Caught up to be with Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Story of the Christian storing up food and supplies, packing his gun.. when asked he said, I am preparing 3 1/2 years worth of food and supplies for the Great tribulation period.
If pre-trib repture, you’ll be gone anyway..
If in the middle of the tribulation, you would have run out.
If after the tribulation, since you will go through the last 3 and a half years and expect Jesus to come soon, you should be sharing your food with those who are suffering? you also should not be
Right Christian attitude towards end times teaching.
In my previous messages I talked about the coming lawlessness which will take place
The lawless one the Antichrist will be the epitome of evil rule, he will put the whole world into subjection that those who will be on the earth at that time will be forced not only to submit to his authority, but also to worship him.
That will all happen in the time period of severe judgement which the Bible calls The Great Tribulation.
21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
The challenge to the church is how can we best prepare for this coming tribulation. How does the church of Jesus respond to the cataclysmic events that are coming.
There is the escapist response.
I have to make myself right before God, since He is going to rapture the church first I would make sure I am really saved,,,, and that will also be my motivation to share the gospel to those I love and to others.
I want to escape this so-called Great Tribulation..
The problem is..
The focus is wrong. It is on escaping rather than welcoming the coming of the Lord.
The Christian’s perspective on the End Times:
We should actually be excited about the end times and not afraid about it.
The reason we are excited is the Return of Jesus Christ.
This is the Biblical attitude. This is the attitude of the Early Church.
What is the attitude of the early church and the apostles for that matter?
The attitude is captured in one word.
22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!
In his final exhortation in his first letter to the Corinthians the apostle says, “Our Lord, come!”
That whole sentence is actually the word Maranatha. Which is the transliteration of the Aramaic words:
Marana' 'athah, (Aramaic)
- Our Lord cometh, or will come.
The apostle John at the end of the book on the end times that we are studying the Book of Revelation
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Maranatha is the attitude of prayer for the speedy or immediate return of Jesus.
Is this the attitude of the church of Jesus Christ in our time?
Not escaping the world and its ugliness but desiring the perfect presence of the Lord Jesus.
15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.
One complete thought, there were no separations by chapters..
This section of the New Testament talks about the doctrine of the rapture.
The Rapture
The church will be snatched away before the time to Himself..
The Rapture is a Joining together.
Of all the Saints of God
15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
The Rapture is a Joining together..
With The Lord Himself
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
the living saints and the dead saints.
In what form are we going to be?
50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
We talked about what is the rapture. The next question is why the rapture?
Why does the rapture have to happen?
There are Theologians that do not believe in a physical rapture like N.T. Wright (August 2001 article, “Farewell to the Rapture” — metaphor and imagery of Paul of God’s restoration of the world to its perfect state. Like I said at the start of this series, we are going to study different points of view in light of scripture.
We talked about the Great Tribulation last time when the wrath of God will be poured on all of mankind.
I talked about the restrainer from 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 will be taken away — before the lawless one, the antichrist will be revealed. The restrainer is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit which is in every believer. The Church.
The question is will the true church of Jesus be part of the wrath of God?
Something to think about, but for us to leave no room for speculation, let us turn to the Bible, what does the Bible say?
25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
Abraham’s intercession for Sodom. For the sake of 10 people.
Sodom and Gomorrah - Lot and his family. Pattern of saving the righteous before judgement - Noah’s ark.
We also see that in the New Testament: If we jump ahead from where we are in the main passage of today:
9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
That is the first reason why the rapture has to happen.
There is a reason why we need to know and understand the doctrine of the rapture.
18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
The Rapture should encourage the saints.
Next Sunday I will talk more about the timing of the rapture. When will the rapture of the church occur?
Image of Rapture Timeline here. Explain.
I have been contemplating the timing because of this question in my mind:
Does believing the rapture become a form of Christian escapism, that we want to avoid tribulation?
Christians in China (describe, reading a book) and the Middle East. Why do we think we are exempted?
12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
The Lord Jesus in His Olivet Discourse said that believers will be thrown in tribulation.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.
There indeed will be persecution and tribulation. I believe that is even coming persecution that will intensify even in churches in North America..
There is a Purging.. to understand this we need to see the difference or distinguish between:
God’s purging vs. God’s Wrath.
purification.
Believer’s tribulation and the Great Tribulation.
Satan’s Wrath and God’s Wrath.
One other strong argument for the rapture to happen before the Great Tribulation or the Tribulation is the matter of imminence.
Imminence
- Something that is about to happen. Jesus can come anytime.
1 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
If the antichrist will have to come first and wreak havoc first before the coming of Jesus, then we lose that sense of imminence.. will use it as a reference point.. worse they will be looking for the coming of the antichrist.. the gospel must be preached…there is no sense of urgency.
The encouragement factor..
These are strong arguments..
So you may ask what is your personal view.
My personal view is — to be continued I will talk about that next week.
The truth is your pastor’s view means nothing if we don’t see it from the Word of God.. study together let’s interact.
Immanence
27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Jesus is also immanent - Christ in You the Hope of Glory.
The Immanence of Christ in the church. fellowship of His suffering.. no escapism..
13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”