The Rapture

 

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 ESV).

 

The “rapture” in the Bible refers to a prophetic event where Jesus will return to "catch up" or snatch away all true Christian believers (living and resurrected dead) to meet Him in the air, taking them to heaven. Our reading today is the clearest reference to this event. It involves believers being instantly transformed and taken to be with the Lord, often described as happening suddenly, "in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Corinthians 15:51). It should be noted that many theologians have interpretations that vary on whether it's a secret event before or simultaneous with the Second Coming.

 

The word Apostle Paul uses that is translated "caught up" is ἁρπαγησόμεθα. The word "rapture" comes from the Latin rapere, meaning "to seize" or "snatch away," reflecting the Greek harpazo in the New Testament (1 Thessalonians 4:17). HELPS Word Studies says it can be understood as to seize by force; snatch up, suddenly and decisively like someone seizing bounty (spoil, a prize); or, to take by an open display of force (i.e. not covertly or secretly).

 

From this passage we can know without debate that both deceased believers (resurrected) and living believers (transformed) will meet Christ. These will meet Him in the air, thus not at the time Jesus comes to the Earth specifically. It is a separate event surrounding the Second Coming. Some of the things that are debated are the timing. Whether the Rapture occurs before, during, or after the Great Tribulation (a period of judgment) is a significant point of difference among Christian traditions. And, some see the Rapture and the visible Second Coming of Christ as separate events, while others view them as one unified event depending on the timing of it. It is worthy of note that the Reformers of the 16th century, such as Martin Luther and John Calvin, generally did not distinguish between a "Rapture" and a "Second Coming" as two separate events. Their eschatology was focused on a single, visible, and triumphant return of Jesus Christ to judge the world and establish the new heavens and earth.

 

I must confess that I hope for the rapture before the tribulation, although that is purely selfishness on my part. I just don’t want to be here when the world is in such turmoil. In recent years I have leaned more toward the traditional reformed belief that these events are indistinguishable in their timing. They happen virtually at the same time. Regardless the hope we have because of this truth is the same. Jesus IS coming to finally set all things right and banish evil from creation once and for all! To be sure, that may be much sooner than many would believe.

What Are the Signs? - Pt 8

 

[Jesus said] “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:9–14 ESV).

 

Jesus foretold, “Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). And Paul warned, “In the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:1, 2, 4).

 

Perhaps this sign of the times, more than any other, has slid into sharp focus for the Christian in this generation. Between 1870 and 1970, the divorce rate in North America quadrupled. Now it is even higher, 53% of first-time marriages end in divorce. Further, it doesn’t seem to matter whether they are church members or not as the statistics are virtually identical.

 

From cancel culture to hate crime, today’s society has made it clear that it is fostering division, contempt, and entitlement. There are professed Christians who believe that social media gives them license to bully, gossip, and demean. Sure, it’s easy to love someone who loves you back, but what about those who don’t treat you well, who aren’t that likable, or with whom you simply have a disagreement of opinion?

 

Real, true love is dissipating—and it’s about to get worse. As was previously mentioned, the Bible predicts terrible persecution upon God’s people, “that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Revelation 13:15). Indeed, this extreme hatred will only intensify until the Second Coming ends it. Jesus said, “Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God” (John 16:2). However, this is not reason to fear. It is the assurance of our hope. Be kind and full of grace. Our God will deliver us into an eternal life prepared and secured by the work of His only begotten Son, Jesus!

 

What Are the Signs? - Pt 7

 

[Jesus said] For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. (Matthew 24:24–28 ESV).

 

Another sign of the “End of the Age” is the specific work of these “false christs and false prophets.” We’ve already learned that “false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24). “Signs and wonders” is another name for miracles, inexplicable occurrences outside the laws of nature.

