THE PROMISE OF
THE RAPTURE
Bernard E.
Northrup Th.D.
(northrup@awwwsome.com)
Introduction
For centuries since the Lord
Jesus departed from His disciples, the Church largely has focused
upon that which He accomplished in His death on the cross for
those who believe. Only occasionally do we find in the writings
of the Church fathers in those early centuries an emphasis upon
His promise that one day He would return. Yet He in the upper
room clearly had promised to those disciples and to those who
have believed in Him in the centuries that have followed as a
result of their ministry that one day He would return.
"Do not let your hearts
be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father's
house there are many mansions. If this were not so I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I do go and
do prepare a place for you, I will come again and I will receive
you unto Myself in order that where I am, there you also may be.
And where I go you already know and you even know the way"
(John 14:1-4).
During the years of His teaching, after His rejection as the Son
of David while He was preparing His disciples for His ministry
as the Son of Abraham, Christ had taught them that He was going
away and one day would return. Careful scrutiny of the parables
that He taught after His rejection in Matthew 10-12 will reveal
that some of these parables focus upon the departure of the King
to another land. Others focus upon the long stay. Still others
focus upon the sudden return to those who would believe and on
the judgment of the rebels that would follow.
Christ's teaching about His return is plainly seen in His explanation
of the parable of the tares of the field (Matthew 13:36). But
it also will be seen that there is no reference to that which
will happen to church age believers in His teaching for that truth
had not yet been unfolded for believers to understand.
". . . The One Who
sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world.
The good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are
the children of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the
devil. The harvest is the end of the age and the reapers are the
angels. Therefore, in the same way that tares are gathered and
are burned in the fire, even so it will be in the end of this
age. Then the Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will
gather out of His kingdom everything that offends and those who
practice iniquity and they will throw them into a fiery furnace.
There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous
ones will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear" (Matthew 13:37-43).
In the little parable about the pearl of great price Christ pictures
His work on the cross, His departure from this world and His present
ministry of saving to the uttermost those whom He would purchase
in that death on the cross.
"Again, the kingdom
of heaven is like a merchant Who is seeking fine pearls. He, when
He had found one pearl of great price, went and sold everything
that He had and bought it" (Matthew
13:45-46).
He does not speak of His return
in that parable but immediately summarizes that which would happen
at that time in the parable of the dragnet.
"Again, the kingdom
of heaven is like a net that is thrown into the sea, that gathers
of every kind [of fish].
When the net is full, they draw it to shore. Then they sit
down and gather out the good unto containers but they throw the
bad [fish] away. This is the way that it will be at the
end of the age. The angels will come forth and they will separate
the wicked ones out from among the righteous ones. Then they will
throw them into the furnace of fire and there will be wailing
and gnashing of teeth. Jesus said to them, 'have you understood
all of these things?' They said to Him, 'Yes, Lord'" (Matthew
13:47-50).
Now the researcher should recognize that in none of these parables
which Christ taught to His disciples is there anything which fully
explains that which will happen to believers of the church age
that separates them from the wicked before those receive their
judgment. There is good reason for that. Paul will explain later
in His epistles that the details concerning that which would happen
to church age believers at the end of the church age were hidden
from all Old Testament believers. It will be seen that this is
a crucial part of the meaning of the term, "mystery."
One thing that must be recognized is the fact that, before the
cross and resurrection, His disciples still were Old Testament
believers. Later I will explain His statements about those things
that believers today can know which Old Testament believers were
not allowed to understand.
This veil which closed the minds of Old Testament believers begins
to be lifted slightly at the time of Christ's ascension. Forty
days after His resurrection, Christ had taken His disciples that
Sabbath's day journey out of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives.
There He had ascended out of their sight. While they stood staring
upwards in total amazement, they suddenly became aware of two
messengers from the Lord who were standing near them. These said
to them, "You men of Galilee, why are you standing gazing
up into heaven? This same Jesus, Who is taken up from you into
heaven, will return in the same way that you have seen Him go
into heaven" (Acts 1:10-11).
Now a new truth has been revealed to the disciples that deliberately
had been obscured in Christ's parables about the departure of
the householder and king. It is a truth for which their hearts
were not ready before the resurrection. The details of all that
would happen when Christ would come back for the Church would
not be unveiled by the Holy Spirit to believers until after the
Lord Jesus had returned to heaven and the Church had been established
through the work of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Indeed,
that veil that obscured the glories of the return of the Savior
to catch up His Church would not be fully lifted until the Holy
Spirit directed the human author, the apostle Paul, to write of
them in so many of the epistles written to the churches of New
Testament times.
I. THE MYSTERY OF THE RAPTURE REVEALED IN 1
CORINTHIANS 15:51-57
A. A Biblical mystery defined
by Paul
There are five major places
in Paul's epistles where he explains this fact that there were
truths which Old Testament writers and readers were not allowed
to understand. These passages are Romans 16:25-26, Ephesians 3:4-6,
3:9-11, 1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4 and 15:51-57 The researcher will
see when we examine these passages that Paul refers to this fact
of the concealment of these truths to the Old Testament believer
and then the revealing of these truths to the New Testament believer
in the New Testament by the term, "a mystery."
1. Paul's first definition
of "a mystery"
In Romans 16:25-26 Apostle
Paul defines the word "mystery" which also he has used
in 1 Corinthians 2. His definition is found in the benediction
which closes that great book. "Now to Him who has power
to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching about
Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which
was kept secret since the world began, but now is made clear,
even through the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the
commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations
for obedience to the faith . . . (Romans 16:25-26).
Now Paul has declared very
plainly here that there are two crucial elements to a Biblical
mystery.
1. A Biblical mystery contains truth which actually was revealed
by God through the Old Testament prophets but which carefully
was kept from their understanding by the Holy Spirit Who is the
member of the Godhead.
2. The Biblical mystery now opens the believer's mind today to
understand that which formerly had revealed and yet had been concealed
from believers long ago. Thus the two essential parts of a Biblical
mystery focus first of all upon the concealment of things which
were utterly unknown to the Old Testament believer and yet were
present in the Biblical revelation which had been given to them
in the Old Testament. Then the focus of a Biblical mystery turns
to the fact that these truths that had been completely unknown
to the Old Testament prophet or believer now are being unveiled
for understanding by the New Testament believer. Paul explains
both of these characteristics of a mystery more clearly in 1 Corinthians
2. First of all he explained that, because the unsaved Corinthians
could not have understood his message if it had been delivered
out of the depth of what he had come to know or in the manner
of the Greek philosophers who gloried in their wisdom.
"And I, brethren, did
not come with excellency of speech or [human] wisdom when I came to you declaring
to you the testimony of God. This is because I determined not
to know any thing among you except for Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
And I was in your presence in weakness and in fear and in much
trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not in words of
man's wisdom which entice, but [they were] in the demonstration
of the [Holy] Spirit and of power. This was in order that
your faith would not stand in the wisdom of men but rather in
the power of God.
He explains why crucial truths
about the Savior were not understood prior to the cross.
Then Paul explains that, among
mature believers, he had a far more extensive message than he
had used when seeking to lead these same people to Christ. And
there, as he develops the subject, he explains that even now this
Old Testament revelation only can be understood by a believer
who is in a proper relationship to the Holy Spirit. The New Testament
believer who continues, after the manner of the unsaved man, to
walk according to the rule of his or her sin nature rather than
under the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit will not
be able to understand the Biblical mysteries. He or she will continue
to fail to understand that which the Holy Spirit will reveal to
the spiritual believer.
2. Peter's contribution
to our understanding of a "mystery"
This is the truth to which
the Apostle Peter refers in 1 Peter 1. He has been introducing
the glories of the product of the faith that we New Testament
believers will enjoy when Christ returns.
"Blessed is the God
and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, Who, according to His abundant
mercy, has caused us to be born again unto a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
which is incorruptible and undefiled, which does not fade away,
reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation which is ready to be revealed in the last
time. You greatly rejoice in this, even though now for a time,
if it is necessary, you are in heaviness through multiplied trials,
in order that the trial of your faith, which is much more precious
than the trial of gold which perishes even though it is tried
with fire, might be found to be unto the praise and honor and
glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, Whom, having not seen,
you love, in whom, even though you do not see Him now, yet believing,
you rejoice with joy which is unspeakable and full of glory, receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
Of this salvation the [Old Testament] prophets have inquired
and have searched diligently, who prophesied of this grace [that
comes to New Testament believers], searching what or what manner
of time the Spirit of Christ, who by means of them did indicate,
when He testified beforehand about the sufferings of Christ and
the glory that would follow. It was revealed to them that it was
not unto themselves that they ministered these things which now
are reported to you by those who have preached the gospel to you
with the Holy Spirit Who has been sent down from heaven, which
things [even] the angels long to examine. Wherefore, gird
up the loins of your mind. Be sober and hope to the end for the
grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ"
(1 Pet. 1:3-14).
The truth is plainly stated
here by Peter that there were things revealed through the Old
Testament prophets by the Lord which they themselves did not understand,
even though these things are found in their writings. While Peter
does not mention the word "mystery," it is inescapable
that he was speaking of that when one considers Paul's definition
of a Biblical mystery. And it also will be seen that the term
covers more than one area of revelation. Here in First Peter,
two truths are mentioned that were embedded in the Old Testament
prophet's writings, yet were not understood by them.
1. Peter refers to the sufferings of Christ as one of these areas
which was not grasped even though there are passages like Isaiah
52:13-53:12 which directly speak of Messiah's sufferings.
2. Peter also speaks of the glory that would follow the sufferings
of Christ as an area of prophecy which was closed to the understanding
of the Old Testament writers.
3. The use of the term "mystery"
in 1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4
1 Corinthians 2 also speaks
of the fact that those who were involved in the crucifixion of
the Messiah did not grasp the fact that their actions were fulfilling
Old Testament prophecy.
