Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.
John 14:1-3
Look, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:51-58
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
STORY
With the April 8 solar eclipsed that traversed North American, some Christians acknowledged this to be a sign of the Second Coming. Except, these predictions, that are based on astronomy, have always been at the forefront of religious groups.
One of the more famous examples from the ancient world of people finding meaning in the skies occurred in 44 B.C.E., when a comet appeared in the skies over Italy just four short months after the assassination of Julius Caesar. Roman authors Pliny the Elder and Suetonius claimed that the comet was visible for about a week and that it was so bright it could be spotted in the late afternoon. Many Romans interpreted its appearance and lingering presence as a sign that Caesar had ascended to the heavens and had taken a seat among the many gods of Rome. Caesar’s deification was made official by a vote of the Roman senate less than two years later.
DEVOTION
Many world religions and religious cults look to heavenly bodies and astronomical occurrences to affirm the superiority of their deity. This is the same for Christianity. The difference is Jesus, unlike any other venerated deity, actually did ascend to heaven, and, in the confession of biblical authors, will return once again in what is called the Rapture.
David Jeremiah is the founder and host of Turning Point for God and is senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church, located in El Cajon, California. He was born February 13, 1941, in Toledo, Ohio. Attending Dallas Theological Seminary, he received his Master’s degree in Theology in 1967. He went to do additional graduate work at Grace Seminary in Indiana. In 1981, he was granted an honorary the Doctor of Divinity degree from Cedarville College, located in Ohio. Jeremiah is considered the foremost biblical scholar on the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ.
In his book The Great Disappearance, that was published in 2023, he listed John 14:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:51-58, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 as “God provided a triad of passages in Scripture that outline His prophetic plan for the Rapture.” As you review theses three passages, which is our devotional reading for this morning, one cannot dispute that Christ will return suddenly, in a twinkling of the eye. It will be dramatic for it will come, when the trumpet sounds. For those who don’t believe will suffer in the Tribulation. The question that the scholar poses: “Most of all I hope you’ll be well prepared for that day.”
The Rapture will be a day of the “great disappearance” as some will go with Jesus, and most will not. This should motivate us to be unceasing evangelists so all will be ready, so no one will be “left behind.” Though, sadly, the gospel writer John and the epistle writer Paul informs us that many will be.
Equally telling today, are how many Christians committed to this biblical dictate? Does the impending judgement cause us fear and trembling? Do we search our soul to be sure our salvation is a reality? Do we live day to day devoted to our Christian calling?
Paul Benware is currently retired from the full-time classroom ministry. However, he still teaches college students at Jackson Hole Bible College, located in Wyoming. Also, he is involved in preaching and teaching in conferences and local churches. Before retiring into this present ministry, he was a professor in the Bible department at Arizona Christian University in Phoenix. Benware has written ten books including Understanding End Times Prophecy, The Believer’s Payday, Daniel: God’s Man With God’s Message and Understanding the Book of Hebrews. The professor holds the B.A. degree from the Los Angeles Baptist College, Th.M. degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and a Th.D. degree from Grace Theological Seminary, where David Jeremiah also studied.
Dr. Benware wrote something that should be sobering for every Christian who forsakes the seriousness of the coming Rapture: A believer who gets out of bed in the morning thinking “My Lord Jesus could return today” will probably not let sin take root in his life. But Christians who rarely, if ever, reflect on the realities of the future life, the Lord’s coming, and the judgment seat of Christ are far more vulnerable to temptation and sin. And perhaps that explains something of the sin and apathy seen in much of the church today.
Will you be ready for that day?
Will you prepare others for that day?