Welcome to God First with Brian C. Thomas, a program committed to encouraging you to put God first while viewing life through the window of the Bible.
Now, in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, let's join Brian C. Thomas for today's message. As you look around at the landscape of society today, you notice that a lot of people are going through life as if they are going through the motions. They're going through life wondering what's next, because we're in a time period in which a lot of people are suffering. Due to this COVID-19 pandemic, there are people who have lost loved ones. People have had to put away spouses, children, siblings, parents. I was just watching the news earlier today and a young man who was only 17 years old, both of his parents came down with the COVID-19 coronavirus, and within a matter of two weeks, they both perished. And so now here this young man is at 17 years old, and he's an orphan. And he's probably asking himself the question, what does the future hold?
How do I continue on with life, having lost both my parents? Many people are dealing with job losses as a result of the worldwide economic shutdowns. There are people who have invested decades of savings and lifetimes of savings into businesses, only to see them go under. And then we have the rioting, the racial tension, the unrest, looting in the streets, the spirit of lawlessness that are causing people to do things and go out and to destroy people's businesses, totally innocent businesses, and people's total life savings are gone within a matter of minutes. People are struggling, wondering which way to turn, what does the future hold? What is there to look forward to?
There are some who are dealing with incapacitating accidents that have left them crippled. And you get the sense that something major is on the verge of taking place. I talk to a lot of people and they say it just feels like something major is about to happen. And that's not to say that major things have not already happened because certainly the COVID-19 pandemic, and there are people out there that will debate as to whether it's really as bad as what people say it is.
Yes, the people are dying, but some will say, well, it's no worse than the common flu that is out for debate, but that has had a huge impact. So something major has already happened. And then when you look at the racial unrest, something major has already taken place and is taking place.
But people are saying it feels like something great, something major is on the verge of happening. And so in light of that, a lot of people are suffering. A lot of people are stressed. A lot of people are not enjoying life right now. People are committing suicides.
People are getting addicted to drugs to cope with the pain that they're living with. And you ask yourself the question, where is their hope? But I want to encourage you today that there is hope for the future. I want to encourage you today that the best time of your existence is yet to come. But that is only if you have placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Because for those of us who have placed our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, there is something that the Bible calls the blessed hope that is yet coming in the future. And we find it in Titus chapter two, verse 13, looking for that blessed hope in the glorious appearing of the great God and our savior, Jesus Christ. There is a time coming that is going to be a blessed hope.
We have a lot to look forward to. So I want to speak with you today on the topic, our blessed hope in the rapture. We are coming from First Thessalonians chapter four, verses 13 through 18. Again, that's First Thessalonians chapter four, verses 13 through 18. And it reads, But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. Heavenly Father, it is the Lord in honor and a privilege to stand here today, Lord, to bring a word from you concerning the future. It is my prayer, Lord, that all things that are spoken, that it shall be nothing but sound doctrine. And may you be honored and glorified in all things in the name of Jesus.
Amen. We are living today in what is known as the church age. And the church age began when Jesus Christ, following his crucifixion. And when he was resurrected from the dead and he appeared to his disciples and he talked with them, and before he left to send back to heaven, he said, establish the church. He said, you will establish my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. So we are living in this time period known as the church age.
It is an age that was a mystery or is a mystery to the Old Testament saints and prophets. We are living in this time period in which we, as the believers of Jesus Christ, the body of Christ, we are the church, not a building. Not some fancy edifice that so many put so much emphasis on. But it is us with flesh and blood that have the Holy Spirit living within us. We are the body of Jesus Christ, and therefore we are the church.
And I want to stress today that in light of what we are facing with this pandemic, with shutdowns and churches have had to make adjustments to try to comply with regulations and now you see pushback going on. But I want to remind you that we as people, human beings with the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we are the church, the true church, not a building. But we are living in this time known as the church age. And a significant event is going to bring this church age to an end. The significant event is what's known as the rapture of the church. And there are many who feel like something significant is about to happen. There are so many that are anticipating anticipating this event known as the rapture of the church. The definition of the rapture is the state of being transported by a lofty emotion or ecstasy, an expression of an ecstatic feeling often used in the plural, and also the transporting of a person from one place to another, especially to heaven. Secular R&B artist Anita Baker made a song many years ago that was called Caught Up in the Rapture of Love.
