Are You Ready For The Rapture?

Introduction

Though the word "rapture" is often used in theological discussions, it is never used in the Bible. This does not mean however, that it is an unscriptural term, or that it should not be used. In verse seventeen of our text we find the words "caught up," which mean "to snatch or catch away" (W.E. Vine, Expository Dictionary Of New Testament Words, Vol. I, published by Fleming H. Revell Company, Old Tappan, New Jersey; pg. 174). This is essentially the idea found in the Latin word "RAPTO," from which we get our English word "rapture." The Latin word meant "to seize, to carry off" (Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Ready, published by Victor Books, Wheaton, Illinois; pg. 89).

The Rapture may be a rather mysterious or vague event to many people. However, the Scriptures conclusively points out the certainty of this event and those that follow it. Though we are not told the exact time of the Rapture, we do know that it is the next great event on the eschatological agenda. As certainly as you are sitting here this morning, the events which I have just read to you in First Thessalonians 4: 13-18 will take place.

My question and concern this morning however, is not the certainty of the Rapture, but, "Are you ready for the Rapture?" Saint and sinner alike must address this question. I want to discuss some  reasons why everyone needs to seriously consider this question today.

Theme: You must be ready for the Rapture because of:

I. The Suddenness Of The Rapture

It Will Happen Without Signs

1. It Will Be Without Warning

1 Thessalonians 5: 1-2, "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. (2) For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."

"The Day of the Lord" begins immediately at the Rapture of the Church. This term is used to refer to that period of time beginning after the Rapture of the Church and ending with the creation of the new heavens and new earth after the Millennial Kingdom. It's occurrence cannot be specifically fixed due to the fact that it follows the Rapture, which also cannot be specifically fixed as to its time of occurrence.

2. The Signs Of Matthew 24 Are Often Applied Wrongly

The appearance of false Christs (Matthew 24: 4-5).
Wars and rumors of wars (Matthew .24: 6).
Famines, pestilence, and earthquakes in diverse places (Matthew 24: 7).
The gospel of the kingdom must be preached to all the world (Matthew 24: 14).
The budding of the fig tree (Matthew 24: 32).
The sign of the days of Noah (Matthew 24: 37-41).

If you will carefully read Matthew 24: 3-35, you will find it describes the conditions during the Tribulation period. Matthew 24: 36-51 speaks of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ.

The gospel of Matthew was written primarily to the Jews that they might understand that Jesus Christ was their promised Messiah and coming King. All of the signs mentioned in Matthew 24 were given so the Jews would know when Messiah's kingdom was about to be set up.

There are no signs given in scripture concerning the Rapture of the Church. We are merely told to watch and wait for Jesus.

Hebrews 9: 28b "...and unto them that look for him shall he (Jesus) appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

1 Thessalonians 1: 10 "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."

B. It Will Happen Speedily

1 Corinthians 15: 51-52, "Behold, I show 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

Jesus could come today. He could come before I finish this message. But the question is, "Are you ready for the Rapture?"

Rapture will take place quickly and unexpectedly. We need to be ready. There's a man in yonder glory I have loved for many years,

He has cleared my guilty conscience and has banished all my fears.

He is coming in a moment in the twinkling of an eye,  And no time will be allotted for you to utter one good-bye. No time to kiss the husband or embrace the loving wife, If they are but united in the bonds of holy life.

Are you ready, Christian, ready, for shout and trump and voice?

Will His coming make you tremble or cause you to rejoice?

Are you walking, talking with Him daily, taking Him your care,Do you live so close to heaven that a breath would waft you there?

Quoted in Fairest of All, Herbert Lockyer, Eerdmans, 1936, p. 71.

II. The Subjects Of The Rapture

1. The Believers In Christ Will Be Raptured

Thessalonians 4: 15-17, "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (16) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

Note: Only believers, those who have given their hearts to Christ by faith, will be raptured. Here's what I'm talking about:

Saving faith may thus be defined as a voluntary turning from all hope and grounds based on self merit, and assuming an attitude of expectancy toward God, trusting Him to do a perfect saving work based only on the merit of Christ.

L.S. Chafer, True Evangelism, p. 55-6.

