In The Twinkling Of An Eye · Part 1

0:29 Nobody can set the date, but we know the date is coming in the twinkling of an eye. Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the timeless teaching and biblical insights of Pastor Adrian Rogers. In the twinkling of an eye, that's how fast it's going to happen. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, Paul unveils the sacred mystery of the rapture, the shout, the trumpet, and the moment we rise to meet our Lord in the air. Though we don't know the day, we can live in confident hope. If you have your Bible, turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 now. We'll begin in verse 13 as Adrian Rogers reveals more about what can happen in the twinkling of an eye. Take God's Word, find 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, the moment we begin reading in verse 13. Now we're thinking about living on the edge of eternity, the soon coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

1:30 It is not only the church that is interested in the second coming of Jesus Christ, the FBI is interested in the second coming of Jesus Christ. Because they think that many who believe in the second coming of Jesus, as we believe in the second coming of Jesus, are dangerous. They think that we're part of the lunatic fringe. And they said to the FBI, keep your eye on those kind of people. They're nuts. Well, I may be a nut, but I'm fastened to a good bolt. His name is Jesus. Well, the Christians at Thessalonica were having some problems. And here were the problems. Jesus had come. He taught. He had ascended. And he said, I'm coming again. They took him literally. They expected him to come. and they were expecting Him to come in their lifetime. But in the meanwhile, some of the members of that flock had died.

2:24 And so they were perplexed and disturbed and worried. And they were saying, but wait a minute. Where's Jesus? Did our loved ones miss His coming? Will they miss their part in the kingdom? And so Paul is writing to answer their questions and to relieve their worries and to give them comfort. So it begins in verse 13, chapter 4 and verse 13, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren. Now just underscore the word ignorant. I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, underscore sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. Underscore no hope. There you have three major problems that people have who don't understand the second coming of Jesus Christ. Number one, ignorance. Number two, sorrow. And number three, hopelessness.

3:17 And so Paul is writing to alleviate these problems and to give encouragement and to give comfort. And so he tells them this blessed truth, this wonderful truth of the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let's read it all.

4:12 words. Now we're going to ask and answer some questions today concerning the rapture of the church that will take place in the twinkling of an eye. The title of our message, In the Twinkling of an Eye. And we'll let all these questions begin with the letter W so we can help keep them in track and understand them. First of all the word what. What do we mean when we say the rapture? Well the what is the sacred mystery of resurrection and rapture. You'll find that in verses 16 and 17. It starts out in verse 16, for the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven. The central figure in all of this, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And one day Jesus is going to stand up from His lofty throne in the glory and make His way, stepping on the clouds, back to this earth. He's going to make His descent to this earth, or back toward this earth. And then when he does, a shout will come from his lips, and those who know him are going to hear him say, come forth. And both the living and the dead will rise to meet the Lord in the air. And at his command, those dead in the sea will come forth as the sea heaves her bosom and gives up the dead that are there. And those wrapped in the winding sands of the desert will give up the dead there. And battlefields will give up the dead that are in the battlefields. And graveyards may look like plowed fields as Jesus gives a shout and the dead rise to meet him in the air. What a glorious day that will be as the dead rise first. And then next after this resurrection is going to come the rapture. Now the rapture means that those of us who are alive when Jesus comes, and we may be alive, are going to be transformed in the twinkling of an eye.

6:05 Notice in verse 17, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Now we call that the rapture. Some people say, well, the word rapture is not found in the Bible. That is true. It is not found in the Bible under the heading rapture. The word Trinity is not found in the Bible. The word missions is not found in the Bible. But those things are taught in the Bible. The word here, harpazo, is the Greek word. The Latin word, rapto, is the word we get our word rapture from. And it simply means to be caught away quickly. Let me give you four places in the Bible where the word harpazo is used, apart from the second coming of Jesus, to give you some idea of why Paul chose this word. First of all, You might find it in Acts chapter 8, verse 39. Put it down.

6:58 And when they were come out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, so that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. Now, Philip was a preacher. He preached the gospel to a eunuch from Ethiopia. And after he had baptized him, the Bible says God's Spirit just took Philip. Philip vanished. The Lord just took him away, caught him away. So what does the word rapture mean? Well, it means to catch away speedily. That's what's going to happen to us. And then not only does it mean to catch away speedily, but it also means to seize by force. John chapter 6 and verse 15, When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. They came to take Jesus, to seize him and take him by force. Now the rapture is going to take us by force.

7:52 What I mean by that is the grave nor gravity can hold us down. We're going at what mighty power this rapture will have. Now here again it's used in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 1. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant that ye were Gentiles carried away unto these dumb idols. Now there it's used in a negative sense that as Gentiles before we were saved, we were just led away, transported into idol worship. Well, the point is that the word harpazo, the same word that's used here for caught up, is used to mean to carry away. One of these days Jesus is going to come and carry us away. We're going to be taken home. We're going to be taken to a new place. Then here's the last time this word is used. It's found in Acts chapter 23 and verse 10. There were some people who wanted to do Paul harm and there were those who came to rescue him.

