"Caught Up Together"

Today, we have come to the most recognized passage in 1st Thessalonians, and one of the most familiar passages in all of Scripture. It is a passage that is often read at funerals because of the comfort it provides to the families who have lost loved ones in Christ… and it is talking about the very thing that we are to be “Ready and Waiting” for… This passage is dealing with the rapture of the church.

This is a subject that has been debated for centuries. There is a great discussion concerning the timing of the rapture and the views are varied as to when the Lord will actually come for His Bride, the church.

There are many faithful heaven-bound-for-eternity Christians whose theological framework includes the rapture. Collectively they are called… Pre-tribulationalist’s… The Pre-tribulation position is that the church will be raptured at the very beginning of the 70th week of tribulation. That is the view that we hold to and teach here at PBC...

Now, there are also many faithful heaven-bound-for-eternity Christians whose theological framework includes the rapture.. and they are called MId-tribulationalist’s… The Mid-tribulation position is that the church will be raptured in the middle of the 7 year tribulation period, when the Antichrist breaks his peace treaty with Israel.

Again, there are still many faithful heaven-bound-for-eternity Christians whose theological framework includes the rapture.. and they are called Post-tribulationalist’s… The Post-tribulation position is that the church will be raptured at the end of the 7 year tribulation period, when the Lord returns to defeat His enemies at the Battle of Armageddon, and set up His thousand-year reign on the earth.

Some Bible-believing, Jesus-loving people hold each of these positions.

There are also some Faithful followers of Christ who see no difference in the rapture and Second Coming… But Again, here at PBC we preach, teach and I personally believe the rapture will take place just prior to the Great Tribulation Period.

Others contend that we have no biblical basis for such a thing since the word rapture is not found in Scripture. To the fact that “rapture” is not found in the Bible, I will agree, but it is there nonetheless… kind of like the word “Trinity” is not a biblical word, but the teaching and the principles are found throughout…

In our passage this morning, we will see the phrase “caught up” in V.17… The word rapture translates the Latin word “rapto or raptus” and comes from the Greek word “harpazo.” The phrase translated caught up literally means “to seize; to claim for one’s self; to snatch out or away.” While we don’t have the word rapture recorded in Scripture, clearly the doctrine and teaching are there.

The rapture of the church is a foundational doctrine of the Christian faith. Through our faith in Christ we have the hope of a future resurrection of the dead where all believers will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air and enter into His glorious presence with new, glorified bodies. Had Christ not risen, and if we had no hope of life beyond the grave, our faith would be no better or different than the false religions of the world… Our hope in Christ is what sets us apart from all others.

This morning, I do not have any charts for you to look at… I do not plan to go into a study of dispensationalism… but I do plan to continue to go through God’s Word in an expository way, verse by verse, and show you what the Apostle Paul, along with Silas and Timothy, were trying to teach the Thessalonian believers.

That being said, lets look at 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18… (Read)

Meat:

Again, when discussing the events of the Rapture, you will find that people often differ in their views of the timing and/or the events surrounding it and each view can be supported, to some degree, with Scripture.

But Scripture also tells us that “no one knows the day or the hour”. It is something that God the Father has ordained and will reveal in His time according to His will… So, instead of focusing on the uncertainties, the things that are not so clear in Scripture… This morning, I want to focus on the...

Certainties of the Rapture:

and the first Certainty that I want you to see is… The fact that...

1. It Brings Comfort

v. 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.”

v. 18 “Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

When Timothy returned from his visit to Thessalonica, he returned with several questions and Paul is using this letter to answer those questions. He realizes their confusion regarding the coming of the Lord and the future of all believers… and in response to that confusion he says “I do not want you to be ignorant (Uninformed - NASB)”…

The Certainty of the Rapture - Brings forth Comfort...

1.1 By Knowing the Truth

Paul new the dangers of being “ Ignorant or uninformed”. Dr. Tony Evans writes in his commentary…

“An ignorant Christian can become a hopeless Christian. And as sure as wrong doctrine leads to wrong beliefs, wrong beliefs lead to wrong living. To know the truth is to be set free from the hopelessness of ignorance.”

