Enough!

January 31, 2016                        NOTES NOT EDITED

Enough!

Ezekiel 8:17-9:11

SIS—We can, and must, be prepared for the coming Day of Wrath when God says to America, “I’ve had enough of your rebellion.”

We are going to examine the entire text of Ezekiel 9, but I want to anchor this message on the verse that gives me the title, “Enough!” Please stand as we read our Scripture this morning: Ezk. 8:17-18

This is a horribly terrifying verse for any person or nation that disregards God’s standards of righteousness.  As we will see in our study this morning, God’s wrath exceeds man’s ability to fathom it or even describe it.  When God forsakes a person or a nation, the consequences are eternal in both intensity and length.  When God’s says, “Enough!” it is followed by swift and devastating judgment. 

All of you know the name, Billy Graham.  For over six decades, beginning in 1947, Graham called individuals and nations to repentance.  Graham bemoaned the decline of morality in America.  He once said, “If God does not punish America for her sins, he will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”  Of course, that’s a reference to God’s devastating judgment upon these two wicked cities full of greed, deceit, and sexual sin.  Actually, it was Ruth Graham, his wife, that made that statement.  Two years ago at his 95^th birthday celebration Billy Graham reminded the audience, yet again, of America’s increasingly immoral culture.  He said, "Our country's in great need of a spiritual awakening. There have been times that I've wept as I've gone from city to city and I've seen how far people have wandered from God."

America has been sliding into the Sins of Sodom for many decades.  Another famous evangelist, also named Billy—Billy Sunday— consistently preached against America’s leaning toward the Sins of Sodom and Gomorrah.  In his indubitably fiery and flashy style, this turn of the century evangelist called on Americans to repent and reestablish the foundations of national righteousness.  Billy Sunday would turn away from his lucrative professional baseball career with the Chicago White Stockings in 1887 and begin a four decade career calling our nation back from sins of drunkenness and excess to divine righteousness.  Our nation was heading for catastrophe, and Billy Sunday saw repentance as the only hope.  I am honored to have this great evangelist introduce my message this morning, on our nation’s need for revival.  [PLAY CLIP]

Friends, God is longsuffering, but not forever-suffering.  The bowl of God’s wrath is being filled with by man’s rebellion.  Now, I am not speaking about any nation—though it would apply equally—but I am speaking about this nation—this great nation that declares in our national motto to be “One Nation Under God.”  If we do not heed the message of God’s prophet, Ezekiel, as well as others, I cannot see how America can long avoid the same judgment God has brought on other nations such as Sodom and Gomorrah, and even His own chosen people Israel.

We need to be prepared for the day that God will say to America, I have had “Enough.”  There are four aspects we need to understand about God’s wrath in order to postpone it and be prepared for it.

1.  The RECORD of Man’s REBELLION (vv 1-4)

Then He called to me directly with a loud voice, “Come near, executioners of the city, each of you with a destructive weapon in his hand.” ² And I saw six men coming from the direction of the Upper Gate,  which faces north, each with a war club in his hand. There was another man among them, clothed in linen,  with writing equipment at his side. They came and stood beside the bronze altar.  ³ Then the glory of the God of Israel  rose from above the cherub where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man clothed in linen with the writing equipment at his side. ⁴ “Pass throughout the city of Jerusalem,” the Lord said to him, “and put a mark on the foreheads  of the men who sigh and groan over all the detestable practices committed in it.”

Our text mentions an execution force of seven beings—six with war clubs in their hands and another one with writing instruments.  Many commentators (though not scholars) make much of the number six.  The text says nothing more than they were “six men with war clubs.”  In ancient Rabbinical interpretations (Talmud) these six “men” were identified as: Indignation, Anger, Wrath, Destroyer, Breaker, and Annihilator (Block, Comm. On Ezekiel).  The context makes it clear that these are angelic beings, who are often referred to in Scripture as men (Gen. 18:2; Dan. 10:5).  Whatever significance might be given to the number of six, the clear implication is these beings bring complete and devastating justice at the direction of God, Himself.  The word for “executioners” is a legal term (from, pequddah).  The evidence has been thoroughly considered and the nation has been pronounced, “guilty.” 

