Jack Hibbs - Why Should You Believe In The Rapture (01/23/2026)
The Hope of the Rapture
Well, church, listen. I don’t want to be in the book of Philippians this morning. Don’t even turn there. I don’t know about you, but if you look around at the world and what’s happening right now, there’s a lot of hopeless people. There’s a lot of people scared. There’s a lot of terrorism—it’s increasing. There’s violence—it’s increasing. There’s insanity that is afoot. And these last few weeks in the United States, and now of course again around the world with what’s taking place, we need to be reminded, and we need to be recipients of what is always in front of us, and that is the hope of God that God has promised us.
The Greatest Hope for Believers
And I’m wondering this morning if we have missed—or often, I should say, forget—the greatest hope for the believer today. It’s a universal hope. It’s something that is well recorded in Scripture, and it’s something that is rarely talked about. Not so much in this church, but for the church by and large in the earth. And I’m talking about the rapture and the hope of the rapture.
I want to remind you today: if you’re a Christian—I need to see your hand. If you’re a Christian, raise your hand. If you’re a Christian, then you’ve read the Bible. If you’re a Christian having read the Bible, you understand something: that the rapture will take place. Now, Christians disagree on when it’s going to take place, but no Christian denies that it’s going to take place. It’s going to happen. Some people want to argue about when, and we’re going to talk a little bit about that today—all for this reason: that you might have hope and leave this building today excited about that hope.
Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18
So I’m going to ask you to grab your Bibles and turn to 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and park right there with that Bible open to that portion of Scripture, and we read it together:
Prayer
But as Paul says, I do not want you to be ignorant or uninformed, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep or died—the believer is always referred to as someone who, having died, appears to be sleeping—lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus or died believing 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 by no means precede those who have fallen asleep or died in Jesus. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ—that is, their bodies—will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up—that’s the word rapture in Latin, harpazo in Greek; two words in English: caught up—together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
We need to remember these words. This doctrine in the Bible in times like these. We need to remember that what’s going on is not the world that you and I belong to anymore. It doesn’t mean we divorce ourselves from this world. It means that we are in it, and that we’re reaching out, and that we are loving, and that we’re telling the truth from the Bible to the world around us. But to remember this: Jesus Christ is coming back to take us home. This is not home.
This World Is Not Our Home
And it’s tough for us sometimes because we live not only in America—it’s messed up, but it’s the least messed up place on earth. And then we live in Southern California—definitely messed up, but it’s a beautiful place to be messed up. And we can forget. But I want to encourage you about the fact that you and I are going home someday.
I understand that this doctrine, this teaching of the rapture, is controversial. I love it. I love it because it’s biblical. Jesus taught about it. Paul taught about it. The Bible teaches about it. It’s controversial because—listen, with all love and affection—there are some Christians that say, «Well, you know what? We’ve got to go through the tribulation period before we can be raptured.» And then you ask them why, and they give you their reasons why. And then there are some people that say, «No, no, it could happen today.» I’m in that group. It could happen today.
Then there are some people who are saying, «No, no, no, it’s got to happen in the middle somewhere.» Listen, whenever you hear the reasons why, when the explanations are given, they’re always pretty pathetic explanations—except for that which is given in the Bible. The Bible says Jesus Christ could come back at any moment for us. The doctrine of imminency—you ought to write that down. It refers to the rapture: that Christ is coming. No one knows the day or the hour that He comes—suddenly, without warning, without precursor, without any announcement. He comes.
The Doctrine of Imminency
And when I say that He comes, the Bible again is very clear because it says that in His coming He actually appears in the atmosphere. He physically doesn’t touch the earth in His rapture event. He appears in the atmosphere. He catches up those who are alive at that moment. I hope it’s us today—certainly before third service. Well, you know, for that matter, why not hope right now? Okay, that it’d be a good time for that to happen right now. But it’s going to take place, and that doctrine causes you, in line with Scripture, to be ready.
But yes, I do understand it’s controversial. But because it’s controversial doesn’t make it any less true. It is a fact. It is going to happen. And we have great assurance from Scripture.
Indicators of the Age
Now, before we get into this, I want you to mark down a couple of verses by way of introduction. And I’m not saying that those who believe in a different view are false in their teaching—not by any means. I’ll simply say this about the age in which we live. In other words, are these indicators?
Number one: Jesus said in Matthew 24:11, «Many false prophets and false teachers will rise up and deceive many.» Are there deceptive cult religions rising and deceiving? Answer: Yes. He went on to say, «Because lawlessness will abound, people will throw off restraints and go crazy.» Is that happening? Absolutely. And He says the reason why is that the love of many will grow cold.
And I want to use that verse for just a second to look at it in the reverse. If your love, if your heart is hot in love with Jesus, then you are going to embrace the commands of God, which leads around or brings about you being very concerned about true teaching, true doctrine. You are going to form your worldview based upon the Bible, not your feelings. And you’re going to acquiesce or comply with Scripture rather than try to change it.
The Blessed Hope
Having said that, as we look at these things, the Bible tells us—in fact, it’s one of my favorite verses. It’s on the front of my new Bible. It says it right there: Titus 2:13. It says in Scripture concerning this event, «looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.» This is a verse referring to the rapture.
