Do you believe we are living in the last days? If so, how should this affect the way we live today? Now on Encounter God's Truth, Bible scholar Dr. John Whitcomb begins a brand new series called Our Glorious Future in Christ. Welcome back friends, I'm Wayne Shepherd and I want to encourage you to stay with us for some very important teaching. Dr. Wickham will explain what the final stages of the church age will look like, also showing us how we can have joy in the midst of the dark and difficult days that we may yet have to experience until our Lord returns for us. So if you're discouraged today, be sure to stay tuned for this timely lesson that offers real biblical hope. Our first topic is the rapture of the church. Our speaker will look at many of the major passages of the New Testament on the subject of Christ's coming to receive His church and take her back to heaven. We're going to cover a lot of ground today, so remember you can always go back and listen to the program again at sermonaudio.com slash Whitcomb. But right now, with our Bibles open, let's listen as Dr. Whitcomb begins his new series of prophetic messages. Friends, it's in times like this that we need encouragement, not only between ourselves, among ourselves, but especially from the Lord. You remember he said, be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and thanksgiving, make your requests known unto God. And he will garrison about us with peace that we could never achieve by psychology or self-discipline. Now, think of the times we're in, distressful times. Millions of Christians around the world under stress, pressure, being persecuted, and some dying for their faith in various parts of Asia especially, and even in Africa. And I say, Lord, how can I react, respond, relate to these darkening, deadening systems around us? Governments everywhere persecuting, killing Christians. Americans don't know that very well, but it could be coming. In fact, the Apostle Paul said by the Holy Spirit, realize this, that in the last days, and certainly we're in them, in the last days, difficult times will come. You know, politicians may make promises, we'll turn the economy around, we'll make everybody happy. No, no, listen to what God says. Men will be lovers of self, lovers of money. boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control. Now listen to this one. Brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Now here's the sad one. holding a form of godliness, oh yes, maybe belonging to a church or some kind of a religious group, holding a form of godliness, although they have denied his power. Avoid such men as these. I say, Lord, thank you for that warning. Apart from the fact that you know what's happening, you're not taken by surprise about these national, international, social, religious, economic trends. You have warned us to be ready to know your plan, especially for your church, the body and bride of Christ. Friends, this is so important. You say that's light at the end of a tunnel? Yes, and it's not a freight train heading for us, friend. It's the light of Jesus. He said, I am the light of the world. And he doesn't want us to walk in spiritual darkness. He wants us to know what he's doing, how he's going to do it, and what's going to happen when he intervenes and comes into this world system in the events surrounding his second coming to the world. So our prayer is not for some politician, necessary though that is. Our prayer is, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. on earth as it is in heaven. Now, friends, as we think about that, we turn to various promises in the Bible to show us what that light consists of, what the blessed hope really is for the bride, the body of Christ, the true church. Listen to what the Apostle John said in his first epistle, 1 John 3, verse 1. See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God. And such we are, for this reason the world does not know us, because they did not know Him. Now listen carefully. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that when He appears, we should be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And here's the application to you and me today. Everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself just as he is pure, pure in spirit, in heart, in mind, and soul. Thank you, Lord, for that blessed hope and its cleansing, sanctifying, purging effect upon us as we think of what he has promised to do. Now, all through the New Testament, the Bible, we find this hope explained. Listen to Paul's letter to Titus, chapter 2, verse 11. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. That's the first coming of Christ now, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age. Now here it comes, friends. Looking for what? The blessed hope. The blessed hope. What's that? Why, it's the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. Well, who's he? He's the one who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself a people, that's the church, for his own possession, zealous for good deeds. Paul says to Titus, these things speak in exhort and reprove with all authority, that no one disregard you. And I say, thank you, Lord, for that guarantee of something spectacular, glorious, is about to happen in the world. Now the Lord Jesus in the upper room, just before he died, gave a little hint of what we call the rapture of the church. Listen to this. Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. John 14, 1. Why should we not be troubled? Because friends, verse two, in my father's house, Jesus said, are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. for I go to prepare a place for you." Now here it comes, are you ready? If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and do what? Establish the kingdom? No. Come down to the earth at Armageddon? No. Listen, I will come again and receive you to myself. That where I am, there you may be also. That is a hint, anticipation, of the rapture of the church before the great tribulation, before the second coming of Christ in glory, a secret, a secret event. As far as the world is concerned, they won't understand what this is going to be. And I say, what do you mean people don't understand? Well, Paul said to the Corinthians, remember, in 1 Corinthians 15, Behold, I show you a mystery, something previously hidden but now revealed. And what is this? We shall not all sleep, that is the sleep of death. That's a euphemism, you understand, for the death of a believer. He looks like he's sleeping and he will awaken. Not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. Every Christian must be glorified to qualify to be in the immediate presence and functioning with Jesus. Well, how long is that gonna take? In a moment, the twinkling of an eye, instantaneously, something's gonna happen. At the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we should be changed. What a change. All kinds of people promise a change. We're gonna do this and do that. But God says, here's the big one. Here's the real one. Not all will die. Some will be raptured, alive, glorified, alive without dying, friends. Friends, in the light of this blessed hope, of being glorified without dying. Remember, we shall not all sleep, that is not every Christian is gonna ever die, but will be glorified at the rapture of the church, instantaneously, gloriously, permanently. In the light of all this, what should we be doing? We should not be sidetracked, discouraged, defeated, just saying there's no hope. I resign, I quit, I give up, I'm defeated, no, no. God's people are the only ones in the world who have a right to have hope, joy, peace, dedication, because we have what? A direction for our lives. God didn't just create us in his image and likeness to do what we want. No. To collapse. to be annihilated, no. He has an eternal purpose for every human being he ever made in his image and likeness. And I say, Lord, help me, even this day, to stop just for a minute in my busy comings and goings, distractions here and there, and say, Lord, just talk to me right now. Tell me what I'm supposed to be doing, how I can honor you, why you gave me the mind and body and soul and spirit that you gave me at creation and procreation. to do something that will glorify you and your son by the Holy Spirit forever. Now, that's a little bit of self-discipline, isn't it, friends? For me, too. I've known the Lord for many, many years. But you see, I'll never get to the point where I can say, I know it all. I don't have any more sin problem. No. I can be easily discouraged, distracted, anxious, and out of the will of God. Like the Apostle Paul said about himself, remember in Romans 7, he said, every time I want to do something good, I do something bad. Every time I think something that's righteous and holy, I think something evil. Oh, wretched man that I am, he said, who shall deliver me from this body of death? Then he said, but we have the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Not through self-reformation, no. Turning over a new leaf, no. In certain conditions, of course, that's good. But that's not what God is talking about at all. He's talking about something that is infinite, eternal, glorious, God-honoring. And I say, Lord, teach me, show me what you mean by what you say about these things. So we begin each day with prayer, don't we? Lord, I don't know what you have for me this day, but I want to put you first in all my choices, decisions, my conversations. As I go to a store, a restaurant, anywhere, help me to take a good gospel track with me and look like I have joy in my heart. People might say, what's your secret? Oh, thank you for asking. Here's a message that'll take you and your family to heaven. round-trip prepaid Jesus died for you and the cross and rose again spread the word everywhere just like Jesus said in the Great Commission in Matthew 28 you're to make disciples see of all nations baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them now listen to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you And, Lo, I'm with you. We're gonna do this together. Without me, you can't do anything. I say, Lord, I think I got the point. You designed me by creation and redesigned me by redemption to do something that no angel can do, no one else on this planet Earth can do, no matter how brilliant or famous they may be. Help me, by your mercy, this day, to be a witness to you. You see, friends, you don't have to be traveling everywhere all the time everywhere. You don't have to be behind a lectern or a pulpit to be a witness for Jesus. Anywhere, everywhere that God gives you an opportunity to say something, to say something that honors him. And I say, Lord, I'm so thankful for that because I know that before I even realize what's going to happen, I will experience a change instantaneously. I'll be glorified without dying. That's the rapture of the church now. And I'll be like you forever. And so, friends, it may surprise you to be reminded of what God actually says about our situation today. He says, I don't want you to be uninformed, ignorant. Wake up. Plug in your mind and heart to what God has said. Are you ready for this? 