Will You Be Raptured? What the Bible Actually Says

This morning, as the 4th, the sermon in our series on the subject of heaven. My main objective in teaching this series is to correct the misconceptions that most people have concerning heaven.

The first misconception has to do with where people go when they die. You see, most people believe that when they die, they immediately go to the place where they're going to stay for all eternity. In other words, they believe that when they die, they immediately go to their final destination. But people, that's just not true. It's not true for unbelievers, and it's not true for believers.

If you are an unbeliever and you die, your soul will go to hell. Your body will be buried. It will begin to decay in the ground. But you need to understand something: hell is just a temporary holding place. That is not your final destination because the Bible tells us in the book of Revelation that after the Millennium, your soul is going to be given up. It says, "Hell gives up the dead." So, your soul is going to be given up, and your body is going to be resurrected. It's going to be reunited with your soul, and you're going to stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment to be judged for all of your sins. And then you're going to be cast into the lake of fire. You're going to have an immortal body. That's why you will not burn up. You will suffer for all eternity because you were created to have an immortal body. But you need to understand that hell is just a temporary holding place.

It's the same for believers. When we die, we go to heaven, but we need to understand that that is not our final destination. Yes, it's heaven, but it is a temporary and intermediate heaven. You see, there are several things that happen before we actually get to our final destination. In fact, look at the timeline on the back wall. Hopefully, you kept your timeline. Hopefully, you have it with you so you can make some notes. But here's what I want you to notice about this timeline: from the cross to the end of the tribulation, you have what we call the "prison heaven." In other words, that's where we go right now when we die, or if we're still living at the time of the rapture, that's where we're gonna go when we're raptured. But we're only gonna stay there. Listen to me, for a certain of time because when it's time for Jesus to return to this earth, we are going to return to this earth with Him.

Which takes us to the next segment on the timeline. Notice that from the end of the tribulation to the Great White Throne Judgment, you have the Millennium. Now, during that time, Jesus is going to live, reign, and rule on this earth, and we are going to live, rule, and reign with Him on this earth. So, during this period of time, we're no longer in heaven, but we're on the earth. Not a different earth, not a new earth, this earth. You're going to come back from heaven to this earth. What? Yeah, we're going to come back to this earth with Jesus Christ to live, rule, and reign for Him, forth with Him, for a thousand years.

Now, after the Great White Throne Judgment, you have the future heaven, our final destination. It's an actual city that comes down from God out of heaven to sit on the new earth, and that's where we're going to live for all eternity. So, you have the present heaven and the future heaven, and in between the two, you have the Millennium. So, you need to get it through your head once and for all that when you die and you go to heaven, that is not your final destination. Does everyone get that? Because that's a common misconception that most people have. And my hope, go and teaching this series, was to correct that misconception. Your final destination is located in the New Jerusalem on the new earth, and you don't reach reach that destination until after the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment.

The second misconception that most most people have has to do with the nature of heaven. You see, most people believe that heaven is ethereal. How many of you remember what ethereal means? Ethereal means lacking material substance. In other words, everything is spiritual and nothing is physical. So, when people die and go to heaven, they're like ghosts, they're disembodied spirits, and they're just kind of hanging out on floating clouds and they're playing a harp. And even the harp isn't real. You could stick your hand through it. It's ethereal. But think that's wrong. The truth is, we will have physical bodies in heaven.

Now, we might not have a physical body initially when you get there. If it's before the rapture, then you're gonna have a spiritual body. But here's what's great about this spiritual body. As we read the parables and we read the other verses in the Bible that talk about this, we understand that all five of our senses are going to be working when we have this spiritual body. We're going to be able to see, we're going to be able to hear, we're going to be able to smell, we're going to be able to taste, we're going to be able to feel. We're going to be able to recognize other people. So, we have a form, and we have a form because people are going to be able to recognize us. We're actually going to be wearing clothes. We know this because of the book of Revelation. The martyrs, those who were killed during the tribulation, they are giving white robes. So, we're going to have white robes. We're going to have forms. But it's not a physical body.

But when the rapture occurs, our physical body will be resurrected and reunited with our soul. Or, if we happen to be alive when the rapture occurs, our physical body will be transformed. But people, that will be a physical body. And when I say physical body, I mean flesh and bones. Here's what I want all of you to do. If you would just bend your arm, place it right here on your belly. If you have a big belly, like my knee to rest there. And then I want you to grab that elbow. You feel how bony that is? You will be flesh and bone.

