This article is a lightly edited transcript of Dr. McRae’s audio message on the Rapture. Appreciation for the transcription work goes to Marilyn Fine.
Once again, we would like to welcome you to our adult Bible class this morning. We are delighted to have you. If you are here for the first time, we give you a special welcome. You are here at the beginning of a new series. During this month we are going to study together in four Sundays the subject, or part of the subject at least, of the doctrine of the Rapture of the church. So, we are going to begin with this as our first study in a topical, prophetic study. Let us open our Bibles, shall we, to I Thessalonians 4. We shall lean on it as our central passage for our exposition this morning.
Our subject for our first lesson this morning is “The Rapture: a Message of Comfort.” That title, of course, is rooted in what we shall see in I Thessalonians 4. However, before we come to that passage and look at it in detail, there are some preliminaries that we should note. Certainly, one of the surest words in all of the Bible is that Jesus is coming again. Someone has said that there are at least 1,527 Old Testament references and 380 New Testament references to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Take the New Testament alone. We are not just limited to the personal testimony of our Lord who said, “I will come again,” but listen to the words of the angels who were present at the moment of His ascension when they announced to those anxious disciples, “This same Jesus which is taken up from you shall so come in light manner as ye have seen Him go.” It is the apostle Paul who refers to the Second Coming as a “blessed hope.” When the apostle Peter writes he reminds us that our faith someday shall be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of our Lord Jesus. When the apostle John writes to us he exhorts us to so live so that we will not be ashamed before Him at His coming. When the writer to the Hebrews pens his epistle, he speaks in a chronological significance and says that unto them that look for Him He shall appear the second time. So, the uniform testimony of the New Testament writers, as well as the Old Testament writers, is that Jesus is coming again.
Now, the Second Coming of our Lord, which is one single event, can be looked upon as taking place in two phases or two aspects. Just at the conclusion of the church period, the first aspect of the Second Coming shall occur and it will be at that first aspect that our Lord shall return from the heavens to the air. He shall come privately and He shall come for His Church. It is at that moment that the Church will be caught up to meet him in the air.
The second aspect of the Second Coming will be when He shall return to the earth and this shall be a public coming and He shall come with His saints or with the Church. Between the two aspects of the Second Coming, there will be a seven-year period or the Great Tribulation period. Now, there are several words— some in the scriptures and some in theological language— that will help us to understand the aspects of the Second Coming of our Lord. What I would like to do by way of introduction is outline for you five major words that are used to delineate certain aspects of the Second Coming or to describe the significance of each of these aspects.
The first word that we want to talk about very simply and briefly is the word, “coming.” That is a word that comes from a Greek verb that occurs oftentimes through the New Testament and the Old Testament to describe this very significant event. It is a very general term and has no particular technical significance. The verb “the coming” is used to refer to both aspects—the first aspect and the second aspect. The Lord Jesus said in relation to the communion service and the Lord’s Supper, “this do ‘til I come.” On again another occasion He says, “Behold I come quickly.” So, that verb “come” is used many times in relation to the first aspect. He shall come through the air and He shall come for His Church. The same verb is used on many occasions for the second aspect of His coming. Matthew 24 and 25 give us the details of that second aspect and frequently through those two chapters you have the use of that verb “come.” So, when we speak of the Second Coming we are speaking of one single event that has two aspects to it. The verb “coming” neatly ties together these two aspects and they give us the one single event.
The second word that we want to note is really a transliteration of a Greek word and the word is the “Parousia.” The “Parousia” is a transliteration of the Greek word “parosea” which means basically “presence.” This was a cultic expression that was used for the visit of a hidden deity who would come and visit and by his visit make his presence known. In that cult, they would either celebrate his presence in the cult or they would be aware of his presence by some supernatural divine demonstration of power. When they referred to the presence of that deity, they spoke of it in terms of the “Parousia” or the “parosea.” It also was an official term or an official expression for the visit of a person of high rank like a governor or an emperor or a king who would visit a province in an official state visit. The arrival of that official for that official state visit would be described in terms of the “parosea” or the “Parousia”— The Presence of that dignitary.
Now, when you come to the New Testament, that same word is used in relation to the Second Coming of our Lord. What it does is anticipate the arrival of a dignitary. It emphasizes the presence of this dignitary who now has been absent. Strikingly, this word is used of both aspects of the coming of our Lord. In I Thessalonians 4, as we shall read in a few moments, we find it in verse 15 when the apostle Paul speaks of those who shall be alive at the coming, and that is that word “the Parousia”— the coming of our Lord or the presence of our Lord. In II Thessalonians 2:1 and 8, it is used in relation to His coming to the earth with His Church.
So, the Parousia, I believe, is a term that draws together both aspects of the Second Coming and considers the whole advent event as one. The Parousia or the Greek word “parosea” suggests then the presence of a dignitary who has been absent and that is exactly what shall transpire when our Lord returns. He who has been absent for 2,000 years shall become present. The event that will initiate the presence again of our Lord on this earth will be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. So, when we use that word, “parosea” or “Parousia”, we are thinking particularly of His presence. I think it draws together both aspects and considers it as one event.
The third word that we should know and that will help us in our understanding of this subject is the word, “Rapture.” Now the word “Rapture” is the only one of the five words that we are going to speak on which does not occur in the New Testament. However, the word, Rapture, is an English word derived from a Latin translation of I Thessalonians 4:16-17 where we read that “we who are alive and remain shall be caught up, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds.” The Latin translation of that verb is “rapio.” That is the root verb from which the translation comes and we have derived an English word from that Latin word. The English word that we have derived is “Rapture.”
Now, the Greek word that is used here for “caught up” is a very picturesque word. It is a word that suggests two primary thoughts. The first thought is the idea of a robbery. It is used in Matthew 12 when the Lord talks about thieves breaking into a house and stealing something. That is the idea. There is a connotation of robbery that is involved. Also, the second thought is that of something that is violent, something that is sudden and something that is almost catastrophic. The Lord anticipates that usage when He uses this very word in John 6:15 where we read that when he perceived that they would “take Him by force” to make Him king He departed from them. He uses this same word. So, the word that is used here suggests the idea of a robbery and something that is taken away by force. That, of course, is exactly the significance of the Latin verb “rapio.” It means to come and to seize and to carry off. And, therefore, we have used, we have derived an English word from that— and the English word is “Rapture.”
Now, the Rapture fits in as a descriptive phrase for the first aspect of the Second Coming of our Lord. The first aspect is the Rapture. It is at that moment that He shall come to the earth and He shall seize and carry off those who are believers in Jesus Christ. They shall be caught up together with Him. It is going to be a robbery. It is going to be something that will be violent and sudden and that is why it is described as that which initiates the day of the Lord which, in I Thessalonians 5, is described as coming as a thief in the night. The thing that is going to initiate the day of the Lord will be the Rapture of the church. That will take place as a thief in the night. The Lord shall come in the air and He shall, in an act of sudden robbery, snatch away from the earth those who are believers in Him. So, when we use the word Rapture we are speaking of the first aspect of the Second Coming of our Lord. He shall come in the air privately for His saints in the Rapture.
The fourth word that we want to speak of is a word that is oftentimes attached with the names of churches. That word is “epiphany.” The word “epiphany” is again a transliteration of a Greek word— “Epiphania”— which means appearance. This is used in several occasions in relation to the second aspect of the Second Coming. It is used, for example, in that beautiful text in Titus 2:13 where Paul says, “Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing.” That is the word. It is the appearing of our Lord. It was a technical term that was used in the days of the New Testament for the visible manifestation of a hidden deity.
So, when the apostle Paul and the Spirit of God takes this word out of its secular use and applies it to the coming again of our Lord Jesus, the connotation is that that hidden deity someday shall appear and He shall be seen. That will take place in the second aspect of the Second Coming of our Lord. This will be an “epiphany.” It will be an appearance of the Lord. That makes it in contrast with the Rapture because the Rapture shall be something that will be private. That shall be unseen by the world. In the second aspect, He shall appear and the world shall see Him. Revelation tells us that every eye shall behold Him and so the “epiphany” is the appearance of Jesus Christ on earth before the eyes of the world. This will be the next time that the world sees Him. The last time they saw Him was on a cross and the world never saw the resurrected Christ. The world shall never see Him until that moment when He appears in the second aspect of His Second Coming.
The last word that we should notice also describes the second aspect of His Second Coming and that is the word “revelation.” This is used on many occasions also in the scriptures to refer to the Second Coming of our Lord. One of the most beautiful is in II Thessalonians 1:7 where we read, “And He shall be revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels.” This will be a revelation. He who has been now hidden and unknown by the world shall be revealed to the world. The word “revelation” suggests an unveiling. The unveiling shall take place when Jesus Christ returns to the earth. He who is rejected by the world, He who is unknown by the world shall someday be revealed to the world. That is what the Second Coming shall be. It is in that moment that the “revelation” takes place and the world, then, shall realize He is God. It is at that moment that the Jewish nation shall recognize He is their messiah and they shall mourn over Him whom they have crucified. So, the second aspect of the Second Coming of our Lord will be an appearance. He shall visibly appear and it will be a “revelation.” He who is unknown and hidden from the world shall be revealed to them and they shall know Him to be the Son of God to be the messiah and to be the savior of the world.
Now, if we can keep in our minds these words, then we will be able to use them intelligently when we speak of the Second Coming of our Lord. The Second Coming is one event with two aspects. The first aspect is a Rapture. The second aspect is a revelation and an appearance. Together, they form the Parousia which initiates the presence of the absent God. He shall then become present on the earth and establish his millennial kingdom and reign on earth for 1,000 years.
Now, what we would like to do for these four lessons we have together is to focus our attention upon the first aspect of the Second Coming. That is the Rapture. We would like to do it by studying this morning the Rapture as a message of comfort. Next week we would like to study the Rapture as a subject for controversy. We are going to consider the major controversy related to the Rapture next week whether it takes place at the beginning of the tribulation, at the middle of the tribulation or at the end of the tribulation and who is that will be Raptured when the Rapture takes place whether it will be all of the church or just part of the church. There are four major views in relation to the Rapture. There is the pre-tribulation, the mid-tribulation, the post-tribulation and the partial Rapture theory. What we would like to do next week, then, is to consider these four views and we shall spend our time considering it as a subject of controversy. Then, our last two lessons on this subject will be the signs of His coming. We would like to go through the scriptures and pinpoint many of the signs that indicate, I believe, that we are on the very threshold of the Rapture for the conclusions of the church age and we can well expect, I believe, the Rapture to take place very, very soon.
This morning, though, we are going to be studying it as a message of comfort. We will be reading from I Thessalonians 4:13-18. In these verses, the apostle Paul in discussing the Rapture and this is the central passage on the subject, gives us three things. In verses 13 and 14, he gives us a bold declaration. Listen to it.
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them who are asleep that ye saw not even as others who have no hope, for if we believe, or because we do believe, that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also who sleep in Jesus, or who sleep through Jesus, as it literally is, those who sleep through Jesus will God bring with Him.”
That is his bold declaration. Now, in verses 15 through 17, you have a very explicit explanation of how this shall take place.
“For this we say unto you, by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming,” (there it is, “Parousia”) “of the Lord shall not precede” (the old King James uses an old English word, prevent, which means precede) “them who are asleep for the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. The dead in Christ shall rise first. Then, we who are alive and remain shall be Raptured” (That is the way the Latin translation renders it— shall be Raptured, or shall be seized and carried off) “together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Verse 18 gives us His very direct exertion,
“Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.”
What we would like to do then in our exposition of this passage is look at the declaration, at the explanation, and the exhortation as they are given to us in these verses.
The declaration in verses 13 and 14 is based upon a very serious question that has come to the minds of the Thessalonians. It will be obvious to us that this question concerns them who are asleep. That is exactly what we read in verse 13, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them who are asleep.” The question they have in their mind is concerning them who are asleep. Now, this verb “to be asleep” is only used in the New Testament of believers. It suggests the peacefulness, the tranquility of a person who has died believing in Jesus Christ. We would speak of it as phenomenal language. That is from our point of view, from the point of view of a person who is alive on earth. One who has died believing in Jesus Christ has fallen asleep. That is, I think, exactly what is implied in the phrase in verse 14 when he speaks of those who “sleep through Jesus.”
The imagery is that of a mother who is rocking her little baby off to sleep in a rocking chair after having given the baby the bottle and singing a song or two and reading a little story. Then, she leans back in her chair and she lulls her baby off to sleep. That is exactly the imagery that Paul is picturing of the death of a believer. He has lulled off to sleep by Jesus. It is these persons that the Thessalonians are very concerned about. Their concern somehow seems to be concerning the relationship of those who have been lulled off to sleep believing in Jesus who have died as believers in Him and their relationship with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. When Paul was in Thessalonica, he certainly and obviously spoke much of the Second Coming of Christ, but, apparently, he never spoke of the relationship between someone who dies as a believer and that Second Coming of Christ.
Now, in the absence of the apostle Paul many have died. Now the question has come what shall be the relationship of those who have died as believers, those who have been lulled off to sleep by Jesus and His Second Coming to establish the kingdom and to reign on earth? These people had suffered for the sake of the kingdom. Some perhaps had been persecuted and even had been martyred for the cause of Christ. Now, the question in the mind of the Thessalonians is this, “shall they miss out on the kingdom?” “Shall they miss out on all the glory of His Second Coming?” “Shall they have no part in the great honor or seeing Him establish His kingdom and reign on earth?” That was the thing that was concerning them so desperately.
One can imagine a wife or a husband or a parent who has been lulled to sleep by Jesus or has been martyred for the cause of Christ. As soon as they return home after the funeral services the question that would immediately rise in the discussion is what shall be the relationship of that person with the coming of our Lord to establish His kingdom. He preached the kingdom. He suffered for the kingdom. He prayed for the coming of the kingdom. Now, is he going to miss out on it? Shall he not see the Lord establish it and reign on earth? That was the thing that was concerning these Thessalonians. It was a very serious question because it was tending toward a grief or a sorrow that was like the sorrow of a pagan who had no hope. That is why Paul was concerned about this question. Apparently, it had not reached that type of sorrow, but it was tending toward that sorrow. The pagan world in the days of the Thessalonians and Paul had no hope. The Romans and the Greeks had no concept of the resurrection of a body after a person died. They had very little hope for the soul. There was a conditional existence after death, but even that was only temporary. So, to describe the pagan world as having no hope for life after death is very accurate.
