  He has promised that we shall never taste any of God’s wrath (John 5:24).  The Day of the Lord is a time when God will judge the Gentile nations and also purge Israel and prepare her for the coming of her Messiah.  Those of “the earth”, not those whose “citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20), will be judged for their sins.  Christ has already judged believer’s sins on the cross.  Jesus already “bought us with a price” – the cross, and will come to claim us for Himself before He sends judgment on the earth.

This study of Scripture should be used to make us aware of God’s plan, but also for encouragement and edification.  The fact that we will meet our loved ones again and forever be with the Lord is a source of encouragement and the fact that we will not endure God’s wrath during the Day of the Lord should also encourage us.  Knowing that we will be with the Lord strengthens us in the difficulties of life and motivates us to win the lost.  We don’t want anyone we know to go through that awful Day of wrath that is to come and will last an eternity for those who are lost.  That’s why we study this book, to better prepare us as witnesses of God’s love and plan for redemption.  To those who are given much, much is expected!