Which brings me to what I want to talk about this morning, which is the rapture. So, let's talk about the rapture and let's start with what the rapture is and what the rapture is not. First of all, the rapture is not the second coming of Jesus Christ. Really? Yeah. You see, as Christians, we have the tendency to combine those two. We tend to think of the second coming of Jesus Christ as being the rapture, and the rapture is the second coming of Jesus Christ. But I want you to understand something: the rapture is not the second coming of Jesus Christ.

You see, when the Bible talks about the second coming of Jesus Christ, it's referring to Jesus' physical return to the earth at the end of the seven-year tribulation period. At that time, Jesus is going to destroy the nations that have gathered against Jerusalem in this place called Armageddon. And after Jesus destroys those nations, he's going to set up his kingdom on this earth, and he's going to rule and reign for a thousand years. The rapture, on the other hand, is an event that happens before the tribulation. And when it happens, every person who's ever put their trust in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, both the living and the dead, will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and they're taken to heaven to be with the Lord forever.

So, the rapture and the second coming of Jesus Christ are two separate events, and they happen at two different times. In fact, let me do the comparison of these two events so that you can see the difference. Now, I could give you a lot of differences as we compare these two things, but I'm going to stick with the most basic. So, follow along with me on this chart that's going to be coming up here. You have two events: you have the rapture and you have the second coming.

When the rapture occurs, you have the translation of believers. When the Second Coming occurs, there's no translation involved. Now, everyone knows what I mean by translation, right? I can read Greek. Actually, I can muddle through it. When I graduated from JBU, I could actually read Greek pretty good. I could turn just about anywhere in the New Testament and I could read from the Greek manuscripts. If you don't use it, you lose it. And so now I can muddle through the Greek. But I want you to understand, many times I tell you what a Greek word is and I say, "This word was translated from this Greek word," and I tell you what it means. But that's what translation means. It means to change from one form to another. When we're talking about language, it means to change from one language into another language. You need to understand when we talk about us being translated, we're talking about our body being changed from one type of matter to another type of matter. So, when the rapture occurs, there's going to be the translation of believers. When Jesus comes in the Second Coming, there's no translation involved.

At the rapture, the saints go to heaven. At the Second Coming, the saints return to the earth. Two different things. The rapture is imminent. The Second Coming happens at the end of the tribulation. Now, what do I mean by imminent? Imminent, I mean that it could happen in a moment. So, there's really no signs that really need to be involved. Now, we see certain signs, and it tells us the rapture is becoming closer and closer. And I believe that we are the generation that will see the rapture. I believe that because of the prophecy that's found in the Book of Ezekiel. In that prophecy, it predicts the very day, the very month, and the very year that Israel would become a nation. And then you had the prophecy of the valley of dry bones. It tells the generation that when you see these things happen, you know that the Lord's going to bring these things about. We are the generation that saw Israel become a nation, and we see Israel coming back, or the Jews coming back to Israel. That tells us that we are the generation that will see these things come to pass. But I want you to understand something: it's imminent. It could happen anytime. There's not anything that really has to happen before the rapture occurs. But that's not true when it comes to the second coming of Jesus Christ. There are signs.

Let me just tell you something: when the Antichrist enters into the temple and commits the abomination of desolation, you can count 1260 days, and you will know that that is the day that Jesus is coming back to this earth. The Bible tells us that there's a seven-year period. It's divided into a period of three and a half years and three and a half years. It goes further in the book of Revelation, says 42 months and 42 months. And then it goes further and tells you 1260 days. And then it tells us when the Antichrist enters into the temple, commits the abomination of desolation, it will be 1260 days, and Jesus Christ. Okay, it is not imminent. You don't have to be watching and ready. You can just know this is when it's going to happen.

The rapture affects believers only. The Second Coming affects all men on the earth. The rapture happens before the Day of Wrath. Revelation chapter 3, verse number 10, tells us that there are actually Old Testament scriptures that allude to us being able to to escape the tribulation. I hear people say all the time, "When I saw in the Old Testament, yes, it is. You just haven't studied your Bible enough." I'll go a little bit further. The Second Coming concludes the Day of Wrath. At the rapture, Jesus is coming for the saints. At the Second Coming, He's coming with the saints. At the rapture, He comes in the air. At the Second Coming, He comes to the earth. At the rapture, He comes for His bride. At the Second Coming, He comes with His bride.

When the rapture occurs, only the saints see Him. I want you to understand, when Jesus comes in the clouds and we're caught up to meet Him in the air, I want you to realize that no one will see Him except believers. It happened so fast that no one even sees it that's left here on this earth. But when Jesus Christ returns at the Second Coming, every eye on this earth will see Him. After the rapture, the Great Tribulation begins. After the Second Coming, the Millennium begins. I want you to understand something: the rapture is not the second coming of Jesus Christ. These are two different things, and they happen at two different times.