"However, we do speak wisdom among those who
are mature, yet it is not the wisdom of this age not that of the
princes of this age that comes to nothing, but we speak the wisdom
of God in a mystery, [that which is hidden], even the hidden
[wisdom] which God ordained before the ages unto our glory,
which [wisdom] none of the princes of this age knew, for
if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory. But [it was] just as it is written (in Isaiah
64:4), "Eye has not seen, nor has an ear hear, neither
has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared
for those who love Him . . ." (1 Corinthians 2:6-9).
In 1 Corinthians 2 Paul has
begun to speak of the fact that things which had been kept a mystery
to those under the Old Testament economy. This period of Biblical
history extends into the New Testament. It does not end until
the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit began the formation
of the Church, the body of Christ. These things that were a mystery
to those in the Old Testament economy were not understood by those
who crucified Christ. Paul describes the Old Testament truth that
those people who crucified Christ did not understand in this way.
It was
". . .the wisdom of
God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God had ordained
before the ages unto our glory, which none of the princes of this
age understood. The reason is that, if they had understood it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Corinthians 2:7-8).
Paul announces that those things that formerly had been hidden
in God's earlier revelation, the Old Testament, were now part
of the message which he brought in his preaching and teaching
to the mature believer of this age. After he finished reporting
the inaccessibility of these things to those who killed their
Messiah, he turns to explain that those hidden things now are
made understandable by the Holy Spirit to believers today.
"But God has revealed
them unto us by His Spirit, because the Spirit searches all things,
even the deep things of God (1
Corinthians 2:10).
The believer today has privileges much greater than the Old Testament
believer. Paul uses a human illustration to enable us to understand
that only the Holy Spirit could enable a believer to understand
these things which no Old Testament believer knew.
"For what man knows
the things of a man except for the spirit of the man which is
in him? In the same way no man knows the things of God but only
the Spirit of God, which things we also speak, not in the words
which man's wisdom teaches but in words which the Holy Spirit
teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual words"
(1 Corinthians 2:11-12).
But the sad thing is that there are many believers, who have the
Divine Author, the Holy Spirit, residing in them, who do not begin
to understand the Biblical mysteries. In this larger passage in
1 Corinthians 2-3 Paul explains a major reason why many believers
today do not understand his teachings about the mystery which
we call "the rapture." This term, which actually is
derived from a Latin word, long has been applied by those who
understood Paul's teaching about Christ's coming in the air. It
is the believer's home going when Christ returns at the end of
this dispensation to take believers out of this world before the
beginning of the day of the Lord. Paul's teaching on the matter
will be explained later.
But here in 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 Paul explains a major hindrance
that faces New Testament believers and hinders them from grasping
teaching that was "a mystery." Now Paul is not delving
into the hidden secrets of gnosticism here. This is that teaching
which corrupted the early church and still plagues the church
today. Gnosticism exalted human wisdom after the manner of the
Greek philosophers. It continually placed the Word of God under
critical scrutiny and subjected it to the reinterpretation and
the contradiction of the philosopher. Like the gnosticism of today,
it rejected the obvious meaning of the Word of God and intruded
an overriding interpretation which flew in the face of the obvious
intent of the Revelator in His Word.
An example of modern gnosticism may be found in those who trust
the pronouncements of the evolutionary faith rather than the clear
statement of the Word of God concerning the event series in God's
creation and following. These believers reject the obvious meaning
of Genesis one. They extrapolate the solar days of Genesis into
millions of years wherein God used the supposedly natural processes
of evolution to create all things. They do this in order that
they may straddle the fence between a truly Biblical faith and
the evolutionary faith of origins that they have been taught in
their scientific "disciplines." Another example of modern
gnosticism may be seen in amillennialism. Those who refuse to
believe the Old Testament prophecies concerning the future glories
of the descendants of Abraham in the millennial kingdom exalt
their presuppositions above the direct revelation of God on the
matter. They reinterpret prophetic Scripture in order to make
its words fit their firmly established doctrine that there will
be no earthly kingdom of Christ on earth.
In 1 Corinthians 2 and 3 Paul gives two possible explanations
for those religious people who cannot or will not accept the New
Testament revelation of things which previously had been a mystery.
1. First of all he shows that people may fail to understand a
Biblical truth which formerly had been concealed because they
actually are not believers. Even though they may be religious,
they still are in their unsaved state and actually are secret
unbelievers. He describes the individual who is in this category
in this way.
"But the natural man
cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, [which things He now reveals to the
receptive believer], because these things are foolishness to
him, neither is he able to understand them because they are spiritually
discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Paul is saying that this man simply can not understand those previously
hidden things that the Holy Spirit now is revealing to mature
believers. He is explaining that this is because these things
are understood only through the illumination of the Holy Spirit,
whom the natural man has not received since he has not yet even
become a true believer. Now it always has been understood that
this verse speaks of the unsaved man's inability to understand
spiritual truth. But something has been lost when that spiritual
truth is not considered in the context in which Paul wrote this
verse. He has been speaking of those in the Old Testament economy
who were not able to understand the formerly hidden things prophesied
concerning the sufferings of Christ. Notice that in 1 Peter 1:10-14,
when Peter has explained the inability of the Old Testament prophets
to grasp fully the things of the Messiah, he has associated ".
. . the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow"
(1 Peter 10:11). The Old Testament prophets did not fail to
understand because they were not saved. Far from that! But in
the case of the unsaved man in New Testament times, he never can
fully understand the purpose of, the nature of, the benefits of
nor the application of the sufferings and the death of Christ.
Neither can he understand the glory that will follow. But this
indeed is because he has not been saved and does not have the
Holy Spirit, the Divine Teacher, indwelling him.
2. That which is true of the unsaved man is true also to a lesser
extent for the believer in Christ Jesus who has persisted in the
ways of the old man, who has refused to ". . . walk by
means of the [Holy] Spirit" (Romans 8:1, 3 as
preserved in the Majority Greek text).
Of course there are many believers who do not intentionally persist
in walking according to the dictates of his or her flesh. They
have been left walking ". . . by means of the flesh"
(Romans 8:1, 3) because the one who led them to Christ never
completed the task of discipling them. The one who won them to
Christ simply dropped the foundling on the church steps. He then
walked away as if unconcerned whether the new babe in Christ ever
grew up spiritually or not. The larger half of the Epistle to
the Romans, chapters 6-15, is devoted to Paul's five crucial steps
of discipling the new believer after he has set forth the five
crucial steps of soul winning in chapters 1:16-6:10. Paul speaks
of his continuing ministry of discipling spiritually undeveloped
believers in 1 Corinthians 3:1-4.
"But I, brethren, was
not able to speak to you as to spiritual [believers] but as unto carnal [fleshly
believers], even as to babes in Christ. I have fed you with
milk and not with solid food because you still were not able to
understand that, neither are you yet able. The reason is that
you still are carnal, for in as much as there is among you envy
and strife and divisions, aren't you still carnal and planning
your life according to man? For whenever someone on the one hand
says, `I am on the side of Paul.' But another on the other hand
says: `I am on the side of Apollos.' Aren't you being carnal?"
I am utterly aghast that there are those, even one of my former
students, who teach from the pulpit and from the Sunday School
podium that there is no such thing as a carnal believer. They
ignore Paul's explanation in Romans 5:12 through 8:3 that every
believer does have a sin nature because of his participation in
Adam's act in Adam and that this nature which has served as the
king of his or her life since birth still is present in the one
who has become a believer. For this reason he exhorts the one
who has been placed "in Christ Jesus" through the baptism
of the Holy Spirit at the moment of the new birth in this way.
I translate Romans 6:11-13 in this way fully to transmit the implications
of the original Greek text.
"For this reason you
also must reckon yourselves on the one hand to be dead to the
sin nature but, on the other hand, living to God in Christ Jesus
our Lord. Therefore stop allowing the sin nature to reign as king
in your mortal body [the
one which is still subject to death] in order to obey it in
its lusts. Neither should you continue to present your members
as instruments of unrighteousness to the sin nature, but on the
contrary, present yourselves once for all to God as one living
out from among the dead ones [i.e., as one who has been resurrected
from the dead in Christ Jesus] and your members as instruments
of righteousness to God"
Much of the confusion which believers face when they are attempting
to understand Paul's explanation of the Biblical mysteries is
caused by the failure of the translators of our English Bibles
to recognize that the Apostle speaks 30 times of the sin nature
between Romans 5:12 and 8:3. These references are readily distinguishable
from his references to sin as an act by his use of the Greek article
hee, 
(definite article
"the," for feminine nouns) before the Greek word hamartia
"sin" in these 30 locations. All of these references
must be linked back with Paul's twice repeated reference to the
sin nature in Romans 5:12 where he explains its origin in the
act of rebellion by the fountain head of the race. We have that
sin nature and the consequences in our lives today because, as
the seed of Adam, we were "in Adam" when he first
disobeyed God in the garden.
In Romans 7 Paul explains his own perplexity as a new believer.
The Mosaic law, which he as a Pharisee had memorized, kept telling
the one who now had been freed from the law through his death
"in Christ Jesus" that he still was committing
acts of sin. This helped Paul to realize that which every believer
who eventually can lead a life pleasing to God must realize. He
still had a very active sin nature within himself. Nine times
in Romans 7 Paul refers to that nature by using the article "the"
in front of the word for "sin." Indeed, there are three
places in the chapter where he specifically refers to "the
sin nature that indwells me" or "the sin nature
that is in my members" (Romans 7:17, 20 and 23). Failure
of a believer to acknowledge that he has a sin nature which forces
him to be utterly dependent upon the Holy Spirit for victory in
overcoming its lusts erases from his mind the absolute necessity
of finding, like the Apostle did, the victory over the sin nature
which is only obtained through a right relationship to the Holy
Spirit [the theme of chapter 8 of Romans]. And failure to enter
such a relationship with the Holy Spirit leaves the believer as
a carnal believer motivated by the intense desires of his flesh
instead of being led by the Holy Spirit. As a consequence, that
believer will be greatly handicapped in the understanding of the
great passages in the New Testament which unfold those Biblical
mysteries which had been hidden from the Old Testament believer
and which, as a result, still are obscure to the carnal believer.
