“A foolish physician he is, and a most unfaithful friend, that will let a sick man die for fear of troubling him; and cruel wretches are we to our friends, that will rather suffer them to go quietly to hell, then we will anger them, or hazard our reputation with them.”

Richard Baxter

The text we are studying in Jude 21 says, “waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.” The idea of waiting on the Lord is found repeatedly in Scripture (Phil. 3:20; 1 Thess. 1:10; 2 Tim. 4:8; Heb. 9:28), and in each verse the idea is to carry in our mind the promise of Christ coming for His church. Our world has many attractions, but it is tainted and ruined by sin. Our world is not a friend of grace. Lest anyone be confused by this we are commanded not to love the world (1 John 2:15). The idea of the world in John’s context is the world in opposition to God, to truth, to His righteousness. Those of us in Christ we are living in the world, but not of the world. Because our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20), we continue to wait for the promise of Christ to take us to the place of our true citizenship (John 14:1-2). In Titus 2:13 Paul calls this waiting for the Lord, “looking for the blessed hope.” Have you thought about how remarkable it is to be a Christian and have such a promised future from God Himself?

All of us have had to say goodbye to our dear ones as we have stood by their graves. We have hurt immeasurably, yet we have sorrowed not like those who have no hope. There will be a reuniting of great joy with those in Christ someday in glory that is beyond our comprehension. It is interesting that with all that is said about it, there is controversy in Christian circles about what theologians call the rapture. Some go so far as to deny there is such a thing. But how can that be so, when it is clearly taught in Scripture and referred to as our blessed hope? We in Christ will participate in it even if we die before it occurs. What does the Scripture say? “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:13-17). He then goes on to state, “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” That is why it is our blessed hope. It is clearly promised of God and is therefore completely real and true.

Now beloved that little phrase, “caught up” (1 Thess. 4:17) is the meaning behind the term rapture. It is Christ at some point coming for His own and snatching them from the earth with the destination of glory in view. As this is clearly a promise of God in Scripture, and a supernatural and major event for all in Christ, why should we be timid about proclaiming it? The rapture of the church should not be confused with the second coming of Christ to the earth. Christ coming to the earth after the “Day of the Lord” or time we call the tribulation given in detail in Revelation chapter 6 to chapter 19 is clearly shown as chronologically following God’s proclaimed time of severe judgment on the earth. His second coming to the earth is to destroy His enemies and establish His kingdom on earth (Revelation 19:11 – 20:6). The removal of His church is clearly not the same event as His second coming. Christ coming for His saints to take them to the Father’s house in heaven is a movement from earth to heaven (John 14:1-3; 1 Thess 4:13-18; 1 Cor 15:51-58). Christ’s coming with His saints is a movement from heaven to the earth (Acts 1:11; Jude 14-15; Rev. 19:11-14; Matt. 26:64; Mk 14:62; Zech. 14:3-9) to establish His promised rule on earth following the tribulation.

At the rapture living saints are translated, while no saints are mentioned as translated in connection with the second coming of Christ to the earth (Rev. 19:11-14). In the sequence of events describing the second coming of Christ to the earth, there is no place or mention of a rapture.  At the rapture, the saints go to heaven (John 14:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:48-50), while at the second coming the saints still living remain on the earth to enter and enjoy Christ’s reign on the earth (Mat 24-25; Rev 20). The rapture relates only to those who are saved, while the second coming of Christ to the earth deals with both saved and unsaved yet intermingled together. In fact, according to Matt. 25:31-46, believers and unbelievers are intermingled and separated by Christ at the time of His judgment at His second coming to the earth, and so it is obvious that no removal of the saved had just occurred. Also, Christ’s coming for His church (the rapture) is presented as imminent or requiring no unfulfilled prophecy, while the events of the “Day of the Lord” (Rev. 6-19) are described as being fulfilled before Christ’s second coming to set up His kingdom (Luke 12:40).

Beloved, there is much more to be said concerning this and that is the reason we must study the Scripture carefully and logically. The major point is that we are right now seeing the world system shaping itself for what the Bible describes as the coming time of the “Day of the Lord” (the tribulation). And while this is occurring before our eyes, we are awaiting the appearing of our Lord Jesus to remove His own from the earth. It could happen at any moment. This is our blessed hope. Our hope is not in a world held captive by Satan, but in the coming of Christ for us. He has a glorious plan to defeat evil and death, and He will make all things new. Come Lord Jesus!