THE NEXT GREAT EVENT ON THE CALENDAR OF GOD

1 THESSALONIANS 4:15-17

 

Pastor Rick Jackson

 

The next great event on the calendar of God is what we commonly call the Rapture. When the Lord Jesus returns for His saints in the twinkle of an eye and we meet Him in the air. This event is faster than the human eye can perceive and will change the world like no single event in almost 2000 years. There are several things I want to share with you, from the Scriptures, about the Rapture.

 

I. THE RAPTURE [TNGEOTCOG] IS IMMINENT!

 

1. There is Nothing that Precedes It [1 Th. 4:14-17, 1 Cor. 15:51-52]

 

Behold, I shew 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.

 

2. There is Nothing that Prevents It [1 Th. 5:1-3] if you don’t know when it is how could you stop it?

 

3. There is nothing that Postpones It [Gal. 4:4, Eph. 1:10]

 

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him

 

II. THE RAPTURE [TNGEOTCOG] IS IMPORTANT!

 

1. It is Important because it Removes the Church [1 Th. 4:13-17, 2 Th. 2:1-3a]

 

2. It is Important because it Reveals the Antichrist [2 Th. 2:3b-10]

 

3. It is Important because it Releases God’s Wrath [1 Th. 1:9-10, 5:9, Revelation 6:16-17]

 

And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

 

III. THE RAPTURE [TNGEOTCOG] IS IMPERATIVE!

 

1. The Rapture is Imperative to Manifest God’s Holiness [2 Th. 1:6-9]

 

2. The Rapture is Imperative to Maintain God’s Word [1 Th. 5:19-24, 2 Th. 1:10]

 

3. The Rapture is Imperative to Mark God’s Timetable [2 Th. 2:1-8, Rev. 4:1ff]