The word «looking» in Titus 2:13 means that we are to be eagerly, vigilantly looking in all that we do. It is to be prefaced—or bookended, I should say—on both ends by the fact that Christ could return. Are you living in such a way that Jesus, when He comes, catches you so living? And the number one thing that will define how we live today is hope. The world is getting hopeless, and we’re to be altogether different. We’re to be infusing hope into the world.
You say, «You mean we’re supposed to tell people Jesus is coming back?» Absolutely. Yes. Tell them. Get their attention. In fact, all the indicators that are going on around the world today speak about Christ’s soon coming. We need to be ready, and we need to be careful.
Why Believe in the Rapture?
So number one, we’re going to be looking at several things this morning. Number one is: why should we believe in the rapture? Well, number one, it’s a biblical truth. Somebody might ask the question, «Is it really in the Bible?» Oh yes, it’s in the Bible. Vitally important that you understand that it is a biblical truth.
And the first thing I want you to consider is where is it in the Scriptures, right? If you’re a skeptic or you don’t know, you would say, «Well, where is it in the Bible?» Well, I’m only going to give you several verses. We could literally spend the next several weeks looking at this doctrine. So I’ll give you just a few.
In fact, I’m going to give you what I believe is the greatest punch of all. Because when Paul wrote to the Thessalonian believers, he was only in Thessalonica for three weeks, according to history. He started a church. He taught them. And three weeks later he left. But we know from reading 1 and 2 Thessalonians that in his first visit he taught them two key doctrines—which is amazing to me. Number one was their security in Christ as believers. And number two was the rapture of the church.
Isn’t that amazing? Today you’re hard-pressed to find a church that teaches on the rapture. And yet it was one of the fundamental hopes of the early church. Part of that today is because there are seminaries producing liberal theologians who don’t believe in all of the Bible. They believe in situational Bible: «We’ll only apply parts of the Bible that meet our moment, meet our situation, but not all of it.» No—we are to pronounce the entire Word of God. And one of those great hopeful doctrines is the rapture of the church.
Comforts in 1 Thessalonians
So when he wrote to the churches at Thessalonica, in five chapters of 1 Thessalonians he gave five exciting comforts.
Number one: 1 Thessalonians 1:10—“and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.» The first thing you want to do is circle the word «wrath, ” because there will be those who deny the rapture. And they’ll say, „No, no, no, that verse simply means that Jesus has delivered us from the judgment of hell.“ That’s not what that word means. That truth is given when Jesus died on the cross—your judgment and your condemnation was destroyed at the cross in Christ. Jesus died for your sins at the cross. He rose again from the dead for your justification. You will never receive that judgment that was laid upon Jesus for your sins.
Having said that, the word „wrath“ here is also found in some Bibles as „indignation“ or „the punishment of God.“ He’s talking about the world and the great second coming, and during that seven-year tribulation period that leads up to the second coming is the wrath of God poured out on earth. That’s what he’s referring to. Again, don’t believe me—go search and see what he’s talking about in 1 Thessalonians 1:10. Jesus Christ has delivered us from the wrath to come.
Secondly, chapter 2, verse 19: „For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?“ The apostle is saying that the Bible teacher, the pastor, the evangelist, the discipler—their greatest joy is to prepare a person or a family, your family, dad, husband, your wife—to prepare them for the coming of the Lord. That should be your joy. That should be the joy and the hope of this church—that I know it is for me—that you would fare well when Christ returns.
1 Thessalonians 3:13—this is the third installment, one in each of the five chapters: „so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.“
What does that mean? Well, you already know the answer to that. In 1 Thessalonians 4—do you remember what he said? He said that the Lord is going to come, and those who have died in Christ, their bodies will rise first. He’s going to bring with Him those who died in Jesus. Now watch, everyone. The moment your loved one—anybody have a loved one who died believing in Jesus? My mom’s there in heaven. My dad’s in heaven. My sister’s in heaven. The moment they died, the Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The moment my mom died, she woke up in heaven.
But listen—how could that be true if her body was laying in front of me? Oh, because when her body died, Paul the apostle refers to the word as weighing anchor—isn’t that a neat word? The spirit was cut loose from the body. She went home, but her body was buried. Are you with me? And when Christ comes in the rapture, He’s going to shout, and the body is going to be resurrected from the grave or from the dust.
Think of that. I just got back from vacation. And imagine, for example, a shark bites somebody—and I was in Hawaii where sharks bite people. And so you say, „Well, what happened? How’s that going to happen? If a shark bit somebody and ate them up, how are they going to be resurrected?“ That’s no problem to God. Because when the shark ate you and then eliminated you, you just floated down to the bottom of the sea. It’s no different than you being cremated in an oven or buried in Forest Lawn, and 30 years later we dig up what? Dust. „Dust thou art, dust thou shalt return.“
But did you know that God doesn’t lose any dust? The Bible teaches—and Christians believe—in resurrection. When Christ calls forth the body, the body will come out reconstituted—resurrection. And that body is going to meet that spirit—my mom, for example, my dad, my sister—in the atmosphere. So says 1 Thessalonians 4. We read it a moment ago.
And then we don’t know exactly how that’s going to take place in the sense that right when that happens, we who are alive—let’s hope it happens today—we’re sitting here in church, or we’re just about ready to eat lunch, and the rapture takes place, and you are immediately taken upward, and you meet them with Him in the atmosphere. So says the Bible. So says the Bible.