Now, I've explained what the rapture is, but let me go a little bit deeper because you need to understand something. The rapture is when Jesus comes back for His bride. You see, as believers, we're in a marriage covenant relationship with Jesus. In fact, the Bible says in 1st Corinthians chapter 6, verse 17, that we're joined with Christ and we have become one spirit with Him, just as a married couple is joined and they become one flesh. Except our covenant relationship with Jesus is a spiritual marriage, not a physical marriage. So, Jesus is the bridegroom, and we are the bride.

Now, the rapture is when Jesus comes for His bride. In fact, to truly understand the rapture, you have to be familiar with the ancient traditions of a Jewish wedding. How many of you are familiar with the ancient traditions of a Jewish wedding? You've studied it out. How many of you are not familiar with the ancient traditions of a Jewish wedding? All right. Well, let me give you the basics because I really don't have time to go into detail. Someday I'd like to do a series on this because it is fascinating. But let me just give you the basics. For Jews, they did not allow dating or courtship. It wasn't allowed. You just didn't do that. Marriage to them was a practical, legal matter established by covenant. It began with what was called the ketubah. Let me pronounce that for you again: ket-u-bah. The ketubah was like a prenuptial agreement. It was a covenant laying out the terms of this proposed marriage, and it included what was known as the Mohar, which was the bridal price. In other words, it was the price that a bridegroom had to pay in order to marry the woman of his dreams.

Now, if both parties agree to the terms in the ketubah and to the bridal price, the bride and groom would drink a cup of wine together. This signified that they were accepting the covenant, and that both parties were doing this. It was kind of like a toast, but really, what it signified is, "Okay, we both agreed to the ketubah, the covenant, and we're accepting this bridal price." And then the groom would pay the Mohar. In other words, he would pay the bridal purchase price. After paying the Mohar, the bridegroom would depart to his father's house. But before leaving, he would always say this. It was a phrase, it was a saying that all Jews said. They would say, "I go to prepare a place for you, but I will come again and receive you unto myself." And what he meant by that, "receive you unto myself," it was, "I will receive you as my bride, and we will live together as husband and wife."

Now, at that point, the bride was being what was called sanctified. In other words, she was set apart to be that man's bride. And for all intents and purposes, she was considered to be married, even though they weren't living together as husband and wife. And that's very important because if you remember the story of Joseph and Mary, she was betrothed to him. What did that mean? It meant that they had actually agreed to the ketubah. Joseph and his father had gone to Mary's home. Mary was there with the father, and they laid out this covenant. It's a prenuptial agreement. It lays down all of the benefits and the conditions of what this marriage would be. Then they said, "This is what we're willing to pay. This is the bridal price." What most people don't understand is, probably Mary's father took her out of the room and said, "Do you want to marry this person?" And if she said yes, they would come back in and talk about it. And if they agreed, they would drink a cup of wine. At that point, she was supposed to be sanctified, or set apart, to be the bride of Joseph. And for all intents and purposes, she was considered to be married to him, even though they didn't live together as husband and wife. Everyone with me? So, when she gets pregnant, this is a big deal because she's supposed to be set apart with Joseph, and she's been fooling around. Hmm? Yeah. Most people don't know that.

Now, after the groom would make this speech, "I'm going to prepare a place for you, but I will return to bring yourself to me or to come out into me," after he made this speech, the groom would return to his father's house and he would begin building a home for his bride on his father's property. And when it was completed, he would stock a room in his father's house with provisions. Now, let me explain something. He would go and he would build this home for him and his wife on his father's property because, again, if you remember how the Jewish system was set up, the land was inherited by families, and so that would be passed down from one family to another. So, the son would go out and he would build this home on his father's property. He's going to help to work this land as a family. But that's not where they would honeymoon. If his father had any means, they would have what was called a guest chamber, just like you have a guest bedroom, probably in your home. And that's going to become the bridal chamber.

So, what would take place is, when he finished the home and the father said it was good, he would then begin to stock the guest bedroom in his father's house. And the reason he was stocking it with provisions is because he and his bride were going to remain inside of it for seven days. Now, the father of the groom was the one who decided when the home was finished and when the bridal chamber was ready to be stocked with provisions. So, no one but the father knew when he was going to come for his bride. Not even the groom. Even the groom didn't know when he was going to go for his bride. But the bride was obligated to be watching for his return and ready to leave with him. In fact, custom dictated that she had to have an oil lamp ready in case he came late at night. Many of you are remembering and thinking about the ten foolish virgins. Didn't have oil for their lamps. Oh, big mistake. But the reason she was supposed to have that is because she had to be ready to go at a moment's notice.