God continually collects evidence in regard to the lives of each and every person.  Speaking of the exactness of God’s investigation Matthew states:  I tell you that on the day of judgment  people will have to account  for every careless word they speak.  ³⁷ For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mt. 12:36-37).

In regard to God’s “record of our rebellion” the Apostle John writes,

^{Rev. 20   12} I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.

This is where the Seventh Man intersects with the story.  The number, “seven,” in regard to this “other” man does have significance as supported by the context.  The text specifically sets this “seventh” man apart.  The grammar of the text sets this man apart using the term, “another man AMONG them.”  This man is identified as being “another” and “among” them as opposed to one of them.  This is very significant as to identify the greater importance of this Seventh man.

Of course, seven is the number of perfection, and this Seventh Man refers to Jesus Christ.  This is definitely a prophesy depicting something yet in the future, related to the ministry and activity of Jesus Christ.  I’ll say a little more about this later. 

This Seventh Man is part of the Divine Record keeping of God.  This person goes throughout the city and “identifies with a special mark” (v4) those who have repented, “sign and groan over the abominations” being committed.

The first aspect of God’s wrath is that He keeps a record of man’s rebellion.  Next we observe that God’s wrath follows

2.  The REJECTION of God’s MERCY (v3)

³ Then the glory of the God of Israel rose from above the cherub where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man clothed in linen with the writing equipment at his side.

The image of God’s “glory rising above the cherub” specifically calls attention to the “Holy of Holies” or the third, most holy section of the Temple where the very Presence of God dwelled.  We read about this in Exodus 25,

¹⁷ Make a mercy seat of pure gold, 45 inches long and 27 inches wide.  ¹⁸ Make two cherubim of gold; make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹ Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end. At its two ends, make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat. ²⁰ The cherubim are to have wings spread out above, covering  the mercy seat with their wings, and are to face one another. The faces of the cherubim should be toward the mercy seat. ²¹ Set the mercy seat on top of the ark and put the testimony that I will give you into the ark.  ²² I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim.

Notice that this place where God’s Glory dwelled between the cherubim is called the “Mercy Seat.”  The Hebrew word for this “cover, lid, or seat” is  kapporeth (כַּפֹּרֶת).  The root meaning of this word suggest a “payment or ransom,” or the “price of a life.”  In Christianity this is an O.T. picture of the mercy of God as demonstrated in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the “payment” (ransom) for all our sins.  The technical theological term for what Jesus did on the cross (as pictured in the Mercy Seat) is “propitiation.”  The Mercy Seat in the O.T. foreshadows the ultimate and complete “propitiation” or mercy through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Paul says in Romans 3:25:

God presented Him [that is, Jesus] as a propitiation through faith in His blood,  to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.

Note the phrase, “God passed over the sins,” and then note the activity of that Seventh Man with the writing equipment:   ⁴Pass throughout the city of Jerusalem,” the Lord said to him, “and put a mark on the foreheads  of the men who sigh and groan  over all the detestable practices committed in it.

The “writing equipment” this Seventh Man possessed is a symbol drawn from the equipment of an ancient scribe. One scholar describes this writing equipment as, “a palette with a slot for the pen and hollowed out containers for ink, usually two, for red and black ink.”

As a picture of God’s grace and mercy this Seventh Man, identifies everyone who “rejects sin and turns to God for salvation.” This “passing over of those who are marked” reminds the reader of the night of the Passover in Egypt.  The Bible tells us that “God wishes that none would perish but all to come to repentence” (2Pet. 3:9).  Wrath and judgment can be avoided by being marked by God’s grace as a result of true repentance.