 

The Bible teaches us some significant facts about miracles. When God was about to deliver His people out of slavery, He told Moses and Aaron, “I will multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 7:3). God then predicted that the ruler of Egypt, Pharaoh, would challenge them: “Show a miracle for yourselves” (Exodus 7:9). Everything happened just as God said. When Pharaoh challenged Moses and Aaron, the miracle that Aaron performed, through the power of God, was to “cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent” (Exodus 7:10). Directly after, however, Pharaoh ordered “the wise men and the sorcerers,” known as “the magicians of Egypt,” to copy Aaron’s miracle; and “they also did in like manner with their enchantments” (Exodus 7:11).

 

Miracles are not always from God—they can also be counterfeits from Satan. And even though Pharaoh’s magicians aren’t around today, their equivalents are. There are psychics, mediums, and yogis. There are paranormal investigators, ufologists, and spiritual healers. There are Wiccans and New Agers, “Christian” witches! Witchcraft is now a multibillion-dollar industry. They may have different labels for who they’re coming into contact with—whether ghosts, aliens, reincarnations, or even professed angels—but the Bible reveals the single source behind these types of signs and wonders: “They are spirits of demons, performing signs” (Revelation 16:14). The supernatural manifestations accompanying the false christs and prophets of the last days are demons. In fact, it is the end-time false prophet, also known as the second beast from the earth (Revelation 19:20), that convinces the whole world by its signs and wonders to persecute all those who worship God (Revelation 13:13–15).

It is very interesting that Jesus warns us these things will take place in order to deceive many people. The deception comes at the point of providing false hope. After all, if such a wonderous thing can be done by any individual, doesn’t that mean they are powerful enough to save us in our calamitous world? The answer will always be no. There is no one other than Jesus capable of saving us. Our hope must be placed in Him and Him alone. Politicians who claim and sometimes seem to be able to make our lives great can’t save us; preachers who claim to have the answers to all our woes cannot save us… unless they point us to our only Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!

 

As these voices increase it is a sign that we are nearing the End of the Age and the coming of the Christ!

 

What Are the Signs? - Pt. 6

 

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” (Matthew 24:3–8 ESV).

 

There have been many claims in recent years that the End of the Age has begun and the Second Coming is imminent that it has dulled the average believer into a sense of indifference. Several leading ministers have set specific dates for the return of Christ only to have the time come and go—undermining the faith of thousands. So many people have claimed to be Jesus that Wikipedia actually compiled a page on it! This applies in a broader sense as well. There have been many other religions that have begun in contention with Christianity, professing their doctrines as the path to salvation. Some sources say that there are more than 4,000 religions in existence today. Counted among those are Wicca, a type of witchcraft founded in 1954, and the New Age, a movement steeped in mysticism born in the 1970s.

 

When Jesus warned His disciples of the signs of the times, He mentioned this specific deception more than any other. He cautioned them to “take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many (vv. 4, 5). He also says that many false prophets will rise up and deceive many (v. 11). Reading further in Matthew 24 Jesus says, “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (vv. 23, 24).

 

Our Lord also knew of the ultimate false christ that is to manifest in the last days: the Antichrist. The apostle John said, “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18). Paul added, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4). The “Day” being referred to is “the day of the Lord,” the Second Coming. The Antichrist will deceive people into believing that he is the God of the Bible, “the only true God” (John 17:3). Indeed, Scripture tells us that “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). While there are many false christs and false prophets in other religions, it is counterfeit Christianity in particular that will become the centerpiece of the end times.

 

What does this mean for us? The most important principle is that we take seriously the truth that the Second Coming could be at any moment. The imminent return of Jesus does not force us to complacency, rather it should motivate us to dig deeper into the Scripture to understand how to recognize the “wolves clothed in sheepskins.” It also should motivate us to take seriously every opportunity we have to share the truth of the Gospel. It is that truth that sets all men free!

 

What Are the Signs? - Pt 5

 

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:1–6 ESV).

 

The fourth sign of the End of the Age will be the persistent denial of the crises of our world. When he spoke of the Second Coming, the apostle Paul stated, “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them” (1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3). Perhaps the most insidious and subtle of denials is when “peace and safety” are yearned for, when ease and comfort are cherished, at the expense of truth. This becomes a time when Christ’s return becomes an annoyance, an avoidance, or even regarded as a pipe dream. People don’t want to hear about it because they like the way things are; they don’t want things to change.

