If you are here because you were expecting to get raptured after this week’s total solar eclipse, and you’re disappointed, worry not. There’s more you probably need to know. Here are some highlights from the previous post to bring you up to speed.

• For many Nigerians, the end times isn’t something that is coming in the future that they need to watch for, it is already here, and they are smack in the middle of what feels like the great tribulation. So, in this multiple part podcast series, we want to look at the prophetic unfolding of the end of the age and what it is we as Christians should expect.

•  We looked at 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and learned that the young church in the city of Thessalonica was facing GREAT persecution from their pagan and Jewish neighbors, and in fact, many of their members had died for a variety of reasons. So, the church members were starting to panic in fear because they thought they had MISSED the rapture and were living in the end times already because of all the persecution and suffering they were facing.  Not only that, but they were also afraid that their family members and friends in church who had died had also missed the rapture and would not receive their resurrection body.

• So, Paul writes to them to explain that they need NOT panic about missing the rapture because it would be an unmistakable event. Paul says to them and to us that the first thing that will happen ON THAT DAY will be the shout of the archangel that every living and dead Christian will hear. This shout will be both a command and a trumpet call that basically announces, “IT IS TIME!!” …ascend and join your Savior in the sky.

• The first people who will respond are followers of Jesus Christ who have already died and were buried. Their decayed bones or burned ashes will in one moment, and in response to the trumpet call of God, suddenly be restored to a fleshly glorified body that ascends to meet Jesus in the sky.
  

• After the dead in Christ have been raised first, then scripture says those of us who are still alive will also experience the same bodily transformation and ascend to reunite with Jesus Christ and our loved ones in the sky.

Now, the scripture doesn’t give us the details of the WHEN, only the HOW. We don’t know if Jesus will return on a Sunday after Church, or on a Tuesday night. But allow me to share with you what one creative Christian author envisions that moment will look like. His name is Tim Stevenson and he has written a fictional account of the day of the rapture in a book titled, “THE BEMA” by an American author named, “Tim Stevenson”. Here’s an excerpt:

Can you imagine? That day will be the mother of all celebrations as Jesus takes us all with Him to heaven to be with Him forever. It is for this reason that the apostle Paul wraps up 1 Thessalonians 4:18 by saying, “…therefore encourage each other with these words.”…

Part of that encouragement is also reminding ourselves that, as peculiar and strange as the rapture sounds, supernatural events like that have actually happened before in Biblical history.

We will not be the first generation of believers who will experience a  rapture-like event.

• For example, in Genesis 5:24, and later in Hebrews 11:5, we are introduced to a man named, Enoch, whom the scripture say, “…By faith, was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away.” Enoch is our first example of what it looked like to be raptured.

• In 2 Kings 2:11, the prophet Elijah, at the end of his ministry and while in the middle of a conversation, was instantly and suddenly taken up to heaven by God, in a whirlwind of chariots of fire. So, he too never saw death but was raptured. Remember, the rapture is a supernatural event that will suddenly and physically remove every Christian on earth in one single moment to be reunited with Jesus Christ in the sky.

•  The apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12:2, speaks of suddenly being caught up into the heavens where he was shown visions of paradise.

• In the book of Revelation 4, the apostle John, while he was in prayer and in exile on the island of Patmos, suddenly found himself being caught up and called into heaven and shown visions of the end times.

• And lastly, Jesus Himself in the book of Acts 1:10-11, after His resurrection, was physically taken up into the clouds and into heaven in the presence of onlookers.

All that to say, the rapture is not something strange that has never happened.

GOD HAS OFTEN TIMES IN HISTORY SUPERNATURALLY RESCUED HIS PEOPLE FROM IMMINENT DISASTER BEFORE IT HAPPENED.

Which is exactly what will happen after the rapture; the world will enter a period known as the great tribulation where God essentially gives the inhabitants of the earth one last opportunity to turn to faith in Christ before the world is destroyed and recreated into the new heaven and the new earth.

So, even though we don’t know the exact date and time the rapture will happen, we do know that one generation of Christians (whether it’s ours or our children’s, or our grandchildren) WILL NEVER PASS THROUGH DEATH’S DOOR, BECAUSE CHRIST HIMSELF WILL COME FOR THEM.

That’s the encouragement that the scripture gives us in places like Romans 8:1 where it says, “…there no condemnation for those in Jesus Christ”, and in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 where it says, “For God did not appoint us (His church) to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…”

There is one more piece to the rapture that requires some clarification because Christians sometimes confuse the rapture with another event known as the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ that is described in Revelation 19:11.

Those are two different events that are separated by a seven-year period (which we will discuss in next week’s podcast about the antichrist). Let me list for you some differences between the rapture and the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ:

• The rapture is more like a “stealth event” in which Jesus is seen and heard ONLY by those who have trusted in Him when He calls them to joyfully meet Him in the sky. For the rest of the world, it will appear as the sudden and strange disappearance of billions of people.

• The 2nd coming, however will be a very public event in which EVERYONE on the face of the planet will see Him. That’s the moment Revelation 1:7 refers to when it says, “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.”

• The rapture happens at the beginning and before a 7year period known as the Tribulation, whereas the 2nd coming of Christ happens at the end of that 7-year period.

Consider the impact the rapture will have on the world left behind. Presently, there are an estimated 2.3 billion Christians in the world out of a total world population of 7.9 billion people. Now, imagine what the world would be like if in one moment, a third of that 7.9 billion people suddenly disappeared. It would throw the world into chaos, but at the same time, it also creates a vacuum of leadership, right?

That kind of situation is a prime environment for a charismatic and winsome world leader to ascend to power who could promise the world peace in its most chaotic and confusing moment.

That will mark the entrance onto the world stage of a personality known as the antichrist. We’re going to talk about him and his reign in the next post, but let’s wrap today’s with some words of encouragement for you as pastors!

BE ENCOURAGED: First of all, the news of the rapture should create in you a sense of joy and anticipation.

I know that the work of pastoral ministry is not easy, and sometimes it is not rewarding. But as you remain faithful to your calling, keep in mind that….

There is a day coming when you will see with your own two naked eyes the LORD and Savior you have worshipped, prayed to, trusted in, and preached since you became a Christian. There is a day when you will finally be able to speak face to face with Jesus Christ and all the questions you have had about life, about His will, about ministry, and your calling and purpose… all those questions will someday become full stops because in His presence you will find life.

So, be encouraged.

And secondly, BE PREPARED: Listen, the Bible reassures us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You will never have to face God’s wrath because Jesus Christ already paid the penalty for your sin.

However, you and I as followers of Jesus Christ WILL need to give an account to God for how well we managed everything that was entrusted to us.

At some point after the rapture, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:10 that, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

• That means every single one of us will give a detailed account to Jesus Christ for how we cared for and loved the church He entrusted us.

• We will give a detailed account to Jesus for how we managed the time, resources, and spiritual gifts He gave us.

• We will give an account for every naira of tithe, offering, seed, and pastoral blessing we receive.

When that day comes, and believe me, pastors, it is way closer than you think, will you be prepared to give an account to Jesus. Will Jesus’ evaluation of your life and ministry result in Him saying to you the words of Matthew 25:21-23, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'”

Or will His last words to you be the words of Matthew 27:21-23 where He says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

The choice is yours today, pastors!

Let us faithfully carry out the work of the Gospel ministry that has been entrusted to us and keep in mind the words of Revelation 16:15 where Jesus says, “Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their clothing ready so they will not have to walk around naked and ashamed.” NLT

May we be found ready on THAT DAY!