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New Series - Topical Studies
The Legacy Standard Bible
The Legacy Standard Bible has been produced with the conviction that the words of Scripture as originally penned in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek are the eternal Word of God. The Holy Scriptures speak with authority to each generation, giving wisdom that leads to salvation, that people may serve Christ to the glory of God. Because it is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16), every word of it is inspired, every word is true, and every word must be conveyed to every nation, tribe, people, and tongue (Rev. 7:9), so that every word can be taught and obeyed (Josh. 23:14; Mt. 28:20; Jn. 17:17).
THE FOURFOLD AIM OF THE LOCKMAN FOUNDATION
1. These publications shall be true to the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
2. They shall be grammatically correct.
3. They shall be understandable.
4. They shall give the Lord Jesus Christ His proper place, the place which the Word gives Him; therefore, no work will ever be personalized.
PREFACE TO THE LEGACY STANDARD BIBLE
In the history of the English Bible translations, the King James Version is the most well-known. This time-honored version of 1611, itself a revision of the Bishops’ Bible of 1568, became the basis for the English Revised Version, which appeared in 1881 (New Testament) and 1885 (Old Testament). Its American counterpart, a product of both British and American scholarship, was published in 1901. Recognizing the values of the American Standard Version, The Lockman Foundation felt an urgency to preserve the ASV while incorporating recent discoveries of Hebrew and Greek textual sources and rendering it into more current English. This resulted in the New American Standard Bible, a translation based upon the time-honored principles of translation of the ASV and KJV, along with other linguistic tools and biblical scholarship.
The Legacy Standard Bible reflects another iteration of such preservation and refinement. Worked on by a core translation team in conjunction with pastors and educators from different countries, it is designed to honor, maintain, and advance the tradition represented by the NASB.
PRINCIPLES OF TRANSLATION
Key Principles: The Legacy Standard Bible has worked to uphold the style and translational choices of the NASB as much as possible. Even more, it has endeavored to follow through on the NASB’s stated intent to be true to the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. While the interpreter, teacher, and pastor have the goal of understanding what the text means, the translator is to provide them with what the text says. Consistently, the goal of this translation is to be a window into the original text. Within that goal, this revision has focused upon accuracy and consistency. It has checked that words and grammar have been carried over properly. It also established rules for the consistent translation of terms within their various nuances. This allows the reader to more easily reconstruct what the original texts said. It also helps the reader more easily trace the flow of argument within a text, identify when the same word is used in another passage, and make connections between texts.
There are limits to the application of this philosophy. In this edition, a word might not be translated consistently in order to maintain a highly familiar rendering of a text or to preserve a wordplay in the text that advances the inspired author’s message. Moreover, because Scripture is a literary masterpiece, some linguistic features could not be transferred to this translation, not even by a note. Nevertheless, ensuring that the original languages are precisely rendered paves the way for careful readers to discover these insights for themselves.
In this way, the LSB upholds the philosophy that a translation does not replace pastors or teachers but rather depends upon faithful believers and the church to study and live out what has been written (Acts 8:30-31). Translation is a tool for the church and must be done in that context so that each word of Scripture may be taught and lived.
Modern English Usage: The attempt has been made to render the grammar and terminology in contemporary English. When word-for-word literalness was determined unacceptable to the modern reader; a change was made in the direction of a more current English idiom. In the instances where this has been done, the more literal rendering has been indicated in the notes. There are a few exceptions to this procedure. Of note, while an effort has been made to incorporate conjunctions as much as possible, the conjunction “and” is occasionally not translated at the beginning of sentences because of differences in style between ancient and modern writing. Punctuation is a relatively modern invention, and ancient writers often linked most of their sentences with “and” or other connectives.
Alternate Readings: In addition to the more literal renderings, notations have been made to include readings of variant manuscripts, explanatory equivalents of the text, and alternate translations that may bring out a play on words difficult to maintain in the text. These notations have been used specifically to assist the reader in comprehending the terms used by the original author.
THE COMMITMENTS OF THE LEGACY STANDARD BIBLE
The Legacy Standard Bible aspires to be a legacy preserved – to uphold the work and tradition that is found in translations from the KJV, ASV, to NASB.
The Legacy Standard Bible aspires to be a legacy performed – to advance the commitments of past translations by bringing forth features of the original text relative to accuracy and consistency.
The Legacy Standard Bible aspires to be a legacy passed on – to equip generations to study Scripture and continue the philosophy of being a window.
~ The Lockman Foundation
For additional information we recommend you contact The Lockman Foundation -- https://www.lockman.org/legacy-standard-bible-lsb/
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Heavenly Signs - The Resurrection - Audio Link
THE
RESURRECTION
Text:
Selected Scriptures from the LSB
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we come before You this
morning seeking a fresh outpouring of knowledge, wisdom, and discernment from
the Holy Spirit. May He renew our hearts and minds, cleanse us from within, and
ignite a passion for Your Word and our Lord Jesus’ return. As we continue our
worship, we come to You with hearts full of gratitude for the gift of
redemption and the promise of eternal life. Thank You for Your sacrifice that
has freed us from sin and the blessed hope that transcends our earthly
existence, assuring us that death is not the end, but a new beginning.
Encourage us now through Your Word. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Introduction: A remarkable clinical drug trial is under way across
America having the potential of greatly increasing our life spans. Approved by
the US Food and Drug Administration, this study has targeted three thousand
people between the ages of 70 and 80 to see if certain medications can halt or
slow down human aging. The most promising known anti-aging drug is Metformin,
the world’s most widely used diabetes drug, and one that is readily available
and relatively inexpensive.
Some years ago, researchers in Belgium began testing Metformin on roundworms, and
the results were surprising. The tiny worms aged more slowly, didn’t develop
wrinkles, and stayed healthier longer. When doctors subsequently gave the drug
to laboratory mice, the results were similar. It increased the rodents’ longevity
by nearly 40% and improved the durability of their bones. In the new trial,
medical researchers are testing the drug on humans. If successful, the
researchers claim, it could make 70-yr.-olds as biologically healthy as 50-yr.
olds and allow people to live well into their 110s or 120s.
The advancement of medicine and technology has created a host of ethical
challenges, and it’s a little frightening to see science fiction come to life
all around us. Yet if it weren’t for medical science, many of us probably
wouldn’t be here today. I’m grateful for the medical professionals who, by
God’s grace, have helped us so much.
But let’s keep things in context. After the flood, lifespans dropped significantly.
According to Psalm 90, people could still hope to live 70 or 80 years, but
because of disease and infant mortality the average lifespan for much of
history dipped as low as age 35 before the advent of modern medicine in the
late 1800s. By 1990, the average lifespan was 76. Today it’s a bit higher; but
even if scientists get the number over the century mark, comparatively speaking,
it’s still only seconds in view of eternity. Technology can never give us a truly
indestructible or imperishable body or enable us to live forever. For that, we
need the resurrection.
The Bible consistently teaches the reality of the resurrection, for God created us with
eternity in our hearts. We’re made for something more than planet earth. We’re
made for heaven, and we aren’t going to exist there in a disembodied form. When
we die in Christ, our bodies fall asleep and are buried, and our souls go to be
with Christ in heaven where we will remain until the moment of resurrection.
But what then? What will the resurrection be like?
The most extensive passage of Scripture on this subject is 1 Corinthians 15, which we
commonly refer to as the resurrection chapter of the Bible. In verse 35, the
apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, answered two
questions posed to him by some of the Christians in the city of Corinth:
[READ 1
Cor. 15:35]
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”
(1) How are the dead raised back to life? and (2) What will our resurrection bodies
look like, and how will they function.
When we die, our bodies are buried and go into the ground. On the day of resurrection, our
bodies are going to come out of the grave, but they’re going to be different
from when they went in. It will still be the same in essence – we will still be
humans and you will still be you. But our current bodies are inferior to what
we need for everlasting life. I’m reminded every day (as I’m sure most of
you are) how much harder we have to work to maintain the same level of
fitness we had earlier in life. However, our resurrection bodies will be
perfectly suited for eternity.
First …
I.
OUR NEW BODIES WILL
BE INDESTRUCTIBLE (1 Cor. 15:42; Ps. 16:10; Rom. 6:8-9; Heb. 9:27)
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It
is sown a corruptible body, it is raised an incorruptible body.
Throughout the history of time as we know it, there has
only been one body not subject to corruption – the body of the Lord Jesus.
Psalm 16 says prophetically of Him,
[READ Ps. 16:10]
10 For You will not forsake my soul to Sheol;
You will not give Your Holy One over to see corruption.
Jesus was buried, but on the third day He came out of the
grave. His body was not subjected to any corruption.
Our present bodies wear out and grow old, but that will
not be the case with our resurrected bodies. They will have no capacity for
deterioration or decay. Your new body will be designed for eternity. It will
not be subject to accident, disease, aging, or death. It will be pain-free and
disease-free. It will never wear out and it will never die; it will outlive the
stars.
The exclamation point to this truth is found in Romans 6,
where the resurrection body of Jesus is described for us:
[READ Rom. 6:8-9]
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that
we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been
raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over
Him.
Notice these words about Jesus: “[He will] never die again.”
From the moment He arose from the tomb of Joseph of
Arimathea on Resurrection Sunday, there is one thing Jesus Christ cannot do. He
did it once, but He can never repeat the action. It is impossible for Him to
die again. His glorified body is imperishable and indestructible. And His
glorified body is the pattern for our own resurrection bodies.
[READ Heb. 9:27]
27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once ….
I think of our glorified bodies when I go for a walk.
Sometimes my body feels its age, and I struggle to walk back uphill to the
parsonage. But those occasions remind me that one day I will have a perfect,
indestructible body that can never wear down or wear out. When we get to heaven,
running a marathon will be just as easy as going out to meet a friend for lunch
because of our indestructible bodies.
Secondly,
II.
OUR NEW BODIES WILL
BE IDENTIFIABLE (1 Cor. 13:12; 15:43, 49; Ex. 34:29; Lk. 9:28-29; 24:39-43;
Rev. 21; Mt. 8:11; 13:43; Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Jn. 3:2; Jn. 20:17, 27; 21:12-13;
Ps. 78:25)
[READ 1 Cor. 15:43] Paul
writes,
43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in
glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
We can accurately translate the word power as glory
or brilliance. Our new bodies may actually have a luminescent
quality to them. In Exodus 34, we learn that as Moses spent time with the Lord
on Mount Sinai, something unusual happened to him.
[READ Ex. 34:29]
29 Now it happened when Moses was coming down
from Mount Sinai … that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone
because of his speaking with Him [Yahweh].
