What Exactly Is The Rapture?

Understand the times we are living in and face the future without fear! In this revelatory sermon, Joseph Prince unpacks Bible prophecy to explain the daunting times the world is in and the difference between the rapture and the second coming of Christ. Experience renewed joy and hope in this season when you learn how you can:

• Break free from discouragement when you look forward to the blessed hope that all believers have in Christ—the rapture.
• Begin to navigate life with peace and purpose when you accurately locate where the church is in God’s prophetic timeline.
• Be delivered from fear and turmoil when you discern the difference between false teachings and the truth from the Word.
• Start being an effective ambassador of the gospel when you see how God has given you the wonderful ministry of reconciliation for the people around you.

I’m gonna share with you right now that we are waiting in church.
As many of you are for the rapture. We are waiting now for the rapture. Amen.
And the word rapture is not in the Bible.
Yes, but the Greek word is and the word is the word rapture which means to cease catching away of the church.
Praise the Lord. And this truth was shared first by Paul. Now, Jesus intimated it actually in the upper room.
Uh when he said this in John 14, Jesus says, let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God believe also in me in my father’s house are many mansions if it were not.
So I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself.
That’s the rapture there right there.
That where I am there, you may be also now it was the Apostle Paul that elucidated on the rapture and it was the the the Thessalonian Christians, right?
The Christians of Thessalonica that he first uh uncovered this mystery too because you see just like I said just now, out of all the, the dark places, God brings God brings forth sweetness.
God brings forth food and out of the ignorance and the darkness that the, the Thessalonian Christians were under.
And at that time, they were under, this were ignorant of the fact that they were, they were feeling a sense of despair over their loved ones who have passed on.
And uh they felt like they only understood about the second coming of Christ was prophesized by Isaiah, Jeremiah and all the rest of the prophets in the Old Testament.
They only have an idea of that coming, not the rapture.
And they, they felt like now their loved ones have passed on that their loved ones will not be part of what God will do, amen of the bliss and the happiness that that Jesus will bring.
And uh Paul in writing this first Teston, the first letter to the Thessalonian Christians.
He dealt with this and this is what he said.
But I do not want you to be ignorant brethren concerning those who have fallen asleep, less 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.
Now listen to this for this, we say to you by the word of the Lord, this is not just Paul’s figment of imagination or his own interpretation of the Old Testament scriptures.
This is the word of the Lord. The authority of God’s word is behind the rapture.
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 proceed.
Those who are asleep for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an angel and with a trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up to gather 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.
Not only that church, the Bible says when the rapture happens, we’ll have a brand new body.
We’re not floating around like spirits. Uh This embodied spirits. No, we’ll have a brand new body.
And um in Philippians chapter three, this is what Paul says by the spirit for our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, not this church that the Christian position is not looking forward for the grave, not looking forward to die, to grow old and die.
Ok? The Christian position. He is very clear from which we also eagerly wait for, for the savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body that he may be conformed to his glorious body.
And his glorious body will never grow old. His glorious body is not subject to sickness or disease.
His glorious body can transcend time and space.
It can appear and, and disappear and it can, it can appear far away.
It transcends time and space according to the working by which he’s able even to subdue all things to himself.
Hallelujah. And it says again in first Corinthians 15, behold, I show you a mystery. The rapture is a mystery.
You know, people say things like, you know, the rapture is a, is a new teaching and hey, even from the time of, of uh Matthew Henry, the great commentator, he talked about the rapture, amen.
The rapture has been uncovered. But you know, you don’t have to refer to this theologian or this commentator and all that.
You just go to the word of God, what you just read just now. Is this the rapture or not?
It didn’t say that that uh we have to wait for the antichrist to appear.
Then we who are alive, be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air.
In fact, the rapture is a mystery in that sense, mystery in the New Testament.
Whenever Paul talks about the mystery, when mystery is mentioned in New Testament is, is the word, it means something that was kept secret, something that was kept hidden in God, but is now revealed, something that was kept hidden, but it’s now revealed.
So the rapture is one of the mysteries that was kept hidden in God.
In other words, you cannot find the rapture in the Old Testament.
You can find examples of it but not the teaching of it. Isaiah didn’t prophesy about the rapture.
He didn’t mention about it, right? All the prophets, Joel and all that and they never talk about it. Ok.
So it’s not taught in the Old Testament. It was hidden from them. Amen. But it’s now revealed.
Now the, the reality of rapture was in the Old Testament. OK?
It was uh Enoch walked with God and Enoch was not, he was translated. Amen.
He was God just caught him off. Amen. Caught him away. Praise the Lord and Elijah is another one.
The Bible says, Elijah was translated without saying death.
Him and the chair of fire came and he was translated just like that.
So the reality of rapture was already there in the Old Testament, but the teaching wasn’t.
So the mystery is now revealed and this is what Paul says in first Corinthians 15.
Behold, I tell you a mystery again. A mystery is something previously hidden, but it’s now revealed.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
When the Bible talks about sleep, it means to pass away, OK? To die.
But if believers don’t die, you see, so we fall asleep. It’s like falling asleep.
Believers, the stink of death is gone for the believer.
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.
Notice that for the rapture, there are those who teach that is a partial rapture.
Some believers will be raptured, some warn some be left behind.
But notice here in, in this verse 51 it says we shall all all be changed.
All the criteria is just, are you born again? Are you a believer in Christ? It’s not a matter.
Are you a carnal believer? A spiritual believer?
A new believer, an old believer, whether you are extra holy compared to other believers. No, no, no.
There are those who teach that only those who are special holy, right?
Those who know about the prophetic timetable of God will be the ones who are raptured.
No, the Bible doesn’t say that it says we shall all be changed. OK?
The only criteria is that you are born again. OK? Just like a magnet.
If you put uh you know a paper clips that are uh metallic and you put the toothpicks, you break them into pieces and you put them amongst the paper clip and the magnet comes down.
Which one will it attract? It will attract all the metal metal clips, right?
Because why metal now there could be an old metal. Some are new metal, some are rusty metal.
Some are shiny metal doesn’t really, they matter. Some are crooked and bent out of shape.
As long as it is metal and it’s not wood.
So wood there represents sinners but believers, it’s like that metal. As long as you are born again.
When the rapture comes, you’ll go up, praise the Lord, you’ll be caught up. So why is this important?
Because friend if you have a wrong perspective about prophecy and it is the reason why people shun prophecy right to the uh lack of prophet amen from the word of God because prophecy was, was given right.
And you know what really a great part of the Bible is prophecy. We must study prophecy.
And the Bible says that everyone that has this hope in Him purifies himself.
That’s why it’s called the blessed hope.
When you have the hope in you of saying Jesus in the rapture, praise the Lord.
You have this hope, your body will transform. It has a purifying effect. Amen on you.
Praise the Lord, how you look at prophecy, how you look at your future with hope or with dismay determines your mental health.
And that’s why prophetic teaching must be imparting the helmet of salvation. Amen.
The hope of salvation upon the heads of every believer that it will affect their thinking.
They will think of the future with joy with expectation. Amen.
Hope, the Greek word peace means a positive expectation of good in my future. Hallelujah.
And that’s what all of us should look forward to. Hi.
I hope you are blessed and encouraged by this video.
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