Paul plainly is explaining
in 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 that spiritual immaturity is a major reason
why many believers do not understand, either partially or fully,
those Biblical mysteries which are unveiled by the New Testament
writers and particularly by Paul. Believers who have not learned
to avail themselves of the teaching and empowering ministry of
the Holy Spirit, who do not walk by means of the Holy Spirit,
in a sense are like the secret unbelievers in the church who cannot
understand or will not accept the great Biblical mysteries which
now are unfolded to spiritually mature believers by means of the
teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit through mature teachers of
God's Word.
4. Paul's explanation of "a
mystery" in Ephesians 3:1-6
The book of Ephesians is another
place where Paul gives us further information about those things
which were hidden from the Old Testament believer even though
they were written in the Tenach, the Old Testament. Already he
was in a Roman prison when he wrote this great epistle and further
explained the nature of a Biblical mystery. He says this in Ephesians
3:1-6.
"Because of this grace
I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles---if
indeed you have heard of the stewardship of the grace of God which
was given to me for you---that according to revelation He made
known to me the mystery, just as I previously wrote briefly, with
reference to which, when you read, you will be able to understand
my grasp of the mystery of Christ, which in other generations
was not revealed to the sons of men as it now has been revealed
to His holy apostles and prophets by means of the Spirit, that
is, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body,
even sharing together in His promise in Christ through the gospel"
(Ephesians 3:1-6).
Once again Paul has stressed the fact that a Biblical mystery
relates to revelatory which was not explained by the Holy Spirit
to mankind before the days of the apostles. He also has made it
clear that this revelatory information now is available because
of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. But Paul now has added some
elements to his definition. The very fact that this revelation
has been made known through the work of the Holy Spirit already
has been developed in 1 Corinthians 2. But the fact that the channel
through which the Holy Spirit has unfolded these previously concealed
things by means of the apostles and prophets is new. Furthermore
he now shows us that in this passage he is dealing with a different
mystery than the one which we found in 1 Corinthians 2. There
the mystery focused upon the sufferings of Christ and the glories
that would follow. Here the focus is upon the fact that the door
of salvation now has been opened for Gentiles so that they might
enter the blessings of God through the gospel. Indeed, he now
shows that this mystery contains a truth which could not even
have been conceived by the Old Testament believer that, through
the work of Christ as promised in the gospel, the Gentiles now
could be joined together in one body, the body of Christ. But
even more astounding is the revelation that the Gentiles now become
fellow heirs. That can only mean that the Gentiles enter into
some of the great blessings that had been promised to God's chosen
people, Israel. Therefore, on the basis of Paul's explanation
here in Ephesians 3:1-6, it is obvious that one of the mysteries
which had been hidden from Old Testament believers was the new
relationship that Gentiles would have to the Lord and to the physical
descendants of Abraham. He now elaborates on the fact that he
uniquely had been chosen to unfold these Biblical mysteries to
the Church.
5. Paul's explanation of "a
mystery" in Ephesians 3:7-11
Paul explains how he became
a servant of the Lord in presenting the grace of God. He marvels
that he who had persecuted believers before he had become a believer
himself should have been chosen to reveal to the Gentiles all
that God had in store for them. He speaks of the gospel.
". . . of which I was
made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God which
was given to me by the effectual working of His power, unto me,
who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given,
in order that I might preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of
the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden
in God, Who created all things by Jesus Christ, to the intent
that now the manifold wisdom of God might be known to the principalities
and powers in the heavenlies by means of the Church, according
to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus, our
Lord."
The fact that Paul was given this ministry which was to be
preached among the Gentiles further confirms the fact that the
Biblical mysteries uniquely are revealed to the Church in this
age. That which had been hidden from the beginning of time but
now is being revealed is unfolded by means of the Church. Amazingly,
Paul says that this revelation of the fellowship of the mystery
is a means of displaying the manifold wisdom of God. That which
is even more amazing in Paul's words is the fact that the revelation
of this mystery by means of the Church provides revelation to
angelic beings. The reference to "the principalities and
powers in the heavenlies" can only be understood as speaking
of the angels. Whether this refers only to the holy angels or
includes the fallen angels as well is a problem. Ephesians 6:12
clearly speaks of four ranks of the fallen angels as having access
to "the heavenlies." There Paul warns believers
about the fact that, in order for believers to withstand Satan's
attacks, we must be aware of the fact that ". . . we do
not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this
age, against the evil spiritual forces in the heavenlies"
(Ephesians 6:12).
In Romans 8:38-39 these fallen angels are seen attacking believers,
but only with the Lord's permission and overriding purpose of
developing the believer into the likeness of Christ. Paul explains
that their attacks are part of the "all things" which
the Holy Spirit may pray into the lives of believers to help them
overcome their weaknesses an unChristlikenesses. A crucial
part of his explanation of the role of the 'all things"
of Romans 8:28 follows immediately in verse 29. These are
designed by the Holy Spirit and sent by the Father to conform
us to the image of Christ. Together the two verses reveal this
truth.
"Now we know that all
things work together for good to those who are loving God, even
to those who are being called according to His purpose. The reason
is this: whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed
to the image of His Son so that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren."
It is to be regretted
that many students of the Bible cannot see the word "predestined"
without immediately turning in their minds to think of the Lord's
plan and work of bringing those who come to believe to salvation.
In this context it must be recognized that this predestination
looks forward and not backward. It looks to that glorious day
when the children of God ultimately will be conformed to Christ's
image when we stand before the Father in glory. In Ephesians 1:4-5
the same truth is taught but even more clearly once the interpreter
turns his mind from the day of salvation to the day of glorification.
A problem which has obscured that which Paul is saying in this
passage is the translation of huiothesian by "adoption"
rather than by "adult-son-placing." The word
has nothing whatsoever to do with legal adoption of a child into
another family. Indeed, we are not adopted into God's family.
We are born into His family in the new birth at regeneration.
"But as many as received
Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even
to those who believe in His name, who are born, not of blood,
neither because of the will of the flesh, nor because of the will
of man, but who are born of God" (John 1:12).
My wife and I perfectly understand
the process of legal adoption for both of our children were legally
adopted into our family after being born to others. In the first
place the believer is not adopted into God's family but is born
into His family through the new birth. This is precisely that
which the Apostle John teaches.
"But as many as received
Him, He gave to them the right to become the children [not "sons" as
KJV] of God, to those believing in His name, who were born,
not out of blood, neither out of the will of the flesh, neither
out of the will of man but [were born] out of God"
(John 1:12-13).
Instead, the Greek word huiothesian speaks of the
act that a father performs for his son who has become mature.
It is a word that describes the culmination of the long process
of the training of a landowner's child. From babyhood in the Greek
and Roman cultures the child was placed under the tutelage and
discipline of the master's slaves. These were fully responsible
for the education and development of the master's child. Finally,
when the master had determined that his child had reached a stage
of maturity where he could be acknowledged as and announce to
be a mature son, he would call all of his slaves together at the
front porch of his villa. He would robe his now mature son with
a beautiful toga and announce to those slaves, who for years had
supervised the child's development and education, "This is
my huios, my adult son. From now on you take orders
from him!" Does not Hebrews 1:14 speak of the angels in such
a way as to indicate that they minister unto the ones who are
about to inherit salvation? "Are not they all ministering
spirits being sent out to minister for the sake of the ones who
are about to inherit salvation?" Along with the Holy
Spirit the guardian angels continually are ministering to believers
as they look forward to the day when these children of God will
enter complete maturity in the very presence of the Lord of all.
They serve the Ethe Eternal in preparing His believing children in
the same way that the slaves of the landholder served as they
prepared his male children for the day of the declaration of their
maturity.
This training with a goal of the child's ultimate adulthood is
precisely the import of the word huiothesian in
Romans 8 and in Ephesians 1. In the case of the New Testament
believer, the Holy Spirit who undertakes the responsibility of
training and developing the child of God, seeks to prepare the
one who has been born into the family of God as a child so that
he will become a mature Son of God. In Romans 8 and Ephesians
1 it can be seen that the term actually has two meanings. There
is a sense in which a believer even today can become an adult
son of God. Paul refers to this in Romans 8:14. "For as
many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are adult sons
of God." However, ultimate adult sonship which does not
come until we actually stand in the presence of our Lord is the
most obvious in these contexts. It is to this that Paul is referring
in Romans 8:23. "And not only so, but we ourselves, having
the first fruit of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
eagerly awaiting adult son placing, that is the redemption of
our bodies."
Thus it can be seen that Ephesians 1:4-5 can be properly translated
only in a way that recognizes that predestination there, as in
Romans 8:29, is looking forward to the day in glory when God's
children become adult sons of God.
". . . Even as He chose
us for Himself in Him [in
Christ Jesus] before the laying down of the foundation of the
world, that we might be holy and blameless before him in love,
having predestined us unto adult son placing through Jesus Christ
to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will."
Surely it is not difficult
to see why there were things hidden from the comprehension of
the Old Testament believer! There were many facets of truth about
believers in the age that would come to us that were utterly incomprehensible
to the Old Testament believer. That is not to say that there were
no hints of the fact that there would be another people created
by the Lord at a future time who would be able to understand these
things. Indeed, the prophet who wrote Psalm 102 was used to convey
this truth and the fact that the Psalm and the conversations between
the Father and the Son which the Psalm contains as the latter
faced death would only be understood by yet another people. The
Father says to the Son about the Psalm's revelation concerning
the Son's coming death and resurrection that a people which would
be created would understand its revelation about the Messiah's
going to the cross before His receiving of His crown. He says:
"This is written for
the generation to come; and the people who will be created will
praise the Eternal Lord. The reason is that He [the Father] has looked down from
the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the Eternal Lord
look upon the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoner [the
Old Testament believer confined in Sheol until the provision of
a sacrifice that could take away sin (John 1:29)], to loose
those who are appointed to death [those who would die after
the cross], to give an full exposition of the meaning of the
name of YHWH, the Eternal Lord, in Zion and His praise in Jerusalem
when the peoples are gathered together and the kingdoms to serve
the Eternal Lord" (Psalm 102:18-22).