The same thing happened to Jesus on the Mount of
Transfiguration.
[READ Lk. 9:28-29]
28 Now it happened some eight days after these
words, that taking along Peter and John and James, He went up on the mountain
to pray. 29 And it happened that while He was praying, the
appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and
gleaming.
In Revelation 21, we’re told the entire city of the New
Jerusalem will be luminescent, brightly illumined by the light that radiates
from the glory of God. Jesus says in …
[READ Mt. 13:43]
43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
The glory the Lord Jesus has in His resurrection body is
a pattern for the glory we will have in our own bodies when we’re resurrected
from the grave. This is the essence of our teaching about the resurrection. As
several Scriptures tell us, the Lord Jesus Christ, in His own resurrection,
provided the payment, the proof, and the pattern for our own resurrection. The
Bible says:
[READ Phil. 3:20-21]
20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which
also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who
will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of
His glory, by His working through which He is able to even subject all things
to Himself.
[READ 1 Jn. 3:2]
2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it
has not been manifested as yet what we will be. We know that when He is
manifested, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
[READ 1 Cor. 15:49, NKJV]
49 And as we have borne the image of the man
of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
The heavenly Man is Jesus. Just as we now bear the image
of Adam in our current bodies, we will bear the image of the Man of heaven in
our resurrection bodies. Our new bodies will be glorious.
The Bible gives us a few glimpses of our Lord’s
resurrection body by telling us some of the things that happened during the 40
days between His resurrection and ascension. From what we know in the NT, Jesus
appeared perhaps ten or twelve times during this period; and when we look at
those passages, we see our Lord in His glorified body.
The most important thing about His glorified body (and
Jesus emphasized this repeatedly) is that it was real, literal, physical,
and tangible. It was the same body that had been crucified. In Luke 24, when
Jesus appeared to His disciples, He told them,
[READ Lk. 24:39]
39 “See My hands and My feet, that it is I
Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see
that I have.”
This tells us we aren’t going to be some kind of ghost –
like a phantom that floats around forever. We’re going to have our same
literal, physical bodies, but they will be risen, resurrected, glorified, and
equipped for eternity.
During two of His post-resurrection appearances, Jesus
ate with His disciples, which shows us our glorified bodies will be capable of
eating. I consider that good news, don’t you? People seem to be curious about
this because I’ve been asked if we will need to eat in heaven. Well, I don’t
know if we will need to eat, but we certainly will enjoy eating since
Jesus did. There are two passages which emphasize this.
[READ Lk. 24:40-43]
40 And when He had said this, He showed them His
hands and His feet. 41 And while they still were not believing
because of their joy and were still marveling, He said to them, “Have
you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave Him a piece of a
broiled fish, 43 and He took it and ate it before them.
[READ Jn. 21:12-13]
12 Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.”
None of the disciples dared to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was
the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it
to them, and the fish likewise.
In Luke 24, Jesus clearly ate with His disciples; and in
John 21, there is a strong suggestion He did, for He prepared breakfast for
everyone. Can you imagine? Being able to eat all we want without gaining weight
or getting an upset stomach. Imagine tasting foods we’ve never had before.
Perhaps we’ll be able to sample manna in heaven. Psalm 78:25 says the children
of Israel ate “angels’ food” in the wilderness. I don’t want to
speculate, but imagine the joy of eating a feast prepared by angelic chefs!
The body of Christ was also touchable. It could be held.
In John 20, Jesus had to tell Mary to quit clinging to
Him.
[READ Jn. 20:17]
17 … “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet
ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I ascend to My
Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”
In this same chapter, Jesus told Thomas, who had a hard
time believing that Jesus had really risen from the dead …
[READ Jn. 20:27]
27 … “Bring your finger here, and see My hands;
and bring your hand here and put it into My side; and do not be
unbelieving, but believing.”
These passages imply Jesus’ body was tangible, touchable,
and capable of being held and hugged.
I’ve also been asked, “In my new resurrection body,
will people know me? Will they recognize me? And will I know others?” After
the Resurrection, Jesus knew His disciples and they knew Him. They recognized
the glorified Jesus as the very same One they had known before His death. They
were so convinced of the identity of the risen Christ that they all went to
their deaths proclaiming the reality of the message of everlasting life.
When we get to heaven, we’re going to recognize all the
people we knew down here and they will be acquainted with us. It’s unthinkable
to me that in heaven we will know less than we do here. Let me remind you of
Paul’s words …
[READ 1 Cor. 13:12]
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then
face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also
have been fully known.
To me, this means we will have a greater sense of
recognition in heaven than we’ve ever had down here on earth. When Moses and
Elijah appeared to stand with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration, the
disciples instinctively recognized them as real people. They knew them. When
Jesus described heaven in Matthew 8, He said,
[READ Mt. 8:11]
11 And I say to you that many will come from
east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
in the kingdom of heaven.
Missionary Amy Carmichael wrote about this: “Will we
know one another in heaven? Will we love and remember? I do not think anyone
need wonder about this or doubt for a single moment … For if we think for a
minute, we know. Would you be yourself if you did not love and remember? … We
are told that we shall be like our Lord Jesus … And does not He know and love
and remember? He would not be Himself if He did not, and we would not be
ourselves if we did not.”
Thirdly,
III.
OUR NEW BODIES WILL
BE INCREDIBLE (1 Cor. 15:43; Jn. 20:19)
[READ 1 Cor. 15:43] Paul went
on to write,
43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in
glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
We will be buried in weakness. That’s absolutely true,
isn’t it? A dead body has no strength or power. It cannot lift a finger. But
when we come out of the grave, we’ll have so much energy we’ll think we’ve been
supercharged with electricity!
It doesn’t take a lot of work here on earth to exhaust
us. The physical stress tires us out and the heat or cold drains us. I noticed
when we were dealing with all the ice and snow this winter, I found myself having
less and less energy with each passing day (maybe all my falls had something
to do with it).
Our resurrection bodies won’t present the same problems. They
will be incredible, full of energy, always full of enthusiastic power, and may
be capable of extraordinary functions. When you read about the Lord Jesus after
His resurrection, He could enter sealed rooms without going through the door.
[READ Jn. 20:19]
19 So while it was evening on that day, the
first day of the week, and while the doors were shut where the disciples
were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to
them, “Peace be with you.”
If the glorified body of Christ could pass through walls
and travel by impulses of thought, perhaps the same will be true for us.
Without being dogmatic on the specifics, I’m convinced our glorified bodies
will not have the same limitations we have today. We will certainly be mobile
and able to move, which means we can travel from place to place. How wonderful
to contemplate traveling around the new earth without the fatigue or stress of
airport security and seats made for tiny people.
At His ascension, Jesus rose into the sky and disappeared
into the clouds. We shouldn’t become over-speculative, but it’s not hard to
visualize the possibilities of traveling through the new heaven, the new earth,
and the city of New Jerusalem with wide-eyed wonder.
Finally,
IV.
OUR NEW BODIES WILL
BE INFINITE (1 Cor. 15:44-45, 51-54, 57; 1 Jn. 1:1-2; 1 Pet. 5:7; 1
Thes. 4:13-18)
[READ 1 Cor. 15:44-45]
44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a
spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living
soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
What did Paul mean by a “spiritual” body? I’ve
already indicated my firm belief that our heavenly bodies will be literal,
physical, touchable, identifiable, and powerful. I don’t believe the word “spiritual”
in verse 44 implies that our bodies will be mere apparitions. Jesus rose from
the dead with the same physical body that was crucified. The apostle John began
his first epistle by saying,
[READ 1 Jn. 1:1-2]
1 What was from the beginning, what we have
heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and touched with our
hands, concerning the Word of Life -- 2 and the life was
manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal
life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us.
Jesus had a material body and we’re going to have bodies
just like His – so we’re not going to have ghostlike bodies. In 1 Corinthians
15, Paul was talking about a real body. Our new bodies will exist on a higher
plain. Instead of being governed by our appetites, they will be governed by the
Holy Spirit. That’s what a spiritual body is. The basic difference between a
natural body and a spiritual body is that the former is suited for life on
earth, and our spiritual bodies will be suited for life in heaven for eternity
with God. In our current bodies, we couldn’t function in the realm of heaven.
But God is going to give us new real bodies like the ones we have now, only
completely transformed.
Think of it this way. Have you ever had one hour, or
maybe even 15 minutes, when you sensed the Holy Spirit was in total control of
who you were and what you did? It’s the most glorious thing to have
consciousness of this.
Marie Monsen, a Norwegian missionary in China during the
first decades of the 20th century, lived in constant danger,
especially from the gangs of outlaws and rebel soldiers who terrorized the
interior of China in those days. On one occasion she was with three other
Norwegian missionaries engaged in a series of gospel meetings in a certain
town. News came that a local militia had been defeated in battle and was
heading toward town intent on revenge. They were killing everyone they met.
Even women and children in the fields were being shot. The missionaries
gathered the local Christians into a house and reminded them of God’s promises,
such as 1 Peter 5:7, which says that God cares for us. As the night wore on,
Marie suggested they go to bed and get whatever rest they could, even if sleep
was impossible. Marie lay down and repeated the promises of God to herself
throughout the night.
Early the next morning, the butt-end of a gun battered on
the gate, and Marie ran and opened it to find a solitary soldier. She let him
in and barred the gate behind him. He was astonished to find a small group of
smiling people who invited him to have a cup of tea. “You probably don’t get
much time for food, do you?” Marie asked him. The man sighed deeply and
said it would be good to sit down for a moment of quietness and have something
to eat and drink. He asked who they were and what they were doing in the city,
and they told him about the Lord.
Leaving, the soldier said no one else would bother them.
The looting soldiers left town 24 hours later, leaving trauma in their wake.
But in that little house, the Christians had focused all their energy on the
promises of God, who kept His words to them.
In finishing the story, Marie said something wonderful: “It
was unutterably marvelous to experience over and over again the peace Jesus
spoke of, which the world cannot give. In the midst of confusion and distress,
one found oneself steadied by such wonderful restfulness of mind that one did
not recognize oneself.”
I believe Marie Monsen experienced a little bit of heaven
on the way to heaven. When we arrive there, we’re going to be in such a state
of Spirit-controlled restfulness of mind that we will hardly recognize
ourselves. According to Scripture, when our resurrection bodies come out of the
grave we’re going to be totally in the Spirit. We’ll have the peace of the
Spirit, the joy of the Spirit, the love of the Spirit. We’re going to be
spiritual people. We will do only those things that please the Lord, and our struggle
with the flesh and with the sinful nature will be remembered no more. No more
temptation. No more defeat. No more sin. No more downward pull of immoral
attractions. No more Satan to beguile us.
