Don’t You Want To Be Confident In What You Believe In? The Rapture Doctrine Brings Confidence In So Many Ways.
The 4th distinction from our Rapture Vs. Second Advent distinction chart is
Rapture
- The Church goes to heaven, JOH 14:3.
Second Advent
- Church returns with Christ, 1TH 3:13.
This morning we are going to take it a little slower than usual and I will only be covering the first part of this distinction which is #4. The Church goes to heaven, JOH 14:3.
Let’s begin with our main verse John 14:3 and a little background to go along with it.
The gospel of John is pretty unique and we know this because Matthew Mark and Luke are pretty repetitive but also unique because they tell the same stories (parables) but with different accounts
and then the gospel of John just throws you that monkey wrench and because of the element of surprise, this gospel makes you want to pay attention a little more and I really think your gonna love what we have for you this morning.
Starting with JOHN 13:33
JOH 13:33 "Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You shall seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, [Jesus is talking to the non-Jewish believers, gentiles] I now say to you also, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.'
JOH 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Notice that it’s “a new commandment” and I believe that stems from the fact that Jesus says “even as I have loved you” – You see, I believe what makes this new commandment is the fact that we now have the great power demonstration, Jesus is the GPD, and His life, His ministry is the Great Power Experiment.
JOH 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
JOH 13:36 Simon Peter *said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered, "Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you shall follow later."
JOH 13:37 Peter *said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You."
Will you???
JOH 13:38 Jesus *answered, "Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, [listen up] I say to you, a cock shall not crow, until you deny Me three times.
JOH 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
We are also going to take a look at that word -“troubled”
JOH 14:2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14:3 – our featured verse for this study where the Church is raptured and goes to heaven.
JOH 14:3 "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.
JOH 14:4 "And you know the way where I am going."
JOH 14:5 Thomas *said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?"
JOH 14:6 Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.
And then finally verse 7, the gospel of John does a great job pointing out the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ:
JOH 14:7 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."
Let’s take a peak at some background for this chapter.
John 14 begins a long address from Jesus and continues until the end of chapter 17.
Jesus begins with comfort and reassurance which applies to their immediate emotions, but also serves to strengthen their faith in the hours to come. They were going to have TURBULANCE!
These words are spoken to the disciples, but include principles which apply to all believers, including us and that’s how we are going to look at them today, as if Jesus was speaking directly to us, because He is.
During the last supper is when Jesus reveals to His disciple the future of what is going to take place, a part of His revelation.
He notes that one of the inner circle would become a traitor, meaning Judas, John 13:21 tells us that,
And the first words of this chapter continue uninterrupted from the prediction that Peter will deny Christ (John 13:36–38). This is an incredible prediction because He doesn’t just say Peter will betray Him, He says Peter will betray Him 3 times! Jesus predicts this because He knows all things. He is omniscience! And He is giving us some omniscient advice here!
Earlier scripture indicates Jesus sometimes had a troubled spirit (John 11:33; 12:27), [probably because after all He is human] but here He tells His followers not to have troubled hearts.
Jesus is not concerned or troubled about this so why should we be?
There is a time to be concerned or troubled about something and there is a time not to be troubled
In John 11:33 is the story of the death of Lazarus.
And we have Two Greek phrases that are used in describing Jesus' reaction to this scene.
One is enebrimēsato tō pneumati, translated as "deeply moved in His spirit." This phrase will be used again in verse 38.
According to the gospel of Mark the implication is not entirely sorrowful - (Mark 14:5).
In this context, Jesus isn't angry at the people for being sad—He's angered that they have something to be sad about.
His "spirit" is disturbed by what's happening.
According to Hebrews 4:15–16, as a fully-human man, Jesus understands what it means to suffer loss.
The other Greek expression used here is kai etaraxen heauton, translated as "greatly troubled."
It would be fair to describe Jesus' mood here as "agitated."
This features the same term John chose to depict the turbulence of a pool of water (John 5:7).
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON AN AIRPLANE AND THE PILOT ANNOUNCES “TURBULENCE’ – MANY OF US ARE ALREADY TROUBLED JUST PREPARING FOR THE TURBULENCE – NEVERMIND THE ACTUAL EVENT.
JESUS CHRIST IS DEMONSTRATING FOR US HOW TO HANDLE TURBULENCE IN LIFE.
Jesus’ is demonstrating for us how to handle trials and suffering in life, and in essence, He is showing us how to handle our very own emotions.
Now back in John 12:27, in reference to Jesus sometimes having a troubled spirit (John 11:33; 12:27),
Jesus is continuing to speak to a group of gentile, non-Jewish, seekers brought to Him by the disciples (John 12:20–22).