You know what’s beautiful about that? That’s not my opinion. That’s exactly what the Bible says, and I love it. You see, that’s fantastic. How can that be? Amen. Yes. That’s exactly what the Bible teaches. We’re going to be caught up to meet them with Him in the air.
The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:16—we read it a moment ago. Here it is again: „For the Lord Himself”—someone say hallelujah—“Hallelujah.“ He’s not sending an angel. He’s coming for us. I don’t want someone else to pick me up. I want Jesus to pick me up. „The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be raptured together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.“ Wow.
1 Thessalonians 5:9: „For God did not appoint us to wrath—that is, the vengeance of God upon this earth—but to obtain deliverance or salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.“
Hebrews 9:28—this is a very powerful verse: „So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him”—I’m pausing for effect—are you eagerly waiting for Him right now? Do you live your life as though Christ could come today? —“He will appear a second time, apart from sin.“ The word means when He comes again for the believer, there will be no cross involved. There’ll be no scourging of Jesus. There’ll be no whip laid across His back. All that’s done 2000 years ago. „Apart from sin, for salvation”—He’s going to deliver us. Amen.
Why the Rapture Must Happen
The next thing we look at is: why should I believe in the rapture? Why does it need to happen? What happens? Why does it need to happen at all? Well, for many reasons—too numerous to enumerate all things—but I’ll give you some.
In one point, the Bible tells us that the Antichrist cannot come until the Holy Spirit steps aside. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 1: „Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him…“ You see why the rapture needs to happen anyway? Well, for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that the Antichrist cannot come onto the world scene until the Holy Spirit steps aside.
2 Thessalonians 2:1: „Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter…“ Paul says that because soon after he left, there were false teachers who said, „Oh, you guys have missed the Lord’s return. Sorry. Too bad for you. He already came back. You missed Him.“ It’s kind of like the Jehovah’s Witnesses tell us that Christ has already returned. Did you know that? By the way, they’re not going to offer that up on their doorstep. They’ll run from that. But their prophets have said and written in the Jehovah’s Witness Watchtower data that Jesus Christ returned. Of course, He returned to America—because I guess Jesus is an American. He returned to, apparently, and He must be a New Yorker, because according to the Watchtower Society, Jesus right now is living underground in Brooklyn, New York. Did you know that? If you were Jesus, would you return to Brooklyn? I could understand God going to Hawaii or some place like that, but no.
Listen: He said, „Don’t be shaken by that stuff or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means. But that day will not come unless the falling away comes first”—or the apostasy. That word means there’s going to be a great exodus of professing believers. They’re going to leave the faith. They were never true believers, but they profess to be believers.
Verse 3: „Let no one deceive you by any means. For until that day comes, the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed.“ This is the Antichrist, the son of perdition. Verse 6: „And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.“ The Antichrist is coming. He’s going to come. But watch this: „The mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only He who now restrains”—that’s the Holy Spirit—“will do so until He is taken out of the way.“
Everybody watch this—don’t be fooled. „He is taken out of the way.“ Do you see anything in your Bible where the Holy Spirit is removed from earth? Nope. He’s taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed.
What does this mean? Very quickly, the Bible teaches that the world is going to come to a point in time where it’s going to be leaderless. That out of the old revised Roman Empire there’s going to be a leadership that will come forth. And out of that leadership pack there’s going to be one predominant man. And he’s going to have remarkable ideas. The Bible says he’s going to have prosperity ideas. And he’s going to have peace ideas. And he’s going to engineer a contract with the nation of Israel and her enemies for seven years. That man, the Bible says, is the son of perdition, also known as the Antichrist.
He cannot surface until the Holy Spirit steps aside. When does that happen? The moment the rapture takes place, the Holy Spirit will deliver the church into the hands of Jesus Christ. Watch: 2000 years ago, Jesus ascended back to heaven and sent us the promise of the Father. Do you remember what that promise was? The Holy Spirit. And the day He arrived, we know exactly—it was called the Day of Pentecost. And on the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended, the church was born. And the day that the church age is over, the Holy Spirit delivers the church back into the hands of Christ. The moment He does that, He steps aside.
Imagine—you think it’s bad now. Now I want to make something really clear. You can read books that will say the church is restraining evil in the world. If that’s true, we’re not doing a very good job. I don’t believe the church is restraining evil. I want to be very specific. The Holy Spirit indwells every Christian—every true believer. That’s the true church. The Holy Spirit through us is restraining evil. We can’t restrain anything. We can hardly tie our shoes without God’s help. It’s the Holy Spirit that is restraining evil.
Imagine when He… In fact, let me put it to you this way. Have you ever—I remember in junior high, in high school—running on the 440 relay team? Remember that? Anybody ever run with a baton? You ever do that? When you run, you run for a certain distance, and then you hand that baton into the hands of another—your partner, right? Your teammate. And then he goes or she goes, right?
Imagine right now the Holy Spirit is holding a baton, and it says „the church“ on it, and He’s running, right? And on the moment that the rapture takes place, He hands the church into the hands of Jesus—boom—just like that, and He steps aside. And during that time it’s going to be the seven-year tribulation period. Jesus said it’s going to be so bad that if He didn’t come back at the end, there would be nobody alive left on earth. You think things are crazy now—things are just warming up crazy.
You say, „Well, pastor, where’s the hope? You said you were going to give us hope.“ The hope is Christ could come back today for us. Remember that. This is not our home. That ought to cause us to get out there and tell the world—they need hope.
