The Rapture

Introduction:

 

Jesus came & died for our sins. He left to provide for His Spirit to come (it would confuse man to start the church with Him here in the flesh & have His Spirit fill people. He had to go away to show us there is only one God). There is so much more related to the word Rapture & scriptures support a much deeper experience than just getting picked up by a taxi, your ride is here, the bus is leaving. All due respect to God, the catching away is not just a plane ride. The personal, internal experience will never be matched in life as we leave this world to start a new life in eternity!   Is the word Rapture in scripture?  Yes!  1 Cor. 15:51-57 Read ‘caught up’ in Latin – Rapturo.  Therefore, Rapture exists, hidden in a different language for words we read in English.

 

Definition of Rapture:

 

1. Extreme & overwhelming happiness: there is no happiness greater than being ‘raptured’. It overwhelms to such completeness that all of our senses are totally consumed & cannot feel anything else.

2. a word designed to describe the absolute, most intense, experience of love & joy any person could experience – ‘Raptured.’

3. We can apply this definition in both a natural & spiritual application: the natural is sex; the Spiritual if the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. One raptures our flesh & the other raptures our soul.

 

Is the word Rapture found in the Bible? Of course it is! Have you been intimidated by unbelievers? A lot of other words we care about in living by the Bible: sunrise, sunset, television, tanks, jets, microchips,.. but these things are in the Bible. This Bible study is to prove you must not limit yourself to the unbelievers’ limitations – get more information & start teaching them.  Rapture comes from the Latin ‘Rapturo’ translating the Greek verb ‘caught up’. Don’t be intimidated by unbelievers – we are the saints of the Rapture, the return of Jesus to catch us away to ‘rapture our souls in marriage’.

 

1 Thessalonians 3:11-13  Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. 12. And the Lord make you to increase & abound in love one toward another, & toward all men, even as we do toward you: why? 13. To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. Without holy living, no salvation! What must I do to be holy? 1st step – repent of all sins & get the Holy Ghost inside of you. Then you’ll learn how to live holy – don’t be too worried until after the 1st step then it will make sense.  Some people try to ‘live holy’ by their own observation, reading, & changing, but without God’s approval you can’t understand why & have the strength to defend the changes.

1 Thess.4:1-2 find out what pleases God & keep doing it over & over.

1 Thess.4:3-7 we can’t sin & follow lusts – fight them, say no, keep strong to please God, to get to holiness

1Thess.4:8-10 Wow! The reason we get the Holy Ghost is for ‘loving one another’. Take advantage of every situation to show faith, show obedience, show holiness & show love. Don’t run away & avoid opportunities – God is helping you learn & grow but we sometimes avoid what He plans.  We are not living ‘to get our way’; walking in the spirit is ‘I don’t care where the bretheren want to go, as long as we are together.  What does walking in the flesh say; I don’t like that, I don’t want that, I have no money.  This is avoiding an opportunity to love each other by being together. (love doesn’t need money – we need to discipline ourselves.  Instead of learning lessons to change you, you are fighting against love, the flesh is winning, & growth is hindered – vs. 10).  These are teachings before the Rapture a few verses away!

1 Thess.4:11-12 final instructions about holy living. We need to be saying often, in our minds, ‘help me Jesus with this’. He will!

1 Thess.4:13-15 Jesus has been building a bride since the day of Pentecost & people full of the holy Ghost have died for almost 2000 yrs. They are the church in the grave. Jesus already has a bride. If we are alive when He comes, they rise 1st, we don’t prevent them, then we all become the ‘World wide bride of Christ rising to meet Him.

1 Thess.4:16-18 ‘caught up, the catching away! The arriving of the Limo!

 

Couples in the Natural             In the Spiritual – The Individual            In Prophecy – The Church

 

Meet, Date – why? To get to Know each other; believe in, make choices	‘Believe’ in God – Learn about Truth, make choices  John 11:25-26 the power of ‘believing’ or ‘faith’ has no limits.	Faith Grows up in all Things; Eph.4:11-16; 1Pet.2:1-2;
Engaged (commit to One); finding the ‘one’ to spend whole life with.	Repent – Die to all, commit to God; Lk.13:3-5	Inherit His Suffering; 2 Tim.2:12; Rev.2-3 churches suffered
Wedding (legal, ceremonial) taking of the groom’s name.	Baptism – Take His Name; Acts 2:38; 4:12; Eph.3:15	Inherit the Loss of all things (to inherit all things we must lose all things) Phil.3:7-8; Job 1:21
Consummation (a rapture of the flesh; intimatacy); mind on nothing else; reason for so much sex sin!	Holy Ghost (Love Personified; He raptures our soul) mind & heart on nothing else.	Rapture 1 Cor.15:51-57; we fly away with Him (Raptured out of this world & new body provided) How? Rom.8:9-11
Faithful & Respectful living that leads to unity, bonding, etc.	Communion with God (only by holiness can we draw near) Exod.33:20; Heb.12:14; 1Pet.1:15-16; How then?  New Bodies!	Face to Face Communion with God; in heaven inheriting all of heaven!! 1 Cor.13:12; 1Jn.3:1-3

 

The Wedding Begins:

 

Rapture is a word most people associate with an ‘event in time’, the catching away of the church, meaning the return of Jesus, the bride groom, for His bride, to take us to heaven. We totally agree with this & teach it will be very soon. This will complete the marriage. If it completes the marriage, when was the wedding, when did it all 1st start?

 

Let’s consider this: Luke 1:7,13,23-24, Elizabeth conceives & hides it 5 months; their miracle baby is on the way (John); 26-27 Mary is visited by Gabriel & she learns, understands, commits to do it no matter what the shame (no husband pregnancy); 38 Mary’s acceptance. 36 after the angel finishes with Mary she rushes to Elizabeth’s house days away. Right after she greets her the Holy Ghost speaks 39-45 Elizabeth’s prophecy blows Mary away.  As individuals, we all have our similar wedding experience (see chart).  There is a physical & spiritual wedding ceremony.

1) Gabriel meets with Mary & offers her the opportunity to be the mother of our Lord

2) Mary asks questions, learns more, then commits & accepts. Mary says the ‘I do’ for the church, God’s bride, in Lk.1:38.

3) God’s Spirit overshadows her & she conceives – when Jesus is born He is the ‘1st born’ of the church – the 1st person living, full of the Holly Ghost. Hb.12:23 the church of the 1st born (Jesus). Rom.8:29 1st born of many brethren. Jesus is our brother as a man but as God He is husband to the bride, His church, starting with Mary (natural 1st then Acts 1:14). God’s Spirit overshadows us & a new creature is born!

4) Then Jesus provided a plan of salvation through the death, burial & resurrection (Acts 2:38) to build the church. Jesus left but in Acts 2:4 He filled 120 with His Spirit creating the new body for the 1st born.

5) After He completes the body He will need to ‘consummate’ the wedding, the vows, the promises. By returning to get the church, He will ‘Rapture us’. The 1st infilling, baptism of the Holy Ghost is the consummation of our personal adoption into the bride – who doesn’t want to continually get refilled?  It is a rapture of the soul!

6) It does not matter the order of this event but after we are Raptured, & arrive in heaven, we will have the marriage supper of the Lamb & so shall we ever be with the Lord. Rev.19:9.

 

Conclusion:

 

Is Jesus excited about coming back for us? You better believe it. Should we be excited & stop worrying & increase our faith with this news? Yes we should. Remember, don’t let earthly customs & traditions keep you from God’s way of doing it.