What is the correlation between Christ’s


Resurrection and the Rapture of the Church?


Why, even at the “time of the end,” will the world go on eternally?

Paul’s message to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 15) is strong and beautifully stated. Twenty centuries later, it is still impossible to overstate the profound importance of our Lord’s resurrection to our faith. If Jesus had not risen from the dead as the Bible states, then all who had and have fallen asleep (died in Christ) have perished and our hope for eternal life is gone. If Jesus had remained in the grave, so would we. But praise God; He is risen from the dead. We serve a risen, living Savior. Think for a moment about what happened when Christ rose from the grave. What was left behind? All that was found in that sepulcher were our Lord’s grave clothes. What is the significance of that fact? In 1 Corinthians 15:23, it says Christ is the “first-fruits” of the resurrection. In the following text it states, “They that are Christ’s at his coming” will follow. The answer is there in black and white. Since Christ’s clothes were left behind, ours will be left behind also. Those that belong to Christ at the time of His coming will be bodily translated into heaven just as Jesus was, leaving behind the rags of sin for new robes of righteousness.

He Will Return as He Left

When Jesus Christ comes to call us home at the Rapture, He will come to receive us exactly as He left. How did He leave? He left bodily, ascending into the clouds. Acts 1:9-11 says, “And when he [Jesus] had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go.” In other words, if we can prove that Jesus ascended into heaven bodily, then we need go no further to prove that He is coming back bodily. Why? Because the Bible says He is coming back exactly as He left. After spending three days in the grave. He rose and stood on the earth in His new body. In Luke 24:39, He says to some of His followers, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” In verses 41-43, He says, “Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them.” This is Christ in His new resurrected body, a body that could be seen, a body that could be touched, and a physical being that could eat food. It is a picture of what all believers will have at the time of the Rapture. How quickly will it happen? “Behold, I shew you a mystery,” the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. “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. For this corruptible [the dead] must put on incorruption, and this mortal [the living] must put on immortality.” This is going to be a glorious event because we shall be changed to be like Jesus. The psalmist said in chapter 17, verse 15, “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” In Philippians 3:21, Paul says that God will change our vile bodies-not leave them behind but change them-so that they may be fashioned like unto His glorious body. In 1 John 3:2, it says that when we see Jesus, we shall be like Him, “for we shall see him as he is.”

The “Fourth” Rapture

Did you know that Jesus was not the first person to be raptured from this earth? In fact, when the Rapture occurs, it will be the fourth occurrence documented in the Bible. The first was Enoch in Genesis 5:24, “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” In Hebrews 11:5, Paul adds, that “by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death.” He was raptured, caught up in the twinkling of an eye, without dying. The second documented rapture is Elijah in 2 Kings 2:11. Elijah was caught up by a whirlwind into heaven. He, too, never saw death, a foreshadowing of what we believers will experience on the day when our Savior catches us up in the clouds. Then, of course, Jesus was raptured away in Acts 1:9, “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.”

When Elijah was caught up, angels and chariots of fire came to get him. I believe that angelic hosts may also come after those of us who ascend in the Rapture. Why? Because every believer, not just Elijah, has his or her own ministering angel (Hebrews 1:14). These heavenly bodies could come to whisk us home in the twinkling of an eye. Luke 16:22 provides a precedent for us, “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom.” Let me ask you this: Is all this something that should frighten us? Excite us, yes. Frighten us, no. As I field scores of Rapture questions each month on television and radio, I discover unfortunately, that many people today are facing the approach of Christ’s return with unnecessary fear and foreboding. There is an anticipation, largely promulgated by the secular media, that we may be nearing the end of the world. There is anxiety and hopelessness everywhere. The world seems to get just a bit uglier every day as crime increases, wars break out, and immorality rules the day. Yes, those are the facts. Things will get much worse before they start to get better-during the Millennium. But the believer need not despair, especially when we remember what Jesus did for us on the cross of Calvary, and how He defeated the last enemy, death (1 Corinthians 15:26). What could be more exciting and encouraging than the idea that some of us will never die? That’s why in Titus 2:13, Paul calls the Rapture our “blessed hope.” In 1 Thessalonians 4:18, he says, “Comfort one another with these words.” Comfort one another, he says, not frighten one another.