Exactly when and how and where will this happen? First
Corinthians 15 ends with a grand finale of truth about the moment of our
resurrection.
[READ 1 Cor. 15:51-54, 57]
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all
sleep, but we will 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 will be changed. 53 For
this corruptible must put on the incorruptible, and this mortal must put on
immortality. 54 But when this corruptible puts on the
incorruptible, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the
word that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” … 57 but
thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
When we compare this to a similar passage in 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18, we can say that Jesus will return one day very soon, in
the air. He will shout. The voice of an archangel will ring out. A trumpet will
blast. Those who have died in Christ will come out of their graves, and somehow
God will reassemble and transform their bodies instantly, giving them eternal,
resurrected, incorruptible bodies. Then every Christian who is still alive at
that moment will be snatched up with them in the air, and their bodies will
likewise be instantaneously transformed. All of us will be ushered into heaven
by the Lord Himself with glorified bodies patterned after our risen and
glorified Christ.
I believe I’m going to be alive when this happens, and I
think every Christian should have this hope in their hearts. Perhaps as you’re
sitting here this morning, you’re thinking of issues you’re currently having
with your own body. Perhaps you’ve been injured. Perhaps your body is diseased
or disabled. Let me share a quote from Joni Eareckson Tada because her unique
perspective has been formed by her many years of being a quadriplegic in a
wheelchair, paralyzed from a diving accident when she was just a teenager. In
her book Heaven: Your Real Home she wrote:
I still can hardly believe it. I, with shriveled, bent
fingers, atrophied muscles, gnarled knees, and no feeling from the shoulders
down, will one day have a new body, light, bright, and clothed in righteousness
– powerful and dazzling. Can you imagine the hope this gives someone spinal
cord injured like me? Or someone who has multiple sclerosis? Imagine the hope
this gives to someone who is manic-depressive. No other religion, no other
philosophy promises new bodies, hearts, and minds. Only in the Gospel of Christ
do hurting people find such incredible hope.
No wonder Paul said that if in this life only we have
hope, we are most miserable (1 Cor. 15:19). But we do have hope; we have
hope beyond this life, and it is a sure and certain hope, guaranteed by the
resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. One day all the aches, pains, and other
deficiencies of our earthly bodies will fall away, replaced by an indestructible
and indescribable body modeled after that of Jesus. This is why we should be so
passionate about trying to take people to heaven with us. We shouldn’t want
anyone to miss what God has planned for His children.
Conclusion: Jack Welch, who led General Electric through
some of its most successful days, wrote a book called Winning, which is
essentially a question-and-answer book. Taking questions people had asked him,
he compiled his answers into a book of business and management principles. I
found it surprising that one of the questions he was asked was, “Do you
think that you will go to heaven when you die?”
Welch began by describing some of the mistakes he had
made in business and in life, including two failed marriages. Then he said, “So
as far as heaven, who knows? I’m sure not perfect, but if there are any points
given out for caring for people with every fiber of your being and giving life
all you’ve got every day, then I suppose I have a shot.”
Perhaps that’s harder for a successful businessman to understand than anyone else because his
own energy, drive, and vision have helped him achieve success. But when it
comes to heaven, those rules are thrown out. Heaven is not something that you
earn. It is a gift. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).
The way to get to heaven is to humble yourself as a little child and acknowledge you cannot do
enough good things to get to heaven; you can never make it to heaven on your
own. You cannot buy a glorified supernatural body. The Lord wants to give it to
you for free, by grace and through faith.
Life on earth is fragile and uncertain, but we have a Savior who died for our sins according to
the Scriptures and was buried and raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures. And by the grace of God, we await that wonderful day when we’ll be
raised incorruptible and given our new supernatural bodies, made by Christ.
This will not be a hard thing for God to do. The Bible says, “Why should any
of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?” (Acts 26:8 NIV).
Bible commentator
Matthew Henry wrote: “And why should it not be as much in the power of God
to raise incorruptible, glorious, lively, spiritual bodies, out of the ruins of
those vile, corruptible, lifeless … ones, as first to make matter out of
nothing? … To God all things are possible.”
And to that, we say,
“Hallelujah!”
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we come to You now
with hearts full of hope, trusting in Your promise of eternal life. May we find
comfort in the assurance that death is not the end, but a new beginning in Your
presence. Strengthen our faith and help us to share this hope with others, that
all may know the joy of eternal life with You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Invitation # 237: “We Shall Behold
Him” (2 vs.)
Benediction: Beloved, do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are
being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are
achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we fix
our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is
temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Amen. (2 Cor. 4:16-18)
THE RESURRECTION - Study Guide
SIGNS: Heavenly Signs (Pt.
3, Lesson 13) - April 26, 2026 - Rev. Alan Cousins
TEXT: Selected Scriptures from the LSB
INTRODUCTION: The Bible consistently teaches
the reality of the resurrection, for God created us with eternity in our
hearts. We’re made for something more than planet earth. We’re made for heaven,
and we aren’t going to exist there in a disembodied form.
When we die in Christ, our bodies fall asleep
and are buried, and our souls go to be with Christ in heaven where we will
remain until the moment of resurrection. But what then? What will the
resurrection be like?
1 Corinthians 15:35
On the day of resurrection, our bodies are
going to come out of the grave, but they’re going to be different from when
they went in. We will still be humans and you will still be you. But our
current bodies are inferior to what we need for everlasting life. However, our
resurrection bodies will be perfectly suited for eternity.
I. OUR NEW BODIES WILL BE INDESTRUCTI-BLE (1 Cor. 15:42; Ps. 16:10; Rom. 6:8-9; Heb. 9:27)
1 Corinthians 15:42
Throughout the history of time as we know it, there has
only been one body not subject to corruption – the body of the Lord Jesus.
Psalm 16:10
Romans 6:8-9
It is impossible for Jesus to die again. His glorified
body is imperishable and indestructible. And it is the pattern for our own
resurrection bodies.
Hebrews 9:27
II. OUR NEW BODIES WILL BE IDENTIFIABLE (1 Cor. 13:12; 15:43, 49; Ex. 34:29; Lk. 9:28-29; 24:39-43; Rev. 21; Mt.
8:11; 13:43; Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Jn. 3:2; Jn. 20:17, 27; 21:12-13; Ps. 78:25)
1 Corinthians 15:43
We can accurately translate the word “power” as glory
or brilliance. Our new bodies may actually have a luminescent quality to
them.
Exodus 34:29 and Luke 9:28-29
In Revelation 21, we’re told the entire city of the New
Jerusalem will be luminescent, brightly illumined by the light that radiates
from the glory of God.
Matthew 13:43
As several Scriptures tell us, the Lord Jesus Christ, in
His own resurrection, provided the payment, the proof, and the pattern for our
resurrection.
Philippians 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2; & 1 Corinthians
15:29 NKJV
Just as we bear the image of Adam in our current bodies,
we will bear the image of the Man of heaven in our resurrection bodies.
The most important thing about His glorified body (and
Jesus emphasized this repeatedly) is that it was real, literal, physical, and tangible. It
was the same body that had been crucified.
Luke 24:39, 40-43; and John 21:12-13
The
body of Christ was also touchable. It could be held.
John 20:17, 27
When we get to heaven, we’re going to
recognize all the people we knew down here and they will be acquainted with us.
It’s unthinkable to me that in heaven we will know less than we do here.
1 Corinthians 13:12; and Matthew 8:11
III. OUR NEW BODIES WILL BE INCREDIBLE (1 Cor. 15:43; Jn. 20:19)
1 Corinthians 15:43
Our resurrection bodies will be incredible,
full of energy, always full of enthusiastic power, and may be capable of
extraordinary functions. When you read about the Lord Jesus after His
resurrection, He could enter sealed rooms without going through the door.
John 20:19
IV. OUR NEW BODIES WILL BE INFINITE (1 Cor. 15:44-45, 51-54, 57; 1 Jn. 1:1-2; 1 Pet. 5:7; 1
Thes. 4:13-18)
1 Corinthians 15:44-45
I believe that our heavenly bodies will be
literal, physical, touchable, identifiable, and powerful. I don’t believe the
word “spiritual” in verse 44 implies that our bodies will be mere apparitions.
1 John 1:1-2
Our new bodies will exist on a higher plain. Instead of being governed
by our appetites, they will be governed by the Holy Spirit. That’s what a
spiritual body is. The basic difference between a natural body and a spiritual
body is that the former is suited for life on earth, and our spiritual bodies
will be suited for life in heaven for eternity with God.
According to Scripture,
when our resurrection bodies come out of the grave we’re going to be totally in
the Spirit. We’ll have the peace of the Spirit, the joy of the Spirit, the love
of the Spirit. We’re going to be spiritual people. We will do only those things
that please the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:51-54,
57
CONCLUSION: Heaven is not about caring for
people or giving life everything you’ve got every day. Heaven is about putting
your trust in Jesus Christ and in Him alone.
Matthew Henry wrote: “And why should it not be as
much in the power of God to raise incorruptible, glorious, lively, spiritual
bodies, out of the ruins of those vile, corruptible, lifeless … ones, as first
to make matter out of nothing? … To God all things are possible.”
The Rapture - Audio Link
THE RAPTURE
Text:
Selected Scriptures from the LSB
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that the Holy Spirit will draw the lost to You, and that today
they will find salvation in the blood of Jesus Christ. I also want to thank You
for the hope that we have in Jesus. Thank You for the help that You provide
every day. You are our strength and provider. We call upon You in times of need
and You never fail us. You are our very present help in times of trouble. We
are grateful the circumstances in life provide us with opportunities to know
You more fully. Each situation presents us with an occasion to discover Your
power, provision, and protection. Help us to keep our focus on Your greatness
and goodness so that we may become more Christlike every day and in every way.
Teach us what You want us to learn from Your Word right now. In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen.
Introduction: Last Sunday, I ended the message with the illustration
of the explosion of Mount Saint Helens and the many people who refused to heed
the warnings to get out of harm’s way. Today, I’m going to begin by sharing
another natural disaster story.
Twenty-seven years after the Mount Saint Helens’ disaster came the awful, Autumn wild-fires
in California. It became the largest evacuation for fires in US history.
Emergency personnel evacuated 350,000 homes, displacing almost one million
Californians as 16 simultaneous fires swept through the state.
