Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. This is a supernatural faith. That we believe because God's word has been given to us. And the rapture then is the tipping point. Four.
The end times events. On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about what you'll experience at the rapture.
Now, here's Dr. Graham with his message. Taken. I'm going to be talking to you for the revelation about the rapture of all believers when Jesus comes to take us home.
Now in the Revelation chapter 1 verse 19, God gives us an outline in the scripture as to what the Revelation is all about. He says in verse 19 of chapter 1, write these things which are. That is the risen Christ. He'd just seen the glorified risen Christ. He'd been in his presence.
He fell at his feet as though dead. It was an incredible moment when John, the revelator, the one who was given the awesome vision of heaven and the hope that we have in the coming days, the prophecy of the book of Revelation, he fell at his feet as dead. Christ lifted him up. He's alive in Christ, in his presence. That is what was.
And then he said, Write the things which now are. Chapters 2 and 3 in Revelation are the things that John said now are the churches, not only the church in that era, but the church in our area, the church in all times. Messages to the church, how the church is to live, how the church is to give of themselves in the worship and the witness of Jesus Christ. We're going to move on to the rest of Revelation at Revelation 4, beginning at verse 1, talking about, as he said, the things which will come after this. The things which will come after this.
And what happens after this, what happens after the churches is. The unveiling of the future. Believers in Jesus Christ. We'll be Take it out. And they are no longer present.
They are conspicuous. We are conspicuous by our absence in the rest of Revelation because the rest of Revelation is going to be about judgment that comes to the world, about the unveiling that takes place in prophecy. We're going to see great tribulation on the earth. Nothing like you've ever seen before. The Antichrist is going to rise.
The false prophet. We're going to see the pouring out of the balls of wrath, God's judgment on the earth, and trumpets of judgment, and seals that are broken that reveal retribution on the earth. All of that. But before that God has a plan. for his own people.
And that is to take us home. to him. is called the rapture. Verse 1 of chapter 4 illustrates this truth. It says, after this, after what?
After the churches. After this I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard speaking to me, was like a trumpet. That's important. Like a trumpet.
and said, come up here. And I will show you what must take place. After This.
Now we see in this first verse the truth. Regarding the rapture.
So I want to take some time in this message to answer some key questions about the rapture. What is it? Why is it? And what is it all about? And of course, we're going to start with Scripture and stay in Scripture.
John chapter 14 talks about this truth of taken. Verse 3, Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go, I will come again, take you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Jesus promised us. that he would come personally for us and take us into his presence, take us home to be with him. And then in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 51 and 53. This is in the midst of a great chapter on eternity, on immortality, what that's going to be like. And the scripture says at verse 51, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. but we shall all be changed.
But in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, there's the trumpet sound again. John said, I saw a door open to heaven. I was taken up into heaven. I heard this voice. It was a voice like a trumpet translating me into the presence of the Almighty.
And so verse 52 says, 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 then we, speaking of those of us who remain, will all be changed. That is, we will be taken and we will be transformed. We will be given eternal life. life and bodies with the Lord.
And then one of the more famous passages regarding The rapture or taken is First Thessalonians chapter 4. Believers at Thessaloniki were concerned because their loved ones, some of them, had passed away.
Some had been martyred for their faith. And they were wondering, will we ever see them again? Jesus hasn't come yet. Where is Jesus? He hasn't come.
Our loved ones have died. Are they somehow lost forever? And Paul wrote this: God gave this scripture to encourage us and comfort us to know that yes, if our loved ones die in the Lord, if they know Christ, we will see them again. That to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and one day we will be with them again. But in that context, He gave us a scripture regarding what's going to happen.
At the rapture. Verse 16. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout or the cry of a command. It's going to be loud. And the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God.
There that is. There's the trumpet again. And the dead in Christ. Shall rise first.
Now, let me explain. These who are dead in Christ, who have died, their spirits already in the Lord, there's going to be a great getting up morning, as the old song goes. And they're going to get out of their graves, out of watery graves, out of sand graves, out of dirt. They're going to come alive out of their graves and their bodies will be united with their spirits forever. When you are buried.