Now, when the groom's father said that it was time, the groom would assemble his friends to accompany him to claim his bride. And they normally set out at night in order to surprise her. But there was also a practical reason for this. In their day, they didn't work five days a week and have two days for a weekend. You worked six days a week, normally 10 to 12 hours a day. Now, here's what's interesting. When the father came to the son and said, "I've inspected the home. I want you to prepare the bridal chamber." It was his job in the morning to go get everything. And he made it as nice as could be. Make sure that the sheets are washed. Easily, his mama would do that for him. He would lay out his best clothes. Had to have chamber pots. If you don't know what that is, you can look that up. But anyways, you bring it all the food in. You get everything ready for it. And it would take you all morning. And then in the afternoon, you went over to where your friends were working, and you would say, "I'm going today to get my bride." And they would go, "Great! When we get off work, we're gonna go with you." So, they would have to work, and they don't get off till 6:00 o'clock in the evening. Then they go home, and you're gonna have to bathe because this is a party. They get their best clothes on, just like you would put a suit on to go to a wedding. And then they assemble at the bridegroom's home. And you got this group coming in. It's late evening, kind of in the nighttime, it's just starting to get dark. And then they're going to get the bride.

Now, this was considered to be very romantic to come at night to the Jews, but it was also very practical. And when it happened, the bride was said to be stolen by the one who had proven his love for her by paying such a high bridal price. So, you didn't want to have to pay a cheap price for your bride because it meant she wasn't worth much, wasn't very pretty, didn't have very shapely figure, wasn't a good worker, kind of slow. Oh, no. Believe it or not, it was kind of an honor to have to do that. It wasn't honored to the woman. He's putting himself in a financial hardship. Like the engagement ring, there's so much month salary you're supposed to do this. This is saying this is how much she means to you. So, anyways, here they would come, and when they took her, it was as if she was stolen by her true love. And then, of course, she was taken back to his father's house where the celebration would begin. It would continue for one week.

Now, that didn't mean that the people didn't have to work. So, they would only assemble in the evening. At the evening, they had to get up in the morning, go to work. So, they didn't stay too late, and they went and went back home. They went to work, and they would come back the next evening. Now, during that week, the couple remained in the bridal chamber in his father's house, and they didn't come out until after the seventh day. Yeah. Can you imagine that? Seven days. At which time they were honored with the feast that was known as the marriage supper. And when the marriage supper was over, he took his bride to his home.

Now, hopefully, you can see how Jesus followed this Jewish wedding tradition down to the smallest detail in establishing a marriage covenant with us. It's not a physical marriage, but it's a spiritual marriage. First, you had the ketubah where the couple, a couple, drank a cup of wine to seal the covenant between them. And Christ did this with His disciples on the night He was betrayed. And we do the same thing during the Lord's Supper because the Eucharist is only for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Now, if you grew up as Baptists, you know that is the Lord's Supper. So, I'll say it this way: the Lord's Supper was only for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, or in other words, by those who want to be the Bride of Christ. Look at 1st Corinthians chapter 11, verse 25: "In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant between me and you, an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance to me as often as you drink it.'" Now, people, this is a legal, practical marriage established by covenant.

Jesus then paid the purchase price. Look at 1st Corinthians chapter 6, verse 20: "For you have been bought with a price." The Mohar, the bridal price, therefore glorify God in your body. What does he mean by that? You've been bought with a price. The Mohar has been paid. You're supposed to be sanctified, set apart by Him. Don't do anything that would embarrass your husband. And then the church is the bride, as I said, is set apart, it's sanctified. Look at 1st Corinthians chapter 1, verse 2: "To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, set apart unto Him, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours." In other words, we're set apart for Jesus. He is our bridegroom.

Jesus then left for His Father's house after telling us that He was going to go prepare a place for us and that He would return for us. Look at John chapter 14, verses 2 and 3: "Every Jew knew what Jesus was talking about when He said these words. He said, 'In my Father's house are many mansions. He's quite wealthy. We're going to have a nice bridal chamber. 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 you may be also.'" So, now, what are we supposed to do? Well, we're supposed to be ready and watching for the Lord to come and to do what? To steal us away.