Imagine being a person who missed the call to evacuate, waking up after everyone else
was gone and stumbling through the acrid smoke and empty streets, confused and
amazed, wondering why they had been left behind. That person’s reaction would
be nothing compared to the shock of those who witness the coming worldwide
evacuation known as the Rapture.
The Bible tells us that on that day, millions of people will disappear from the face of
the earth in less than a millisecond. And the purpose of that evacuation is
similar to that of the emergency evacuation of Southern Californians: to avoid
horrific devastation. This evacuation will remove God’s people from the
disastrous effects of coming earthquakes, fire, and global chaos.
The Rapture is the event in which all who have put their trust in Jesus Christ will
be suddenly caught up from the earth and taken into heaven by Him. It is set to
occur at an unspecified time in the future.
The word rapture is a translation of the Greek word harpazō. It occurs 14 times in the NT,
and it means “to carry off by force.” Satan and his demonic cohorts will
do everything in their power to keep the saints here on earth. But Christ’s
angelic forces will overpower them and carry the believers away by force,
delivering them to heaven by the omnipotent power of His word. The Devil is
mighty; but the Lord is almighty!
I am convinced by the Scriptures that the two most important events in world history
are the first and second comings of the Lord Jesus Christ. We give great
attention to His first coming, as we should, but His second coming deserves no
less. In fact, I believe I could make a strong case for an even greater
emphasis on the second coming than on the first. For every prophecy in the
Bible about the birth of Christ – His first coming – there are 8 about His
second coming. The 260 chapters of the NT contain 318 references to the second
coming of Christ.
I believe there will be two stages to the second coming of Christ. First, He will come
suddenly in the air to snatch up His own. This is the Rapture, the “catching
up” of the church, which will occur at the beginning of the Tribulation
that is coming upon the earth.
The Tribulation will be an extended time of horror, agony, and devastation like
nothing that has ever been seen before or even imagined. The Rapture is God’s
provision for His saints to escape the Tribulation. Jesus will return
immediately before this time of world judgment to completely remove all those
who have put their trust in Him. As He told the church in Philadelphia ...
[READ
Rev. 3:10]
10 Because you have
kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of
testing, which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell
on the earth.
While 1 Corinthians 15 and John 14 provide
some information about the Rapture, it is Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians
that presents the most concise and logical truth about this coming event.
[READ 1 Thes. 4:13-18]
13 But we do not want
you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will
not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those
who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by
the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the
Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the
Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then
we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore
comfort one another with these words.
From Paul’s letter to the church in
Thessalonica, we find seven important truths we can know about the Rapture.
I.
THE RAPTURE IS A
“SIGN-LESS” EVENT (Mt. 24-25; Titus 2:13)
The “at-any-moment” timing of the return of Christ
is called the doctrine of imminency. In his definitive book on the
Rapture, Renald Showers gives us an in-depth exploration of the word imminent:
The English word imminent means “hanging over one’s head,
ready to befall or overtake one; close at hand in its incidence.” Thus, an
imminent event is one that is always hanging overhead, is constantly ready to
befall or overtake a person, is always close at hand in the sense that it could
happen at any moment. Other things may happen before the imminent event, but
nothing else must take place before it happens. If something else must take
place before an event can happen, that event is not imminent.
Without any sign, without any warning, Jesus Christ will
return to rapture His saints and take them to heaven. Paul understood the
implications of this sign-less event. It means that we must be ready for the
Lord’s return at any time and at all times. Thus, he urged Titus to always be “looking
for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus
Christ” (Titus 2:13).
II.
THE RAPTURE IS A SURPRISE
EVENT (1 Thes. 5:1-2; Mt. 24:36, 44)
The apostle Paul wrote,
[READ 1 Thes. 5:1-2]
1 Now concerning the times and the seasons,
brothers, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For
you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a
thief in the night.
If you hear or read of someone who says he or she knows
when Jesus is coming back, you should make sure you stay away from that person
both in thought and deed. To claim knowledge of the exact time of our Lord’s
return is to know what even the angels do not know and what our Lord did not
know while He was on this earth.
[READ Mt. 24:36]
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not
even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
The Bible doesn’t give us specific information about the
date of the Lord’s return for the very reason we noted earlier: awareness that
He could return at any time encourages us to be ready at all times.
[READ Mt. 24:44]
44 For this reason you also must be ready; for
the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
As St. Augustine said, “The last day is hidden that
every day may be regarded.”
III.
THE RAPTURE IS A
SUDDEN EVENT (1 Cor. 15:51-52)
The apostle Paul emphasized the suddenness of the Rapture
when he said …
[READ 1 Cor. 15:51-52]
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all
sleep, but we will 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 will be changed.
Paul’s reference to “the twinkling of an eye”
naturally conjures up the image of an eye blinking, which is a reasonably good
metaphor for suddenness. But Paul’s “twinkling” probably does not mean “blinking;”
rather, it likely refers to the amount of time it takes for light, traveling at
186,000 miles per second, to be reflected on the retina of one’s eye. The whole
idea is that this event will occur suddenly – at the speed of light. In less
than a nanosecond, the Lord will call all believers to Himself to share His
glory.
IV.
THE RAPTURE IS A
SELECTIVE EVENT (Jn. 14:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:23, 58; 1 Thes. 4:13-18)
All three of the major passages that teach about the
Rapture make it clear that it involves believers only.
[READ Jn. 14:1-3]
1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe
in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many
dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for 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.
Notice, Jesus addressed His disciples as believers in God
and in Him, indicating that what He was about to tell them was for believers
only. He went on to say that He would soon leave to prepare for them a place in
His Father’s house – a place reserved for family members only. Then He said, “I
will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be
also” (v. 3). That coming again is the moment of the Rapture. The
entire passage speaks of the Rapture as a family affair reserved solely for
those who have put their faith Jesus Christ.
Paul affirmed the selective nature of the Rapture in 1
Corinthians 15. Listen to how he described its participants …
[READ 1 Cor. 15:23]
23 But each in his own order: Christ the first
fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming.
Furthermore, in the first verse of chapter 15, he
identified his readers as “brethren,” a term used in the NT almost
exclusively to describe believers. As if intentionally removing all possibility
of misunderstanding, Paul concluded this passage on the Rapture with
encouragement directed specifically to the church:
[READ 1 Cor. 15:58]
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is
not in vain in the Lord.
Finally, in 1 Thessalonians 4 – Paul’s main passage on
the Rapture – he affirmed its selectivity in triplicate.
[READ 1 Thes. 4:13-15]
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who
are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For
if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him
those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to
you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming
of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
First, he opened his description of the event by
referring to his readers as “brothers.”
Second, he identified them in verse 14 as those who “believe
that Jesus died and rose again.”
[READ 1 Thes. 4:16]
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of
God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Third, in verse 16, he described the deceased family
members of the Thessalonian church as “dead in Christ.”
These passages leave no doubt that the Rapture is
restricted exclusively to believers. Only those who are followers of Christ
will be taken up into heaven when He returns.
V.
THE RAPTURE IS A
SPECTACULAR EVENT (Rev. 19:11-16; 1 Thes. 4:16)
No scene in the Bible is more glorious, stunning, or
sensational than the second coming of Christ. But it is usually the second
stage of His coming at the end of the Tribulation that draws the spotlight. And
for good reason. The apostle John’s graphic description of the event is
unrivaled by anything else recorded in the Bible.
[READ Rev. 19:11-16]
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white
horse, and He who sits on it is called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a
flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; having a name written on
Him which no one knows except Himself, 13 and being clothed
with a garment dipped in blood, His name is also called The Word of God. 14 And
the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
were following Him on white horses. 15 And from His mouth comes
a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule
them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the wrath of the rage
of God, the Almighty. 16 And He has on His garment and on His
thigh a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Not only is the final stage of the second coming a
glorious spectacle, it is a worldwide event that will impact every person alive
on the planet at the time. The Rapture, on the other hand, is a limited, family
event that will affect only believers.
But I want to present to you my case for the spectacular
nature of the Rapture. Take your seat in the jury box and judge whether I
succeed. I call the great apostle Paul as my primary witness, who by the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit recorded the preeminent description of the event
in 1 Thessalonians 4. As exhibit A, I direct your attention to verse 16 …
[READ 1 Thes. 4:16]
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of
God ….
As we read these words, the Lord Jesus Christ is seated
in the heavens at the right hand of the almighty Father. But when the right
moment comes, He will initiate the Rapture by literally and physically rising
from the throne, stepping into the corridors of light, and actually descending
into the atmosphere of planet Earth from which He rose into the heavens over
the Mount of Olives 2,000 years ago. It’s not the angels or the Holy Spirit but
the Lord Himself who is coming to draw believers into the heavens by the
Rapture.
The details of this passage paint an amazingly complete
sensory picture of the Rapture. Paul even gave the sounds that will be heard –
a shout, the voice of an archangel, and the trumpet of God. These three
allusions to sounds are not to be taken as primary, but rather as secondary to
the event itself. Paul was not describing three separate sounds; he was
describing only one sound in three different ways. This sound will be like a
shout, ringing with commanding authority like the voice of an archangel.
It will also be like the blare of a trumpet in its volume
and clarity. And the sound will be exclusively directed – heard only by those
who have placed their trust in Christ. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead,
He shouted, “Lazarus, come forth!” (Jn. 11:43). You’ve probably
heard preachers speculate as to what might have happened had Jesus forgotten to
call forth Lazarus by name. Would all the dead within the range of His voice
have emerged from their graves? At the Rapture that is exactly what will happen.
His shout of “Come forth!” will not name a single individual, but it
will be heard by every believer in every grave around the world. All those
tombs will empty, and the resurrected believers will fly skyward.
This arising from the grave was the hope that Winston
Churchill movingly expressed in the planning of his own funeral. Following the
prayer by the archbishop of Canterbury and the singing of “God Save the
Queen,” a trumpeter perched in the highest reaches of the dome of Saint
Paul’s Cathedral sounded “The Last Post” (or “Taps” as we know it).
As the last sorrowful note faded, “high in another gallery, sounded the
stronger blaring “Reveille.” The call to sleep was followed by a call to
arise.
All the evidence clearly shows that the Rapture of the
saints will be a cosmic spectacle like nothing humans have ever seen or heard.
VI.
THE RAPTURE IS A
SEQUENTIAL EVENT (1 Thes. 4:14-17)
In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul identified five major aspects
of the Rapture in their sequential order.
The Return (1 Thes. 4:14, 16;
Acts 1:11)
[READ 1 Thes. 4:16]
16 For the Lord Himself
will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel
and with the trumpet of God ….