Strong Delusion for Rejectors
You say, „Yeah, but it sounds crazy, man—Jesus coming and all this stuff.“ Hey, listen—I would rather stake my life on God’s Word, who never fails, to tell someone Christ is going to appear in the sky. You know what people will embrace? „Did you see that UFO?“ Look, there’s clubs, there’s groups—people around the world believe in that stuff. Well, let me put it to you this way: Jesus is going to come back. He’s going to come in the atmosphere. I highly recommend you believe that truth than some demonic lie. He’s coming back.
The second thing is 2 Thessalonians 2:1 tells us regarding those who don’t receive the gospel: What happens if Christ comes today and maybe you’re here now? Watch this—this is dangerous. What if you’re here right now, or you’re watching, or you’re listening, and you can preach the gospel for crying out loud? You know it. You can tell us the gospel. You could say Jesus died on the cross, rose again from the grave, the Bible’s the Word of God—but you’re not a Christian. You know it, but you’re not living it. What happens with the rapture? More on this in a moment, but mark this down.
One of the things that will happen—and why it needs to happen—the rapture. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 says, „For this reason God will send them strong delusion.“ Why? „That they should believe the lie.“ There’s a definite article „the“ in front of „lie”—not a lie, the lie. There’s going to be a lie about the rapture. Somehow, someone is going to explain the rapture away. And those who believe the demonic explanation—they’re going to believe it because there’s going to be a divine judgment upon them.
Watch this—read it: „They will believe the lie that they all may be condemned.“ Why? We would say why. Well, because they did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. This is a very serious Scripture. You’re not going to hear this very often—this verse—because it’s very controversial.
What on earth could that possibly mean? This is what it means: that those who had the opportunity—they understood the gospel, they had the opportunity to receive the gospel—if they don’t receive it, if they logically reject the clear presentation of the gospel, if the rapture were to happen, their minds are sealed for destruction. It’s just like Pharaoh in the days of Egypt.
You say, „Wait—what are you saying? Are you saying that my friends who know the gospel but they’re not Christians—that if the rapture happened today, they’re the ones that this verse is talking about?“ You can put their initials next to verse 11 if you’d like. I’m dead serious. Do you know the gospel today and you’ve not responded to it? You’re in trouble. And if you hear a trumpet blast any moment now, you’re really super in trouble. If the sky opens up and we go up, you’re in trouble. Dangerous, huh?
Jesus Prepares a Place
The Bible tells us now—listen to this: Jesus will open up heaven’s doors when the rapture takes place. John chapter 14, verse 1. Now John chapter 14 and 1 Thessalonians 4—you ought to get all excited about this. Listen how perfect this is. Of course Jesus brings it up first in John 14:1: „Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places—mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you.“ I love this part: „I go now to prepare a place for you. And if I prepare a place for you, I will come again”—amen—“and receive you to Myself.“ Oh, you know where that’s going to happen—in the atmosphere. Look, He says, „that where I am, there you may be also.“
This is so cool. If you don’t believe that Jesus Christ could come back any second, you need to take scissors right now and cut John 14:1, 2, and 3 right out of your Bible. Because Jesus says, „I’m leaving. I’m going to go prepare a place for you. I’m going to come and get you.“ Oh, where, Lord? We would say, „Where are you going to take us?“ „That where I’ve been, that’s where I’m taking you.“ Amen.
You cannot—listen—you may be the Christian that is saying, „No, no, no, I believe that at the end of the tribulation period He’s going to be coming down. We get raptured, we meet Him, and we keep coming like a yo-yo.“ He’s coming, the dead are resurrected, we meet them in the air, and we just turn around and come right back down. Then you still need to cut John 14 right out of your Bible, because your view never allows us to ever get to heaven—the preparing that He’s been doing in heaven. How you going to get there? How you going to make it? You never make it. Jesus says, „I’m preparing a place, and I’m going to take you to that place.“ I want to see it. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to go. You can stay if you’d like. I’m going.
And then, of course, God the Holy Spirit finishes His work—I mentioned that a moment ago.
Purpose of the Rapture
The next thing we see under this is: what purpose does the rapture serve in the first place? What purpose? So where is it in Scripture? What needs to happen? Third thing is what purpose does the rapture serve?
In Isaiah chapter 26—I know we’re in chapter 26 on Wednesday nights in the book of Isaiah—Isaiah 26:20–21. Listen to this. Now this promise is initially given to the nation of Israel during Isaiah’s day. It clearly has a broader meaning. Listen and watch carefully, Bible student. God says, „Come, My people, enter into your chambers”—the word in Hebrew is wedding chambers, marital chambers; it’s where the groom takes his bride and nobody else—“and shut your doors behind you.“ This is interesting: „Come in, sweetie, but shut the doors. I’ll be back. Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment.“ Why? „Until the indignation is passed. For behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.“
The seven-year tribulation period—where the church is not, but in heaven—the earth is going to be chastised for its iniquity. That will never happen to you because it happened to Jesus at the cross.