Many will view this passage, especially verse 5-7, and accuse the God of the Old Testament as being full of anger, wrath, and unjustifiable violence.  When the reality is this:  the God of the O.T., who is also the God of the N.T. is a God of Mercy and Grace.  Nobody need experience the wrath of God but many will because they have “rejected God’s mercy” and refuse to be marked with God’s grace.  As God, Himself, declares over Ezekiel’s objection to this complete and horrible devastation:  “I will bring their actions down on their own heads” (v10).  The people have nobody to blame but themselves for their callousness, rebellion, and despicable behavior.

God’s keeps a record of our rebellion and acts in accordance with our rejection of His mercy as judgment upon

3.  the PERVERSION of the POPULATION

“The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of bloodshed,  and the city full of perversity. For they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land;  He does not see.’

The culture, represented here by the Holy City, has become “extremely violent and full of perversity.”  In verse 9, scholars have identified four distinct justifications for God’s wrath upon these people:  [God] justifies his fury by citing four causes of provocation: (1) the extent and intensity of the people’s iniquity (ʿāwōn); (2) the violence/bloodshed (dāmîm) that fills the land; (3) the injustice that fills the city; (4) the charge or rationalization that Yahweh has abandoned his land and no longer looks on his people (Block, COE).  The rebellion of these people against God had reached such a horrendous level that nothing short of complete destruction was justified. 

Scholars indicate that chapter 9 is grammatically tied to chapter 8 as a continuous unit.  Chapter 8 attempts to describe the almost indescribable depravity of the culture that would lead to God’s wrath completely consuming the city.  Notice how God struggles to show Ezekiel how detestable the culture had become.  Chapter 8:7-10:

Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked there was a hole in the wall. ⁸ He said to me, “Son of man, dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and there was a doorway. ⁹ He said to me, “Go in and see the terrible and detestable things they are committing here.” ¹⁰ I went in and looked, and there engraved all around the wall was every form of detestable thing, crawling creatures and beasts, as well as all the idols of the house of Israel.

I must ask us to consider, “Is the moral condition of America any less abominable than that of this city here in Ezekiel?” Let me give just one, actually milder example, of the stench of American morality.

ILLUS:  OPEN URINATION HOLE IN SF

Folks, I accepted my first full time ministry as the pastor of a church in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1983.  A year or so later the AIDS epidemic broke out in San Francisco.  They didn’t know it was AIDS yet, but they did know that it was linked to homosexual behavior.  A sin that had lurked in the shadows had now inserted itself into the cultural conversation.  Of particular interest to those that wanted to stop the spread of the disease from the homosexual community (95% of all AIDS cases) to the general public, focused upon the activity of the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, and especially the notorious “Bath Houses.”  I’d venture to say that none of you in this room have ever seen or heard a description of the activities that take place in these “Bath Houses,” or dens of homosexual lasciviousness.  If I were to actually describe them to you, you would at the least blush, and perhaps you would not be able to hold down your breakfast.

The Bible has a word for sin so desparate and depraved that is not even human.  The Bible calls it, an “abomination, or detestable thing.”  The range of meaning and related words or synonyms can refer to “three-day old sacrificial meat” (Lv. 7:18).  The intent of the word, “abomination” and its synonyms is to depict something utterly and totally repugnant to the holiness of God.  The best illustration I can come up with is the “gopher I picked up in the yard yesterday” that had been dead for a couple weeks.”  The smell is beyond “bad.” It is “detestable.”  It is “abominable.”  It makes you literally sick at your stomach.  That’s the condition of the city which Ezekiel describes as “full of bloodshed, and full of perversity” (v. 9).

Again, I ask us to consider whether America is any less perverse or any less full of bloodshed than that city described by Ezekiel.  Every day doctors carve up or otherwise destroy the lives of over 3000 babies—simply because they have become, inconvenient.  Our nation still mourns the 3000 plus men and women killed in the attack we call, 911.  We set up monuments to memorialize these innocent victims.  Yet, every single day over 3000 innocent—the most innocent—lives are snuffed out.  After over 60,000,000 abortions since 1972, can we say America is “not” full of bloodshed? 