In the Rapture, it is
the Lord Himself who is coming. This is in keeping with the words of the two
angels who spoke to the disciples at the time of Jesus’ ascension:
[READ Acts 1:11]
11 … “Men of Galilee,
why do you stand looking toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from
you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into
heaven.”
If Jesus is to
descend in the same manner in which He ascended, then we can certainly expect
His coming to be personal and physical.
And when the Lord
returns, He will bring with Him all the souls of those who have died as
believers. Here is what Paul wrote about that time …
[READ 1 Thes. 4:14]
14 For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have
fallen asleep in Jesus.
The Resurrection (1 Thes. 4:15-16; see
also Jn. 11:11; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Cor. 15:20)
[READ 1 Thes. 4:15]
15 … We who are alive
and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen
asleep.
The word used to
describe this state has great significance for every believer today. Paul said
they had fallen asleep. For the word translated asleep, he used the Greek word koimaō,
which has as one of its meanings, “to sleep in death.” The same word is
used to describe the deaths of Lazarus (Jn. 11:11), Stephen (Acts
7:60), David (Acts 13:36), and Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:20).
This concept of death
is emphasized in the wonderful word early Christians adopted for the burying
places of their loved ones. It was the Greek word koimeterion,
which means “a rest house for strangers, a sleeping place.” It is the
word from which we get our English word cemetery. In Paul’s day, this
word was used for inns or what we would call a hotel or motel. We check in at a
Holiday Inn or a Ramada Inn, expecting to spend the night in sleep before we
wake up in the morning refreshed and raring to go. That is exactly the thought
Paul expressed in words such as koimaō and koimeterion.
When Christians die, it’s as if they are slumbering peacefully in a place of rest,
ready to be awakened at the return of the Lord. The words have great
importance, for they convey the Christian concept of death not as a tragic
finality, but as a temporary sleep.
The Bible teaches
that those who are sleeping in Jesus will not be left out of the Rapture. In
fact, they will have the prominent place when Jesus comes in the skies.
[READ 1 Thes.
4:15-16]
15 … We who are alive
and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen
asleep, 16 … the dead in Christ will rise first.
The Redemption (1 Thes. 4:17; 1 Cor.
15:51; Rom. 8:23; Phil. 3:21; 1 Jn. 3:2)
Not only will those
who have died as believers be changed as part of the resurrection, but Paul also
spoke of the living believers as being changed.
[READ 1 Thes. 4:17]
15 Then we who are alive
and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds ….
Both groups will be
changed. This comes to us as the sure word of Paul, who wrote to his Corinthian
friends ...
[READ 1 Cor. 15:51]
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep,
but we will all be changed.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul spoke of this change
as “the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23). In his letter to the
Philippians, he described it as the moment when the Lord Jesus Christ will “transform
our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body” (Phil.
3:21). The apostle John said it this way: “We know that when He is
revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 Jn.
3:2).
What will those bodies be like? Dr. Arnold
Fruchtenbaum writes:
It is possible that information as to the nature of
the new body may be gleaned from a study of the nature of the resurrected body
of Jesus … We know that His voice was recognized as being the same as the one
He had before His death and resurrection (Jn. 20:16). Also, His physical
features were recognized, though not always immediately (Jn. 20:26-29; 21:7).
It was a very real body of flesh and bone and not a mere phantom body, since it
was embraceable (Jn. 20:17, 27). The resurrected Messiah was able to suddenly
disappear (Lk. 24:31) and go through walls (Jn. 20:19). It was a body that was
able to eat food (Lk. 24:41-43).
The Rapture (Heb. 11:5; 2 Kings
2:11; Acts 1:10-11; 2 Cor. 12:2-4; Rev. 11:12)
While raptures are
extremely rare, they have happened before, and they will happen again. There
are six raptures recorded and described in the Bible. Four of those raptures
have already taken place, and two are yet to come.
The four raptures
that have already occurred were experienced by Enoch (Heb. 11:5), Elijah
(2 Kings 2:11), Jesus Christ (Acts 1:10-11), and Paul (2 Cor.
12:2-4). The two raptures that are yet to happen are the rapture of the
church, which we are discussing today, and the rapture of the two witnesses as
prophesied in Revelation 11:12.
These records affirm
the utter reality of the Rapture by providing us with prototypes of sorts to
show that God can accomplish this coming event He promises to His people.
So, here is a summary
of what happens: The Lord Jesus Christ returns from heaven, bringing the souls
of those who have already died with Him. The bodies of those dead saints are
resurrected and changed, and then the bodies of those Christians who are alive
and remain at His coming are also changed.
When this happens,
God is going to hover over this universe, and all who have accepted Jesus
Christ as Savior; those who have been resurrected, and those who have never
died, are going to be snatched up like particles of iron drawn upward by a
magnet, pulled right out of the population, suctioned off the planet. It is going to happen
instantly. No time to get ready. No prelude. No preliminaries.
The Reunion (1 Thes. 4:17)
The Rapture sets up a
delightful series of meetings or reunions. Paul wrote …
[READ 1 Thes. 4:17]
17 Then we who are alive
and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
Did you notice that
Paul began this verse with the word then, which is an adverb indicating
a sequence. It connects the previous events of the Rapture that we have already
considered with this final event in a definite order of sequential reunions:
(1) Dead bodies reunited with their spirits; (2) Resurrected believers reunited
with living believers; and (3) Resurrected believers and raptured believers
meet the Lord.
As Paul pointed out, the
ultimate consequence of this reunion with the Lord is that there will be no
subsequent parting. After His return, our union and communion with Him will be
uninterrupted and eternal. This glorious fact alone shows us why the word
Rapture is an altogether appropriate term for this event.
VII. THE RAPTURE IS A STRENGTHENING EVENT (1 Thes. 4:18; Rev.
21:27)
After completing his description of the Rapture to the
Thessalonians, Paul wrapped up the passage with this practical admonition:
[READ 1 Thes. 4:18]
18 Therefore comfort one another with these
words.
Here the apostle was telling both the Thessalonians and
believers today that it’s not enough to passively understand what was just
explained about the Rapture, Christian death, and the resurrection. Our
understanding should spur us toward a certain action – to “comfort one
another.” And in the preceding verses he gave exactly the kind of
information that makes true comfort possible. When believers suffer the loss of
family members or dearly loved friends, we have in Paul’s descriptions of
Christian death and resurrection all that is needed to comfort each other in
these losses. Christian death is not permanent; it is merely a sleep. A time is
coming when we and our loved ones will be reunited in a rapturous meeting, when
Christ Himself calls us out of this world or out of our graves to be with Him
forever in an ecstatic relationship of eternal love.
Nineteenth-century Bible teacher A.T. Pierson made this
interesting observation about these things:
It is a remarkable fact that in the NT, so far as I
remember, it is never once said, after Christ’s resurrection, that a disciple
died – that is, without some qualification: Stephen fell asleep. David, after
he had served his own generation by the will of God fell asleep and was laid
with his father. Peter says, “Knowing that I must shortly put off this my
tabernacle as the Lord showed me.” Paul says, “the time of my departure
is at hand.” (The figure here is taken from a vessel that, as she leaves a
dock, throws the cables off the fastening, and opens her sails to the wind to
depart for the haven) … The only time where the word “dead” is used, it
is with qualification: “the dead -- in Christ,” “the dead -- which
die in the Lord.”
As Pierson implies, Christ abolished death so completely
that even the term death is no longer appropriate for believers. That is why
Paul wrote that we should comfort one another with reminders that for
Christians what we call death is nothing more than a temporary sleep before we
are called into our uninterrupted relationship with Christ forever.
Conclusion: At the beginning of today’s sermon, I told
you about the wildfires that swept through southern California in 2007. Two
years before those wildfires, San Diego regional authorities had installed Reverse
911. Citizens who lived in fire zones were asked to register their phone
numbers with the agency so that when future fires put them in harm’s way, one
simple warning call could go out to all who were on the list. This early
warning system was first used to warn residents of the approaching wildfires of
2007. Homeowners who did not register did not receive a call. Some had phone
systems that screened out the warning call as an unrecognized number. Others
received the call but chose to ignore it. Some of those who did not hear the
warning did not vacate their homes and, as a result, lost their lives.
God has sounded the warnings loudly and clearly. They
have come through His prophets in the OT, through the NT writers, and even
through Jesus Himself. The firestorm is coming in the form of the seven years
of tribulation, when no Christian influence will temper the evil that will
plunge the earth into a cauldron of misery and devastation. But you can avoid the
destruction and be evacuated. You can enter your name on the list of those who
will hear the trumpet call of the Rapture by turning to Christ and begin living
the pure and holy life that characterizes those who will enter heaven. As the
apostle John wrote,
[READ Rev. 21:27]
27 And nothing defiled, and no one who practices
abomination and lying, shall ever come into it [the heavenly city of
God], but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
If your name is not
in this book, when the Rapture occurs you will be left behind to experience
horrors worse than anything the world has ever seen. I hope you will not wait
another day; turn to Jesus Christ now, before it is too late, and become one of
those who will hear Jesus’ exclusive call to His church on the day of the
Rapture.
Prayer: We pray, even
so, come, Lord Jesus. Come as You have promised. Come in the fullness of the
ages. Come as lightning flashing from the east to the west. Come in the clouds
of heaven with power and great glory. Lord, we love the thought of Your swift
appearing, and we long to see You face to face. It’s our sure and certain
promise, our glorious hope, our eternal future. You have said, “If I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you Myself; that where I
am, there you may be also.” Thank You, Lord, for the anticipation of our
faith. We’re watching, working, and waiting for the day when You will descend
from heaven with a shout, the voice of an archangel, and the trumpet of God.
Oh, that it were today! Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Amen.
Invitation Slides: “Even So, Lord
Jesus, Come” (2 vs.)
Benediction: Beloved, be
encouraged for the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end
and will not prove false. Though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly
come to pass and will not delay. Amen. (Hab. 2:3)
Study Guide
THE RAPTURE
SIGNS: Heavenly Signs (Pt. 3, Lesson 12) - April 19, 2026 - Rev. Alan Cousins
TEXT: Selected Scriptures from the LSB
INTRODUCTION: The Rapture is the event in
which all who have put their trust in Jesus Christ will be suddenly caught up
from the earth and taken into heaven by Him. It is set to occur at an
unspecified time in the future.
The word rapture is a translation of the Greek word harpazō. It occurs 14 times in the NT, and it means “to
carry off by force.”
Revelation 3:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
From Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica, we find seven important truths we can know about the Rapture.
