2) : an expression or
manifestation of ecstasy or passion
Synonyms: ECSTASY, heaven,
rhapsody, seventh heaven, transport.
So in other words, the
rapture
or harpadzo word (Greek word) is the word used when the Lord
Jesus Christ comes back for His Bride, when He comes back
to retrieve, in a rhapsody, in ecstasy,
when He comes back
to transport His Church, His followers
as described in John 14:3 to His Heaven.
"And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you
unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
An archangel will shout
and those believers who have died from the day of Pentecost to the present
day will rise first.
1 Thessalonians
4:13-18 KJV
Then those who are alive
will be caught and "shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye" to meet the Lord in the air. This is the hope that has
maintained the Lord's followers strong in faith for more than two millenniums.
This is awesome.
This event, which the Church
of our Lord and Savior Yeshua (Jesus Christ) calls the
rapture
is clearly taught in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, where our beloved
apostle Paul is very detailed about this event that will change the history
of our planet forever. Three things will be taking place in this great
universal event.
One, "For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and with the trump of God."
Two, "and the
dead in Christ shall rise first:"
Three, "Then
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up or harpadzo together with
them (the dead in Christ) in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and
so shall we (all believers) ever be with the Lord."
This is going to be the
one and only event in history where the entire body of Messiah (Christ)
or believers will participate and take part of this blessed hope as Titus
calls it, "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ."
Titus 4:13
KJV
This blessed hope will not
only be for those who are "alive and remain" at the time when the Lord
returns for His Church, it will also be for those believers that received
the Lord as Saviour from the time of High Holy days of Pentecost and the
Holy Spirit of God (Ruach-Ha-Kodesh of YAHWEH) came down.
This is when the Church of
Jesus Christ as a whole was born and the followers of Jesus were infilled
with the power of the Holy Spirit of God.
This blessed hope, the return
of our Savior, has been and remains the one and only anticipation the redeemed
of the Lord look forward to every single day of their lives. And they will
continue to look for it all the way down until that final day when the
Lord comes back for His people.
The day is coming when all
those who are waiting for the return of the Lord will be transformed in
a "twinkling of an eye." Their earthly bodies will be made suitable and
will put on incorruption. They will be recreated by God to be able to stand
in His Presence in His perfect heaven.
The apostle Paul talks about
this when he refers to this event as. . .
"when this corruptible
shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed
up in victory."
1 Corinthians
15:54 KJV
In the same chapter the
apostle Paul refers to this event as "a great mystery," because at the
time it was revealed only to him. The only other similar situation we have
in the Old Testament is the event that took Enoch to heaven in Genesis
5:24, where it reads. . .
"And Enoch walked
with God: and he was not; for God took him."
People claim that our Lord
never spoke about it either but, I find that the scriptures in Matthew
24: 37-42 are very clear indeed. Although the apostles might have
not understood it at the time, it became crystal clear once the apostle
Paul had received the revelation from God.
And Jesus said:
"When the Son of Man
returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day.
In those days before the
Flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right
up to the time Noah entered his boat.
People didn't realize
what was going to happen until the Flood came and swept them all away."
"That is the way it will
be when the Son of Man comes. Two men will be working together in the field;
one will be taken, the other left.
Two women will be grinding
flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. So be prepared, because
you don't know what day your Lord is coming."
Matthew
24:37-42 KJV
The "blessed hope"
that the apostle Paul refers to in Titus 4 is not just a nice pleasant
little event that might take place, perhaps in the future. This is a marvelous,
extraordinary event that has been promised by God himself and will, without
a doubt, take place in God's own timing.
This is a verified covenant
that the Lord Jesus made with His disciples through His precious blood.
In chapter 14 of the
gospel of John the Lord says that in His Father's house there are
many mansions and that He was going away to prepare a place for us, that
if He was going away, He would return for us so that where He was, we would
also be.
"Let not your heart be
troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are
many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you."
"I go to prepare a place
for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and
receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
John 14:1-3
KJV
Some think that the first
letter to the Thessalonians was the first book of the New Covenant or New
Testament to be written. The apostle Paul wrote this letter only eighteen
years after the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven.
In his travels, Paul the
apostle had founded a small church in the area of Thessalonica. This city
was full of immorality and idol worship; there was also a large Jewish
population in the city.
