The Second Coming of Christ involves a moment known as the Rapture, where believers, both dead and alive, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. This event, described in 1 Thessalonians 4, is a key part of premillennial interpretation of end-time prophecy. There are more events to occur mentioned by the Books of Daniel and Revelation needing to be understood as to when and how they fit in with this eschatological model. The “Lord’s Return” involves more than just a “rapture”. If the Rapture takes the Christians away, what then happens with the population left behind on earth and how do the politics work out with the struggle Israel has with surrounding nations? The operations of the Antichrist and the machinations of the nations are far harder to interpret from the Book of Revelation and its later chapters. While there are different views on the timing and nature of Christ’s return with His saints, this 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 passage provides clear details about the reunion of believers with the Lord in the sky. Understanding these teachings offers comfort and hope for Christians, assuring them that they will always be with Christ after this reunion with Him.

Automatically Generated Transcript

[00:00:00] In these evening services what we’ve made a beginning to do is to look at the doctrine or the teaching of the Scriptures about Jesus’ Second Return. Second coming, His return to the earth. And with regard to that teaching there are a number of ways that people put all together the very Scriptures and some of those interpretive schemes have been given names, fancy names and there was three that we mentioned last time and we made a start on one that is called about the Second Coming. It’s called to do with when Jesus coming is going to be with respect to closeness or otherwise to the millennium. It’s called post and that’s what we did at the previous time, a little bit. And another one that is also mentioned

[00:00:59] as an interpretive scheme is called Amillennial. And then there’s a third one which is called Premillennial. And so I’m making a little bit of ground of going through what those various interpretive schemes are how they are put together and give us some understanding as to which we should choose. The fact of the matter is that the scriptures, which relate to Jesus’ return are all in different spots in the Scriptures and they come out from different angles

[00:01:28] and there isn’t any one spot that gives us all the information, and we are left with the purpose of trying to put it all together, and the truth of the matter is that the methods of putting it together are generally how we, on the interpretive N, have come to a decision. And, of course, there’s going to be different people who will say different ways to understand it. And that’s why we have this post-millennial, pre-millennial, or amillennial.

[00:02:00] Now, you might wonder about that fancy name. It’s really just that those three terms are adjectival, meaning they’re descriptive, of the coming of Jesus with respect to the connection to the millennium. So post-millennial means that people would believe that there would be a thousand years, which is what the millennium is. And following that Jesus would return. So his return, his second coming is post-millennial and the word post-millennial is either

[00:02:31] you’d say adjectival or you might say is adverbial depending on how you were trained in English. Anyway, but then also there’s premillennial and premillennial is the idea that Jesus coming is going to be at least a part of it before the thousand years, not that there won’t be other things happening after. But his coming back to the Earth, a second advent, would be before a thousand year period of time. And so that’s called premillennial.

[00:03:03] Now, in order to talk about this, we have varying interpretive methods. And someone lent me a book to read. I really like the title of the book. It says, God’s Witness to Himself, which highlights the fact that when we have all of our theories about what’s going to happen and we rely upon our now yes we rely upon our education we rely upon what we might have been taught of the church we grew up in that that’s sort of trusting in our traditions a little bit but the truth of the matter is we need to somehow come to what are

[00:03:39] our beliefs come to our doctor’s come to our those things we take is more a little more certain, to be because of what God himself says. And so the title God’s witness to himself sounds to me not a bad idea. What God says is what you should take most importantly. Now in this particular book though I have to say that I disagree with much of it. Not that there weren’t a lot of true statements but there’s something they said which look like a good idea, but how they actually did it wasn’t working out at least according to me. And so I’ll read you just what the person wrote. They said being a student of the Bible we should always work from clear statements on the subjects and then following that go to the not so clear ones. Rather than the

[00:04:35] reverse, don’t start on the difficult passages and work your way back to the clear ones. Now that’s a very good idea. I think I agree with the idea, I just don’t agree with what this fellow thought was clear. And he would pick on something which in my estimate was just a simple summary without trying to put any interpretive scheme on it. For example in the Gospels, Jesus talks about the fact that at his voice, some will rise to everlasting life and some will rise to everlasting punishment.” I think Jesus is saying a truth but He’s not giving us all the details of the times and the order and things at all. To me that’s not clear and that respect is just a simple statement. And so to make that the reason why you won’t allow any other further complication than the simplicity of that statement is just bad logic.