But the interpreter should recognize that these three reasons
for the delay of the crowning of the King by the Cross of the
Savior obviously was not unveiled either to the writer of the
Psalm or to those who read it before the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit at Pentecost. ". . . The sufferings of Christ and
the glory that should follow. . . " (1 Peter 1:11) simply
were not given meaning to these in the old economy. It should
not be surprising then to find that there are those even today
who cannot understand some of the great mysteries which are only
revealed to mature believers (1 Corinthians 2:5-3:4 which see).
Some have been taught false doctrine that conceals the truth.
Others are yet immature, unable to understand anything that goes
beyond the preaching of the cross. It will be seen during the
examination of the rapture, one of these great mysteries revealed
in the New Testament, that confusion concerning the meaning of
the Word, concerning the timing of its prophesied events, and
concerning the actual nature of the event great hinder those who
are unable to grasp the Biblical teaching concerning the coming
of the Lord Jesus in the air for those saints, dead or alive,
who are in Christ Jesus.
B. The Revelation of the mystery
of the rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-57)
1. We will not all sleep but
will be changed
Another Biblical mystery of
great significance to the believer today was revealed by the Apostle
Paul in his first epistle to the Corinthians. This time that which
is revealed is new light on that which will happen to believers
when the Church age closes before the time of Jacob's troubles
begins. This is an area of Biblical truth where many if not most
believers are confused. For some the confusion grows out of total
failure to recognize Paul's teaching about this crucial transition
when all Church age believers since the beginning of the Church
at Pentecost will enter into the presence of the Eternal Lord
in their glorified bodies. Paul first presents this mystery in
a great chapter that corrects the errant thinking of some of the
Corinthian believers concerning the subject of resurrection. 1
Corinthians 15 begins as Paul reemphasizes the essential truths
of the gospel that he had preached to the Corinthians when he
had come to Corinth from Athens. In verses 1-11 Paul makes it
clear that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is an essential part
of that which a person must believe in order to be saved.
Paul actually presents a remarkable amount of information about
the rapture in 1 Corinthians 15. Later it will be seen in 1 Thessalonians
4 that the resurrection of the bodies of departed believers is
an essential part of the resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul
utterly has contradicted those at Corinth who were holding the
doctrine of the Sadducees that there was no resurrection from the
dead for believers. He scorns those who acknowledged that Christ
had been resurrected from the dead but deny that there is resurrection
from the dead. (12)
"Now since it is preached
that Christ rose from the dead, how is it that some of you say
that there is no resurrection of the dead?. (13) But if there is no resurrection of the
dead, then Christ has not risen, (14) and if Christ has
not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith also is
empty. (15) Yes, and we are found to be false witnesses
of God, because we have testified about God that He raised up
Christ, but He did not raise Him up if it were so that the dead
do not rise. (16) For if the dead do not rise, then Christ
has not been raised, (17) and if Christ has not been raised,
your faith is without result and you still are in your sins.
(18) Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
(19) If it is only in this life that we have hope in Christ,
we are the most miserable of all men. (20) But now Christ
has arisen from the dead, and He has become the first fruit of
those who have gone to sleep [i.e., believers who have died].
(21) The reason is that since by man came death, the resurrection
of the dead also came by man. (22) For even as in Adam
[the one man through whom death came to the human race] all
die, even so in Christ [the One Whose resurrection made resurrection
possible] all [both saved and unsaved, in their own order]
will be made alive, (23) but every man in his own order."
[i.e., the resurrection of Church age believers will come
in the rapture and others will have their resurrection at their
own time].
Israel will have their own resurrection which is described in
Daniel 12 as coming 1335 days after the middle of the great tribulation,
or 75 days after its end. In that chapter it is revealed to Daniel
that, after the actions of the tribulation world leader that have
been foreshadowed by those of Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan. 11), three
major events would befall the people of the nation of Israel.
"And at that time Michael,
the great (angelic)
prince who stands for the children of your people [Israel],
will stand up. Then there will be:
1. a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a
nation even to that same time. [The timing of this is developed
in verses 6-8].
2. And at that time your people (Israel) will be delivered,
that is everyone that will be found written in the book. (The
judgment of living Israel is developed in verses 9-11. It is obvious
from Daniel 12:11 that the judgment of living Israel, in preparation
for the full return of its exiles to the land promised to them
long ago, will take place 30 days after the last half of the seven
years of the time of Jacob's troubles. Jeremiah 32:37-44 describes
the work of the Eternal that brings about the transformation of
those who are allowed to enter their promised land. Ezekiel 31:33-34
is the plainest statement concerning the transformation of the
people of the Eternal Lord that will take place at that time.
Ezekiel 20:33-44 is one of several passages in the Tanach that
describes this final return of Israel from their exile. Matthew
25:31-46 develops it very clearly in the New Testament).
In my work in India checking
translation work in the Tanach and in the New Testament for tribal
peoples living in East India, I had a fascinating experience.
I was checking the accuracy of translation work in the Old Testament
book of Leviticus that had been done by three leaders of the Manipuri,
Tedim Chin and Paite tribes. Mani Singh of the Manipuri tribe
was translating the work that he had done on Leviticus 23:6 back
into English, the trade language of India, so that I could compare
that with the original Hebrew text. When he finished translating
this verse that describes the keeping of the feast of unleavened
bread in the week following the observance of the passover, he
paused and looked very strange. And then, before I could comment
on his work he said: "Uncle, we do exactly the same thing
in the Manipuri tribe every spring!" And again, before I
could comment, Pu Jam of the Paite tribe broke in and said: "And
we do too, Uncle!" Immediately Thang of the Tedim Chin tribe
of western Mayanmar also said almost exactly the same thing.
3. "Then many of them that sleep in the dust will awake,
some to everlasting life" (the timing of which is explained
in verses 11-13. According to verse 11). The unsaved dead will
not be raised either with church age believers in the rapture
or with Old Testament believers as Paul immediately explains]:
Christ the firstfruits [See v. 20]; afterward those who
are Christ's at His coming. [This includes both Church age
believers and Old Testament believers, even though these resurrections
will be separated by more than seven years. Christ's coming in
the air and His coming to the earth are spoken of as if they were
one coming]. (24) Then the end [resurrection] comes
when He will have put down all rule and all authority and power,
(25) for he must reign until He has put all enemies under
His feet. [This resurrection is the one that takes place at
the end of Christ's 1,000 year earthly kingdom rule. Further information
about this resurrection of the unsaved dead is given Revelation
20:5a and 12-15]. (26) The last enemy to be destroyed will
be death" (1 Corinthians 15:12-26).
Paul has spoken of the believers who now are asleep in 1 Corinthians
15:18 and 20. Many interpreters have made the mistake of concluding
that both the body and soul of the believer is asleep today and
only will awaken at the resurrection of believers. Paul absolutely
denies that idea in 2 Corinthians 5:6 and 8. (6) "For
this reason we are always confident, because we know that
as long as we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.
(8) We are confident and willing rather to be absent from
the body and to be at home with the Lord." It is inescapable
that Paul is announcing that the believer who dies goes immediately
into the presence of the Lord in his soul and spirit. In the Epistle
of First Thessalonians 4:13-14 Paul specifically announces that
believers who have departed to be with the Lord when their bodies
fell asleep in the sleep of death would be returning from heaven
with Christ when He would return to raise their bodies from the
dead to return to glory. I believe that Paul is speaking of that
return in to glory into the presence of the Father in1 Thessalonians
3:13. "...To the end that He may establish your hearts
unblamable in holiness before God, even
our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
with all of His saints."
But as Paul speaks of Christ's coming in the air to catch
up the bodies of departed Church saints and to transform those
believers who still are alive at that time, it is there that he
makes it clear that only the bodies of the departed Church age
saints lie asleep while they await Christ's return from glory
for them. Their souls and spirits already are with Him precisely
as Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8. He says in 1 Thessalonians
4:13-14, (13)
"But I do not want
you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep,
in order that you will not sorrow in the same way that others
[sorrow] who do
not have any hope. (14) For since we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so also God will bring with Him those
who sleep in Jesus...."
No, the entire body, soul and spirit of the believer who has
died in Christ Jesus does not lie in soul sleep. Only the body
lies in sleep, waiting to be awakened by the shout of the Savior
and the blast of the trumpet that will initiate the resurrection
of the dead in Christ.
2. The time of our transformation
a. At the twinkling of an eye
Paul has revealed that the
transformation of the believer from the life that he has lived
in this old body to that glorious, eternal state which we will
enjoy will take no longer than the flash of light that glances
off of an eyeball. It will not take the Lord an agonizing long
time to search out the oceans for the scattered atoms of a believer's
body who has died in the sea. There will be no painfully long
wait for the believer whose body has decayed in the earth to be
reassembled and raised up to be joined with his or her soul and
spirit. It is the Eternal, all powerful Creator Who at a single
breath transformed a lump of clay into the wonderful, brilliant
first man. Paul describes the time in which the transformation
of the decayed and dispersed body will take place in this way.
"Behold, I show to
you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we all will be changed,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump [for the Church] for the trumpet
will sound and the dead [in Christ] will be raised incorruptible,
and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption
and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians
15:51-53).
In a moment! At the twinkling of an eye! In effect, the assembling
and raising of those being resurrected, as well as the time it
will take for the transformation of all Church age believers who
still will be living at that moment, fully will be accomplished.