Now, Paul recognizes that this question in the minds of the Thessalonians is a very serious question because it is causing them to be grieved and to sorrow so that their grief and their sorrow is tending toward the same type of hopelessness that characterizes the unbelievers who, in fact, have no hope. So, Paul says I do not want you to be like those unbelievers. I do not want you to be grieving and sorrowing as those people who have no hope. Let me tell you exactly what the relationship shall be of those who have been lulled to sleep in Jesus and His Second Coming and establishment of the kingdom. He makes his declaration in the concluding phrase of verse 14 when he says, “Even so them also who sleep through Jesus will God bring with Him.” So, Paul’s declaration is very simple. He has completely answered their question. The answer is that when Jesus returns God will bring with Him those who have slept in Christ. They shall return to the earth with Him and they shall share in the kingdom and they shall see all of the glories of His kingdom reign. That is the answer that Paul offers to the Thessalonians. When He returns to the earth and establishes His kingdom, they shall be with Him and they shall see the glory of the millennial kingdom and they shall share with Him in that glorious millennial reign.
He has answered their question. Only, of course, to raise a hundred other questions. How can it all take place? What will be the sequence of events? They have died, but how shall they come back with Him? So, in order to explain how this shall take place, Paul gives us his explanation in verses 15 through 17. It is in this explanation that he tells us the sequence of events, the course of events that shall take place whereby those who sleep in Jesus shall, indeed, come back with Him. The explanation, then, is covered in verses 15 through 17. I think we can divide the explanation in two. In verse 15, you have a general statement. Then, in verses 16 and 17, you have the explanation in detail. Let us look at his explanation in general in verse 15. “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,” so he introduces His explanation with this statement that what he is about now to tell us is by the word of the Lord. “This, we say unto you, by the word of the Lord,” and anyone, of course, who is a reader of the Old Testament scriptures just revels in a phrase like that because the entire connotation of that phrase is that this is a direct revelation that is given by God to the prophet. We read it all through the prophetic books. The word of the Lord came to… and he stood up and he preached. “And the word of the Lord came upon,” and he delivered the message. Paul says what I am about to tell you, the sequence of events that I am about to explore, the revelation that I am about to give to you has come by a direct revelation from God. This we speak unto you by the word of the Lord.
The second thing he gives us in his general statement in verse 15 is that the living saints at the time of the coming of our Lord shall not precede them who are asleep. That is, he is simply telling us that the translation of the living saints shall not precede the resurrection of the dead saints. Now, that is a very important thing for these Thessalonians to realize. If the translation of the living saints preceded the resurrection of the dead saints then it suggested that the dead saints may miss out on the advent to the earth and the establishment of the kingdom. Paul says no such thing is possible and the reason why it could never happen is because the resurrection will take place before the translation. Those who sleep in Jesus shall be raised before those who are alive at that time shall be translated to meet Him. So, in the general statement in verse 15, then, he has said two things. He has told us that what he is going to give us in detail in the next two verses is by direct revelation from God. The second thing is that those who are living will not precede the resurrection of the dead. Rather, the resurrection of the dead shall, in fact, precede the translation of the living saints.
Now, what does it all mean? Well, let us put it together in verses 16 and 17 as the apostle Paul does for us. In verses 16 and 17, then, we have the specific events, the specific details. Really, you have a sequence of events that will take place whereby when our Lord returns to the earth in His epiphany and revelation those who have died in Christ shall come back with Him. What will be that sequence of events? If you look carefully in these verses you will find there are five events given to us in a sequence of order.
The first event 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.” That is the first event in the sequence. It is, of course, the descending of Jesus Christ. That is what is suggested on our chart here as the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven. Now, we know from the later text that He does not descend to the earth. He descends only into the air, but He shall descend from heaven to the air and the text says it will be the Lord Himself who shall descend to the air. Three things, apparently, will accompany that moment of descending. The first thing is that He shall descend with a shout. That is a very graphic word in the original language. It means a shouted command just as a command would be shouted by the captain of a ship to his oarsmen or as a command would be shouted by a hunter to his dogs or as the command would be shouted by the general to his troops. So, someday Christ is going to descend with a shouted command. What will the command relate to? It shall relate to the resurrection of those who are asleep in Jesus. He shall descend to the air with a shouted command that will command those who are asleep in Jesus, speaking of course of their physical bodies, to be raised again from the dead. This was what was predicted in John 5:28 when our Lord says, “All who are in the tombs will hear His voice and will come out.” This is the moment that it shall take place. I think it was illustrated at the tomb of Lazarus. He had been dead now for some days, Our Lord comes and He stands by the tomb of that man whom he loves so dearly, wiping the tears from His eyes and strengthening His voice. It says in the scriptures that He shouted with a loud shout. That is. A shouted command, “Lazarus, come forth.” And Lazarus came forth. It was the restoration to life. That is a very faint illustration of what shall happen when our Lord descends to the air and He shall issue His shouted command. It will be directed toward those who are asleep in Jesus and it will be His command for them to come forth.
The second thing that will be associated with that descension is it will be with the voice of an archangel. The archangel perhaps is Michael, the only archangel named in scripture. The voice of the archangel I suggest to you perhaps may be the thing that will gather together from all the courts of heaven and all of the corners of the earth, the angelic forces. I argue this because in every massive movement of Jesus Christ, through His life and after His life, as well as on many of the momentous events of the Old Testament, there was angelic accompaniment. Now, there is no specific indication in the scriptures that when the Rapture takes place our Lord shall be accompanied by angels. But, as you know from the life of Christ and in relation to the epiphany and revelation, He shall be accompanied by angels. So, I suggest that that will also be true of the Rapture. The thing that will congregate the angels around Him for the wonderful moment of descension from heaven to the air will be the voice of the archangel. The archangel, Michael, shall give his command and all of the angels in heaven and earth shall all gather around Him and they shall accompany the Lord in that wonderful moment of descend.
The third is the trump of God. Have you ever noticed that whenever God appeared to Israel, especially in moments like Exodus 19 to reveal Himself to them that it was the sound of a trumpet that gathered together the nation of Israel to hear what God would say to them. It was the sound of a trumpet that gave commands to Israel to break camp and to start the procession in their march. In the days of the Roman army it would be the sound of a trumpet that issued the commands for the soldiers to stop or for the soldiers to move forward or for the soldiers to make camp. The sounds of the trumpet. The trump of God shall be sounded and I suggest to you that it will be this trumpet that will be the calling signal for all of the living saints on earth to respond to this moment of our Lord’s descension. When He descends in this first act that comprises the Rapture, when He descends to the air, it will be with a shouted command directed to those who are asleep in the graves. It will be with the voice of the archangel congregating the angels. It will be with the trump of God directed to the living saints, gathering them together and issuing the command for them to come and to meet Him in the air. That will be the first event. It is the descension of our Lord.
Verse 16 carries us quickly into the second event in this sequence of events. It is stated in the concluding verses of verse 16, “and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” So, after the descension comes secondly the resurrection and this will be the resurrection that will take place in accompaniment with the Rapture. Several things should be noticed about this resurrection. The first is that it is the resurrection of those who are dead in Christ. That is a very technical phrase. It is a phrase which applies only to people who have believed in Christ during the church age. One becomes in Christ by means of the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit, I Corinthians 12:13 and other verses. So, when it says that the dead in Christ shall be raised first, it is referring to persons through this church period, not in the Old Testament period. Persons in the church period who have died believing in Jesus Christ. If you have a mother or father or even a child or a husband or a wife or a loved one who was a believer in Christ and who has been lulled to sleep by Him, then that person is included in this event. It is the resurrection of those who are dead in Christ during this church age. It is a resurrection only of the bodies of these persons as, of course, we must note. When a believer in Jesus Christ today dies, it is for him in his spirit and soul to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. It is only the body that is, so to speak, asleep in the grave. The fact of being asleep does not suggest soul sleep. It does not suggest that the soul is asleep. That soul and spirit is with the Lord immediately upon departure from the body. But it will be a resurrection of the body of those who have died in Christ.
It will be a resurrection to a resurrection body. This is going to be, in my estimation, one of the most dramatic demonstrations of divine power anywhere ever to be demonstrated. He shall resurrect those who have died in Christ and give to them a resurrection body. I Corinthians 15 describes that resurrection body as being identical in identity with you today, which means that we shall recognize each other in heaven. I do not think there is any question about that, although the body shall be different in essence or different in its qualities, it shall be identical with the identity of a person today. It certainly shall be different in its qualities. It shall be a perfect body. All the marks of sin shall be removed from the body. It shall be a spiritual body. It shall be a body that will take on incorruption and immortality. It will be a new, miraculous work of God. I think this is going to be one of the greatest demonstrations of God’s power ever. He is going to take the ashes that have been sprinkled over the oceans and He is going to resurrect that body. He is going to take the ashes from cremations that are put in little boxes and He is going to resurrect that body so that the identity will be identical, although the qualities will be different. It undoubtedly is going to be one of the greatest demonstrations of the power of God anywhere. I think it is more miraculous than even the work of creation itself. The resurrection of the saints. This is going to be a resurrection that will precede the translation of the church and that is, of course, why He says the dead in the Christ shall rise first. He is again plugging in to the problem of the Thessalonians. Those that you are concerned about shall be raised first before the translation of the saints. They surely shall not miss out on the blessings of the kingdom when He shall return to establish it.
That brings us to the third event and the third event in the sequence is in verse 17 where we read, “Then, we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds” and that is the translation of the saints. This is going to be a forceful snatching away of the believers in Jesus Christ from the earth. My friend, if it happened at this moment it would be much like lowering a magnet upon a table that had on that table a sprinkling of matches and nails. That magnet would attract the nails and the matches would be left behind. When our Lord returns, He is going to give a command and the sound of the trumpet so that in response to the command the dead in Christ shall be resurrected and leave in the graves those who have died without believing in Christ for the judgment of God. He shall give the sound of a trumpet to which all of those who are believers in Christ will respond and will be immediately snatched away and will meet the Lord in the air. It is at this moment that they shall receive their transformed body. Paul says that in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye we shall all be changed. If it should happen at this very moment, my friend, those of us who are believers in Christ would respond to the trumpet and in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we would be transformed. We would receive bodies that are identical in identity, but that are different in quality and we would have that spiritual resurrected body that would be delivered from all of its sins.
The striking thing, I think, about this whole phrase is that this translation will be accompanied by clouds. Notice, it says, “They shall be caught up together with Him in the clouds.” Have you ever noticed that clouds invariably are associated with divine manifestation? We do not have time to demonstrate it. Clouds oftentimes are associated with the Second Coming of the Lord. Zachariah 1, Daniel 7, Joel 2, Revelation 1, in every case say that when He shall come it will be with clouds. I believe it will be with literal clouds. I do not think there is any reason at all for suggesting anything other than literal clouds at this moment. When He returns one of the things that will characterize the day then will be a cloudy phenomenon. That may explained how the Rapture takes place without the world knowing it. That may be the means whereby the hidden departure of the saints will take place. There will be such a cloudy phenomenon at that time that the Rapture will take place unknowing to the world and every indication is that that is so.
After the Rapture takes place the believers obviously will be missed, just like Elijah was missed. They searched for him, but there is no indication that there will be a repentance on the part of the unbeliever after the Rapture. Salvation during the tribulation period will be as a result of the ministry of the 144,000 to whom the gospel message will be revealed by God. There is no indication that the Rapture will cause a great turning to God so that if it took place today every indication from the scriptures is that our children would not immediately repent or the neighbors that we have been witnessing to would not immediately put their finger on it and identify this as the Rapture and turn and believe the Word of God. There is no indication that that is what shall be the result of it.
Therefore, I am rather inclined to believe, and this is purely speculation, that the Rapture of the church could very well be accompanied by some kind of natural catastrophe that will cause a great cloudy phenomenon to encompass the earth so that the disappearance of the church will be explained away naturalistically, rather than theologically. So that when the world sees that the church is gone, they will explain their disappearance naturalistically rather than recognizing this is the Rapture and, therefore, repent. I do not think that there is going to be a great newscast all over the country saying the church has gone and the believers have all disappeared. There is no indication in my estimation that this will be the response. By the way, we have a good illustration of this.
If you were around in 1947, then you will remember the great tragedy that took place in Texas City when those ships exploded. Do you remember that great tragedy? They did not expect the ships to explode. There were men who were working around the men in the explosion of the ship. There was a great catastrophe. The repercussions of it were felt for hundreds of miles. Four hundred bodies were discovered as a result of that tragedy. Over 500 people were listed as missing. Now how do you explain the discrepancy? It was officially explained that those 100 plus people were blown to pieces and that is why the bodies were not found. But several of the news commentators in writing on this incident said in all likelihood many of that 100 plus people used this catastrophe as an opportunity to drop out of society. Men who had great bills to pay, people whose marriages were on the rocks used that catastrophe to drop out. That has happened since that time in many occasions and we know that is the way the world works. What I am suggesting is this. Just as probably the disappearance and the dropping out of some people was explained naturalistically in relation to the catastrophe of the blowing up of the ship in Texas City so I am rather inclined to believe the disappearance of the church will be explained. Man has a facility to explain naturalistically supernatural things. One of the things that perhaps may permit him for such a naturalistic explanation will be the accompaniment of clouds and I am rather thinking that there just may be some kind of a cloudy phenomenon occurring into which the church will be raptured and disappear and that will be the naturalistic explanation for the disappearance of the church.
Well, I am going to have to close real quickly by pointing out to you that the next event is a great rendezvous. It is for a meeting of the Lord in the air. It is not to meet, but it is for a meeting. That is the Greek text. It is for a meeting of the Lord in the air and the word that is used here is a very technical word that suggests the welcoming committee going out to welcome a dignitary. When Paul came to Rome in Acts 28, the brethren from Rome came out for a meeting. The same word is used. They were an official delegation coming out to welcome him. That is a beautiful picture of the church. Here it shall happen. Those who are dead in Christ and those who are alive believing in Christ shall be caught up together with Him in the air and they shall be caught up for a meeting. So, I picture then the Rapture of the church as an official delegation going out from the earth to be the welcoming committee for the Lord as He returns to the earth. There shall be a seven-year interval during which time the Judgment Seat of Christ shall be held, but the Rapture is a beautiful picture of the faithful, the remnant, on earth and in the grave going out to welcome our Lord as He returns to establish His kingdom.
The last is a permanent association and that is what you have in verse 17. “So shall we ever be with the Lord.” The permanent association is that we shall be with Him during the seven-year period in the air. We shall be with Him when He returns to the earth to establish His kingdom. We shall be with Him during the 1,000 years of His kingdom reign on earth. We shall be with Him throughout all of eternity. That, of course, is the great message that Paul has for these Thessalonians. As a result, his exhortation in verse 18 is “wherefore, comfort one another with these words.” Those that you are so anxious about and so concerned about surely shall not miss out in the kingdom. They shall be with Him when He returns to the earth and the way that that shall be accomplished is seven years prior to it they shall be resurrected before the church is translated. The living saints are translated. Together, they will go in the air for a meeting of the Lord and they shall be with Him when He returns to establish His reign on earth. That is the message of the Rapture. It is a message of comfort.