And many, if not all of us have been there at some point in our lives. You've had this love interest. And this love interest causes you to stay up all night on the phone. You know, you have to get up early the next day and go to school or get up early and go to work.
But you rather stay on the phone with this love interest. You know, there's a price to pay. You're going to be tired.
You're going to be sleepy. But you rather sacrifice rest because you are caught up in the rapture of love. You know, as I think back. Over time periods of my life, I'm a I'm a huge Los Angeles Lakers basketball fan, and there was a time in my life in which I was only going to miss a Los Angeles Lakers game for two reasons, either for God. Anything that was for God.
God comes first in all things. So I would miss it for anything that God called me to do or for the funeral of a loved one. Any other reason if the Lakers were playing?
I was watching it. I was not giving up my Los Angeles Lakers. But one day I met this woman, the beautiful woman. And we exchange information, phone numbers, contact information, email. And lo and behold, this woman calls me just as the Los Angeles Lakers are tipping off in a playoff game. Now, again, under ordinary circumstances, I would just look at the caller ID and say, well, I'll call the person back at halftime or after the game or the next day. But because of the fact that here is this beautiful woman calling me, I pick up the phone. And I proceeded to talk with this woman for the next three hours, miss the entire game.
And again, under normal circumstances. I wasn't giving up the Lakers. But because of this love interest, I was caught up in the rapture of love. There are many of us today that get caught up in the rapture of something that we love. But there is an even greater rapture that is coming. As much as it's good to be caught up in the love of a love interest for me to be caught up in the love of this beautiful woman who came eventually to be my wife and the mother of my children, as great as that is, an even greater rapture is coming in the future. And there are people out there that will debate this topic. And it is true, the word rapture is not found in the Bible, in the English translations of the Bible, but it is found in the Latin Vulgate. And it is derived from the Latin term meaning rapio, the Latin term rapio, which means to seize quickly or suddenly or to snatch away.
And when translated into English, the word caught up is used. So there are a lot of people that will argue about this. They'll say the word is not even in the Bible, but the concept is there because I point out to people that the word Bible is not in the Bible. But we know the Bible exists is right here in front of me. The word Trinity is not in the Bible. The word demon does not exist in the King James version of the Bible. But the concept is there.
And so I tell people, well, if you have such a problem with that word, then just simply say the catching away. But the concept is there, but people get caught up in splitting hairs over things that are really not important. One thing we must remember when it comes to the rapture that there are no signs for it. It can happen at any moment. The signs that the Bible speaks of are for the return of Christ, his second coming at the end of the tribulation. And as we look around today, we already see signs happening. We already see things happening in the world.
People were asking the questions, are these signs of the times? Jesus Christ, when in Matthew chapter 24, when the disciples came to him and they said, what would be the sign of your coming in the end of the age? And he gave a long list of things to look for. One of the things that he pointed out was that there would be ethnic group against ethnic group. He said there would be pestilences. And we see that happening right here before us. But there are no signs that point to the rapture, but there are signs that point to his second coming. So what that tells me is that if we are already seeing the signs beginning to take place for his coming at the end of the tribulation, we can know that the rapture is that much nearer.
It's just like around the holidays when you see the signs pointing to Christmas, when you see the Christmas decorations and you hear the Christmas song, you know that Thanksgiving is near. Are you ready for the rapture of the church? You are listening to Brian C. Thomas on God First. For more of Brian's teachings, please visit Godfirst.org to browse our extensive library of material. There you will find devotionals, blogs, articles, and audio messages available as MP3 downloads on various topics such as salvation, Bible prophecy, marriage, and the significance of Lesson Israel, just to name a few.
You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter and visit our web store. So please visit us at Godfirst.org. Now, let's return to the conclusion of today's message. Many people get caught up.
