1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

The Rapture

W. J. Mencarow

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

The Rapture

W. J. Mencarow

1 Thessalonians 4:15-16

15For this we declare to you by a word from

the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left

until the coming of the Lord, will not precede

those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord

himself will descend from heaven with a cry

of command, with the voice of an archangel,

and with the sound of the trumpet of God.

And the dead in Christ will rise first.

1 Thessalonians 4:17-18

17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be

caught up together with them in the clouds to

meet the Lord in the air, and so we will

always be with the Lord.

18Therefore encourage one another with these

words.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

The Rapture

W. J. Mencarow

Review: Timeline

3 ½ years 3 ½ years

The last prophetic “week of years”

Jewish Temple in Jerusalem

Two witnesses preaching

Beast declaring himself god

Gentiles trampling

Jerusalem

Daniel 9:20-23

20While I was speaking and praying, confessing

my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and

presenting my plea before the LORD my God

for the holy hill of my God, 21while I was

speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel… came to

me saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to

give you insight and understanding. 23At the

beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went

out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are

greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and

understand the vision.

Daniel 9:24

24“Seventy weeks are decreed about your

people and your holy city,

to finish the transgression,

to put an end to sin, and

to atone for iniquity,

to bring in everlasting righteousness,

to seal both vision and prophet, and

to anoint a most holy place.

Daniel 9

Start Decree to re-build the temple

7 weeks Temple rebuilt

62 weeks Anointed one dies

1 week Prince promises/breaks peace

Daniel 9

Start Decree to re-build the temple

7 weeks Temple rebuilt

62 weeks Anointed one dies

1 week Prince promises/breaks peace

When?

Matthew 24:3,36

3the disciples came to him privately, saying,

“Tell us, when will these things be, and what

will be the sign of your coming and of the end

of the age?”

36“But concerning that day and hour no one

knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor

the Son, but the Father only.

Acts 1:6-7

6So when they had come together, they asked

him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the

kingdom to Israel?”

7He said to them, “It is not for you to know

times or seasons that the Father has fixed by

his own authority.

What we know

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

What we know

1. Jesus will return (John 14:1-3)

1“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.2In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

What we know

1. Jesus will return (John 14:1-3; Heb. 9:28)

Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

What we know

1. Jesus will return

2. In the same way he left (Acts 1:9-11)

And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him gointo heaven.”

What we know

1. Jesus will return

2. The same way he left (Acts 1:9-11, Rev. 1:7)

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him…

What we know

1. Jesus will return

2. The same way he left

3. Unexpectedly (Matthew 24:37-39)

For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

What we know

1. Jesus will return

2. The same way he left

3. Unexpectedly

4. Some saved; some not (Matthew 24:40-41)

Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

What we know

5. Some alive; some from the grave (1 Th. 4:15)

We who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord..

What we know

1. Jesus will return

2. The same way he left

3. Unexpectedly

4. Some saved; some not

5. Some alive; some from the grave

What we know

1. Jesus will return

2. The same way he left

3. Unexpectedly

4. Some saved; some not

5. Some alive; some from the grave

= The Rapture

Revelation Timeline

2-3 Letters to the churches

4-18 Seven year tribulation

19 Triumphal return

20 Millennium

21-22 New Heaven / New Earth

Post-Tribulational Rapture

2-3 Letters to the churches

4-18 Seven year tribulation

19 Triumphal return (including rapture)

20 Millennium

21-22 New Heaven / New Earth

Unexpected Rapture

Matthew 24:42-44

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Unexpected Rapture

Mark 13:34-37

It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

Unexpected Rapture

2 Peter 3

You should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers...

Unexpected Rapture

2 Peter 3

You should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers...

Unexpected Rapture

2 Peter 3

...scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming?”But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the worksthat are done on it will be exposed.

Unexpected Rapture

1 Thessalonians 5:2

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

Post-Tribulational Rapture?

2-3 Letters to the churches

4-18 Seven year tribulation

19 Triumphal return (including rapture?)

20 Millennium

21-22 New Heaven / New Earth

Dr. Wayne Grudem

“How can we reconcile the

passages that seem to warn

us to be ready because

Christ could suddenly return,

with passages that indicate

that several important and

visible events must take

place before Christ can

return?”

Pre-Tribulational Rapture?

2-3 Letters to the churches

Rapture here?

4-18 Seven year tribulation

19 Triumphal return

20 Millennium

21-22 New Heaven / New Earth

Pre-Tribulational Rapture?

2-3 Letters to the churches

Rapture here?

4-18 Seven year tribulation

19 Triumphal return

20 Millennium

21-22 New Heaven / New Earth

Revelation 1:7Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

Pre-Tribulational Rapture?

2-3 Letters to the churches

Rapture here?

4-18 Seven year tribulation

19 Triumphal return

20 Millennium

21-22 New Heaven / New Earth

Revelation 3:10I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.

Pre-Tribulational Rapture?

2-3 Letters to the churches

Rapture here?

4-18 Seven year tribulation

19 Triumphal return

20 Millennium

21-22 New Heaven / New Earth

Revelation 4:1After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here...”

Where’s the church

2-3 Letters to the churches

Rapture here?

4-18 Seven year tribulation

19 Triumphal return

20 Millennium

21-22 New Heaven / New Earth

The Church is

conspicuously

absent here.

Pre-Tribulational Rapture?

2-3 Letters to the churches

Rapture here?

4-18 Seven year tribulation

19 Triumphal return

20 Millennium

21-22 New Heaven / New Earth

2 Peter 2:9The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,

Mid-Tribulational Rapture?

2-3 Letters to the churches

4-11 First half of tribulation

Rapture here?

12-18 Second half of tribulation

19 Triumphal return

20 Millennium

21-22 New Heaven / New Earth

Conclusion

There will be a “rapture”

It may happen before the Tribulation.

The most important thing… “Be ready.”