Sojourning Through Thessalonians, Pt. 8
Study Guide, March 10, 2024
Pastor Clay Olsen
One day, those, and we hope, we, that are alive at the return of Jesus Christ, first to gather His Church, and later to usher in His Millennial Kingdom…we will be caught up to meet our Lord and be with our Lord forever and ever!
The Rapture of the Church is the next world changing event on God’s timeline of prophecy. No other prophetic event needs to occur before the Great Departure of the Church. And no problem that we face cannot be solved by the Rapture of the Church as well. Remember that for thousands of years the world doubted that a Messiah would come to Earth from Heaven. But a little over two thousand years ago He did! And now, once again, for a little over two thousand years the world has been doubting that the Messiah will return to Earth from Heaven. But any day now, He will! As sure as the First Advent of Jesus Christ occurred, the Second Advent of Jesus Christ is about to happen.
And to tell us how it will happen, we return to our sojourn in 1 Thess 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.” NASU
Did you notice that Paul said that Jesus is going to bring back with Him those that have died and gone to be with Him, but then also said that the dead in Christ will rise first? Since they are already with Jesus in Heaven, what then is going to rise from Earth? Okay…well, here we go! The Rapture has also been called, ‘The Great Clothing of the Church’. And why is that? Because this is when believers receive their ‘resurrection bodies’. The Biblical timing of when believers receive their ‘resurrected body’ is often one of the most surprising Biblical teachings for many believers.
For example: At the Interment of a saved loved one at a cemetery…which by the way, is interesting right there, because many often use the word ‘Internment’ instead of ‘Interment’. It’s easy to get those mixed up, but the one, ‘Internment’ refers to the confining of a person in prison, whereas ‘Interment’ refers to the ceremonial placing of a body in the earth. They do sound similar, but the action of each is far different. Just thought you would find that interesting.
Anyway, at the graveside service, many just assume that as soon as a Christian dies, that he or she immediately receives their resurrected body. They assume that since their immortal soul is already in the very presence of Jesus, which it truly is…good call on that part, they also assume that they already have their resurrected immortal body. How could it be otherwise?
Let’s Biblically walk it through. Think about when Jesus told the repentant thief on the Cross that he would, that very day, be with Jesus in Paradise. So, Jesus was in Paradise, Heaven, but His body was still in the tomb…not to be resurrected for three days. If Jesus did not have His resurrected body immediately when His Spirit went to Paradise, then what kind of body did He have? Jesus was in an ‘Intermediate’ body, awaiting the third day when He would then put on His resurrected body. In the same way, Christians who have entered into Heaven in their spirit are also in their ‘Intermediate’ bodies awaiting the day of the Rapture when they will put on their resurrected bodies.
Back to the passage…The Apostle informs us that God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. Again, what part of them fell asleep? Do you remember what Jesus said about Lazarus before Jesus brought him back from death? John 11:11-12- “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.” NASU What part of Lazarus was sleeping? Certainly not his soul and spirit, because the Apostle Paul clearly reveals to us that the moment the body of a Born Again believer dies, his or her spirit immediately is ushered into the presence of the Lord God. 2 Cor 5:8- “…we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” NASU And how wonderful is that to know…that as soon as our body dies, or goes to ‘sleep’, our soul and spirit go right into the presence of Jesus in Heaven?! That’s why Paul said it would be far better for him to be with the Lord, but he still had work to do here on Earth.
So when Jesus called Lazarus’ soul to return to his body…which, again, we just can’t help but think about the situation here’…because Lazarus had just arrived in Heaven. For Lazarus, it had, in reality, just become the best day of his life, which is what it becomes for each of God’s children when they arrive in Heaven…they are finally home with God and with all the saved of all the ages. But then, in the midst of all his excitement of Heaven… Lazarus then hears Jesus calling him back to Earth for a little more to do yet. Some of you might remember the Christian songwriter Carmen’s take on this, when he thinks of Lazarus meeting everyone in Heaven and talking about Jesus and then saying, “Wait a minute…I think I hear Him calling me now!”
But the point is that Lazarus was absent from his body, which was asleep, and was at home with the Lord, before he was called back into his body which Jesus resurrected. While he was in Heaven, he was in an ‘Intermediate’ state…in an ‘Intermediate’ body or form, of which we have little information about that form, yet we know that it is an actual bodily form, since on the Mount of Transfiguration the Disciples clearly saw Moses and Elijah, and they were each in a bodily form meeting with Jesus.