Down through the years, these chapters and verses have been a message of comfort for untold thousands of believers and that is exactly what the chapter is for us this morning. It is a word of comfort. Imagine for a moment the tremendous comfort that is found here in the prospect of a great reunion with those who have gone on before us, believers in Christ. I have a brother that I am going to meet in that day. It is going to be a grand reunion. Oftentimes when I stand beside a graveside and I commit a body to the earth, those are the words that I read. What great comfort there is if that person was a believer in Jesus Christ. There is going to be a great reunion that shall take place. Imagine the comfort that there is in the prospect of the great joy of being part of the welcoming committee. You are going to be part of that, my friend, if you are a believer. You will be part of a welcoming committee that you will want to welcome Him when He comes back to the earth. Imagine the joy, the comfort that there is in the prospect of the great glory of being with Him while He reigns on earth. Just think of the great joy, the comfort in the prospect of being with Him throughout all eternity. That is the message of the Rapture.
There also is the comfort, I believe, the great comfort that comes in the assurance of a great deliverance from the Tribulation period. That is that the church shall be raptured and delivered from the earth before the great Tribulation breaks upon this earth. That is a message of comfort and we shall demonstrate next week why we believe this is so. Of course, if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ this morning there is no comfort in these words. They seal your eternal doom to be without God and without hope for ever and ever. So, we encourage you this morning, my friend, if you have never believed in Jesus Christ personally as your Savior that you trust Him and accept Him as your Savior so that if it occurred today you would be with Him and like Him forever and ever.
Let us bow and pray, shall we. Father, we do ask thy blessing now upon this message and we thank you for the comfort that there is for us today, as well as for those of old in the great promise of the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the translation of those who are living and believing in Him. We pray that Thou will help us to look for that day and to live this week in the light of the fact that it may be today. For we ask it in Christ’s name, amen.
This article is a lightly edited transcript of Dr. McRae’s audio message on the Rapture. Appreciation for the transcription work goes to Marilyn Fine.
We have been studying in a four-part series on the Rapture of the Church. This morning we come to our second message. We want to consider the Rapture this morning as a subject of controversy or, particularly, to ask ourselves the question, “will the Church go through the Tribulation period?” It will go through the Rapture. Will it go through the Tribulation period?
On thing is absolutely certain. History is rapidly moving toward the greatest of all space flights and that is what we studied together in our first lesson last week. That greatest of all space flights was scheduled by God in a past eternity before time ever began. It was promised by our Lord as He walked upon this earth and just prior to His departure from this earth. It was described by the apostle Paul who received his information concerning it by direct revelation from the ascended Christ. It shall include every believer in Jesus Christ during this age. It is going to be triggered by the shout of our Lord Jesus, the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. At that moment in God’s scheduled time table, Jesus Christ Himself shall descend from heaven into the air. Then, there shall be a miraculous division of persons and bodies in the grave and those who have died believing in Jesus Christ, their bodies will be raised from the dead in one of the most miraculous demonstrations of divine power ever to be demonstrated in all of God’s dealings with mankind. The dead in Christ, their bodies shall be raised. Then, those of us who are alive and are believers in Jesus Christ at that moment shall be spectacularly snatched away. Together joining with the dead who have been raised we shall go into the air for a meeting with the Lord— as we noticed in our exposition of 1 Thessalonians 4 last week. This event will be as an honorary welcoming committee going out for a meeting with the Lord to welcome Him in His return to the earth. He shall ultimately return to the earth to establish His kingdom.
Now, that tremendous moment in the affairs of mankind is described in scripture as the “Rapture of the Church.” It is the seizing off and carrying away of the believers in Jesus Christ, the Rapture of the Church.
We noticed in our message last week that that Rapture contains for the believer a message of hope. That was the entire application of our exposition from 1 Thessalonians 4. That message, that fact—that this revelation is a message of hope to the believer— is also a subject of great controversy today and we are going to enter into the controversy connected with the Rapture of the Church. The controversy essentially revolves around when the Rapture shall take place. Now, in our next two messages, next week and the week after, we shall be studying some more of the signs of the times to try to indicate that we believe that the Rapture is going to take place very, very soon. But, that is not the aspect of when that is before us this morning. It is when in relation to the Tribulation Period. The Tribulation Period is that seven-year period that shall come upon this earth when judgments shall fall upon the earth and the situation shall prevail universally which will surpass anything in troubles, wrath, and trials that this world has ever seen.
Now, our question this morning is “when will the Rapture take place in relation to that Tribulation period— or will the Church go through that Tribulation period?” This is very controversial and I, obviously, am stepping out on the proverbial limb this morning.
What we would like to do though this morning is to consider from the scriptures what we believe to be the answer to the question, “When will the Church be raptured in relation to the Tribulation period”? The popular view, the one that is most widely accepted today is generally called, “The Post-Tribulation View.” The Post-Tribulation View is a view that simply teaches that the church will go through the Tribulation period, that seven-year period. Toward the end of that seven-year period, the Rapture will take place, the Church will be raptured from the earth, go to the air to meet the Lord and immediately return with the Lord to the earth. Now, you can see that the chart we have suggested here pictures that type of situation. It essentially sees the rapture of the church taking place and very shortly afterward, the Lord Jesus returning to the earth to establish His millennial kingdom. With Him at that time will be the Church that has been raptured from the earth. Thus the Church, dead and living, go out as the official welcoming committee to meet the Lord in the air and immediately accompany Him upon His return to the earth. Now, this is certainly the majority view. Amillennialists, postmillennialists, and even some premillennialists view this as a post-Tribulation Rapture.
This position, I think, is based upon two or three points which we would like to make briefly. I think the most influential argument in support of the post-Tribulation view is the historical argument. The historical argument simply teaches that the early Church of the second and third century believed this. They believed that they were in the Tribulation period. They believed that the Lord Jesus was coming very soon and upon His return He would establish the millennial kingdom and reign on earth. It is certainly apparent that the early Church— the Church fathers in the second and third centuries— did believe in what is pictured on our chart here as basically a post-Tribulation or an after Tribulation Rapture.
What ought to be said in view of this is that that is an argument that is based on experience, not upon the Word of God. It is true, I think, that generally speaking the early Church did believe in this type of post-Tribulation Rapture, but that argument used today is an argument which is based upon the experience of that Church and not upon the Biblical position of their view at that particular time. All of us will recognize immediately that an argument that is based upon experience is immediately somewhat suspect. So, we would certainly want to base our argument upon something that is more than the experience of the Church of the second and third century.
Actually, we are not surprised from our point of view that the early Church did hold some such view as this. It is obvious, as James Orr makes clear in his consideration of the Progress of Dogma, that during the program of the church period there has been a progression of crystallization of Bible doctrine. In the early centuries of the Christian church, the Bible doctrine that was crystallized and formalized was Bible doctrine in relation to the person of Jesus Christ, the doctrine of the Trinity and even theology proper or the doctrine of God Himself. Those were the areas of theology that were uppermost in the thinking of the Church at that time. Many areas of other theology were very far from being formulated in a crystallized form. It was not until much later, even perhaps during the Reformation period, that the doctrine of soteriology, the doctrine of salvation, was really formalized and it was with the great teachings of Calvin and Luther that justification by faith and the election of the saints that entire doctrine of soteriology was really crystallized. It was not until later then that in some respects the doctrine of ecclesiology, the doctrine of the Church, was again formulated. It is not then, therefore, surprising in the progress of dogma to think of eschatology, which is the doctrine of future things or the doctrine of prophecy, to think of that doctrine as being crystallized at a later stage down the line. As James Orr illustrates in his book, the way every systemic theology is written, moving from theology proper right down to eschatology, is exactly the way those doctrines have developed in their formalization and crystallization during the history of the Church. Now, if that thesis is correct, then we would not be surprised to find in the early days of the Christian church certain aspects of eschatology, or of future things, that have not really been crystallized and formalized into a system. That apparently is true, as I hope I shall be able to show you before our class is over, in relation to when the Rapture takes place in relation to the Tribulation period. The historical argument is certainly the most influential argument. George Ladd in his book on this particular subject devotes one-third of his entire book on this point and our basic response to it would simply be that arguments based upon experience certainly are suspect and are not conclusive. We certainly would not expect to see eschatology and the doctrine of the Rapture of the Church to be crystallized, systematized, and formalized in the early days of Church history wherein there were progressively developed in the progress of dogma through the church era.
The second argument that is frequently used in defense of the post-Tribulation view could be called the “terminology argument.” If you were with us in our lesson last week, you will recall that I pointed out that one of the words used in the New Testament to describe the Second Coming of the Lord is the Greek word, perosea, or the transliteration, the parousia. That word is used in the scriptures to picture both aspects of the Second Coming of our Lord, the Rapture and the Revelation (the coming to the air for His people and the coming to the earth with His people). Perosea is used of both aspects. 1 Thessalonians 4 uses it in relation to the Rapture. 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 8 use it in relation to the Revelation.
The position, then, of the post-Tribulationist is simply this: because that terminology is used for both aspects, it certainly implies that both of them take place at virtually the same time. Now, I think there is an obvious weakness in this position. The obvious weakness is that in the Old Testament, as well as in the New Testament, there is a phenomenon that brings together two things that oftentimes are separated by a lapse of time and from the perspective of the prophet, the person who foresees something. They appear to be on the same level or the same line or in the same spectrum. That, obviously, is true in the Old Testament in relation to prophesies concerning the coming of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 9:5-6 speaks of Him, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders.” Now, in those two phrases, you have combined the first coming of Christ, His incarnation, the birth and His second coming to establish His kingdom. Between those two comings, there already has been 1,900 years. Isaiah stood as a prophet and looked into the future and saw the two mountain peaks converging together and did not see the valley of 1,900 years between those two mountain peaks. Now, that is a typical phenomenon of prophesy in the Old and the New Testaments. Exactly the same thing then is true is relation to the Greek word, Parousia, or perosea. That is, as the prophets of the New Testament looked ahead, they saw the coming of our Lord. They saw the two points converging and did not see how long or in the use of the term did not see the distinction between these two. They used a term, then, that brought both aspects of the coming of the Lord together and saw it as one event. We tried to establish that in our class last week. That is, the Second Coming of Christ is one event. It takes place in two aspects: the Rapture and the Revelation. The New Testament prophets see it as one event when they use a word like “parousia” in speaking of the coming of our Lord. That is the terminology argument.
The third and the last argument that I want to bring up in connection with the post-Tribulation view is the exegetical. Turn to Revelation 20 for what is their key exegetical passage. We are taking more time on this than we shall take on some of the others because, as we suggested, this is certainly the majority view and it is the most popular, widely accepted view today in circles of Christendom. The key exegetical passage, according to their writings, is the verse in Revelation 20:4 where we read,
“and I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God,”
This connects all these people together who had not worshipped the beast (who will be the Anti-Christ of the Tribulation period), neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ 1,000 years. This verse certainly does speak of an event that takes place immediately prior to the revelation of Jesus Christ and His establishment of the kingdom. The event certainly includes the resurrection of the saints who were martyred during this Tribulation period. That is obviously what is described. Those who shall be with Him at that moment this verse says do not take the mark of the beast, they do not bow down and worship the beast, they are martyred because of their faith in Jesus Christ and their stand for the Lord. This verse pictures the resurrection or anticipates, may I say, the resurrection of Tribulation-martyred saints who will be accompanied with Jesus Christ in His return to establish the millennial kingdom. It is on the basis of this verse as their key exegetical passage then that they conclude that the Rapture takes place at the end of the Tribulation period. I would just propose to you that that is not necessarily the conclusion to be drawn from this passage. This passage does not speak of or anticipate at all those who were the dead in Christ during this period of time nor does it certainly speak of the translation of the saints. All it speaks of is the resurrection of Tribulation saints.
So, the verse does not anticipate what 1 Thessalonians 4 speaks of when it talks about the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the translation of the living who are believers in Christ at the moment of the Rapture. Therefore, I conclude that this verse does not clearly and conclusively teach the Rapture of the Church. What it does teach unquestionably, is that at the end of the Tribulation period those who were martyred for the sake of Christ during the Tribulation will be raised from the dead. They will accompany Jesus Christ in His establishment of His kingdom. That is what it does teach, but it does not teach the translation of the living saints nor the resurrection of the saints during this Church period.
Much more could be said in connection with this, but what I have tried to do for your study and your consideration is to pinpoint the three major areas upon which the post-Tribulation Rapture is based primarily upon the history. It is also somewhat involved with the technical terms used in the Greek language and it’s exegetical basis primarily is this verse in Revelation 20:4. It is because of the weaknesses of these three things, as well as other things that could be said, that we are going to this morning categorically reject the post-Tribulation view. What I am saying, then, is I do not believe for a moment, friends, that the Church is going to go through the Tribulation period nor that the Church will be raptured at the end of the Tribulation period.
What are the alternatives? The next alternative we shall mention very briefly, because I think it can be handled rather quickly, the next alternative is a mid-Tribulation Rapture. This is a viewpoint which is held by a few. Normal B. Harrison is the major spokesman for this particular point of view, and the view simply teaches that in the middle of the Tribulation period the Church will be raptured. The Church will experience the beginnings of sorrows, but at the middle of the period, which, according to Daniel 9, will be brought about through the breaking of a covenant between the leader of the Western powers and the Nation of Israel, that breaking of that covenant will precipitate tremendous persecutions upon Israel and worldwide trials and troubles, as we shall note in our study next week. It is at that moment, then, that the Church will be raptured.
Now, this view is based almost exclusively upon two premises: the first premise is that in Revelation 11 the last trumpet, the last of the seven trumpets that are sounded during the Tribulation period, that the last trumpet takes place in the middle of the Tribulation period. Will you notice, please, in Revelation 11:15 the prophet John speaks of the seventh angel sounding and he sounds the seventh trumpet, as the book of Revelation presents these seven trumpets. The seventh and last trumpet is sounded. Mid-Tribulationalism depends upon this seventh trumpet being sounded in the middle of the Tribulation. I do not think the context will support that. May I read the verses?
“And the seventh angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdom of this kingdom is become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever. The 4 and 20 elders who sat before God on their thrones fell upon their faces and worshipped God saying, we give the thanks, oh, Lord God almighty, who aren’t and was and are to come because Thou has taken to Thee thy great power and has reigned.”
We will not read the rest of the chapter, but it substantiates, I believe, the fact that this seventh trumpet is sounded at the end of the Tribulation period. The kingdom is being established. Christ is now reigning, “Thou has reigned.” So, the entire perspective, I believe, of the seventh trumpet anticipates a moment right at the end of the Tribulation period rather than at the middle of the Tribulation period. Its basic premise, then, is that this last trumpet is sounded in the middle of the Tribulation period.
