Full Transcript

Welcome to Share the Word. Humanity has been fixated on predicting when the rapture would take place, when the Messiah would come, and what happens to us when it does. It seems every generation to this day has believed that Christ would come during their lifetime. In this episode, Paul expands on all of this and so much more, and I know you’ll be listening to this podcast over and over. First Thessalonians chapter five. Going up.

I dream a lot at night. It’s always been that way. Most of my dreams are just jumbled mash-up bits and pieces of things from here and there that don’t seem to belong together, but weirdly somehow are. You know what I mean? Others are recurring, like being lost on my university campus and realizing I’m late for an important class, or as my 12 or 13-year-old self on vacation with my parents when I realized I forgot to get somebody to do my paper route. Oh no!

But I’ve had some more significant dreams too. One I remember is actually unforgettable. This happened when I was 16 years old. In the dream, I was awakened from a deep sleep by trumpet blasts, not the kind of trumpet I played in high school in band, but powerful, deep, reverberating blasts that sounded just like this. I heard that sound twice. Suddenly, I felt my body involuntarily rising from my bed like it was a call to me.

I’m going up through the ceiling, out of my room, continuing to rise over my house. I look down. I can see the city around me, the trees, the streets, the buildings, but they’re getting dimmer and dimmer as I keep ascending. They’re rapidly fading from view. The sensations were really exciting. They were vivid.

I remember my heart was pounding, and I was thinking, This is it. This is it. And by it, I mean the rapture of Christians I’d been taught could happen at any time. My second thought, honestly, was one of relief that I was going up. I’ve had that dream only one time. Normally, my dreams kind of, you know, missed away within moments of waking, and I can only remember impressions of them, if anything.

But that was so real, I can still remember it clearly, even feel it, what I felt that night when I heard the trumpet call and I felt pulled up by a powerful force from heaven. Where we left off last time, I had commented on the part of the Apostle Paul’s answer to the Thessalonian Christians concerning what would happen to their deceased loved ones who died with their faith in Jesus before he returns. Paul assured them that their Christian friends and family who die are already with the Lord in heaven, spirit and soul anyway, but also that their bodies would be resurrected one day too when Jesus returns. And that’s when he also revealed this at the end of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep, again a euphemism meaning those who have already died.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise up first. Then we who are still alive, who are left, we will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And he added reassuringly, Therefore comfort one another. What Paul promised to them one day would happen is exactly what I experienced in my dream. A couple of things jump out at me from what he writes in those verses. First, it’s apparent that he believed the return of Jesus to take believers to heaven was imminent.

By imminent, I mean that he expected it could happen at any time. He’s referring, at least potentially, to himself and the living Thessalonian Christians when he writes, twice in fact, Then we who are still alive, we who are still alive at Jesus’ return, will be caught up to join the resurrected Christians, those who have already died. In another New Testament passage directly on that topic, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul writes this: Behold, I show you a mystery. Remember that word, mystery. We shall not all sleep. Again, that means die.

But we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed. By we shall all not die, Paul is again saying that there will be a generation of living Christians when Jesus returns who will be caught up bodily to heaven. In that passage, which we’ll dissect more closely when we get through the book of 1 Corinthians, he’s emphasizing that both the resurrected believers, those who have died before Jesus returns, and those who are alive when it happens, will all instantaneously be changed, given new, as he calls them, incorruptible, that is, immortal bodies. Bodies just like Jesus came out of the tomb in. But why I mention that passage now is because of Paul’s use of that term mystery.

Behold, or we might say, I’ve got something special to tell you, so listen up. The mystery, and the way Paul uses that term throughout all of his writings, means a new revelation, something God has not revealed in the past but is revealing now. The mystery is that Jesus could return at any time to take both dead and living Christian believers out of this world. That was the new truth. You know, I think you can certainly decipher from the Old Testament prophecies that the Messiah would come one day to judge his enemies, save his people, establish his kingdom on earth. That was not new.

And you could also learn from the Gospels, Jesus’ teaching, as in several parables that we talked about in the Gospel of Luke, for example, we added to that understanding that Jesus was coming to save us from sin, and it was not going to be his only coming. As we discussed last time, the Messiah had to come twice to fulfill the rest of the Messianic prophecies Jesus did not fulfill the first time when he was here in the first century. So, what’s new? So what’s new that’s revealed in this passage, it seems to me, is that Christian believers from this age will be caught up, to use his term, taken out of this world before the Messiah returns a second time to the earth to fulfill those prophecies which Jesus did not fulfill at his first coming. That is, before Jesus returns to the earth to judge his enemies, rescue the Jewish people, and reestablish his kingdom. Let me say that again.