If you are in Christ, you will go into the presence of the Lord. Forever to await this day when then we, verse 17, who are alive, who are left. We're not going to be left behind, but those of us who are left will be caught up. There's the idea of the rapture.
Some people say, well, the word rapture isn't in the Bible. No. The word Trinity is not in the Bible, but the Trinity is in the Bible. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The word rapture is actually a Latin word.
which means to take away or to snatch or to pluck out. In the Greek New Testament, it's the word that's used numerous times in the New Testament. Again, it means to be caught up. It's translated here. It means to be taken away.
Actually, to be seized by fear. Force.
So we are caught up. Those of us who are alive will be then caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. That's the rapture. And it's clear in the Bible that both the resurrected and those raptured alive. Will experience this supernatural miracle.
You say, this all sounds. A little strange to me. This sounds Supernatural. to me. Duh.
Of course it's supernatural. Our faith is based upon the supernatural birth of Jesus, the miracle of his birth, the supernatural life of Jesus, the supernatural resurrection of Jesus, his ascension, and his supernatural return. This is a supernatural faith. That we believe because God's word has been given to us. And the rapture then is the tipping point for The end times events.
that I talked about just a little earlier. The tribulation, the Antichrist, Armageddon, the final world battle, and so on. The rapture sets in motion all the events that happen when God judges the The earth.
So in effect, When Christ comes for us in the rapture, We will meet him. We'll be taken into his presence in the air. We will meet him in the air and be translated unto heaven, unto glory. At the second coming, When he comes in all of his glory to rule and reign the heavens and the earth. At the end of time, at the end of the Battle of Armageddon, at the end of the Great Tribulation, when he comes to.
All the worlds. to be seen, and every eye will see him. We're coming with him. First, we're going to him, taken to him, and then when he comes back at the end of the age, we're coming back with him. to reign and rule with him.
So, in effect, you've got two phases, if you will, of the second coming. Phase one is the rapture. Phase two is the revelation, the apocalypse, the second coming of Christ. Got it? Good.
All right, because that is very, very important. That we are going to be taken first. The tribulation is a judgment. A pouring out of judgment, final judgment upon the world and the world system.
So, Christians don't experience that kind of judgment from God. Our sins were judged at the cross. When God laid on Jesus our sins and he took our judgment and he took God's wrath for us and paid the price, paid the penalty and rose again so that we could have eternal life.
So, because of the nature of our salvation, and we're also told, by the way, look in chapter 3 of Revelation, you got your Bible open in Revelation 1. Look over at verse 10. In chapter 3. It says, but because you have kept my word with patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that's coming to the whole world. That hour of trial is the tribulation.
He said, I'm going to keep you out of that. to try those who dwell on the earth. We're going to be in heaven and what happens on earth will be horrific. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message. taken.
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Now, let's get back to today's message. taken. Again, I'm telling you, it's going to get much worse. before he gets better. You know, philosophers used to think, well, the world's going to get better and better and better, and we'll evolve it more and more until utopia will come, the great society will take over, the one world order will unite us all.
Not going to happen. The world is coming apart at the same time. We can see that.
So, when this great judgment comes upon the earth, you don't want to be here. And thank God you want because in Christ you'll be elevated. Exited into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, How's this going to happen? Just like that.
In fact, in 1 Corinthians 1:52, it says, in a moment. It's going to be a miracle, supernatural, but it's going to happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. The twinkling of an eye. What's the twinkling of an eye?
Somebody said, Well, It's the blink of an eye. No, it's faster than the blink of an eye. Um It is more like the The recognition of the eye, the twinkling of an eye. When you see someone in a nanosecond, you recognize them. I mean, it's like You know, a guy sees a girl.
He likes her. And there's a little twinkle in his eye, right? There's a little something, something going on there. That's the twinkling of an eye. And so it's just like that.
And when Jesus comes, he's going to come like. The New Testament says, like a thief in the night. And so this great epic event is going. to happen. God the Father is going to say to his son, Go get your bride, son.
And Jesus is going to come for his bride, his church, his people, and take us into his presence. Death is a terrible enemy. But God is faithful. God is faithful. and will be present with us.
