THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH! (1)

The most exciting event the world has ever seen since the past 2000 years is about to happen. It is called “THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH.”

So today, we want to look at THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH, which is one of the last signs of the Second Coming of Christ.

Some try to ignore the Rapture of the church because they say that the word Rapture is not found in the Bible. That’s true, but the word Trinity is also not in the Bible. Yet it is thought very plainly in the Bible (Matt. 28:19-20; Gen 1:26-27).

The word homosexual is not found in the Bible either, yet we believe it (Lev. 18:22). I know that that is not politically correct, but God Almighty doesn’t really care about what you think.

While the word RAPTURE does not appear in the Bible, the event is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-54.

What then is Rapture? The rapture is the resurrection of the righteous and the transformation of the living believers.

"Rapture" comes from the words "caught up" in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. In Greek the word for “rapture” is “harpazo” which means “the coming of the LORD in the air FOR the saints.” It means "to seize upon by force", "to snatch up." “Rapture” also comes from the Latin word rapturo which means “a carrying off, a transport, or a snatching away.”

The rapture of the church is therefore, an event in which Jesus Christ “snatches away” all believers from the earth in order to make way (room) for His righteous judgment to be poured out on the earth during the tribulation period.

Those who died without accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour will remain in their graves for another 1007 years after the Rapture, until they come to the Judgment of the wicked – “The Great White Throne Judgment.”

This is the second resurrection called “the resurrection of the damned.” The wicked is resurrected at this time to be formally judged.

They will be brought to the “Great White Throne Judgment” with weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth because they rejected the Son of God while they were on earth, and are now being formally sentenced to everlasting condemnation in the bottomless pit.

Christians will be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The Good News is that the judgment of Christians is the judgment of rewards. The wicked will be judged at the “Great White Throne Judgment” unto condemnation. 

The rapture will involve an instantaneous transformation of our physical bodies to fit us for eternity (1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Jn. 3:2).

We will finally be free from sin and the perils of this world. And we will be in God’s presence forever. And that is why the rapture is a comforting doctrine full of hope (Tit. 2:13). And God wants us to “encourage each other with these words” (1 Thess. 4:18).

Are there Scriptures about the Rapture? Yes O! And we can read about Rapture in:

1. In John 14:2-3 Jesus said, "In My Father's house [dwelling place] 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 unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

2. In Luke 21:34-36 Jesus said, "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.”35 "For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.”36 "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

3. In Acts 1:11 the angels said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.”

4. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says, “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

5. 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 reads, “Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed [transformed].”

6. In 2 Corinthians 12:1 Paul said, “It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I knew a man in Christ 

above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one CAUGHT UP to the third heaven. 3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”

7. Ephesians 5:25-27 says, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, 27 That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (at His coming for the saints)”

8. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

9. In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 Paul said, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him,

10. 1John 2:28 says, “And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”

11. In Revelations 2:25 Jesus said, "But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.”

12. In Revelations 3:11 Jesus said, "Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man takes thy crown.”

Time is running out! Today, you have the 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) you must live a holy life (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)   07.06. 2020

Prayer:

1. I plead the blood of Jesus, in Jesus’ name.
2. Father, help me to realize the urgency of putting my life in order, in Jesus’ name.
3. Father, I plead for mercy; wherever I have disobeyed You, please forgive me, in Jesus’ name.
4. Father, I come against the paranoid spirit (the spirit that does not allow me to see sin as God sees it), in Jesus’ name.
5. Father, teach me to number my seconds so that I may apply my heart unto wisdom, in Jesus’ name.
6. Father, sanctify me completely; and may my whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 5:23), in Jesus’ name.