Rapture

Part 5

Robert McLaughlin
Part 5. The contrasts between the Rapture and the Second Coming (Advent).
We need to establish the fact that these are two different events. The Rapture removes all living believers from the earth while the Second Coming removes unbelievers from the earth (1CO 15:51-52, MAT 24:40-41).
– In the Rapture, the saints are caught up in the air with Him, while at the Second Advent of Christ, He returns to the earth.
– In the Rapture, Christ comes to claim His bride while at the Second Coming He returns with the Bride.
– The Rapture results in the removal of the Church and insertion of the Tribulation, while the Second Coming results in the establishment of the Millennial kingdom.
– The Rapture is imminent (could take place at any moment) while the Second Coming is preceded by a multitude of signs.
– The Rapture brings a message of comfort while the Second Advent is accompanied by a message of judgment (baptism of fire).
– The Rapture is a mystery while the Second Advent is predicted in both the old and new Testaments.
– The Rapture leaves creation unchanged while the Second Advent entails the change in creation.
– The Rapture takes place before the day of wrath, but the Second Advent follows it.
– The Rapture is for believers only, but the Second Advent has its effect on all men.
– The expectation of the Church in regard to the Rapture is that the Lord is at hand (PHI 4:5), while the expectation of Israel in regard to the Second Advent is that the kingdom is at hand (MAT 24:14).
These are some of the contrasts which may be presented to support the fact that the Rapture and the Second Advent are distinct events!
In continuing to prove the pre-tribulation Rapture, we need to look at Revelation chapter 4. This is a passage which illustrates that the Church is no longer on earth, and that it is in Heaven worshipping the Lord. REV 4:1-4, “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in Heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.’ Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in Heaven, and One sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. And around the throne were twenty four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.”
In verse 4, John is given a vision of 24 elders who are seated on thrones. Notice that these elders who are seated on thrones are clothed in white garments, crowned with golden crowns, and in Heaven in the presence of God. Several answers are given as to the question of the identity of these twenty four elders. First of all, notice that these 24 elders are not angels. What is said of the 24 elders could not be true of angelic beings, because angels are not crowned with victors crowns. The phrase the golden crowns in the Greek is chrusous stephanous which are given to Church-age believers (1CO 9:25, PHI 4:1, 1TH 2:19, 2TI 4:8, JAM 1:12, 1PE 5:4). Also there is something which is said in verse 4 that should be very meaningful to most of you by now, And around the throne were twenty four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty four elders sitting. Nowhere in the Scriptures are we told that angels are seated on thrones, which speaks of Royal dignity and Honor. This privilege is given to believers only because of the strategic victory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, these 24 elders are resurrected, redeemed men who are clothed, crowned and seated on thrones in connection with Royalty in Heaven. There are four inerrant marks which identify these elders as representative of the Church: First, their position. They are sitting on the thrones which make up the rainbow around the throne in REV 4:3. To the Church and only to the Church, is co-enthronement promised. REV 3:21-22, “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Notice that this co-enthronement is said to the Churches. In Rev 4, the Lord Jesus Christ is not seated upon the throne on earth, but rather in Heaven, and these individuals have been presented faultless and have already received their rewards for glorifying God.
The second inerrant mark which identifies these elders as representative of the Church is the number of these elders. Especially in this book where numbers are so great a part of the symbolism, 24 is the number of the choruses into which the Levitical priesthood was divided (1CH 24:1-19). The number 24 represented priesthood. Of all the groups of the redeemed only the Church is a priesthood (1PE 12:5-9; REV 1:6).
The third inerrant mark which identifies these elders as representative of the Church is the testimony of the enthroned elders. REV 5:8-10, And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” The Church and only the Church can testify to being made a kingdom and priests to our God.
The fourth important mark is that they are called elders, and elder-ship is a representative office for the Church age (ACT 15:2; ACT 20:17).
The elders are members of the Church, and they are seen in Heaven in the place which the Scriptures assign to the Church. They are there before a seal is opened, or a woe is uttered and before the wrath of God is poured out. Therefore, they are there before the Tribulation period begins. They are in their redeemed state, clothed with white raiment and crowned with crowns. From this chapter to the 20th chapter, the Church is never once referred to as on earth. In fact, the Church is seen in Rev 19 coming down from Heaven following the Lord Jesus Christ. REV 19:7-16, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And he said to me, ‘Write, Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.’ And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, ‘Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’ And I saw Heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in Heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’”
These believers are seen to be resurrected, in Heaven, evaluated, rewarded and enthroned at the beginning of the 70th week or the Tribulational period. Therefore we can easily conclude that the church has already been raptured. If the Church is not resurrected, and if there is no such thing as a Rapture, how could the Church be in Heaven in REV 19:7-11?
