The Comfort of the Rapture of the Church. Part 1

The Rapture of the Church is one of the most long awaited events since Christ’s ascension into heaven! Paul was looking forward to this promised, but mysterious, event on God’s prophetic calendar.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53:

1 Corinthians 15:51–53 NKJV

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 incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Notice how Paul used the pronoun “we” when describing the rapture of the Church; he included himself because he, too, was looking for “the blessed hope” of the rapture - Titus 2:13-15.

1. The promise of the Rapture PRODUCES hope - 13.

Paul begins his doctrine of the rapture in verse 13 of chapter 4 of Thessalonians:

1 Thessalonians 4:13 NKJV

13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.

There are three words/phrases I want to focus on here:

Ignorant

Fallen asleep

No hope

“I do not want you to be ignorant” - God wants His people to know the truth. Ignorance is being uninformed. Paul wanted his “brethren” who are “believers in the Lord Jesus Christ” to be fully assured of the hope of the resurrection and the rapture of the church.

“Fallen asleep” - When believers die, God says they have “fallen asleep.”Those who have “fallen asleep” are defined as “the dead in Christ” - 1 Thess. 4:16.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 NKJV

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

“Lest you sorrow as others who have no hope” - an unbeliever possess no hope because God is not in his or her life. God is the God of hope who fills His people will “all joy and peace in believing”:

Romans 15:13 NKJV

13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

He does not want believers to sorrow as unbelievers when our loved ones die because we have the God of hope! He promises that all is not lost! God makes it evident that death is not an eternal end but an eternal beginning for all who believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Christians are to view death differently than an unbeliever; for a Christian, death is not to be feared because our Messiah overcame death by taking His own life back without the help of any in the stands!

Hebrews 1:3 NKJV

3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

The promise of the Rapture PRODUCES hope!

2. The Rapture is a PRIVILEGE for Believers Alone - 14

In order to participate in the rapture you must be a believer.

1 Thessalonians 4:14 NKJV

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

Here are five focus words/phrases from this verse:

“For” or “Since”

We Believe

Jesus died and rose again

God will bring with Him

Those who sleep in Jesus

“For” or “since” - the reason for not sorrowing as an unbeliever who has no hope after death.

“We Believe”- Faith in God’s Word is the catalyst to one’s salvation.

Ephesians 2:8–9 NKJV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

“Jesus died and rose again” - this is the Gospel in summary. Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again from the dead the third day according to the Scriptures - 1 Cor. 15:1-8. This is the Gospel. Whoever believes the Gospel, will be saved:

Acts 16:31 NKJV

31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

The importance of the role faith is paramount:

Hebrews 11:6 NKJV

6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Faith is the axiom for participation in being “saved.” No one will be with Jesus who does not believe that Jesus died and rose again. The Bible makes this absolutely certain. You must believe the Gospel to be saved from eternal, conscious damnation in hell.

“God will bring with Him”- all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who have passed away are presently alive with Jesus:

Philippians 1:23 NKJV

23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

Those who “sleep in Jesus” will still be present with the Lord at the rapture of the church - “God will bring” them “with Him” when that time comes!

The Rapture is a PRIVILEGE for believers alone.

3. The Rapture is a PROMISE from God - 15

1 Thessalonians 4:15 NKJV

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.

Here are our focus phrases in this verse:

The “Word of the Lord”

“We who are alive and remain”

“until the coming of the Lord”

“Will by no means precede those who are asleep”

The “Word of the Lord”

Paul does not base the doctrine of the rapture on his opinions; he clearly states that what he is teaching is “the Word of the Lord.”

“The Word of the Lord”- is not the word of man! God’s Word is the Word of the LORD; it is Inspired by God or “God breathed”:

2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

“Inspiration” speaks of the origin of Scripture. All Scripture, the entire 66 books of the Christian Bible, has its origin in God. God “breathed” the Scriptures; He is the source of the written Word of God.

Jesus had the highest view of Scripture. In that great passage where He declares His equality with God the Father, He stated:

John 10:35 NKJV

35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared:

Matthew 5:17–18 NIV

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

The smallest letter in the Law of God is the Yod that corresponds to our English letter “y”; it is the 10th letter in the Hebrew alphabet; it is similar in appearance to our English punctuation mark known as the apostrophe.

“The least stroke of the pen” is the “tittle” that distinguishes between Hebrew letters like the daleth and the resh or the kaph and the bet.

“For example, the Hebrew letter beth looks like this ב. The letter kaph looks like this כ.” The line that passes by the bottom of the beth is the “tittle” or “lest stroke of the pen.”

Ryrie, C. C. (1999). Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (p. 100). Chicago, IL: Moody Press.

Our Lord’s view of Scripture was absolute - Scripture is the very Word of God - even the letters and distinguishing marks! Do you have this same view of Scripture?

Do you esteem the written Word of God the way our Lord Jesus did? I pray that you do.

Paul declared the “word of the Lord” not his opinions. Our opinions don’t matter; it is God’s written Word that is the truth and “there is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD” - Pro. 21:30

The Bibles says, “the word of our God stands forever” - Isaiah 40:8

You can trust the written Word of God contained in the entirety of the Bible.

Thank you so much for joining me in this study; it is my prayer that you will grow in your love for Jesus Christ and others.

If you do not know Christ as your God and Savior, then believe the Word of God and obey its truths, so you can be saved from the wrath to come, be forgiven of your sins, receive the Holy Spirit into your heart, and inherit eternal life:

Romans 10:9–10 NKJV

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.