First Thessalonians chapter four. And we'll begin reading at verse 13. And we'll read it all the way to the end of the chapter. It says, but I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. This morning as we consider and continue our studies in eschatology, I want us to consider the subject of the rapture of the saints. The rapture of the saints. Now this goes along very much with the previous message that I preached on the imminent return of Jesus. And when we consider this, we are looking forward to the rapture, the Lord coming back in the air to take us out of this world. And not us only, but also all of God's people as the body of those who have gone on before us, reunited with the soul and taken on to be with the Lord. So there's some things that we wanna consider This morning, as we think about this blessed subject, as Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica there, and he said, I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning these things, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. We also don't want to be ignorant about these things either, and so thankfully we have the word of God. One thing that you'll notice, though, the title of my message, The Rapture of the Saints, the word rapture is not to be found anywhere in the Bible. That's a word that we use very often to describe this, and it comes to us from the Latin and means to catch away or to be caught up. And certainly, while that word isn't found in your Bibles, at least not in your King James Bible, perhaps, Perhaps some of the other translations have put it in there, but I don't recommend using the other translations, but I'm just saying maybe somewhere out there there's a translation that has it in there, I don't know. But certainly, it is not a word that we find when we read our King James Bibles. And while the word is not there, the teaching is. There are other words like that that we use quite often. The word Trinity, for instance. You will not find the word Trinity in the Bible. But oh, the teaching is there, isn't it? And so we thank the Lord for the teaching of the rapture. We thank the Lord for the coming of Jesus Christ as he comes to take us home to be with him. And we see here from our text in verse 16, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise. They will rise first. And then in verse 17, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. So we see this snatching away, this being caught up as it's taught right here in our text in 1 Thessalonians. Those folks were looking forward to it. You and I, we still look forward to it because it hasn't happened yet. The Lord has not come back yet. In fact, Let's consider some background information here with the church at Thessalonica as Paul was writing to them. And as we think about what was going on there, there was some confusion there among the Thessalonian saints about what's going to happen. The Lord had left, He had promised to come back, They started looking around and people were dying. The Lord hadn't come back yet. And so the question was, what's happening? What's going to happen? 2,000 years later, it's still a problem, isn't it? There's still some confusion and question. among the people of God. The Lord has not returned, and yet the graveyard just keeps getting fuller and fuller. What's happened to my loved one? What's happened to those saints that have gone on before? And indeed, what's going to happen to me? We know that we long for the Lord to come in our lifetime. We want for him to come in our lifetime, but the fact is he may not. He may not. We may die and be placed in the grave. We may come to a point where it's our time to die and what's next. And so that's important. It's an important question. The church at Thessalonica didn't have access to the completed Word of God. And these things really concerned them. Many of them, no doubt, were students of the scriptures that they had. But let me just tell you something, we are a privileged bunch of people. Sometimes we look back and we think, well, it would have been great to have lived during the first century or the second century. It would have been great to be back there in those times. We think about, at least I do, how neat it would have been to be here in the world at the time of Jesus when he walked, when he performed the miracles, when he lived as a man among other men. We think about later, what it would have been like to be with the Apostle Paul and to be in Athens and Corinth and some of those places with Paul. Oh, what a blessing it would have been, but we have our own blessings, and that is we have access to the completed Word of God. Those folks didn't. Those folks didn't. Now, they had some scripture, certainly. The Old Testament was completed and those sorts of things, but understand that as we read about situations like this, as Paul, as he wrote to the churches, there's a reason why they didn't understand those things. They didn't have access to what we've got. And even with the Old Testament, the doctrine of the rapture and the teaching of it isn't found there. Oh, certainly there are some types and figures and shadows But it's not clear, it's not clearly taught. It was a mystery to those saints of old. And Paul, as he wrote, he said, I would not have you to be ignorant. That word has a bad connotation among our generation, doesn't it? but really there's nothing bad about it. What he means is I don't want you to be in the dark. I don't want you to not know the truth of the Lord's return. I don't want you to be in the dark so much so that you're sorrowing as others who have no hope because guess what? There is hope beyond the grave. Your loved one, yeah, he's died. Your loved one, yes, she has died, but there is hope. Sorrow, yes, but don't sorrow like those who have no hope. And that's a theme in the scriptures. God's people can and should sorrow and mourn the loss of a loved one, but not to the extent that someone does who has absolutely no hope. We have some folks who are ignorant about this teaching. They don't know. But the problem isn't that we don't have the word of God. The problem is oftentimes folks don't Stop and take a look and see what the Word of God says. Ignorance of biblical doctrine and biblical truth is not bliss. You know, you've heard the saying, ignorance is bliss. That might be true of some things, but not with Bible doctrine. We need to know and understand the truths of God's Word. We ought to be settled so that we're not carried about with every wind of