Revelation 3:7 and 10—and to the angel of the church in Philadelphia (not Pennsylvania, in Turkey), verse 10: „Because you have kept My command to persevere”—hang in there, don’t give up. Can I just say this right now before I keep reading? Don’t stop. Don’t give up. Are you tired? Tough. Suck it up. We’re all tired. Yeah, but you know what? No. Forget that. You know what? Don’t let your mind go any further. „Yeah, but I’ve been praying and I’ve been reading—I’m just tired. I’m tired of treading water.“ Listen—stop. Keep going. Stick together. Let’s unite. Let’s go forward. Don’t stop. „I’m tired of being married.“ Don’t. „I’m tired of being single.“ Don’t give up. Don’t quit. Listen—obey God, walk with God, listen to Him, follow Him, hang in there, go for it. „Well, I live in a horrible situation.“ Follow Jesus. Hang in there. Don’t give up. Keep going. Persevere.
Verse 10: „Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which will come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.“ Look at that—look at that in your Bible, everybody. Look—something is going to happen that is going to keep God’s people from a global trial that is going to come upon every human that dwells on the earth except those who trust in Jesus. What could it be? I don’t know. Is it ISIS? No way. It’s bigger than that. What is it? I don’t know. I don’t need to. I don’t care. I’m not going to experience it. So why should I care? Jesus says—the Bible says—He’s going to deliver us. It’s amazing.
The rapture of the church initiates the judgments of God on earth—how soon after, we don’t know. The rapture of the church leaves a great void that the Antichrist fills. The rapture of the church presents the church in heaven for the marriage supper of the Lamb. The rapture of the church puts the Jewish believers in Christ on the world scene of evangelism and miracles.
Transformation of Our Bodies
Colossians chapter 3, verse 5 says: „Put to death the members of your body—your body parts that get involved.“ Look at the next word there: „on the earth—fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desires, covetousness, which is idolatry.“ Verse 6: „Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.“ Did you hear that? Everyone—walk with God.
You say, „Wait a minute—what do those words mean? Fornication, uncleanness, passions.“ These are all the lusts of the flesh. Let me make this clear: every one of us is tempted. If you’re not tempted, there’s two things happening—either A, you’re crazy and you can’t recognize it, or you’re dead. No dead person’s tempted. You can pass an ice cream cone in front of a dead guy—he’s not going to take a lick of that thing. He’s dead. If you’re not tempted, you’re probably dead. Or if you think you’re not tempted, you’re crazy. Every one of us is tempted with something. Remember that—to yield to it becomes the sin. Are you with me? You’re to run away. I’m to run away from the temptation.
If today you look at that verse and you’re a little bit convicted—because when I look at that, it says, for example, you’re not to be fornicating. What does that mean? Well, that means if you’re sleeping with Bubbles and Bubbles is not your wife’s name, you’re in trouble. You might be in trouble if your wife’s name is Bubbles to begin with anyway. But oh gosh—I just—as soon as that came out of my mouth, I just thought in the foyer someone’s going to say, „My wife’s nickname is Bubbles.“ And boy, I’m never coming back to this church again. Didn’t mean anything by it.
I had somebody correct me last service, though, about that—I mentioned Bubbles, and this person thought they had a free pass because in their particular case Bubbles is sleeping with Bubbles and said that they get a free pass on that. No, no, no—you don’t. Never underestimate a man’s ability to justify himself. No. The truth of the matter is this: if the Holy Spirit is speaking to you from the Bible, the Word of God, to make a change—to repent and to flee youthful lusts or desires—run. Get ready to meet Christ.
„See, doesn’t God want me happy?“ That’s not how you get happy. And no, He doesn’t want you happy—read the fine print of the Bible. He wants you holy. He wants you holy. And then, you know, listen—when God makes you holy—that is not sinless, but we have a passion to live for God now—then you have joy.
Is the Rapture Possible?
The second thing is this: Is the rapture possible? Well, of course it’s possible. Nothing’s impossible to God. You say, „But Jack, it sounds so fantastic. You mean to tell me we’re going to be walking around, all of a sudden going to be a trumpet blast, and all this is going to happen, and we’re going to like disappear?“ Well, I guess so. It says that we’re going to be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye—we who are alive and remain. Which is awesome, because Paul thought he was going to get raptured 2000 years ago. Think of it. Do you live like that? Do you think about that?
Is it possible? Oh, God loves doing the impossible. That’s what He does. Well, how will a rapture happen? Well, the Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:16—we read it a moment ago. It’s going to happen with God Himself appearing in the atmosphere. That’s awesome. „The Lord Himself will descend.“ Secondly, with a shout. How does He shout? Can you imagine? What does it sound like? And who hears? I’m firmly convinced that only the believers will hear. I don’t think the world’s going to hear a thing. Shout, the voice of the archangel—what is that supposed to sound like? I don’t know. The trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will rise first.
There’s only one other place I’d like to be when that happens. I’d like to be here when it happens—right here, like now. Or I’d like to be doing a funeral at Forest Lawn: „And now we lay Uncle Fred…“ You know, you’re letting him down—you put him down six feet under. Boom—there he goes. Can you imagine? Whoa. It’s going to be awesome. And together we’ll meet them in the clouds to meet the Lord—it says in the air. That’s how it’s going to happen.
The Bible says that there are those that are going to profess belief and they’re going to miss the rapture. This is—I have to be careful how I say this. So what happens to those who miss the rapture? Let me make this very clear. And I go against the grain of some of my brothers in the pulpit and other churches. I believe there’s only one way to miss the rapture. And I believe it’s to not be a Christian.