Then, what they do is very neatly tie in the sounding of this last trumpet with the last trump of 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 which says that at the last trump, what shall happen, the resurrection will take place and we who are alive and remain will all be changed in the twinkling of an eye in a moment. It is certainly clear in 1 Corinthians 15 that the Rapture takes place at the last trump. The question is, “is that last trump the same as the seventh trumpet of Revelation 11?” The seventh trumpet of Revelation 11 does not take place in the middle of the Tribulation period. It takes place right at the end of that Tribulation period. I do not think that we are speaking of the same trumpets at all. In 1 Corinthians 15, the trump that is sounded is sounded by God. In Revelation 11 it is a trumpet that is sounded by an angel. In 1 Corinthians 15, it is the trumpet that brings about resurrection and translation or transformation of the bodies of the living saints. In Revelation 11, it is the trumpet that brings out the last great judgments, I believe the seven vials are poured out in the seventh trumpet, it is the last great judgments that precipitate the conclusion of the Tribulation and the establishment of the kingdom.
The last trump in 1 Corinthians 15, according to Dr. A.J. Ironsides, is based upon the typical terminology of Roman army life. When the Roman army was about to move, there were three blasts of the trumpet. The first blast whether it was in daylight or in the middle of the night was strike camp. Break up the tent. The second blast of the trumpet was fall in line. In the third blast, which the Romans called the last trump, the command was forward march. A.J. Ironsides, as well as other expositors, suggest that that is the imagery that is behind the picture of 1 Corinthians 15. The last trump is the command from the Lord forward march. It is the translation of the saints as the living and the dead combine together to go to meet the Lord for a coming or for an official welcome to Him. The mid-Tribulation view, then, is no longer acceptable on the basis of our views of Revelation 11 and 1 Corinthians 15.
What does that leave us with? If the Rapture does not take place at the end of the Tribulation period, if it does not take place in the middle of the Tribulation period, it leaves us then with it taking place before the Tribulation period. That is the position that I take and it is what I believe the Word of God teaches. The teaching then, I believe, is essentially that the next great event in God’s schedule for affairs as far as eschatology is concerned is that the shout, the voice, and the trumpet shall all be heard. Jesus Christ shall descend to the air. The living and dead who are believers in Christ shall combine to go out as an official welcoming committee and they shall meet the Lord in the air. For seven years they shall be with Him in the air. During that seven-year period, the Tribulation shall take place upon this earth (a topic that we are going to study in a few weeks perhaps). At the end of the Tribulation period He shall come from the air with those who are His saints, the Church, to the earth to establish His kingdom. I believe that the Bible teaches that the Church will be raptured prior to the Tribulation period. Now why? What are the bases for the pre-Tribulation view? I will quickly give to you three bases for the pre-Tribulation view.
The first is the nature of the Tribulation period I believe indicates it. The nature of the Tribulation period indicates that the Church will be raptured before the Tribulation takes place. There is no question that through the Old and the New Testaments that Tribulation is determined upon the Nation of Israel.
In Daniel 9:24 we read about 70 weeks and the Tribulation is the 70th, the last seven-year period: “70 weeks are determined upon Thy people” (that is Israel) “and upon Thy Holy City” (that is Jerusalem).”
The prophet Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 30:7, “it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble.” It is determined upon Israel, then, and the Gentiles connected with Israel and not upon the Church. Now that is the uniform teaching, I believe, of the Old Testament as well as the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24 and 25). This is the Tribulation period that is determined primarily upon the Nation of Israel. We know it shall certainly be universal, but the focal point will be upon Israel and the trouble that shall fall upon the face of the earth will be because of Israel.
The second part of the nature of the tribulation period is that it is described in the Bible as a time of wrath and judgment and tremendous sorrows. This is going to be God’s response to the Nation of Israel standing before Pilate and saying 2,000 years ago away with Him. “We will not have this man to reign over us. His blood be upon us and our children.” And the Tribulation period will be God’s response to that cry of Israel. It shall be a time of wrath and judgment poured out by God primarily upon Israel because of their rejection of Jesus Christ. It will be designed to refine Israel. To prepare in Israel a remnant for the moment that our Lord shall return and establish his kingdom. That is what Zechariah prophesied in Zechariah 13:9 when he sees all of the troubles and trials of the Tribulation period coming upon the Nation of Israel, working, as says the prophet speaking for the Lord, as a refiner refines silver. So, I shall refine Israel. God, in the Tribulation period will move with a refining fire to purify out of the ungodly apostate Israel a remnant who will become believers in Jesus Christ and who, as we shall notice next week, will be the propagators of the gospel to the corners of the earth during that Tribulation period.
Again, Malachi anticipates the same moment. He says that the day of the Lord shall be preceded by Elijah the prophet. Elijah’s ministry in the Tribulation period, we know from the gospels, is prefigured by the ministry of John the Baptist. The ministry of John the Baptist was to prepare in Israel a remnant for the coming of Jesus Christ as He was to be born and to present Himself to Israel. What John the Baptist did in preparing Israel for the coming of Jesus in His first coming is what Elijah shall do and the two witnesses and the prophets in the Tribulation period in preparing a remnant in Israel for the Second Coming of our Lord. Then He shall come to that nation and establish His kingdom.
Now, because of the nature of the Tribulation period then, I do not believe that the Church will be in it. I see that the Church will be raptured prior to it because it is determined upon Israel, not the Church. It is described as a time of wrath and judgment because of their rejection of Jesus Christ and it is designed to purify a remnant within that nation for the coming of their Messiah who, indeed, shall appear to them very shortly after these troubles. The nature of the Tribulation period is the first basis for the pre-Tribulation view.
The second is from the point of view of analogies or inferences, shall we say. The one I would like to choose among many that could be chosen is the structure of the Book of the Revelation. So, the second basis then is the structure of the Book of Revelation suggests it. Now, it does not prove it. This is an inference. It is not an explicit statement. We are inferring at this point from the structure of the revelation, the Book of the Revelation, that the Rapture takes place before the Tribulation. Come with me for a short trip through the Book of the Revelation. In Revelation 2 and 3, you have the seven churches described. They are the seven churches on earth. In Revelation 4 and 5, you have the Church in heaven, around the throne, represented in the elders. In Revelation 6, you have the Tribulation period and from chapter 6 through 19, you have a description of the trials and troubles of the Tribulation period. At the end of Chapter 19, Jesus Christ returns to the earth with His bride, with His saints to establish the kingdom and to celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Now, if that is the structure of the Book of Revelation, it suggests, friends, that the Church will be raptured before the Tribulation period. Chapters 2 and 3, the Church is on earth. Chapters 4 and 5, the Church is on heaven. I propose to you then in the structure that the Rapture of the Church takes place between the end of Chapter 3 and the picture that is presented in Chapter 4. In Chapters 6 through 19, you have the Tribulation period and the Church is never mentioned during those chapters. The Church is absent from the face of the earth and is not involved in the judgments of the seals and of the trumpets and of the vials. The Church is absent until Chapter 19 when our Lord returns to the earth with the Church. Now that is an inference. It is an analogy and that is all it is, but I think it suggests the pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church. It shall be in heaven in Chapters 4 and 5 while the Tribulation in Chapters 6-19 shall be taking place upon the face of the earth.
To give you some Biblical basis and some explicit basis I would like to share the third point. The third basis is that the promises of the New Testament demand it. The promises of the New Testament demand a pre-Tribulation Rapture. Now may I look with you at two such promises. Slip over in your Bible to Revelation 3, please, and notice what it says in Verse 10.
Revelation 3:10 contains a promise that is given to the Church of Philadelphia. Revelation 3:10 says,
“Because thou has kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon the world to try or to test them that dwell upon the earth.”
This is certainly a promise that relates to the hour of temptation. The modern translations oftentimes change the word “temptation” to “testing.” It is exactly the same word for “tribulation.” It is a promise to be delivered from the hour of testing, temptation, or tribulation. I want you to notice that this is the hour of temptation. The prophet John anticipates a specific period of time. It is “the hour of temptation” and may I, because it is exactly the same word, now use the word “tribulation”? It is “the hour of tribulation.” I want you to notice also that it is “The” hour of tribulation. The definite article that is used here is exceedingly significant as we are going to find in the second promise, as well. It is “The Hour of tribulation.”
I want you also to notice that it is “The Hour of tribulation” that is going to come upon all the world. This is then a universal time of tribulation. I do not know of any phrase that more aptly describes what the Bible speaks of as the “Tribulation period” than this phrase. I do not know of any other period of time ever considered through scripture or even through history that fulfills this type situation. This is “The Hour of tribulation” that is going to come upon all the world. I believe that John is speaking here of the “Tribulation period.” The promise is that these shall be, notice it, “keep thee from The Hour of Tribulation” or “The Hour of temptation.” It is not that He will keep them through the Tribulation. That is the post-Tribulation view. It is not that He will take them out of the Tribulation. That is the mid-Tribulation view. It is that He will keep you from that Tribulation period. That is pre-Tribulationism.
The only other place in the New Testament where the verb and the preposition, “keep from,” is used is in John 17:15 where our Lord is praying for His disciples. He says,
“I do not pray that you will take them out of the world but that you will keep them from that evil one,” (Satan himself)
This is in contrast to Judas’ capitulation to Satan and his kingdom. The prayer of the Lord in John 17 is that God will keep those who believe in Him absolutely and completely out of and from the domain and kingdom of Satan into which Judas has fallen.
I think that the verb and the preposition in the analogy from John 17:15, as well as here, gives to us a promise that the ascended Christ will keep us from the Tribulation. The verb could be translated “preserve you from, to keep you absolutely, preserve you absolutely” from the period of tribulation that is going to come upon all of the earth. I think this is a specific promise to preserve them from the Tribulation period. I think also that it is a universal promise. Of course, it is made to the church at Philadelphia, but the promises that are made to these churches are universal promises. We know that clearly from what it says at the end of the passage when it talked about listening to what the Spirit says unto the churches. That is what Revelation 3:13 says,
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.”
So, this is not a promise that is made just to Philadelphia. It is a universal promise that is made to every believer. He will keep us from that hour of tribulation. I believe this promise demands a pre-Tribulation rapture.
The last promise that I can point you to is in 1 Thessalonians. So, will you turn back, please, to 1 Thessalonians 1 and notice that there is a second promise, and several other promises could be mentioned, but I think as I have done a pile of reading on this subject this week that these are the two promises that really consolidated my conviction in this particular subject.
1 Thessalonians 1:9, the apostle Paul says,
“For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you and how ye turn to God from idols. That is their salvation. To serve a living a true God.”
That is, their present occupation here is their expectation to wait for His Son from heaven. Now notice,
“Whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus” (now note most carefully) “Who delivered us from the wrath to come.”
Underline that last phrase. The past tense for that word “delivered” is unfortunate because it ought not to be that way. If you have a New American Standard Bible, you will read, “Who delivers us.” The literal translation of the participle with the article here is “our deliverer.” If we were going to translate it that way we could say, “Who raised Him from the dead, even Jesus our deliverer” or “Who delivers us from the wrath to come.”
Did you ever know, my Christian friend, that the word “wrath” in the New Testament never applies to eternal judgment, never. I believe with all my heart, as Dr. Johnson has expounded to us this morning in the doctrine of eternal judgment. But, eternal judgment is not the wrath of God. It is not in anger. It is not in wrath that God consigns a person to eternal judgment. It is a righteous act. The word wrath is used through the New Testament to speak of the out-flashing of his indignation upon sin during time and in history. You take that word “wrath” and you will discover as it is used through the New Testament that it speaks of God’s outpoured judgment upon sin during history and in time on the face of this earth. Now, because that is so I see here a promise. The promise is that our Jesus is our deliverer from the wrath to come. Again, the definite article is crucial. We could say from “the well known wrath that is coming, ” or “the well known coming wrath.”There is no better way to describe the Tribulation period which the prophets had anticipated and that Jesus had predicted. The coming wrath. The out-flashing of God’s judgment. We have a deliverer from that wrath. In 1 Thessalonians 4, the Rapture is described in chapter 5. The apostle considers what shall take place after that Rapture. He describes then the Day of the Lord or the beginning of the tribulation period and he talks about it in all of its severity. Notice, He comes down and with a word of consolation He says in 1 Thessalonians 5:8,
“But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for an helmet the hope of salvation for God hath not appointed us to wrath.”
God has not appointed the Church to the coming wrath. There is a deliverer from that coming wrath. It is Jesus Christ and the Thessalonians, in their expectation, were waiting for the Deliverer to come who was going to deliver them the coming wrath. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 clearly says that we, the Church, have not been appointed unto wrath, “but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us that whether we wait or sleep,” (and that verb does not speak of the sleeping saints who have died in chapter 4, it speaks of those who are sleeping during life and not watching and not waiting, not looking) whether we are awake and watching or whether we are asleep and not watching. Whatever the situation is, “we should live together with him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves together.” This comfort is simply because we have a Deliverer who will deliver us from the coming wrath and the Church shall not go through that Tribulation period.
I believe that is the basis of the entire comfort of the believer today. That is why, my Christian friend, the Rapture of the Church is described as “the blessed hope.” The blessed hope of a believer is that the next moment in God’s scheduled prophetic timetable is the Rapture of the Church. It will take place before the Tribulation period because of the very nature of the Tribulation period. It is certainly because of the promises that we have here and many allusions that we have in the scriptures. Before the floods fell upon the earth, Enoch was translated. Before the fire and brimstone consumed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot, the righteous one and his family were delivered. There are many analogies that suggest that this is what God shall do. I believe with all my heart that this is the blessed hope of the Christian. Now, are you ready for it? Are you looking for it? If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, my friends, you and I can move through the day today waiting and looking for the Second Coming of our Lord, for the Rapture of the Church. This is what gives to the believer tremendous consolation when he hears of the signs of the times. Dr. Johnson spoke on it this morning and we will be looking at it the next two Sundays in our Sunday School class as we go through some of the other signs of the times. When the believer sees what is happening today as only the precursor of things that are going to happen in greater intensification and greater universality during the Tribulation period, there is a comfort. There is a consolation and it is the Rapture of the Church. We shall not be here. God has for those who believe in Jesus Christ a blessed hope and it is the Rapture prior to the tribulation that shall fall upon the earth.
But, that is no hope for one who has not believed in Jesus Christ. My friend, if you have never personally believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior, if you are not resting upon His work upon the cross alone for your salvation, if there has not been that moment of time in your life when you have come to Him and acknowledged to Him that you are a sinner and that Jesus Christ has died for you and thanked Him for dying for you and accepted Him as your Savior, then there is no blessed hope. This is for those who are believers in Jesus Christ. If you have never believed in Him, if you have never cast the entire future of your life and the destiny of eternity upon the work of Jesus Christ upon the cross, so you are trusting in Him and Him alone for your salvation, we invite you to do so this morning. Then, you may be among those who are watching and waiting for our Deliverer. You will participate in the Rapture of the Church and you will be part of that official welcoming committee that shall go out to meet the Lord and then return with Him to share with Him in His kingdom reign. This is the Rapture of the Church.
May God help each of us to so look for it that it will affect our daily life and to so trust in Jesus Christ that we shall participate in it.
Let’s bow, and have a word of prayer.