God’s does indeed keep a record of man’s rebellion.  God does indeed bring wrath upon those who reject His mercy.  God will most certainly judge harshly the perversion of a population, and absolutely nothing compares to

4.  The DEVASTATION of DIVINE WRATH (5-8)

⁵ He spoke as I listened to the others, “Pass through the city after him and start killing; do not show pity or spare them!  ⁶ Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, as well as the older women and little children,  but do not come near anyone who has the mark.  Now begin at My sanctuary.”  So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple. ⁷ Then He said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain.  Go!” So they went out killing people in the city.  ⁸ While they were killing, I was left alone. And I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord God!  Are You going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem?

It is impossible to read that without feeling uneasy, or even terrified, and rightfully so.  The Bible does not sidestep the wrath of God, or try to soften the blow of His Mighty Hand of Justice!  No, the Bible declares from stem to stern that is terrible to experience God’s wrath.

^{Heb 10   30} For we know the One who has said, Vengeance belongs to Me, I will repay,  and again, The Lord will judge His people. ³¹ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

The wrath of God is as ugly as the love, grace, and mercy of God is beautiful.  But, the former cannot be separated from the latter.  The love of God does not trump the wrath of God.  The mercy of God does not set aside the justice of God.   Matthew 13:40-42 describes the wrath of God:

⁴⁰ Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.  ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin  and those guilty of lawlessness.  ^{b 42} They will throw them into the blazing furnace  where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This is a hard message to hear, but I cannot call myself a servant of God if I do not speak His whole counsel.  Let me say again, God’s wrath is as devastating as His mercy is delightful.  The key is to get on the “mercy” side of God.  The great escape from the wrath of God is to receive the “mark of God,” which is written not with the ink of a scribe, but with the blood of His Son.

I bring this message to you today because the current presidential campaigns shed the bright light of reality on the black soul of our nation.  We are a nation which has “forsaken God.”  We have declared as the city of Ezekiel declared long ago:  “God has no place in our lives.  He’s not watching what we do” (v9, paraphrase).  Oh, but God is still Lord of Our lives, and God is most certainly watching.

America is in danger of soon feeling the wrath of God.  When we are no longer “One Nation Under God,” we will become “One Nation Under God’s Wrath.” 

But, God’s wrath is not only reserved for nations.  There can come a time when He says of an individual, “Enough!”  God is long-suffering, but He is not “forever-suffering.”  Now, today, in this place, you must decide to be “marked as one belonging to God.”  Judgment and wrath are utterly devastating—eternal in both intensity and in time.  You don’t want any part of God’s wrath.  You never want to hear Him say, “Enough!”

Thomas Jefferson, a leader among our Founders, was certainly not a sterling example of a Bible-believing Christian.  His theology departed from the Bible at many points, but He loved the God of the Bible.  He also realized that a nation finds itself in one of two possible positions before God:  in the Light of His Mercy and Providence, or in the darkness of His fierce and indescribable justice.  On Panel Three of the Jefferson Memorial is this quote from him:

"God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a

nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when

I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.

I, too, tremble for my country.  I tremble for my countrymen.  I tremble for every man, woman, and child that is abiding under the vengeful justice of God when they could be basking in the glow of the indescribable mercy of God.

In this season of political pageantry, let us seek not only a man or woman to occupy the White House, but let us seek a Savior to inhabit our hearts. 

I’ll close with this.  Three years ago, Time Magazine put a picture of then Senator, Marco Rubio, on the cover with the caption:  “The Republican Savior.”  In the debate the other night from Iowa, Rubio was asked about this.  His response, I believe, is the most important statement made in any debate.  Rubio looked right into the camera and declared without any hesitancy, "Well, let me be clear about one thing, there's only one Savior and it's not me. It's Jesus Christ who came down to earth and died for our sins."