Paul provides comfort to the Thessalonian believers by sharing with them the truths of Scripture.

Many in that day were earnestly looking for the Lord’s return. They lived each day in full anticipation of His coming. Many of them believed they would be taken up in the rapture.

While those who were living looked for the Lord’s coming, they were sorrowful over their loved ones who had died in Christ. The Thessalonians had concluded that "those who had fallen asleep" would miss the victories and the glory of the Lord's return.

While Paul understood their sorrow... their grief over death, he reminds them that even though they sorrow, they do not sorrow as others who have no hope. Their loved ones may have died prior to the Lord’s coming, but their hope was not lost... Just as Christ rose from the dead, they too would rise as He comes and calls for the church.

The certainty of the rapture also brings forth comfort...

1.2 By Boosting our Confidence

The apostle goes on to further assure them of the confidence they have in Christ. If they believe Christ had risen from the dead, which it would seem that, they did, then they ought to believe that those who slept, or had died in Christ, would also rise from the dead.

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.

There is a significant play on words here that I don’t want you to miss… and that is why I put this particular verse on the screen...

Paul does not refer to Jesus' death as "sleep."… He specifically says that “Jesus Died”… The difference between Jesus' Death and that of believers is that He really endured actual separation from God for the world's sins. Because of His real death, and His real Resurrection… Christian death has been transformed into sleep.

1.2 By Boosting our Confidence

Paul continues to assure their confidence in V.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.”

Those who had died in Christ were not left without hope. They would not be left in the ground and forsaken at the rapture. In fact, they would be the first to experience it… “we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.”

To comfort the church and boost their confidence, Paul declared that the living at the rapture will not take precedence over the dead in Christ or gain advantage over them. Those who have died in Christ will in no way be inferior to the living at His coming! All those who have been born again will be included!

The question is… Does that include you? Do these verses bring you comfort and boost your confidence?

The second Certainty that I want you to see this morning is…

2. Christ Himself is Returning

v.16a “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven...”

It won’t be one like Him; it won’t be Michael the archangel; it won’t be one of the prophets or apostles; it is not Moses or Noah… it will be Jesus Himself coming for His bride!

Acts 1:11 NASB95

11 They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

The One who bore our sin and shame, bled and died upon the cross, was buried and rose again – this same Jesus will step out on the clouds and call for His church!

It is interesting to note, Jewish history reveals that a bridegroom would first complete a place for the newly-wed couple to live at the father’s house prior to the wedding. Upon completion of the home, he would return for the bride, take her home, and the marriage ceremony would begin.

Jesus said in John 14:1-3

John 14:1–3 NKJV

1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

The Bridegroom will one day come for His bride!… and there are 3 things that signal His arrival…

2.1 A Shout!

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout...”

When the Lord returns, it won’t be a somber, quiet affair. He will return with a shout: a stimulating cry or a loud summons. This has the idea of the master of a ship giving orders to the rowers or a commander addressing his soldiers.

It is a shout that will literally “wake the dead”… Again in the book of John, Jesus said…

John 5:25 NASB95

25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

I believe that this “Shout” will be similar to what Jesus performed at the graveside service for Lazarus… Someone said the reason why Jesus called Lazarus by name is because if He didn't, that whole graveyard would have come out of the tombs! But, this time... instead of shouting “Lazarus Come Forth!” He will shout… “My Children, come forth!”

and He will shout with…

2.2 The Voice of an Archangel

There is a bit of debate as to what this is actually alluding too… some say that Christ’s shout will sound like that of an archangel and other say that possibly an actual archangel will be joining with Him as He calls us out from the earth…

Nonetheless, it will be an unmistakable call when we hear it!