doctrine. Certainly, we ought not to go through life being sad or fearful about what's next. We may not know every detail of our lives, but folks, there is great hope to be had. If you know Jesus Christ, there is great hope, and yes, even hope beyond the grave, beyond what these eyes can see. We can be assured, we can be assured of what has happened to our loved ones in Jesus, and we can also be assured of what will happen to us someday. I can't be sure of what's gonna happen with this country. I can't be sure of what's gonna happen with whether I be sick or live or die or whatever, I can't be sure that I'll live to be an old man or not. But this one thing I can be assured of, that when I die, I'm gonna see the Lord. And that is true, that is true for every child of God. I was just thinking about this. Some folks go through life being afraid and scared of what's going to happen. And they don't read and study their Bibles. And the other day as I went to get the mail and I came back in, I saw a great illustration of this. And we've gotten a lot of rain lately. Man, them flowers, they soak it up. Those trees, they love it. It's good. It's good. We need the sunshine. We need the rain. But on our front porch, we have some plants. And those plants are so close to the rain, but they ain't getting any. And because I kind of forgot to water them when Jill was gone and that sort of thing, some of them withered and died. So close, but yet so far. And that's the way many are today in Christianity. The Word of God. The Word of God is very much available. If we do not study it, if we do not sit under the preaching of God's Word, then what good is it? Do we really have any advantage? over those folks in Thessalonica, if we don't even read and study the word of God or listen to the preaching of God's word. Oh, how we ought to be blessed, even as he ends this and he says, wherefore comfort one another with these words. What a blessing it is to know and to understand that prophecy, our future, is settled, and we know because the word of God has said so. In our text here, in verses 13 and 14, he says, but I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. I want to consider for just a few moments sleeping saints. Sleeping saints. He talks about those who are dead, but he calls them, he says they are asleep. He says they are asleep. There are those who believe and teach something called soul sleep. Maybe you've heard of it before. This is either, they teach this because of one or two things. They teach it either because they haven't studied the word of God or because they're a false prophet, false teacher, and they're trying to deceive people. The Bible does not teach this idea of soul sleep that many people have. It is heresy, it's not truth. And we ought to make sure that we understand it, and I wanna make sure, because sometimes even some preachers will carelessly throw things around, and you don't know what they believe and what they don't believe. But I think it's important if we define this right away. In the Bible, the scriptures often talk about death as sleep. In fact, in John chapter 11, John chapter 11. Beginning at verse 11, and we'll go down to verse 14. These things saith he, after that he saith unto them, our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest and sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. We see Even among Jesus and the disciples, there's sometimes some confusion can come up on this. Jesus looked at death as sleeping, said, I'm gonna go wake him up out of sleep. They said, well, if he's just taking a rest, he'll be okay. That's what sick people need. Jesus said, no, no, no, I'm talking he's dead. He's dead. But as we look at the scriptures then, and all the scriptures that speak of sleep, meaning death, it is the body that sleeps, and the body only. Charles Spurgeon preached a message on this, and he described it as a metaphor. Other writers have described it as a euphemism. Some of you grammar folks don't know what those things are, but just understand that it's a word that is used to mean something else, or to describe something else. And so the Bible is not teaching soul sleep, it's teaching sleep as in the body. When I die, if I'm not raptured out of here first, When I die and when you die, your body will be here. My body will be here. But folks, there's more than just the body. And when we look at other scriptures, we find the idea of soul sleep is not to be what's understood with this word. in our text or anywhere else for that matter. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 8 and 9. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore, we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. You can go in there and you can circle that word confident. We are confident that while we're at home with the body, we're absent from the Lord. which is what he said in verse six. But then he says, we're confident, willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. This body is just temporary. We will go on to be with the Lord when we die. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. In Luke chapter 16, let me show you something else here. Luke 16. Now a while ago, in John chapter 11, we read about Elazarus. Jesus raised that Lazarus from the dead, but this is a different Lazarus. In Luke 16, look at what he says here in verse 19. There was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores. So we get the picture right away of how life was for these two individuals. One is a certain rich man who fared sumptuously every day. Think Bill Gates or Elon Musk or George Soros. Think of rich guys and how that they live, faring sumptuously every day. It's not a crime to be rich, but riches don't do you no good if you don't know the Lord. You see, the rich man didn't go to hell because he's rich. And Lazarus didn't go to heaven because he was a beggar. The difference was Jesus Christ. And that's true whether you're rich or poor. Verse 21, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table, moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried, and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, son, remember, thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot, Can they pass to us that would come from thins? Then he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, thou wouldst send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, Nay, Father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded the one rose from the dead. We find here dialogue that's