So, as you can see, the rapture is when Jesus comes for His bride to take us back to His Father's house for seven years, instead of seven days. Now, you need to understand something. If your family was wealthy, you did this for seven days. This is why when Jesus came to the wedding, He probably wasn't there on the first day. He probably wasn't with the groomsmen that went to steal the bride. But His mother had gone the very first day. So, when He gets there, He's probably the second or third day into it. She comes to Him, says, "They have no wine." This is so embarrassing because it shows they're not very wealthy. "Woman, what does that have to do with me? It is not yet my time." But I'm going to honor you. "Fill up these pots with water." Why are they doing this? Because this is part of this wedding celebration. Gee, this is dropped in on it. People were supposed to drop in on it.

As we're waiting and watching, we're waiting for Jesus to come back. And so, when we get there, we're gonna do it for seven years instead of seven days. Why seven years? Because our Father, I should say Jesus' Father, is the wealthiest person in the world, not just in this universe, not even galaxies. He's the creator of all things. This is for seven years. And then, right before we return to this earth with Him, we're going to celebrate His recipients of honor at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Read what it says in Revelation chapter 19, verses 7 through 9.

Now, here's what throws people off. Before we read this, let me just say this: sometimes, as you're reading through the New Testament, it talks about us as being guests at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and people go, "Wait a minute, I thought we were the bride." You need to understand something: the bride was the guest of honor. They were the recipients. They're the reason this whole thing is happening. So, when the bride comes out after seven days, she's fixed herself up. She's in her best appearance. She comes out. She is the guest of honor. So, that's why we're portrayed as the guest, but we're also portrayed as the bride because we're the recipients of honor. Look at Revelation chapter 19, verses 7 through 9: "Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come. It's finally here. And His wife, who is the wife? The church, hath made herself ready." How are we making ourselves ready? Does anyone know? Well, during the seven-year period, while we're in this bridal chamber, the Bible tells us we're going to be in front of the Bema, the judgment seat of Christ, not to be judged for anything that we've done because our sins have been paid for, but to see what rewards we're going to have. And what's interesting is, we're going to come out with crowns. We're going to come out with different types of robes signifying what we're going to rule and reign over. And so, we're making ourselves ready. So, when we come to this marriage supper, we're all fixed up. "So His wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." So, we're clothed with the righteousness that Jesus Christ has given us. "And He saith unto me, 'Write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.' And He saith unto me, 'These are the true sayings of God.'"

So, as you can see, you cannot understand the rapture if you do not understand the ancient traditions of the Jewish wedding because everything that Jesus did was because He's coming for His bride, and we are His bride.

Now, let's look at what's gonna happen when Christ does come for His bride, or in other words, what's gonna happen when the rapture occurs. Turn with me, if you would, to the book of 1st Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 13 through 17. "And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope." Now, I want you to understand something. When a loved one dies, we mourn, but we don't grieve like those who have no hope. My mama's down 260 pounds. I keep telling you about. I don't know how she's living. She'll probably live another year. My father has strong will. She truly wants to see the rapture of the Lord. She's told me that, and I think it's why she's holding out. But if she passes away before the rapture occurs, I want you to know something: I will not grieve like those who have no hope. In fact, I'll celebrate, 'cause she's going home to see her mom and her dad and her brother and her sisters. I will not be grieving like those people who had no hope. It'd be tough, but we won't grieve like those who have no hope.

And then he tells us why we don't grieve like people who have no hope. Verse 14: "For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns..." What does it mean, returns? Returning for us. God will bring back with Him the believers who have died. "We tell you this directly from the Lord." In other words, Jesus Christ is the one who gave this revelation to Paul. "We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet Him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the Archangel, with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. Wherever He is, we are. Wherever He goes, we go." Why? Because the bride is meant to be by His side, and we are His bride. We have entered into a covenant relationship with Jesus.

Now, Paul makes it very clear in verse 14 that that only those who believe that Jesus Christ has died for our sins and rose again will be raptured. Only those that believe. Those who don't believe that will be left behind, and they're going to have to face the tribulation. Hopefully, they'll get saved during the tribulation. They'll be martyred, but at least they'll have all eternity with Jesus.

In fact, Jesus paints a picture of the rapture in Matthew chapter 24, verses 37 through 42: "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. In Noah's day, they didn't know judgment was coming, even though Noah tried to warn them. They thought he was crazy. We talk about Jesus coming back, people think we're crazy. But he said, 'Judgment is coming.' If I go study what the name Methuselah means, interesting. I won't tell you what it is, or you can get my teaching verse-by-verse on the book of Genesis. Very interesting. But here's what it says: It's gonna be just like it wasn't Noah's day. They don't believe that judgment is coming. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat, and they're still laughing at him. 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; two mill. One will be taken, the other left. So, you too must keep watch, for you don't know what day your Lord is coming."