What our nation needs; what each of us needs is a Savior.  I believe that God will soon deliver His wrath upon America.  I don’t think that can be avoided no matter who gets elected come next November.  You and I, however, can be prepared when that time comes and God says, “I have had enough of America’s rebellion.”  In God’s wrath, “He always remembers mercy” (Hab. 3:2).

Get the mark of His grace and experience His mercy.

The Big Show

January 24, 2016                        NOTES NOT EDITED

The Big Idea

The Big Show

Revelation 19:1-10; 1Thess. 4:13-18

SIS—The “Biggest Show” in history takes place when the Lord gathers His people to be with Him for eternity and it could happen at any moment—are you ready?

***In this sermon I am using the metaphor of the “Big Show” to include the entire process from the Rapture, through the tribulation and millennium and continuing into eternity.  My emphasis is not upon the chronology of the End Times, but upon the unimaginable, inexplicable, incredible glory and blessing of being with Jesus forever.*** Join me as we read about this “Big Show.” Rev. 19:1-10.

1.  There is an INVITATION to receive (v. 9; 1Thess. 4:13-18)

⁹ Then he  said to me,  “Write: Those invited
to the marriage feast  of the Lamb are fortunate!”

I’m sure that most of you have received an invitation to attend a wedding.  These are usually very formal and exquisite communications with pretty standard language. But, there are always those that want their invitation to be, well . . . , “special.”  Take Alison and Isaac’s special invitation that read:  “At our wedding we promise you won’t ever forget the parts that you remember!” Sometimes, the job of sending out wedding invitations falls upon the Mother of the Groom.  After reading the following wedding invitation, you might want to rethink whose in charge:  “You are regretfully invited to the wedding between my perfect son, The Doctor, and some Cheap, Two-bit Tramp, whose name escapes me right now.”  I sense a bit of tension at that wedding.  With most wedding invitations a RSVP card is enclosed so one can indicate whether they will attend.  This couple wanted to make sure every possible scenario was covered.  The RSVP card gave these options:  1. Gladly Attend; 2. Regretfully Decline; 3. Resentfully Attend; 4.  Enthusiastically Decline; 5. We Decline to Respond But Ultimately Will Attend.  I was sort of shocked by how many wedding invitations mentioned, “Booze.”  Most of them I cannot print because of language.  One of the most stylish of these invitations, as you would expect would come from Beverly Hills, CA.  It was a simple invitation that read—in big letters across the top—FREE BOOZE!  9.23.2012.  SEE YA THERE!  P.S.  Amanda and Charlie are getting hitched, so slap on a tie!  Now, isn’t that interesting?  The most important event in a couple’s lives, and FREE BOOZE gets top billing and the Bride and Groom are a “post script!”

I hope these wedding invitations assist any of you young folk considering the proper etiquette for announcing your nuptials.

Weddings involve invitations and the Wedding Supper of the Lamb is no different.  Let us read again what John records about this Special Wedding Super:

⁹ Then he  said to me,  “Write: Those invited to the marriage feast  of the Lamb are fortunate!”

This special, heavenly celebration is “By Invitation Only.”  One cannot pay for a ticket.  One cannot sneak in the back way.  One cannot “come because they had friends who were invited.”  Every one must have a “personal invitation from the Lord, the Groom, Himself.”  Well, when does one receive that invitation?  I’ll speak to that in just a moment, but first, let me show you how someone gets on the “Guest List” for this banquet.  Turn over to Revelation 20:12.  Here we have the mention of “God’s Books,” including “The Book of Life,” which is God’s guest list for the “Wedding Supper of the Lamb.”

Now, by the time we get to Revelation 20:12, no more names are being added to that Book.  Nobody else is going to get into heaven at this time or ever again.  This Book of Life will eventually contain all the names of every person ever saved:  all the O.T. saints, all the N.T. saints before the rapture, all those saved through tribulation and all those saved during the millennium.  It is “Heaven’s Guest List” and nobody gets to heaven unless his or her name has been recorded in it.  Some get in the Book sooner.  Some get in later.  Every one God has elected to save WILL get in this Book, or on Heaven’s Guest List.

