The Rapture

The Rapture

1 Corinthians 15:51,52

AUDIO MP3

9 Jan 2011 AM

Pastor Craig Ledbetter

Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland

www.biblebc.com

I. Introduction (John 16:13) – “things to come”

A. This month we are learning about Biblical prophecy

B. Not about guessing, or predicting, but about reading from the infallible word of God about upcoming future events, and being prepared for them!

C. What a shame that God invested so much time and effort in giving us His WORD, and most people still trust their TV, and turn to astrology and palm reading, and other demonic sources of information!

D. The Holy Spirit PROMISES to show us things to come… but only when we study the Bible

E. Let’s study a GREAT thing to come this morning!

II. Background (1 Cor 15:51,52)

A. There is something wonderful about to happen!

1. Something more powerful than death

2. More rapid than a flash of lightning

B. It is the Rapture of all Christians from this world!

1. The disappearance of over 200 million born again believers in Jesus Christ!

2. Oh everyone knows “judgment day” is coming

3. Everyone deep in their heart of hearts knows about the coming wrath of God

4. But what everyone doesn’t know is that there is a mysterious event BEFORE the wrath of God that snatches away Christians, out of harms way

C. I want to preach this morning on the imminent catching away of every born again believer – called the Rapture!

III. Message

A. God is Not Finished Yet – there is More to Come!

1. The Cross finished sin’s penalty, 2000 years ago! Jesus said it loud and clear on the cross, “It is finished!”

2. But God has more to come! That wasn’t the end of the story! There is more history to be made.

3. God has already told us in general terms what is ahead for this world:

a. There is a time coming called “the coming Tribulation…”

1) This world will experience the worst disasters imaginable

2) Foreshadowed by the plagues in Egypt that destroyed that world empire

3) Everything will fail during the tribulation: governments, economies, health, clocks won’t work, weather will go crazy, asteroids will fall from the sky, and earthquakes will rock this planet to its core!

b. In the midst of all that, there will come a man called the Antichrist, who will be given absolute control of the whole world by a desperate population, seeking peace and safety – but he will bring death, and wars, and bondage like has not been imagined ever before!

c. Then there will be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ!!! The greatest event of all time, with Him riding on a white horse, and all His followers behind Him, coming to defeat Satan’s plans

d. Then will begin the Millennium – the 1,000 year Reign of Jesus Christ on earth, where there will be no death, no devil, perfect justice, and a restored earth like as it was in the Garden of Eden

4. So don’t live like God is not active in the world today! Oh, He hasn’t gone on holiday – He is working out His plan, and it is GRAND!

B. But Before Any of that Happens, a “Rapture” is Coming First!

1. Meaning of “Rapture!

a. To be caught up

b. Snatched away

c. Forcibly removed from this planet

d. A Translation – from here into the presence of Jesus!

2. The Rapture is for believers only – the Church

3. The Rapture occurs in an Instant – not gradual

4. The Rapture is Imminent – will happen at any time!

a. 1Cor 1:7

b. Philp 3:20; 4:5

c. Titus 2:13

d. Rev 3:11

e. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING has to happen before the Rapture

f. It will happen when you DON’T expect it (Mt 2513)!!!

5. The Rapture transports believers all the way to Heaven!

a. Not to go through the Tribulation, but only through some clouds!

b. To be with Jesus (John 14:1-3)

C. What Will Happen at the Rapture? (1Thes 4:13-18; 1Cor 15:49-53)

1. The Rapture is Encouraging!

a. The apostle Paul used the sorrow of the Thessalonian Christians as a good reason to encourage them with the truth of the Rapture. They had several believers die in their church and they were starting to be saddened to the point where they had forgotten the truth of the Rapture!!!

b. He explains that Christians do die, and there will always be sorrow at the death of a loved one, but that we should never sorrow like people who have no hope!

c. Our belief in Jesus makes a BIG difference

1) Both to our relationship with God – opens forgiveness

2) And also to our relationship with death! Removes the fear!

