Transcript of 10-The Rapture

in this lecture i want to talk about what is popularly called the rapture the word rapture is derived from the latin word rapiemer which is found in the latin vulgate bible uh in first thessalonians 4 17 and is translated as caught up the two primary pant past passages regarding the rapture are first uh thessalonians 4 verses 13 through 18 and first corinthians 15 verses 50 through 54. uh now these two passages deal with opposite sides of the same coin in first thessalonians the issue was whether dead believers would see would receive the same benefits uh as those who are alive when christ returns in first corinthians the point was that because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god believers who are alive at christ's return must be transformed in order to participate in the kingdom now until the theology called dispensationalism was invented in the 1830s every christian understood that the church will be present during any end time tribulation and that christ's second coming

will entail the resurrection of the dead and the rapture of living believers now dispensationalists alone claim that there will be a pre-tribulational rapture in other words the rapture will occur before the tribulation and they believe that the end time tribulation will last seven years some dispensationalists believe that the rapture will occur in the middle of the tribulation before what they call the so-called great tribulation and others believe that the uh rapture will occur uh sometime in the middle of the tribulation before god's wrath is poured out that is called the pre-wrath rapture but all of those uh related beliefs essentially put the catching up of living believers a period of years before christ's second coming now the idea that in other words that the the church then on the earth will not go through uh the tribulation that is found nowhere in the scriptures in fact every passage that deals with the issue makes clear that the rapture and the second coming are not two separate events

but that the rapture occurs as part of the second coming which as you know is not before any tribulation but is after the tribulation so what i hold and i think is just so clear biblically and chapter 9 of the book discusses this in detail is that the second coming involves the resurrection of the dead both righteous and unrighteous the rapture or catching up and transformation of the living as well as judgment and the renewal of the earth well let's take a look at the main passages and then discuss some other matters first thessalonians 4 and 5 describe the events including the rapture that occur as part of the second coming and in your book i have a table which shows that first thessalonians 4 and 5 parallels almost identically matthew 24 the olivet discourse and so for example in first thessalonians 4 it says the lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel with the trumpet of god and the dead in christ will rise first that of course parallels exactly matthew

24 verse 30 where it talks about the fact that jesus will come um and the sign of this then the sign of the son of man will appear in the sky and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn they will see the son of man coming on the clouds with power and great glory he will send forth his angels and a great uh trumpet they will gather together the elect from the four winds uh from one end of the sky to the other uh so first thessalonians 4 16 says the exact same thing verse 17 goes on to say then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them namely with the dead in the clouds to meet the lord in the air so we will always be with the lord and so now clearly as we discussed in the lecture on the olivet discourse matthew 24 verses 30 and 31 are obviously talking about the second coming the exact same order of events occurs here in first thessalonians 4 verses 16 and 17 and each of those passages says the exact same thing the lord will return from heaven with a shout accompanied by angels with the

trumpet of god the believers will be supernaturally gathered to christ in the clouds now the image here it it talks about the uh uh in in in verse 17 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 always be together with the lord now people who believe in a pre-tribulational rapture say that you see we'll meet the lord in the air we'll always be together with him which means that the lord will then turn around he'll kind of gotten halfway from heaven to earth and then he'll take us back to heaven with him the passage doesn't say that at all in fact there are only two other places where it says the same word used here in verse 17 it says that we who are alive will be caught up to meet the lord in the air now the word there to meet him is the greek word apantesis and there are only two other places in the entire new testament besides first thessalonians 4 17 that use that word and they're all used in exactly the same

way namely uh in matthew 25 verse 6 and acts 28 verse 16 15 and 16. in matthew 25 was a parable of the bridegroom and the virgins and it pertains to the second coming in the passage the bridegroom is on the way to the wedding feast and is met by the virgins now the virgins meet the bridegroom on the way to the wedding feast the bridegroom does not turn around and go back where he was coming from rather he continues to the wedding feast and accompanies the virgins there that is exactly what is going on in 1st thessalonians 4.