In a moment! In the twinkling of an eye! Glory!
b. At the last trump (for the
Church)
It must be noticed that the
text above also tells us that the timing of the rapture will be
initiated at the blast of the last trump. Now many have confused
the timing of the rapture by confusing this trumpet blast with
the sounding of the seventh trumpet by the seventh angel in Revelation
11:15. But the sounding of the trumpet at the end of the tribulation
as described in Revelation 11:15-19 is a trumpet which sounds
with reference to the people of the nation of Israel and the judgment
of the nations that have been persecuting Israel during the time
when the beast has become the world ruler and has set up his rule
from the city of Jerusalem. All seven of the angelic trumpet blasts
follow the opening of the seven seals. They do not overlap them.
After the opening of the seventh seal there is a silence in heaven
for about one half of an hour before the seven angels with the
seven trumpets arise to introduce another series of seven terrible
events which lead up to the close of the tribulation and the beginning
of the rule of Christ over all of the world. It is an event series
which brings about the judgment of the nations. But it also is
an event series which ultimately brings the wayward people of
Israel to their knees, beseeching the only One Who can cleanse
them from their sins to come down from heaven and save them. Isaiah
63 describes the process that will lead to their repentance. Those
of Israel will have recognized that it is He who will have come
from Edom where He will have destroyed their enemies as the year
of vengeance finally has come. They will have recognized the waywardness
of Israel in the past and that will lead them to begin calling
for Him to begin once again attending to His wayward people.
"Look down from heaven
and see from the habitation of Your holiness and of your Glory.
Where is your zeal and your strength, the sounding of Your bowels
and of Your mercies toward me? Are they restrained" (Isaiah 63:15).
The agony of that prayer will
deepen. Eventually Israel will cry out:
"Oh that You would
rend the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains
would flow at Your presence even as the melting fire burns, the
fire causes the waters to boil, in order to make Your name known
to Your adversaries, in order that the nations may come to tremble
at Your presence"
(Isaiah 64:1 Engl.).
The dreadful trials which Isaiah describes as befalling the nation
of Israel in the days before the Lord Jesus Christ returns to
earth in response to their prayer above are those described in
the book of Revelation. They have nothing whatsoever to do with
the Church. There are only a few chapters of the book of Revelation
which relate to the Church. Those having to do with the Church
on earth are chapters 1-3. This section ends as our forerunner,
John, is caught up in vision to see that which would follow here
on earth as Israel faces her great trials that bring that people
into right relationship to their Messiah.
"After this I looked,
and see, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice that
I heard was as if a trumpet was talking to me which said: 'Come
up here and I will show you the things which must be after these
things" (Revelation
4:1).
am convinced that precisely
that which John heard will be spoken to the Church before
the tribulation begins. The last trump that sounds at the rapture
of the Church is the last trump for the Church, not for Israel.
The rapture takes place before the tribulation.
Those verses in Revelation that speak of the Church in heaven
after the rapture are found in chapter 19. The primary attention
of the book of Revelation turns from the terrible judgments which
will be taking place on the earth during the seven years of the
time of Jacob's trouble to the glories surrounding the church
in heaven during that time. It is a chapter that contains the
joy and rejoicing of the Church as they honor the Lamb, the Lord
Jesus. It describes the preparation of the Church, the Bride for
her return to earth with the King, the Lord Jesus. And then the
chapter moves on to describe the dreadful scene when the King
does arrive on earth with all of His armies as He judges the nations
and prepares earth for His one thousand year reign here on earth.
No, the rapture of the Church does not take place either at the
middle of the tribulation or at the end of the tribulation. The
Church will be in heaven during all of that time.
c. After the resurrection of
Church age believers whose bodies sleep while awaiting the return
of their spirits with Christ
Paul also makes it clear that
those believers who are alive and who remain until the coming
of the Lord in the air will only be transformed and translated
into their eternal state after the resurrection of the bodies
of those believers whose souls and spirits join their resurrected
bodies. This Paul clearly says in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. (15)
"For we say this to
you be the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain
until the coming of th Lord will not precede those who are asleep.
(16) The Lord Himself
will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel
and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ will rise first.
(17) Then we who are alive and who remain will be caught
up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,
and thus we will ever be with the Lord. (18) Wherefore
comfort one another with these words."
3. The nature of our change
(1 Corinthians 15:53-57)
Paul devotes considerable space
to his description of all that will take place in our bodies at
the time of the rapture. He has said in 1 Corinthians 15:51, "...We
shall all be changed." Earlier in the chapter he has
given more detailed information about the transformation of the
believer at the rapture. In describing the resurrection from a
believer's body from the dead he says in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44:
"It is sown in corruption.
It is raised in incorruption. (43)
It is sown in dishonor. 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."
Paul further describes that
which happens in 1 Corinthians 15:52-54. (52)
"...The dead will be
raised incorruptible and we will be changed. (53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality. As a result, when this
corruptible will have put on incorruption and this mortal will
have put on immortality, then the saying that is written will
be brought to pass, 'Death is swallowed up in victory."
II. THE TIMING OF THE RAPTURE
Now it is necessary to review
the event series in which the rapture of the Church will take
place. It is crucial that this series of events be brought into
perspective and that their order of occurrences be recognized.
Otherwise it is easy for one to fall prey to one of the misunderstandings
concerning the timing of the rapture in the eschatological event
series.
A. When the Lord descends from
heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
It is clear from Romans 9-11
that Paul considered the teaching of things to come to be a vital
part of the discipling through which a new believer should be
taken. In my book "True Evangelism" (or "Biblical
Evangelism")--as practiced by Paul in Romans 1:15-6:10,"
I show that Paul practiced five very careful steps in his evangelism.
This book already has been published on CD by LOGOS in Oak Harbor,
Washington. In my second book on Romans (in the publisher's hands)
I show that in Romans 6:10-15:31 Paul then took five very careful
steps in the discipling of the one who has come to Christ. The
third step which he took is found in Romans 9-11. In this section
he focuses upon the teaching of the believer of things to come.
It is clear that he knew that the understanding of the great things
that our God is going to do in the future serves as a powerful
incentive for the believer to live a spiritual life as he or she
looks forward to these great events in the future.
In Paul's ministry it is apparent that he practiced the principles,
both of evangelism and of discipleship which he teaches in the
book of Romans. Acts 17 describes his work of founding the church
at Thessalonica. We are told that he came there and that for "...three
Sabbath days [he] reasoned with them out of the Scriptures,
opening and alleging that it was necessary for Messiah to have
suffered, and to have risen from the dead, and that this
Jesus, whom I preach unto you is the Messiah. And some of them
believed and consorted with Paul and Silas, and a great multitude
of the devout Jews also and of the chief women not a few"
(Acts 17:2-4). But the following context shows that the unbelieving
Jews raised a tumult that greatly troubled the city. As a result
Paul and Silas left Thessalonica by night and traveled on to Berea.
In that short time of three weeks it is obvious from statements
made in First and Second Thessalonians that Paul had taught the
believers things to come. But it is also clear from 1 Thessalonians
4:13-14 that he was concerned about the fact that they had not
fully grasped all that he had been able to teach those believers
in the fragments of time that he was able to be with them. It
is clear that Paul, in his first epistle to the Thessalonian church,
was writing to help them to understand more about the rapture.
He sought to help them to understand that believers that had died
now were with the Lord and would be returning to earth with Him
to receive their resurrected bodies at the rapture. And as he
developed that theme in 1 Thessalonians 4 he also clarified the
fact that, when the Lord descended from heaven with believers
that already had died, immediately afterward living believers
would be transformed into their eternal bodies and caught up to
be with the Lord.
B. At the great shout of the
Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
As Paul developed those truths
about the resurrection of departed New Testament believers who
were in Christ Jesus, he adds details concerning the immediate
event series. Suddenly believers on earth would hear the voice
of the Lord from heaven as He descended to catch up believers,
both those resurrected and those transformed to be with Him. I
have suggested earlier that the call that took John, the elder
statesman of the book of Revelation, into heaven in Spirit to
hear of the great things which yet were to come. And I have suggested
that John probably is somewhat of a forerunner of the church in
this regard, and that the shout of the Lord is that which will
take us from our earthly residence to our promised heavenly residence.
Christ had said in the upper room in John 14:1-3:
"Do not let your hearts
be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in Me. In My Father's
house are many mansions. If this were not so I would have told
you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And when I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again and I will receive you unto Myself in order
that where I am, you also may be."
I think that it is altogether
possible that the voice of God that we will hear will be the voice
of our Savior speaking the very words to us that He spoke to John
the Apostle long ago. "...Come up here, and I will show
you things which must be after this" (Revelation 4:2).
C. At the sounding of the voice
of the archangel (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
At about the same time believers
would hear the ringing shout of the archangel. The book of Jude
in verse 9 leaves no doubt about the name of this great angel
who is the highest of the angels. His name is Michael. And what
is it about which he will be shouting? I suspect that this great
archangel, who will lead the good angels of heaven in the war
against those angels who have rebelled with Satan during the tribulation
(Revelation 12:7-9) may be shouting a warning to the hordes of
the angels who today are obedient servants of Satan. If I am right,
it is a warning for these fallen angels to stand back and not
interfere with the events of the rapture of the church age saints.
D. At the blast of the trumpet
of God (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
At approximately the same time
our atmosphere will be rent by the great sound of the blast of
God's trumpet. This sound will ring out, either as a part of the
warning given to the fallen angels or as a call to the saints
of this age as they are called forth from earth into the Lord's
heavenly presence. On the other hand, this great trumpet
blast may possibly be heard by all who have rejected Christ and
may serve to indicate that the door of salvation in the Church
now is closed. But we must never make the mistake of saying that
no one could be saved after the Church is caught up to heaven.
Indeed, the book of Revelation makes it clear that there will
be multitudes who believe during the tribulation. However, these
will not be part of the Bride of Christ, the Church. The destiny
of multitudes of these who believe in the tribulation is to die
at the hands of the world ruler of the tribulation (Revelation
7:9-12). And their heavenly destiny is different also. Those who
are saved during the tribulation serve God in a different way
than the Church, the Consort of Christ, will serve Him. (14)
"...These are those
who have come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their
robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (15)
Therefore they will be before the throne of God, and they will
serve Him day and night in His temple, and He who sits on the
throne will dwell among them. (16) They will not hunger any more,
neither will they thirst any more, neither will the sun light
upon them nor any heat, (17) for the Lamb Who is in the midst
of the throne will feed them, and He will lead them unto living
fountains of waters, and God will wipe away all tears from their
eyes" (Revelation 7:14-17).
E. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
We have seen in First Corinthians
15:51-52 that the Rapture will be a remarkably sudden event. After
the resurrection of those in Jesus whose bodies sleep in death,
"...We will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet will sound, and
the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed."
There will be no time for those who have delayed responding
to the gospel invitation to join the glad group of believers who
suddenly are launched on their journey to the mansions which the
Savior has prepared for us. The entire event including the resurrection
of departed believers and the transformation of living believers
will take place in the time that it takes a beam of light to glance
off of the eyeball.
F. At Christ's return with the dead in Christ (1 Thessalonians
4:13-18)
It was concern on the part
of the Thessalonians, apparently conveyed to Paul, either by a
letter or by a personal messenger, that led the Divine Author
to direct Paul to give that church further information about believers
who had died. Paul carefully explained in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
that, while the bodies of these believers were asleep, they actually
were with the Lord. This is the truth that he had conveyed to
the Corinthian church in his second epistle to them. Earlier in
the chapter he has made it plain that the believer who dies should
expect immediately to be clothed upon with a body in heaven. He
has contrasted the believer's life in his mortal body with the
fact that, at death, the believer immediately would be with the
Lord. "We are confident and willing rather to be absent
from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we labor
in order that, whether present [in one's body] or absent
[from one's body in death], we may be accepted by Him"
(2 Corinthians 5:8-9). And in 1 Thessalonians 4 Paul has made
it clear that the home going of all believers will take place
in that moment when Christ and the great host of believers whose
spirits already are with the Lord will return from heaven so that
they may take part in the rapture. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians
4:13-14 that the return of Christ and of the departed spirits
of believers begins that great event.
"But I would not have
you to remain ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are asleep
so that you do not sorrow, even as others [the unsaved] who do not have any hope. For
since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will
bring with him those who sleep in Jesus."
G. After the resurrection of
the dead in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:16c)
Thus is clear that the rapture
awaits the return of believers whose bodies sleep in Jesus. The
rapture cannot begin until they are returned to earth from heaven
to receive their resurrected bodies. Indeed, their resurrection
will be the first stage of the rapture. And Paul immediately
deals with this factor in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. (15)
"For this we say to
you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and who remain
until the coming of the Lord [in
the air before the tribulation] will not precede [i.e.,
go before, not prevent them. Actually the old Latin word
prevenir actually did mean "to go before."
The problem is that the English word "prevent," found
in the KJV, which is derived from that has changed its meaning
so completely that it is inadequate any more for conveying the
information it once gave]. those who are asleep [i.e.,
who have died]. (16) For the Lord Himself will descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first...."
It is only then that believers who still are alive will be
caught up. (17) "Then we who are alive and remain will
be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air: and so we will be forever with the Lord."
H. At the moment of our up-gathering-together
(2 Thessalonians 2:1)
In Second Thessalonians 2:1
the Apostle introduces a new term to describe the assembling of
the saints of the Church age and their abrupt departure for their
heavenly home. In his first chapter Paul has been comforting the
believers at Thessalonica concerning the dreadful trials through
which they were passing. There were some believers who had concluded
that already they were in the great tribulation. The first chapter
of Second Thessalonians is written to quiet the hearts of these
believers. It is written to remove their confusion concerning
their fear that their persecutions and tribulations indicated
that they already were in the great tribulation. He has made it
plain that believers will not be involved in the righteous judgment
of God when He would punish those that did not know Him. He describes
the escape of believers from that tribulation in 2 Thessalonians
1:6-10).
(6) "...It is a righteous
thing with God to recompense tribulation to those who trouble
you; (7) and to you who are troubled, rest with us when
the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
(8) in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not
know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,
(9) who will be punished with everlasting destruction from
the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power when
He will come to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in
all them that believe...."
It is then that Paul introduces
the new way of describing the means by which believers will escape
the sufferings of the great tribulation. He continues in chapter
two showing the difference between the judgment of the unbelievers
at His coming from the departure of those who will be believers
here on earth at the time that Christ delivers believers before
that time of trouble. He says in 2 Thessalonians 2:l-2,
(1) "Now we beseech
you, brothers, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [to
earth, which clearly has been described in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9
above] and by our up-gathering-together unto
Him, (2) that you should not be shaken in mind or be
troubled, neither by spirit or by word neither by letter as if
it had come from us, as [thinking] that the day of the
Lord is at hand."
As we have seen, this glorious moment when we are caught up
to be forever with the Lord is described by a new word in 2 Thessalonians
2:1. There the Greek word episunagooge is used and
that carefully has been distinguished by Paul from the day in
which Christ will suddenly appear on earth at the end of the tribulation
in fiery judgment upon unbelievers. I prefer to translate this
single Greek word as "up-gathering-together"
and recognize that it refers to the rapture. I do not accept the
application of Granville Sharp's rule to this first verse. That
would indicate that "the [previously mentioned]
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ...," His coming in
fiery judgment, and the rapture are the same thing or at least
occur at the same time. The view that insists on this interpretation
of the timing of the rapture is called "the post-tribulation
rapture." Instead, the following context shows that this
was the very problem which the Thessalonians were facing. Chapter
one clearly shows that they thought that the trials that they
were facing indicated that they were entering that terrible time
of trouble. Paul plainly tells that church that, instead of being
troubled of heart and thinking that the day of the Lord was upon
them, in reality they would be resting beyond the reach of the
tribulation with which the day of the Lord is introduced. That
is precisely why he says to that church,
"Now we beseech you,
brothers, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [to earth, in the early stages of the
day of the Lord which clearly has been described in 2 Thessalonians
1:7-9 above] and by ourup gathering together
[the rapture] unto Him, (2) that you should not
be shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit or by word
neither by letter as if it had come from us, as [thinking]
that the day of the Lord is at hand."
I. Before the beginning
of the day of the Lord
The text can only mean that
Paul was comforting these believers. He was making it clear that,
because the rapture came first and was a totally separate eschatological
event, they need not be upset and worried. They should not think
that they had entered that terrible time of trouble in which Christ
would come to earth to destroy His enemies and establish His kingdom
on earth. The up gathering together of the saints of the Church
age destined them to seven years of rest while the earth, in great
tribulation, still faced the coming of the King to establish His
millennial kingdom.
Christ had been promised that reign on earth in eternity past
in the decree. In Psalm 2 we have the record of His reporting
that promise of the Father which was made in the eternal decree.
He Who was fully God and coequal with the Father was to undertake
His subordinate role as the Son of God. This He would do in order
to accomplish all that was to be accomplished in time between
the eternities. Psalm 2 records Christ's words as He quoted that
which had been planned in the decree in eternity past. It includes
the establishment of the Father/Son relationship in which these
members of the Godhead would operate during time. But it also
contains the promise of the Father to the One Who would serve
in the subordinate position as the Son of God between the eternities
that He would have an inheritance as His reward for that which
He would accomplish. Because of all that He would do as the Son
of God, He was promised in the decree that He would receive an
earthly kingdom in which He would rule to the ends of the earth.
In the light of the interpretation of Psalm 2:7 by Hebrews 1:5,
Christ is the member of the Godhead Who is speaking in verses
7-9 of the Psalm. He says: "I am determined [a determinative
form in Hebrew which expresses that which He has chosen to do]
to relate the details of the decree: The Eternal Lord has said
to Me, You are My Son. This day [i.e., at this time] I
become Your Father." In this verse the One Who would
become the Messiah relates how His entry into the economic relationship
with the First Person of the Godhead. That means that the ontological,
or existence relationship which had existed from eternity, in
which all three members of the Godhead always had been coequal
in a perfectly balanced relationship, now was changing in order
to accomplish all that the Godhead had planned to take place between
the eternities. The economic relationship is being established.
This is the working relationship in which both the Son and the
Holy Spirit assume a subordinate relationship with the Father
in order to accomplish the work that must be done by them between
the eternities. This does not mean that either the Son or the
Holy Spirit is any less God even though this temporary change
in relationship has been established. Now the Son will take orders
from the Father. The Holy Spirit will be involved in all that
the Son will do on earth. And yet the Holy Spirit in some sense
also is subordinate to the Son and Father. In the upper room Christ
said to His disciples, "But when the Comforter has come,
whom I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth
Who will come forth from [the presence of] the Father,
He will testify of Me..." (Jn. 15:26).
In Psalm 2:8-9 the Son continues
to quote from that which the Father had said to Him in the decree.
"Ask of Me, for I am
determined to give [This
is the second untranslated, determinative form in the Psalm. It
is easy to see why the amillennial translators of King James'
court chose not fully to translate this verb form!] to You
the heathen for Your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
earth for Your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron.
You will dash them into pieces like a potter's vessel."
Here then is the promise of
the Father that lies behind the Father's utter scorn of those
who thought they could break the bands and the cords of the Eternal
Lord and His Messiah. Because it was in the eternal decree that
the Son would rule here on earth, the rejection and death of the
Messiah which is anticipated in Psalm 2:10-3 absolutely will not
thwart the plans of the Eternal. Here is the reason for the derisive
laugh of the Lord sitting in the heavens. When the Jews and Gentiles
crucified Christ they did not in the least thwart the eternal
plan of the Godhead. Indeed, they only fulfilled that decree!
'Then He will speak to them
in His wrath, and He will vex them in His sore displeasure. 'Yet
will I establish My King [Christ,
the Messiah] upon My holy hill of Zion'" (Psalm 2:5-6).
Second Thessalonians chapters one and two are but a small portion
of the revelation given to us in Scripture of the fact that, in
great violence, Messiah one day will return to earth, will overthrow
His enemies and will establish His earthly kingdom which will
last for one thousand years. That will be the fulfilling of the
promise made to the Messiah, the Son of God, which was made upon
His return from the Mount of Olives to the Father's presence in
heaven.