They get sidetracked. They get sidelined by the different viewpoints when it comes to this topic, the rapture of the church. The most common views that you will find is that there is the post tribulation rapture view, meaning the rapture takes place at the end of the seven year tribulation. There's the mid tribulation rapture view who believe that the rapture takes place in the middle of the tribulation. And then there is the pre tribulation rapture view, which is the view that I personally hold because I feel like the Bible makes the strongest case.
The rapture will take place prior to the seven year tribulation because the Bible says that we are not appointed to God's wrath. He says he will keep us from the hour of trial that will come upon the whole world to test it. That is those of us who have placed our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
He will keep us from that hour of trial. And there are those out there who just dismiss it as lunacy. They dismiss the rapture as we're just quacks. But it's not a new concept in that there have been previous raptures that have already taken place. In Hebrews Chapter 11, verse five, we find that Enoch was raptured. It tells us there Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death because God had taken him. And then we find in Second Kings Chapter two, verse 11, Elijah, it says there a chariot of fire appeared with white horses of fire and separated the two of them and Elijah went up by a whirlwind in to heaven. And then our Lord Jesus Christ in Acts Chapter one, verse nine.
Now, when he has spoken these things while they watch, he was taken up in a cloud, received him out of their sight. So the rapture is real. The rapture has already happened, but the raptures that have taken place in the past were on a smaller scale. But what we're going to see with the rapture of the church is going to be a large scale in which we're going to see millions of people that are going to be snatched away that are going to be taken to heaven to be with our Lord. And one thing I want to caution you against when it comes to this topic that our Lord says of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my father only in Matthew 24, 36.
You will never hear me set a date. You will never hear me make a prediction for when I believe the rapture will take place. And if you ever start hearing me do that, I want you to come and sit me down and tell me, do not preach the gospel anymore because our Lord says no one knows the day or the hour. And great harm has been done to the faith.
Great harm has been done to this topic. A black eye has been given to Bible prophecy in the sense that there are those out there who have made predictions on the return of Christ that have failed. Me and like Louis Farrakhan, the Jehovah's Witnesses have made numerous predictions that have failed.
Harold Camping has made numerous predictions that have failed. And I want to tell you today, anyone that is making predictions reject the doctrine of that individual because it is a false doctrine. No one can know the return of our Lord. But this rapture that is going to take place, this pre-tribulation rapture, if we look back at First Thessalonians chapter four, verse 16, it says, And the dead will rise first.
There will be the sounding of a trumpet. And then the Lord will descend from heaven. And then the dead in Christ, that is, Christians will rise from the grave first.
Those who have placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ but have died. The Bible says they will be resurrected as glorified bodies. And they will be reunited with their souls and spirits, which are coming down out of heaven with Jesus Christ. Then we who are alive, we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
We shall be caught up. We will be raptured into the clouds. And that is when we will receive our glorified bodies and we will go into heaven. And from that day forward, we will forever be with our Lord. Notice that the dead will rise first. And this is because God declares each one in his own order following the death of Christ. First Corinthians 15, 23.
But each one in his own order, Christ, the first fruits after what those who are Christ at his coming. This is the message of great hope. This is a message of great comfort. I'm looking forward to that day because I've had loved ones that have gone on that are now their soul and spirit is in heaven with our Lord. My grandmother passed away last year at 98 years old, and I miss her dearly. My routine with my grandmother was to go and visit her on Sunday afternoons and we would just talk about the Bible and we would watch preachers on television.
And we would just have a good time talking about the goodness of the Lord. And I miss her dearly. But when the rapture occurs, it's going to be the greatest reunion of all time, because I will see her again in the flesh. But it won't be that 98 year old body that had ailments and infirmities that that that held her back, that slowed her down, that caused her to be sick, that caused her to eventually die.
But no, she will have a glorified body, a perfect body that will be made for eternity. It's a message of hope. Is it a message? It's a message of comfort.
Paul said in First Thessalonians 4 13. Lest you sorrow as others who have no hope, he said, I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren. And I've attended many funerals throughout my life. And I've witnessed people and seen how they were so heartbroken over the death of their loved one. And before I became a mature Christian in Christ, I used to sit and watch and think to myself how difficult it must be for them, knowing they would never, ever see that loved one again.