2. The first thing Paul teaches is that death for a Christian is only falling asleep! It is not the end! It is NOT final, and it should not be scary!

a. “Sleeping in Jesus” is the way Paul speaks of the body of a believer in a grave. Jesus said the same thing when He spoke of Lazarus being dead – He said “Lazarus sleepeth”

b. So, when a body dies…

1) That body is buried in a grave somewhere

2) The soul and the spirit, the real PERSON, is instantly WITH GOD (4:14)

3. But now comes the best parts – what will happen at the Rapture:

a. GOD is coming back to earth – not just Jesus, but GOD! It is Jesus, but He is referred to as GOD! And at that moment He is descending from His heaven (4:16)

b. There will be a Shout from heaven by an archangel
“Come Up Hither!” (Rev 4:1)!!!

c. A Trumpet Sound will blow loud and clear – the whole world will hear it, but will not understand what is happening!

d. Two groups of people will instantly disappear:

1) Those believers who have already died – they go first!

2) We believers which are alive at that moment

e. An Explosion – graves open and the bodies of believers will arise and be resurrected and reunited with their soul and spirit in the air!

1) Absolutely wild truth here

2) God made you and I (everyone) to live forever

3) Death is the result of sin – put bodies young and old into the dirt)

4) Jesus’ death on the cross repairs even death and decay

5) He will restore life back to dead bodies – no matter how long they have been dead – it’s called the Resurrection! Not of all people, but only the resurrection of the Just, or the Saved!

f. An Ascent – “we… shall be caught up”. we are all going UP! Way up!

g. A Change – this mortal must put on immortality, skipping death (1Cor 15:51,52)

h. A Meeting – we will meet up with the Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds! He is not coming to rule and reign as King of kings YET! That will be seven years later. But for now, there will be such a grand reunion! How loud do you think the shout of all believers of the past 2,000 years be in the clouds?

i. A Leaving – for Heaven with Jesus

j. All in the twinkle of an eye (1Cor 15:49-53)! Not gradual, but instant!

4. Do you know what is really funny? The world won’t miss us! All the problems this world is facing is only going to get worse, and the disappearance of millions from schools, airports, shopping centres, office buildings, and homes will not be very important to most people who will be facing water turned to blood, the sun scorching people’s flesh, hail mixed with fire falling from the sky, people dying on the moon, famines spreading across the globe, earthquakes rocking this plant to the core! No, people won’t miss us!

D. Has This Happened Before?

1. Enoch (Hebrews 11:5) “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

2. Elijah (2Kings 2:11) “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”

3. Jesus (Acts 1:9) “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.”

E. What Will happen if you are Left Behind?

1. Not everyone claiming to be “Christian” really is!

2. Most people will miss the Rapture – they will be left behind

3. There will be:

a. Mass Deception (2Thes 2:1,8-12)

b. Demon Possession

c. Device Dependency – the mark of the beast, and technology

d. World Destruction

e. Soul Damnation – that is Satan’s only goal (John 8:44; 10:10)

1) The “New World Order,” the “Venus Project,” the “New Deal” – all are facades of a lie that people continually believe

2) There is no better world coming through man’s best efforts – only Jesus Christ can change this world

3) And if you miss Him, you miss everything!!!

F. What Awaits Us in Heaven? Briefly, Three Things…

1. We will look at these events in more detail later on in this month!

2. The Judgment Seat of Christ

a. The judgment seat of Christ does not determine salvation; it is not part of your salvation - that was determined by Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf (1 John 2:2) and our faith in Him (John 3:16). All of our sins are forgiven, and we will never be condemned for them (Romans 8:1). We should not look at the judgment seat of Christ as God judging our sins, but rather as God rewarding us for our lives.

b. At the judgment seat of Christ, believers are rewarded based on how faithfully they served Christ (1 Corinthians 9:4-27; 2 Timothy 2:5).

c. How you live NOW will be rewarded, or you will lose rewards!

d. Some of the things we WILL be judged on are:

1) How well we obeyed the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20),

2) How victorious we were over sin (Romans 6:1-4),

3) And how well we controlled our tongues (James 3:1-9).