And I know that there are some who teach, „No, only those who are ready go up.“ No—because you know what the Bible teaches? That there are those who, when He comes, they’re not going to be ready, and they’re going to be ashamed at His appearing. It doesn’t say they don’t go—means they’re going to be ashamed. Very important to imply that there are Christians, but only those who are ready go up, and those who are not ready have got to refine themselves—is to preach a super rapture. It’s to preach a rapture that’s for super saints.
Now look—I’ll be honest with you, as you would be honest with me. I want to be in the group ready to meet Jesus now, and I’m living my life that He could come back now. But nowhere in the Bible can you show me that those who are born again miss the rapture. You want to miss the rapture? Then don’t come to Christ. You could be a Christian—and God forbid—but be backslidden at the time of the rapture. You’re going to go up, but you know—while we’re all looking up with our hands up, you’re probably going to be going up with your face down. We’re going to be smiling. You’re going to be going, „Oh man.“
We could be—not you, not us—people at some other church could be ashamed at His coming. No—we’re to be ready.
Thirdly: will a rapture hurt? Well, the word means harpazo in Greek, rapture in Latin, caught up in English. It means to be violently removed from the earth or quickly snapped or snatched away. I don’t think it’s going to hurt. How could the blessed hope hurt? You know—no, it’s going to be amazing. It’s going to be an exciting, wonderful thing.
The Bible tells us in Philippians 3:20: „For our citizenship is in heaven.“ We’re just going home. It doesn’t hurt to go home. „From which we eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ” here it is, „who will transform our lowly body”—lowly body—isn’t that awesome? —“that it may be conformed to His glorious body.“
He’s going to change our bodies. He’s going to take the dust. Well, you know—what about this person who was burned in a car, or this person who was cremated, or this person who was buried, or this person was blown up? Again—it doesn’t matter to God. He’s going to reconstitute your body. Isn’t that amazing? And He’s going to transform it.
I’m so grateful. We’re on vacation, and my daughter goes, „I want to go on this hike.“ I don’t do hikes. I do room service, but I don’t do hikes. But it was really important to her. And it was only like 88 degrees and raining outside. And it was only a four-mile hike up a mountain. But she wanted to go. And so we went. And I got to tell you—got pulled up in the parking lot, parked, stepped onto the trail, and we went about 100 yards like this. And then—and I got to tell you, with the humidity and the altitude—I don’t think the age had anything to do with it. Oh my gosh.
She was out ahead of me, and I’m—and I’m actually—she doesn’t know this, she’s not here right now, so I didn’t say anything to her—but my heart started pounding. Oh man, holy cow. And my temple started hurting, and I thought, „This is it.“ Looked at my phone—no cell service. Then next thought—true. Next thought: „Jesus, are we good? Anything, Lord? Anything?“ Okay, we’re good.
So then I start thinking she’s gonna have to drag my body off this mountain. That’s not going to be good. I feel so bad. Oh Lord, this… And then I thought, wait a minute—what will I care? I’m going to be with the Lord, right? I won’t be—I’m going to be going home. My citizenship’s in heaven. But then I thought, oh—these lowly bodies are going to be transformed when the Lord comes for us. Maybe the trumpet ought to happen now. I was thinking, „Oh Lord, come.“
Some of you are young—you’re going, „I don’t know what you’re talking about.“ I just—the older you get, the more real the Bible becomes to you. And your body—your body’s going to hurt someday. You’re going to—your body’s going to hurt. You’re not going to be able to make it up the hill, the mountain. And I’m going to be very happy about that. I did make it, though—just for the record.
1 Corinthians 15:50 says, „Now this I say to you, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven.“ You see why you and I need to be changed. You know how this verse is fulfilled? Rapture. Flesh and blood can’t walk around in heaven and you’ll blow up. You can’t go out in space without a space suit. You can’t go underwater and swim from here to Catalina without scuba gear, right? You need a new suit. And the rapture gives you a new suit for heaven. Flesh and blood can’t live there. You get a whole new body.
„Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, or we shall not all die, but we shall be metamorphosed—changed—in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruption must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on—or will put on—immortality.“ That’s awesome.
Is the Rapture Near?
Number three is: the rapture near? Yes—the whole doctrine of imminency. This is awesome. The wonderful hope for us. It’s the only doctrine in the Bible that demands imminency—meaning it could happen any second without warning.
Friends, listen—there’s over 100 Bible verses that must be fulfilled before Jesus can come back in the second coming, when His footsteps onto the Mount in Jerusalem. There are no verses that are necessary before the rapture—not a one. When Christ comes in the atmosphere, there’s no warnings. There’s no prerequisites. The second coming—totally different. This is encouraging. It’s near.
So there won’t be any warning—that’s the first thing we realize. None whatsoever. Unlike the second coming, there’ll be no warnings.
Second: how should I be living prior to the rapture? Well, we’re to be living like we believe in the rapture, because He is coming back. 1 Thessalonians 5:1 says, „But concerning the times and the seasons”—listen carefully—“concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.“
Can I put that into a modern-day language? It would sound just like this: „Hey, anybody with their Bible and brain open, with their eyes wide open, looking around at the world scene—you won’t need any warnings from us. You’re going to know the times and the seasons.“ What is that? Well, it’s kind of like this. It’s like the woman I met in the foyer after first service. She’s pregnant. Listen—she didn’t have to tell me she was pregnant. I saw her coming before she got there. And she said to me, „Oh, you mentioned pregnancy—like there’s signs of the times in pregnancy, and we don’t know the day or the hour.“ But she said, „Pastor, today’s my due date.“ I’m thinking, „That’s great. I want you born again here, not born here—but that’s okay.“ But she’s out to here like this. All indications are something’s going to happen soon. She’s like this.
