reading this morning in a book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Our subject today is the rapture of the church. A wonderful subject. I didn't say rupture of the church. You know, the devil would like to see every local church to rupture and break up. But the Bible says that the Lord has built his church upon a rock. and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And so the Lord is coming back for his church, all those who believe in him. And I trust that it's true for you today. We see in this passage, beginning in verse 13, concerning the rapture of the church, we'll read down to verse 18, and then we'll look at the word rapture in just a moment. But we do not want you to be ignorant or uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by word from the Lord, that we who are alive and are left until the coming Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry, or a shout, or a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be called up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort or encourage one another with these words. Now did you notice in verse 17 that word caught up? Well that's the word rapture. You'll see the word rapture in the scriptures but it means a catching away or some refer to as a snatching away. It's the event that's coming and according to the Bible it's the next thing on God's timetable on God's calendar is the catching away of the church. The Lord is coming from heaven to get his church. And now I know some might look at it a little different, thinks the church is going through tribulation. I know there is tribulation that we experience. Jesus even said that in John 16, verse 33, he said, in the world, you shall have tribulation. We have troubles, we have sorrows, we have problems, and even persecution for many Christians are persecuted, even killed because of their faith. But also like that later part of that verse, he says, well, take heart or be encouraged because I have overcome the world. So we have victory in Jesus. Well, there is coming a time, the Bible describes an awful time that's called the tribulation, great tribulation that will be coming upon this world. But here's the good news. All those who know Christ as Lord and Savior will be taken out. We will not be here for that awful time of judgment that God will pour upon this world. Now, we don't, maybe not think about the end time so much. Maybe we don't think about the rapture and those things because sometimes we're so caught up in things in this life. And sometimes some people may have bought the lie that your best life is right now. Well, I don't believe that. I believe our best life is yet to come. It's not here. There's so much problems here. There's so much sickness. There's so much suffering. There's so much that's going on. It's a bad, it's getting worse. I don't mean to be, I don't hope I sound pessimistic or anything. I'm gonna be hopeful. There's hope in Jesus. There's hope in Christ. And that's what we're looking at. The Bible does tell us that if you've been raised with Christ, that we have to set our affections on things above and not on things on the earth. And so often we get caught up in the things of this world and what we're doing, our jobs and our vocation, our hobbies and our families. And the Lord does want us to enjoy life and to be active in what we're doing. We need to keep our focus. The big picture is we're all moving in this direction. The Lord's coming either by your death or he's coming for the rapture, taking the church out if you are still here. We will look at the subject of the rapture and look at four main features. First of all, let's look at the purpose of the rapture, and then who are the people, participants, the persons involved in the rapture, and then let's look at the preparation that's needed, and also we'll look at the progress, the steps that are sequenced involved in the rapture. First of all, what is the purpose for us teaching this morning about the rapture. Well, we'll see there in verse 13, he, Paul, who writes this letter, he writes to these Thessalonian Christians, and here's what he says. We do not want you to be ignorant, or we don't want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep. Now that word asleep is a reference to those who have died in Christ. And often we see that term asleep. And we'll talk a little bit about that. But he says, I don't want you to grieve as others who have no hope. In other words, I want you to be informed. So the first thing is, the purpose of the rapture We are to be informed, to inform us about some things. Now, this church I understood by reading a little bit about it was a young church. They had not been Christians too long and many things they didn't know about. And they took note that a lot of their loved ones had passed on who were Christians. And they knew something about the rapture, about the coming of the Lord. And they were thinking that, well, they've died. So if they have died, how can they be a part of the coming of the Lord? I mean, they're gone. And so he's informing them that they're going to be a part of the rapture. So Paul is saying here, I don't want you to grieve like those of the world who don't know Christ. I don't want you to grieve like they do, who have no hope. Because we are people who have hope. And so he says, those who are asleep. Now there are several places in the Bible that talks about that. Let me give you a few examples. One example is Stephen. In the