ESCHATOLOGICAL BIBLE STUDY (part 3)

continued from part 2

by Bola Akin-John

THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH

1. THE MEANING OF RAPTURE. “Rapture” is a Christian term used to denote the ascension (or lifting up) of Christians at the time of Christ’s appearance in the sky for His own.
This is the noun corresponding to the verb used in I Thess. ‪4:17‬, where those believers who are still alive at the coming of Christ are described as being “caught up” together with their resurrected fellow Christians to meet him “in the air”. This same verb used in I Thess. ‪4:17‬ is used in II Cor. 12:2-3 to denote Paul’s mysterious experience of being “caught up” into the third heaven, or paradise. “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, and so shall we ever be with the Lord”, I Thess. ‪4:17‬.

2. The Latin Word ‘rapto’ means to seize, to “carry off”. This is where rapture is derived. It is also important to note the various meanings given to the Greek word ‘HARPAZO’ translated ‘caught up’ in I Thess. ‪4:17‬. each of these special meanings gives the true picture of the rapture.

“To claim for one’s self”. Jesus will take the church to Himself. Eph. 5:26-27. “To seize and overpower”. Consider the way Lot and his family were delivered from Sodom. Gen. ‪19:16‬. All the satanic forces in the high places will not be able to hinder us from being raptured by the power of the Lord.

“To carry away with speed”. The rapture will take place in an indivisible moment of time. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed”. I Cor. ‪15:52‬; Zec. ‪9:14‬.

3. In a moment: In an atom; that is, an indivisible point of time. In the twinkling of an eye; as soon as a man can wink; this mighty work is to be done by the almighty power of God. He calls, and it is done. The resurrection of all the dead, from the foundation of the world to that time, and the change of all the living then upon earth, shall be the work of a single moment.

4. Definition: “Rapture refers to that indivisible moment of the time when true and faithful Christians (Christlike people) who are dead or alive will in the twinkling of an eye rise up to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air”. I Cor. ‪15:23‬, 51-58; Phil. ‪3:20‬, 21; John 14:1-3; Luke 21:34-36; I John 3:1-3. The mystery of rapture is also referred to as transformation of believers. Phil. ‪3:21‬; I Cor. ‪15:51‬, 52 and translation of believers. I Thess. 4:16,17.

I Thess. ‪4:13-18‬; “for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him”. The death and resurrection of the Saviour are connected with the resurrection of the saints. The one followed from the other, and that the one was as certain as the other. The doctrine of the resurrection of the saints so certainly follows from that of the resurrection of Christ, that, if the one is believed, the other ought to be also resurrection of Christ, that, if the one is believed, the other ought to be also.
Examples of believers translated before are:

5. Patriarch Enoch: “And Enoch walked with God… three hundred years… for God took him”, Gen. 5:22-24. There are several things worthy of our most particular notice in this account. We are authorized to believe he was instructed in the things of God, initiated into the worship of his Maker, and dedicated to His service. He was fixedly purposed and determined to live to God. He was a patriarch; the king, the priest, and the prophet of a numerous family, to whom he was to administer justice, among whom he was to perform all the rites and ceremonies of the faith, and teach, both by precept and example, the way of truth and righteousness. He walked three hundred years with God, and begat sons and daughters; therefore marriage is no hindrance even to the perfection of piety. He was cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit. His soul and body were purified, so that, he was not obliged to visit the empire of death, he was immediately translated to the paradise of God. He had the testimony that he did please God, Heb. 11:5. “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God”. Gen. ‪5:22‬, 24.

6. Prophet Elijah. Elijah was one of the most eminent and honored of the Hebrew prophets. He was bold, faithful, stern, self-denying, and zealous for the honor of God. His whole character and life are marked by peculiar moral grandeur. He bursts upon our view without previous notice; he disappears by a miracle. He bears the appearance of a supernatural messenger of heaven, who has but one work to do, and whose mind is engrossed in its performance. His history is one of the most extraordinary on record, and is burdened with instruction. It was a high honor of transfiguration, many centuries after they had gone into heaven, to bear witness of its existence, and commune with the Savior concerning his death, Lk. 9:28-35. “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven”. II King ‪2:11‬; Psa 104:4, “Who market his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire”:

7. The Glorious Body. Today, while on earth, every believer has his own body, colour, features and characteristics. This present body is subject to affliction, infirmity or sickness. When the great transformation takes place, those in Christ will receive a special new body. We shall be changed from mortality to immortality, from natural body to a spiritual body, from weakness and humiliation to glory and power. Phil. ‪3:20‬, 21;I Cor. 15:35-58; I John 3:1-3. It will be flesh and bone like Christ’s Glorious Body, Luke 24:39; Zech. 13:6. though the mystery of the rapture, the believers triumph over death. “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” I Cor. ‪15:54‬, 55.

8. Three views on the ‘when’ of the rapture

a) Post-Tribulation. This teaching says that the believers or the church will pass through the awful seven-year tribulation period. That the anti-Christ will purnish the church. It is false.

b) Mid-Tribulation. This says that the church will be raptured during the seven-year tribulation. The church will be saved only from the last three and a half year “Great Tribulation”. This applies to Isreal partly, not the church. So, this is false also.

c) Pre-Tribulation. The church will be raptured just before the “Great Tribulation”. Matt. 24:21, 1 Thess. 5;9 this view is biblically okay.

9. Pre-Tribulation Rapture View should be accepted for the following reasons:

a)In II Thess. 2:1-12, Apostle Paul argued for the pre-tribulation rapture, against mid-tribulation and post-tribulation views. God’s programme of salvation is being executed today through the Ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit also has restraining ministry to hinder forces of Satan to do their worst. In actual fact, it is the presence of the Holy Spirit that is hindering the anti-Christ from manifesting now. The Holy Spirit is the one that will escort  the church to meet Christ during the Rapture.