How can they have hope? How can they go on with life? The grieving must be overwhelming. That's what I thought as a little boy sitting at these funerals. But as I came to grow in Jesus Christ and I started to study and to understand his word, I realized why he said in First Thessalonians 4 18 to comfort one another with these words, because he says that that body in that grave is not the end. That's not the end of the story, because the day is going to come when this trumpet sounds and the shout will come from heaven and the dead and Christ will rise first.
That body is going to get up out of the grave and that body is going to go and be reunited with soul and spirit that is coming down out of heaven. It's a message of hope. It is a message of comfort. And I get so frustrated that churches today oftentimes do not preach on this topic because people are looking for hope. People are looking for comfort.
People are looking for for things to to help them carry on with life in the midst of the heartache, in the midst of the pain. And if we would just turn to God's word, we find that comfort. But instead, the church has neglected this area. The church does not want to talk about the return of Christ. The church does not want to let us know that we are eternal beings within eternal destination, that this life on Earth, where we are living right now, that this is not the final thing. This is not all there is to it, that we are going to go into eternity. But the Bible says that we are going to go away with Jesus Christ at the rapture. And then we will come back with him to this very earth, a new and improved earth. And this is where we will be in eternity.
We have a lot to look forward to. So, church, I'm challenging you. Give people the hope.
Give people the comfort that they are looking for. Preach on this word, this rapture of the church. First Thessalonians 4 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. If you believe Jesus died and rose again, you truly believe in your heart that he did it. And I know that he did because his word says that he rose from the dead.
We, as Christians, will also be resurrected into eternal life. Do you believe that he rose with all power in his hands? Do you believe that he rose with power over sickness? Do you believe that he rose with power over death?
Do you believe that he rose with power over sin? Trust Jesus Christ and you will have that hope and comfort knowing that better days are coming. I was talking to a young lady just a few days ago. She sounded so dejected. She lost a mother to death.
She has very little to no family in her life. She was saying how she just feels like there's nothing else to look forward to. There's nothing else to go on.
There's no reason to go on. Just wait until the Lord comes and calls her home. But I want you to know that even in the midst of heartache, even in the midst of the grief, that you can look forward to that day when God is going to call you home. You can look forward to the day when Jesus Christ is going to wrap you. But you can also have joy and comfort even in the midst of it, because he says he will give us a peace that surpasses all understanding. And when you put that word in your heart that Jesus Christ is coming again for those who put their faith and trust in him, you will have a joy. You'll have a peace. The world will say this is past is all understanding.
The apostle Paul gave another account of being taken from Earth to be with the Lord in First Corinthians 15, 51, 52. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall 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 incorruptible and we shall be changed. There are people out there who say two things in life that are guaranteed and that are those two things are death and taxes. But I want you to know that there is a generation that is not going to taste death.
That's right. There's a generation that is going to be caught up to be with the Lord who will not have to face death. And we would be caught up to be with our Lord at this time of the rapture. Are you ready for that day?
Are you ready for the trumpet to sound? Jesus Christ says he's coming back again. And if you've not put your faith and trust in him, you're going to be left behind. You're going to be left to have to face the worst time that this earth has ever seen, which is known as the seven year tribulation. Give your heart to Jesus Christ today.
Accept him as your Lord and savior. And you can have eternal life. You don't have to worry.
You don't have to fret. You don't have to be concerned about the things that are coming upon the earth because we're going to go away to be with our Lord. There is a great day of judgment that is coming upon an unbelieving earth.
But if you trust Jesus Christ, if you give your life to him, you can go away with him to spend seven years. At the marriage supper, and then as calamities are taking place on the earth, as it looks like the earth will destroy itself, then we who have been wrapped it up are going to return with our Lord to claim his earthly kingdom. He said, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus Christ is coming again.
Will you be ready? As we close, I want you to put this word into your heart. Know that there's hope, there's joy, there's comfort in the word of our Lord. As we depart, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel, and to the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ forever.
Amen. You've been listening to the Bible teacher Brian C. Thomas, founder and president of God First. Brian and God First reserve all copyright protection under applicable law. Our copyright policy is available at our website, GodFirst.org. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel, and seek first the kingdom of God.
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