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13. We do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that is, believers who have died, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. I mean, we have some hope here. What is it? Are you ready? If, now watch this, if we believe, do you believe that Jesus died and rose again, friend? If that happened, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. That means who've died as believers. He's gonna come back. He'll bring them with him from heaven. Really? What does that mean? What's that gonna result in? For this we say to you by the word of the Lord." Now just stop a minute. Paul says, I know you'll have a problem with what I'm about to record here for you, but be assured of this, this is not just my opinion, it's the word of the Lord. And every once in a while in the New Testament, God inserts statements like that, doesn't he? So we're not just listening to a human opinion 2,000 years ago, however famous or brilliant the apostle Paul might have been, and actually was. What is this thing that God wants us to know? Are you ready friend? We who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. God is going to honor dead Christians first, then living ones in this order. Are you ready for this now? Watch the order of events now. One, the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout. Number two, with the voice of the archangel, that's Michael, of course, who will stand again for Israel during the Great Tribulation. All right, number three. And with the trumpet of God, my, all these things. But number four, watch this one, are you ready? And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Millions, millions, hundreds of millions of believers through these last 2,000 years will instantaneously become alive with glorified bodies, my, cemeteries, tombstones falling over. Now, careful here. A tombstone doesn't have to be removed to allow a dead Christian to arise. Jesus, in his glorified body, didn't have to have the stone removed for him to get out of his tomb. He went right through it. He went right through a closed door into an upper room with a glorified body, friends. We will just simply disappear from our tombs or wherever we are in the realm of the dead and rise with a glorified body. And I say, Lord, that is absolutely amazing. Remember all those who walked around Jerusalem after Jesus rose from the dead, according to the Gospel of Matthew? Well, the tombs had to be open for them. which means that they did not have glorified bodies and had, like Lazarus, to die again, die twice. They had a witness for the Lord all over Jerusalem that somebody of infinite significance died on that cross. I'd be interested, fascinated, wouldn't you, to hear what they said about Jesus and his death between those two thieves on that central cross that day. Total darkness, great earthquake, veil of the temple ran in two from top to bottom, Israel was instructed by these means by God, don't you dare ignore, reject, misunderstand, refuse the claims of the one who was on that central cross, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Yes, King of kings and Lord of lords, beginning and end, first and last, forever. Wow, the dead in Christ, friends, will go right through their tombstones, if I can put it that way, out of their caskets, if I can put it that way, and will rise first. Oh, then what's going to happen? Are you here? Listen now. Then we who are alive and remain shall be what? Caught up. Harpazo. Now that's a Greek verb which means to snatch away. Harpazo. From which we get the word harp is an instrument. We harp music. out of this instrument. Isn't that beautiful? But wait, did you hear this one? That's why we have a harpoon to snatch a whale out of the ocean. So we'll all be harped, harpooned out of this world at the rapture. Now the rapture is a Latin word, of course, which means snatched away, which we use for that. And I say, now Lord, help me to understand what you're saying here. Then we who are alive and remain okay shall be caught up snatched away together with them with the now glorified dead christians and we're going to go up in the clouds that must mean glory clouds to meet the lord in the air and here we are folks and thus we shall always be with the lord my what a blessed hope Therefore, comfort one another with these words. Friends, we need comfort. We need encouragement. We need reassurance in the light of the stresses and strains and threats and problems and frustrations of this world system. So, you know, God says, I want you to know something. You're not going to face the Great Tribulation. Why not? God has not destined us for wrath. Chapter 5, verse 9 of 1 Thessalonians. The bride, the body of Christ, won't experience the wrath of God like everybody during that tribulation will experience. Israel and the Gentiles, the wrath of God, the seals, the bowls, the vials, the awful things coming. The church is exempt from that. not because we are superior to people personally. No, we perhaps should say we deserve that. But you see, God has a better destiny for his bride, the church, his body, the church, the true church of born-again Christians. Now, this is not gonna be a partial rapture. I've actually heard somebody say, only worthy Christians will go up at the rapture. Oh, really? Well, we know from the New Testament, not one Christian is worthy, so that would mean there'd be no rapture at all. No, every born-again man, woman, and child will be caught up. Here's a little illustration that has helped me through the years. Imagine a huge auditorium with millions of little bits of metals strewn all over the floor, different kinds of metal, copper, lead, tin, brass, but also little iron filings. And all of a