The Holy Spirit will not be taken “out of the world” totally, but on a reduced personal basis, after the rapture, otherwise no person would be saved during the seven-year tribulation “Great multitudes”, shall be saved during the tribulation though they will pass through fire and their own blood. Rev. 7:9-14.

b) During the seven-year tribulation, the restraining ministry of the Holy Spirit will cease. “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way”. II Thess. 2:1, 6, 7.

c) God promised to keep the Philippians church “For God Hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation”, I Thess. ‪1:10‬; 5:9.

Our Lord promises to keep the Philadelphian church “from the hour of tribulation which shall come upon … to try them”. Rev. ‪3:10‬. The  Philadelphia church represents the end-time evangelistic church that will be raptured. A time of sore and peculiar trial which might have proved too much for their strength.

d) The angel could not begin to pour God’s wrath upon Sodom until Lot was removed. “Haste … I cannot do anything till thou be come there”. Gen. ‪19:22‬. the work of destroying Sodom could not begun, till they had left the city.

10. The purpose of rapture. We have a heavenly city, the New Jerusalem; we have right and privileges, which are heavenly and eternal; and our society or fellowship  is with God the Father, Son, and the Spirit, the spirits of just men made perfect, and the whole church of the first-born. We have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts; and regard not the body, which we know must perish, but which we confidently expect shall be raised from death and corruption into a state of immortal glory. Phil. 3:20,21.

To resurrect the just of all ages from among the dead so that they may fulfill the purpose for which God has saved them. Psalm 50:1-6; I Thess. ‪4:13-17‬.
To take all the living saints out of the world before the great tribulation. The saints will escape the tribulation. Luke 21:34-36; II Thess. 2:7, 8; I Thess. ‪1:10‬.
To present the church to Himself, without spot or wrinkle. Eph. ‪5:27‬; John 14:1
To change the bodies of all faithful saints from mortality to immortality. I Cor. 15:21,22. ‘For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive’.
To assemble the saints (faithful Christians) at the marriage supper (feast) of the Lamb. Rev. 19:1-10. the saints will also receive their rewards in heaven, II Cor. 5:8, 9. ‘Rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord’.
To allow for the revelation of the Antichrist down here, while the church is up there.. II Thess. 2:1-8.

11. QUALIFICATIONS FOR PARTAKERS IN THE RAPTURE
a. Those who belong to Christ. Gal. ‪2:19‬, 20; Rom. ‪6:11‬; I Cor. ‪15:23‬; II Cor. ‪5:17‬. ‘If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away’.

b. Those who are looking for His appearing. Tit. ‪2:13‬; Phil. ‪3:20‬; I Cor. 1:7.

c. Those whose citizenship is in heaven Phil. ‪3:20‬; Eph. 2:6

d. Those that are in “the way, the truth, and the life” John 14:1-6

e. Those who are purified, as He himself is pure. I John 3:1-3; II Cor. 7:1

f. Those who live sanctified life and follow peace with all men. Heb. ‪12:14‬
g. Hose who are watching daily and are ready. Mark 13;34-37

12. THE IMMINENCE OF THE RAPTURE.
The Holy Scriptures present rapture as an imminent event; that is, the rapture shall be fulfilled at any moment. This was the question agitating the minds of Thessalonians saints. Paul wrote to settle the matter by saying that the rapture or our “gathering together” before the Lord can occur at any moment. II Thess. 2:1-8.
However, the time of the rapture is not definitely stated as to the year, day or hour, but it will take place before the great tribulation and the revelation of the Antichrist. The coming of our Lord at the rapture constitutes the “blessed hope” of the faithful Christians; therefore every saint should live in that expectation and getting ready daily. Tit. ‪2:12-13‬.

13. DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN RAPTURE AND SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
It will enhance greater understanding in eschatological studies if we are able to grasp the difference between rapture and second coming of Christ.
a)At the rapture, He will come “in the air” for His own only, not for the whole world. I Thess. ‪4:17‬.
a)At the second coming, He will descend unto the Mount of Olives in Isreal. Zech. 14:3, 4; Acts ‪1:10-12‬.
b)Rapture means “our gathering together unto Him”. II Thess. 2:1.
b)The second coming means “the revelation of Jesus Christ from heaven” II Thess. 1:7, to take vengeance on all rejecters of the Gospel. Rev. ‪19:11-16‬; Matt. 24:16-30.

c)At the rapture, Christ raptures the saints away from the earth, I Thess. ‪4:17‬.
c)At the second coming, He comes with the saints to the earth, after they have received their rewards. Zech. 14:4; Jude 14; I Thess. ‪4:16‬, 17, 18.
d)At the rapture, He will come as the Chief Shepherd to gather His sheep’s to Himself 1 Peter.5;4
d) At the second coming, He will come as the Lion of the tribe of Judah to destroy His enemies.

14. Know that our Lord’s second coming at the great day, to judge the quick and the dead, shall be attended with such solemnity, that all the terror, majesty, and dreadful reverence, which has ever been seen upon the earth, shall fall infinitely short of it. Great was the terror on Mount Sinai, at the giving of the law, but far greater will the terror be at the day of judgement; when Christ comes to punish the transgressors of that law, and those who disobey His gospel. Christ will come personally, to judge the world, for He has promised it. John 14:2. Let us then keep up our faith, and our faith will keep up our hearts.
Let us get  ready daily, as a bride, waiting eagerly for her Bridegroom. Let us not sleep in sin, worldliness and sleep of death, but let us wake up in righteousness and be alive for His soon, very soon return in the air for His own. Romans 13;11-14