[00:05:32] And the passage I think, if I were to go through all the various spots in the New Testament to talk about the second coming, let alone introducing the Old Testament, if I wanted to go through all those spots, the one that I think seems descriptively to be accurate about more details is the one that we put on the screen tonight. The one that’s up there now. And you’ll see that the Apostle begins

[00:05:56] but I did not want you to be, the word in the Greek is agnostic, basically, or Simon, and it means uninformed. They don’t want you to not be in the know, brothers. And so the passage introduces itself that is there to give you more accurate information about those who are asleep. Now by the way, when the Bible refers to the people who are asleep, it is not the people who have been too tired doing their examinations. It’s not the ones who have been knocked on the head

[00:06:30] or had a car accident, but it’s referring to people who’ve died and it’s referring to them in a polite way of saying that there’s been a sleep in the sense that they’re going to be awakened. And it’s a bit of a metaphor of people who’ve died but they’re heading towards a resurrection of some sort, and they’re presently asleep. Don’t want you to be uninformed about those who are asleep that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope, whether it’s people who who die outside of Christ and they have no hope, or people who’ve got loved ones who have so died, and to the best of our knowledge, although you can never be exactly sure, they didn’t come to Christ in time before they died, so we have no hope about them. But it’s referring to people concerning whom they themselves knew Christ when death came,

[00:07:22] and we as we go to their funeral are able to have a rejoicing time, because we’re rejoicing the facts that their death is just a temporary matter, and they are going to be awakened again. The passage is about how Jesus brings people back to life again, and that bringing them back to life isn’t only that they move into the spiritual realm because the people who do die are not non-existent, and they do go on in consciousness even though their bodies are dead. That’s something that I think, I won’t go into the evidence for, but I think it’s very clear that the people who pass away in Christ do not stop existing or thinking – they go into another realm. But that’s not the resurrection. There are some church members in watering down the claims of the scriptures, hopefully to make it a bit more enticing to those outside of the Christian faith. They make it simple, that dying and there being

[00:08:19] life beyond it is just you in the other realm. But the Bible is very clear and this passage is one that also joins in this, that on the other side of death there’s a moment of resurrection that’s coming and just so that you get convinced along the way, I always like to think that my audience, I’m trying to convince them. Return to 1 Corinthians 15 and we have a passage there which is talking about death and this is the same writer, the Apostle Paul. And he’s talking in 1 Corinthians in chapter 15 and in this discussion he talks about what happens beyond the grave and he talks about the facts that there is a moment of coming back to life again and in a moment we’ll get that on

[00:09:08] the screen. I think I gave it to you. Thank you, you’re doing well. And those who have fallen asleep in Christ, those also they fall asleep in Christ have perished so there is a proper death that’s happened to them. If in Christ we have hope in this life only and there’s nothing more beyond the grave, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, he’s the pattern and he’s the one that leads and he was raised from the dead. The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep and so Jesus is the one who’s showing the way and he’s living out what’s going to happen to us too but he came to life again his resurrection gives to us hope. Not only do they insinuate a lot of applications of his resurrection but

[00:10:00] it’s also on the fact that is telling us to know that our death is not the physically. Jesus is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as an animal dies, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own order.” Hope you can follow that shift screen. Each in his own water is order, Christ first and others following. An implication is that there is a resurrection from the dead of persons, particularly people who fell asleep in Christ, meaning they were Christians when they died. Then comes the end, the finale, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. The conclusion of

[00:11:05] people coming to life again physically, is not an incident where media is all over, but it is at a time when Jesus has got a job to do in which he has to destroy every rule and authority in power. And when you read the Old Testament passages about the coming of the Lord at the end of the age, that’s a part of what he has to do. I believe he’ll be doing some fixing up in the Middle East when he comes, but it’s all after this moment of people belonging to Christ having a resurrection. But Jesus is going to be busy at that time and he’s also going to totally get rid of Satan and his pretends for authority. Well anyway there’s a process that’s going to happen to that end. So then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after a number of things happening.

[00:12:00] So whatever you speak about the kingdom of God it’s not something that’s the moment Jesus has you resurrected that’s it. It’s not an instant kingdom of God but there’s going to be things that Jesus has to do to set it all in order. Now that’s 1st Corinthians 15. Let’s go back then to 1st First Thessaloleous in chapter 4. Which is our passage we had on the screen before. At this particular spot, we’re looking at what it says, and this is the passage that I think is the clearest, at least in the scope that it’s addressing. I think this is 1 Corinthians chapter 4, the clearest passage that talks about the Second Coming, and it’s clear because it tends to give itself the task of making things obvious So making things visible.