sudden, because of a gigantic electromagnet in the ceiling, when the magnet is turned on, look what happens. The iron filings all go up. They're attracted, pulled up off the floor. And all the other ones who may have looked the same, maybe they were all spray painted to blue or purple or something. Only those that were innerly programmed, you see, to be caught up, attracted to the electromagnet will rise. Have you been programmed, dear friend, to rise from the dead or arise from this present life when the rapture comes? Are you ready to go up? You say, I'm not sure, sir. Well, listen to these verses in 1 Thessalonians 4. It says, comfort one another with these words, not with human opinions or the majority opinion, but what God has said in the only book he ever wrote, the Bible. And I say, thank you, God, for that assurance, that blessed hope of the soon appearing of Jesus and being raptured without dying. We've only begun to survey the details that scripture offers regarding events that lie ahead. Once again, the name of this new series from Dr. John Whitcomb is Our Glorious Future in Christ. And we trust the Lord to use it to give hope to many people. Maybe he will even use you this week to share what you've learned with a friend or invite them to listen with you. And speaking of sharing what we've learned, our custom is to deal with a question at this time of the broadcast. And if you have a Bible question for Dr. Whitcomb, that you'd like to have answered during this segment of the program, feel free to submit it to us at facebook.com slash Whitcomb Ministries. But right now, Dr. Whitcomb, I'd like to ask, are there any signs that show us that Christ coming to rapture His church may be near? Wayne, the answer to that important question is, of course, yes and no. No, we don't see things that will guarantee the exact day of His coming. Jesus said, on the day you think not, the Son of Man comes. Because the blessed hope is imminent, we don't want to say it's going to be next year or next month or something. It could be any moment. We understand that. But there are some signs that show us that things are rapidly coming together, I couldn't have believed when I was a soldier in Germany in 1944 and 45 and saw the horrible effects of the Holocaust, six million Jews dead, that I would actually live to see nearly six million Jews back in the Promised Land, in Israel, in Jerusalem. And I say, Lord, something big is about to happen. Yes, Jerusalem now, Israel, is being isolated, and they are desperate for security. Any moment some important, brilliant, Western-oriented leader can come along and say, I will take care of you, I'll lead you, and sign here for seven years. You remember Daniel 9, 27. A covenant will be made, because it'll be an unbelieving nation, remember. And I say, Lord, I remember what you said in John 5 about that coming man. You said I have come in my father's name and you received me not But one is coming in his own name and him you will receive Israel is desperate for security significance power and strength Militarily speaking and they are about to sign that treaty. Are they not? Well, of course we see all Europe to Coming together as has not happened for centuries in an economic union the euro And I say now Lord something is happening in Europe to prepare them, you see, to become what? The 10 kings, the 10 horns of Daniel 7, the 10 toes of Daniel 2, the 10 Western kings that shall be taken over, amazingly, by the Antichrist, Daniel chapter 7, and Revelation 13, and so forth. So big things, friends, are happening in our religious world, churches turning more and more away from biblical doctrine and truth. You know, we're amazed to hear what Jesus said about our situation today. In Luke 18, he said, I tell you that he will bring about justice for them speedily. For whom? For those who pray night and day for him to come. However, now listen to this one. When the son of man comes, will he find faith, literally the faith on the earth? Not belief, not faith, but whether the whole truth of the Bible is being faithfully taught by anybody, anywhere. And I say, Lord, this is the second law of ecclesiastical thermodynamics. Everything is drifting down doctrine. practice, love of the truth, and I say that is a major sign of what is about to happen. The rapture of the church, the beginning of the 70th and last week of Daniel. So apostasy in churches all over the world, as perhaps never before. Unity in Europe, economically, as never before. Especially remember, friends, Israel, back in their land, in desperation, isolated, threatened, all the time, and they are losing out their hope for international support and recognition. And I say, Lord, help me to see that these signs don't tell me the exact day, of course, of your return, but the times that we live in are appropriate for the coming of Jesus at any moment. The big question, friend, is this, are you ready? Do you know Jesus as your Savior from sin's penalty, from hell? Believe in him now. Trust him as your Savior and your Lord today. Thank you, Dr. Whitcomb, for those words of instruction, encouragement and hope. Whitcomb Ministries, Inc. presents Encounter God's Truth every week for the purpose of declaring that God's Word is true from the beginning to the end. And if you would like more information, please check our webpages at WhitcombMinistries.org and SermonAudio.com slash Whitcomb. Our series continues next week as we turn to more prophetic passages that will help us be prepared to meet our Lord Jesus with confidence when He appears. I'm Wayne Shepherd, encouraging you to be back with us then, here on Encounter God's Truth.