Our Father, we are so grateful to Thee this morning for the fact that Jesus is coming again. We believe, Lord, that the signs indicate we are in the very threshold of that climactic, tremendous event. We pray, Lord, that Thou will help us this week to walk as those who are watching for his coming. May we, oh God, so live that we shall not be ashamed before Him at His coming. May we be so grateful for the blessed hope that there will be a response of deep gratitude and loving obedience in our lives day by day. Bless Thy Word, for we ask it for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
This article is a lightly edited transcript of Dr. McRae’s audio message on the Rapture. Appreciation for the transcription work goes to Marilyn Fine.
This morning we continue our study on the Rapture of the Church. This is lesson number three in our four-lesson series and we are beginning to study this morning the signs of His coming. We shall continue that next week, as well, and that will conclude our study on the Rapture of the Church.
From the earliest days, earnest Christians have diligently sought to know when their Lord was going to return. It seems our Lord has directly answered that question in many respects when He spoke and said, “No man knoweth the day nor the hour.” He further elucidated upon the subject when He said that “in such an hour as you think not, then I shall come.” His coming shall be as a thief in the night. Now, we do not have any difficulty understanding why our Lord has kept the date of His return for the Church a secret. All we need to do is examine our own hearts and we see ample evidence for His wisdom in keeping that date a secret. He, obviously, has wanted, during the duration of the history of the Church, for believers (generation after generation) to be waiting patiently, watching expectantly, and just standing firmly anticipating His return.
Although we do not know the exact time of our Lord’s return, I think it is significant that when the apostle Paul writes to the Thessalonians he says, “We are not in the darkness that it should overtake us as a thief.” There is no doubt that the Rapture of the Church is going to be sudden and shall take the unbeliever by surprise. But to the believer, to the Christian, certain signs have been given that indicate the arrival of the Lord and the knowledge of those signs bring that believer from out of the darkness into the light so that he will not be overtaken by surprise and the Rapture will not surprise him.
I think that a believer who knows his Bible is very much like a person who is sitting down and just enjoying Handel’s Messiah with the musical score on his lap. After a couple of hours of delightful music, his companion sitting beside, leans over (having enjoyed what has been going on) saying, “how much longer do you think this shall go on?” The person says “about five more minutes.” “Five minutes, is that all? Why it has been going on full speed now for two hours and it just seems like it is going to go on forever. How much longer? Why do you say only five minutes?” The man, of course, would say, “because I have the score in my hands. Do you remember the solo just a few moments ago? Do you remember that last chorus? Well, I know that it is only going to last just a few more minutes now because, you see, here is the music score and it tells me that the very chorus they are singing now is the last chorus and I know it is just about over.”
The believer, you see, has a music score. He has the Word of God. He has the scriptures and it is through the scriptures that the indications are given whereby I believe a Christian can know that the coming of the Lord is very, very near. They are indications, finger boards, sign posts along the way that indicate the coming of the Lord.
Now, the question, of course, is how soon? What we would like to do this morning is to look at the score and just see what the indications are concerning the coming again of our Lord. I believe, friends, that we shall be able to demonstrate from our study of the scriptures this morning, as well as next week, that you and I are standing on the very threshold of the Rapture of the Church. He is at the door. I believe with all my heart that the coming of our Lord is very, very near. Let me see if I can demonstrate to you the basis for that belief.
Turn in your Bible, will you please, for the most significant indication in our generation that the coming of the Lord is very near. Daniel 9 will be the passage from which this first and most significant sign emerges. Daniel 9 records the very important prophetic announcement, through the prophet Daniel, of the seventy weeks or the seven-year periods. That is altogether a program of 490 years. You will notice in Daniel 9:24 that we read about “seventy weeks” The Hebrew word here suggests a bunch of seven. Because of the historical fulfillment, we do know that it is weeks or groups of seven years.
Seventy groups of seven years, 490 years, “are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city” for several things. At the end of the 69 weeks, and that will bring us down to Daniel 9:26, “after seven and three score and two weeks,” that is after 69 weeks, “shall Messiah be cut off but not for Himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city” (Jerusalem) “and the sanctuary;” (the temple) “and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” Sixty-nine weeks, 483 years, from the beginning of this period of time to the cutting off of the Messiah have been fulfilled. This leaves one seven-year period remaining. That one seven-year period, the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy, still lies in the future. Our Lord describes it as time of great tribulation such as the world has never seen nor ever shall see.
That great Tribulation period, that 70th week is presented to us in Daniel 9:27 where we read, “And he” (that is the prince of the Roman Empire; this will be the revived Roman Empire) “shall confirm” (or the Hebrew “shall strengthen”) “the covenant with many for one week.” This indicates that the beginning of the Tribulation period, the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel, will come with the confirming of a covenant by the leader of the revived Roman Empire (the anti-Christ, the world’s dictator, the one who is at the head of the western alliance of nations). He shall confirm a covenant with the nation of Israel. It is a divided Israel that is suggested in the phrase “with many.” He shall confirm that covenant for one week.
Verse 27 presents to us the basic concept of the Tribulation period and the 70th week in Daniel’s prophecy. We are not expounding this passage, obviously, and it has been expounded here in the Chapel recently on two different occasions. So, we are not going through Daniel 9 to expound the seventy weeks. What we are trying to find out at this point is this— that the Tribulation period begins with the establishment with the confirming of a covenant which is already being established between the prince of the revived Roman Empire and the many, the divided Israel who are in their land, and upon whom the 70th week, as well as the 483 years, those seven years are determined. If that is so, then Daniel 9:27 and the Tribulation period presupposes some very important things. My basic thesis this morning is that what is presupposed, what is demanded, is essentially a reality today. That is, what is presupposed for the beginning of the 70th week, what is demanded for the Tribulation period to begin, essentially already now within our generation has become a reality. Notice some of the points.
The first thing in this is that we have the statehood of Israel. Such a covenant could not be confirmed prior to Israel beginning a state. For 1,900 long years, Israel was never listed among the nations of the world. On May 14, 1948, by right of the UN Charter, the statehood of Israel comes into a reality. Today, we have the nation of Israel and that is presupposed. It is basic. The Tribulation period is dependent upon that.
The second thing that this supposes is that they will be in the land. That is precisely where they are today. Just after the turn of our century, there were some 41,000 Jews in the land. Today, there are over 3,000,000 Jews that have returned to the land of Israel. They are in the land. The land has become the focal point of international affairs. It is the crossroad of the world. The deserts of the land have begun to blossom. The situation is being prepared as far as Israel is concerned.
Thirdly, it is very obvious from our passage here that Israel will be aligned with the western allies. It is the prince of the revived Roman Empire. It is the head of that European confederacy of nations that will confirm the covenant. So, the alliance obviously will be between Israel and the western allies. That is precisely the way the situation is structured today in our present time. It is certainly going to be obvious that that the nation of Israel will be subjected to tremendous persecutions. That will be the background for the confirming of the covenant.
I suspect, as Dr. Waltke suggested and other Bible teachers have taught, that the covenant that will be confirmed will be the covenant that was made by the United Nations on May 14, 1948, which gave to Israel their right to statehood. I suspect this because of all of the threats against Israel’s very existence—Egypt just within the last two weeks has announced that the only solution is to wipe Israel out. In the place of all the persecutions, there is going to come a time when the dictator, the leader of the revived Roman Empire, is going to confirm the covenant that was made by the United Nations guaranteeing Israel its statehood. So, to support the right to independent existence, there will be all of the military powers of the western alliances behind the existence of the Nation of Israel. The background of this is, I suspect that we should expect Israel to be under intense persecution. That is precisely the situation as all of us know right at this very moment.
A fourth thing that is going to be demanded, or needed for the fulfillment of this, as well as other prophecies in relation of Israel, will be the building of their temple. Now, note that temple is not demanded until the middle of the Tribulation period. That is, after three-and-a-half years of the Tribulation period the beast, the anti-Christ, is going to set up his image in the temple. By the mid point of Tribulation period, Israel will have their temple. One of the most significant things that is happening today in Israel is their plan for building a temple. They now have the site. They did not have that site until just three years ago. Now they have the site for the building of the temple. They have the plans for the building of that temple. One of the greatest aspirations of Israel is the erection of their temple and the very scene seems to be set.
Another point in relation to the nation of Israel is that they will become a very mighty military power. We do not need to expand upon that because that is obvious to us at the very present time. Another point in relation to this situation and Israel in the scriptures during the Tribulation period is that they will become the world evangelists. Revelation pictures the 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel who will be the world evangelists who carry the gospel to the corners of the earth. It is a striking to realize that within Israel today there is an unusual revival of interest in the scriptures. Every Jew in a state school takes six hours of Bible study every week in his school. That is more than most Americans have. There is a tremendous revival in the study of the scriptures and we are going to be talking on that a little more next week when we talk about the great sign, the second greatest of all signs, the apostasy of our present time. The great revival in the scriptures in Israel seems almost to be preparing the way for their moving into their strategic role of evangelism in the Tribulation period. Orthodoxy is the viable situation today in Israel. Only six reformed synagogues exist in all the land and reformed Judaism is no longer a viable option as far as Israelites in the land is concerned. There is in the dictionary of Judaism today a term called “a Messianic Jew.” A Messianic Jew is a person, by their definition, who nationally is a Jew but religiously is a Christian. There is a band of Messianic Jews who move through the land with two basic goals: to share their personal faith in Jesus Christ with their fellow Jews and to flood the land with Bibles.
What I am simply suggesting is that this could very well be the backdrop against which the movement shall come in the Tribulation period when the Jewish people shall be the world evangelists as they carry the gospel to the corners of the earth.
What I am then proposing to you this morning, my friends, is that the first, the greatest and the most significant sign that the coming of Jesus Christ is very near and that the Rapture of the Church is upon us— is the rise of the nation Israel. Because we read it every day in our newspapers, because we have become so well acquainted with it, we have lost the impact of it. That it was not 25 years ago that the nation did not exist! It is within our generation that they have come into existence, they have possessed their land, they have the site for the temple, they have a commitment to the scriptures and a study of the scriptures, they have the alignment with the western allies, and the pieces are all fit together for the beginning of the Tribulation period. Prior to the confirming of that covenant, the trumpet shall sound and the Church shall be raptured. I believe with all my heart that as we scan the world’s international horizons this morning through the telescope of the sure word of prophecy, that we can say with great assurance that the coming of the Lord draws very, very near.
* * * * *
There are many other signs though, so will you go in your Bibles, please, to Matthew 24 where we find a significant list of signs given to us by our Lord Himself. These signs are primarily given to the tribulation saints and they are primarily in relation to the revelation, the second aspect of the Second Coming when He shall come with his Church to the earth to establish His kingdom. But, I would like you to notice that these signs in the Tribulation period become universal in their intensity and unprecedented in their proportions. These signs at this very present time are moving in this direction. I suspect that every one of the signs that we are going to point out now has existed from time in memorial. We can go back in history and find that they have always existed. The point that our Lord makes is that in the Tribulation period these signs will become universal and will reach unprecedented proportions and intensity. My basic proposal to you from these signs is that we are seeing that happen at this very present time. Notice, for example, one of the signs as we come to it in Matthew 24: 6-7. He says,
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled for all these things must come to past, but the end of not yet. For nations shall rise against nations and kingdom against kingdom.”
The second great sign I would like to present to you this morning then is the profusion of wars. Of course, from the very beginning of time from Cain’s murder of Abel, war has existed. I suspect that we are not surprised at this as a particular sign. The Geneva Tribune sometime ago reported that the society of international law in its surveys concluded that in the last 3,400 years there has been only 268 years of peace. There have been over 8,000 peace treaties signed and everyone of them signed for eternity, but the average duration of the treaties has been less than 10 years. What should we say of the twentieth century in which we live? In this century, 71 years old, there have been over 100 million lives snuffed out by war. It is our century and our generation that has seen two wars that can rightly be called world wars. During the last 30 years, we have not been able to pick up our newspaper without reading on the front page an account of a major war some place on the face of the earth. What we have seen then is the movement of something that has existed from time immemorial into an unprecedented state of universality and intensity. It is the buildup for the great world war that is presented to us in the scriptures. It is referred to in Revelation 16 as the battle of Armageddon. It is going to be the culmination of what started with Cain which today has moved into a worldwide confrontation. In the Tribulation period it shall become the third, perhaps the fourth, but certainly at least the third great world war.
The striking thing is that in the preparation for that third world war we are seeing the scene set in our very day. The place where it is going to take place has already become the focal point of international affairs. Armageddon is the hill of Megiddo, which is in the northern part of the land of Israel. Joel tells us that it is going to take place in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which is a large valley to the east of Jerusalem. That is in the southern part of the land. Isaiah tells us that it is going to extend right down into Edom. It is Ezekiel the prophet who tells us that when they moved into the land they are going to cover the entire land. If you put together all of the Old Testament prophesies, the conclusion is that the place where this last great world war will take place is in Israel in the land previously known as Palestine and it shall stretch from the north through the south right down into the land of Edom. Israel is exactly in that position today. It is the focal point of international affairs. All of the nations of the earth have their guns set toward the Middle East and even during the crises in southeast Asia, we have been warned by the leaders of the United States that the real hot spot, the real problem area is the Middle East. We have never lost sight of the fact that that is the focal point of attention. We are seeing already in our generation the focal point of that great war in the Tribulation period now coming into focus.
The precedent for that war has already been set. Revelation 16 pictures it as the kings of the earth and the whole world, says the prophet. The kings of the earth and the whole world shall converge upon that spot. The precedent for a worldwide war has already been set. I think the most significant thing is that the participants in that great confrontation are already taking their place on the stage of history. We cannot take time to read it, but if you have not read, then you must read Daniel 11:36 through the end of the chapter where you have the details of that third great world war given to us. If you read it carefully, you will discover that there are five alignments or individual nations that are presented.
The first, of course, will be Israel. That is where the battle shall take place. They shall be in the glorious land. There they are in their land. Israel will be the center of attraction. In Daniel 11:36, Israel is aligned with the prince of the revived Roman Empire and that will be the first alignment of nations. It is the western alliance. We know from Daniel 2, Daniel 7 and several passages in the book of Revelation that that western alliance will be composed of 10 nations— pictured in the vision that Daniel has as the 10 toes or as the 10 crowns. There will be 10 nations that will comprise that confederacy. Since men have been expounding on prophesy, they had been predicting a United States of Europe, a confederacy of 10 nations that shall find their headquarters in the leader of the revived Roman Empire. Currently, the most common way of viewing this will be the fruition of the European Common Market. I think we are seeing significant things happen there. Until just two months ago, they European Common Market was composed of six nations. Within two months, four new nations were recommended for acceptance into the European Common Market. If those four nations accept, Britain among them, we shall soon have a United States of Europe comprised of 10 nations. Now in the future, those 10 nations may change. But what we are certainly seeing at this very present time is the emergence of a European confederacy of 10 nations that has their headquarters in the very place where the revived Roman Empire found its rooting. That is going to be one of the great alignment of nations.