book of Acts, he was preaching. he was being persecuted and Paul who writes this letter before he became a Christian we know him as Saul of Tarsus and he was persecuting the church and he was consenting unto the death of Stephen. Stephen was stoned and the Bible tells us in Acts 7 verse 59 As they were stoning him, he called out and he looked to the Lord. He said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. He fell on his knees and he cried out with a loud voice. He says, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he said this, the Bible says he fell asleep. He died, but it's referred to as sleep. And then I think of another one. I think of Lazarus. Lazarus was sick. A friend of the Lord, a friend of the disciples, and they told Jesus about it. And he'd been dead about four days. And so here's what Jesus told his disciples. He says, our friend, Lazarus, sleepeth. I go that I may awake him out of sleep. And then other disciples said, well, if he's asleep, well, he's okay. He'll be okay. He'll do well. But then Jesus said, no, had to make it plain that it's not that he was asleep that we're thinking about, but he had died. And so there is another situation where it's used sleep. So here's what happens. As a child of God, when you die, your body goes to sleep. But your spirit and your soul goes to be with the Lord. The Bible says, absent from the body, present with the Lord. That's what happens to all those who are Christians. Now, some people teach what they call soul sleep, but it's not taught in the word of God. Your soul never goes to sleep. It's always conscious, but your body goes to sleep. but your soul goes to be with the presence of the Lord. And then those who are not Christians who reject Jesus Christ, they die and go to hell. Now that's an awful thing. We don't want to talk about it. We don't want to think about it, but it's in the word of God. But here's the good news. If you're not a Christian, verse 13, that last word in that verse is this, and I like that word, hope. Right now today, if you don't know Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have hope. But if you leave this world without Christ, you have the other word, it says no hope. And so I'll trust today that you will trust Christ. So the first thing about the rapture, it's the purpose to inform us, but look at verse 18, also to encourage us. He says, wherefore, encourage or comfort one another with these words. And that is very encouraging. One of the greatest encouragement I know in the word of God. You know, we're studying through the book of John on Sunday mornings and we'll get to this later on, but in John 14, some of you know this passage where Jesus says, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions or Some translations rooms and don't think you're cheated out. I think because a room is gonna be a mansion. So there are many Mansions if it were not so and I've told you I go here's what Jesus says I go to prepare a place for you Now if I go and prepare a place for you, what does he say? I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you may be also How encouraging is that? You think about the worst thing to happen. But in Christ, we have hope. We have a place. We have a place in heaven to be with the Lord. And the third thing about the purpose, I wanna touch on just a little bit is this. The purpose of the rapture is to deliver us. Deliver us from what? It's our exit ticket out of here. Now I want you to notice something he says here that he came back in verse 14, for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, notice this, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. God Or Jesus, and you say, well, is it Jesus or is it God? Well, God is Jesus. He's the son of God. God will bring with those, those who have fallen asleep. Why would they be coming back? Well, when you're saved, Jesus died and rose again, we see in the scriptures. He died to purchase our salvation. Not only did he give us eternal life, not only did he forgive us of all our sins, but there's something a part of that full package. He is also gonna give you a glorified, resurrected body. Those who have died in the Lord, their body goes back to the dust. Their spirit goes to be with the Lord Jesus, their soul does. God will bring them with Him to reunite and to, with their glorified, He will transform their body, a glorified body. Coming back to get your body, that you'll live forever. Like when Jesus died, He was in the tomb three days. After three days, He came out of the tomb, a glorified, resurrected, full bodily resurrection. and we're gonna get one just like he's got, a resurrected body. So we're gonna be delivered from this corruptible body. Does that make you feel good when I describe your body that way? I remember one day my oldest son took me to Harvey's gym. I guess he thought old dad needs to work out. I tell you what, I felt so embarrassed. I felt so intimidated in there. I didn't stay there long. I mean, work all you can to improve the physique. Listen, you're coming down. Give it a few years. You're going to wear out. You ever get depressed when you look in the mirror? Well, here's the good news. The Lord has got a brand new resurrected body for you. So we're going to be delivered from this corruptible body. We'll have a body that is incorruptible. And then there's something else that will be delivered from. I want you to just look back one page in chapter one of 1 Thessalonians and verse 10. I'll