[00:12:52] And it begins by saying, I would not want you to be ignorant, brethren. That’s a spot that says agnostic. And we’re going to put that on the screen in a moment. But this is 1 Corinthians 4. And I think rather than being a difficult passage that you take, John saying about the resurrection, and the sum to everlasting life and sum to everlasting punishment, just a simple scene, take that as the clearest and therefore don’t allow any other details than the others to

[00:13:24] be ones that you listen to’ are just the reverse. I think if you follow this book that I showed you said about a good method is to pick a clear passage to start with and let it then colour what you take of the others. I think the clearest passage is our one 1 Did I say it right? First Thessalonians chapter four, and you had it up there before, so it must be there somewhere. But here in this passage, the apostle is addressing the question. There we are.

[00:13:58] I don’t want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, he set the precedent. Even so through Jesus, God will bring with him, those who have fallen asleep. Now what’s this, God will bring with him, those who have fallen asleep.

[00:14:21] It’s because when a person dies, and it’s likely to happen to all of us sooner or later, but when we die, our soul and spirit go to be with Jesus. We go to be with His, which at the moment is in heaven. But that’s not the end of the whole scene. He’s going when he comes back again. He’s going to bring those disembodied souls and spirits, those disembodied persons with him.

[00:14:48] And as he comes back to the earth, they’re not gonna miss out those ones who died too early and the people on earth have a kingdom. He sits up here on the earth and the poor other disembodied ones have gotta sort of float around a bit. No, that’s not how it is because there’s going to be a resurrection of them. And it is also we will have our bodies change, which Corinthians first Corinthians 15 says.

[00:15:12] And we and they are going to then meet the Lord in the air. This is the passage that is described as the rapture. And it’s detailed. And it’s entitled, I don’t want you to be uninformed. It’s about the purpose of making clear to us of the very thing to which it testifies. So I don’t think you make this a passage that you adjust to fit it in with other, more simple ones. Just the reverse, start with this one, and know for certain that there is a moment

[00:15:43] when there’s going to be a rapture. Now let’s talk about that word rapture. I’ve heard so many criticisms about theologians using that word, and some of it is they say well it’s not in the Bible. That’s a half truth, what it’s not in, it’s the English Bible. You can’t look up in English concordance on English Bible and look up the word rapture and find dimension. But that’s because it comes from the Latin

[00:16:11] and the word that it comes from the Latin is indeed here in your Bible looking at you. The word is there. It is the word to be caught up together. The Latin word, Rapera, as the infinitive is where the word rapture comes from. It’s just coming from the Latin not the English, to say that it’s not in the Bible. So why are you getting this passage? You’ve got something in it, that’s not in the scriptures. It is in the scriptures. It’s staring you in the face. We who are alive and are left until the coming of

[00:16:44] the Lord. We’re going to see it happen. The dead in Christ will rise first. And then we who are alive and are left will be caught up together, and the word caught up together, pathia is the Greek word. It means to be snatched up, just imagine if a horse came riding in. And the rider and I called him up on the phone and I said deal with that filler down on the sound desk he’s not doing it right. And he rode past there and pulled up the man who was twisting the knobs the wrong way. No he wasn’t actually, I’m making it look bad, but that what they would use in the Latin, this would repair. Someone leaned over, grabbed him around the arms and rode the horse out the door. It’d be quite an act to do without breaking the glass down the back there but that would be the wood

[00:17:40] repair. It literally means to be snatched up and taken away. Is the word in the Bible? It surely is. It’s in this very clear passage. And so I think that a good methodology is to find out how to best understand all the doctrine of the Second Coming as to take this passage first and let the others be read in the light of it. Whether you pick this one or that one first, actually, you ought to have the attitude of saying, they’ve They’re all got to be true, because they’re in their scriptures. I don’t like the sort of exegesis the Exposition people do, when they pick a favourite passage and get something out of that and make a model.

[00:18:28] And then they make the other passages, only agree to the degree that it asserted the same thing. I think that’s silly. Exegesis. Because they’re all scriptures, and there’s a meaning there for us to find out. And sometimes it’s difficult, because they come from different starting points and we are left with the fact that you can’t be absolutely certain.