We would then think…what’s the purpose of having ‘Intermediate’ bodies instead of as soon as a saved child of God from all history dies, like with Moses and Elijah, for God to just give them their resurrected bodies right away? Good question, and God always has a magnificent answer. And here it is: Because Jesus was to be and forever will be ‘The First-born from the dead!’ Col 1:18- “He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.” NASU
Jesus was the first to rise in an immortal body…in a glorified resurrected body. Jesus’ resurrected body was to be the first of a new order of glorified resurrected human beings. Which is another inspiring way to think of followers of Christ…that we are part of a ‘new order of human beings.’ We are those who share in the Divine nature of God as His sons and daughters and will live in resurrected immortal bodies just like that of Jesus Christ. Again, the world does not know who Christ followers really are…we are part of a new order of human beings. We are the real aliens and strangers who are still upon this present Earth…for a short time, that is.
Back to the resurrection: Others had been temporarily resurrected, like two children with Elijah and Elisha, and like with Jairus, a synagogue official’s daughter, and then in the incident after Jesus resurrection that caused a huge stir in Jerusalem. Remember that one? Matt 27:50-53 – “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.” NASU
That incident is not talked about very much, but can you imagine the excitement of seeing a host of people who had recently died and placed in tombs now back walking around Jerusalem again? “We’re back!” The religious leaders had been upset with just seeing Lazarus again, but now they had a whole bunch of Lazarus types back in the city. Still, the thing is, these bodily resurrections were still temporary…they were not yet the immortal glorified bodies.
Also remember that Paul identified Jesus in His resurrection as the ‘First fruits’ in 1 Cor 15:20- “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.” NASU And this is not just a reference to Jesus being the fulfilment of the Jewish ‘Feast of Firstfruits’, which He was, but also of being the ‘First fruits’ of those who die, the first of the resurrected and glorified bodies of the Earth.
Back to Moses and Elijah for example…they couldn’t have their glorified resurrected bodies before Jesus had His because Jesus was to be the ‘Firstborn’ from the dead, and the ‘First fruits’ of those who die. Which brings us back to Paul revealing to the Thessalonian believers and to us, that when Jesus brings back those whose soul and spirit have been in Heaven, what had been ‘sleeping’, or their bodies, these ‘dead in Christ’ would now rise, or be resurrected, and they would then be clothed in their resurrected, glorified, and immortal bodies. And for those living at the time of the Rapture, hopefully us…these will be immediately changed from having mortal bodies into having immortal bodies without having to experience death.
Paul had also written to the church at Corinth with similar teaching…calling it a mystery, although he was now revealing what this ‘mystery’ of the Resurrection and Rapture of the saints was all about. Let’s look: 1 Cor 15:51-53 – “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.” NASU
(By the way, this is also a verse that a church put up over their Nursery: ‘We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed!’ Kind of a double meaning there…)
Now, there is certainly more to explore in this passage on the Rapture, and we will, but let’s wrap up this part with one of the most amazing things that also needs to be in our thinking in connection with the Rapture. We often think about the closeness to us now of the Rapture, since it is in connection with the End Times. And as we prophetically look at the conditions of our world and compare them with the conditions of the End Times in the Bible, especially the ‘Signs of the End Times’, we rightly think about the closeness of the Rapture of the Church. But an additional, and really amazing thing is to ask and to answer is: “So, just what is it that ‘triggers’ the timing of the Rapture?” Is there some specific Scriptural revelation that tells us what ‘triggers’ the timing of the Rapture of the Church? Oh yes there is…and here is where it gets even more exciting…because the timing of the Rapture is triggered by something that happens in connection with the Church…specifically in connection with the part that we can play in triggering the Rapture of the Church.
Take a look: Rom 11:25-27 – “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery — so that you will not be wise in your own estimation — that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION,
HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” NASU
In the midst of Paul explaining this interval of the Church Age, this divine suspension in God’s plan for Israel, which will then pick up again during the Tribulation period before the Millennial Kingdom, he reveals that God’s plan through the nation and people of Israel will follow once ‘the fullness of the Gentiles has come in!’ This reference here is a direct reference to ‘The Church!’ Which means, that at some point, the Church Age will come to its completion…and it will then be followed by the Tribulation and final days of the present Earth. But what this also means is that somewhere, someone will be the one, that upon their conversion to Christ, they will complete ‘The Church’…and that will ‘trigger the Rapture of the Church!
Certainly, more people will be saved in the times of Tribulation, but the Church Age will have been completed. Which also means that you and I have the opportunity of being a part of process of what if going to trigger the Rapture of the Church, in that the person that we share the message of the Gospel with, by way of talk or tract, or booklet and prayer, or some influence that helped with their decision to give their life to Christ and receive Him as their Lord and Savior…that person could be ‘the very one’ that completes the fullness of the Gentiles, the completion of the Church, and it begins: ‘The Lord Himself descends from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God resounds…and the Rapture happens!’
