THE IMMINENT RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST
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. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
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. 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. 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. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. (I Thess. 4:13-18)
THE RAPTURE
The Rapture or as referred to by Paul the “caught up” which also involves the resurrection of the “dead in Christ”, is an exclusive gathering. By that I mean, only those who are IN Christ will be caught up when that last trumpet sounds. This moment of Grace we live in right now, encourages the committed and the uncommitted to gather together to learn about Jesus, to surrender to His Lordship over their individual lives and to worship Him with their lives. This a moment in time and we need to take advantage of it.
RAPTURE DIFFERENT FROM SECOND COMING
The Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ are two different events. Throughout scripture there are signs depicted that will indicate the Second Coming of Christ is at hand. Here are several passages of scripture that talk about the Second Coming of Christ: Zechariah 14:5 Matthew 24:27, Matthew 24:30, Revelation 1:7, Revelation 19:11-14, Revelation 20:1-6, Ezekiel 37:21,22, Zephaniah 3:19,20, Romans 11:26,27, Isaiah 11:6-9, Psalms 72:3-8 ,Micah 4:3,4 . The Rapture or “caught up” event is referred to in these passages: 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 , Romans 8:23,Titus 2:13, 1 Corinthians 15:51,52.
In I Thessalonians 4, Paul gives us a brief and profound description of what will happen at the imminent return of Christ in the Rapture. It will take place in a flash of time. The graveyards will be emptied of the remains of those who died “in Christ” or those who surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and believed on Him. Immediately after this those who are committed followers of Jesus Christ will rise up to meet Jesus in the air. You may remember this passage of scripture from Acts 1:11 “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” The angels were speaking of the return of Christ. I believe this passage is referring in particular to the rapture event. The disciples watched Jesus ascend into the clouds and the angels prophesied He would return in clouds. Paul restates this “caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
Jesus does not set foot on the earth at the rapture event, He meets the body of Christ or His bride in the air. In the Second Coming we see Christ returning to the earth but we also see He is being followed by an army of angels and His bride or the Church. All those who faithfully followed Christ in life are with Him as He returns to the earth.
What can we do to prepare for the Rapture? The first thing we must do is make certain we are surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ for our individual life. No amount of good deeds, no close personal relationship with faithful Christians will earn our way into God’s presence. We must own our sinful nature, confess our sin to God, repent of our sin by turning away from it and turning our life wholeheartedly toward God. Obedience to God’s Word is the sign of faithful followers of Jesus Christ.
The second thing we must do is to tell others about Jesus. We do that best when we share our own stories. The Bible calls it our testimony. We tell others what God has done for us and how our lives have changed since we submitted our wills to God. When we tell our story of God’s grace in our lives it has a huge impact on those who know us and have watched our lives and upon those whom God is already at work stirring their curiosity.
The third thing we need to do is raise our awareness. The Bible talks about the Children of Issachar as those who understood the times in which they lived.
“And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.” (I Chronicles 12:32)
The term “understanding of the times” in this instance, involved being able to see “spiritually” as well as naturally. The children of Issachar were tuned into what was going on behind the scenes of human activity. They could see how the enemy “satan” was working through human activity. Because they had spiritual insight the Bible says they knew “what Israel ought to do”. We need to be spiritually aware of what is happening around us so we are not taken by surprise. The wisdom of God is available to all who seek it.
We should never put our trust in mankind. The lesson of history is that history repeats itself because of the sinful nature of mankind. If you are ever tempted to trust in mankind take time to read Genesis 19. The depravity of mankind in sin, will lead to the destruction of our world. It is only a question of time. What has happened in history will happen over and over again because of SIN: murder, rape, theft, injustices of all kinds, violence, domination through dictatorial governments, sexual abuse, moral depravity and on and on. Man is powerless to win against the schemes of satan. We need the Holy Spirit to help free us from the bondage of sin.