JOH 12:27 "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
This is where we get deep in our study because I want to point out something to you that I believe will actually make a great impact on your life, it did for ours!
- What might seem like death and destruction is really the process which turns something mundane and immature into something mature and productive.
This is a concept also explored by the apostle Paul in his letters (1 Corinthians 15:36–42).
Paul is saying that our bodies are the same as Jesus earthly body and we face challenges and temptations as did He.
1CO 15:36-42
1CO 15:36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;
1CO 15:37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.
1CO 15:38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.
1CO 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.
1CO 15:40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.
1CO 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
1CO 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;
I want to show you something really cool verse by verse here so taking 1CO 15:36
1CO 15:36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;
I love this passage because Paul shows us how to respond to stupidity and ignorance…
Paul is obviously responding harshly to questions posed in the prior verse.
This suggests that he's encountered these before, and he knows they are not asked in sincerity.
These are challenges he anticipates from those among the Corinthians who disbelieved in resurrection from the dead for believers in Jesus.
These questions, like ones Jesus' critics, - the Sadducees and the Pharisees, - posed (Mark 12:18–24) are meant to ridicule a belief, not inquire about it.
These objectors simply could not imagine what the experience of a resurrected body might be like.
Why? BECAUSE they put God in a box.
I believe my dad has an entire doctrine on that “Don’t put God in a Box” --- don’t limit the unlimited God!
Which is why Paul calls the imaginary objector "foolish."
This uses the same term Christ applied to a short-sighted man in a parable (Luke 12:20).
Short-sighted meaning you can’t see the whole picture, your limited and usually because of arrogance…
BECAUSE we operate in grace here at gbible, I thought it was important to learn how to respond to situations like: Those who are rejecting belief in the resurrection because of a simple lack of understanding about how God might accomplish such a thing.
Paul will more directly answer these questions later, but for now he starts with an analogy from nature:
what is sown—or planted, --- like a seed in a field—does not come to life unless the seed dies first.
Paul will go on to show that the resurrected body is similar in the sense that the pre-death body is merely the seed to the much better body God has planned for us.
1CO 15:37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.
Paul is using the metaphor of planting a seed to show that the resurrected body is the ideal version, and the point of the process. You know I am always up here saying “we are always in process”,
What is sown or planted in the ground is not the plant but a "bare kernel." Our physical bodies are like a seed that needs nourishment…
Paul is comparing:
These bodies that we know and are familiar with are like a seed compared to the plant in full bloom that grows from it.
As he wrote in the previous verse, the seed—meaning these bodies—must die in order for the plant to spring to life as intended.
1CO 15:38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.
Aligning with the Will of God.
The resurrection of a Christian's body after death is like the sowing of a seed that grows into a plant.
The seed must die for the plant to live.
The seed, our pre-death frame, is not the ultimate end God had in mind for us.
The resurrected body that comes after physical death is the one God means for us to occupy forever.
Paul concludes the metaphor by stating that God gives life to the plant based on the seed that is planted.
Ask yourself this question:
What kind of soil are you planting your seed in?
Is it Cosmic soil or is it Devine soil, organic or artificial?
NVTD - Cosmic kernels produce cosmic plants, PVTD- Devine kernels produce divine plants…
Wheat kernels grow wheat plants; corn kernels grow corn plants. In the same way, God somehow determines the "kind" of our resurrected body by the "kind" of seed, pre-death body, that comes from it.
In other words, Paul will show, the resurrected body will fit or match the body that died in some way.
A reflection of how we live our lives, ones attitude toward the Word of God. PVTD or NVTD
And this has nothing to do with your failures and sins, - God gave us plenty of illustrations such as David, Paul, Peter… they all failed but they still had PVTD and they still had a heart after God!
SO RIGHT NOW, AS AN ANALOGY - WE ARE LIKE A SEED AND WE MUST TREAT OUR EARTHLY LIVES AS SUCH ----
---SO THAT WE WATER, NOURISH THE SEED, FEED THE SEED,
---WE DON’T ALLOW TOXINS TO COME UPON OUR SEEDS FOR THAT WILL HARM THE ENTIRE HARVEST.
We are to be careful what we allow into our souls, when we let garbage into our souls that often becomes contagious and we end up hindering those God has placed in our lives to protect and love… one bad apple can spoil the bunch!
So I ask you this:
ARE YOU GOING TO BLOSSOM AS A BEATIFUL PLENTIFUL WINNER BEL PLANT OR WILL YOU BE A WILTING LOSER BEL PLANT… but hey – BECAUSE of this thing called grace, even those bodies will still reflect glory…
WE ARE NOURISHING THE SEED OF OUR RESURRECTION BODIES NOW IN THIS LIFE, AND JUST AS JESUS CHRIST HAD TO DIE and LEAVE THIS EARTH FOR THE Holy Spirit TO COME AND DO HIS WORK,
OUR SEED MUST DIE IN ORDER FOR OUR RESURRECTION BODIES COME TO FRUITION -PROCESS.