I. THE RAPTURE IS A
“SIGN-LESS” EVENT (Mt. 24-25; Titus 2:13)
No signs will be given to prepare us for the
arrival of the Rapture. It can occur at any moment. The “at-any-moment”
timing of the return of Christ is called the doctrine of imminency.
Titus 2:13
II. THE RAPTURE IS A SURPRISE
EVENT (1 Thes. 5:1-2; Mt. 24:36, 44)
1 Thessalonians 5:1-2
If you hear or read of someone who says he or
she knows when Jesus is coming back, you should make sure you stay away from
that person both in thought and deed. To claim knowledge of the exact time of
our Lord’s return is to know what even the angels do not know and what our Lord
did not know while He was on this earth.
Matthew 24:36, 44
III. THE RAPTURE IS A SUDDEN
EVENT (1 Cor. 15:51-52)
1 Corinthians 15:51-52
The whole idea is that the Rapture will occur
suddenly – at the speed of light. In less than a nanosecond, the Lord will call
all believers to Himself to share His glory.
IV. THE RAPTURE IS A SELECTIVE EVENT (Jn. 14:1-3; 1 Cor.
15:23, 58; 1 Thes. 4:13-18)
All three of the major passages that teach
about the Rapture make it clear that it involves believers only.
John 14:1-3 and
1 Cor. 15:23, 58
In 1 Thessalonians 4 – Paul’s main passage
on the Rapture – he affirmed the event’s selectivity in triplicate.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-16
First, in verse 13, he opened his description
of the event by referring to his readers as “brothers.”
Second, he identified them in verse 14 as
those who “believe that Jesus died and rose again.”
Third, in verse 16, he described the deceased
family members of the Thessalonian church as “dead in Christ.”
These passages leave no doubt that the
Rapture is restricted exclusively to believers. Only those who are followers of
Christ will be taken up into heaven when He returns.
V. THE RAPTURE IS A SPECTACULAR EVENT (Rev. 19:11-16; 1
Thes. 4:16)
No scene in the Bible is more glorious,
stunning, or sensational than the second coming of Christ. But it is usually
the second stage of His coming at the end of the Tribulation that draws the
spotlight.
Revelation 19:11-16
I want to present to you my case for the
spectacular nature of the Rapture. Take your seat in the jury box and judge
whether I succeed. I call the great apostle Paul as my primary witness, who by
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit recorded the preeminent description of the
event in 1 Thessalonians 4. As exhibit A, I direct your attention to verse 16.
1 Thessalonians 4:16
The details of this passage paint an amazingly complete sensory picture
of the Rapture. Paul even gave the sounds that will be heard – a shout, the
voice of an archangel, and the trumpet of God. These three allusions to sounds
are not to be taken as primary, but rather as secondary to the event itself.
Paul was not describing three separate sounds; he was describing only one sound
in three different ways.
At the Rapture, the Lord’s shout of “Come
forth!” will not name a single individual, but it will be heard by every
believer in every grave around the world. All those tombs will empty, and the
resurrected believers will fly skyward.
VI. THE RAPTURE IS A SEQUENTIAL EVENT (1 Thes. 4:14-17)
In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul identified five
major aspects of the Rapture in their sequential order.
THE RETURN (1
Thes. 4:14, 16; Acts 1:11)
1
Thessalonians 4:16
In the
Rapture, it is the Lord Himself who is coming. This is in keeping with the
words of the two angels who spoke to the disciples at the time of Jesus’
ascension:
Acts 1:11
If Jesus is
to descend in the same manner in which He ascended, then we can certainly
expect His coming to be personal and physical. And when the Lord returns, He
will bring with Him all the souls of those who have died as believers. Here is
what Paul wrote about that time …
1
Thessalonians 4:14
THE RESURRECTION (1 Thes. 4:15-16; see also Jn. 11:11; Acts 7:60;
13:36; 1 Cor. 15:20)
1
Thessalonians 4:15
Paul said
they had fallen asleep. For the word translated asleep, he used the Greek word koimaō,
which has as one of its meanings, “to sleep in death.” The same word is
used to describe the deaths of Lazarus (Jn. 11:11), Stephen (Acts
7:60), David (Acts 13:36), and Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:20).
When
Christians die, it’s as if they are slumbering peacefully in a place of rest (koimeterion),
ready to be awakened at the return of the Lord. The words have great
importance, for they convey the Christian concept of death not as a tragic
finality, but as a temporary sleep.
The Bible
teaches that those who are sleeping in Jesus will not be left out of the
Rapture. In fact, they will have the prominent place when Jesus comes in the
skies.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-16
THE REDEMPTION (1 Thes. 4:17; 1 Cor.
15:251; Rom. 8:23; Phil. 3:21; 1 Jn. 3:2)
Not only will those who have died as
believers be changed as part of the resurrection, but Paul also spoke of the
living believers as being changed.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 and 1 Corinthians
15:51
In his letter to the Romans, Paul spoke of
this change as “the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23). In his
letter to the Philippians, he described it as the moment when the Lord Jesus
Christ will “transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His
glorious body” (Phil. 3:21). The apostle John said it this way: “We
know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He
is” (1 Jn. 3:2).
THE RAPTURE (Heb. 11:5; 2 Kgs. 2:11; Acts 1:10-11;
2 Cor. 12:2-4; Rev. 11:12)
While raptures are extremely rare, they have
happened before, and they will happen again. There are six raptures recorded
and described in the Bible. Four of those raptures have already taken place,
and two are yet to come. The four raptures that have already occurred were
experienced by Enoch (Heb. 11:5), Elijah (2 Kings 2:11), Jesus
Christ (Acts 1:10-11), and Paul (2 Cor. 12:2-4). The two raptures
that are yet to happen are the rapture of the church, which we are discussing
today, and the rapture of the two witnesses as prophesied in Revelation 11:12.
These records affirm the utter reality of the Rapture by providing us with
prototypes of sorts to show that God can accomplish this coming event He
promises to His people.
When this
happens, God is going to hover over this universe, and all who have accepted
Jesus Christ as Savior; those who have been resurrected, and those who have
never died, are going to be snatched up like particles of iron drawn upward by
a magnet, pulled right out of the population, suctioned off the planet. It is
going to happen instantly. No time to get ready. No prelude. No preliminaries.
THE REUNION (1
Thes. 4:17)
1
Thessalonians 4:17
Paul began
this verse with the word then, which is an adverb indicating a sequence.
It connects the previous events of the Rapture that we have already considered
with this final event in a definite order of sequential reunions: (1) Dead
bodies reunited with their spirits; (2) Resurrected believers reunited with
living believers; and (3) Resurrected believers and raptured believers meet the
Lord. The ultimate consequence of this reunion with the Lord is that there will
be no subsequent parting. After His return, our union and communion with Him will
be uninterrupted and eternal. This glorious fact alone shows us why the word
Rapture is an appropriate term for this event.
VII. THE RAPTURE IS A STRENGTHENING EVENT (1 Thes. 4:18; Rev.
21:27)
After completing his description of the
Rapture to the Thessalonians, Paul wrapped up the passage with this practical
admonition:
1 Thessalonians 4:18
Here the apostle was telling both the
Thessalonians and believers today that it’s not enough to passively understand
what was just explained about the Rapture, Christian death, and the
resurrection. Our understanding should spur us toward a certain action – to “comfort
one another.” And in the preceding verses he gave exactly the kind of
information that makes true comfort possible. When believers suffer the loss of
family members or dearly loved friends, we have in Paul’s descriptions of
Christian death and resurrection all that is needed to comfort each other in
these losses. Christian death is not permanent; it is merely a sleep. A time is
coming when we and our loved ones will be reunited in a rapturous meeting, when
Christ Himself calls us out of this world or out of our graves to be with Him
forever in an ecstatic relationship of eternal love.
A.T. Pierson made this interesting
observation about these things: It is a remarkable fact that in the NT, so
far as I remember, it is never once said, after Christ’s resurrection, that a
disciple died – that is, without some qualification: Stephen fell asleep.
David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God fell asleep
and was laid with his father. Peter says, “Knowing that I must shortly put
off this my tabernacle as the Lord showed me.” Paul says, “the time of
my departure is at hand.” (The figure here is taken from a vessel that, as
she leaves a dock, throws the cables off the fastening, and opens her sails to
the wind to depart for the haven) … The only time where the word “dead”
is used, it is with qualification: “the dead -- in Christ,” “the dead
-- which die in the Lord.”
Christ abolished death so completely that
even the term death is no longer appropriate for believers. That is why Paul
wrote that we should comfort one another with reminders that for Christians
what we call death is nothing more than a temporary sleep before we are called
into our uninterrupted relationship with Christ forever.
CONCLUSION: God has sounded the warnings loudly and clearly. They
have come through His prophets in the OT, through the NT writers, and even
through Jesus Himself. The firestorm is coming in the form of the seven years
of tribulation, when no Christian influence will temper the evil that will
plunge the earth into a cauldron of misery and devastation. But you can avoid
the destruction and be evacuated. You can enter your name on the list of those
who will hear the trumpet call of the Rapture by turning to Christ and begin
living the pure and holy life that characterizes those who will enter heaven.
As the apostle John wrote,
Revelation 21:27
If your name is not in this book, when the
Rapture occurs you will be left behind to experience horrors worse than
anything the world has ever seen. I hope you will not wait another day; turn to
Jesus Christ now, before it is too late, and become one of those who will hear
Jesus’ exclusive call to His church on the day of the Rapture.
SIGNS - Spiritual Apathy - Audio Link
APATHY
Text:
Selected Scriptures from the LSB
Prayer: Heavenly
Father, in these days of weariness and despair we find ourselves weighted down
by the evil of living in a sinful world. We come before You this morning with
heavy hearts, feeling the indifference pressing down upon our spirits. Lord, we
acknowledge that there are times when we feel like we’re drifting, when the
burdens of life seem too great for us to bear, and even worse, when the fire of
passion within us flickers dimly. This morning we come before Your presence
begging You to reignite that flame, to breathe new life into our weary souls.