If you move down through Daniel 11, you will come into verse 40 and find that there is going to be a northern alliance and a southern alliance. The striking thing about these two alliances as they are related to Israel in the center is that they shall be aligned with each other and both against Israel and the western alliance. One does not need to know much about contemporary scenes in our international alignments to realize that that is exactly what we have today. We have the Russian alliance to the north. We have the United Arab Republic alignment to the south. They are, to some degree, aligned with each other against Israel and against the western alliance. When you come further down through Daniel 11 to verse 44, you read of the kings of the east. That takes in all the oriental powers over to the east of Israel. The striking thing that Daniel 11 presents is that in the Tribulation period Israel, a mighty military power, will be the focal point around which there will be an alignment of nations. There will be a western alliance, a northern alliance, a southern alliance and an eastern alliance. My friends, we have it today. That very situation is in existence. The participants in that great world war that shall take place toward the end of the Tribulation, the participants are already taking their place on the stage of history. I proposed to you again then that as we scan the world’s political horizons through the telescope of the sure word of prophesy, we can say with certainty that the coming of the Lord draws very, very near.
If you come to the end of Matthew 24:7, you will come to a third sign that needs to be noted. The third sign of this. “And there shall be famines.” The third sign that I would like to present to you then is the threat of famine. It is obvious, I think, from the passage that the famines will be closely connected with the wars that are presented in Matthew 24:6-7. That does not surprise us because famines have always followed in the wake of war. In 1921, the famine in Russia took 30,000 lives every day. It came in the wake of war. The official estimate for the great famine in Greece in 1942 was between 150,000 and 200,000 deaths and it came in the wake of war. We read our newspapers and listen to the situation in Pakistan, in Nigeria, in Biafra, and we realize that it is war that precipitates famines. What the scriptures teach is this that as the wars shall expand and become more intense and more universal that famine shall follow in its wake. We are seeing in this very present time through the profusion of war the threat for famine in an unprecedented level in our world.
There are two other factors which are very much involved in the coming of a famine. The first factor-- population. We do not pick up many magazines today without reading something of the danger of the population explosion. The question of anthropologist and sociologists is how shall we ever feed them in 1980 or by 2000 AD. Population explosion. The second and great issue involved in famines is the ecology crisis and that is something that confronts us. It is a global problem as well as a national problem. It was President Nixon in his State of the Union address in 1970 who said “in the coming decade we must make peace with nature.” Albert Schweitzer some years ago wrote, “Man has lost his capacity to foresee and forestall. He will end by destroying the earth.” Arnold Toynbee, the great eminent British historian, writes, “The human race’s prospects of survival were considerably better when we were defenseless against tigers than they are today when we have become defenseless against ourselves.” He says it in relation to the pollution problem in the world.
Revelation 8:10-11 predict a worldwide pollution during the Tribulation period.
“The third trumpet will bring down bitterness into the waters of the earth so that one-third of the waters of the earth shall be so polluted that many, many, many shall die.”
Now, what I am suggesting then is that the three great factors that are involved in famine today are the primary issues in our contemporary world: The profusion of war, the population explosion and the ecology crisis. We have seen these things come to the headlines and move to the surface in our present day. So, when I read about famines, I do not quickly pass it over. I do not say, well, we have always had famines. I recognize that in the Tribulation period famine shall follow in the wake of war and they shall become so universal and so intense that they will reach unprecedented proportions. We have at our disposal and at our fingertips today the mechanism to make that happen. With a population explosion, with the ecology crisis, and with the profusion of war, we have the wherewithal that this can become a reality today on a universal scale in the Tribulation period.
So, once again, I believe as we scan the world’s “economic and physical horizons” through the telescope of the sure word of prophesy we are constrained to say that the coming of the Lord is very, very near.
Do you notice the next phrase in Daniel 24:7? Pestilence probably ought not to be in our text at this point, although it is certainly in the text in Luke’s account, but the next phrase in the most ancient manuscripts is, “and earthquakes in various places.” We look at that and I suspect that we are inclined to quickly bypass that and say, “have there not always been earthquakes?” I am not sure whether we can really say that or not because it is within recent technological era that seismology has become a science and that we have been able to register and to date our earthquakes. Perhaps they always have existed, but it is within our generation and in our century that they are reaching proportions that are astounding to us. The frightful earthquake that shook the city of Quetta in India just not too long ago took 60,000 lives plus many millions of dollars worth of property. That reminds us that within our century, within the twentieth century, there have been 250,000 lives snuffed out through earthquakes upon the face of the earth.
Scientists who study the earth’s crust and record the seismic disturbances tell us that earthquakes felt simultaneously in many places, particularly around the Mediterranean and Great Britain, are forerunners of a great, far greater, earthquake which might be also universal. Now, the Bible predicts such a universal earthquake. Revelation 16:18 says, “And there was a great earthquake such as was not since upon the earth so mighty an earthquake and so great.” Again, in Zachariah 14, the prophet Zachariah predicts that at the coming of our Lord there will be an earthquake that is going to shatter the Mount of Olives so that it will splinter in half and provide a valley for the escape of Jews who are besieged in the city of Jerusalem. We know today that there is a massive fault line that goes right through the midst of the Mount of Olives and that is the preparation for a universal earthquake that is going to rock the face of the earth during the Tribulatin period. I am rather inclined to feel, although I am sure we have had earthquakes all along, that the suggestions of the scientists that what we are seeing now with simultaneous earthquakes in parts of the world may be a forerunner of a universal earthquake of unprecedented proportions. I am rather inclined to believe that this could be tied in with our Lord’s prediction.
One of the most striking things that I read in preparing for our message this morning is that that recently earthquakes in the area of Jerusalem and in the area of the Mount of Olives have caused severe damage to the buildings upon the Mount of Olives. I think that is very significant. That is, as one moves into this area and sees the buildings on the Mount of Olives bearing the marks of earthquakes, I believe that God is giving us again an indication that we are having the scene set for what is going to take place in the Tribulation period. Make no mistake about it, prior to that moment the Lord is going to return and He is going to rapture the Church. So, once again, I propose to you that as we scan the world’s scientific horizons through the telescope of the sure word of prophecy we are constrained to say that the coming of the Lord draws very, very near.
Come with me further down through our passage and notice what it says, please, in verse 12. And it says,
“And because iniquities shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
The word for “iniquity” here is the word for “lawlessness.” It is the opposite to righteousness. The Lord predicts that iniquity or lawlessness will abound. It will increase. It will grow. It will increase in grow to such proportions that He says the love of many shall grow cold. He is here dealing with the professing Church. The love of the professing Church shall be literally blowing cold by the spreading of lawlessness and the spreading of iniquity. The growth of coldness, the drawing away from the faith and from the things of God by the professing Church will be the demonstration that they are only a professing Church. The great test of genuine faith is given to us in verse 13. It is continuance. It is perseverance, “but he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved.” Those who do not endure, those who do not continue, those who do not persevere given testimony to the fact that all it was, was profession.
What our Lord is saying here is that iniquity shall sweep the professing Church off their feet into a state of coldness and apostasy and a state of turning away from God. We know, Paul says to the Thessalonians, that this principle of iniquity does already work, but he tells us in II Thessalonians 2 that there is someone who is hindering it. There are many different interpretations, perhaps the most common is that it is the Church indwelled by the Holy Spirit that has its hands up and it is hindering the full impact of this principle of lawlessness and iniquity. There is coming a day, says our Lord through Paul, that the hinderer is going to be removed. That is the Rapture. At the removal of the hinderer, the Holy Spirit in the Church, then iniquity shall sweep across the face of the earth in a universal, intensified, unprecedented proportion. I believe, friends, that we are seeing that very movement today. I think we are seeing iniquity, lawlessness move in that unprecedented proportion before us at the very present time.
What shall we say about moral iniquity or lawlessness? From this Greek word we get our word “antinomian,” which means “against laws.” The greatest philosophy that exists on college campuses and in our secular society is the philosophy of antinomianism. That is that there are no absolutes. It is the Playboy philosophy in relation to sex. It is a policy that rejects all absolutes and makes everything liberal, everything relative. That is lawlessness and we are seeing it move and sweep across the face of the earth. It is sweeping professing churches off their feet so that there is a growing coldness and a blowing away of any profession of their faith and their commitment to the scriptures.
In a magazine entitled, “The Church and Society,” published by two of our major United States denominations, a prominent woman employee of the church wrote this article just recently, “Female and Single, What Then?” In this magazine, she advocates that the Church encourage lonely, retired persons to live together unmarried to provide loving companionship and sexual enjoyment. She also suggests that single women should be permitted to establish sustained relationships with married men and that the Church should be open to such arrangements. Finally, the author derides fidelity to the marriage vows and urges the Church to consider establishment of communes patterned after those in Scandinavia and these communes men and women form families without marriage. Now, that is a Church magazine published by two of our major denominations in the United States. What we are seeing is the professing Church being swept off its feet by the tide of iniquity that is moving across the face of the earth.
Not only is their moral iniquity, but what shall we say of civil iniquity, civil lawlessness? In the last month, US News and World Report has featured two articles: “Crime in the Colleges” and “Crime on the Streets of the World’s Cities.” We are seeing as we read in our magazines that this is a tide that is sweeping across the face of the earth. I think that as we look at the whole civil, social, and religious contexts through the telescope of the sure word of prophesy that we are constrained to say, friends, that the coming of the Lord is very, very near.
There is still a further sign and let me mention it rather quickly, please, in verse 14. In verse 14 we read, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached to all the world for a witness unto all nations.” This sixth sign which I have given is the spread of the gospel. It is obvious from our passages that in the Tribulation period the gospel shall be spread universally around the face of this earth. What I am suggesting and bringing to your attention this morning is this. For the first time in all of history, that now is possible. Now this very situation is possible. We have 53 Christian radio stations scattered around the earth. Theodore Epps’ Bible to the Bible broadcast is available to 90% of the world’s population. Dr. Peters, our missions professor, at the seminary estimates that more people have heard the gospel in the last 30 years than they have in the previous 900 years. In the days of Luther, the Bible was translated in four languages. Today we have it in 1,200 languages. The great motivation behind Campus Crusade’s “Explo ‘72” is evangelize the world in our generation. That is the vision of Bill Bright. It is possible today. That is what we are saying. Now, it is possible, but in the Tribulation period, it shall be a reality. I do not believe for a moment that the gospel must be preached to all the world before the Rapture will take place. It is before Christ returns to the earth, that that must take place. However, what a thing to see a man with a vision to evangelize the world. We have the means today for the first time in history for that type of thing to take place. His vision is by 1980 that become a reality. By 1980, the Tribulation could be over and it will be a reality. But, the vision is absolutely spectacular as I look at the world’s evangelism horizons through the telescope of the sure word of prophesy. My friend, I am constrained to say that the coming of the Lord must be very, very near.
One last one comes from the book of Revelation where we read in Chapter 13, in relation to the economy of the world, that there will be a very strictly controlled economy. Revelation 13:16-17 tell us that during the Tribulation period men will be able to neither buy nor sell without the mark of the beast. That suggests the most stringent controls on world economy that the world has ever seen. In our prophetic conference down at Pine Cove, Dr. Johnson stated and commented that we are now entering into a stage of international controlled economics. We have a world bank. We look for a worldwide currency. We have the computers now that soon will eliminate the need for money and for currency.
One of the men in the audience who is involved with the telephone company tells me that the telephone company has come out with devices whereby soon we will be able to go into a store and buy something with our little ticket. It will be inserted into a telephone that will go directly to our bank. Then it will confirm whether the money is in our bank account. Finally, it will be deducted from the bank account at that moment. So, there will be no currency. What he is simply saying is that if you do not have that card you could not buy or sell. What the scripture says is that you will not be given such a card unless you will bow down and worship the image of the beast. There is a stringent control on economics that will certainly become a worldwide reality in the Tribulation period and we have the mechanism today in our generation for that to become a reality.
As I look at the fingerposts and I see the signs, as we look at what is happening about us today, one is constrained to say that the coming of the Lord must be very, very near. Men have always expected His coming and other men have believed that they are living in the last days. But, will you come with me just for a moment and take a good look at the rise of the nation of Israel. Take a look at the profusion of wars. Take a look at the threat of famines. Take a look at the spread of the gospel. Take a look at the presence of earthquakes. Take a look at the growth in iniquity. Take a look at the control in economy. I believe, friend, that you will join with me and you will say that every indication is that the Rapture of the church must be very, very near. If so, then what manner of persons ought we to be? What manner of persons ought we to be? If it is so, if the coming of the Lord is very near, then, my friend, how does that affect your life this week? More than anything else, God wants us to live expecting His return so that this week in the decisions that we make, the priorities that we establish, the values that we esteem, we shall do it in the light of the fact that the coming of the Lord is very, very near.
Horatius Bonar used to arise in the morning and raise his blind and look and say, “Perhaps today, Lord?” The last thing he did before he went to bed as he pulled his blind down was look heavenward and say, “Perhaps tonight, Lord?” That is living expectantly. May God help us to live that kind of life this week.
But, my friend, perhaps the greatest thing that you need to realize this morning is this. That the coming of Jesus Christ for His Church, the Rapture of the Church will seal off forever your eternal destiny if you have not received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. I believe with all of my heart that the Rapture of the Church is very, very near and I believe just as strongly that if you do not receive Jesus Christ prior to that moment that you shall never have such an opportunity during the Tribulation period. You will, in the world of II Thessalonians 2 be compelled to believe a lie, the lie, the lie of the anti-Christ. If the coming of the Lord draws very near, my friend, I ask you are you ready for it? If it should be today, would you go to be with Him? Only if you have recognized before Him that you are a guilty sinner and that you have realized that when He died upon the cross He died for you. Only if you have simply received Him personally as your Savior and you are depending upon His work upon the cross alone for the salvation of your soul. Is that where you stand this morning? If so, you are ready for the coming of the Lord. If not, we invite you this very morning to receive Him personally as your Savior so that when the trumpet sounds, when the shout is heard you, too, will be caught up together to be with Him and to be like Him forever and ever.
Let’s bow, shall we in closing prayer. Father, we do pray that You will illuminate our hearts, that You will take from us the dross that so often moves into our lives as we are involved in living busy lives and help us to look upon this world in which we live and to realize that the coming of the Lord draws very near. God, grant that we may have the grace and the wisdom this week to live in the light of the fact that He shall soon return and our lives shall be evaluated by Him. For we ask it in His name, amen.
This article is a lightly edited transcript of Dr. McRae’s audio message on the Rapture. Appreciation for the transcription work goes to Marilyn Fine.
This morning we conclude our study on the Rapture. This is our fourth and last message in our series on the Rapture of the Church. Next Sunday morning we shall be beginning a three-week series on the Judgment Seat of Christ, which is the event that immediately follows the Rapture of the Church as far as the believers are concerned.
