The Rapture - 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
INTRODUCTION:
It’s a new year and for a lot of people they look at the year ahead and they see a lot of uncertainty, which causes worry, anxiety and possibly even panic. But as believers in Jesus Christ we do not have to worry or be anxious or panic, because our Lord is in complete control. He knows all about the future and is directly involved in it to bring about His purposes and I cannot help but think that we are in the end times. That we are nearing that time when the Lord Jesus Christ will return for His church. I used to preach on this topic at the end or beginning of every year, I have not done so the past couple of years and as I prayed this week I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to take up this topic again to begin our new year. Besides the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ this is my second favorite topic to preach on. It is closely tied to the Gospel message because it is the consummation of the Gospel message, it is what we are told to eagerly await, the truth of it our comfort, but it also spurs us on in the work of the Lord. Knowing that Jesus is returning for us should cause us to seek to live a holy life. The apostle John put it this way in 1 John 3:2-3, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:2–3, NASB95)[1] This morning I want to talk to you about the rapture, about the snatching away of the church from the world. Jesus first promised it in John 14:1-3, Paul gives a detailed account of what will take place in 1 Thessalonians 4 that Nathan read for us this morning and I will be referring back to that passage a number of times this morning. Paul speaks of this mystery in 1 Corinthians 15, his great discourse on the resurrection and this is where we are going to go this morning, and we are going to look at his closing remarks in verses 50-58. Let’s pray and then we will read our text for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 our passage for this morning. In this chapter, Paul was refuting those who claimed there was no resurrection and he teaches that because Jesus rose from the dead, He is our guarantee that we also will rise from the dead, His resurrection assures our resurrection. The question then is raised, what about those who have not died when Christ returns for the church? And in our passage this morning we find Paul’s answer. Please stand for the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
1 Corinthians 15:50-58,
“Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will 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 imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:50–58, NASB95)[2]
FLESH AND BLOOD (1 Corinthians 15:50)
Paul begins by identifying for us who his words are intended for, by addressing his readers as brethren or brothers, a term that Paul uses to address both men and women who have put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who have heard the Gospel message and agreed with God that they are sinners, that they have broken God’s Law and there is nothing they can do to change that fact and thus they are condemned to die for their sins, but they have heard the Good News that Jesus died in their place, paying the penalty required for their sins and that He was buried and on the third day He rose from the dead and they have believed this Good News and their sins have been forgiven, they have been reconciled to God and they have become children of God, so Paul addresses them as brothers and sisters in Christ. He is speaking to you if you have put your faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. He writes, listen to what I have to say, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. We are children of God, but as we now are in bodies of flesh and blood, bodies corrupted by sin, physical bodies that will age, that are susceptible to sickness and disease, bodies that will die and decay. Paul says bodies like this cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not temporal like we are, it is eternal. Paul goes onto say that what is perishable or corruptible, that which is subject to corruption cannot inherit that which is imperishable, that which is incorruptible, that which is eternal and shall never end. That which is holy and perfect. We cannot live in God’s eternal heavenly glory the way we are, it cannot be done and the cannot is emphatic meaning there is no way for us to inherit as we now are, there must be a change.
A MYSTERY (1 Corinthians 15:51-53)
In verse 51 Paul writes, “Behold, I tell you a mystery…” (1 Corinthians 15:51a, NASB95)[3] A mystery in the New Testament is not like we call a mystery today. For us a mystery is something that we can’t explain until we solve it. In the New Testament and the Greek that Paul wrote in a mystery was something that had been hidden, it was not yet disclosed, it had never been mentioned in the Old Testament, it was new revelation for the apostles. Paul says I have some new revelation for you as I said in my introduction Jesus had introduced this truth in John 14, Paul had given a description of what would happen in 1 Thessalonians 4, and here he writes more information about this event that was hidden until this time. He writes, “…we will not all sleep, but we will 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 imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51b-52, NASB95)[4] The mystery is that not all of us are going to die before the Lord returns, some of us will still be alive. It could be today, or tomorrow, or sometime in 2017. We will not all die, but we will all be changed. Remember who Paul is writing to, this all is not all inclusive of all mankind, but all inclusive of believers, brothers and sisters in Christ. In our Scripture reading this morning from 1 Thessalonians 4 the believers in Thessalonica were concerned about those who had died in Christ before His return, they thought that they had missed out on the glorious return of Christ for the church. Paul writes to let them know that this is not the case, but I am getting ahead of myself. Paul says that we will not all die, Paul includes himself in that we because he did not know when Christ would return, but he was waiting and hoping it would be soon, even during his lifetime. Paul preached the imminent return of Christ, meaning that it could happen at any time and we must be prepared and waiting. Will it happen in 2017? It could happen at any time, are you prepared are you waiting for Christ’s return? That does not mean we are waiting not doing anything, but we are actively being a witness for the Lord before it is too late. Paul goes on to tell us how quickly this event will take place, he says that it will only take a moment, this was alluded to last Sunday in the excerpt I read from Max Lucado’s book God Came Near. Paul says, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, not the winking of an eye, the twinkling of an eye, the amount of time it takes when the sun catches the lens of the eye and it twinkles, Paul says this change will take place at the last trumpet, when the trumpet sounds, in 1 Thessalonians it says the Lord will descend with a loud command, and the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God. What is this last trumpet? Paul was referring to a Roman military signal, the Corinthians would have understood this. When the Roman army broke camp Josephus tells us that there were three trumpet blasts. The first blast signaled that they were breaking camp and they began to take down tents and pack their gear. When the trumpet sounded again they loaded their baggage upon their mules and stood ready to march, then they set fire to their camp so that it might never be used by their enemies. When the third and final blast from the trumpet was heard, they moved out according to their ranks.
