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Hear current audio messages by Pastor Scott Burr at:
http://sermon.net/dayspringchurchag

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Soon!-The Catching Away (Pt.1)

(Part 1 of 2)

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”-Titus 2:11-14

As we continue our study on the last days and the second coming of Christ, it is hard not to watch the news and wonder just how close are we to His return. As followers of Christ we must be ever watchful of all these things, but we must also remind ourselves of some precious promises that God made to those who have placed their faith in Christ:

In Titus 2:13, Paul encourages believers to live sober, righteous, and godly in this present age as we look forward to the blessed hope and His glorious appearing. It is my contention, for this study, that these two things (the blessed hope and His glorious appearing) are two separate events. The blessed hope referring to the catching away of the church and the glorious appearing to His second coming.

Today we want to focus on the Blessed Hope. In John 14:1-3 Jesus comforted His disciples with these words:

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions;[a] if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Prior to Jesus, the concept of the rapture was a mystery. We see types and shadows of it in the Old Testament, but it is the Apostle Paul that begins to shed some light on this prophetic event. Two passages in particular give us some amazing insight into it:

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

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”-1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

The phrase “caught up”, used here by the Apostle Paul, is derived from the greek word Harpazo from which we glean our understanding and use of the word rapture.

Something very interesting about these passages is their mutual use of trumpets. The use of trumpets is significant when you consider the feasts of Israel. Their are seven primary feasts of Israel that God instructed Israel to keep; four spring feasts and three fall feasts. Through His death, burial and resurrection; Jesus fulfilled all four of the spring feasts: Passover-His death, Unleavened Bread-His burial, Firstfruits-His Resurrection, and Pentecost-Sending of the Holy Spirit. The next group of feasts include the Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles. Each of these correlate with prophetic events yet to be fulfilled: Trumpets-the catching away, Atonement-Armegeddon/Christ’s second coming, and Tabernacles-The millenial reign of Christ.

Because of the accuracy in which Jesus fulfilled the spring feasts, we can be confident that He will fulfill the fall feasts as well. The Feast of Trumpets is interesting because it is the only feast given two days to celebrate. That is because it is the only feast in which the arrival is dependent upon the confirmed sighting of the new moon before it can officially begin. So it is said that no man knows the day or the hour of its beginning!

Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church





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