In other words, you don't know what it's going to happen. Now, if you believe that the rapture happens at the end of the tribulation, so that means that you don't have to be watching and ready because when the Antichrist goes into the temple, you know that's the abomination of desolation, you can count 1260 days, that's when Jesus is returning. But it's not talking about the second coming, it's talking about the rapture. You don't know when He's coming. You better be watching and ready.

But here's the point that Paul is trying to make in 1st Thessalonians chapter 4: when the rapture occurs, every believer who's ever died will come back with Jesus in order to be reunited with their resurrected body. Look at the last part of verse number 14: "This is important that you understand: For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns for His bride, God will bring back with Him the believers who have died."

Now, look at verse 16: "For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, that shouts to wake him up, those in the graves, with the voice of the Archangel, with the trumpet call that God." First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Now, wait a minute. Verse number 14 just said that Christians that have died were coming back with Jesus. So, if we're coming back with Jesus, how can we be rising from our graves? Well, remember what happens to a person when they die? When a person dies, their soul goes to heaven, but their body goes into the ground. It begins to decay. So, what this is saying is that when the rapture occurs, all of the people who have died and gone to heaven, all of the souls in heaven are gonna come back with Jesus in order to be reunited with their resurrected body.

Now, what about the believers who are alive at the time and still living on the earth? What happens to them when the rapture occurs? Well, look at verse 17: "Then together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever."

So, according to Paul, the dead will be resurrected, but those of us who are alive will be instead, we're going to be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Now, what does he mean by "caught up"? That phrase "caught up" is translated from the Greek word harpazo, and it literally means to be snatched up or to be taken suddenly. The best way to describe what this word means is, picture you're playing with a toddler. He's about a year and a half old, and they can't really walk very good, but they're still getting where they can, and they're trying to run from you. And you chase them. How many ever done that? You're kind of chasing them, and you're going real slow. And they're just laughing as they run. And then when you're ready to get them, you just grab them under the arms and you snatch them up into your arms. That's what harpazo means. It says we're going to be snatched up. We're going to be taken.

So, here's what Paul is telling us: those of us who are alive and remain on the earth when Jesus comes back for His bride are going to be snatched up to be with the Lord in the air. In other words, we're going to be taken suddenly. We're going to vanish. We're gonna be gone.

Now, to get a better picture of what's going to happen when this occurs, turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 15, verses 52 through 53. "He says it will happen in a moment." Now, most of us don't catch what that saying. That word "moment" is translated there. It is, I'm going to transform this word from the Greek language into the English language. What that word means, or what that that word "moment," it's translated from the Greek word atomos, or we would probably say atomos. Our word atom comes from it. At one time, the reason we've brought that word atom is we thought that was the smallest particle there was. Hmm. What he's telling us, though, "at a moment," when it's used for a moment, it means the smallest amount of time that there is.

Now, here's what's interesting. Most of us don't realize this. If you were to take a piece of rope, or you take anything and lay it out, and you were to divide it in half, and you keep dividing it in half, in theory, you think that you could keep on doing that, in theory, right? And it would always be there. Maybe you wouldn't be able to see it without the most powerful magnifying glass or microscope, but you could, in theory, be cutting that in half. You cut it in half, you got a little piece. You cut it in half, you got another piece. But here's what physics tells us. Physics tells us that you can only cut something in half up to one times 10 to the negative 43rd power. And at that point, it disappears. That's what atomos means. To the point where something disappears. "It will happen in a moment." And then when it says, "in the blink of an eye," we think it means this. It doesn't mean that. It means where this light goes through the retina. In fact, it's at this one times ten to the negative forty-third power. It's gone. Just, boom. This is gonna happen in a moment, and everyone's gonna be gone. "For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever, and we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die. Our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies."

Now, notice what Paul is saying at the end of verse 53: "And we who are living will also be transformed." I want you to underline that word "transformed." Transformed is translated, changed from one form into English. It's translated from the Greek word allasso, and it means to change from one thing into another. So, what Paul is saying is that our bodies are going to be changed from one form or one thing to another when the rapture takes place.

Now, Paul gives us a little more detail about this transformation in Philippians chapter 3, verses 20 through 21. Let's read what he says there. It says, "But we are citizens of heaven." Let me tell you something, I'm proud to be a citizen of the United States of America, but my loyalty truly lies with God because I'm a citizen of heaven, and that takes precedence. "For the Lord Jesus Christ lives." And we are eagerly awaiting for Him to return as our Savior. Why? Because we're His bride. We're eagerly awaiting for Him to return. "He will take our weak, mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies." Now, here's what I want you to see. Underline this in your Bible: "like He is." Using the same power with which He will bring everything under control.

