What Is the Rapture? And Why It Matters!

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Series:

Today Pastor Greg Laurie continues a new series called “The End of the World,” this week’s message is called “What is the Rapture? And Why It Matters!” from our Sunday Morning Service.

Sermon Notes

When a believer dies, they go to Heaven, because death means, separation, not annihilation. Humans do not cease to exist; we simply change our address.

“Here lies the body of Solomon Peas. Under the grass and under the trees, but Peas is not here, only the pod. Peas shelled out and went to God.” Our physical bodies will be transformed at the Rapture.

Application

What is the rapture?

It is when Christ descends from Heaven, and we are caught up to meet the Lord—it is the moment we receive our new bodies.

The word rapture is used 13 times in the New Testament, and it means, “to take forcibly, snatch, or caught up.

Why is there a rapture?

In Heaven, not only will you be with your loved ones, but you’ll be with Jesus Himself, too! That is why the Christian grieves hopefully, not hopelessly.

“A continual looking forward to the eternal world is not a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do.” —C.S. Lewis

When is the rapture?

“About that day, no one knows the day or hour, not even the angels, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

Matthew 24:36

The Rapture will happen in a moment of time, effectively immeasurable.

1 Corinthians 15:51–52

When Christ returns for us in the Rapture, first up is the resurrection of the dead, then all who are alive will meet them in the air.

1 Thessalonians 4:17