WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH?

Today we want to look at “WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH.” While the word RAPTURE does not appear in the Bible, the event is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-54.

What is Rapture? Rapture is the event in which Jesus Christ “snatches away” all believers from the earth in order to make way for His righteous judgment which will be poured out on the earth during the tribulation period.

What then will happen at the Rapture? From 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 we can notice the following:

1. In a moment (1 Cor. 15:52). What is a moment? A ‘moment’ represents an extremely short unit of time, a flash, an instant, a unit of time that cannot be divided. A second can be calibrated to one tenth, one one-hundredeth of a second etc. But it is not possible to calibrate an atomic second because it is indivisible.

2. In the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15:53). What is the twinkling of an eye? “The twinkling of an eye” The twinkling of an eye is 1100’s of a seconds. It is quicker than “the blinking of an eye.” It is in nanoseconds.

General electric has measured the twinkling of a human beings eye and it comes to 1100’s of a second (1/1100 sec) using telescopes that are able to see 187 trillion billion miles into space. Therefore, when Jesus comes in the clouds for the saints, we are going to shoot through 187 trillion billion miles in eleven hundredth of a second, and we will instantly be with the LORD.

3. The Lord Himself, not some other person, shall descend (come down) from heaven. The Bible says that the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump (trumpet call) of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

4. With a shout! Why shout? Shouts and trumpets heralded the arrival of a visiting monarch in New Testament times.

Heavenly equivalents will proclaim the return of Jesus Christ for the saints. The day of Rapture is the day of absolute victory over death, hell and the grave, when every molecule of the righteous is redeemed and taken to Heaven. The "cry of command – a shout" from the lips of Jesus is to awake the dead in Christ and to call them forth from their graves as Jesus called His friend Lazarus forth (Jn. 11:43).

5. With the trumpet of God. “The trump” in the Bible is used to announce the appearance of royalty. Jesus is the Prince of peace, He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, He is the One who was and is and is to come, He is God Almighty. The “trumpet call” will also be used to call the saints that are alive at the time of the Rapture to be transformed and then “caught up” together with the just-resurrected saints of the past.

6. And the dead in Christ shall rise first (1 Thess. 4:16). The physical body of the dead in Christ will be raised incorruptible [never to die anymore] (1 Cor. 15:52-53).

7. We that are alive at the time shall be changed (transformed) (1 Cor. 15:53). Our physical body shall be changed by the Holy Ghost to be like the glorified body of Jesus Christ. It shall be changed to a body that will never die.

Here is the point: When Christ returns in the clouds of Heaven to call His church out of this world, two major things will happen simultaneously (at the same time).

a) God will resurrect and translate the bodies of all believers who died in Christ, and give them glorified bodies. All who died “in Christ” from Abel to this time will be brought from Paradise to the earth to be given resurrected bodies (1 Cor. 15:35-44, 49).

Their respective bodies, wherever they were buried, will be changed from corruption to incorruption, from mortality to a glorified body that is not subject to death, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, and will be “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air.

Those who have died in Christ will be raised to live forever. And we who are living at the time will also be transformed.

For our bodies that are subject to death must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into bodies that are not subject to death.

In John 5:28-29 Jesus said, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

Daniel 12:2 says, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

How will this happen? The breath of life from God will enter them and they will stand on their feet.

Revelations 11:11 says, “And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.”

God can give life to the dust. After all God gave life to dust in Genesis 2:7. Again God gave life to dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14. If it was possible for God to give life to dry bones, why then do you think it impossible for the dead to be raised to life again? (Rom. 8:11; 1 Thess. 4:13-16).

The greatest difference between Christianity and other religions is the hope of the resurrection of the dead. Other religious leaders have died: Mohammed, Jesus of Ogbunike, Jesus of Oyinbo, O.O.O, D Lawrence, Mahatma Gandhi and many others, but their bones are still in the grave. But it is only Christ’s tomb that is empty. He is not there; He is risen!

Our loved ones who died in Christ are right now in Paradise, a place where they are waiting until the coming of Christ to give them the resurrected bodies which will now enable them to enter Heaven. I can see the bones of Abel to all that died in Christ come together and changed in the twinkling of an eye.

And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. They that have done evil [they that did not accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour or the Christians that did not maintain their garments of righteousness spotlessly white] will hear this same voice only 1007 years later.

That the dead will be raised again seems to be impossible. And you say, “How are the dead raised up?”

1 Corinthians 15:35 says, “But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?”

The answer is found in 1 Corinthians 15:36-50, Romans 8:11, 1 Corinthians 15:36 and John 12:24. If God could cause a seed of grain to spring forth from death to life, how much more can He and shall He cause man when he dies to be raised to new life!

Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

1 Corinthians 15:36 says, “Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die.”

In John 12:24 Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn [grain] of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

If God could cause a seed of grain to spring forth from death to life, how much more can He and shall He cause man when he dies to be raised to new life?

What kind of body will the resurrection body be? The Bible teaches that it shall be a spiritual body. It shall be a body like unto the glorified body of Jesus Christ.

1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.”

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 says, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption [perishable]; it is raised in incorruption [imperishable]: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It is sown A NATURAL BODY; it is raised A SPIRITUAL BODY. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”

1 Corinthians 15:49 says, “And as we have borne the image of the earthy [the man of dust], we shall also bear the image of the heavenly [the Man of Heaven, Jesus Christ].”

After His resurrection, Christ could manifest Himself physically to His disciples (Jn. 21). They could touch Him, converse with Him the same way as before (Jn. 21; Acts 1). He could travel instantly from one place to the other. He could pass through the wall. He does not need the door to come into the house (Jn. 21). He could never die again, and those who believe in Him shall be resurrected and shall never die again (Jn. 11).

2) Thereafter, God will translate the believers that are alive and remain in faith at the time. How will this be?

The translation of the living will be in the same manner that Elijah was translated into Heaven. Those who are living in Christ at the coming of the Lord for the saints shall not experience physical death, but shall instantly be changed (1 Thess. 4:17; 1 Cor. 15:51-54).

What will happen [follow] after the dead has been raised and we have been changed?

Thereafter, we will be taken up to meet the LORD in the air (1 Thess. 4:17).

Shall we just be suspended in the air? No! No! But Christ will take us with Him no longer to Paradise, but to Heaven (Jn. 14:2-3).

Are there any signs for the RAPTURE of the saints? No! No! All the signs of the coming of Christ point to the Second Advent and not to the rapture. The Rapture itself is one of the last signs of the Second Coming of Christ. There will be 7 years between the two events.

Time is running out, beloved! Today, you have a great opportunity to change your eternal destiny. Your name must be in the Lamb’s Book of Life for you to qualify for the rapture. You are not going to be raptured because you are acting nice. You are not going to be raptured because your name is in a church register. You are not going to be raptured because you are a leader in the church. You will be raptured only on these conditions: (1) you MUST be Born Again (Jn. 3:3), and (2) live a life of righteousness and holiness (Heb. 12:14).

Proverbs 27:1 says, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth” (NASU). 

So hurry, and make peace with God right now!

Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit!

·        Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Senior Pastor)                               @ the HQs on 21.01. 2018