End times – The Lowedown

1 Thessalonians 4

¹³And now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have died so you will not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope. ¹⁴For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus comes, God will bring back with Jesus all the Christians who have died.

¹⁵I can tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not rise to meet him ahead of those who are in their graves. ¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. ¹⁷Then, 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 and remain with him forever. ¹⁸So comfort and encourage each other with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

You may have heard Christians talk about “the Rapture” and asked yourself, “what is that?”

The rapture is a biblical end times event that was popularized in the mid-to-late 20th century through books such as Hal Lindsey’s “Late Great Planet Earth” and the “Left Behind” book series from authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.

While most evangelical Christians embrace the doctrine of Jesus’ second coming, that Jesus will appear at the end of time to judge the world, eradicate evil and reign over creation forever, not all Christians hold to the doctrine known as “the rapture”, which is considered an event that is separate from and preceding to the second coming of Christ.

For those who do hold to a “rapture” as a distinct event from the second coming, this passage in 1 Thessalonians is a primary passage in support of their view.

In this passage, Paul is seeking to console the Thessalonians who are grieved that many of their loved ones have passed. Paul is correcting a misunderstanding these young believers had concerning what happens to believers after they have passed.

Click here to see a A Comprehensive List of Blog Posts Based on Bible Passage Reference

The Thessalonians apparently had mistakenly believed that because their loved ones were in the grave, they would miss out on “the rapture”.

What exactly is the rapture?

“The rapture” is a doctrine that says Jesus will appear unexpectedly to take believers from this earth so that they might be with Him for eternity.

The word rapture comes from the Latin word “rapturo” which comes from verse 17 where Paul says that when Jesus returns, believers will be “caught up” with Christ in the clouds and will remain with Him forever. The Latin word for “caught up” is rapturo.

So the rapture is that moment when believers will be “caught up” with Jesus upon His return.

Paul tells these Thessalonian believers that those who have already died and are in the grave will be raised up first to meet Jesus and then those who are alive will be “caught up” with them.

So the order of events, according to this passage from Paul, is as follows:

- Jesus will come back at some point. The exact timing of His return is not known so believers are exhorted to always be ready and to not be caught off guard
- When Jesus returns, all those who have died will be resurrected and will meet Jesus in the clouds
- Those believers who are alive on earth when Jesus returns will also meet Jesus in the clouds AFTER those who have already died are raised

As has already been mentioned, not all Christians agree that what Paul is describing in this passage is a separate, distinct event from the second coming of Christ. There are valid arguments for each view – that the rapture is a separate event that precedes the second coming of Jesus, and that the rapture is simply a different description of the second coming of Christ.

Regardless of the view one might take, we know for certain from this passage that Jesus WILL come back. When he does, those who have already died WILL be raised from the dead and WILL meet Jesus. Additionally, those who are alive when Jesus returns WILL also meet Jesus.

Paul says that this teaching is designed to give us hope, knowing that we, as believers, have a purpose and a destiny beyond this life. If there is no resurrection and no hope for life beyond our earthly physical existence, then, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, “we are to be pitied more than all men.” (See my blog post “Will Christians Really Experience a Bodily Resurrection?“)

Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to like, leave a comment below, and share it with your friends or on social media if you found it helpful or interesting. Your support keeps the conversation going!

Reflection

What do you think happens to people after they die? What has been. your belief about the afterlife?

Have you heard of the rapture? What have you been taught about the events leading up to the “end times”?

Do you think it matters what a person believes about the end times? Why do you think it’s important that we, as Christians, understand what the Bible teaches about the end times?

If the rapture really is an event that is distinct from and preceding to the second coming of Jesus, how does that change how you think about the Christian life and live out the Christian life?

Photo by Mahmoud Yahyaoui: https://www.pexels.com/photo/dramatic-sunlight-through-fluffy-clouds-29286046/

Matthew 24

¹As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings. ²But he told them, “Do you see all these buildings? I assure you, they will be so completely demolished that not one stone will be left on top of another!”

³Later, Jesus sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and asked, “When will all this take place? And will there be any sign ahead of time to signal your return and the end of the world?”

⁴Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you. ⁵For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will lead many astray. ⁶And wars will break out near and far, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must come, but the end won’t follow immediately. ⁷The nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. ⁸But all this will be only the beginning of the horrors to come.