First, let me explain “how” a person gets on that List.  Romans 8:14-16 describes the only way a person gets on this List:

Therefore, no condemnation  now exists for those in  Christ Jesus,  ^{a 2} because the Spirit’s law of life  in Christ Jesus has set you  free from the law of sin and of death.  ³ What the law could not do  since it was limited  by the flesh,  God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in flesh like ours  under sin’s domain,  and as a sin offering,  ⁴ in order that the law’s requirement would be accomplished  in us who do not walk according to the flesh  but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who live  according to the flesh think about the things of the flesh,  but those who live  according to the Spirit, about the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For the mind-set of the flesh  is death,  but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile  to God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh  cannot please God. ⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since  the Spirit of God lives in you.  But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,  he does not belong to Him. ¹⁰ Now if Christ is in you,  the body is dead  because of sin, but the Spirit  is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead  lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through  His Spirit who lives in you.

The Book of Life records every name of every person who has ever, or will ever, turn from their sins, accept the free gift of salvation offered to all when Jesus died on the cross.  At this moment of repentance, God seals a person’s soul with the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and records their name in the Book of Life—the Guest List for Heaven.

Second, let me explain “WHEN” this Invitation to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb will be formally delivered.  Turn to 1Thess. 4:13-18:

¹³ We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.  ¹⁴ Since we believe that Jesus died and rose  again,  in the same way God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through  Jesus.  ¹⁵ For we say this to you by a revelation from the Lord:  ^o We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming  will certainly have no advantage over  those who have fallen asleep.  ¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,  ^t with the archangel’s  voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ  will rise first. ¹⁷ Then  we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds  to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage  one another with these words.

This describes what has become known as, “the Rapture.”  Every Bible-believing Christian believes in the “rapture,” or the “Second Coming.”  True believers do NOT deny the rapture; they only disagree on “when” it takes place.  Some believe it takes place “after” the Great Tribulation.  Some believe it takes place “before” the Great Tribulation.  Some believe it takes place at some point during the Tribulation.  Others believe it takes place after the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth, or the millennium.  Some simply admit they have no idea, but are ready as if it could be any minute.  Some . . . just don’t care.

Let me show you why the “rapture” described here in Thessalonians takes place “before” the Great Tribulation, and could take place at any time.  There are some who make no distinction between the “Rapture” and the “Second Coming.”  Some scholars deny the teaching of the “Rapture” as a “Secret Coming.”  Let me dispel that myth.  The Rapture will certainly be no “secret.”  First, God has openly declared it, here in this text and other places.  Second, the removal of millions of people will not escape notice.  Without a doubt, the world will be fully aware the Church is missing.  Many scoffers who heard preaching about the Rapture will know it has happened.  Many will repent.

Now, here are five reasons why the “Rapture” will be the formal deliverance of God’s Invitation to Marriage Supper of the Lamb—before the Tribulation.  There are more evidences for a pretribulational rapture, but time permits mentioning only a few.

1.  Christ comes “in the air,” not to the earth.  At the Second Coming Jesus sets foot on the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4) to inaugurate the millennium, after the tribulation, not before as in 1Thess. 4. 

2.  At the Rapture, Jesus comes “for” His saints. 1Thess. 4:17 says we are “snatched away, caught up, or raptured” (harpazō).  At the Second Coming, Jesus comes “with” the saints (Rev. 19:14).  The “Rapture” precedes the tribulation (see 1Thess. 5).  The Second Coming is followed by the Millennium (see Rev. 20:1-3). 

3.  The “raptured” are saved from God’s “hour of wrath” (1Thess. 5:9; Rev. 3:10) (shorter period than the “day” of the Lord, 1Thess. 5).  Those left behind feel the full force of God’s wrath.  For the Church to endure the Great Tribulation would be like Christ beating up His Bride before the Wedding Feast.