8:52 And here's what it says. And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them. That is to rescue him. So there you have an idea of what the rapture really means. It means to catch away speedily. It has the idea of seizing by force. It has the idea of being taken from one place to another place. It has the idea of being delivered from danger. All of these words are the same word that is translated here in 1 Thessalonians 4, which means that we are caught away to meet the Lord in the air. Now, this rapture is a mystery. That's the reason why I called it a mystery. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 51, Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. So it is a mystery. Now what is a mystery in the Bible? The word mystery means something that has been hidden that is now revealed. The Old Testament prophets did not understand the rapture. The rapture is a message that deals specifically with the church. And so that's the very first thing I want to do as we answer this question. I want to talk to you about the sacred mystery of the resurrection and the rapture. When I was a boy we had near our house about three or four blocks from our house, a great scrapyard. Scrap was accumulated there, was needed actually in the war effort. We boys used to play in the scrapyard. One of the things that always amazed me was a giant magnet that would pick up huge pieces of metal. Sometimes the whole chassis of an automobile would be picked up by this magnet. And it had great force to pick up metal. I want you to imagine one of those great electromagnets. And here on the ground are all bits of metal. There's some zinc, there's some aluminum, there's some silver, there's some lead, and other pieces of metal. But then there's some steel and some iron. Some of that metal may be

10:59 beneath the surface of the ground, and some of it lying on top of the ground. When that great magnet passes over there, there's certain pieces of metal that are going to rise, and certain pieces of metal are going to stay on the ground. Even gold and silver, as precious as it is, would stay on the ground. What part will rise? That part that has in it iron, the same nature as the magnet. And what part is going to rise when Jesus comes again of all the world's population? There's some who have an affinity for Jesus Christ and there's some who don't. And if you are heaven born, you'll be heaven bound. That which has the nature of the magnet is that which is going to be raised when Jesus comes again. So first of all, we've asked the question, what? Now let's ask the second question that we want to answer, and that is who? Who? And there is not only a sacred mystery, but there is a select multitude of the Savior and his saints. Again, look, if you will, in verses 16 and 17, for the Lord himself, that's the Savior, shall descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel and the trump of God.

12:05 And the dead in Christ, that's the who, shall rise first. And we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them. He's talking now about the people that are going to be raised. Put it down in your notes. This is not a general resurrection. Some people teach a general resurrection, but there is not a general resurrection. There's a first and second resurrection. This is the first resurrection, and it is for the saved. And an ancillary note, our scripture would be Revelation 20. Put it down. Verses 5 and 6. The apostle John said, But the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years were finished. That is, until after the millennium. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power.

13:01 But they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years. We're going up in the first resurrection and we're going to enter into the millennium and reign with Jesus a thousand years. The rest of the dead won't be raised until the millennium is over. A thousand years from the time Jesus comes at the rapture. Blessed and holy is he that hath part on the first resurrection. If you're in the first resurrection you'll not face the second death. The second death hath no power over you. Your body may die but your spirit cannot die. But the second death is for those who've never been saved. The second death is the lake of fire. So blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. Those who have part in the first resurrection are those who know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. Therefore, they're blessed and they're holy. You'll not be in this resurrection when Jesus comes if you're not blessed and holy, if you haven't been saved. The second death will have power over you.

13:57 And if you are not born twice, you will die twice. And if you die twice, the time will come when you wish you'd never been born at all. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. So we're talking about the who. These are the saved dead. The dead in Christ shall rise first. Are you in Christ? There are only two ways to die, in Christ or out of Christ. And if you die in Christ, the second death cannot harm you. If you die out of Christ, the second death will keep you forever. Now, question. Pastor Rogers, how do we know all of this is going to happen anyway? Well, Paul gives us an assurance. Look, if you will, in verse 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Now, I know what some of you are thinking.

14:51 If you're a professor or a physicist or a medical doctor or a scientist, you say, now, Pastor, all this talk about being caught up in the air, all this talk about the dead being raised, all of this, it sounds so sophomoric. It sounds so superstitious. Paul knew that people would believe that. And so he wants to give some assurance that this will happen. And first of all, I want you to notice what he says here in verse 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again. Now, do you believe that? If you can believe that miracle, you won't have any difficulty of our being raised. If Jesus ascended to heaven, then why can't we? You see, that's what it's all about. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. So he's saying that the proof of our resurrection is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

15:51 And if you can't believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, you can't believe in biblical Christianity at all. And if you don't believe in biblical Christianity at all, then you may not believe in those of us who are sleeping in Christ to be raised from the dead. But frankly, folks, I believe Jesus Christ walked out of that grave. And I believe one day if I die, I'm coming out of that grave. I believe that with all of my heart. And so there is the incomparable work of our Lord that proves this. And then there's the infallible word of our Lord that proves this. Look in verse 15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep. Now the two things. The incomparable work of our Lord. He died and rose again. And then the infallible word of our Lord. There's so many soothsayers, astrologers, prognosticators, guessers, and all of these things, and futurists who are trying to tell us what the future is all about.