H.A. Ironside the pastor of Moody Memorial church in Chicago for many years says that we have heard the first trumpet when the Gospel awakened us and we chose to follow Christ, the second trumpet was calling you to take your place in fellowship with God’s beloved people as soldiers in this world. The final trumpet will summon us and we shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and Paul says in this moment, in this twinkling of an eye, when this last trumpet shall sound the dead will be raised imperishable, uncorrupted, without sin and without decay and their glorified, imperishable bodies will be reunited with their spirits which Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4 Jesus will bring with Him when He comes for the church. Those who died before the return of the Lord will rise first and be reunited with their spirits, we who are alive and remain Paul’s says in 1 Corinthians 15 will be changed and Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4 that we will be caught up together with those who were resurrected from the dead in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the Lord. This is our glorious hope, this is our future and it is more wonderful, more marvelous then we can even begin to imagine. Paul goes onto describe the change that will take place and he describes it as taking off old clothes and putting on new clothes. He says the perishable body must put on the imperishable. God changes us from having bodies of flesh and blood that are corrupted by sin, that age, that are susceptible to sickness and disease, to bodies that are perfect, not tainted by sin, that will last forever, that will never be affected by sickness or disease. Incorruptible bodies, bodies not subject to corruption, bodies like His own glorious body. Paul goes on and says the mortal body must put on immortality. The word mortal means that we can physically die, if someone is mortal they will die, but if we put on immortality then we cannot die, we will live forever. Paul says that this is the victory.
THE VICTORY (1 Corinthians 15:54-57)
Paul goes on to write that when this happens, when the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then the saying written by the prophets shall come to pass. Paul quotes two prophets in part: first, he quotes Isaiah 25:8 which says that God will swallow up death forever, Paul says that in the resurrection and rapture of the saints, death is swallowed up in victory. Death no longer holds man in bondage. Next Paul paraphrases Hosea 13:14 under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is almost a taunt, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Death has lost it power, it has lost its sting and it is no more a fearful thing. Paul goes onto explain. The sting of death is sin, it is sin that brought about death, man disobeying God and seeking to go his own way. It started in the garden of Eden when Adam willfully chose to eat the fruit of the one tree that God had said they were not to eat from, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. With that one bite of fruit mankind was destined to die. Paul goes on and tells us that the power of sin is the law. The law shows us that we are sinners, that we cannot live up to God’s standard, that we fall short, and the law condemns us to die for our sin. But Paul does not end there, “Thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus triumphed over sin when He shed His blood in our place, His blood was the New Covenant, the Old Covenant, the law is done away with. Jesus fulfilled the law, and replaced it with the New Covenant in His blood. Jesus Christ triumphed over death when He rose from the dead. Jesus gives us victory over death by His death and resurrection. Through faith in Him we will one day put on the imperishable, we will put on the immortal and then we will enter into our inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Flesh and blood as we understand it today cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, but imperishable, immortal bodies can and will inherit the Kingdom of God.
AN ADMONITION (1 Corinthians 15:58)
Paul reminds us in the last verse of this chapter that this truth, this fact that we will one day be changed, that we will one day be ushered into the presence of God. Because of this truth and the victory that we have in Jesus Christ over sin and death, this should cause three things to take place in our lives right now. First, this truth of our victory through Christ’s resurrection should cause us to be steadfast in our faith. This word means that we have a support or a foundation on which we place our beliefs and convictions so that they cannot be shaken. This requires us to know the Word of God and to know without doubt what we believe. Second, Paul says that the truth of our victory should make us immoveable, in other words, we will not be swayed by false teachers and false doctrine because we know what we believe, our foundation is firm and will not be moved. Third, Paul says that this truth should cause us to always abound in the work of the Lord, our desire because of this truth should be to do everything that we do for the Lord, to be seeking to be a witness knowing that the end is near and people need to know the truth, and we can do this because all we do for the Lord is eternal. It is not work that is in vain, but it is work that is eternal, it is investing in the souls of men and women and children. Paul does not want this truth, this doctrine of the resurrection and the rapture just to become knowledge, rather he wants it to have a positive effect on our lives that causes us to seek to know God better, to better understand His Word and to be growing in the faith. Again, I cannot encourage you enough to get involved in Contenders Discipleship Initiative, you will grow, you will be stretched spiritually, but it will help you to be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
Are you ready for the Lord’s return? Do you eagerly wait for it? Are you hoping that it won’t happen until you experience a few more things? Let me encourage you, the experience of His return and the experience of being with Him for the rest of eternity will far outweigh anything that you can experience on this earth. I pray that His coming is soon, I am ready to be with Him. Come, Lord Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18,
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep 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 not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, NASB95)[5]
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[3]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[4]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[5]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995