Father, we must
confess that there are moments when we just don’t seem to care anymore. The
struggles, the disappointments, and the challenges of life have dulled our
spirits and clouded our vision. We find ourselves questioning the purpose of our
efforts, the meaning of our days, and the value of our existence. In these
times of apathy, O Lord, I ask for Your mercy and grace to wash over us all
this morning, and for the Holy Spirit to remind us that we are still loved,
still valued, and still have a purpose in Your grand design. Encourage us from
Your Word today. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Introduction: The late Dr. A.W. Tozer wrote about what he called “the
decline of apocalyptic expectation” in the contemporary church. Tozer felt
that believers were forgetting the importance of Christ’s approaching return,
and he compared that attitude to the generation just prior to his own:
There was
a feeling among gospel Christians that the end of the age was near, and many
were breathless with anticipation of a new world order about to emerge. This
new order was to be preceded by a silent return of Christ to earth, not to
remain, but to raise the righteous dead to immortality and to glorify the
living saints in the twinkling of an eye. These He would catch away to the
marriage supper of the Lamb, while the earth meanwhile plunged into its baptism
of fire and blood in the Great Tribulation. This would be relatively brief,
ending dramatically with the battle of Armageddon and the triumphant return of
Christ with His Bride to reign a thousand years.
In recent
years, however, the church has forgotten this truth. Christians, rather than
being distinct from the world around them and living in expectation of their
Lord’s return, have become so much like the world that sometimes you can
scarcely tell the difference between the two. Many churches reflect an
apathetic, rather than serious, attitude toward the coming of the Lord.
Apathy,
according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, is “the feeling of not having
much emotion or interest.” An apathetic Christian is a cynical one – a
person who simply doesn’t care anymore about the signs of the times.
Now, this
isn’t to say that we who are believers should be walking around with our heads
down in some sort of doomsday mentality. That’s not what the Bible is all
about. The coming of Christ is not a negative subject; it’s the brightest, most
radiant star on the horizon. But it is also a teaching that comes along with
some stern biblical warnings. As God’s people, we cannot allow these truths to
be shoved off to one side.
In forty
years of ministry, I’ve watched and listened as evangelical preachers have
gradually changed their attitudes about declaring the return of Christ. More
and more, I’m hearing that it’s “not relevant enough” for a Sunday
morning message. The attitude is don’t spend an hour teaching about “end
time” matters to people with family struggles, business failures, and a
host of other emotional and physical problems. That is so irrelevant!
Irrelevant?
I can promise you one thing with a strong degree of assurance: One minute after
the Rapture, the subject won’t be “irrelevant” at all. It will be the
very definition of relevant.
I.
CHRIST’S RETURN IS A
DOMINANT THEME OF SCRIPTURE (Mt. 24:36-44; Rom. 13:11-14; 1 Cor. 1:7; Phil. 3:30;
Heb. 10:24-25; Jas. 5:8; 1 Pet. 4:7; 1 Jn. 2:18; Rev. 22:20; Jer. 8:20)
For example, if you happen to be teaching through the
Gospels, you will come to Matthew 24 and 25 and find yourself headlong in the
second coming of our Lord. Beginning at verse 36 of chapter 24, we read these
words:
[READ Mt. 24:36-44]
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not
even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 For
just as the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 38 For
as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and
they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will
the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then there will be two in
the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. 41 Two
women will be grinding grain at the mill; one will be taken and
one will be left. 42 “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not
know which day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this,
that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was
coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed his house to be
broken into. 44 For this reason you also must be ready; for the
Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
The disciples, you might remember, had asked the Lord
three specific questions regarding future events. His answer in the passage
we’ve just read came in response to the last question: “Lord, when will
these things happen?” (v. 3). He had told them about the cataclysmic
events that would occur at the end of the age. And the disciples were just as
curious as we are. “When, Lord, when? When will all of this take place?”
The Lord answered them but didn’t give them everything
they wanted to know. Instead, He gave them what they needed to know.
Someone said that good preaching is giving people what they need disguised as
what they want. Master preacher that He was, Jesus gave His hearers just what
they needed – and they were all ears.
The information contained in these two chapters of
Matthew is primarily addressed to those who will be alive during the generation
of the Tribulation. So, believers today need to heed the warning of the Lord as
well; He will come for us at the Rapture of the church, which will also be at
an unknown day and hour.
So, why should we concern ourselves? “After all,”
someone might reason, “if you can’t know the when and the where, why even
worry about it?” It reminds me of a question-and-answer sequence I heard
some time ago:
Q: What’s the difference between ignorance and apathy?
A: I don’t know and I
don’t care.
That’s the way a lot of people feel about the Rapture.
They don’t know and they don’t really care. Yet Scripture keeps repeating the
theme of Christ’s coming over and over, like the clear ringing of a big bell on
a frosty morning, “Be prepared! Be ready! He’s coming soon!” Many have
tuned out the sound of that bell. They’ve grown used to it, in much the same
way as they have become accustomed to the familiar chiming of a grandfather
clock in the den. Can you still hear the alarm as you turn the pages of your
Bible?
Hear it in Paul’s great rallying cry to the Romans:
[READ Rom. 13:11-14]
11 And do this, knowing the time, that it
is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now, salvation is nearer
to us than when we believed. 12 The night is almost gone, and
the day is at hand. Therefore, let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put
on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the day,
not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not
in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
Hear it in the apostle’s strong commendation of the
first-generation church in Corinth:
[READ 1 Cor. 1:7]
7 … You are not lacking in any gift, eagerly
awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hear it again from his prison cell, when he penned timely
encouragement to the Philippians:
[READ Phil. 3:20]
20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which
also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hear it from the writer of the book of Hebrews, who urged
his readers:
[READ Heb. 10:24-25]
24 And let us consider how to stimulate one
another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own
assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another,
and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Hear it from James as he wrote:
[READ Jas. 5:8]
8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts,
for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Hear it from Peter:
[READ 1 Pet. 4:7]
7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore,
be of sound thinking and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.
Hear it from the elderly apostle John:
[READ 1 Jn. 2:18]
18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as
you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared.
From this we know that it is the last hour.
Hear it in the echo of that great bell in the concluding
words of the Bible:
[READ Rev. 22:20]
20 He who bears witness to these things says,
“Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
What do you do with biblical emphases like these? Ignore
them? Shelve them? Skip over them? Set them aside to deal with “more
relevant personal matters”?
I believe if we practice this kind of neglect, we do so
to our own spiritual peril.
If you go back through all of these passages, you will
find that in almost every one, the future truth impacts some present
responsibility. It is the knowledge of Jesus’ imminent return that puts urgency
in our steps, determination in our service, and gravity in our decisions and
conversations. We must “work for the night is coming!”
Some Christians tell themselves they have a lot of time
to win friends and family to Christ. We think in terms of seasons and years,
but we may not have seasons and years. We may not have the luxury of waiting
for that ideal moment when everything falls into place and the door swings wide
open. Why not? Because Jesus may come tomorrow morning! Jesus may come tonight
at the stroke of midnight! And then it will be too late – forever, eternally
too late: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!”
(Jer. 8:20).
Yes, it is common to hear people speak of “prophecy
buffs” and smile indulgently at their preoccupations. Yet the truth is, the
prophetic teaching of Scripture is some of the most practical truth in all the
Word of God. We must not compartmentalize these great teachings into some
obscure “curiosity corner” out of the mainstream of our daily life. We
mustn’t shrug off prophetic issues, saying, “Oh, the scholars will deal with
that stuff. I’m just going to worry about raising my children and taking care
of daily life.”
Beloved, don’t do that! Because “the blessed hope”
of our Lord’s return will impact your daily life like nothing else! In the
remainder of our time this morning, I want to identify three attitudes that our
Lord warned against in Matthew 24.
II.
JESUS WARNED AGAINST
A CAVALIER ATTITUDE (Mt. 24:37-39; Gen. 6:5; 2 Pet. 3:3-6)
As I mentioned in an earlier sermon in this series, in
Matthew 24:37-39 Jesus used an illustration that would have sparked immediate
recognition in every one of His listeners.
[READ Mt. 24:37-39]
37 For just as the days of Noah were, so the
coming of the Son of Man will be. 38 For as in those days
before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they
did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the
coming of the Son of Man be.
Jesus said that when the Son of Man returns, it will be
the way it was before the Flood. What was it like then? Genesis 6:5 tells us
that when the Lord looked down upon His creation …
[READ Gen. 6:5]
5 [He] saw that the evil of man was great on
the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually.
Today’s culture may not quite be there, but who can deny
we’re headed in that direction? Contrary to the fondest hopes of the
evolutionist, this world is not growing better and better. In fact, it is
precisely the opposite.
And the thoughts of men’s minds? You wonder sometimes
when you see the vile stuff reported in the news. How could anyone ever think
up something so evil? That’s the way it was just before the Flood.
I want you to understand that the growing evil on this
planet is not what the Lord was talking about when He spoke of the “eating
and drinking” that went on before the Flood. Some preachers have said, “You
see how terrible it was? They were gorging themselves with food and drinking
themselves under the table. Gluttony! Drunkenness!”
Well then, what are you going to do with the rest of it?
What about the phrase that says they were “marrying and giving in marriage”?
That sounds almost wholesome.
No, Jesus is not speaking primarily of humanity’s evil
activities in this passage; rather His message is that people across the world
in that day were all caught up in doing ordinary things. They were cooking
meals. They were drawing water from their wells. They were celebrating
weddings. They were taking life as it came, day by day – and they were
completely ignoring the warnings of Noah. Life went on, and that fanatic kept
building a ship the size of a football field and talking about “rain”
– whatever that was. So, they didn’t pay any attention.
How long did Noah preach to these people about the coming
flood? Do you remember? One hundred and twenty years! That’s a long time to
preach one message. How many different ways can you say, “It’s going to
rain”? But that’s the message he brought. Faithfully. Repeatedly.
Passionately. That’s what this “preacher of righteousness” did. And
everyone passed it off with a smile, a shrug of the shoulders, while shaking
their heads in disbelief.
Noah’s neighbors might have told him his preaching was
not relevant. “Noah, if you must preach, talk to us about the real stuff of
life. Talk to us about marriage and raising kids and earning a living. Don’t
keep harping on some future ‘judgment’ that nobody believes in anyway. Get a
life, Preacher!”
Eating. Drinking. Marrying. Having kids. Working nine to
five. Kicking back on the weekends. Life goes on. And rather than turning to
God in repentance, the population didn’t do anything; men and women drifted
along with the prevailing culture and the prevalent attitudes. And the Bible
tells us that is the way it will be before Jesus comes again.
It sounds a lot like our world today, doesn’t it? Nobody
has time for prophecy. Nobody wants to talk about the Second Coming. “Hey,
I’ve got to go to a wedding this afternoon”; “We’re having a dinner at our
house tonight”; “We’re going for a few drinks after work”; “We’re having a baby
gender-revealing party next month”; I’m taking the grandkids to the zoo”; “I
finally made manager; my career’s really starting to take off!”
So, just as in Noah’s day, people move through life in a
cavalier, heedless sort of way. They look forward to the future and take no
heed of God’s warnings. They live the same way they’ve always lived.