It also includes…

2.3 The Trumpet of God

The trump of God will sound as the Lord proclaims the Victor’s shout! This is actually quite significant… The Jewish people were familiar with trumpets, because trumpets were used to declare war, to announce special times and seasons, and to gather the people for a journey. In the Roman Empire, trumpets were used to announce the arrival of a great person. When God gave the law to Israel, the event was preceded by a trumpet blast.

In the O.T. Trumpets were used…

1. To Proclaim Victory – Which our Victory was won at Calvary.

2. To Call an Assembly – It will be time for the saints to assemble.

3. To Announce a Warning – With the rapture of the church, the warning is the fact that judgment will soon come.

4. To Call the Troops to Battle – After the Tribulation, the Lord will return to defeat Satan and the forces of evil.

All of this leads up to our third and final Certainty this morning… and that is the fact that…

3. All Believers will be Removed

“… And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

When the Lord returns with a shout, all of the followers of Christ that have passed away will hear His voice and come forth out of their graves. The bodies that have been committed to the ground will be resurrected and transformed into a new glorified body.

This is the hope of which Paul spoke. Those who have died in Christ will rise first. Cemeteries all around the world will burst open as the graves release their dead… and then Immediately following the resurrection of the dead, those who are alive and remain on the earth, who have placed their faith in Christ, will be caught up together..., snatched away..., raptured out..., to meet the Lord in the air!

All of this will happen…

3.1 Instantaneously

The Shout from Christ, the opening of the graves, the disappearance of millions of people around the world… happens just like (Snap Fingers)…

1 Corinthians 15:51–52 (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.

Have you ever stopped to consider the chaos and confusion that will create here on the earth? Husbands and wives, missing from their homes and jobs! Hospital and nursing home beds, empty, patients gone! Crowded malls and auditoriums, suddenly missing many of their occupants!

It will be a reality when the Lord comes for the church… and Satan, with his ability to spread lies and fake news will have some sort of story to try and explain it all away…

And finally this morning, we will be removed… Instantaneously…

3.2 To A Great Reunion

We will be caught up with all of the saints who have gone before. All of the loved ones that we have stood beside the graveside and wept over, who were saved in Christ, we will meet them in the air, and together, we shall always be with the Lord. No longer will we be separated from them. What a glorious reunion in the air!

Moses will be there. So will Daniel, David, Peter, Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And I look forward to seeing them there. But my grandparents are also going to be there. I have Aunts and Uncles that are going to be there, Pastoral Mentors... along with many other loved ones, and I am especially looking forward to seeing them… It is my prayer that I will see all of you there as well!

But the most important reunion will be as we see our blessed Redeemer for the first time. We have met Him in salvation, but we have never seen Him face to face. We will see Him as He is and spend all of eternity in His glorious presence! We will begin one eternal day with Christ!

Closing:

I know that some of these things are hard for our finite minds to understand. There are things that God alone understands at the moment and we have to trust that in His time and according to His will, He will reveal them to us.

The Thessalonian believers were anticipating that these events would happen in their lifetime… the Apostle Paul includes himself in the statement “then we who are alive and remain...”… This tells me that he thought these events could happen at anytime as well…

Paul says that we are to “Comfort each other with these words. ”

The believers at Thessalonica may have had their doubts, but Paul offered words of comfort. Each time they read or considered these words, they found comfort and assurance.

I cannot tell you exactly when these events will take place because the Scriptures do not reveal that information to us. But, It has been a couple thousand years since Paul was inspired to pen these words, but they still bring comfort to our hearts today. This life is not all there is for the child of God. Hope does not end with the grave. Our Lord is coming again and it may be much sooner than we think.

In the next chapter, we will see how Paul related this doctrine of the return of Christ to the unsaved. But it would be good for us now to examine our own hearts to see if we are ready to meet the Lord.

As we close, I have to ask if all is well with your soul? Do you know Christ as your personal Savior? All of the saved, but only the saved will be included in the rapture.

Have you made your preparation to go? Are you ready and waiting to meet the Lord in the air? Are you listening for that shout,… that trumpet call?