Is that just another motivation for sharing the Gospel or what? That would also be an interesting way to start a conversation about the Gospel…like: “If you haven’t yet received Christ as your Lord and Savior, you might be the one that could complete the Church and trigger the Rapture!” Or, that might be a lot of information all at once…you can decide…
Study Guide, March 10, 2024
Pastor Clay Olsen
One day, those, and we hope, we, that are alive at the return of Jesus Christ, first to gather His Church, and later to usher in His Millennial Kingdom…we will be caught up to meet our Lord and be with our Lord forever and ever!
The Rapture of the Church is the next world changing event on God’s timeline of prophecy. No other prophetic event needs to occur before the Great Departure of the Church. And no problem that we face cannot be solved by the Rapture of the Church as well. Remember that for thousands of years the world doubted that a Messiah would come to Earth from Heaven. But a little over two thousand years ago He did! And now, once again, for a little over two thousand years the world has been doubting that the Messiah will return to Earth from Heaven. But any day now, He will! As sure as the First Advent of Jesus Christ occurred, the Second Advent of Jesus Christ is about to happen.
And to tell us how it will happen, we return to our sojourn in 1 Thess 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.” NASU
Did you notice that Paul said that Jesus is going to bring back with Him those that have died and gone to be with Him, but then also said that the dead in Christ will rise first? Since they are already with Jesus in Heaven, what then is going to rise from Earth? Okay…well, here we go! The Rapture has also been called, ‘The Great Clothing of the Church’. And why is that? Because this is when believers receive their ‘resurrection bodies’. The Biblical timing of when believers receive their ‘resurrected body’ is often one of the most surprising Biblical teachings for many believers.
For example: At the Interment of a saved loved one at a cemetery…which by the way, is interesting right there, because many often use the word ‘Internment’ instead of ‘Interment’. It’s easy to get those mixed up, but the one, ‘Internment’ refers to the confining of a person in prison, whereas ‘Interment’ refers to the ceremonial placing of a body in the earth. They do sound similar, but the action of each is far different. Just thought you would find that interesting.
Anyway, at the graveside service, many just assume that as soon as a Christian dies, that he or she immediately receives their resurrected body. They assume that since their immortal soul is already in the very presence of Jesus, which it truly is…good call on that part, they also assume that they already have their resurrected immortal body. How could it be otherwise?
Let’s Biblically walk it through. Think about when Jesus told the repentant thief on the Cross that he would, that very day, be with Jesus in Paradise. So, Jesus was in Paradise, Heaven, but His body was still in the tomb…not to be resurrected for three days. If Jesus did not have His resurrected body immediately when His Spirit went to Paradise, then what kind of body did He have? Jesus was in an ‘Intermediate’ body, awaiting the third day when He would then put on His resurrected body. In the same way, Christians who have entered into Heaven in their spirit are also in their ‘Intermediate’ bodies awaiting the day of the Rapture when they will put on their resurrected bodies.
Back to the passage…The Apostle informs us that God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. Again, what part of them fell asleep? Do you remember what Jesus said about Lazarus before Jesus brought him back from death? John 11:11-12- “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.” NASU What part of Lazarus was sleeping? Certainly not his soul and spirit, because the Apostle Paul clearly reveals to us that the moment the body of a Born Again believer dies, his or her spirit immediately is ushered into the presence of the Lord God. 2 Cor 5:8- “…we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” NASU And how wonderful is that to know…that as soon as our body dies, or goes to ‘sleep’, our soul and spirit go right into the presence of Jesus in Heaven?! That’s why Paul said it would be far better for him to be with the Lord, but he still had work to do here on Earth.
So when Jesus called Lazarus’ soul to return to his body…which, again, we just can’t help but think about the situation here’…because Lazarus had just arrived in Heaven. For Lazarus, it had, in reality, just become the best day of his life, which is what it becomes for each of God’s children when they arrive in Heaven…they are finally home with God and with all the saved of all the ages. But then, in the midst of all his excitement of Heaven… Lazarus then hears Jesus calling him back to Earth for a little more to do yet. Some of you might remember the Christian songwriter Carmen’s take on this, when he thinks of Lazarus meeting everyone in Heaven and talking about Jesus and then saying, “Wait a minute…I think I hear Him calling me now!”
But the point is that Lazarus was absent from his body, which was asleep, and was at home with the Lord, before he was called back into his body which Jesus resurrected. While he was in Heaven, he was in an ‘Intermediate’ state…in an ‘Intermediate’ body or form, of which we have little information about that form, yet we know that it is an actual bodily form, since on the Mount of Transfiguration the Disciples clearly saw Moses and Elijah, and they were each in a bodily form meeting with Jesus.
