November 12, 2006
"Understanding The Rapture of the Church 1"
God is Not Slow in Keeping His Promise—Part 7
Selected verses
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
—2 Peter 3:9
1. The Rapture is not mentioned in the Old Testament.
Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him.
—Amos 5:18-19
How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it. 'In that day,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them. Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
—Jeremiah 30:7-9
2. The Rapture is first introduced by Jesus.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 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. 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. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
—John 14:1-6
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
—Acts 9:1-2
(Paul) "...they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me. However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way..."
—Acts 24:13-14
3. The Rapture is first explained by Paul.
- We have God's truth
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. 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.
—1 Thessalonians 4:13,15
- Christ is coming again
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.
—1 Thessalonians 4:14
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-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.
—1 Corinthians 15:51-52
- Dead Christians will rise
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.
—1 Thessalonians 4:16
- Living believers are raptured
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.
—1 Thessalonians 4:17
- The depth of meaning in the words caught up:
- "To catch away speedily"
"To seize by force"
"To claim for one's own self"
"To move to a new place"
"To rescue from danger"
- Christians are forever with the Lord
And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
—1 Thessalonians 4:17b-18
I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
—John 14:3
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
—2 Corinthians 5:10
Application
Do you think Jesus will return today? If you should die today, where would your soul go?
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment...
—Hebrews 9:27 (NKJV)
"Understanding the Rapture of the Church"
Personal and Small Group Study
Getting Started
- As a young person, what did you like least about your body? What did you try to do about it?
- As an older person, what do you fear most about your changing body?
Digging Deeper: Read 1 Corinthians 15:35-58
- What practical problem do some people have with the resurrection?
- How does Paul's analogy of the seed deal with this objection? (verses 36-38 and 42-44) What does this teach about the resurrected body?
- How does the analogy of the different types of bodies relate to the initial objection?
- What is the point of comparison between Adam and Christ? What is the meaning of "we shall bear the likeness of the man from heaven?" (Cross reference 1 John 2:28-3:2)
- What is the significance of the events in verses 50-53? What is the significance of the quote in verses 54-55? What is the relationship between sin and death? What is the relationship between Law and Christ's victory?
- What practical difference is the hope of the resurrection to have in the lives of believers? (verse 58)
- Why is our labor in the Lord not in vain?
Applying It To My Life
- What is the most comforting thing you have discovered in this passage? What is the hardest for you to understand?
- What motivates you to press on in the Christian life?