The Eternal Lord said to
my [David's] Lord,
'Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool.
The Eternal Lord will send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies! Your people [Israel] will
be willing in the day of Your power [when You rule] in
the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning. You will
have the dew of Your youth'" (Psalm 110:1-3).
But the revelation of that great mystery, the rapture, is that
the Church will not be here on earth at the time
"...when the Lord Jesus
will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming
fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those
who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will
be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of
the Lord and from the glory of His power when He will come to
be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all of those
who believe..." (2
Thessalonians 1:7-10).
Our episunagooge,
our up gathering together is an event that takes away the trouble
of heart and concern about passing through the tribulation stage
of the day of the Lord.
Thus the great Apostle assures the troubled church of Thessalonica
and all even to this age who read of that day and are troubled.
"Now we beseech you,
brothers, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [to earth, in the early stages of the
day of the Lord which clearly has been described in 2 Thessalonians
1:7-9 above] and by our up gathering together
[the rapture] unto Him, (2) that you should not
be shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit or by word
neither by letter as if it had come from us, as [thinking]
that the day of the Lord is at hand."
Paul follows this instruction
with a warning for the Church to beware of any that teach any
other doctrine, a warning of crucial importance to the Church
of Jesus Christ even today. "Let no man deceive you by
any means..." (2 Thessalonians 2:3a).
It is regrettable that the amillennial translators of the
King James Version followed a single very late Greek manuscript
and its reading of 2 Thessalonians 2:2, which, as a result, incorrectly
says "...that the day of Christ is at hand." The
terminology, "the day of Christ" clearly is defined
in Philippians 1:6-7, 10; 2:10-11 and 16. That term most certainly
does not refer to the climax of the tribulation period here on
earth. Instead, it specifically refers to that day in which we
are in heaven in the presence of Christ. The following of that
very late reading, "the day of Christ," desperately
obscures that which is being revealed about the rapture in this
context. Paul clearly is contrasting the"up- gathering-together"
of Church believers in the rapture with the Day of the
Lord. The correct reading, found in all ancient manuscripts of
2 Thessalonians, is "the day of the Lord." I
conclude that this great eschatological period begins with the
signing of the covenant to bring peace in the land of Israel by
the one who will become the world ruler for the last three and
one half years of the tribulation.
I have stated this in my doctoral dissertation, Joel's Concept
of the Day of the Lord, at Dallas Theological Seminary in
1961. I insist that the day of the Lord is that period which lies
between the signing of that covenant as described in Daniel 9:26b-27
and the great white throne judgment of unbelievers by Christ in
preparation for the Day of God. In spite of the misunderstanding
of many, these verses absolutely are revealing that there is no
possibility whatsoever that the rapture will occur somewhere in
the early days of the eschatological period which is called "the
day of the Lord." There is to be no confusion at that
point.
J. Before the bema or judgment
seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9-10)
In Second Corinthians 5:10
the Apostle Paul looks forward to that day in heaven when believers
receive their rewards for the way that they have served the Lord
while they were here on earth.
"Wherefore we labor
in order that, whether we are present [here on earth before death] or absent, we
may be accepted by Him. For all of us [believers] must
appear before the judgment seat of Christ, in order that every
one may receive the things done in his body, according that which
he has done, whether it is good or worthless."
It is clear that the departure
of the Church for heaven in the rapture must come before that
day when our Judge, the Lord Jesus, determines our rewards.
K. Shortly before our coming
before God the Father (1 Thessalonians 3:13)
I conclude that Paul, in First
Thessalonians 3:13, refers to an event which follows the judgment
seat of Christ. He longs for the Thessalonian believers to
"...Increase and abound
in love toward one another and toward all, even as we do toward
you, to the end that He may establish your hearts unblamable
in holiness before God at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
with all of His saints."
To me that suggests that we
believers should be occupied with living our Christian lives in
utter devotion to the Lord, allowing Him to transform our lives
into the glorious pattern of holiness which Christ would like
to see here on earth. And yet the phrase, "...unblamable
in holiness before God" actually will not be fully exhibited
in us only at the time of our coming before God. For us to reach
that glorious time when nothing of our shortcomings here on earth
can only come when Christ at the Bema seat has taken care of all
of our failures. Only then will be be fully conformed to the likeness
of Christ as described by Paul in Romans 8:29.
"For whom He foreknew
He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son
in order that He [Christ]
might be the firstborn among many brethren."
It appears that Paul in 1 Thessalonians
3:13 actually is looking forward to that time after the judgment
seat of Christ when our Savior presents up to the Father, fully
conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. Surely it is of that
glorious day of which the Apostle John is speaking in 1 John 3:2.
"Beloved, we now are
the born ones of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall
be. But we do know that when He will appear, we will be like Him,
for we will see Him as He is."
L. Before the Day of The Lord
1. The times and the seasons of our departure (1 Thessalonians
5:1-11)
The word that connects 1 Thessalonians
4 to the 5th chapter introduces the review of the truth that Paul
already had taught the Thessalonians. Once the reader of this
section recognizes how carefully Paul distinguishes those who
will be involved with Christ's coming at the rapture from those
who will suffer judgment at the time of Christ's return to earth,
it will become involved that believers will not be involved in
the suffering of the day of the Lord. The pronouns "you,
we" and "us," contrasted with "they"
and "them," inescapably draw that distinction.
"But about the times
and the seasons, brothers, you do not have any need for me to
write to you. (2) The
reason is that you yourselves perfectly well know that the day
of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. (3) For
when they say: 'Peace and safety,' then sudden destruction comes
upon them like travail comes upon a woman with child, and they
will not escape. (4) But you, brothers, are not in darkness,
with the result that that day [the day of the Lord] should
overtake you like a thief. (5) You all are the sons
of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness.
(6) Therefore let us not sleep [here the sleep of indolence]
as do others, but let us watch and be sober, (7) for
they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they who are drunken
are drunken in the night. (8) But let us who are of the
day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and
the assurance of salvation for an helmet. (9) For God has
not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our
Lord, Jesus Christ, (10) Who died for us, so that, whether
we are awake [i.e., alive] or sleep [i.e., dead],
we should live together with Him. (11) Wherefore you comfort
yourselves together, and build one another up, even as you also
do" (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).
It is clear from Paul's careful distinction that the day of the
Lord will not come upon believers. The judgment aspect of the
early part of the day of the Lord is destined to fall upon those
who are unbelievers and not upon those whom Paul was addressing
or even upon us. It is obvious that the day of the Lord is not
to be a matter of fear to the believer for it is upon those who
will have ignored the gracious invitation of the Lord Jesus to
receive His salvation. Yet one more section of Paul's instruction
about the rapture, so long misunderstood and distorted from its
original intent, tells us that believers will not be involved
in the day of the Lord as recipients of the trials and tribulation
which will fall upon unbelievers in that great day.
2. During hee apostosia,
actually time of our departure (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3)
One of the most painful pieces
of Bible translation that the one who is interested in eschatology
can find is the way that practically all translators have treated
2 Thessalonians 2:3. It is in their translating hee
apostosia as "a [religious] falling
away." In the first place the Greek definite article,
hee, , "the"
has been ignored or mistranslated by the indefinite article
"a" in English by most translators. That would
seem to be an insignificant change at first. However, the definite
article repeatedly is used as an article of previous reference.
That is, it tells us that the noun that follows the article refers
to a previous mention of the same subject. In other words, the
reader is told by the definite article to look for the same subject
earlier discussed by hee apostosia
in the immediately preceding context. The significance of the
mistake of ignoring the definite article will become obvious in
the following discussion.
The second problem in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is the fact that the
translators have assumed that the noun apostosia
is being used in an extended meaning, and not in its basic meaning,
"departure." It has been translated "a falling
away" in the King James Bible. The New American Standard
Bible transliterates the noun into English letters, "apostasy,"
thus suggesting that the word refers the departure of a believer
from the truth. This improves the reading only in that the definite
article is acknowledged and is correctly translated by the English
article, "the." But to what previous reference to "the
departure from the truth" is there in the previous context
of this book? There is none. And that raises serious question
concerning the accuracy of the translation of the noun and article,
hee apostosia by "the apostasy."
The New International Version provides a translation that has
somewhat better possibility of being accurate. It renders the
noun "the rebellion." I say that it has somewhat
better possibility since there are obvious signs of rebellion
in chapter one. However the question must be asked, "Is "the
rebellion" really a valid translation of hee apostosia
? Is this a word that properly is applied to the rebellion of
the unsaved against the Lord Jesus Christ? Would it not be more
appropriately used of the departure of those involved in the faith
from their Biblical foundations? But is that the meaning?
Now there are several verses in the New Testament that clearly
do announce that in the latter days there will be much religious
apostasy. Indeed, that is precisely the case in the much of the
Church today. But, by assuming that the Greek noun was referring
to religious apostasy, the going away from the faith, the translators
have ignored the possibility that the noun is being used in its
basic meaning instead of its extended meaning. The noun actually
is used in its basic meaning in four other passages in the New
Testament. It is amazing to see modern day translators misunderstanding
the meaning of the noun when both Tyndale and Cloverdale long
ago properly translated the phrase simply as "the departure."
And here is the basic and common meaning of the noun in Greek
useage.
Is there a departure mentioned in the preceding context to which
the article of previous reference could be pointing? Indeed, there
is, and it is only two verses before. For this reason I reject
the translation of hee apostosia in ways
that imply that the noun as used here refers to religious apostasy.
After all, the antecedent "going away" or "departure"
in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 specifically refers to the going away of
the Church in "the up-gathering-together" of
the saints of the Church. For this reason I insist that 2 Thessalonians
2:3 must be referring to the rapture and that the verse should
be translated in this way. "Let no man deceive you by
any means [including the mistranslating of he apostosia],
for that day will not come [i.e., the day of the Lord]
except the previously mentioned going away comes first and
the man of lawlessness comes to be revealed, the son of perdition."