4.  Before the Anti-Christ can be revealed a “restrainer must be removed” (2Thess. 2:6-7).  This refers to the Holy Spirit who empowers the Church by indwelling believers.  The Holy Spirit, as God is omnipotent, so this cannot refer to the Holy Spirit, but must refer to His empowering—hence, restraining—work through the Church.

5.  Here’s what I feel is the most important evidence for a “pretribulation rapture”:  it could happen at any time (imminence) without any further prophecies being fulfilled or signs being given.  The Rapture, which initiates the “Day of the Lord,” or the “Seven Years of Tribulation” (1Thess. 5:1-3) will come as a “thief in the night” (5:2).  When was the last time you received a notice from a “thief” that he would be robbing your house on a given day at a given time?  The “Rapture” could happen at any time without any further signs (see Lk. 21:11-28).  The Second Coming comes at the end of the “70^th Week” of Daniel, which represents seven years of tribulation (Dan. 9:20ff).  The Church since Pentecost has always held a belief in the “imminent” (anytime) coming of the Lord (Titus 2:13).  We know that Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Mark, and especially Revelation, among others, teach that certain signs must be fulfilled before the Second Coming.  Therefore, without a rapture, prophesies and signs must be ignored, or spiritualized.

I could give you more evidence that shows the “rapture” comes before the Great Tribulation, but my main point of this sermon, is:  don’t miss the invitation.  Even if you disagree with my timing of the “Rapture” or “Great Snatching Away,” or “Blessed Hope,” or whatever else you want to call it—DON’T MISS IT!  Accept God’s invitation of grace and get your name on the Guest List for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.  I would like to add, however, that the “Wedding Feast” in chapter 19 precedes the record of Christ’s coming in Chapter 20.  We had to get there somehow.

Following our theme of “The Big Idea,” which we know will be accompanied by “Big Challenges,” and likely some “Big Failures,” I am referring to entering heaven as the “Big Show.”  This is where God provides an eternal banquet, or party for all eternity.  Notice in 1Thess. 4:17:  “and so we will always be with the Lord.”  The Rapture gets the party started, and God’s grace keeps it going for all eternity!  There’s an “invitation to receive,” but

2.  There is also, a CELEBRATION to enjoy

To be quite blunt and honest with you, I don’t think most church goers are excited about going to heaven—not if you judge by the enthusiasm they show for the things of God on earth.

Oh folks, human language does not have the power to even give a glimpse of the glory and bliss of heaven.  I’ve tried over the years to describe heaven, especially at funerals, but I always feel I miss the mark by a mile.  No human (save Paul, 1Cor. ***) has ever gone to heaven and returned with pictures describing its beauty.  The best I can do is tell you how a “cat” described heaven. 

A cat dies and goes to heaven.  God meets him at the gate and says, 'You have been a good cat all these years. You can have anything you desire, all you have to do is ask.' Well,' said the cat, 'I lived all my life on a farm and had to sleep on hardwood floors.' 'Say no more,' says God and instantly a fluffy pillow appears.  A few days later, six mice are killed in a tragic accident and they go to heaven. God meets them at the gate with the same offer he made to the cat. 'All our life,' the mice say, 'we've had to run. Cats, dogs, women with brooms have chased us. If we had roller skates, we wouldn't have to run any more.  'God says he can take care of it and, instantly, each mouse is fitted with a beautiful pair of tiny roller skates.  A week later God checks on the cat, which is asleep on its pillow. God gently nudges him awake and asks, 'How are you doing? Are you happy here?' 'Never been happier,' says the cat, stretching and yawning. 'And those meals on wheels you've been sending over are great.'

That’s a bad joke, but a bold truth—“heaven will exceed your wildest, grandest, most glorious expecations!” 