[00:18:51] I mean, people get themselves absolutely certain on matters but it’s a fact of the Bible that there are some things you can be very certain on and there’s other things which you can take as your best theory. Do you know when I got changed to believe in the rapture? Really believe it, happened when I went to train overseas in Dallas, at Dallas Theological Seminary And a fellow who is a big expert on the second coming, he’s passed away now, so he’s found out the truth of all of his theories.

[00:19:22] But Doctor John Walford came walking down the steps the day that I was there, the very first day. And he heard that as a student he came over and introduced himself, and I told him that I’d enrolled in one of his classes. It was called Astchatological Problems. And the idea of the class he explained to me on the steps of the very first one, he says, is that we are going to look at the passages that are very difficult. He says, because everybody

[00:19:51] and everybody’s interpretive scheme can answer some passages and have others that they can’t. And I’ve decided to pick the theory that has the most biblical passages it can explain and the least problem spots that can’t. But this is a class on the problem spots. That day, he won me over because I thought that was a good way to treat the Scriptures. You take the ones you can’t doubt, you understand what they say, and the problems, you got to work on them and see what happens.

[00:20:25] And he was a big bod there whose books were written on the second coming that the seminary was known for. But he wasn’t someone who said you’ve absolutely if you’ve got to believe my theory. He was someone who said to the best of my guess or my looking through, this is the one that I’m relying on to best interpret. And the nature of all these passages is God hasn’t given us so much information that’s absolutely certain. That’s not the way the Bible is written,

[00:20:58] and there’s lots of spots where you can get very certain doctrines on. And there’s other spots where you hold them a little bit more graciously, is a good word. Well, then we who are alive, who are left, verse 17, will be caught up together, raptured, with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so will we always be with the Lord. I went from Dallas Theological Seminary

[00:21:26] up to Wheaton College, and deliberately at Dallas, I studied theology, but at Wheaton, I studied New Testament. Because I wanted to look to see what are the passages that you can be certain on. What I did discover was that the very institution in which I was there studying was in a building that had been given to them or paid for by the Billy Graham association. And there were several stories in the grad school

[00:21:53] that I was in, was in some of the higher stories, but the ground floor was given over to what was an evangelism museum. There were fascinating exhibits like little things that you could hear Billy Sunday, another old-fashioned preacher evangelist speaking, and there were things, you know, they had records of all sorts of evangelistic things. What they also had was a way that you could walk through the gospel by entering into a doorway

[00:22:22] where as you step through the different stages of it, it led you through things which then illustrated the steps of the Gospel from the birth of Jesus right through to the final judgment scene, but at one, as you climbed upstairs and there was a door you had to push on, you pushed on, and took a step and suddenly found yourself, it was rather scary at first,

[00:22:44] you found yourself in the open air or so you thought. So you made me look down at my feet and see that yes, I’m still standing on something, but they had the whole thing closed. So you got the idea that you’re in the air. and then there are other things around to show you that it was trying to illustrate that a part of the Gospel is this passage, that there’s a moment when we who are alive

[00:23:06] and remain shall be caught up together with the ones who got resurrected out of the graves and we’re caught up and we’ll beat the Lord in the air and they had a way to demonstrate it, and it was a very, very impactful way to walk through the Gospel in that museum of evangelism, It had the effect of really encouraging me about the truth of the Bible as teaching of the future that we have, therefore encourage one another with these words. Now, still people will argue, and this is one of the things in theological places where

[00:23:44] you get all sorts of arguments, and when I lectured at the college I had another lecturer there who was a millennial and his interpretive method and he would sit down and one day he made with the other professor sitting around, a bit of a joke at my expense and he said, you know, there are some people who still believe in this secret rapture and he introduced the word secret. The thing is, there is nothing in the bible about it being secret except for the fact that there are a lot of people who don’t cotton on too quick. but it’s there for all to read the scriptures. And I think it’s one of the plainest passages that you hardly should dub it as secret rapture.