Properly understood the verse perfectly harmonizes with Paul's
comforting assurance in the first verse of the chapter that the
believers at Thessalonica were not already in the day of the Lord.
Indeed, verse three gives the basis for that assurance. Paul clearly
is saying that the day of the Lord and the manifestation of the
man of sin in the day of the Lord cannot possibly arrive before
the going away of the Church in the "up gathering together,"
the rapture of the Church. What a pity that this great truth
has been lost for so many in the Church as a result of the amillennial
translators who refused the accurate work of Tyndale and Cloverdale
because they did not even believe in the rapture, with the result
that they rendered he apostosia as "a
falling away."
REMEMBER WHEN I TAUGHT YOU
THESE THINGS? (2 Thessalonians 2:5)
No sooner has Paul re-taught
these things to the Thessalonian church than he reminds them that
they had heard these truths before from his own lips.
"Don't you remember
that even while I still was with you, I used to tell you these
things?" (2 Thessalonians
2:5).
The impact of Paul's rebuke
stings even more when one realizes that he carefully had taught
these things again to that church in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5.
How sad it is that the Church today, often like the church at
Thessalonica, needs to be reminded and rebuked for their careless
treatment of this great eschatological truth. It clearly promises
the departure and deliverance of the Church of Jesus Christ from
the terrors of the seven years and from all of the tribulation
which faces the world, tribulation which will be climaxed by the
glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ with all of His saints
to earth.
CONCLUSION
One of the great tragedies
of Bible translation is the mistake made by the English Catholic
translators when they translated hee apostosia
by "apostasy." That error has been followed by scores
of other translators in the centuries that have followed. That
has resulted in the obscuring of Paul's very precise explanation
of the time when the rapture would take place has resulted in
tragic confusion among those who, contrary to Paul's explicit
statement, want to expect the rapture at mid-tribulation or at
the end of the tribulation. Of course that in turn has resulted
in a continually growing host of confused believers who no longer
live their lives in the constant expectation of Christ's return
in the air at any moment for the Church. Indeed, the translation
of hee apostosia in such a way that
it refers only to rising religious apostasy has left multitudes
of believers open to that confusion which denies the pre-tribulation
rapture of the Church. While several texts of Scripture do teach
that the Church will degenerate in its faith and practice in the
latter days, Second Thessalonians 2:3 is in a context which has
nothing to do with religious apostasy. The article that accompanies
apostosia in that text, ignored in many translations,
is the key. This article of previous reference directly links
"the departure" in that verse with the previous
mention of the departure of the Church in "our up-gathering-together."
It leaves no doubt whatsoever that the departure of the Church
must precede the events which start the Day of the Lord, an extended
period which will begin with the tribulation, the time of Jacob's
troubles.
Copyright September 2000
Bernard E. Northrup Th.D. Reprinted by permission
IN THE TWINKLING
OF AN EYE
Bernard E. Northrup
I. THE PROMISE OF THE RETURN (Jn.13:33)
Supper was ended;
now Judas had gone.
The disciples were troubled with gloom.
Night now had fallen; the Christ spoke of home
While crushed silence of woe filled the room.
Crystalline clear was the import to each.
He had said He was going away!
Jn 13:36-37
"Lord, where do you go?" Peter then said.
And He answered: "Though I go, you stay."
"Simon, while Satan had asked to sift all,
I have prayed for your faith in that sieve.
Trial and heartbreak, denial will come,
But when strengthened, help these here to live."
"Smitten
the Shepherd---offended the sheep
And the Shepherd be cursed with your breath!"
"Lord!" Peter cried, "I will follow you there--
Whether prison or even to death!"
"Troubled disciples, believe in me now.
Let your hearts find rest here in words true.
Jn.14:1-3
Many abodes are prepared where I go;
But I go to prepare one for you.
And if I go to prepare you a place,
Then for you I will come once again.
I will receive you then to myself;
My disciples believe not in vain.
I now return to
the glory I shared
With my Father who sent me to you.
Trouble awaits you, all scattered, alone,
But the Comforter comes to you too.
Be of good cheer for my peace I will give
Through the One who will dwell in your heart.
He will attend you until that glad day
When I come and no longer depart.
2. THE WAIT
FOR HIS RETURN Lk.24:4,
5, 11
The trauma now had passed,
The capture, trial and crushing cross,
The streams of salty tears that coursed
Their chapped and sunburned cheeks
While nails had rent the flesh of Him
That each one loved so much.
How black the
shroud of night
That fell to hide the frightful scene!
How troubled, yes, afraid had been
Their hearts on Calvary.
Their hopes had turned to dust
As He had suffered, bled and died!
Lk.24:25-27
But He arose! Alive!
And they had seen Him forty days!
For forty days He taught;
He filled their souls with prophets' words,
Revealed how they spoke of Him.
How oft their hungry hearts had burned.
Repeatedly they
heard Him speak
And they had handled Him!
Now proofs infallible were theirs.
He was the living Christ!
Where once before He walked u
Upon the sea before their eyes,
Jn.21:9,12
He walked no more but built
A morning fire upon the shore.
No water walking there
For some might always err and think
A spirit came to them.
He waited long upon the shore.
He broke the bread
he baked and fish,
And they together dined.
Then, still beside the sea,
He counseled them about their work
Which they must do for Him
While He was gone away from them.
Jn. 21:22-23
He hinted at the truth (which we
Who wait have come to love),
That some would be alive
When He should come to them again.
Some erred who heard. They thought
He meant before the death of John.
This plainly John
denied.
But some will tarry till He comes!
Now centuries have passed.
This promised hope for us has grown.
When they had seen Him last
On Olivet they heard these words: Acts 1:10-11
"You ragged men of Galilee,
Why stand you gazing at the sky?
The One whom you have seen Him go
Shall come again the Way He left!"
Then do you wonder why
We wait and look for Him to come?
The church that
Christ has built
Has grown and spread throughout the world.
His faithful very oft have turned
Their hopeful eyes toward the clouds.
Now each who reads His Word with care
Awaits in hope of Him today.
Each waits the day He will return
And longs to live to see the day!
3. THE JOY
OF HIS RETURN
The church awaits the mystery, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53
The promised hope which we will see
When He shall come, when we will hear
That ringing shout so loud, so clear--
When Christ descends from God above
To gather those who say in love:
"Oh come! Christ, quickly come!"
I Thessalonians4:13-17
Our hearts will leap to hear His cry,
To see descending from on High
Our Lord and His who lie asleep
In mouldering dust or in the deep--
Will come with Jesus in that day
Their trump will sound and He will say:
"Come forth, you Sons of God!"
The church awaits the mystery,
The transformation we will see
When from the heavenly trumpeter
Our ringing call will reach us clear
And in a moment's twinkling eye
We rise, transformed like Him on high!
"Oh Christ, Oh quickly come!"
Psalm110:1
For He is seated up above
Beside His Father, who in love
Had sent Him to the manger mound,
To dreadful cross before His crown.
He serves His church in work of prayer
That we might join His presence there.
"Oh come! Christ, quickly come!"
Revelation6:8-9 NKJV
Our elders from their heavenly throne
Will fall upon their faces prone
To worship and give thanks to One
Who was and is and is to come--
To cast our crowns before His face
Who made us victors through His grace.
"Oh Christ! Oh quickly come!"
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE PROMISE OF THE RAPTURE
INTRODUCTION..............................................................................1
I. THE MYSTERY OF THE RAPTURE REVEALED IN 1
Corinthians 15:51-57.............2
A. A BIBLICAL MYSTERY DEFINED BY PAUL....................................................................2
1. Paul's first definition of a "mystery".........................................................................3
2. Peter's contribution to our understanding of "a mystery"...................................3
3. The use of the term "mystery" in 1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4.......................................4
4. Paul's explanation of "a mystery" in Ephesians 3:1-6.............................................8
5. Paul's explanation of "a mystery" in Ephesians 3:7-11...........................................9
B. THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY OF THE RAPTURE (1 Corinthians
15:51-57)),....11
1. We will not all sleep but will be changed..................................................................11
2. The time of our transformation................................................................................14
a. At the twinkling of an eye...................................................................................14
b. At the last trump (for the Church)..................................................................14
c. After the resurrection of Church age believers whose bodies
sleep
While awaiting the return of their spirits to return with Christ.............15
3. The nature of our change (1 Corinthians 15:53-57)..........................................................16
II. THE TIMING OF THE RAPTURE..................................................16
A. WHEN THE LORD DESCENDS FROM HEAVEN.........................................................16
B. AT THE GREAT SHOUT OF THE LORD........................................................................17
C. AT THE SOUNDING OF THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL (1 Thessalonians4:16).........17
D. AT THE BLAST OF THE TRUMPET OF GOD (1 Thessalonians4:16)......................................18
E. IN A MOMENT, IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE (1 Corinthians15:51-52)....................18
F. AT CHRIST'S RETURN WITH THE DEAD IN CHRIST (1 Thessalonians4:13-18)............18
G. AFTER THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST.......................................19
H. AT THE MOMENT OF OUR UP-GATHERING-TOGETHER (2 Thessalonians
2:1................19
I. BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE DAY OF THE LORD.........................................20
J. BEFORE THE BEMA OR JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST (2
Corinthians5:9-10).............23
K. SHORTLY BEFORE OUR COMING BEFORE GOD THE FATHER (1 Thessalonians3:13)..23
L. BEFORE THE DAY OF THE LORD...................................................................................23
1. The times and the seasons of our departure (1 Thessalonians5:1-11)............................23
2. During he apostosia, the actual time of our going away
(2 Thessalonians2:1-3)..........24
REMEMBER WHEN I TAUGHT YOU THESE THINGS? (2 Thessalonians2:5)...........25
CONCLUSION................................................................................26
Poem In the Twinkling
of an Eye.............................................................................26
November 8, 2000
Lambert
Dolphin's Library