We also need to note the problem behind the following: 1TH 4:13-18, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 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, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. 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 shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
The Thessalonian Christians were not ignorant or uninformed about the resurrection. Their misunderstanding was of the relationship between the resurrection and the saints who had died before the Rapture. Paul writes, not to teach the fact of resurrection, but rather the fact that at the Rapture, the living would not have an advantage over the dead in Christ. “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, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.” Now, if the Thessalonians had believed that the Church would be going through the 70th week, or the Tribulational period, they would have rejoiced that some of the brethren had missed the period of suffering, and were with the Lord without experiencing the outpouring of wrath. In other words, if the Church were going through the tribulation it would be better to be with the Lord than to have to await the events of the 70th week. The Thessalonians would be praising the Lord that their brethren were spared these events, instead of feeling that the dead had missed some of the Lord’s blessing.
The principle is that the early Church believed that the Church would not go through the 70th week and in their anticipation of the return of Christ they mourned for their brethren whom they thought had missed the blessing of this event. Therefore, the apostle Paul says, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who have died, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again [and we do], even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 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, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. 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 shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
The Word of God teaches in PRO 30:5 that every word of God is pure, and this means that no matter what the subject is, you need to learn it! It also teaches in 2TI 2:15, that a pastor should “Study to present himself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” In fact, this same word translated as study in 2TI 2:15 is also found in 2PE 1:10 “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent [study] to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;” So the pastor is to study and teach, that is his job, and then he is to take this study and as EPH 4:12 says, “equip the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;” I say all of this because one of the reasons why it is so important to document the Rapture accurately is that there are large movements in this nation which are based upon the belief that there is no Rapture. Such as movements like the Christian coalition or the Promise keepers. There is also a movement called Dominion theology or re-constructionalism which teaches post-millenialism and they are anti-dispensationalists. These conflicting views impact the way believers are involved in this present society.
Christian reconstruction teaches that the victory of God’s kingdom on earth is during and continuous with our present era. Whereas those who believe in the Rapture believe that Christ will come back for His bride, then seven years later His intervening judgment will destroy current society, and then He will institute the Millennial conditions. Today, many Christians are attracted to the dominion position because they have an agenda. They are often involved in politics or social reform for which they believe re-constructionalism provides the vision to lead them to success. This is nothing more then creature credit! This movement is not concerned with the fulfillment of such passages as EPH 4:12-13, or 1TI 2:3-4, but rather fulfilling their own agenda. EPH 4:11-13, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ.”
1TI 2:3-4 says, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
These movements are made up of individuals from all different Biblical beliefs, in fact some of them do not even believe in the Bible, and that Jesus Christ is God! Many believers get involved with these movements not directly, but indirectly through the back door, rather than the front door which is Biblical study. They arrive at these views not from the study of Scripture, but by the romantic attraction of changing the world. This is why a true student of the Word of God will let the Scripture be the final authority, not what seems pleasing to the world.
They also believe in the application of the Judicial laws of Moses in modern society. These beliefs will not produce believers who honor, love or respect the Lord Jesus Christ, but rather produce a group of disillusioned people, completely distracted from God’s present purpose for the Church-age believer.
What is God’s present purpose for the Church-age believer? It is to be filled with the Holy Spirit (EPH 5:18). It is to walk by means of the Holy Spirit (GAL 5:16). It is to execute the Pre-designed Plan of God (PPOG), 1JO 2:6 “And this is virtue-love, that we walk according to His commands. This is the command, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it [the PPOG for your life]”
Those who do not believe in the Rapture believe that our apostate civilization can be converted into the kingdom of God. Therefore they ignore or spiritualize Scriptures like 1TH 4:16-17, 2TH 2:1-3, 1CO 15:51-52, all of which speak of the Rapture. They ignore 1TH 1:7-9, REV 19:11-16, which speaks of the Second Coming. They have no Scriptural documentation to back up their belief of changing the world and making it a better place to live. Their major leaders state that all of God’s laws, including the Mosaic Law, every jot and tittle, as the King James says, should be applied directly to American life. This belief is contrary to the New Testament teaching in the Epistles, referring to the Mosaic Law as well as the subjection to human governments. ROM 13:1-7, “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil. Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.”
Look at 1PE 2:13-16, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.”
Robert McLaughlin

Chart: Harvest community

PS: This is a very long teaching. Part 6 is still comping up.