read that to you. Here's what he's saying, because this whole book of 1 Thessalonians is about the coming of the Lord. He says, to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. That's what's happened. The unbelieving world, the world that does not believe in Christ, they are destined for the wrath of God. We don't want to talk about it, we don't want to think about it, we don't want to really entertain any thoughts about that, but it's the scriptures. And that's why Jesus died. So that we won't have to perish, that we'll have everlasting life. And so that's what we see here. And also go back to chapter five. And then if you're in chapter five, let's look at that verse number nine. For it says this, for God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's what's happening. Now in the Old Testament, The world got so wicked, it got so ungodly. God chose Noah to build an ark, and he built an ark. God sent judgment. It was a judgment of flood, a global flood that covered the world. And it's amazing, some people are looking and they find these big, I don't know what you call these, I think of an elephant, I think they're a mammoth kind of a tusk and all that. They're finding fruit, tropical fruit in their stomach. They're digging up some ice up in the North Pole area, whatever. I don't know, I've read some of that stuff. How'd they get up there? Well, I can see the flood dropping them off down there, you know? But, hey, I just happen to believe it was a global flood. Well, God put a rainbow, promising that would not happen again, but there is coming another global judgment. It won't be a flood of water, but it'd be a fire. God is sending fire upon this earth. I know people are concerned about global warming. Wait till God gets through with it. It's coming according to the scriptures. But the good news is you can escape all of that because he has delivered his church, his people, those who love the Lord from the wrath to come. That's some good news. Now let's look at the next part. Who are the people involved in the rapture, the participants? Well, first group is those who are asleep. We saw that there in verse 13, those that are asleep. They are there in verse 14. Jesus died and rose again. Even so through Jesus, God will bring with them those who have fallen asleep. And then the second group are those who are Christians, those are in Christ, who are still alive on that day when that great event takes place. That's the second group. And verse 15, he says this, for this we declare to you by the word from the Lord that we who are alive, who are left, we're the ones who are left unto the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. In other words, you're not gonna jump in line, you're not gonna precede, you're not gonna jump in line when it comes to the rapture. Those who have died in Christ first will go up first. Some preacher says because they were six foot under, I don't know, they get a head start. Those who died in Christ, God will bring their soul back, reunite with a glorified body. And someone said, well, what about if they were not buried? What about if they were cremated or whatever? God knows where every atom, every molecule, all the matter, He knows where all, He will bring it all together. So how can God do that? Well, let's see, God can do anything, right? Okay, and they're reunited, they go up, and if we're still alive, we're still alive in Christ, then we go up second. We're that second group. And so don't think of it in slow, you can think of slow motion, but actually Paul talks about in first Corinthians chapter 15, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. And someone said that is less than a second. It'll happen so fast. You won't, you know, you won't ever catch it. It'll happen. And it says, and then we'll be with the Lord in the air. That's what it says there in verse 17. Then we who are alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The Lord will not come to the earth at the rapture. He will meet them in the air. Now he will come back and touch the earth, but that's another Bible lesson. But we're just talking about the rapture right here. And so all the saints of God, and then Verse 16, here's the most important person involved in the rapture. Let's don't forget it. Verse 16, the Lord himself. The Lord Jesus. The Lord will come himself. He will descend from heaven. He's not sending a committee of angels. He's not sending Peter. He's coming himself. Why is that? because it's his church. He bought and paid for this church by his own blood. It's his bride. We're called the bride of Christ. He's coming to get his bride. And what's that shout all about? Well, that's a cry of command, authority. Things are happening. I think of like excitement right here. You say, well, I used to hear of some of the old saints of God, and I used to hear stories from grandma talking about shouting in the church. People get so excited, they love the Lord. They didn't have much in those days, but they had a whole lot of God on them. They got so happy, got so excited, began to shout. I like to hear good old shouting. I don't like that made up stuff. I mean, they get excited at ball games, don't they? Amen, or oh me, you know. But listen, you can't help but shout on that day. You're not going to say, well, I'm at a ball game. My grandson's fixing to take the bat. He's going to hit a home run. I'm going to watch him. And Rapture's taking place. Oh, wait a minute, Lord. Hold on. He's fixing