[00:24:27] Oh, I had an nice little reply to him. I said, is it so secret? There are some theologians who know nothing about it, which was him. But though there is a rapture that the scriptures speak of, even though it is one interpretive method and there are others that people have and they have rationale which is good for them that they’re following. And we are to pray about what to believe

[00:24:52] but don’t be a person that wants to divide on this. It’s a mistake to say, well, if you don’t believe in my theory of the second coming I’m not gonna associate with you cause you’re almost liberal. That’s not how it is. And it’s a wonderful thing in our church that we can have people of different beliefs on this matter. And yet, what we have in common

[00:25:16] is the things that God has given us evidence for to be convinced which are the major elements of the gospel in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. However, I do need to say, about the evidence that God has given to be a witness to himself about this matter, is interesting because you can find precedence. For any given doctrine you could look through the rest of scriptures to see whether there’s some prophetic way that it’s given a bit of a hint, or maybe some incident that acts as a precedent. And when you come to the judgement that the scriptures speak itself of as being a bit of a metaphor for our future judgement, the flood, you find that there’s two types of people who missed the flood.

[00:26:07] There’s Enoch, who got snatched away and missed the flood. For the Bible tells us that he walked with God, he pleased God, that God just took him straight to heaven. But there are other people who were saved through the flood, and the precedent is very visible that Enoch got saved before the flood. And Noah and his friends and family got saved through the flood. And that’s a bit of a precedent. And there are others to varying degrees convincing Enoch that you’ll find to show that God sometimes has a varied way to deal with people. And some of what will happen that the book Revelation is talking about I think is at

[00:26:55] an era that is later than the Christian era where the churches have it all going all their way. I think the book of Revelation has a very interesting way that the first chapters, one, two and three, give a picture of the various conditions of the church. And one way to interpret those seven churches in the book of Revelation, those early chapters, to say that they are representative of varying positions churches can be in. You don’t have to therefore take it that not also comment on the difference of the churches across the ages of some others interpret. But nonetheless you could say that the Bible understands in how the book of Revelation has been written, that it begins in chapter 4 by saying after these things.

[00:27:44] And then as you go through the remaining many chapters of the book of Revelation, there is this picture of all sorts of events that are occurring, but the people who missed out at the rapture don’t get to go through. And so again, you’ve got a sort of a precedent there to take into consideration. So whether there is to be a rapture or not is not something quite so outlandish and so idiotic that you push it away. Indeed, I think it’s the thing that is the most sensible thing to do to take this passage and make it the one that you’re going to let the others get in line with. Well, about what the passage has to say is that there is going to be a moment that Jesus will return to earth for his saints. And so John Waver, that professor, would speak about the fact that it’s at the moment of the rapture because Jesus came for his saints, but when he finally comes at the end of the

[00:28:46] earth and the way that everybody sees him, Jesus perhaps he does a tour around the globe and every eye will see him or however he achieves it I don’t know but he’s not coming quietly, he’s coming in drama, that’s going to be at the end and there’s a precedent for that being that difference in the how people receive the second coming but we may be those who are caught up to meet the Lord in the air now interestingly about being caught up to meet the Lord of the air is then follows with the words and you can see it on the screen at the bottom of the passage and so will we always or ever some translations and so will be ever with the Lord and so for us that is the second coming because from that moment on we’re with Jesus wherever he is

[00:29:37] on earth cleaning up all the problems around the Middle East or whether he’s having the judgement, we will never be anywhere that’s not with the Lord.” And when you introduce chapter 20 of the book Revelation which talks about there being the thousand years and notice about that thousand years that His people are with Him to help lead and to rule, It’s a part of us ever going to be with the Lord. So my belief is that I will one day be in the Revelation working with Christ being amongst all those who are saved. Helping to be in charge of the ones who are yet to face their judgment and their people who are living and dying I’m whatever through the book of, through the thousand-year period. But I bring all

[00:30:29] this to your attention, so that you may continue in your exploration about the various ways people try and have theories of the Second Coming, remember we talked about their being post-millennial. Tonight I’ve talked about there being some who don’t believe there’s any millennium at all, and they would be amillennial. But we’ve referred mostly to what is the pre-millennial, that Jesus will come in the rapture time before the thousand years, which means, we will be with Him because we are able to be with the Lord through those 1000 years in helping Him in his reign. Let’s have a word of prayer, Heavenly Father, I thank You for a chance to look into this, to make a beginning in trying to work out about these eschatological waves of

[00:31:17] interpreting and I pray Heavenly Father that You are leaders. I thank You for Dr. John Walwood he’s found out the truth of his theories because he’s with you now. And he’s one of those who’s gone to glory. And Lord when you come back again, if the rapture were to happen next week, you’d be bringing him with you. And what I think it will be to experience seeing that’s the way you took your best guess turned out to be how it happened. Please lead us that we might know what you want us to believe.