The Rapture of the Church - Part B

I go to prepare a place for you, for you.

Think of it this way, there's a place in heaven, a space devoted with you in mind. I like to think of it this way, when Jesus was on earth, he was a carpenter, now he's a custom builder. Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Pastor Skip concludes his message, The Rapture of the Church, and encourages you with the truth that Jesus is preparing a place just for you in eternity.

But first, God has revealed himself through scripture so that we can know him intimately and personally. That's why we share these messages, to help listeners like you connect to God through his word and grow in your walk through an intentional relationship with him. And when you support this ministry, you help ensure these teachings are available to you and so many others around the world, helping countless people grow and connect with God. Just call 800-922-1888 to give a gift today. That's 800-922-1888, or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. That's connectwithskip.com slash donate.

Thank you. All right, we're going to turn to Revelation 21 as Skip begins today. Now the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and on them were the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, its wall. The city is laid out as a square, its length, get this, its length is as great as its breadth.

And he measured the city with the reed, 12,000 furlongs, its length, breadth, and height are equal. Let me tell you where we're at in Revelation 21. The rapture is over. The tribulation is over. The second coming has happened. The thousand-year millennial kingdom has happened.

It's now over. God has destroyed the earth and the heavens and built a new heaven, a new earth. And with this new heaven, a new earth, John looks and sees the capital city of new heaven and new earth called New Jerusalem, and it says it descends from heaven downward toward the earth.

So it comes sort of like as a satellite from heaven down to the earth. And its measurement is given in furlongs, but that would equate to 2,250,000 square miles. So picture a cube, because the measurements are the same in all directions, a cube that's 2,250,000 square miles, or roughly the same size as our moon. Same size as our moon, only not round, but it's cubed. And one scientist estimated 20 billion people could inhabit the New Jerusalem.

Assuming that 25% of the city was used for dwelling places for the residents, and the rest for whatever else, streets, parks, public buildings, et cetera, that if that were the case, that many people, 20 billion people, could each have one cubicle block with 75 acres on each face to call their own. Crazy, but cool. And I like looking at this. My father's house are many rooms.

This seems to fit the description better than, well, it's a whole lot better than, when I die, I'm going to sit on a cloud and wear a white robe and play a harp. I'll be the first to say, no, thank you. I'm going to be snooping around all the rooms, yours included. Check it out.

I'm not going to get bored. So it's a real place. It's a relational place. It's a diverse place. And finally, it's a personalized place. I go to prepare a place for you, for you. Think of it this way. There's a place in heaven, a space devoted with you in mind. I like to think of it this way. When Jesus was on earth, He was a carpenter.

Now He's a custom builder. Something just with you in mind. So that's the comfort of it. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.

Now, let me take you to a second feature, and that is the chronology of it. In verse 3, He said, And if I go and prepare a place for you, here it is, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Jesus promises to receive believers to Himself and take them to be in the Father's house. Now, some people look at this and they try to soften the meaning of it by saying, well, He's just talking about when you die. When you die, He's going to receive you to where He is. But Jesus has been speaking literally so far. He's been speaking of departing, literally. He said, I go to prepare a place for you, and He did leave. And so I would infer then that when He speaks of returning, He's not speaking of you dying necessarily, but Him literally returning some sort of coming in which He is going to receive believers to Himself and take them to heaven, to His Father's house.

And just notice the wording. I'm going to receive you to Myself. I'm coming back to get you and take you to where I am. So that can't refer to death. It can't refer to death because of the literalness of the passage. Number two, it can't refer to the second coming of Christ in Revelation 19 because at that event, He comes to the earth with His saints to set up the kingdom. It must, therefore, refer to something else.

I will receive you to Myself that where I am, you may be also. And I believe it refers to the rapture. It's at least one of the first intimations of the rapture. Jesus coming for His church to take the saints on the earth from earth to heaven. Now when He said this, the disciples did not understand that.

I can safely say that. They weren't like going, oh yeah, awesome, I get it. They were just deer in the headlights. They didn't get it. They didn't understand it. And what's interesting is Jesus didn't stop to explain it to them.

And here's why. They're in no condition for an eschatology lesson. It's like, okay, let me tell you about eschatology in the end times. They're freaking out. Jesus just said, I'm leaving. This is not what they wanted to hear nor expected to hear. So He's saying this to them. They're not getting the full implications of that. Jesus doesn't explain it to them.

But later on, they will get it. And Paul the Apostle will explain it quite nicely. Once again, 1 Thessalonians 4. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will rise first. And then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up, caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Sometimes people will say to me, well, the word rapture isn't in the Bible. Actually, it is in the Bible.

You just have to have the right Bible. If you had a Latin Bible, the word rapturas is there, rapture. The word Paul used, and we'll get to this next week, is harpazo, caught away, catch up.

It means to pluck or to snatch away violently or to take by force, just to swoop up. So Jesus likewise promises, I will receive you to myself. I will receive you to myself. In fact, I want to show you a little chart that I put together to show you that John 14 is a linguistic parallel to 1 Thessalonians 4.