the bat. No, no, no, no. Everything changes. And no one goes up, well, what's going on now? I like to kind of daydream about it, don't you? It's gonna be happening. I don't put faith in dreams, but you know, I had a dream one time, I was talking to my older brother one time, and we were going up in the rapture. And I was going like this. I said, Tommy, is this for real? It's one of those dreams that felt so real. You ever had one of them kind of dreams? It's like, man, you're there. Well, let's move on to the next part. What is the procession of the rapture? Well, first of all, in verse 16, the Lord is going to come from heaven with a shout, the cry of command, and then it says the voice of the archangel That would be Michael, maybe. I don't know. There might be some other archangels, but in Jude 9, Michael is referred to as one of those archangels. And then it says in verse 16, it says, with the sound of the trumpet of God. And so there'll be the trumpet blast. Now I know in the Old Testament trumpets were used to get people's attention. It was like an alarm. And people gathered together for some common purpose. Maybe for warfare. Maybe some great announcement was going to be made. And so, I don't know, but this trumpet It will be a blast, and the saints of God, we're going to hear that very clearly, and it's going to be a wonderful thing to hear when you hear the sound of that trumpet. And then the next thing that's going to happen, the dead in Christ, it says, will rise first. Those who have died in Jesus, they will rise first. I've seen some people of dead portraits of the rapture. I saw a huge one one time and it was an amazing thing. All these people coming out of the tombs, you know, going up in the air. And so they'll receive their glorified body. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, 51, Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. Someone put that in a church nursery one time. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed 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. We shall be changed. Caught up or caught up means a snatching away. Well, there it is in verse 16, the sequence of all these events surrounding the rapture. Verse 17, we who are alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So we will always be with the Lord. Well, time doesn't permit us to talk about the other things in the context of the rapture. We'll be with Jesus. What will happen here on earth? That will usher in mass confusion. Can you imagine the rapture taking place? an absent bus driver, an absent pilot on a plane, mass confusion, collision, such chaotic conditions. Kind of like it seems like people want to stir up things and create lots of confusions in our society today. It will be a time where one man will come forth. I have the answer. to all the world's problems. He's called the Antichrist, the man of sin. He's full of the devil. But everybody will think he's, boy, it's Jesus Christ. Oh, they'll love him. Even the Jews will think he's Christ, the Messiah. The latter part of the seven years called the Great Tribulation Period, it will end with a battle of Armageddon. when Jesus, according to Revelation chapter 19, will come out of the skies and put his feet on the Mount of Olives. The mountain will split, a stream of water will come out, and that stream of water will filter the desert, and it will usher in the millennial kingdom. The devil will be put into the bottomless pit. He'll be chained for a thousand years. And what about at 1,000 years? Well, that's a long time. After 1,000 years, we'll usher in the eternal state. We don't have time to go into all of that. It's lots of information, good thing to study about. But the last thing I want you to think about is this. How can you prepare for the rapture? Let me give you just a few verses here. And to remind you of this, don't look for signs. Because you think, well, I'm going to wait until it seems like it's getting kind of bad. Then I'm going to get real serious about my relationship with God. There are no signs for the rapture. It could happen any time. His return is imminent any time, any moment. So here's what we're going to do. Jesus said this, John 14, verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one, no one, comes to the father except through me. So the answer is Jesus. Jesus said in John 10 verse 9, I am the door. If anyone enters in by this door, he will be saved. And so if you don't know Christ, I urge you, turn to Christ. Turn to Jesus. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you, Jesus, that you did come. You died and rose again. And Lord, you give that wonderful promise that you're coming again. And Lord, if it's not at our death, Lord, it's coming at the rapture the removing of the church. And I pray for all of us to be encouraged because of that great truth. And I pray for that one who's yet to know Christ as Lord and Savior. I pray today they will repent of their sins and trust Jesus this very moment. And Lord, we pray that you work your will in every heart. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Hello, this is Pastor Chris Gown. Thank you for listening to the broadcast. We hope the message was helpful and edifying. If you're not a follower of Christ and you want to learn more about the Christian life, please contact us through this website. We would love to respond to your questions. For now, may our Lord bless you and yours with his amazing love and abounding grace. Goodbye.