happening between Abraham and the rich man. While this was going on, Abraham's body was in the grave. The rich man's body was in the grave and Lazarus's body. I mean, perhaps they, well, I can't say that the rich man and Lazarus were already in the grave, but their bodies were here on earth. Let's just put it that way. They may not have even been buried yet. But this dialogue was happening, my point is, while their bodies are here on the earth. We find that they were recognized as to who they were. Do I understand that? No, of course not. I just know it to be true. That the rich man was able to recognize Lazarus and Abraham for who they were. which means that Abraham recognized Lazarus, in turn, recognizing the rich man. Not only that, but they had memories of their lives here on earth. Folks, these weren't sleeping souls. These were souls that were either in the case of Abraham and Lazarus, they were in paradise, or in the case of the rich man, in an eternal hell. And not only did that rich man have memory, and did he recognize Abraham and Lazarus as he looked over that great gulf that separated but he had feelings too. Dip the water to cool my tongue. Where was his tongue? On the earth, physically. But spiritually he could feel that pain, that torment. It's a sad thing that so many people, when their loved one dies without the Lord, And they talk about resting in peace. There is no rest for the wicked. Immediately, in hell, he'd lift up his eyes, being in torment, you see. And what a horrible thing that is, but it is the truth. And on the same token, immediately, when Lazarus died, he was carried by the angels. to what the Bible calls here Abraham's bosom, that place of paradise. I'm glad for that. I'm glad to know that when we die, that we'll be taken to be with the Lord. Jesus taught it this way in Luke chapter 23. Again, there on the cross, Luke 23. Verses 39 through 43, look what he says here. In the scriptures, the record that's given of the crucifixion, it says, and one of the male factors, which were hanged, railed on him, saying, if thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. The thief on the cross who believed, who was saved that day, Jesus said, today you'll be with me in paradise. Not at the time of the resurrection, not at the time of the rapture, but today you'll be with me in paradise. We have a great comfort to know that when the Bible speaks of sleep, it doesn't mean soul sleep. It's talking about the body. And what a great picture that is, because when somebody lays down to sleep, Guess what happens when the morning comes? They get up, they get up. And oh, what a beautiful picture we have when we're there at the graveside and we see our loved one getting ready to be laid down in that grave to know that one of these days, he'll get up, he'll rise again. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, So we kind of bring this to a close. So we think about the rapture. Our text said that the dead in Christ would rise first, then we which are alive and remain follow. First Corinthians chapter 15 kind of gives us some more information here. We'll begin reading verse 34. Awake to righteousness and sin not, for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. But some men will say, how are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? Thou fool, thou which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bear gain, It may chance of wheat or some other grain, but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh. There's one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, bodies terrestrial, but the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There's one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars, for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. So it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul, and the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit, that was not first, which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward, that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are also they that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have born the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Know this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. 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 shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality, so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption. And this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the thing that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. And the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." What a blessing this is to consider that these bodies that we have right now are not the bodies that will be raised at the resurrection. At least they won't be raised in the same way that they are now. You think about at the rapture, there's going to be some saints that have been dead for a long, long time. Their bodies have already decayed, horrible condition physically. But what's he say there? We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. We're all not going to die, but we all will be changed. The change our bodies will have is immediate, instantaneous, or as he puts it here, in the twinkling of an eye. That's pretty quick. That's pretty quick. You know, I've often said I'd love to be in a cemetery when the rapture happens, but it's all gonna take place so quick, so fast. God has an order. To the naked eye, it would seem as if we're all being taken up out of here together, but the dead in Christ will rise first, and then we'll go too. We'll meet in the air with the Lord. All of those who have known the Lord will be taken. Will be taken. Our glorified bodies will be, as he says there in verse 42, incorruptible. Verse 43, spiritual, all these bodies now, they're flesh, aren't they? And we're reminded of that daily, the aches, the pains, the troubles, the trials, the sin, those things, that's all flesh. Sorry, that's verse 44 where he talks about it being spiritual. Verse 43 talks about our glorified bodies being glorious and powerful. And then in verse 53, immortal. We die, these bodies die in this life, but not in the next, not in the next. What a blessing it is to think about the rapture of the saints and how that the Lord is coming back for us, and how that even those loved ones who have died before us, yea, even the saints of old that we rejoice in reading about, they're not forgotten, they're not going to be left behind. We'll all be with the Lord. May God add a blessing to his work.