we will the lord is coming from heaven to earth we who are alive will rise up and meet him will be transformed he doesn't turn around and go back to heaven no he continues with us to the earth and it's the exact same thing that occurred in acts 28 in acts 28 paul was headed to rome he was met by some roman believers at a place called the three inns when they met paul did not reverse directions and go back where he had come from instead the believers reversed directions and accompanied paul into rome and so that is exactly what is going on uh when we are caught up we if we're alive when christ comes again we will meet him in the air then we will be transformed we will change directions and accompany him to the earth i mean because when we meet the lord in the air we don't just stay there somebody has to change directions and the word the only other times it's used clearly shows that it is not the lord who changes directions it is we who change directions and accompany him so people who believe in a

pre-tribulational rapture that we will meet the lord in the air and then he turns around and takes us to heaven with him and then comes back seven years later with us to the earth that is the exact opposite of the biblical pattern and in fact if that were the case there would be no need for christ to have left heaven in the first place we could have just been caught up and gone directly to heaven so uh consistent with the only two other uses of authenticity in the new testament it is the saints who reverse direction and accompany christ to the earth at his second coming not some years beforehand now first corinthians 15 is paul's most detailed discussion of the resurrection christ's coming the greek word is perisia and the rapture and the end he discusses all of these things and in fact paul's discussion parallels his discussion of the same topics in first thessalonians 4 because in first thessalonians 4 verse 13 and in first corinthians 15 verses 12 through 19 paul's point is there's no hope without

christ in the resurrection then he says christ christ rose and will bring the dead with him at his coming he indicates that in first thessalonians 4 verse 14 and first corinthians 15 verses 20 through 28 now at his coming the living will be raptured and transformed that we just saw in first thessalonians 4 15-17 paul says the same thing in first corinthians 15 50-54 and then believers should be comforted by this paul says that in first thessalonians 4 verse 18 and in first corinthians 15 verses verse 58.

now in first corinthians 15 paul says that christ must reign until he's put all enemies under his feet the last enemy that will be abolished is death verses 50 through 57 describes when christ abolishes death verse 50 says flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of god nor the perishable inherit the imperishable verse 53 goes on to say when the perishable will put on the imperishable it says they will put on uh the okay he says the perishable uh will inherit nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable uh that's uh verse 53.

now uh verse 51 it goes uh i'm sorry it goes on to say that the the perishable will put on the imperishable and this mortal must put on immortality now this occurs uh according to verse 52 at the last trumpet when the dead will be raised imperishable and we the living will be changed again this is talking about the second coming not years beforehand and so that that event the rapture is linked with verse 54 which says when this mortal will have put on immortality then will come about the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory so the obvious i mean remember the last enemy to be conquered is death death is swallowed up in victory when the mortal have put on immortality that occurs when the dead will be raised and we will be changed this is the second coming so the clear reference uh is to the second coming the perocya and thus the end uh in first corinthians 15 verse 24 is coterminous with the abolition of death in verse 26 which is when our mortal bodies are changed and put on

immortality verses 52 through 54. now so all of these things are consistent the rapture cannot possibly happen before the tribulation because at the rapture according to first corinthians 15 death has been ended forever in other words the identity of the rapture with the second coming is confirmed in that the rapture occurs at the last trumpet which takes place at the second coming which occurs after the tribulation so these two main passages on the rapture first thessalonians 4 first corinthians 15 they say exactly the same thing and they talk about exactly the same thing what jesus talked about in matthew 24 verses 30-31 now a few other passages i will mention in this regard and again your book has far more detail than i am able to discuss in this lecture but this is very important because as i said everything the bible has a clear eschatological structure and i mean the issue again here with regard to the rapture and transformation of living saints does that happen before christ comes

again or in connection with christ's coming again in other words are the rapture and the resurrection to uh or the rapture and the second coming two separate events separated in time or are they part of the same event um it is only dispensational pre-tribulationists who say that these are separate events separated in time by a few years everyone else now and for the last 2000 years have looked at the scriptures and clearly concluded as i conclude the rapture the resurrection the second coming are all part of the same events which take place at the second coming of christ now in 2nd thessalonians uh 2 verses 1 and 2 it talks about it says this now we request you brethren with regard to the coming of our lord jesus christ and our gathering together to him that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed uh by a spirit or a messenger or a letter as if it was from us to the effect that the day of the lord has come now so again the uh our gathering together to him occurs at the coming and again the word