When we pass from this life to the next, Or present with us. when we're taken into his presence at the rapture.
Okay. What's true is that millions will be taken alive into the presence of the Lord, transported. Transformed. But what is also true is that millions will be left behind. Jesus put it this way in the Gospels.
He said two will be sleeping In bed, one will be taken, one will be left behind. A husband, a wife, the wife saved, husband's not saved, wife gone. He's left behind. Two working in the field, just going about their daily business. One taken.
The other left behind. Jesus said to grinding at the mill. One will be taken, the other will be left behind. Left behind for what? Left behind for judgment.
That's why you need to come to Christ today because I'm telling you, there's nothing on God's calendar, there's nothing on the scenarios, signs of the last times that would keep Christ from coming for us in the rapture. Bam, right now. It could happen today. And so you need to be ready. Because when we're raptured into his glorious presence, we're going to see and experience some unbelievable.
Size. Look at chapter 4 again.
Now, don't get caught up in the details here. I want you to get caught up. in seeing the Lord in all of his glory.
So he sees one on the throne. 47 times in the book of Revelation, we see the word throne. It's all about our God who is sovereign, who reigns. That's what Revelation is about. Our God reigns, and He's making all things new.
So we're taken up in the Spirit. Just like we were worshiping in the Spirit earlier, and we had a sense of His presence, we were at the throne of God by faith. We will be at that throne. A throne stood in heaven, and one seated on that throne. You know who that one is?
Jesus, the Lord God Almighty. And he who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and Carnelian, which is basically a diamond and a ruby. It's going to be beautiful in heaven. beyond your wildest imagination. God loves color, glorious colors, and the throne around the throne was a rainbow which speaks of eternality, which speaks of life, which speaks of promise.
Typically, the rainbow shows up at the end of a storm. Right? But in this case, the rainbow of promise shows up in heaven before the storm is unleashed upon the earth because. What we r then read is That around the throne there were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones. We're 24 elders.
Very quickly, those 24 elders represent believers of all times, both Old Testament and New Testament believers. Old Testament believers were saved by looking forward to the coming of Christ. New Testament believers are saved by looking back to the New Testament of Christ. But all who are true believers are around this throne of God, clothed in white garments, not garments of their own, of their own righteousness, but the pure white garments of Christ and his righteousness, with golden crowns on their heads. representing the victory.
This is the Stephanos, the victor's cross. Crown. that is on our heads. And then watch this, verse 5. And from the throne came flashes.
We hear this in the Revelation song, right, that we sing. flashes of lightning. And rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne, burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne, there was as a sea of glass like crystal. John is trying to describe here the indescribable.
Don't get caught up in the details. Get caught up in the God and the scene that is being described here. This glorious throne of God, this awesome, powerful place in which God Almighty has reigned. The saints of the ages are worshiping Him. Angelic beings that are described in this passage of scripture, the seraphim, the cherubim, they're around the throne of God and they're praising God again and again and again.
Our God reigns. He's making all things new. Hallelujah. He is worthy, worthy, and worthy again. All of this means is that no matter what is happening on earth.
All the storms that are coming. No matter what is happening on earth. What is happening in heaven is that God is on his throne. And he is in control forever. There's not a chance or an accident on earth apart from his own divine care.
This is all about his great power. and his providence over life. You know what that means to you? There's no problem in your life that's bigger than God. There's no weakness in your life.
But that God is stronger. There's no situation, no crisis that you face, but that God Almighty. is in charge. He's large. and in charge.
John is describing this beautiful scene around the throne of God, the unseen world that's all around us. You see, I don't. I don't think of heaven. As being galaxies and galaxies and galaxies and galaxies away.
Now, God is the God of the galaxy, Christ is the Christ of the cosmos. He's got it all in his hands. But I don't see and view heaven. In the scripture, as out there somewhere, way, way beyond, but heaven is all around us, angel beings are around us this very moment. Heaven is the tissue paper thin.
Separation between earth and eternity. All around us. Very close. That's what I want you to see, that heaven is very near, and it ought to be very dear to your heart. Heaven ought to be the habit of our hearts.