The people of Noah’s day ignored and even ridiculed his
warnings. He preached for 120 years and not one individual outside of his
immediate family believed him. He preached and preached and preached. He gave
invitation after invitation. And then the last day of opportunity passed by,
and someone, somewhere, felt the first raindrop that ever fell. Then the
heavens opened up and the fountains of the deep broke loose, and God closed the
door to the ark.
Peter had a word to say about this, and I want you to
notice the startling parallels with today’s world:
[READ 2 Pet. 3:3-6]
3 … Knowing this first of all, that in the last
days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own
lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For
since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning
of creation.” 5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their
notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the
earth was formed out of water and by water, 6 through which the
world at that time was destroyed, being deluged with water.
What is Peter saying? He’s saying the time immediately
before Christ’s return will be just as it was during Noah’s day. The public
grew bored with Noah’s preaching. The old man was politically incorrect. He
kept saying what people didn’t want to hear. For as long as most people could
remember, he’d been hammering away about “judgment” and an approaching “flood.”
But where was it? Where was the water? Where was the rain? And since God’s
judgment didn’t appear on their monthly calendars, these people assumed it
couldn’t be real.
Jesus warned against this kind of cavalier attitude. You
may even have such an attitude yourself. You may say: “Oh, here we go again.
Pastor Alan’s off on another prophecy jag. What’s this? Like his third or
fourth sermon series on this stuff in the last year? Doesn’t he have anything
else to say?”
Yes, I’ve been preaching about this subject because it’s
important. And people who refuse to believe it’s true will one day take notice
of their surroundings with a different attitude. Members of their immediate family
will be missing. They’ll knock at the door of a friend’s house and no one will
answer. The car will be in the driveway and the lights will be on inside, but
nobody will be home. And they will begin to wonder, as panic grips their
throats, Why didn’t I listen when they were talking to me about the Lord’s
return?
Then Jesus gave a second warning.
III. JESUS WARNED AGAINST A CARELESS ATTITUDE (Mt. 24:42-44; Lk.
12:39; 1 Thes. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 3:3; 16:15)
As we read earlier, the Lord tells a little story as we
continue in Matthew 24:
[READ Mt. 24:42-44]
42 Therefore stay awake, for you do not know
which day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this, that if
the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken
into. 44 For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of
Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
Jesus does not say that He is like a thief. But He uses
the modus operandi of a thief to illustrate His point. In fact, the Bible uses
this word picture a number of times. Let’s look at some other examples.
[READ Lk. 12:39]
39 “But be sure of this, that if the head of the
house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed
his house to be broken into.
And …
[READ 1 Thes. 5:2]
2 For you yourselves know full well that the
day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
It’s also found in 2 Peter 3 …
[READ 2 Pet. 3:10]
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a
thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be
destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be found out.
[READ Rev. 3:3]
3 So remember what you have received and heard;
and keep it, and repent. Therefore, if you do not wake up, I will come
like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
[READ Rev. 16:15]
15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed
is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, so that he will not walk
about naked and men will not see his shame.”)
What is Jesus saying? I believe the message is simply
this: “Just because you don’t see this taking place right under your
nose, don’t become careless in your attitude.” Jesus warned against an
approach that says, “I haven’t been robbed this year, so I’m turning off my
alarm. I’m leaving my doors unlocked, I’m not collecting the newspapers from
the driveway. Nobody has ever robbed me. Nobody has ever robbed my neighbors.
It won’t happen to me.”
Perhaps some of you could testify that real people do get
robbed. Maybe you became careless or heedless, and the thing you thought would
never happen, did happen.
That’s what Jesus was saying. He was warning against a
careless, reckless, self-deceptive attitude that keeps insisting, “It can’t
happen to me.”
Yes, it can! Jesus Christ will return without any
announcement. One day God will say, “That’s enough,” and His
judgment will fall upon the earth and all who have rejected His Son.
But there is also a third warning.
IV. JESUS WARNED AGAINST A CALLOUS ATTITUDE (Mt. 24:45-51)
Jesus told yet another story to make His point clear:
[READ Mt. 24:45-51]
45 “Who then is the faithful and prudent slave
whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the
proper time? 46 Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so
doing when he comes. 47 Truly I say to you that he will put him
in charge of all his possessions. 48 But if that evil slave
says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ 49 and
begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; 50 the
master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and
at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will cut him in
pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Here, Jesus described two servants who work for an
absentee master. One servant is good and faithful, the other evil and
faithless. The first servant represents believers who will be on the earth
before the Lord’s return, while the evil servant represents the nonbelievers. The
Lord declared that every person in the world holds his life, his possessions,
and his abilities in trust from God, and every individual will be held
accountable to the Lord for what he has done with that trust.
This evil servant, we’ve just read about, displays the
dominant attitude of callous procrastination. He doesn’t really believe the
master will come back anytime soon, so he has no motivation to cease doing all
the evil things he has become accustomed to doing. Christ’s word of warning to
him was that he had better be careful because he doesn’t know heaven’s
timetable.
Even as a pastor, I’ve heard people say things like: “Yeah,
I believe in the coming of the Lord. But I’ve got some wild oats to sow and
some crazy things I want to do. I’ve got this all figured out. When I first
begin to see anything that looks like the Second Coming, then I’ll pull my life
together and I’ll be ready to go up.”
I was reading recently about a pastor who was talking to
a man about the Lord. He wanted to become a Christian, he said, but it “wasn’t
convenient” for him at that time. So, he put it off. I wouldn’t want to be
in that man’s shoes if he continues to procrastinate and one day has to stand
before the throne of judgment. Can you hear him mumbling as he stands before
the Lord of the universe, saying, “Well, Lord, I was going to accept You and
follow You, but – well, it just wasn’t convenient.”
The hard truth is, it won’t be “convenient” for
God to allow you into heaven – because it wasn’t “convenient” for you to
accept His provision for your sins.
Dr. William Barclay, one of the great historic
commentators on the Scriptures, relates a fable in which three of the Devil’s
apprentices were coming to this earth to finish up their apprenticeships. They
were talking to Satan, the chief of devils, about their plans to tempt and ruin
man. The first devil said, “I know what I’ll do. I’ll tell them there is no
God.”
Satan said, “That won’t delude anybody. They know
there is a God.”
The second one said, “I’ll tell them there is no
hell.”
“You will deceive no one that way,” Satan replied, “because
men know deep down in their hearts that there is a place called hell and a
punishment for sin.”
The third said, “I know what I’ll do. I’ll tell them
there is no hurry.”
And Satan said, “You will ruin men by the thousands.
The most dangerous of all delusions is that there is plenty of time.”
V.
WHEN THE WARNINGS RUN
OUT
Back in the mid-70s & 80s, a story came out about a
time when the Pacific Northwest of the US witnessed a cataclysm unlike anything
our nation had seen for generations.
There was a local man to the area people called “Old
Harry.” Harry Randall Truman was a stubborn man, and became a legend in the
Pacific Northwest. Though he was warned repeatedly that his life was in
jeopardy, he just laughed. We all know those who ignore red flags and danger
signs, well Harry, he was just a picture of that kind of person. He lived at
the foot of a quiet mountain.
At least, the mountain had been quiet for 123 years.
Sometimes she stirred to spit cinder and ash or drool lava from her cavernous
crater. Occasionally, she looked down steep snow fields and rumbled a muted
threat to the people who explored the lush forest and mountain meadows below.
Some thought Bigfoot stalked her slopes. But Mount Saint Helens was seething
inside, ready to unleash her force upon unbelieving admirers. She was awesome
and mysterious, but only threatening to the few who understood her power.
In March 1980, an earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter
scale registered near Mount Saint Helens in southwestern Washington state.
Forest rangers were advised of possible dangers from avalanches which could
trap skiers or climbers. Most folks were unconcerned. The mountain setting was
tranquil as people anticipated a time for renewal. The earth was singing with
new warmth of Spring.
Then on March 27, a ranger heard what he thought was a sonic boom.
The mountain had erupted. Scientists rushed to assess the explosive potential
of the mountain. They painted a frightening scenario of future destruction.
People listened, but many could not comprehend a disaster of such magnitude.
Old Harry probably read the news stories while he ate a solitary breakfast and
fed scraps to his 16 cats. “Nobody knows more about this mountain than
Harry, and it don’t dare blow upon on him,” he bragged.
Days and weeks
passed. Some became impatient with the geologists’ negative reports. People
lost their concern of anything ever happening and wanted to get back to
business as usual. Everybody heard the geologists say what they wanted to hear
them say. They weren’t really listening to them at all.
When sheriffs’
deputies ordered all residents on the shores of Spirit Lake at the base of the
mountain to leave for safety, Harry said, “I’m … living my life alone. I’m
king of all I survey. I’ve got plenty of whiskey. I’ve got food for 15 years,
and I’m sitting high on the hog.”
Sunday morning, May
18, 1980, the mountain exploded and hurled pulverized rock and ash almost 14
miles high. The force of the blast flattened trees, uprooting and smashing them
like millions of dominoes spreading out from the crater. Steam, ash, and gases
spouted from the incinerated vegetation. Mud flows flooded the rivers and
transformed the beautiful mountain lands into a ghastly, charred landscape. The
mountain’s vengeance was 500 times greater than the nuclear bomb that leveled
Hiroshima.
The warnings were
over. There was no longer any time to run. No one ever saw Harry again.
A scary story? Yes –
and more. It is also a true picture of how people stubbornly refuse to listen
to the truth, because their minds become filled with other things. Don’t be one
of those people. The mountain may not be erupting at this moment – but can you
feel the earth trembling?
Prayer: Heavenly
Father, we pray for strength to rise above the apathy we’ve discussed from Your
Word today. Infuse each of us with Your spirit of hope and renewal. Guide us
back to the path of purpose and passion, reminding us that every day is a gift,
a new opportunity to make a difference, no matter how small. Grant us clarity
to discern what truly matters and the courage to pursue it. Help us let go of
the burdens that weigh us down and the expectations that stifle our spirits.
Teach us how to find joy in the little things, and cultivate gratitude in our
hearts. Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayer. We trust that You are working
in us, even when we feel distant from You. Again, we ask You to transform our
hearts and renew our spirits. May Your love shine through us igniting a passion
for life and a burning desire to serve You and others for the glory of Christ
and the sake of the gospel, I pray, Amen.
Invitation Slides: “Almost Persuaded”
(3 vs.)
Benediction: Beloved, love
must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one
another in love. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor,
serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in
prayer. Amen. (Rom. 12:9-12)