We would then think…what’s the purpose of having ‘Intermediate’ bodies instead of as soon as a saved child of God from all history dies, like with Moses and Elijah, for God to just give them their resurrected bodies right away? Good question, and God always has a magnificent answer. And here it is: Because Jesus was to be and forever will be ‘The First-born from the dead!’ Col 1:18- “He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.” NASU
Jesus was the first to rise in an immortal body…in a glorified resurrected body. Jesus’ resurrected body was to be the first of a new order of glorified resurrected human beings. Which is another inspiring way to think of followers of Christ…that we are part of a ‘new order of human beings.’ We are those who share in the Divine nature of God as His sons and daughters and will live in resurrected immortal bodies just like that of Jesus Christ. Again, the world does not know who Christ followers really are…we are part of a new order of human beings. We are the real aliens and strangers who are still upon this present Earth…for a short time, that is.
Back to the resurrection: Others had been temporarily resurrected, like two children with Elijah and Elisha, and like with Jairus, a synagogue official’s daughter, and then in the incident after Jesus resurrection that caused a huge stir in Jerusalem. Remember that one? Matt 27:50-53 – “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.” NASU
That incident is not talked about very much, but can you imagine the excitement of seeing a host of people who had recently died and placed in tombs now back walking around Jerusalem again? “We’re back!” The religious leaders had been upset with just seeing Lazarus again, but now they had a whole bunch of Lazarus types back in the city. Still, the thing is, these bodily resurrections were still temporary…they were not yet the immortal glorified bodies.
Also remember that Paul identified Jesus in His resurrection as the ‘First fruits’ in 1 Cor 15:20- “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.” NASU And this is not just a reference to Jesus being the fulfilment of the Jewish ‘Feast of Firstfruits’, which He was, but also of being the ‘First fruits’ of those who die, the first of the resurrected and glorified bodies of the Earth.
Back to Moses and Elijah for example…they couldn’t have their glorified resurrected bodies before Jesus had His because Jesus was to be the ‘Firstborn’ from the dead, and the ‘First fruits’ of those who die. Which brings us back to Paul revealing to the Thessalonian believers and to us, that when Jesus brings back those whose soul and spirit have been in Heaven, what had been ‘sleeping’, or their bodies, these ‘dead in Christ’ would now rise, or be resurrected, and they would then be clothed in their resurrected, glorified, and immortal bodies. And for those living at the time of the Rapture, hopefully us…these will be immediately changed from having mortal bodies into having immortal bodies without having to experience death.
Paul had also written to the church at Corinth with similar teaching…calling it a mystery, although he was now revealing what this ‘mystery’ of the Resurrection and Rapture of the saints was all about. Let’s look: 1 Cor 15:51-53 – “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.” NASU
(By the way, this is also a verse that a church put up over their Nursery: ‘We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed!’ Kind of a double meaning there…)
Now, there is certainly more to explore in this passage on the Rapture, and we will, but let’s wrap up this part with one of the most amazing things that also needs to be in our thinking in connection with the Rapture. We often think about the closeness to us now of the Rapture, since it is in connection with the End Times. And as we prophetically look at the conditions of our world and compare them with the conditions of the End Times in the Bible, especially the ‘Signs of the End Times’, we rightly think about the closeness of the Rapture of the Church. But an additional, and really amazing thing is to ask and to answer is: “So, just what is it that ‘triggers’ the timing of the Rapture?” Is there some specific Scriptural revelation that tells us what ‘triggers’ the timing of the Rapture of the Church? Oh yes there is…and here is where it gets even more exciting…because the timing of the Rapture is triggered by something that happens in connection with the Church…specifically in connection with the part that we can play in triggering the Rapture of the Church.
Take a look: Rom 11:25-27 – “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery — so that you will not be wise in your own estimation — that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION,
HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” NASU
In the midst of Paul explaining this interval of the Church Age, this divine suspension in God’s plan for Israel, which will then pick up again during the Tribulation period before the Millennial Kingdom, he reveals that God’s plan through the nation and people of Israel will follow once ‘the fullness of the Gentiles has come in!’ This reference here is a direct reference to ‘The Church!’ Which means, that at some point, the Church Age will come to its completion…and it will then be followed by the Tribulation and final days of the present Earth. But what this also means is that somewhere, someone will be the one, that upon their conversion to Christ, they will complete ‘The Church’…and that will ‘trigger the Rapture of the Church!
Certainly, more people will be saved in the times of Tribulation, but the Church Age will have been completed. Which also means that you and I have the opportunity of being a part of process of what if going to trigger the Rapture of the Church, in that the person that we share the message of the Gospel with, by way of talk or tract, or booklet and prayer, or some influence that helped with their decision to give their life to Christ and receive Him as their Lord and Savior…that person could be ‘the very one’ that completes the fullness of the Gentiles, the completion of the Church, and it begins: ‘The Lord Himself descends from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God resounds…and the Rapture happens!’
Is that just another motivation for sharing the Gospel or what? That would also be an interesting way to start a conversation about the Gospel…like: “If you haven’t yet received Christ as your Lord and Savior, you might be the one that could complete the Church and trigger the Rapture!” Or, that might be a lot of information all at once…you can decide…