1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 - “For the Lord Himself will descend form heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

“Maranatha” is a Hebrew/Aramaic term meaning, “The Lord is coming soon.” God has called us to preach about the Rapture of the church. How do we define “The Rapture”? The meaning of “the Rapture” in the original language was “snatching up.” Biblically, it is the event described in the passage above, where Jesus suddenly snatches his faithful church out of this world to meet him in the air. We will go to heaven with him. Those faithful servants who are alive at the time will not face physical death, but will go directly to heaven with him. The world plunges into a period of terrible judgment known as the Great Tribulation, which lasts seven years. At the end of those seven years, Jesus returns again, with all the saints with him, to set up his Kingdom on earth. We call that event “the Second Coming,” because it will be the second time Christ actually lives and walks upon the earth – at the Rapture he does not actually reach the earth. Jesus lands on the Mount of Olives, north of Jerusalem, and enters the holy city, which will become his capital, the place from which he reigns on earth for 1000 years. This is the meaning of “The Rapture.”

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Genesis 7:13 - On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. 

Matthew 24:37-39 - As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

 Jesus said that the days before the Rapture would be similar to the days of Noah.  It comes on the world unexpectedly, when everyone is still making plans for the future (getting married) and celebrating.  Only Noah and his family knew what was coming; they had the revelation.

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Genesis 41:15-24  -  Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”   

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“And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.”  2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 (NIV)

“And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.” (NKJV) 

In this passage, Paul addressed a problem in the church of Thessalonica in his day: many people in the church thought the Second Coming of Christ was imminent, and a type of panic had beset the immature believers.  Some of the lazy ones were no longer working at any job, because they said it was more spiritual to sit around waiting for the Rapture – and the other church members had to support them.  Paul sharply criticizes anyone (besides widows and orphans) who depends on the church for financial support instead of working at a secular job and being self-sufficient financially.  Other church members were focused on the rise of the Antichrist.  

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Philippians 2:20-21 – “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

At the end of a chapter where Paul discusses the contrast between religion (rules and traditions) and the true Work of the Holy Spirit (Philippians 3), he contrasts the attitude or mindset of people in each category about where they belong. The false Christian has a “mind set on earthly things.”  They belong to this world, to the worldly system that goes its own way and ignores God’s revelation.

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I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. 
 I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk.
Eat, O friends, and drink; drink your fill, O lovers.

I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My lover is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”-  Song of Songs 5:1-2 

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I have taken off my robe– must I put it on again?  I have washed my feet– must I soil them again?  My lover thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him.   I arose to open for my lover, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh, on the handles of the lock.   I opened for my lover, but my lover had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure. I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer.  The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. They beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak, those watchmen of the walls! - Song of Songs 5:3-7

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Song of Solomon 5:2-8 – “I slept but my heart was awake.  Listen! My lover is knocking: ”Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”  I have taken off my robe— must I put it on again? I have washed my feet— must I soil them again?  My lover thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him.   I arose to open for my lover, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh,  on the handles of the lock.  I opened for my lover, but my lover had left; he was gone.  My heart sank at his departure.  I looked for him but did not find him.  I called him but he did not answer.  The watchmen found me  as they made their rounds in the city.  They beat me, they bruised me;  they took away my cloak,  those watchmen of the walls!  O daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you—  if you find my lover,  what will you tell him?  Tell him I am faint with love…”

The Bible says that “God rewards those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6 - ekzeteo in the Greek).  In contrast, He does not necessarily reward those who seek Him only casually or sporadically.  Such people are not displaying any faith.  The promise of Scripture is that He rewards those who seek Him diligently, wholeheartedly.

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