Last week, if you were with us, you will recall that we looked at the world’s horizons through the telescope of the sure word of prophecy and were constrained to conclude that the coming of the Lord draws very, very near. We read the daily headlines through the prophetic word and observed that the statehood of the Nation of Israel, the profusion of wars, the threat of famine, the presence of earthquakes, the spread of the gospel, the increase of iniquity and the control of our economy all indicate that the coming of the Lord is very, very near. In all, throughout the scriptures, the apostles, our Lord Jesus, and the Old Testament prophets have given us well over 20 signs to observe. The striking thing is that each one of those signs is in a state of fulfillment today.
This morning what we would like to do is to focus the spotlight on one further sign. It is so obvious and so significant that in my estimation it stands second only to the statehood of the National of Israel as indicating that we are on the threshold of the Rapture of the Church and that the coming of the Lord is very, very near. That sign is the condition of the professing church today. In Revelation 17 and 18, we have depicted for us the condition of the professing church in the midst of the Tribulation Period. The question before us as we approach these chapters this morning is this: how far removed from the condition of the professing church in the Tribulation Period is the condition of the professing church today?
I think we shall notice that as we look at the professing church in American and around the world today we shall conclude that we are drawing very, very close to the condition that shall prevail in the professing church in the early days of the Tribulation Period. Thus, we conclude once again that we have a very direct sign indicating that we are rapidly approaching the conclusion of the Church Age, the Rapture of the Church, and the Tribulation Period which shall immediately follow.
As we read a few of these verses from Revelation 17 watch for the characteristics of the professing church in the Tribulation Period. In this passage, she, the Church, is represented by a harlot whose name is Babylon. This is a symbolic representation of the false church, the professing church, in the Tribulation Period. Revelation 17:1-7 reads,
And there came one of the seven angels who had seven bowls and talked with me saying unto me, “Come here. I will show unto thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth have made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” So, he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and 10 horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color and bedecked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. Upon her forehead was a name written, “Mystery, Babylon the great, the Mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.” And, I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints.” (Rev. 17:1-6a)
This is a very striking thing that I am not going to have time to fully develop this morning. It is very striking that in the day and age when tolerance is the going thing in the professing church that there is also a very direct strain of intolerance. Professing Christendom today is intolerant of Christians who are intolerant of their position. That shall exactly prevail in the Tribulation Period when this professing church shall be intolerant of believers and of those who are faithful to the Lord Jesus. It is evident in verse 6 the intolerance of tolerant-professing Christendom:
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And, when I saw her, I wondered with great wonder. And the angel said unto me, “Why doest thou wonder. I will tell thee the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carryeth her.” (Rev. 17:6-7a)
In the next few verses, the angel interprets the significance of the beast. If you will move with me down to verse 15, he gives to us the interpretation of the woman. In Revelation 17:15-16 read,
And he said unto me the waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. The ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the harlot and shall make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
Verses 16 through 18 represent the destruction of the professing church in the middle of the tribulation period. You will notice that the destruction of that professing church comes about through the instrumentality of the beast and his under kings. They shall be used by God to destroy the professing church. This in turn will give room for the worship of the beast who shall establish his image. Thus the worship of the anti-Christ shall prevail. That is what is presented in verse 17 where we read,
For God hath put in their hearts [they shall do it against their will]to fulfill His will and to agree and give their kingdom unto the beast until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And, the woman who thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”
Now it is not our purpose this morning to go through chapter 17 and to expound this in an expository sermon. Rather, as approaching it topically, what we should like to see are several very distinct features of the professing church in the Tribulation Period. Then we will try to superimpose upon this situation the conditions of the professing church in 1971. From that we will try to conclude how close we perhaps may be coming to the conclusion of this period of time and of how close we are to the conditions that will exist in the Tribulation Period.
So, as we look at Revelation 17, there are going to be three primary features of the professing church in the Tribulation Period that shall attract our attention.
The very first one is the unity and the universality of this professing church. Now I think that that first of all this is implied in the name, Babylon, in verse 5. This professing church is called by the name, “Babylon,” wherein we read in verse 5,
“And upon her forehead was a name written, mystery Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.”
In interpreting the scriptures, there is a law that is called “The Law of First Mention.” The Law of First Mention simply teaches that in the first mention of a subject in the Bible the matter is presented to us in germ form. In subsequent references to that subject through the Bible further details are given to us and further information is given to us in relation to that subject.
The first reference to Babylon in the Bible is in Genesis 11 at the Tower of Babel. Babel is the mother of Babylon. The Tower of Babel is a story with which many of us will be familiar. If you happen to turn to Genesis 11, you would discover that that incident is also characterized by the two elements of universality and unity. In Genesis 11:1, we read that what took place at that moment in history was for all of the inhabitants of the earth. It was a universal movement. In verse 4 we read that it was motivated by a desire to unify the peoples, lest, says Moses in recording it, “lest we be separated.” So in its germ form Babylon in Genesis 11 is characterized by universality and by unity.
Babylon, in its final form in Revelation 17 within the Tribulation Period, shall be a counterfeit, false religious system that is in opposition to God collectively. It will be characterized by universality and unity. Now, I think this is clearly stated for us in our passage, as well. Although we did not read it, just slip over to Revelation 18:3 where we have further reference to this Babylon. There we read,
For all nations have drunk of the wine of her fornication and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her and the merchants of the earth are grown rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
If you will turn back to Revelation 17:1, the universality again is brought before us when we read at the end of verse 1 that this great harlot “sitteth upon many waters.” We have already noticed in verse 15 that those many waters represent peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. Now, the picture in chapter 17 then is very simply this: there is going to be in the Tribulation Period a religious system that shall prevail across the face of the earth. One of the features of this religious system will be that it will be a universal religious system. This woman sits upon many waters and she encompasses all of the nations of the earth, all of the multitudes, all of the nations, and all of the peoples. There will be an element of unity that will characterize this universal religious system. It is mentioned for us in Revelation 17:13 where we read,
These have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast who will be the support of this woman.
So, in the Tribulation Period the religious system, the professing church shall be characterized by universality and unity. Now, what we can expect then, as we approach the Tribulation Period, is a growing fusion of religion toward a universal church that will encompass all nations, all multitudes and all peoples. This is the full bloom of the ecumenical movement of 1971. The word ecumenical comes from the Greek work which is translated 14 out of its 15 times in the New Testament “world.” The ecumenical movement is the movement for a world-wide church. It is the movement toward the establishment of one church that shall encompass all of the multitudes, all of the nations, and all of the peoples of the world. That movement shall be successful. The full bloom of that movement will be seen in this professing church in the Tribulation Period.
It was about the early part of the 20th century that church men across America and around the world became disillusioned with the splintered condition of Christendom. They began to be conscious of all of the disadvantages of the divisions within Christendom. That motivated what you and I have seen taking place during the last two or three decades. The joining up of denominations and the amalgamation of denominations toward breaking down the divisions that exist within Christendom. The striking thing is that as the movement has developed through the 20th century, it has reached out its tentacles to encompass not just denominations within Christendom but now the religions of the world at large.
Arnold Toynbee, the eminent British historian, in a lecture given at the University of Minnesota not too long ago spoke of the great necessity of the establishment of a single family and said that this was the only hope of survival in the world now that man has annihilated distance and has invented the atomic bomb. He said the alternative is mass suicide. The only alternative to the destruction of the human race is a world-wide social fusion of all the tribes, nations, civilizations and religions of man. We are taking giant steps toward the accomplishment of this very thing. In March 1971 in Beirut, Lebanon, the very first movement of the World Council of Churches toward the realization of this took place. For many years now, dialog has existed between the World Council of Churches, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and so on. However, it was in March of 1971 under the initiation of the World Council of Churches that the first dialogue took place between the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus, and the World Council of Churches. We are seeing that this is a giant step toward the realization of what shall take place in the Tribulation Period in Revelation 17.
The Government of Israel, the Jewish National Fund, has already designated a place in the southern part of Jerusalem for the erection of a building that they are going to call the House of the Bible. In this building, there will be a one million volume library and all of the artifacts and manuscripts that are available. The building will be dedicated to the study of the things related to the Bible by Muslims, Jews, and Christians. One could multiply illustrations in this fashion to demonstrate that you and I are seeing taking place about us today a movement that is taking giant steps toward the realization of a world-wide church. A church that shall encompass all denominations and all religions. It will be the full-bloom of the ecumenical movement about us today and that full-bloom is demonstrated in Revelation 17.
As I look at what is taking place to date, and read about it in our church magazines, and listen to it on our news broadcasts, and read it in our newspapers I see that the headlines are screeching the news that we are moving very quickly toward the realization of this situation. This world-wide church shall surely be reached as most churchmen in American and around the world are dedicating their lives to accomplish it. Be well assured of this fact though, my Christian friend, that before that is attained the Church shall be raptured. The Church shall be removed from the earth. As we see the movement in this direction, we are impressed again with the fact that the coming of the Lord draws very, very near.
Now, the thing that we want to particularly observe from our passage this morning is this. What will be the characteristics of that world-wide church? That is, if such a thing shall be attained, then upon what basis shall it be attained? As we look at Revelation 17, the second great characteristic of this professing church in the Tribulation Period is apostasy. I think this is first of all implied for us again in the title, “Babylon.” This church is called “Babylon the Great.”
Now, I have already mentioned that the first reference to Babylon is Babel (Genesis 11). We do not know a great deal about the Tower of Babel, but not too far from its probable location another tower has been uncovered by the spade of the archeologist. It is in Beer Nimrod. That tower suggests to us probably something of the structure and the purpose of the Tower of Babel. That tower that can be visited by sightseers stands 153 feet high. It has seven stages in recession. On the top of the seventh stage, there is surmounted a house or a room. On the walls of which there are the signs of the zodiac and other astronomical figures and characters. Each stage on this tower is painted a different color to represent the different planets.
If that is what the Tower of Babel was like, which is the most probable explanation, then there are several things that we know about that Tower of Babel. Undoubtedly, it was involved in the study of astronomy and in the worship of the skies. It certainly was a place of idolatrous worship and that is the background of Babylon in Revelation 17. The city of Babylon in Old Testament history was the epitome of idolatry in the Old Testament era. That is why in verse 5 we read of the abominations of the earth. In Old Testament literature, idolatry was the abomination. So, in the name, Babylon, we have an indication that this professing church will be an apostate church. It will be a church that is a counterfeit religious system of the cooperative or collective rebellion against God. It will be idolatrous and it will be in rebellion against the authority of God.
The name, Babylon, suggests for us the apostasy of this church. I think also the description suggests it. Do you notice how she was described? She is the harlot. She is a prostitute. What a dramatic contrast to the description of the true church described by the apostle Paul as a chaste virgin, espoused to Jesus Christ. This church is the harlot. The harlot in the Old and in the New Testaments oftentimes is symbolic for debauched and idolatrous worship. One thing is sure, in the Tribulation Period the professing church that shall be universal shall be based upon an apostate foundation. It shall be Babylon the Great. It shall be a prostitute, an unfaithful representation of the people of God.
One thing we can certainly expect is that as we draw close to the Tribulation Period we can expect apostasy to become increasingly evident. The apostle Paul told us as he wrote to the Thessalonians that the great apostasy shall come in those days. I believe with all my heart this morning, friends, that you and I are living in the twilight of that great apostasy. The signs are multiplied. One of the signs of the great apostasy, I suspect, is the rise of false prophets about us.
There is Mary Baker Eddy of the Christian Scientist movement, Father Antoine of Belgium, Monsieur Froitaige (sp?) who presents himself as the angel of the Lord, the celebrated Ludendorff who has glorified himself as the anti-Christ, Joseph Smith, the revealer of the Mormons, Rudolph Steiner of anthroposophy, Herbert W. Armstrong and many others.
Herbert W. Armstrong, with The World Tomorrow radio program and The Plain Truth publications, presents himself as the only true interpreter of the scriptures and the god-enlightened prophet of the latter times. He says he represents the only true church, The World-Wide Church of God. He is the man who denies the doctrine of the Trinity. He denies the doctrine of grace. He denies the immortality of the soul. He denies the possibility of any present salvation. He preaches an eclectic presentation of a combination of Seventh Day Adventism, Russellism, Mormonism, and British Israelism. He is a false teacher that is calling many hundreds of thousands of Americans to follow in his wake.
The prevalence of false teachers is one of the indications of the apostasy that is upon us. The denials of the fundamentals of the faith is another indication that we are living in the twilight of the apostasy. One of the newspaper advertisements in the Dallas Morning News not too long ago was entitled, “What Should Children Be Taught in Sunday School?” The advertisement reads that God created the world in six days, that man is not a creature of evolution, that Jesus was virgin-born, did miracles and was literally raised from the dead, that Jesus may come down from the sky just any day now, that only those who believe such assertions will be saved, and that everybody else will be burned forever in hell, OR, that creation should be studied from all the world’s religious views, plus the views of modern science, that man has evolved from a wonderful evolutionary process and part of the product of nature, that Jesus was, most likely, a good man who taught many good things and like many of the religious leaders of the world had stories misinvented about him by his followers, that religion should deal in the here and now with complete trust in the forces that brought us into existence without morbid fear of death. It concludes with this statement: “If you agree with us in teaching our children a broad, free view of religion, come visit us.” And it states the churches in Dallas where this is taught.
There is no question about it that we living in an age when the great fundamentals of the faith are being denied. The inspiration and inerrancy of the Word of God are attacked on every hand. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ, the deity of our Lord Jesus, the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, the bodily resurrection, and the second advent of our Lord— the great fundamentals of the faith are being denied on every hand. It is one of the signs of the apostasy that is upon us.
The capitulation to comparative religion is another indication that we are living in the apostasy. Dr. D. B. Steiner, Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, recently wrote,
“One religion is as good as another. We might even find more of Christ in Hinduism and Buddhism than in Christianity.”
Now, that is typical of the comparative religion approach. I sat on a panel in the university in the city of Dallas here not too long ago with four other men. Most of them, I suspect, were liberals who did not revere the scriptures or Jesus Christ as I did. The man who was sitting beside me in the course of this one-and-a-half hour discussion with all of the students in this class said on one occasion,
“If you ever hear a man stand behind the pulpit and say this is the truth, then you will know that that man has not begun to understand Christianity.”
That is the comparative religion approach and we have capitulated to that. It is one of the signs of the apostasy that is upon us.
The invasion of the secular and the carnal into the spiritual is another sign of the apostasy that is upon us. I read recently that the cast of that filthy musical called, “Hair,” saying the new musical mass at the Episcopal Cathedral in New York, the mass supposedly celebrating the death of our Lord Jesus was on this occasion was to mark the third anniversary of that musical, “Hair.” It was also to celebrate Buddhist’s birthday and Mother’s Day. The mass was celebrated by an Episcopal priest. A Roman Catholic priest read the epistle. A Unitarian political appointee read an address and the anti-war message was delivered by Dr. Harvey Cox, the apostate Baptist minister from Harvard Divinity School. Here is the point. Reporters and photographers were so thick that they had to be pushed away from the communion rail at the time for communion. It is this type of thing, the invasion of the carnal and the secular into the spiritual, that is an indication of the apostasy that is upon us. There are others. There is the rise of the occult and we see it on every hand.