The World Will Never Disappear

I have been saving the best news for you until last. Here it is: The world is not-I repeat-not coming to an end. The world is not going to disappear in a puff of nuclear smoke in the year 2000, nor even a thousand years after that. God has shown me something recently to change my thinking 180 degrees concerning this subject. It is now clear to me from Scripture that the world will not even end after Christ’s one-thousand-year reign on earth. The world will never end. Isaiah 45:17 is unequivocal when it says that it is a world without end. Paul adds in Ephesians 3:21, “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” I have discovered 121 texts in recent studies stating that the world will never end-109 in the Old Testament and 12 in the New Testament. Skeptics will no doubt point to Matthew 13:39,49; 24:3; 28:20; and Hebrews 9:26 as proof texts that the world will end. Matthew 24:3 states: “As he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying. Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Remember that the New Testament was written in Greek. The Greek translation of that last word is “age,” not “world.” This age of grace precedes the millennial age; thus, the world is not coming to an end. But this epoch, this age, this era is coming to a close. Yes, the coming of the year 2000 does have some significance. Why? Because it could conceivably be the year that marks the end of the age of grace and the beginning of the millennial age when the King of kings and Lord of lords returns. When he comes, His kingdom holds dominion over the earth for one thousand years. Then He is recommissioned (1 Corinthians 15:24-28) so that His kingdom on earth becomes eternal (Isaiah 9:6-7; Luke 1:32-33; Hebrews 1:8). Since His kingdom is forever and forever upon earth, this old world cannot ever end (Ecclesiastes 1:4; Psalm 104:5).

The Return of Jesus Is Imminent

We have already noted that long before Christ was born, the Jewish rabbis taught a six-day theory about the future of the world. They believed that the world would face several eras lasting a total of six thousand years, from Adam’s creation until the Messiah would come. This theory was based, in part, on Psalm 90:4: “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday.” Since God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day, they reasoned, the world would go on for six thousand years followed by a one-thousand-year millennial “rest” period presided over by the Lord Himself. Give this argument some thought: From the creation of Adam until the birth of Christ is a period of four thousand years or four days passed. From Christ’s time on earth until now represents approximately another two thousand years or two days. This total of six days is just one more reason to believe that the return of our Lord is imminent. Six-day periods, followed by remarkable transitions, have been important throughout all of Scripture. However, because of calendar miscalculations, I believe the actual timetable falls between 2001 and 2012.

Note what the Gospel writer says in Matthew 17:1-2, “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” Jesus was giving them a preview of what it would be like when He returns as King of kings and Lord of lords as described in Revelation 19:16. When they came down from that mountain, Jesus told them not to tell anyone of these things until after His resurrection. Not only did the ancient Jewish rabbis teach this six-day theory, but so did the Church during the first three hundred years of Christendom. The early church leaders based their belief on 2 Peter 3:8, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

Consider the following information once again from the “Epistle of Barnabas.”

And God made in six days the works of his hands; and he finished them on the seventh day, and he rested the seventh day, and sanctified it. Consider, my children, what that signifies, he finished them in six days. The meaning of it is this; that in six thousand years the Lord God will bring all things to an end. For with him one day is a thousand years; as himself testified! saying, Behold this day shall be as a thousand years. Therefore, children, in six thousand years, shall all things be accomplished. And what is that he saith, and he rested on the seventh day, he meaneth this; that when his Son shall come, and abolish the season of the Wicked One, and judge the ungodly; and shall change the sun and the moon and the stars; then he shall gloriously rest in that seventh day. (w. 3-6)

Irenaeus A.D. 140 (Early church father, 1850 years ago)

“For in so many days as this world was made, in so many thousand years shall it be concluded… and God brought to a conclusion upon the sixth day the works he made….”

The Jewish Talmud

“The world is to stand 6000 years, viz., 2000 confusion and void, 2000 with the law, and 2000 the time of the Messiah.”

The chronological tables could be off by five years. However, we know that the time of the end is near, even at the doors, though we know not the day and hour. Just minutes remain before midnight. The closing day is upon us. Work is about to cease, and we believers are about to rule and reign with the Lord Jesus Christ.

God Will Always Spare His Own

The other great, good news is that God always spares His own from judgment. When the horrendous worldwide flood destroyed everything in sight in Noah’s day, Noah told those who were prepared to come into the ark (Genesis 7:7). When the judgment fell on Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19:12, the angels told Lot and his family to come out of the city. Notice this interesting trilogy: In Noah’s day, it was come w. In Lot’s day it was come out. In our day, it will become up. Revelation 4:1. However, as always, only a select group will be rescued from this more heinous period in human history. During the Tribulation Hour that follows the Rapture, all hell will break loose on planet earth. It will be a treacherous time for those who are left behind, primarily because the hindering power of the Holy Spirit within believers will be removed-not the Holy Spirit per se but rather the believers He indwells. Since the Holy Spirit is God and omnipresent (everywhere at all times), He can never be removed (see Psalm 139: 1-12). In this light, God’s people should be living holy lives. But what about those who are left behind? There are almost no instructions about how to prepare for this post-Rapture period. That is why our ministry has produced Bible-based videos such as Left Behind: the Final Warning to help those who need to have the facts of life explained to them covering the Tribulation period. More than anything else, this and other videos will hopefully serve as survival helps for those who fail to come to Christ before He returns for His church and bride.