is parasia uh of the lord which is the day of the lord so these two verses again link the coming of the lord jesus our gathering together to him and the day of the lord we saw in an earlier lecture all of those things are talking about i mean the word parasia is the perhaps the key word in the new testament for the second coming of christ the day of the lord and we saw in an earlier lecture on the eschatological structure of the bible that it is the second coming that involves resurrection and rapture of everybody it involves the judgment the day of the lord so all of these things are linked again in uh ii thessalonians verses 1 and 2. now 2nd thessalonians 2 talks about the man of lawlessness uh and in it says that uh in verse three uh it talks about the apostles apostasy comes first the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself and so on but then it says verse 6 and what restrains him now so that in his time he will be revealed for the mystery of lawlessness is already at

work uh only he who restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way then the lawless one will be revealed whom the lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of his coming dispensationalists say that the man of lawlessness is an end-time individual antichrist which may or may not be true we will talk about that in the lecture on antichrist but what they say is that which restrains him or he who restrains him they say that it is that is the holy spirit um and that the um but the restrainer must be taken out of the way they take the leap to say well it's the holy spirit in the church and therefore the church must be removed from the earth take a look at ii thessalonians 2. it doesn't say any of that in fact the wording and i talk about this in detail in the book at one point the grammar of the one who restrains is unclear because at first in verse six it says that which restrains it's a neuter word but then in verse 7 it says it's a masculine word that says the one

or he who restrains so it's not clear is this a personal entity is this a non-personal entity uh many uh throughout history many different uh views have been expressed on the restrainer from uh such things as the principle of law and order government of the jewish state uh god and his power the holy spirit the proclamation of the gospel or an angel and it's not been clear and even augustine said frankly i confess i don't know what paul means here but even assuming that it's the holy spirit there's no logical reason why the church has to be raptured or removed from the earth because restraining is not the same as indwelling the whole even dispensationalists admit that the holy spirit has a restraining influence and had that before the first coming of christ because it's only since christ came that the holy spirit now dwells inside of us but he's been restraining believers he restrained pharaoh from doing sin or others from sinning long before christ came and so there is and furthermore

dispensationalists admit even after if the pre-tribulation rapture occurred the holy spirit would still be at work restraining sin and causing people to come to faith in christ so there's no logical reason uh why uh the the holy spirit uh uh that no logical reason why the church has to be removed from the earth second corinthians or 2 thessalonians 2 simply does not say that even leading dispensationalist john walvoord admits that during the tribulation the holy spirit will still be omnipresent still exercises some restraint as the book of revelation makes clear and so again there's no biblical basis for the uh pre-tribulational rapture and in fact even charles ryrie another leading pre-tribulationist admits that during the tribulation the holy spirit will be present and active in the world and will indwell and empower his people so you know it's absurd it seems to me to believe that because the holy spirit is is indwelling people now that that means that the restrainer is the holy spirit in his people which

means that the people have to leave the earth when immediately after even the dispensationalists admit millions of people will come to faith in christ and as ryery says the holy spirit will come back and will indwell them so i mean it's just absurd to believe that people will be removed from the earth uh years before jesus comes again bible doesn't say that and in fact every single passage as we have seen that talks about people being caught up with the lord first thessalonians 4.

um first corinthians 15 matthew 24 verses 30 and 31 and remember the parable of the wheat and the tares that both the church and the evil will continue to grow until the end and then christ will send his angels and you know the will separate the two of believers to eternal life and unbelievers uh to the lake of fire every single passage is consistent the church will be present throughout the tribulation um and uh that we will be caught up when christ comes again the dead will be resurrected the living will be raptured and transformed and then we will accompany christ to the earth as part of the second coming and in fact um you know the blessed hope in titus 2 verse 13 it says christians are to be looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great god and savior jesus christ pre-tribulationalists think of this as looking for the rapture but that's not true because the only other place in the new testament where christians are said to be looking for christ's appearing is second