Now, I want you to notice what Paul is saying. He's saying that when the rapture occurs, our body is going to be changed from weak, mortal bodies into glorious bodies, just like His body. Like whose body? Like Jesus' body. Do you see that? We're going to have the same type of body that Jesus had when He was resurrected. Well, what does that mean? Well, that means that our resurrected body will consist of flesh and bone. Turn with me, if you would, to the Book of Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24 is after Jesus Christ was resurrected. Notice what it says in verses 39 and 40: "Jesus said, 'Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it's really me. Touch me and make sure that I'm not a ghost, because ghosts don't have flesh and bones as you see that I do.' As He spoke, He showed them His hands and His feet. They came up and they thought, 'He's a ghost. We saw that He was dead. He was in this. He's resurrected. Now we're seeing Him here.' And they want to come up. He says, 'Touch me. Feel me. I'm not a ghost.' We're gonna have a body just like His resurrected body. It will be flesh and bone."

We'll also still eat food. In Luke chapter 24, same chapter, he's been resurrected, he's appeared into them. Notice what he says in verses 41 through 43: "Because they still can't believe he's not a ghost, how is he gonna convince them? He's gonna eat." "Still, they stood there in disbelief, even though they felt Him, filled with joy and wonder. Then He asked them, 'Do you have anything here to eat?'" "I'm a little bit hungry." "They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He ate it as they watched." People, you know, "flee" there's not gonna be any calories in it when I'm out there. I want you to understand, I'm gonna look like a 28-year-old man. I'm gonna be the stud muffin that Lisa married. Gotta have some hair. Now, gonna have a lot of hair. And a lot of hair in high school. But I want you to understand something: I could eat, and I'm not gonna become fat.

Our friends and our families will be able to recognize us. Look at Luke chapter 24, same chapter, verse 31: "Suddenly their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him." It's Jesus. They're recognized me. It was kind of funny. Sometimes I see people that I haven't seen since I graduated from high school, and they'll do a double-take, and I realize they think they know who I am, but they're not sure. Now, some people think I'm Doug. That's my brother. They may have forgotten me and my brother Doug mixed up. Anyways, but some of them are going, "I think I know him, but he looks different than he did in high school." But I want you to understand something: I'm gonna go back to that time, and people gonna be able to recognize, but just as they recognize Jesus.

But here's the kicker, and this is what I want you to see: but our bodies, these resurrected bodies, will not be subject to the normal laws of time and space. You see, on two separate occasions, Jesus went right through the walls of the room where the disciples were meeting. The doors were locked, the windows were shut. Jesus was not in the room, and food. He was there. Look at Luke chapter 24, verse 36. And then we're gonna look in John, and that's after the resurrection, too. Notice what it says. And as they thus spoke, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said unto them, "Peace be unto you." Now, when it says "stood in the midst of them," we don't really catch it. Let you read that in context. It's like all of a sudden, He just instantly appeared.

Now, look what it says in John chapter 20. We're going to read verse 19, and then we're going to jump down to verse 26, because these are two separate events. Notice what verse 26 says: "That Sunday evening after the resurrection, the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. The doors are locked, the windows are closed. Suddenly Jesus was standing there among them. 'Peace be with you,' He said." In other words, "Now, can you imagine, disciples? Jesus, don't do that. You scared us to death." But He's there instantly. Look at verse 26, same chapter, "After the resurrection, eight days later, the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked again. They're still kind of afraid because the Jewish leaders are in an uproar, and He's been resurrected. He's appeared to us, but you know, it's still kind of scary. So, the doors are locked."

Again, the windows are closed, but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. "Peace be with you," he said. In other words, boom!

On another occasion, he vanished from sight. Look at Luke chapter 24, the same chapter that we did originally, after the resurrection, verse 31: "Suddenly their eyes were opened and they recognized him." And at that moment, he disappeared. In the Greek, it means he vanished. He didn't walk away. He was just there one moment and gone the next.

Listen to me. This is what's so cool. You're going to be able to do that. In fact, if you weren't able to do that, then your resurrected body would be trapped inside your coffin, six feet underground. Imagine if all of a sudden Jesus brought your body back to life, but you've been dead for two hundred years, or maybe thirty years, or maybe a thousand years. Your body is in that coffin, it's in the ground, six feet. But if you didn't have the ability to just, boom, go through these walls, go through that dirt, go through that coffin, we'd be having a dig you up.