It Will Be Worse before It Gets Better

How bad will things get during that time of judgment? We have addressed this issue periodically throughout this book. In Revelation 9:18, it says that a third of humankind will be killed by fire, smoke, and brimstone. That, my friends, is nothing less than a first-century way of explaining all-out thermonuclear warfare. Imagine. There are nearly six billion people on the earth today. If one-third of the inhabitants are killed, that is a holocaust representing two billion lives. However, that is only the beginning. In Revelation 6:8, the rider on the fourth horse brings with him a worldwide plague of disease that causes another fourth of humanity to perish. That is another billion of the four billion still alive. Thus half of the human race will be annihilated in this relatively brief period. This portrays the judgment predicted by Jesus in Matthew 24:41 and 42 when He stated, “Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” As terrible as that fate sounds, there is still hope for those left behind. As long as one is alive there is hope. In the midst of the worldwide carnage and the massive destruction of human life and property, Joel 2:32 and Acts 2:21 remind us, “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” There is always hope in Jesus.

FROM THE HEART OF DR. REXELLA VAN IMPE

Let Me Cry!

I’ve been doing some crying, lately.

A while back I noticed that a young waitress who often serves Jack and me when we go out to eat seemed unusually quiet and withdrawn and there was a strain on her countenance. When I went to wash my hands in the ladies room, I had a chance to pull her aside and ask if something was wrong. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she told me her husband had just asked her for a divorce.

Imagine the pain of having your husband or wife look you in the eye and say, “I don’t love you anymore-I want out of this marriage.” I can’t even begin to comprehend the shock, sorrow, and grief one would feel in such a situation.

I didn’t know what to say to this poor girl -but I put my arms around her and comforted her the only way I knew how…with my tears.

Also in recent months, I have felt an increased burden for my unsaved friends and loved ones. Bible prophecy makes it so clear that time on this old earth is running out fast and that surely Jesus is coming soon…perhaps today! So I have been praying…and weeping …for my unsaved loved ones. It is the only way I know to minister to them!

What is a tear?

The great preacher, T. DeWitt Talmage, once wrote, “Help me explain a tear. A chemist will tell you that it is made up of salt and lime and other component parts; but he misses the chief ingredients-the acid of a soured life, the viperine sting of a bitter memory, the fragments of a broken heart. I will tell you what a tear is: it is agony in solution.”

These are powerful, moving words. And perhaps all of us have either witnessed or personally experienced the truth Talmage sought to convey.

But I suggest to you that there is more to tears than sadness, sorrow, regret, and pain. Tears can be a release from stress and anxiety, a vent for frustration, a safety valve for overpowering emotions. Tears can be the most sincere expression of compassion and love. And just as raindrops wash the smoke, smog, and impurities from the atmosphere, so tears can wash away the stains of bitterness and disappointment from our souls.

A time to weep

As Solomon, perhaps the wisest man who ever lived, once declared, To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…A time to weep, and a time to laugh(Ecclesiastes 3:1,4).

We live in a time when everyone wants to laugh all the time, but no one is willing to weep. And if someone does cry, it makes people really uncomfortable. Children are hushed and told not to cry. Men are taught that tears don’t go with a macho image…that only sissies cry. And women who weep at some sadness or loss are interrupted and advised to wipe their eyes and get control of themselves.

No! No! No! Let me cry. It’s all right to cry. I need to cry. In fact, one of my goals is to minister to those who are weeping. I want to do all I can, to say what I can…and when there are no deeds or words that can help, to weep with them.

Perhaps my resolution is best expressed in the words of the late Bob Pierce in his moving book, Let My Heart Be Broken With the Things That Break the Heart of God.

When Jesus wept, His tears were for others. Both Matthew and Luke describe how He wept over the city of Jerusalem for those who would not hear and accept the Truth! We, too, should weep for others.

Weep over souls

Should we be less concerned over lost souls than our Saviour? Why are we not crying and praying for the lost to be saved before it is eternally too late?