Don't set your affections on things below, but on things above. Upon Jesus. And all of his glory. Live with your mindset, your mentality focused on him because the people who do the most for this world are focused most on the world that is to come. We make a difference because we know that Christ has changed our lives.
And oh, when you look at heaven in this passage, all these thunders and rumblings and angels and singing and worship and noise and trumpets. Kind of blows up the whole idea, doesn't it? That you know, in heaven. We uh We just gotta be around misty skies. with weird creepy harp music And angels like little butterflies.
Floating around. And that we're just gonna check out from here and retire from life and Waste eternity away. That's not heaven. Heaven's filled with excitement. Heaven is filled with worship.
We are destined for the throne of God. This life, this isn't it. There is so much more to come, so much better to come. Maybe you think, well, I don't know about heaven if it's just going to be one long church service. I don't know if I'm interested in that along.
Well, let me tell you something. In heaven's worship, you're not going to be checking your cell phone. You're not going to be sleeping. You're not going to be talking to somebody next to you. You're going to be on your face, on your feet, hands high, lifting up your life to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And. And you will be so excited to get to worship. When they say it's worship time in heaven, you'll want to get on the front row. We will serve him day and night according to the scripture.
So can you imagine in heaven not only will we worship, but worship produces works and we'll be doing things for God and serving Him. His servants serve Him day and night. You are listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message. taken. Pastor, there is an upcoming opportunity for our listeners to join you on the trip of a lifetime.
Can you tell us more? I want to personally invite you to join me for something very special. It's the Patriot Tour to Washington, D.C., April 22nd through 27th, 2026. As we celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States, we're going to visit some of the most powerful and historic places in our nation's capital, like the U.S. Capitol, Arlington National Cemetery, the National Monuments, Mount Vernon, and the Museum of the Bible.
This won't be just a tour, it will be a spiritual journey. Really, I'll be opening God's Word along the way, teaching us about the spiritual foundations, the biblical foundations of our nation, and the hope that we have for the future.
So, registration is now open, and I'd love for you to be a part of this unforgettable experience. For more information and to reserve your spot today, text Patriot to 59789. Can't wait to see you there. How would your life change if you applied a bit of practical wisdom each day of the month? Find out by joining Dr.
Graham in October as he dives into practical wisdom from the Bible. Each day will send its short teaching from God's Word to help you grow in wisdom and live the life He desires. If you're ready, text Challenge to 59789. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? One thing we should remember is that Christians, God's people, have been persecuted from the beginning, beaten, murdered, beheaded, and the martyrs of the first century as well as even Old Testament days remind us that in this world we will have tribulation.
In this world there will be persecution. And Jesus said that we should expect these hardships and troubles and even persecutions. Persecution in the midst of opposition. When we read in the Revelation of Brutality and death, we know that what we're seeing today is but a preview. Of things yet to come.
So, what we need to do is to respond in several ways. And one is to know that Jesus is Lord. He is King of kings, Lord of Lords. He is in control. He sits upon the throne, and justice will be done.
We need to remember that Jesus will judge the earth and all who oppose him. And all of these terrorist groups and all who oppose Christ and the Bible will face judgment. God will judge them for what they have done. It is horrendous to see what is happening in the world, but we know that God will make sure that justice is done. We also need to remember to pray for our enemies.
Remember the Apostle Paul? He was a terrorist. He persecuted and oversaw the killing of Christians. And yet, God changed his life. Jesus met him on the road to Damascus, and he became.
a missionary. The murderer, Paul, who became the missionary. and then a church planner and a theologian.
So no one is beyond hope. And we need to pray for people in the Arab world and in the Middle East who need to know Jesus, including these terrorists. We need to pray for missionaries and those who are planning churches and the Christians in that region that their faith will be strong and true and their witness will be bold and courageous. And that means that those of us who are here in this country, in America, and in other parts of the Western world. Should be especially diligent and prayerful in our walk and in our witness for Christ, and boldly declare that Jesus is Lord.
And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift of $10 or more to PowerPoint, we'll send you a copy of Dr. Graham's book, The Jesus Book, as our thanks. Text the word book to 59-789 and join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can have FaceTime with God whenever you want.
That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