Just to tie indirectly with Babylon in Revelation 17, what shall one say of the rise of astronomy in America in a professing Christian country? The rise of astronomy. It has swept people off their feet so that today there are untold millions of Americans using it. Forty million Americans dabble in astrology. Ten million of them will not make an important decision without consulting the skies. Lives are planned by the planets today. In McCall’s Magazine, I read that for many of today’s young people, astrology has taken the place of psychology as the personality decoder of our generation. Even up in Canada it has happened. Macleans magazine writes,
“Canadians are going in for what is probably the biggest revival of astrology since the fall of Babylon.”
No one even looks at you out of the corner of his eye if he says that you are born in Pisces. The Sunday Times of Britain reports that two-thirds of the adult population in Britain read their horoscopes and seven million of them do it seriously.
The rise of the occult is another indication of the apostasy that is upon us. One could speak besides astrology of the clairvoyant, ESP, black magic, telepathy, palm reading, and many other evidences of it. It is part of Babylon. That is the point, friends. It is Babylon. It is Babel back in Genesis 11. What we are seeing now is the development of what in our very era today will reach its full bloom in the Tribulation Period. I believe with all my heart that what Paul said in II Thessalonians concerning the great apostasy that shall sweep the earth in the initial days of the Tribulation Period is almost upon us. We are living in the twilight of that great apostasy. It is Babylon the great of Revelation 17. It is the second feature of the professing church in the Tribulation Period and we are moving dangerously close to that feature and that characteristic.
There is still a third point. The third feature of Babylon in Revelation 17 is its political activism. One of the things that impresses a person as they read through Revelation 17 is the relationship between the woman and the beast. The beast is the leader of the revived Roman Empire, the leader of the European Confederacy of ten nations. I want you to notice what the relationship shall be between this woman and the beast. In Revelation 17:3 we read,
“So he carried me away in the spirit, into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast.”
She is dominating the beast. If the imagery means anything to us then it simply speaks to us of her domination over the political power that shall prevail in the world at that time. Again, I think you have this presented to us in verse 1 where you read that she sits upon many waters. She is in a position of great political influence. In verse 18, we are told specifically that she reigns over the kings of the earth.
One thing we can certainly expect as we approach the Tribulation Period is that the professing church will become more influential and more active in national and international politics. That is precisely what is taking place in our very day and in our age. Because of the inability to agree on a doctrinal foundation, there has at times been a painfully slow movement toward a one-world church [the fulfillment of the ecumenical movement]. This painfully slow movement toward that has led the leaders of this movement to move in another direction— which now is a direction of mission. Now, the emphasis in the ecumenical movement is not, “what doctrines can we agree on and how can we establish a common doctrinal foundation?” Now rather it is, “what can we do together?” It is projects that has become so important to them. The emphasis is upon mission and upon projects.
In an article recently the Ecumenical Review, the spokesman for the ecumenical movement, reported on this dialogue between the World Council of Churches and Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims. This is what it wrote,
“The World Council of Churches may have to move away from its position of continuous isolation to one of more positive cooperation with men of other faiths in matters of mutual concerns such as justice and peace and human rights, and education, development and the future of man.”
That is exactly what is happening. We are seeing the church become a political force. That is why Paul Harvey, the noted commentator, sometime ago mentioned in his commentary that thousands of Presbyterians have left the Presbyterian Church USA because of their $10,000 donation to Angela Davis’ defense and because of their $25,000 that they gave to the Black Panther defense when they were on trial in New York. In September 1971, the World Council of Churches had its annual meeting in Bulgaria and allocated $200,000 to anti-racists groups around the world. Twenty-four organizations were given money. Nine of them were liberation fronts in South Africa. For one of them, $7,500 was given to the Malcolm X Liberation University in North Carolina. This is a typical representation of what is done with that $200,000. Rather interestingly, a twist came when the revolutionary government of Angola in exile turned down its offer of $7,500. They said it was a trap, and that the World Council of Churches had become political. Now, that is striking. That is very significant. It was the revolutionary government of Angola that rejected that offer because they said the World Council of Churches has become political. The evidence for it is abundant on every hand.
The church center in the United Nations is heavily staffed and heavily financed. Every major denomination in the United States has an office in Washington that is involved in the church lobby. The US News and World Report of just a month ago made this comment,
“Showdown in Congress over prayer in schools reveals this: Spokesmen for religious groups are becoming an important part of the Washington scene. Heeding the pleas of leaders of denominations and religious groups, Congress rejected the proposed Constitutional amendment to put prayer back in the schools. The outcome was hailed as the greatest victory for the activisits churchmen in Washington since they helped push through the Civil Rights Bill in ‘64.”
Now, the point is not that that amendment was a good amendment. I am not sure that it was. I think that it is a good thing perhaps that the amendment to put prayer back in the schools was defeated. It was not a good amendment in the opinion of many people today. The point is that it was defeated as a result of the influence of denominational men who are involved in the church lobby.
The influence of these men in politics is becoming increasingly great. It is in this year that the churchmen have made their marches to Hanoi and to Paris. The Canadian Council of Churches just this past year has introduced a new ministry, a ministry that is devoted to helping the men of the United States Armed Forces who are draft-dodgers and who are escaping from the Army. Their chaplain is a man who is a chaplain from the University of Wisconsin. It is supported jointly by the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches with $70,000 budgeted every year for it from the World Council of Churches. That is the political activism of the apostate Church of Christendom today.
A recent article in an influential German magazine summed up the new religious mood by documenting the emergence of a revolutionary ideology which, it says, and I quote,
“Threatens to turn the church into a political party.”
That is the third great feature of Babylon in Revelation 17. For the first three-and-a-half years of the Tribulation Period the apostate universal church shall control the political arm and at the end of that three-and-a-half years, the political arm shall overthrow the apostate church and establish at that point the worship of the anti-Christ and the worship of the beast. But, in the Tribulation Period, one thing is certain: there shall be a politically active apostate church that shall prevail and it shall encompass the earth. We are moving dangerously close toward that very situation.
So, as I read Revelation 17, and as I superimpose it upon the newspapers and the magazines that I read I am impressed with the fact that we are moving very close toward the conditions that shall exist in the Tribulation Period. For in that period there shall be one church—universally united— that shall be apostate absolutely to its very core, and shall be politically active in controlling the politics of the earth at that time. We are moving dangerously close toward that. If I take then the condition of the professing church today, and I add it to the seven signs we considered last week, and then I add to it the eight or ten other signs that I can find elsewhere in the scriptures I come to a conclusion. I conclude that the better than 20 signs given to us by the prophets, our Lord, and the apostles indicate the coming of the Lord are in a virtual state of fulfillment today.
The challenge to me and the challenge to you is this what type persons ought we to be? How ought we to be living? Here we come to the conclusion of our study of the Rapture of the church. If it is near, if it is imminent, if it is upon us, then, my Christian friend, how ought it to affect our daily lives?
Let me call to the witness stand the apostle Jude. He would stand before us and quoting from his own words in his epistle in verse 3 he would say, “Men and women, believers in Jesus Christ, let us earnestly contend for the faith.” That is one of the practical implications of the imminent coming of our Lord. It is, “let us earnestly contend for the faith.”
When General Sherman was on his march from Chattanooga to Atlanta and to the sea, General Hood circled behind him and cut off his return to his fort, the basic means of supply and communication. He sent one of his lieutenants, Lt. Corse, through the lines to the fortress and shortly one of his men saw the signal being flagged to him from the fort, “Corse is here.” It was at that moment that General Sherman by heliography sent back his world-famous message which was, “Hold the fort. I am coming.” Standing with him was a Christian major, Major Whittle, who related the story to a world evangelist, P.P. Bliss. It was Bliss who then wrote that hymn, “Hold the Fort, for I am coming.”
My Christian friend, if we are standing on the threshold of the great apostasy, if we are standing in the very days when the Rapture of the church perhaps is upon us, one of the great messages that comes to us from the apostle Jude is “hold the fort.” “Earnestly contend for the faith.” That is what Believers Chapel is committed to. The men who shall stand behind this pulpit, and who shall minister the Word are men who will earnestly contend for the faith. They believe that the Bible is the Word of God. That it is inspired by the Spirit of God and it is inerrant in its entirety. They believe that Jesus Christ is God. They believe that He is the only way to God and that His death upon the cross is the only means whereby man in his sin can be reconciled to God. We shall earnestly contend for the faith. We shall hold the fort by God’s grace and we shall preach the Word. That is the great challenge that is upon us as believers in Jesus Christ in this day when apostasy prevails on every end and we seem to be under attack from the apostate in every direction. The message from our Lord will be “hold the fort for I am coming.” “Earnestly contend for the faith.”
May God enable us as believers in Jesus Christ, as Sunday School teachers, as parents, to earnestly contend for that faith, to teach our children the faith, and to minister to those to whom we minister the faith. May we do this so that we will be defending that which is under attack and which is being washed away and undermined from every direction.
Let Paul come to the witness stand. “Paul, what manner of men ought we to be in view of the imminent return of our Lord?” Paul would stand before us in the words of II Timothy 4 and say “I charge thee before God and before Jesus Christ who shall judge the living and the dead at His appearing, preach the Word.” That would be Paul’s admonition to us this morning. As we anticipate the coming of the One who shall judge us, the admonition is “preach the Word.”
It was D. L. Moody who said,
“I felt like working three times as hard when I discovered that my Lord was returning again.”
Now I know that there are a lot of problems with talking about working hard for Jesus Christ. I realize all of the implications of that, but I think the message of it, my friends, is dynamic to us. If our Lord is on the threshold, if He is standing at the door, if the Rapture of the church is upon us, then somehow that message ought to grip our hearts as it gripped the hearts of the great evangelist Moody. “I felt like working three times as hard when I learned that my Lord was returning again.” That is the admonition that Paul gave to young Timothy. I charge thee before Him who shall return and judge. Preach the Word. Be instant in season and out of season. May God enable us to be that type Christian.
Paul, come to the stand once again, will you? This time as Paul comes to the stand to exhort us as to what type of men and women we ought to be. I suspect that one of the things that he would do would be to quote what he wrote to young Titus when he spoke of looking for that blessed hope. His admonition would be to “watch expectantly.” That ought to characterize us, Christian friends. Are you watching expectantly for the coming of our Lord?
It is said that Dr. G. Campbell Morgan once wrote,
“To me, the second coming is the perpetual light on the path which makes the present bearable. I never lay my head on my pillow without thinking that maybe before the morning breaks, the final morning will have dawned. I never begin my work without thinking that perhaps He may interrupt my work and begin His own. This is now His words to all believing souls ‘til He come. We are not looking for death, he says, we are looking for Him.”
Watching expectantly. What a characteristic of a believer as we approach the days that are before us.
John, will you come to the stand? What type persons ought we to be? John, I am sure, would quote to us from his first epistle, 1 John 2:28, where he exhorts those to whom he is writing “to so live that they shall not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” He shall come back. Justin Martyr once wrote what he said was a saying of our Lord that somehow, for some reason, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was never included in the scriptures. The saying of Justin Martyr was this:
“In whatsoever state I surprise you, I will judge you there.”
Now, we do not know whether the Lord said that or not, but it is typical of what John says “to so live that we shall not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”
James, come to the witness stand. What manner of persons ought we to be? James’ exhortation to us, I am sure would be that what we ought to be doing is waiting patiently for the coming of our Lord. Waiting patiently for Him. He says in James 5:7-8, that the coming of the Lord draws nigh and to be waiting patiently for that coming.
An insurance company sometime ago recorded the story of a man and his daughter who went swimming off the coast of New Jersey in the Atlantic. Before very long, they realized they were being carried out into the ocean by the tide and the father turned to his daughter and said that he was going to swim for shore in order to obtain help. He encouraged his daughter to continue swimming and he said, “If you get tired just turn over on your back and you can float all day and I will come back for you.” The father made it to shore. Then, the search party started looking for the daughter. They looked for four long hours until they found her quietly floating on her back out in the midst of the Atlantic Ocean. When they found her and brought her in to the shore, the newsmen were on every hand and the people were astounded at the calmness of this teenaged girl. Her response was that “my father had said that I could float all day so I swam and floated because I knew he would come.” That is exactly the attitude of the believer. As he finds himself encircled by all kinds of uncertainties, as he finds himself in the midst of the trials, troubles, and adversities of life, there is the calmness to rest in Him because He said he would come and He said to wait patiently for His coming.
Lord Shaftesbury said, “The only hope for all of the mess of this world is the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He said, “I do not know why we don’t plea with God for it every time we hear that clock strike.”
What manner of persons ought we to be? My friend, we ought to be earnestly contending for the faith. We ought to be preaching the Word. We ought to be walking circumspectly. We ought to be watching expectantly and waiting patiently. And, if you have never believed in Jesus Christ as your personal savior, the great message to you this morning, my friend, is to trust Him as your savior. Do this now so that when He does return and the church is raptured that you shall go to be with Him and to be like Him forever and ever.
If the Rapture of the Church took place before the end of 1971, what would it mean for you? For those who have come to Jesus Christ, have confessed their sin to Him, have recognized that He died upon the cross for them, have recognized He bore their sin upon the cross and God judged Him for their sin, have turned to Him, and have received Him personally as their savior— for that person, the coming again of the Lord Jesus means the Rapture. They shall be saved and carried off to be with Him and to be like Him forever and ever.
My friend, are you trusting in Him this morning? May I ask you what is it that you are depending upon for your salvation? Are you depending upon the blood of Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sin, the salvation of your soul, and the participation in God’s future program? That is the only basis of salvation. “There is no under name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) It is the name of Jesus Christ. If you have never trusted Him before, we invite you on this last Sunday of 1971 to trust Him, to simply bow before Him and to confess to Him that you are a sinner, to thank Him for dying for you. Then, say, Lord Jesus, at this very moment I receive You personally as my savior. That is the kind of persons we ought to be as we stand in the very threshold of the coming again of our Lord Jesus.
Let’s bow, shall we, and close our class in prayer. Our father, we thank you that You have given to us these signs along the way that indicate the coming again of our Lord. We thank You for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit that that has shown us how to interpret these signs and to recognize them. We pray, Lord, that as You have given to us these insights so that we see the movements on the horizons of the world today in the light of the Word of God that You would also give to us the wisdom and the grace to live in the light of this truth. Father, our hearts are just absolutely thrilled this morning at the prospect of the soon return of our Lord. We pray that You will help us during this week to be looking for Him. Help us this week to be walking in such a way that we shall be expecting Him. Help us to be faithful to Him during this week. We pray, Lord, that You will soon return so that we may know the fulfillment of your great plans and purposes. We give You thanks for Your goodness to us. To each one of us present we ask a very special measure of grace that we might live in the light of this truth. For we ask it in Christ’s name. Amen.