Look at the similarities. In John 14, Jesus said, if I go, I will come again. In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul wrote, the Lord Himself will descend from heaven. In John 14, I will receive you to myself. Paul wrote, 1 Thessalonians 4, we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. John 14, Jesus said that where I am, there you may be also. 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul wrote, thus we will always be with the Lord.

In John 14, Jesus said, let not your heart be troubled, Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4, therefore comfort one another with these words. It's a similarity in the highlights of both of those passages that blend beautifully. Now, when we talk about this rapture, it's very different than another event called the second coming. The rapture is not the second coming. The second coming is not the rapture.

It is two events. Some see them as slightly apart. Some see them as three and a half years apart.

Some see them as seven years apart. That's where I land, and I'll show you next week why that is, why I believe that. But the rapture, Jesus coming here for the saints, for the church, is different than the second coming.

Let me give you those differences. At the rapture, Jesus comes for his church. At the second coming, Jesus comes with his church. At the rapture, Jesus comes from heaven into the air, somewhere in the atmosphere, and we meet him there. At the second coming, Jesus comes from heaven through the air, all the way to the earth. At the rapture, he claims his bride. At the second coming, he comes with his bride. At the rapture, the focus is Jesus and the church.

At the second coming, the focus is Israel and the kingdom. The rapture will be sudden, unpredictable, sinless. Sudden, unpredictable, and sinless. As Paul said, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. The second coming is just the opposite. It is predictable.

It's after seven years. In fact, if we took the tribulation period and we were in the tribulation right now, and let's say it's like we're three and a half years in because we just saw on the news that some guy went into the holy of holies and said he was God and stopped the sacrifices. We could count 42 months from that moment, 1260 days to be precise, and know exactly when Jesus is coming back. So it is a predictable event, and there are signs that accompany that.

Jesus gave many of them in Matthew 24. There will be a darkened sun, the moon and the stars will fall from the sky, smoke will fill the earth, so on and so on. At the rapture, only believers will see him. As Jesus said here, or as Paul said, we who are alive and remain shall be caught up to be with the Lord. At the second coming, every eye shall see him. In fact, you know how Jesus described the second coming? He said, for as lightning comes from the east and shines to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Everyone will see that event, worldwide coverage. Rapture is very different than the second coming. So we've noticed the comfort and the chronology of it.

Let me take you to the controversy of it. Look at verse four. He says, and where I go, you know, and the way you know. And Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going.

And how can we know the way? Why did he say this? Because he's honest. What Jesus has just told them, they were not expecting to hear. The last thing they were expecting Jesus to say is, I'm leaving now. Oh, I'll be back, but I'm leaving.

Leaving, and here's why there was that controversy. Two thousand years ago, the Jewish mindset, disciples included, there was a fixed eschatology in their thinking. That is, there was a scenario they believed in that would happen in the end of days when the Messiah comes.

And here it is in a nutshell. Number one, just before the Messiah comes, there will be a time of terrible turmoil. They saw the Roman invasion and occupation of their land as a fulfillment of that. Things are pretty bad. Romans are in control.

We get beaten up all the time by these guys. That's number one. Number two, in the midst of that turmoil, a forerunner will come. An Elijah-like forerunner, as predicted in the Old Testament, is going to show up and point the way to the Messiah. That's why people were so interested in John the Baptist.

They even ask him, are you Elijah? Are you that prophet? Number three, after the forerunner comes, the Messiah will appear. He will establish his kingdom.

He will defeat his enemies. And number four, all the scattered Jews around the world will return to Israel, and Jerusalem will be physically restored and spiritually restored under Messiah. It's safe to say that all of the disciples in that room believed that they were at phase three.

Phase three. Turmoil has happened. Forerunner has come. He's the Messiah. Moreover, a couple days ago, he just came into Jerusalem on a donkey, and everybody hailed him, Messiah, Hosanna, Hosanna. And so they're going, hot diggity dog.

He's now going to establish his kingdom. That's what they expected. So he comes in, has dinner with them, and says, oh, by the way, bye, I'm leaving. Sorrow has filled their heart. They're filled with confusion, filled with anxiety.

It's not what they expected to hear. In fact, they are so fixated on this, they still don't let it go after the resurrection. Acts 1, Jesus is raised from the dead.

They come to him, and the disciples say, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? They're still thinking that way. So I'm just touching on this, because I'm going to move on. But whatever their eschatology was, whatever their belief about the end times was, number one, they were wrong. And number two, it would change. In the days ahead, they'll learn to think differently. So they were wrong at the moment, and it would change in the future. Now, Jesus' coming is still controversial. Never mind pre-mid, post-tribulation stuff.

There are some people that don't even believe in a rapture at all. There's so much confusion and disagreement even among believers. So whatever eschatology you happen to believe in, number one, you could be wrong.

And number two, it could change. And you always want to be open to change when it comes to truth. You want to not approach the Scripture with, this is what it must say, but what does the Bible say?

Letting it speak to you and forming your belief system around what you discover. I didn't believe in a rapture at first. I changed.

That changed. Well, let's move on, and let me give you the final one, and that is the consequences of it. So back to verse five, Thomas said to him, Lord, look, we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me. You know, we pick on Thomas. I think we pick on him way too much. I actually like him.