What is she saying? „Concerning the times and the seasons, I have no need to write unto you.“ I don’t know the day or the hour, but the times and the seasons—they’re upon us. Are you with me? You look around at the world—the times and the seasons are here. No man knows the day or the hour. Paul says you won’t need for me to tell you anything. You’re going to know the times and the seasons.
I submit to you—with all the global problems that are taking place, the lawlessness, the violence, the insanity—I would say things are pretty pregnant. I would go so far to say any day now. You say, „Oh, I can’t believe that.“ Hey, listen—I’m going to say that until I either die of old age or until He comes. One of these days I’m going to be right. [Applause] So I live for Him.
1 Thessalonians 5 goes on to say, verse 2: „For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say ‘peace and safety, ’ then sudden destruction comes upon them.“ So don’t let anybody fool you and say that, oh, you know, the Lord comes like a thief in the night. Well, to you maybe. Remember—those who perish, He comes upon like a thief—to them, not to you. „They shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober.“
Listen to that: „For those who sleep, sleep at night. For those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us”—there’s our word again—“to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.“ Jesus is coming. It’s good news.
Thirdly: can I miss the rapture? As a Christian, can I miss the rapture? We know the non-believer is going to miss the rapture, but can a Christian miss the rapture? Very simply—as I alluded to a moment ago—let me put it to you this way. In Ephesians 4:30 it says we’ve been sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. Sealed. If you’re a real Christian, you won’t miss the rapture.
Look—I first service got this because it’s a more senior crowd. Well, it’s true—we’ve been up for hours. We can’t wait for first service to arrive. So let’s see if this works with second service. It’s not going to work with third service, I’ll tell you that. Growing up, my mom and dad would spend the money and come home from the grocery store. I would dive into the grocery bag. Why? To grab the blue chip stamps out of the bag. Why? Because what I would do is I’d save them up, and then there would be my little day where I’d take a sponge and some water, and I would put it on the stamps, and then stick it on the book with the little chipmunk on the cover. Remember the holding the stamp? Does anybody know what I’m talking about? Raise your hand. Okay.
Then down on Beach Boulevard in Huntington Beach there was the—what was it called though? It was called the Redemption Store. It was so biblical. It was so Christian. „Where you going?“ „I’m going to the Redemption Store.“ None of this political correctness trash. When I was growing up, it was called the Redemption Store. „Well, is that legal?“ „That’s a Christian term.“ Tough. I’m going. And I would march down there with my little book, and I thought it was so cool. I’d walk in there and I’d lay down those books or book—depending upon what I wanted. Remember? And I’ll take that Tonka fire truck right there. Boom. And I thought, what a wonderful world. Someone pays for it, I get the seal, and the gift is free. My dad had a different view—he paid, I benefited. Are you with me?
The stamp—Jesus paid. All right, I benefit. I’m sealed. Listen—the day of redemption, I’m sealed till that day. The Bible makes it very clear in the wording: no man can break the seal. The question for you today is: are you sealed by the Holy Spirit? Have you been redeemed?
There’s going to be a real shocker that takes place when the rapture happens, because it will literally separate the believer from the non-believer. So you’re not going to miss it, Christian. So live like it. Be excited about it.
I mentioned earlier—and it grew real quiet in here—“You mean to tell me, pastor, I could be a Christian and be backsliding at the moment Christ returns and still go up?» I said this: you’ll be ashamed when you go up. 1 John 2:28 says, «Now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.» Do you hear the two camps? Oh, you’re going to go up, but I’d rather—listen—He wants you smiling on the way up, not crying about it.
The Rapture Is Real
Number four: is the rapture real? Yes, it’s real. Yes, it’s real. Listen—Jesus said it’s real. Luke 21:34: «Be careful, because your hearts could be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and with the anxieties of this life.» Oh my goodness—I just read this morning that two kids were arrested. They were Canadians. They were playing Pokémon Go. And they were playing Pokémon, and I guess Pokémon doesn’t know anything about national borders. They walked from Canada into the United States—illegal border crossing—and they got arrested yesterday playing Pokémon. They never saw the border coming. They just walked right across it.
A young man in San Diego fell 90 feet off a cliff and landed on the beach playing Pokémon. A guy was mugged and robbed, stabbed three times, and never stopped playing Pokémon, said the police officers. Did you know one of the Pokémon stops is a fountain right out front of the church—of this church? That would explain the crowd today, I guess. If Pokémon people are listening—why don’t you put it right front here so we can have people come forward to accept Christ right there?
Anxieties—pull over. We’re going to stop Pokémon. Holy cow. Jesus says, «Watch out. These anxieties can mess up your life, and that day come upon you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth.» Uh-oh. See, we’re in trouble. No—keep reading, verse 36: «But be always on the watch and pray that you may escape all that is about to happen and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.» Thank God.
The apostle Paul said—as I mentioned earlier—1 Thessalonians 4:16: the Lord is going to come with His voice Himself, with the shout, voice of the archangel, the trumpet of God; the dead in Christ will rise; we’re going to meet Him in the air.