I’ve seen people moved to tears by the plight of fictional characters in a paperback book. A melodramatic film may jokingly be described as a “two-hanky” movie, and it’s perfectly all right. But the same people who get involved and empathize with artificial stories can see real live people around them dying and slipping into eternity without God and never feel a twinge or shed a tear.

I wonder-if the unsaved friends and loved ones I’m praying for don’t seem to be any closer to the Lord than when I first started, could it be because I haven’t shed any tears for them? The Bible says, They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him(Psalm 126:5, 6).

Weep over sin

Sometimes I can hardly watch the news on television or read the daily paper without crying. My heart breaks at what is going on in our nation and the world today. There is such evil and perversion, such wickedness and violence. How long will God allow men’s hearts to be filled with such deliberate, willful sin before calling them to judgment?

I believe we are to weep over sin, whether our own, our family’s, or our nation’s.

The Apostle Paul wrote, For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10).

I am reminded of how Peter, after denying the Lord during the awful hours before the Crucifixion, went out, and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:75). Those tears of repentance led to his being forgiven and restored.

Weep over sorrow

Just as there is a time to weep over souls and a time to weep over sin, there is also a time to weep over sorrow. Do you remember when Mary and Martha showed the Lord the tomb where their brother Lazarus was buried? The Bible says, Jesus wept (John 11:35).

There is a time for sorrow… and when it comes, tears are appropriate. Paul instructed, Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep (Romans 12:15).

Notice that the verse did not say to laugh with those who are laughing and to tell those who are crying to stop and cheer up. No, it says to cry with those who are crying! That means to share their sorrow-to get down under the burden with them. And when you share their tears-when all you can do is cry with them-you’ll find it is a tremendously effective way to minister your compassion and love.

I once interviewed a pastor who had suffered the traumatic loss of his little son. This man told me that in the midst of his grieving, the people of his church did not understand or know how to weep with him. They would come to him and say, “Pastor, why are you crying? Don’t you have any faith?”

After a while this minister wrote a book about what he had learned during his sorrowful experience. He called it, Jonathan, You Left Too Soon. But the main lesson I learned from his experience was that in the day of sorrow, it’s okay to weep. In fact, for most people, it’s a really good way to cope with loss and grief and begin to heal the broken heart and crushed emotions. Tears can be tremendously therapeutic.

I know I have been made acutely aware of the value of tears. And I pray that God will make me willing to weep with those who weep, whether they cry tears of pain, heartache, sorrow…or joy! I encourage you to consider whether God can also use you in a ministry of tears.

Remember, though, that our tears will not -cannot-last long. The psalmist sang, Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning (Psalm 30:5).

I’m here to tell you that a great morning is coming soon, when we will all be in the presence of the Lord. Oh, what a glorious promise and steadfast hope! For on that glad day, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away (Revelation 21:4).

No wonder Jesus said, Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh (Luke 6:21).

CHANGED LIVES-one at a time

Drs. Jack and Rexella!!!

Please be encouraged and know that we all love your ministry and thank you so much for it!!!! There aren’t many pure gospel television preachers that we can trust that are 100% honest and not in it for the money; but I truly believe that you both are pure in heart.

I first saw you in 1968 when I was 8 years old in Hampton, Virginia. You were preaching about the coming war with Russia back then and I remember my parents buying your album.

Please never stop doing what you’re doing. I love you both!!!!! I know you both will have so many rewards in heaven for warning everyone and encouraging us all to get our lives straightened out before Jesus comes!!!

You are both a very nice looking couple too.

Sincerely,

D. Godfrey

I just wanted to say that I am thankful for your program. I watch it as often as I can, and I visit your website regularly. It is so refreshing to see that there are still ministers who speak the truth of God’s word and not just what “tickles the ears”. I pray for God to bless you richly as you continue in your ministry.

Sincerely,

A. M.

Hanover, WV

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The Betrayal of Christianity

Unprecedented blasphemy; apostasy; heresy; so-called Christian leaders utterly turning their backs on the Word of God.

What does it mean? What does the Bible say about this colossal falling-away from the faith? What does it signal about YOUR FUTURE?

Drs. Jack and Rexella Van Impe offer the astonishing answers to these and other riveting questions:

• What does the word apostasy actually mean? Where are we seeing it today?


• What is the “blasphemy law”? How have our U.S. leaders responded to it?


• How does the persecution of Christians around the world relate to the final signs pointing to the return of the Lord?


• How is it possible to determine whether someone is truly a Christian when they claim to be?


• And much more!