Norm Sharbaugh Ministries ©2011 The Rapture

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22 The Rapture Introductory Note: The Rapture is an event in which God will send His Son, whom He raised from the dead, to the clouds above the earth to take all Christians, living at the time and those that have died, to heaven. (1 Thessalonians 1:10) He will take us to Heaven before the seven-year period of tribulation begins on earth. (The Tribulation is a time when God, in love and mercy, will save a large multitude of people; He will shed His wrath on a wicked generation; He will save a remnant of Jews; He will dissolve all human government at Armageddon; and He will change the topography of the earth in preparation for His kingdom.) God will shed His wrath the entire seven years of the Tribulation! There is not going to be three and one half beginning years of peace. With the church gone and the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit moved out of the way (2 Thessalonians 2:6-12), there will be no peace. This time is called the Tribulation. When the Antichrist enters the Jewish temple and demands to be worshipped as God, this will initiate the last three and one half years which is called the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:15-21). The idea of some that the church will leave in the middle of this, is not true. The Tribulation and the Great Tribulation are also called "the time of Jacob's trouble." The entire time will be a time of God's wrath. The church will be spared from this time. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 says, "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." We will be delivered from the entire seven-year period of God's wrath that is coming.

Questions from Rapture Passages 1. From what is Jesus going to deliver Christians? 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."

A better translation is, "who delivers [present tense] us from the wrath to come." (NKJV)

Norm Sharbaugh Ministries ©2011 The Rapture

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2. The word rapture does not appear in the Bible, but the concept does. What words in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 reflect the idea of a rapture? 1 Thessalonians 4:17 "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."

(The word rapture carries the idea of being transported from one place to another place.) 3. What does Paul show the Rapture to be? 1 Corinthians 15:51 "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed."

The Rapture is called a mystery first of all because it was never revealed in the Old Testament. Secondly, it was given by direct revelation of God to Paul. Thirdly, it's a strange revealed truth to some that a whole generation of Christians will go to Heaven without dying. They will take a shortcut—no flowers, no funeral, and no angels to take them there. They will be taken there by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. 4. How quickly will the Rapture occur? 1 Corinthians 15:52 "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."

Bell Telephone technicians have calculated the blink of the eye to be eleven one hundreths of a second. 5. What will sound at that time? (1 Corinthians 15:52 above)

6. What will happen to our bodies at the Rapture? 1 Corinthians 15:51, 53, 54 "51Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed...53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."

7. Who will come with Jesus from heaven when He comes at the Rapture? 1 Thessalonians 4:14 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."

Comment: The word sleep refers to those that died trusting in Christ as their Savior. Their spirits went to be with the Lord at their death. Now their spirits will come with Jesus and enter their resurrected bodies at the Rapture.

Norm Sharbaugh Ministries ©2011 The Rapture

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8. What will be the two groups of people that will be "caught up" to be with Jesus? 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 "16For 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: 17then 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."

9. Where will we meet the Lord at this time? 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (see above)

10. How long will we spend with the Lord? 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (see above)

11. What reason does Paul have for giving these Christians this information ahead of time? 1 Thessalonians 4:18 "Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

12. In chapter 13 of the Gospel of John, Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to leave them and they will not be able to follow Him at this time. This most certainly saddened their hearts. What reason does Jesus have in John 14:1 for telling them of the Rapture? John 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me."

13. What is in Jesus' Father's house? John 14:2 "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."

14. What is one of the reasons Jesus is going to His Father's house? John 14:2 (see above)

15. After Jesus prepares a place for us, what does Jesus say He will do? John 14:3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

Norm Sharbaugh Ministries ©2011 The Rapture

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16. In John 14:3 (above), what do the words "receive you unto myself" mean? Choose one. a.

We will come with Jesus to the earth.

b.

We will go from the earth to meet Jesus in the air.

Let's Sum It All Up! The Second Coming is in two phases with a little more than seven years in between. The first phase is called the Rapture in which Jesus comes in the air and calls Christians—those who have died throughout the church age and those living at this time—to Himself. The second phase (a little more than seven years after the Rapture) is the Second Coming in which Jesus comes with His saints from heaven to the earth. These saints were those that were raptured seven years before and are now come for the Battles of Armageddon to be with Christ as He sets up His Millennial Kingdom. The second phase is in Bible Study 23, "The Second Coming" in this series. In the Rapture, Jesus will come for His saints (Christians) both living and dead to take them out of the earth before the Tribulation (the first three and one half years) and the Great Tribulation (the last three and one half years) begins. In the Rapture, Jesus will come with the spirits of Christians who have been in Heaven through the church age and, at this time, will be resurrected. The Christians who are living will be changed. Then both groups will meet the Lord in the air. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) The Bible describes the Rapture as an event in which Jesus is coming for His saints. Second Thessalonians 2:1 says, "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him." In the second phase, Jesus comes with all His saints to fight the Battles of Armageddon, the bloodiest battles in all of human history, and set up his Millennial kingdom. 1 Thessalonians 3:13 says, "To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints." Comment: The word battle is the Greek word "polemos" which is plural and means "a series of battles." I refer you to chapter 10, page 165 of my book, Red Sky's a Blazin'. You can order it with a discount from my website: www.visitnormsplace.com.