⁹“Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because of your allegiance to me. ¹⁰And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. ¹¹And many false prophets will appear and will lead many people astray.¹²Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. ¹³But those who endure to the end will be saved. ¹⁴And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then, finally, the end will come. (Matthew 24:1-14, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

Last weekend at Saddleback Church, there was a Rick Warren sighting. If you didn’t know, Rick Warren stepped down as the Lead pastor of Saddleback Church last August (2022) after more than 40 years at the helm of one of the largest churches in America. I wrote about Pastor Rick’s replacement in a blog post here.

Pastor Rick showed up in a video at church sharing about some of the current needs of the Finishing the Task initiative of which he has taken oversight.

Finishing the Task is a network comprised of hundreds of churches, denominations and missions organizations that are all committed to “finishing the task” that was given to the church 2000 years ago when Jesus commissioned his first disciples to “go and make disciples of every nation…” This task is commonly referred to as the Great Commission.

Matthew 24 is one of the few passages where Jesus speaks prophetically about future events. In this passage, the disciples point out to Jesus the various temple buildings and Jesus uses this as a launching pad to share with his disciples about future events.

The first thing Jesus points out is that the Temple buildings that his disciples are so fondly admiring would one day be completely demolished. This actually happened not long after Jesus’s death and resurrection as the Temple was completely destroyed in 70 A.D. and has never been rebuilt.

Later, at the Mount of Olives, the disciples ask Jesus the question of timing: “When will all this take place? And what signs will accompany your return?”

Jesus responds with some general information about the state of the world that would precipitate His return. He says the following things will be true before His return:

- There will be many false prophets…many who will claim to be the Messiah and will lead many astray
- There will be wars and rumors of wars among the nations
- There will be famines and earthquakes

There is no doubt that this list so far has been fulfilled as these conditions have been true for many years. Yet Jesus says that these conditions are only the beginning of the horrors. In other words, these signs alone aren’t enough to signal that the end is near. There are additional signs that will signal the nearness of Jesus’s return:

- Christians will be arrested, persecuted, killed and hated for their allegiance to Jesus.
- Many followers will fall away and more false prophets will lead others astray
- Sin will be rampant everywhere.

These additional conditions begin to bring more focus to the state the world will be in before Jesus returns. One only has to take a cursory glance at daily headlines to see that Christians are being persecuted and killed around the world. Sin is rampant everywhere and many Christians, in an effort to placate the culture, are compromising on Biblical standards of morality and ethics.

Still, whether or not the stage is set for Jesus’s imminent return is still somewhat of a subjective evaluation. One could claim, in just about any decade since Jesus uttered the words of Matthew 24, that these conditions have been met.

Yet Jesus gives one more condition that must be met before His return will be imminent, a condition that is not subjective but can be objectively evaluated . That condition relates to the spread of the gospel around the world. Jesus says that this gospel of the kingdom will be preached around the world so that all the nations will hear it, and THEN the end will come.

So even though all the conditions seem ripe for Jesus’s return we know that His return is not imminent until this final condition is met – the gospel must be preached so that all the nations (people groups) hear it. Once that happens, we know that Jesus’s return is imminent.

This doesn’t mean that Jesus will return the instant the last people group hears. It simply means that the stage is set and we have no reason to doubt that he may come at any moment.

What’s exciting is that the Finishing the Task initiative, which was launched in 2000 as a cooperative, collaborative effort between hundreds of churches, denominations and missions organizations, has made amazing progress in taking the gospel to the remaining 3500 people groups that were previously unengaged. This YouTube video from 2020 not only gives a history of the Finishing the Task initiative, but also highlights the progress made in the 20 years since the group was formed.

And now, Rick Warren has made it his remaining life mission to give leadership to this network as they push to reach every remaining unengaged people group within the next 10 years. As he says in this short video, “it’s time for Finishing the Task 2.0”

We are living in exciting times as we are quite possibly the generation who will be alive to see the fulfillment of Jesus’s command to take the gospel to all people groups and make disciples of all the nations.

Lord, may you mobilize your people and empower us by your Holy Spirit to fulfill the command that you gave to your initial disciples 2000 years ago!

Amen.

Reflection

Are you familiar with the idea of the Great Commission? What has been your experience in making disciples and going to the nations?

What thoughts and feelings do you have when you think about the idea that Christ could return, possibly in your lifetime?

One of the things Jesus says is true of the world just before he returns is that there are many false prophets and many will fall away. What do you think makes someone a false prophet? In other words, how can you tell if someone is a false teacher?

What steps can you take to ensure that you are not one of the faithful followers who is led astray?

What do you think are some practical ways you could be involved in helping to “finish the task”?

Logo from the Finishing the Task website