What Paul reveals that’s new here is that Christian believers from this age will be taken out of this world before the Messiah returns a second time. Around the year 400 A.D., a scholar named Jerome translated this letter and the rest of the New Testament into Latin, and he used the Latin verb rapio to translate Paul’s term here in 1 Thessalonians, caught up. That word means to snatch up quickly, to seize and carry off, like a bird of prey swooping down, snatching up a small animal. That term, rapio, was later anglicized into the word rapture by some theologians who used it as a name for this event when believers from the church age are caught up to be with Christ, the event which will mark the end of this age. It’s becoming a popular term. Again, this is something new that Paul is revealing.

That’s what his term mystery means. Jesus will return for believers to take us safely home to heaven before what happens next on this planet, unique intense time of trouble and judgment, often called the tribulation time, a period that both Old and New Testament prophets say will last seven years. Notice as chapter 5 of 1 Thessalonians opens, he continues on this topic of the future, saying, For you yourselves are fully aware the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then suddenly destruction will come on them like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

Skipping ahead to verse 9, he continues, For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, that is, still alive to see this happen or already dead by that time, we may be together with him. Therefore, he says again, encourage one another and build each other up. The day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night when they are saying, Peace and security, then sudden destruction will come. The day of the Lord. That’s a common phrase used by biblical prophets for a time when God will break through on this planet again in a direct and dramatic way. I’m certain Paul is referring by that prophetic term in this context to the tribulation time, that seven years of unparalleled trouble and judgment that will fall on a rebellious world in the future.

It’s going to happen suddenly, Paul says. It’s going to come while politicians and world leaders are talking about peace and security. It’s going to strike the world like labor pains coming on a pregnant woman, and it will be inescapable for those who are left on earth. Another term used for this short but intense period, usually referred to as the tribulation, is the time of God’s wrath. So Paul is assuring the Thessalonian Christians that they, and he, that is believers, are not among those who will experience that time when he writes, God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. I know I’m throwing a lot at you here.

We will go through it more carefully when we reach the book of Revelation. And I also know that not all interpreters of the New Testament see it this way, the way I’m laying it out. Some reject the rapture concept altogether and imagine that those Christians living at the end of this church age will go into the awful tribulation era along with the rest of their generation. They teach that when Jesus returns, it’s at the end of the seven years to destroy God’s enemies and establish his kingdom, and that’s when believers will be caught up to heaven. But I can’t make that jibe with too many pieces of the Revelation we’re given, both here in Thessalonians and in other places. For example, how could church age believers going into the tribulation square with the idea of imminency at all?

The truth that Jesus could return at any time, which underlies this whole section. If Jesus does not come to save believers before the judgments of the tribulation, then His coming for believers is in no way imminent, because those living during the tribulation will be able to calculate exactly when the second coming of Christ is going to happen. It’s told us in days and months in the book of Revelation, very precisely. So, if the return of Christ for believers is really imminent, it must happen before the major events of the tribulation era occur. Paul’s also clear here that Christians are not destined to experience God’s wrath, but salvation through Jesus Christ. So, if you take how Revelation describes the tribulation era literally, as I do, it’s going to be a time of unprecedented universal trouble on this planet.

No one on Earth during that time will escape the effects of the judgments and wrath of God, or the wars and other catastrophic events Revelation describes. Yet Jesus promises a faithful church, this is recorded by John, one of his visions in Revelation 3, I know you have kept my word and have not denied my name, because you have patiently endured, I will keep you from the hour of trial that’s coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. It’s just after that, in Revelation chapter 3, that chapter 4 begins this way. After this, I, John, looked, and behold, a door was standing open in heaven, and the first voice I heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after all this.’ Certainly sounds to me like John’s vision was the same thing I dreamed.

The trumpet sounded, God caught him up to heaven, which the rapture will do for believers, and then he sees what will happen next, the tribulation era with its successive judgments. So, the natural progression of events from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 into chapter 5 is the same as from Revelation chapter 3 to chapter 4, and each, sound like to me, they are describing believers hearing the trumpet call, being taken up to be with the Lord, and then the judgment of God on the rebellious world following during the tribulation era. There are other points to be made about this, which we’ll get into at another time. But here’s one very obvious one. Both in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and chapter 5, after Paul tells them about Jesus’ return to rapture us before the day of the Lord judgments start falling, he finishes with comfort one another or encourage one another.

Tell me, what in the world would be comforting or encouraging if, in fact, Christians have to try and survive through seven years of unprecedented trouble in the tribulation era? What he’s telling them is comforting and encouraging because he’s saying Christ is coming back to rescue us before those judgments start falling, that we’re going to be saved from that mess. If going into the tribulation’s horrors was the destiny of believers alive at the end of this age, wouldn’t you think Paul would be saying something completely different, like, Hey, you should probably be digging a bomb shelter or finding some remote cave to stash water and food to last you for several years because Jesus is coming back, all right, but not until that tribulation nightmare is over. So whatever you do, be ready for this awful time. There’s no hint of a warning like that.