B. The Bride Of Christ Will Be Raptured

1. Paul Likened The Church At Corinth To A Virgin Engaged To Her Lord

Corinthians 11: 2, "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."

2. The Church Will Enjoy The Marriage Supper Of The Lamb

Revelation 19: 7, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready."

Note: In Ephesians 5, Paul illustrates the relationship between Christ and the Church with the marital relationship between a husband and his wife.

The book of Revelation places the Marriage of the Lamb between the Judgment Seat of Christ and the Millennial Kingdom.

3. The Church Will Not Go Through The Tribulation's Languishing

Thessalonians 5: 9, "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ."

Revelation 3: 10, "Because thou (church at Philadelphia) hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth."

III. The Situation After The Rapture

A. The Judgment Of Saints Will Take Place

1. The Saints Will Be Judged According To Their Works Immediately After The Rapture

Corinthians 5: 10 "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, whether it be good or bad."

The knowledge that we will one day stand before the Lord Jesus to give an account of our lives on earth should spur us to greater faithfulness and Christ-likeness.

"My greatest thought is my accountability to God." Daniel Webster.

The Judgment Seat "is meant for us professing Christians, real and imperfect Christians; and it tells us that there are degrees in that future blessedness proportioned to present faithfulness."

Alexander Maclaren, 1826-1910.

2. This Judgment Will Not Determine Salvation, But Reward

1 Corinthians 3: 13-15, "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. (14) If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. (15) If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire."

NOTE: I fear that many Christians, myself included, will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ with more regrets than rewards. May God help us to get serious about faithfully serving Jesus.

When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ And He shows me His plan for me;

The plan of my life as it might have been Had He had His way, and I see

How I blocked Him here and I checked Him there And I would not yield my will,

Shall I see grief in my Savior's eyes; Grief though He loves me still?

Oh, He'd have me rich, and I stand there poor, Stripped of all but His grace,

While my memory runs like a hunted thing Down the paths I can't retrace.

Then my desolate heart will well-nigh break With tears that I cannot shed.

I'll cover my face with my empty hands And bow my uncrowned head.

No. Lord, of the years that are left to me, I yield them to Thy hand.

Take me, make me, mold me

To the pattern Thou hast planned. Source Unknown.

3. Awareness Of The Coming Rapture Should Inspire Christians To Live Right

1 Thessalonians 5: 6-8, "Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. (7) For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. (8) But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation."

Note: Knowing that the Rapture could take place at any moment is not cause to sit and soak, but to be faithful to Christ.

During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives: On May 19th, 1780 the sky of Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the windows, feared the end was at hand.

Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, "The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought."

Rather than fearing what is to come, we are to be faithful till Christ returns. Instead of fearing the dark, we're to be lights as we watch and wait.

Harry Heintz

B. The Judgment Of Sinners Will Take Place

Zephaniah 1: 14-18, "The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. (15) That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. (16) A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. (17) And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. (18) Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land."

Matthew 24: 21-22, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (22) And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."

Note: Revelation 6-19 tells of the many horrors that will come upon the earth during the Tribulation. Among those horrors mentioned are wars, famine, pestilence, persecution, and catastrophic convulsions of the earth.

Tim LaHaye notes:

"Considering together the Rapture, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, the many judgments of God, and the martyrdom of the saints during the second half of the Tribulation, it is unlikely that half a billion people will still be living on the planet when Jesus Christ returns. Probably billions will die of the plagues. Others will die from wars, earthquakes, changes in nature, and the other judgments of God. Unsanitary conditions will be everywhere during that time, doubtlessly exacerbating the many infectious diseases that already will be out of control."

Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, Are We Living In The End Times?, published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois; pg. 179.

One of the specific purposes of the Tribulation period is the judgment of the nation of Israel. The Old Testament refers to this period as a time of "Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30: 7). Before Christ returns to earth to set up His Millennial Kingdom, at the end of the Tribulation, Israel will finally realize that Jesus Christ was and is her Messiah.

Lost Jews and Gentiles will be forced to endure the Tribulation. Many will be saved during that time. But countless millions will die in their sins without Christ. Are You Ready For The Rapture?