4) The Bible speaks of believers receiving crowns for different things based on how faithfully they served Christ

e. All of this is happening in heaven while the first half of the Tribulation is going on on earth

3. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:7-18)

a. A celebration of our relationship with Jesus Christ as His bride

b. Jesus will serve us

c. We are ultimately special to Him

d. This is happening in heaven during the last half of the Tribulation

4. Our Return to earth AFTER the seven years of Tribulation! WE are coming back with Jesus!

a. To kick the antichrist’s rear-end!

b. And to start our Honeymoon with Jesus on earth for the next 1,000 years

G. How Should We Then Live?

1. If we only have dirt to look forward to, we will live only as animals

2. If we have heaven to look forward to, then as Saints

a. But most live as sorry saints

b. Lazy servants

3. But, If it could be at any moment, then we should all live …

a. Live like we are leaving at any moment!

b. Expectantly – looking for it to occur at any moment, and looking FORWARD to it! We need to start living like it is going to happen at any moment (“We which are alive…”)

1) Paul believed the rapture would be in HIS lifetime

2) Peter

3) John

4) All believers

c. Soberly – seriously – time to grow up Christian!

d. Godly – clearly as followers of Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11-13)

e. Passionately, not partially, apathetically, or lazy, uninterested – if you are saved from the wrath to come, then you should live the life of someone who has been given a SECOND chance!

f. Persuasively (Jude 1:22,23) – making a difference!

g. These are the only ways you can lay up treasure in heaven and earn rewards at the Judgment Seat!

IV. Conclusion –

A. There is something wonderful about to happen!

1. Something more powerful than death

2. More rapid than a flash of lightning

B. It is the Rapture of all Christians from this world! The disappearance of over 200 million born again believers in Jesus Christ!

C. Are YOU ready for the Rapture?

1. Only being born again makes you

2. Don’t let it catch you unready!

3. There will be no time to witness and tell your loved ones about Jesus’ coming then

4. You won’t have time to get your life in order at that moment

5. If you are not born again, you will never be able to get saved after thsat moment!

6. If you miss the rapture, you only have the antichrist to look forward to meeting, and death and hell will follow!

7. The Rapture is for believers only – the Church

8. The Rapture occurs in an Instant – not gradual

9. The Rapture is Imminent – will happen at any time!

10. Are you ready for the rapture?

D. What Will Happen at the Rapture? (1Thes 4:13-18; 1Cor 15:49-53)

1. There will be a Shout from heaven by an archangel
“Come Up Hither!” (Rev 4:1)!!!

2. A Trumpet Sound will blow loud and clear – the whole world will hear it, but will not understand what is happening!

3. Two groups of people will instantly disappear:

a. Those believers who have already died – they go first!

b. We believers which are alive at that moment

4. An Explosion – graves open and the bodies of believers will arise and be resurrected and reunited with their soul and spirit in the air!

5. An Ascent – “we… shall be caught up”. we are all going UP! Way up!

6. A Change – this mortal must put on immortality, skipping death (1Cor 15:51,52)

7. A Meeting – we will meet up with the Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds! He is not coming to rule and reign as King of kings YET! That will be seven years later. But for now, there will be such a grand reunion! How loud do you think the shout of all believers of the past 2,000 years be in the clouds?

8. A Leaving – for Heaven with Jesus

9. All in the twinkle of an eye (1Cor 15:49-53)! Not gradual, but instant!

E. What signs should we be looking for? NONE! It will happen at any minute – when you are NOT looking for it!

F. What Will happen if YOU are Left Behind?