There’s the complete opposite, in fact, the comforting and encouraging promise that Christ is returning for His church, that when the trumpet blows, believers will be caught up to be with Jesus and be rejoined with all those who have died in faith before them, and from then on, be together with the Lord. So again, the mystery, the new revelation that Paul is unlocking for us here in 1 Thessalonians chapters 4 and 5, I’m convinced, is that there will be, in fact, a return for Jesus specifically to take believers out of this world before the judgment of God falls on this world, an event that could happen at any time. It’s clear from this text and others that the early Christians, including the Apostle Paul, fully believed that the return of Jesus could well occur in their lifetimes. But have you ever heard the old Christians saying, Don’t be so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good?

There have been throughout history, even in our time, misguided people who have fixated on a date for the end of the world or for the coming of Christ, and calculated by some false guru or prophet have given their followers this time, and then they’ve all quit their jobs or they’ve gathered on a mountaintop waiting for the rapture, only to be disappointed and look foolish when it didn’t happen as they were convinced it would. Mark this down. When Jesus was questioned point blank on the time of His return, He told His disciples, and this is in Matthew chapter 24, verse 36, No one knows the day or the hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, meaning Himself, but the Father only. The timing of Jesus’ return for His church is one mystery that God is still holding close. It will not be disclosed.

He wants every generation of Christians to realize it could happen in their time, and so to be ready. If some pretend self-proclaimed prophet imagine they’ve been given this secret information of exactly when Jesus will return, they’ve just outed themselves as a false prophet. The teaching of the New Testament to those of us living throughout this church age is that it will come unexpectedly and could happen at any time, so be ready. For believers, this is our hope and should never be very far from our minds. Yet in the meantime, while we wait for this event, Paul’s instructions in chapter 4, verses 11 and 12 apply to us. Aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, to work with your own hands as we’ve instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

And in chapter 5, at verse 14, he adds, And we urge you, brothers, admonish those who are idle. It’s possible to have two things going on in your head at once, I hope. Be ready for the return of Christ because it could happen at any time, yes. But don’t quit your day job. Be good citizens. Carry on with your lives and obligations.

Don’t give non-believers reasons to disparage you and our faith, Paul exhorts them. He then gives the Thessalonian Christians several very practical instructions toward the end of this letter. We’ll focus more on those kinds of instructions in future epistles because the big idea I wanted to zoom in on in this podcast was this new information it contains about the return of Jesus we call the rapture. First Thessalonians’ major contribution to our understanding of the future is that revelation that Christians will be caught up before the tribulation time. Jesus will return to take His own back to heaven before the judgments fall, and that that could happen any day. Realize, if Paul expected that could happen in his generation, and he did, how much closer we are to that monumental event today.

The truth of the imminent return of Jesus Christ for believers should not only provide us comfort and encouragement, but also motivation to live lives pleasing to God and fruitful for God as we wait for His Son from heaven, Jesus, who will rescue us from the coming wrath. When I think about the imminent return of Jesus, you know what I always think? I always think, if it happens in my lifetime, what will Christ find me busy doing when He returns? Will I be ashamed at His coming, or will I be excited and anxious to see Him? I was thinking too, as I worked on this podcast, I’m sure someone, probably many in the future who listen to it, have not yet decided to accept Christ and turn their lives toward following Him. If that’s you, I hope you will give this whole subject some serious thought.

You know why? Because so many prophecies about Jesus’ first coming were fulfilled exactly like the Bible said they would be, from exactly where He would be born, to what specific family He would be from, to the year He would begin His public ministry, to the kinds of miraculous powers He would demonstrate, to how He would be betrayed, to exactly how He would die, and even that His body would never see decay, that is, He would be resurrected. And these have been all precisely fulfilled. So, what are the odds that the promises remaining about Jesus’ return, about the day of the Lord judgments that follow that event, the tribulation time, and so on, won’t happen just the way the Bible says? They will. In fact, many descriptions in the New Testament about what the world will be like when Jesus returns seems an awful like like our world today.

We at Share the Word hope you are ready when the trumpet sounds, when the archangel of God calls, Come up here. The time to make sure you are ready by receiving Christ and turning your life toward following Him is now. If you’d like to talk to somebody more about what that means, please email us at info at sharetheword.org. We’d be glad to talk with you. And I’d urge you to do that because, you know what? One of these days, this era we’re living in now is going to suddenly end.

And when it does, you definitely want to be among those who are going up. What an incredible message, Paul. If you’re listening to this podcast, you’ve either accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you’re on the path of learning God’s Word and spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. But some of you may have happened upon this podcast, and you’re looking for answers to questions that may have been weighing heavily on your heart. If that’s you, if something’s hindering you from going up, as Paul says, please don’t hesitate. Email us at info at sharetheword.org, and let’s have a conversation.

From all of us at Share the Word, our blessings and prayers go out to all of you.