What exactly will one miss if they do not believe and are not “caught up” at the rapture?  Let me first tell you what people “will not” miss who miss the rapture—they will not miss the Great Tribulation.  They will not miss the rise of the Antichrist.  They will not miss the requirement to take the mark of the beast or risk starvation.  They will not miss Global War and Global catastrophes.  They will not miss the cataclysmic changes in the cosmos like the moon turning to blood.  They will not miss the death and disaster from world-wide disease, floods, famines, pestilences of all kind.  Those who miss the “rapture” land squarely in seven years of the most calamitous and horrible years on earth!

Human language failed John as he tried to describe the “celebration we will enjoy” at the Wedding Feast.  He saw with his eyes sights his lips could not describe.  In Rev. 19, John lacked a sufficient vocabulary to describe heaven so he used the same word four times:

V1:  Hallelujah!  Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God . . .

V3:  Hallelujah!  Her smoke ascends forever and ever! (Speaking of
        The Harlot (Evil in all its forms) defeated in chapters 17-18).

V4:  Then the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, seated on the throne, saying: Amen! Hallelujah!

V 6:  Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty, has begun to reign!

One Bible scholar calls this the “Hallelujah Chorus” of the Bible.  We all know the power and majesty of the Hallelujah Chorus in Handel’s Messiah.  Here’s the inspiration for that.  It is hard for us as humans to get a grip on this heavenly seen—or more correctly, let this heavenly seen get a grip on us. 

Another N.T. scholar describes this “celebration” in these words:  In 18:20 the heavens and the saints are told to rejoice at God’s judgment of Babylon the Great. That call to celebration is now expanded into a series of “hallelujah” choruses . . . . Only here in the NT does the word Ἁλληλουϊά (Hallēlouia, Hallelujah = praise Yahweh) occur, and it governs 19:1–8. Yet this section, while a single whole, functions both to conclude the major section of the destruction of Babylon the Great (19:1–5) and to introduce the section on Jesus’ return (19:6–8).  Baker Exegetical Commentary.

The point of the “Four-fold Hallelujahs” seem clear to me:  the glorious celebration of the raptured saints is to spectacular to describe by any word but “Hallelujah!”—and that spoken over and over again by saints drunken on the ecstasy of grace!

As we think of “the celebration we will enjoy” at the “Big Show,” let me go back and pick up on how Paul concludes his teaching on the rapture.  In verses 17 and 18 Paul declares:  and so we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage  one another with these words.

For the most part, people do not think much about heaven, until a loved one dies.  At that time, the open wounds of grief long for the soothing balm of hope.  Despair cries out for understanding.  When death pushes us down in distress, our eyes look up to heaven, the new home for our loved ones.  We do ourselves a great disservice as believers if we only think of heaven as a solution to death.  It is much, much, much more than that.  Yet, we cannot explain heaven or what it means to truly celebrate.  All we can do is “imagine.”

And, so it was with the singer and songwriter of the Christian rock band, Mercy Me, Bart Millard.  Regarding the song's meaning, Millard stated: "When my father died of cancer in 1991, he left me with the assurance that he was headed to a better place. For several years following his death, I would find myself writing the phrase 'I can only imagine' on anything I could find. That simple phrase would give me a peace thinking about what my dad was finally experiencing. Years later, in 1999, MercyMe was writing songs for an independent project. I remember coming home from a show and being wide awake on our bus at 2 o'clock in the morning. I was trying to write lyrics in an old notebook of mine, when all of a sudden, I stumbled across that phrase. About ten minutes later, the song was written. Some people say it's amazing that it was written in ten minutes, when really it had been on my heart for almost ten years."

For those of us who attend the Wedding Supper of the Lamb through death or rapture, we can “only imagine” what the celebration will be like.  Mercy Me describes this a lot better than I.  Let’s listen.

[PLAY SONG]

Dear friends, what a celebration there is going to be when we get to heaven.  Maybe it is a bit, “sacrilegious” to refer to God’s glorious heaven as the “Big Show,” or maybe not.  Whatever you call it—don’t miss it!  There’s an invitation to receive and a celebration to enjoy.

Hope to see ‘ya there.