Gtoctr/ss062809
Key Scriptures: John 14
1 ¶ "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
For centuries there has been division among believers and denominations about pre tribulation rapture, mid tribulation rapture, post tribulation rapture, or no rapture of the church at all.
Depending on how one puts together the various scriptures on this subject throughout the bible and interprets them, an argument can be made to support any one of these doctrines.
In fact the Bible has so much to say about these things, and it could seem a bit confusing if it were not for the overriding admonition from the Apostle Paul who wrote to the Church in Thessalonica and said:
1 Thessalonians 5 NLT
1 I really don’t need to write to you about how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters.
2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.
This makes it pretty clear … the day of the Lord will come unexpectedly … In fact Jesus told His disciples that He did not even know the day nor the hour in which He would return …
However, without respect as to when Jesus is coming back … one thing is very clear and very certain:
Acts 1:11 “… This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."
Jesus is coming back! … and as to when, I might add … if He comes for no one else …
Jesus is coming back for you in your lifetime.
We call this event --- death!
Through the last 30 years of ministry, I have noticed that almost no one teaches or preaches or hears much about death or what happens after death, unless they are at a funeral. So, people who never go to funerals may never have the chance to hear the truth about this ‘all important’ event which every one will experience for themselves.
So, without further ado, let’s leave the question of when Jesus will return and turn our attention to the fact that He is coming back, and coming back for each one of us soon. For many, He’s coming sooner than they think, sooner than they want, and even sooner than they can afford. I hope you are ready when He comes for you.
Let’s turn to 1 Thessalonians 4 and see what will happen:
1 Thessalonians 4 NLT
13 ¶ And now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have died so you will not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope.
The scriptures cannot be clearer that the Holy Spirit is talking about the death of a Believer in Jesus as Messiah, Savior and Lord. There is no other way to get ready than to believe upon Jesus and profess Him as Lord.
Philippians 1
21 ¶ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
When one of the thieves on the cross asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His Kingdom, Jesus replied … ‘Today you will be with Me in paradise.’ Wherever Jesus was headed, the thief was assured that he was going be right there together with Him.
The Apostle Paul makes us to understand that when it came time for him to die, he full well expected to find himself in a far better place, right in the presence of Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4
14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus comes, God will bring back with Jesus all the Christians who have died.
Bring back? Yes, God will bring back with Jesus all the Believers who have died. Well, wonder what we will be doing between the time we die and the time we come back to the earth with Jesus?
Luke 16 records Jesus’ account of two men who died and their immediate after life experiences. One man was carried by Angels to be with Abraham in a place of comfort while the other man’s body was buried but his soul went to a place of torment, each one awaiting the final judgment.
Now I firmly believe that God has a work ethic. I think there is work going on in heaven, perhaps building a city, outfitting mansions, making streets of gold and gates of pearl. I even imagine that someone is tasked with the job of inscribing the names of the twelve Apostles on foundation stones of the New Jerusalem.
At any rate …
2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
When the Believer dies, they are immediately present with the Lord. James tells us that the body without the spirit is dead, not the other way around.
1 Thessalonians 4
15 I can tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not rise to meet him ahead of those who are in their graves.
In light of all of the scriptures on this subject we know that the souls of men who have died are not dormant and waiting in the grave in some type of soul sleep. The body, which is a corruptible mortal shell, an earthly house for the soul, dies and returns to dust but the spirit and soul of man continue alive, alert and in God’s hands.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
1 Thessalonians 4
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves.
This is where and when the souls of Christians who have already died will be clothed upon with a glorified body, an eternal, immortal house for the soul, incorruptible and undefiled, just like it happened to Jesus in that Garden Tomb on that first resurrection day nearly 2000 years ago. Souls will receive glorified bodies … this must happen.
1 Corinthians 15
51 ¶ Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
The dead first and then the living receive their new glorified bodies.
1 Thessalonians 4
17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever.
After the great resurrection of the saints in their glorified bodies, those Believers who are still alive on earth will be immediately changed into the image of Christ, in a twinkling! With His appearing there shall come a miraculous transformation of our earthly bodies and we will shed this old tabernacle, this earthly flesh, and take upon ourselves the image of the incorruptible and immortal as we are caught up in the air to be with our Lord forever.
1 Thessalonians 4
18 So comfort and encourage each other with these words.
So, death is not the end, for the believer or for the unbeliever. I have heard say that there are no dead atheists … I think that is so.
I am confident that Jesus will return for me in my lifetime and it is imperative that I be ready. This is why I have chosen to accept my heart felt conviction that Jesus is the Son of Almighty God, sent to earth as both Son of God and Son of Man, born of a Virgin in the town of Bethlehem, raised under the guiding hand of God’s chosen earthly parents, lived a sinless life, died an atoning death, resurrected to life the third day victorious over sin, death, hell, and the grave, and coming again to signal the close of this age and to put an end to all sin and wickedness.
I believe in Jesus, He is my Lord, my Savior and my soon coming King. It is to God our Father, through Jesus His Son, that we owe all honor, glory, worship, and allegiance. Be reconciled to God!
Death is something you cannot stop, you cannot fool, and you cannot afford to be unprepared for. Trust in Jesus today for you know not the day nor the hour when the Son of Man will come again, if for no one else, just for you! Get ready now and live in peace and comfort!