16:50 Nobody knows the future but God Almighty and those to whom He has revealed it. Nobody. You say, doesn't the devil know the future? Of course not. The devil's a knucklehead. Really. Really, he's a knucklehead. to think that he thought or ever has thought or ever will think that he can survive or thrive against the Almighty God. He can't do that. How does Paul say these things are going to happen? Well, Jesus died and rose again. Then I can believe in the rapture and the resurrection. The Word of God has given it to us. And God's Word that has been fulfilled in so many ways will be fulfilled. literally. These prognosticators and other people, they call themselves prophetic. I think they're pathetic. Now, one-third of the Bible is about the second coming of Jesus Christ. The first and last promise in both of the Testaments, Old Testament and New Testament, deals with the second coming of Jesus Christ.

17:48 Here's the third thing. We have talked about the what. We've talked, secondly, about the who. Now let's talk, thirdly, about the when. The when. W-H-E-N. It is a sudden moment, a sudden moment that is both close and certain. Now you say, Pastor, you say it is close. How do you know it's close? It may be a hundred years from now. It doesn't make any difference. It's still close. We are living on the edge of eternity. When I say it is close, I'm saying what the Bible is saying, the time is near. Even the Apostle John before he left this earth said, little children, it is the last hour. Christians always are living on the edge of eternity. The time is always near. The Apostle Paul in this passage of Scripture said, then we which remain in our life. Paul was expecting Christ in his lifetime. Was he wrong? No, he was absolutely right. Nobody can set the date, but we know the date is coming in the twinkling of an eye. Put these Scriptures down. Matthew 24, verse 36, but of that day and hour knoweth no man, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

18:58 Now if any Bible teacher comes along and sets a date, you have a right to say he's a heretic. If one of them guesses the right date, if I were God, I'd change it. Nobody knows that day and that hour. Matthew 24, verse 33. For as the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark. And then Jesus says, and likewise it will be in the day of the coming of the Son of Man. Now in the days of Noah, eating, drinking, marrying, they didn't know it until it started to rain. The regular round of life. some teachers erroneously teach that the church is going to go through the Great Tribulation. If that were true, then we would have some ideas to when Jesus Christ is coming. We wouldn't be eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage.

19:55 No, this is speaking of the normal round of life, a day like today that Jesus may come. And so Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24, verse 42, Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. And Jesus said in Matthew 24, verse 44, Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. Question, are you ready now? Jesus said, you are to be ready. Now He's coming, as we said, 1 Corinthians 15, verse 51, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. I heard the other day on the radio, I thought how apropos because I'm preparing this message, somebody said that the average person blinks his eyes 20,000 times a day. Now who counts those kind of things? How do you figure that out? But I thought that's so interesting.

20:49 That's how quickly you blink your eyes. That's how quickly the Lord Jesus Christ is coming. In a moment, he says there in verse 51, the word moment is the word we get our word Adam from. Not Adam, the man Adam, but A-T-O-M. It means an indivisible unit. That's what men first thought the atom was before the day of nuclear physics. Now the Bible writer had no idea. He just simply used the word to mean that which is indivisible. In a split second, in an indivisible time, Jesus Christ is coming. People say, well, Pastor, you're talking about the wind. Don't you think that the signs of the times mean that Jesus is getting closer? Yes, I do. But that's not proof. Jesus could have come at any time. We're not waiting on any sign to be fulfilled. You see, these signs of the times are really for things that will take place primarily after the rapture. And the second coming of Jesus is yet to come after the rapture.

21:50 At the rapture, Jesus only comes to meet the saints in the air. We'll say more about that later on. at His second coming in power and glory, His feet are coming back to touch upon the Mount of Olives. And so when at any moment, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, we don't know when He's coming, but we know that He's coming. There are going to be some sudden sounds. Verse 16 says, He's coming with a shout. Remember He stood before the grave of Lazarus and said, Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus came forth. When Jesus comes from His throne in glory, he's going to come with a shout and he'll say come forth and the whole church will come forth and he's going to come with the voice of the archangel because the archangel who is the commander-in-chief of heaven's armies is going to assemble the angels to get ready to work out the great tribulation here upon this earth and then he's coming also with the trump of God the trumpet was used to assemble Israel and God is going to begin to work again with Israel as a nation I wish I had more time to talk about that.

22:54 But that sound is going to come at any moment.