peter 3 verses 12 and 13. um and in in that passage the context is that the entire earth is going to be dissolved by fire and yet peter says we are to look forward to christ's coming because that is the event so ii peter says that um talking about the earth verse 11. all these things are going to be destroyed so what sort of people ought we to be in holy conduct and godliness looking for and hastening the coming of the day of god because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and so on but according to his promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells so yes christians will go through tribulation jesus said we're gonna have tribulation and yet we are looking for his coming because it will make everything all worth it um now the uh the point here is in light of the fact that the church will go through tribulation to the extent that there's end time tribulation and i think there will be the the reason why we're to look forward to and watch and be alert

and hope for this is not uh that christ uh might return before at any moment before the disciples expected but that he might delay longer than they expected and therefore we might become negligent and kind of fall back the reason for christ's exhortations for us to watch is the exact opposite given by pre-tribulationists it again it's not that he may come at any moment it's that he might not come for a long time and that is why he told the parables at the end of matthew 24 and matthew 25 that he said the master has gone away for a long time and so when is he coming again no one knows he's saying he could come at any time but the fact is he there is a delay here so remain faithful despite the hardship you're going through because it will all be worth it if you are found faithful when he comes you will be raptured and transformed and become like him now i point out that the church is always understood it will go through tribulation but that does not mean that we will experience god's wrath

i mean the lord has not appointed his believers to wrath we have been saved we shall be saved from the wrath of god according to romans 5 verse 9. god first thessalonians 5 9. god has not destined us to wrath but that doesn't mean we're not going to experience the wrath of man eve look at the church has always sub beginning in the first century christians were fed to the lions that doesn't mean that they were experiencing god's wrath and at the end of time it may be the same kind of thing if we are in christ we have been saved from god's wrath even though on this earth in these bodies we may be persecuted and suffer and die for our faith that does not mean that god is punishing us the fact that we are saved from the wrath of god does not spare us from the wrath of man we are safe and secure in christ and as romans 8 says nothing can separate us from the love of god even persecution and the wrath of man can't uh and you know spare us can't separate us from the love of god now revelation 3 10 uh it talks about

the promise to keep you from the hour of testing now the hour of testing may refer to the tribulation to affliction and persecution but that does not mean that we're kept you know by were removed from the earth uh it means that we are you know he is testing and trying the earth we may experience the wrath of man but we're not experiencing uh the wrath of god but again when it talks about the hour the hour particularly in in revelation may refer to uh the second coming itself uh because in other words the hour is saying that we are going to be spared from the judgment of god that he brings about when he comes again we will experience his coming we will be transformed and become like him the others who do not come to faith in christ will experience his judgment and i think that's what is being gotten at there um so the the death of christians does not mean they are experiencing god's wrath um so let me conclude this uh by saying that christ uh throughout history has the church has always gone through

tribulation suffering and persecution jesus promised that to us nowhere does he say but there's gonna be one generation at the end of time is not going to have to go through that why would god change the way he has always dealt with the church persecution and suffering jesus was a man of suffering acquainted with grief and jesus uses that god uses persecution and suffering to grow us up to make us more like himself i wish it weren't that way none of us wants to suffer but everyone suffers and god uses that to make us more like himself but think about this those who believe in the pre-tribulational rapture basically say there's going to be one generation that is privileged it doesn't go through suffering and persecution and tribulation basically the pre-tribulational rapture people say in other words but then people are going to be during the tribulation people will be coming to faith in christ so why didn't they get to avoid that are they like second-class christians that's what pre-tribulational amounts to

there's first-class christians the favored ones and second-class christians the fact is let me conclude by saying no scriptural passage in the bible mentions two future comings of christ and clearly distinguishes them no passage says that there will be a rapture before the tribulation and no passage says that only saints will see jesus at the rapture or that there will be a tribulation after the rapture no passage says that translated saints go to heaven or stay there for seven years or three and a half years after the rapture multiple passages in fact every single passage that discusses christ's return talk about christ's coming in the singular the only fair conclusion from the biblical data is the dispensationalism separation of the rapture from the second coming is imaginary they are both parts of the same event the rapture occurs at the second coming which occurs after the tribulation