The rapture is not about an event, but about a Person, Jesus Christ.
Sermon Title: FOUR VIEWS OF THE RAPTURE
Sermon Text: VARIOUS TEXTS
Sermon Series: LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS
By: PTR NESTOR SY
Sermon Notes:
The doctrine of the rapture is not an essential Christian belief.
I. What are the four views of the Rapture?
IMMINENCY DEFINED
“The certainty that He may come at any moment, the uncertainty of the time of arrival, and the fact that no prophesied event stands between the believer and that hour.” (Thomas Ice, “Imminence and the Rapture”)
II. What unites these views?
JOHN 13:35 NASB
35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
“Satan, the master deceiver, does not want us to get excited about the fact that there are more signs of Christ’s return today than any other time in church history. Consequently, we can expect him to send all kinds of deceivers into the church to rob us of the keen consciences of living every day in the light of Christ’s possible return. When the ***-trib position is attacked, undermining the faith of a young Christian, or when a minister embraces a different theory and divides his church by teaching it, Satan notches another victory.”
ALL FOUR VIEWS BELIEVE THAT GOD IS GOING TO RAPTURE US TO BE WITH HIM.
The rapture is not about an event, but about a Person, Jesus Christ.
WE WILL EITHER BE RESCUED FROM WRATH OR PROTECTED FROM WRATH.
WE’RE GOING TO GET GLORIFIED BODIES.
WE WILL BE REUNITED WITH OUR (SAVED) LOVED ONES.
III. What’s at stake?
“No particular view of end-time events is without problems. Thus, as far as coming to conclusions about the timing of the rapture is concerned, we must understand that there is no simple answer to this question, neither is there any quick solution.
If there were, then all Christians would be in agreement on this topic. The fact that godly men and women disagree on this matter should make this clear.
Almost everyone agrees that there is no single verse or passage that gives an undeniable or irrefutable answer to this question of the timing of the rapture. Any answer must be derived from studying the totality of Scripture.
We cannot pick one verse here and other verse there in an attempt to construct this doctrine. It is an issue that demands our serious study.” THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH, Don Stewart
REVELATIONS 13:2 NASB
2 And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.
REVELATIONS 13:7 NASB
7 It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.
DANIEL 7:21-22 NASB
21 “I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them
22 until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.
REVELATIONS 20:4 NASB
4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God,… and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
“The timing of the rapture is one of the most debated issues in eschatology. Most Christians agree that the Rapture will occur, but the same is not true when it comes to when the Rapture will occur.
The key issue is this: Will the church go through any or all of the seven-year Tribulation before the Rapture occurs? Or put in another way – when will the believing be leaving? The question is more than just a theological, ivory-tower debate. There’s a great deal at stake.
If the Rapture occurs in your lifetime, your future will be very different depending on which view is correct. Will you be here to see the Antichrist? Will you be forced to choose whether to take his mark? Will you witness the carnage of God’s wrath poured out on the whole world?
Or will you be in heaven during this time, experiencing a glorious fellowship and intimacy with the Lamb and His sheep? Will you and I be here for none, half, or all of the Tribulation? It’s an important and sobering question.” THE END, Mark Hitchcook
MATTHEW 24:10 NASB
10 At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.