 

Perhaps one of the best examples took place during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Practically overnight, the entire world was impacted; our way of life shifted dramatically. Many students of Bible prophecy identified it as a sign of the end, one of the “pestilences” (cf. Matthew 24:7). However, the greatest concerns were financial loss from businesses. Many people couldn’t wait until their favorite stores and restaurants could reopen and their routines returned to “normal.” People became much more concerned with getting back to their creature comforts rather than responding to the alarm being sounded. In so doing, they make the Second Coming but a byword. The devil has a thousand ways to distract us with the humdrum of everyday life.

 

We are facing a dramatic shift in the “peace” of the world. Regardless of how many times it is said by others, we are not living in peaceful times. These are times when the security of the past is being swept away in favor of control at a high level in our world. This is such a time when it feels as if we have been struck by calamity and uncertainty. Be certain of this… Jesus is coming! Pray that it is soon. Be vigilant and ready!

 

What Are the Signs? - Pt 4

 

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. (Revelation 11:15–19 ESV).

 

The third sign is the environmental crisis. On May 13, 2021, the world’s largest iceberg was formed when it broke off the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica. “A-76,” as it was named, is a whopping 1,670 square miles. To give you some comparison it is nearly the size of Delaware, larger than the state of Rhode Island, and over 70 times larger than Manhattan Island.

 

No doubt, the earth is changing. While science attributes the environmental crisis to such factors as global warming, loss of biodiversity, or pollution, the Bible explains the root of the problem as another sign of the end. In his vision of the final judgment, the prophet Isaiah recorded, “The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate” (Isaiah 24:5, 6). Furthermore, in his vision of the end times, the apostle John heard proclaimed from heaven that God would “destroy those who destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:18). The earth is breaking down because humanity has persistently broken God’s law. There may well come a day when the devil will twist this reasoning to convince the majority of the globe to follow a counterfeit law of God.

 

In 2015, Pope Francis published his second encyclical, entitled Laudato si’, widely considered to be the pontiff’s opus on environmental protection. The issue has, in fact, been called the “cornerstone of his pontificate.” Francis has been instrumental in propelling climate change into a global movement, largely in his efforts to unite church and state under its banner. At no other time in Earth’s history has a church been so impassioned about environmentalism.

 

Though we are not given license to treat our planet like trash, there is danger in making environmentalism your gospel. The fact of the matter is that we cannot save the world with solar panels, wind turbines, or hybrid cars. “The day of the Lord [the Second Coming] will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). It is Christ who saves the world. Ultimately, the Savior will “create new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17), restoring the earth to perfection. That time may be much sooner than many realize!

 

What Are the Signs? - Pt. 3

 

[Jesus said] “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:6–14 ESV).

 

The second sign of the End of the Age is the spread of the Gospel throughout the world. In 2014, in what I believe to have been an incredible miracle from God, Amazing Facts became one of the only Christian ministries given permission to hold a full public evangelistic series in China since 1949, when missionaries were expelled. At 1.4 billion, the communist country has the world’s largest population. At the end of the meetings, hundreds were baptized to the glory of God and DVDs of the meetings began to proliferate around the country.

 

And it’s not just Amazing Facts; missionary-minded ministries everywhere have taken up the great commission. This is also true in other parts of the world. South America is seeing a great resurgence in evangelism; the 10/40 Window, which holds two-thirds of the world’s population, is also seeing a great response to the Gospel; and, colleges and universities in the United States are seeing hundreds of students respond to the gospel.

 

Interestingly enough, this sign of the end has been contingent upon another: the rise of technology. There are those whose only opportunity to learn about the gospel comes from a website. Satellites can now beam the light of God’s truths into individual homes. Through the internet, television, satellite, radio, publishing, and word of mouth, the message is reaching into virtually every corner of the globe.

 

This is actually a sign that triggers the Second Coming. The Bible tells us that when every living person has had the opportunity to hear the gospel, when “this gospel of the kingdom [is] preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, … then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).