I know. Well, he's doubting Thomas. He's the disciple with the question mark for a brain. He's the apostle from Missouri, the show me state. Show me. Show me. But I like him because he's honest.

I can sort of picture the scene where Jesus is saying, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. And my father has from any mansion. If it were not so, I would have told you so. I'm going to prepare you. I'll come back. And they're all going, yeah.

You're stroking their beards. Awesome. That's so heavy. That's so deep.

Yeah, man. And not even knowing what he's saying, except for one guy. Thomas goes, excuse me, time out.

I don't get it. All the heads turn to him. Don't know where you're going. And if we don't know where you're going, how can we know how to get there?

And so I actually love Thomas for saying this because if he wouldn't have asked this question, we wouldn't have had this answer. And the answer is precious. I am the way, the truth, the life. No man comes to the father, but by me. Now in that answer, Jesus speaks of a tragedy. And here's the tragedy. Not everyone gets to go to the father's house.

I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the father, but by me. So what that tells me is that the rapture is a selective event. A selective event. Not everybody goes. Not everybody gets taken.

It is reserved for family members only, because it is the father's house. I know the Bible says God is not willing that any should perish, and that is true. He doesn't want anybody to die and go to hell. He is not willing that any should perish.

The tragedy is many people are themselves willing to perish. Many people say, I don't, stop. Tell me no more. I don't care. I'm not going to pray. I'm not going to accept Christ. Well, I just want you to know God will honor your choice. He doesn't force people to come, but He invites them to come.

But He will honor whatever choice you make. I just want you to notice how dogmatic, dare I say, even narrow-minded Jesus is in this statement. I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the father except through me.

It's pretty dogmatic. He did not say, I am a way. I'm one of many ways. I'm one of many spiritual paths. Choose your own journey. He didn't say, I'll show you the way. He said, I am the way, the truth, the life. Now, that's not what most people think.

Am I right? Most people do not believe what Jesus just said. They don't think that way. What most people think is most everybody dies and goes to heaven. Everybody will go to heaven.

Well, maybe a few people don't go to heaven. Well, well, who? Well, Adolf Hitler. Okay, you got anybody else besides him?

Because everybody says that. Okay, Mussolini, maybe. Paul Pott. I can think of a few people. Okay, so you got like five people that are going to go to hell. Everybody else goes to heaven. Listen, that's fake news.

That's fake news. The truth is Jesus is the way that Jesus is the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except through him. Very, very narrow. In fact, he gets as narrow in Matthew 7 when he said, enter in by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, i.e. hell, and many go in by it. But narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few, few, who find it. Peter will declare in Acts chapter 4, nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Very narrow, very dogmatic, very true. So to close this up, the good news is Jesus Christ is coming back. The bad news is Jesus Christ is coming back.

The good news is some will be ready, the bad news is many will not be ready. The good news is Jesus will take believers to heaven. The bad news is there will be many unbelievers that will not be taken. The good news is anyone can go to heaven. The bad news is many people will go to hell because God will honor people's choice. And isn't that interesting that it comes down to that choice of faith that God places in our power. Yes, God is sovereign and predestined, and that's a whole other subject, but when it comes to us, He gives us the power to say yes to Him or to say no to Him. And He places that in your grip, and He says, well, what will it be?

Your for me or against me? That's Skip Hitek. With a message from his series, The End is Near, find the full message, as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. Now we want to tell you about a resource that will help you gain a better understanding of the current state and future of Israel. How have conflicts and wars in the Middle East set the stage for a future apocalypse? That's the question Ron Rhodes takes head on in his new book, That's the question Ron Rhodes takes head on in his new book.

Listen to this. What do you see coming in the next five or six years that might do injury to the church? And without hesitation, I said, I really feel like we're going to see an explosion of subjectivism, experientialism, and mysticism, along with occultism and some paganism. How conflicts and wars in the Middle East have set the stage for the end times. This new book by Ron Rhodes addresses issues such as understanding Islam, rebuilding the temple, and the annihilation campaign from the Antichrist.

Here's Ron Rhodes commenting on Middle East events. Did you know that in Revelation 2 and 3, we read about the church 19 times, and then in the discussion on the tribulation in chapters 4 through 18, you don't see the church a single time. It is gone. In 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 10, we are told that the church is to be delivered from the wrath to come. That word delivered literally means snatched, snatched away from.

We are to be snatched away from the wrath to come, which is a reference to the tribulation period. With your gift of $50 or more to connect with Skip Heitzig, you'll receive a copy of this new book from Ron Rhodes. Your gift will support the production and expansion of the Connect with Skip broadcast. Call 1-800-922-1888 or go online to connectwithskip.com with your donation, and we'll thank you with a copy of Ron Rhodes' new book, How Conflicts and Wars in the Middle East Have Set the Stage for the End Times.

That's 1-800-922-1888 or connectwithskip.com. Join us again tomorrow as Pastor Skip begins a message about a time of great suffering, the tribulation. We know that there is coming a period of suffering for this world called the tribulation period. We know that there is no precedent for that coming period of tribulation. That is, it is going to be the worst period in human history in terms of suffering. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.