DO NOT BE LEFT BEHIND
The Grand Finale – Week 4
Steve Gallimore | pastorsteve@tvcc.us
October 4, 2020

1. The Rapture In Perspective

Definition: “The Rapture is the

away to heaven of all Christians before the

Reveal Answer

of the Tribulation.”

3 As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. 5 God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets. 6 And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 3:3, 5-6 (NLT)

1. The Rapture Described (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

• The

of Christ

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16

27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24:27

17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:17

• The

of the Dead in Christ

“And the dead in Christ will rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16b

• The

of All Living Christians

“And the dead in Christ will rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16b

“Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17

• The

of Our Bodies

“Here’s a simple fact of life. You can’t enter into heaven in your present bodies. That which is temporal cannot enter that which is eternal.” 1 Corinthians 15:50 (Paraphrase)

51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:51-53

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16

“…in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52

1. Three Reasons For A Pre-Tribulation Rapture

• The

of the Tribulation

• The Lack of Reference to the

in Revelation 6-18

• The Promise That Believers Will Be Spared the

“Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.” Revelation 3:10

37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Hebrews 11:37-38

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

1. The Only Thing Needed Before The Rapture:
   Reveal Answer

52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:52

“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,” Hebrews 9:27