At that time, they had rejected
the message Paul had brought to them about the resurrection of our Lord
and it wasn't long before they drove Paul out of the city. However during
the time he spent with them he taught much about things to come in the
future and prophecy.
After six weeks of being
thrown out from the city, the apostle Paul received a message advising
him that some of the members of the church he had established there had
died.
Since the Thessalonians were
all waiting for the Lord to come back in the clouds for them in the same
fashion that He had left, they were in fear that the dead loved ones
would be abandoned when the Lord would return for the believers.
They also wanted to know where their loved ones now deceased ones had gone.
He proceeded to answer their
doubts and fears and perhaps without realizing it, he answered the questions
for millions of Christians throughout the world for the last two thousand
years.
We all have had loved ones
who have died an earthly life, and finished their journey here on the earth.
If that is the case with you, you cannot read these six verses enough for
it is "our blessed hope." I now I can't read them enough.
The Lord Jesus is coming
back for those who have died and those who are still alive. Then He will
trap and catch His entire Church of believers. The dead will react and
respond to His calling before the ones who are alive on the earth at the
time.
Then all of us "will
be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."
Since our departed
loved
ones are already with the Lord in spirit,
they will receive
a brand new resurrected body first, this is a glorified body just
like the one our risen glorified Master possesses, then all earthly bodies
or those that are alive on the earth at the time He returns will be transformed
instantly into heavenly ones.
Then the moment we all
have been waiting for, "We Shall See The Lord Jesus Face to Face"
and not just that, we will be with Him forever and ever.
But this fabulous promise
is o n l y for those "who have fallen asleep in Christ"
and is NOT for everyone.
Can you imagine being with
the Lord forever?
Life eternal with your loved
ones?
No more death, no more sickness,
no more suffering just like the scriptures confirm.
"He will remove all of
their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.
For the old world and its evils are gone forever.”
Revelation
21:4 KJV
But only those who have
personally accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior
BY
FAITH can be part of this promise and part of those who are caught
in the clouds at the time of His return.
Only those who are asleep
in Christ will be His when He comes to rapture, to harpadzo,
to translate, to retrieve, in a rhapsody,
in ecstasy, to transport His Church, His
followers as described in John 14:3
to His Heaven.
Limitations
In the first letter to the
Corinthians 15:1-7
the apostle Paul sets limitations on eternal salvation. It is only given
to those who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and
believe that He died for the sins of humanity and that He rose again.
There is no in between
You either do or you don't.
There is no in between.
It is as simple as that.
No one will force you to believe. But you will be warned.
We read about the Resurrection
of Jesus Christ. . .
"Now let me remind you,
dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before.
You welcomed it then and
still do now, for your faith is built on this wonderful message.
And it is this Good News
that saves you if you firmly believe it—unless, of course, you believed
something that was never true in the first place.
I passed on to you what
was most important and what had also been passed on to me—
that Christ died for
our sins, just as the Scriptures said.
He was buried, and He
was raised from the dead on the third day, as the Scriptures said.
He was seen by Peter and
then by the twelve apostles.
After that, He was
seen by more than five hundred of his followers at one time, most of whom
are still alive, though some have died by now. Then He was seen by James
and later by all the apostles."
1 Corinthians
15: 1-3 NLT
Throughout the past two
thousand years of history, this is the one hope that has identified true
Christians from other religions.
All that this wonderful "blessed
hope" really means is that when one dies, the resurrection awaits the
believer; that when the Lord comes back for His saints who are still alive,
they will be transformed to be with the Lord forever.
It will not be a temporary
recess or break nor a momentary sabbatical from the troubles of the natural
Earth. The scriptures are very clear when they quote the Lord Himself say
"that where I am, there ye may be also."
John 14:1-3
KJV
Then we hear the apostle
Paul say that we are getting ready to be catched away "to meet the
Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
1 Thessalonians
4:17 KJV
There is no other hope like
this in any other faith, in any other religion, in any other form of government,
and nothing in the universe could ever compare or match the joy it brings
the hearts of men and women when they finally realize the treasure they
have found in this. . . ."Our Blessed Hope."
In My Own Words,
EDMUND
DESOTO