The apostle John said—quoting Jesus, of course—I read it a moment ago in John 14. Jesus says, «I’ve gone away to prepare a place for you. I’m going to come pick you up and take you there.»
Throughout church history for 2000 years, the early church fathers have always taught the imminency of Christ’s return. The trumpet’s going to blast. Christ is going to return. He’s going to pick up His people. The Bible has promised this. The early church fathers believed this. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise or differently.
But where would you have been? Here or going up next?
Can I anticipate the rapture to happen? Yeah. Yes, you can. Just like that a moment ago. He said He’s coming. Colossians 3:4 says, «When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you will appear with Him in glory.» He’s coming. When Christ appears, you will appear with Him in glory. That’s the definition of the rapture.
And people want to argue about this. «Well, I don’t know about that.» Oh—sit over there and argue with yourself. I’m just filled with hope. Bring it, Jesus. Can’t wait. Exciting.
Preparing for the Rapture
And here we end with this. The fact of the matter is that God keeps His promises. Church, listen—this is Bible prophecy. Every one of the fulfillments of prophecies in the Bible have been fulfilled literally. Not one has been fulfilled by some metaphorical, allegorical manner. Everything that has been fulfilled has been fulfilled literally.
We end with this: How do I prepare for the rapture, then? Well, here’s how you prepare. Jude tells us—Jude 21: «Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.»
How do you prepare? Make sure, Christian, that you get ready. There’s a big storm in the Pacific brewing. You know—they got that—they’re telling people out in the islands to get ready. So people are getting ready. When it’s hurricane season or tornado season, what do people do? They get ready. In California we’re all supposed to have our water heaters nailed down, right? Because why? Because an earthquake could happen. Think about the warnings. Think about the pictures God shows us to be ready. You don’t know when the next 8.10 earthquake is going to happen, but you’re supposed to be ready.
And you know—whatever—I mean, we’re kind of ready. Are you kind of ready? I’m kind of ready. You can’t have enough water. You can’t have enough food. But you kind of do some things. You know what I mean? Well, to get ready to meet Jesus: number one, you make sure that you’ve given yourself—your life—to Jesus Christ. That you understand that He died on the cross for your sins and He rose again from the dead. And you’re trusting in Him and not yourself. You come before Him. You ask Him to forgive you of your sins—because you’re a sinner and I’m a sinner. Your sins, my sins put Christ on the cross.
The next thing is you live like you’re going to meet Him. I just see God speaking to us in so many ways. You see people at an airport, and they got the signs with the person’s name. Or you see families waiting at the reception area of the airport with balloons and banners—“Welcome home.» That’s common to us.
There is a day coming when the Holy Spirit in you is going to say, «Jack, it’s time to go home.» Here’s the deal—there’s going to be the appearing of the Lord, His shout. What’s it going to sound like? I know exactly what He’s going to say. I think it’ll be like, «Jack—yeah, come up here.» Oh my goodness. Are you going? I hope you’re going.
Let’s all stand, and we’re going to pray, and we’re going to rededicate our lives today to Him—all of us together. If you’re not a Christian, you should become a Christian today. But if you are a Christian, we all need to be even more dedicated. Because listen—with the next news flash of terrorism or natural disaster or mayhem—just know this: Jesus said there’d be days like this. But He also said, «I’m coming in an hour you do not know.»
Closing Prayer
Father, we dedicate our lives to You today. Father God, we ask You now as believers that You would be hearing from us right now with words such as, «Lord, make me ready. Cleanse me, Lord. You know those things perhaps that I’m holding on to that I ought not to. Take them from me.» Maybe your prayer today is, «Lord, I’m hanging in there. Keep me. Keep me hanging on.» Maybe you’re here today and you would profess to be a Christian, but you have not cared one bit about His coming. You need to repent of that and expect Him. Maybe today you’re so far from God and you know it, and you’re convicted by the Holy Spirit, and He’s waiting to hear from you. You need to receive Him now.
Father, I present to You this church, this body of believers, and I ask You in Jesus' name that You would fill us with Your Holy Spirit—baptize us afresh in Your Holy Spirit’s empowerment—that we would walk a life worthy of Your name, worthy of controversy, worthy of disrupting the status quo, worthy of undermining apathy. We want to undermine apathy, Lord. We want to be used by You to shake the pillars of hell. Yes. We want to be on fire for You, Jesus.
So, Lord, may we go from this place—as this building is about to ooze out these believers, Lord—may we go into a lost world filled with hope and bringing with us as many men and women and boys and girls as is possible. We give You ourselves in Jesus' name.
And all God’s people said amen.
Father, I present to You this church, this body of believers, and I ask You in Jesus' name that You would fill us with Your Holy Spirit—baptize us afresh in Your Holy Spirit’s empowerment—that we would walk a life worthy of Your name, worthy of controversy, worthy of disrupting the status quo, worthy of undermining apathy. We want to undermine apathy, Lord. We want to be used by You to shake the pillars of hell. Yes. We want to be on fire for You, Jesus.
So, Lord, may we go from this place—as this building is about to ooze out these believers, Lord—may we go into a lost world filled with hope and bringing with us as many men and women and boys and girls as is possible. We give You ourselves in Jesus' name.
And all God’s people said amen.