When the rapture occurs, if we're in this building and I'm preaching, because I kind of think that Jesus is going to come at night in Israel, or eight hours behind it, it was two o'clock in the morning. I'm gonna get up here to preach. I'm gonna be here preaching, and all of a sudden, the rapture is going to occur. If we didn't have the same type of body that Jesus Christ had when he was resurrected, we would go up and, boom, we hit the ceiling and we'd have to be stuck. And we'd need to kind of crawl our way, do we get to the foyer? And then we get down and go through the antenna to see Jesus in the air. Oh, what you to understand something. We're gonna operate in a whole 'nother dimension. That's a turkey counting word. Nether. Everyone hold another is we're gonna operate in a whole 'nother dimension.

Now, I want to go back to one of my main objectives for teaching this series. Why do we need physical bodies? Why aren't we just gonna be a spiritual body? Well, I'll tell you why. It's because, it's because we're coming back to this earth, this physical earth. We're gonna rule and reign over people who made it through the tribulation, and they're mortals. I'm gonna show you some things next week about the Millennium, but we're gonna be ruling and reigning. We're gonna have flesh and bone like them, but we're gonna be different. We're gonna have a resurrected body. We're gonna be able to vanish, and we're gonna be able to appear. We're gonna be able to eat, but we're gonna rule and reign on this.

And then after the Great White Throne Judgment, this old earth and this odd heavens going to pass away. God's going to create a new heaven, a new earth, but it's going to be a physical earth because there are people that's gonna make it through the Millennium, and there's gonna be that great rebellion, but not everyone's going to rebel. And so there's gonna be people who live through the Millennium, and they're gonna live on this new earth. And we are the ones that were resurrected with Jesus as his bride, and we live in the New Jerusalem on the new earth. But there's gates that go out into this new earth. And we're gonna talk about the new earth and the New Jerusalem and the week after next.

But I want you to understand something. Heaven, where we go right now, is a temporary or an intermediate place. It is not our final destination. We're going to come back to this physical earth to rule. We're gonna live in our final destination in a new city on a new earth, but it will be a physical earth, and it's not going to be ethereal. We will be flesh and bone. Why? Because we're gonna live on a physical earth. I've even never been taught that that's what the Bible teaches.

Now, if you're here this morning, you ever receive Jesus? You need to. Because I promise you, the rapture is going to occur. There were people that thought that when Jesus came the first time, well, he's not coming. Have you ever heard me teach on that? Even the Sanhedrin meant when the scepter was lost from Judah, they went and they had to discuss this. And the reason they discussed it is because the prophetic scripture says that when the scepter departs from Judah, the Messiah will come. The scepter departed from Judah, and the Messiah wasn't there. Or they thought, what they didn't realize, in the very same year that they had that debate in the Sanhedrin, Jesus appears in the temple as a twelve-year-old boy, and he, he actually talks to the Jewish leaders, and they should have recognized him then. Oh, he was there. That prophecy was fulfilled, but they weren't ready to receive him. Thought it wasn't going to happen.

There are those that are thinking that Jesus isn't gonna come. People, he's gonna come, but he's coming for those who are watching and ready, that are set apart as the bride, and they're excited because we're getting close. If you're here this morning, never received Jesus, let me say this. When you die, you will not go to heaven. You will go to hell. Even that is a temporary holding place. Your body will be resurrected one day after the Millennium. You're gonna have an incorruptible body. In other words, you won't burn up. You'll be thrown a lake of fire. This is why it's so important that you make it this decision this morning to receive Jesus, because if you don't, you're sealing your eternal destiny, and there's no second chances after this earth. There's not that God wants to do that, but God is just, and all sin must be punished. It's either punished in Christ Jesus or punished apart from Jesus. You want your sin to be punished in Christ Jesus. You want to receive Jesus.

So, if you're here this morning, never received Jesus, I'm gonna make it simple. I'm gonna say a very simple prayer, and if you want to receive Jesus, all you have to do is repeat this prayer. The prayer is not magic. Just because you say the prayer doesn't mean your sins are forgiven, but if you believe what you're saying, your sins will be forgiven. When you die, you'll get to go to heaven. You'll be part of the Bride of Christ. You're gonna have all these great promises. When you die, it will actually be better. Better than sex, better than marriage, better than Hawaii.

I want everyone to bow their heads, close their eyes. If you want to receive Jesus, repeat this prayer after me. Jesus, I know I'm a sinner, and I know that my sin has separated me from you. But God, I believe that Jesus came to die for my sin, and I believe that when Jesus died, his soul went to hell to pay the penalty for my sin. But I also believe, God, that when all my sins were paid for, you raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus, I want you to forgive me. I want you to be my Lord and Savior. I want to be a, I want to be your bride. I want to be eagerly waiting for you to return for me. Thank you for that.