OUR SPIRITUAL WALK IS ACTUALLY FORMING OUR RESURRECTION BODIES, OUR ETERNAL BODIES, WE ARE NOT FORMING THIS TEMPORARY EARTHLY BODIES OR AN UPGRADED VERSION.
CONCENTRATE ON YOUR SPIRITUAL BODY…
1CO 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.
Taken on its own, Paul's statement here is obvious: human and animal "flesh" are different, belonging to different creatures.
Keep in mind - this explanation is being given to counter the bewilderment of critics.
Christian "resurrection" does NOT mean restoring movement and awareness to a decayed corpse.
They should not be thinking of a decaying corpse returning to life and staggering around like a zombie.
Beyond that, though, the resurrected body will be of its own "kind," meaning that it will be as different as a bird is from a fish.
1CO 15:40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.
Here is where Paul begins to bring this analogy home, saying there are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, each with their own kind of glory. - 2 totally different bodies.
He seems to mean there is a difference between the bodies of people and animals on earth and the bodies of stars and planets that occupy the heavens.
The bodies of God's earthly creation reveal His glory in a different way than the heavenly bodies He has made.
Paul will go on to suggest a connection between these heavenly bodies and the resurrected bodies of believers.
They will have a glory all their own.
1CO 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
This is what we wanted to get at:
Paul is now declaring that even those heavenly bodies differ in the kind of glory they possess. How so? We need to learn the answer to that!
The sun and moon each have a different kind of glory, and the glory of each star also differs from that of the other stars.
Every created thing reflects the glory of the creator, even as it bears a glory of its own given to it by God.
The glory of all these bodies is unique, just as it will be for the resurrected bodies of the believers.
1CO 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;
This verse describes the transformation that takes place between the pre-death body and the body that is raised to new life in the resurrection.
One objection to resurrection in Paul's day was that human bodies are decaying and even corrupted.
That's why some teachers insisted that only the spirit could continue to the afterlife.
The human body would not be appropriate; it would not fit in the celestial realms of "the heavens."
Paul does not entirely disagree.
Our mortal bodies are dying, dishonorable, and weak.
Paul shows here, though, that those are not the bodies which enter eternity.
A transformation takes place, like what happens when a seed dies to give life to a new plant (1 Corinthians 15:37).
The seed—our pre-death bodies—are something perishable.
They are temporary!
They are always wearing out on their way to an inevitable death.
What is raised to life is imperishable, a body that can never die, a body that is both physical and eternal.
NOW BACK TO JOHN 12:27 SHOWS US HOW OUR LORD OPERATED IN HIS HUMANITY, IN HIS SEED.
This verse, JOHN 12:27 provides a fascinating glimpse into the humanity of Jesus Christ.
JOH 12:27 "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
Again, here He describes Himself the same way He did when approaching Lazarus' grave in John 11:33 - TROUBLED OR AGITATED.
These passages use The Greek root word tarassō, often translated as "troubled," implying an agitation or disturbance.
As one fully human, Jesus experienced the same emotions as anyone else (Hebrews 4:15), and in this case that means the anxiety one would expect, given all He knows of what's to come (John 19:1; 19:16).
Hebrews 4:15, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin."
Hebrews 4:14–16 is among the most often-quoted passages in the Bible.
It is also one of the clearest expressions of Christianity's unique nature.
Jesus, the Son of God, has experienced all of our struggles, temptations, and sufferings.
And yet, He did so without succumbing to sin.
For this reason, We can look to Him as our perfect example.
We can rely on Him as our perfect substitute.
We can come to Him as our only High Priest.
And, we can trust in Him as our source of help and healing.
Knowing that Christ fully, personally understands what it means to be human gives us confidence when we bring Him our failures and needs.
The central figure of the Christian faith is not a remote, distant deity. Nor is it some flawed, mortal figure.
Instead, The "founder" of our salvation is one who has experienced all of our temptations and did so without falling into sin.
Earlier portions of Hebrews explained why Messiah had to be fully human.
In order to become the perfect example for humanity (Hebrews 2:10), and our true High Priest (Hebrews 2:17), Jesus had to experience all of the struggles and suffering of mankind (Hebrews 2:14–18).
Here, this idea is given even more direct expression.
Christ has a unique understanding of our plight (Hebrews 2:18).
The Greek word used here is sympathēsai, which has come into English almost unchanged as "sympathize." Heb 4:15
Jesus can "feel for" us in our temptations since He has experienced those lures as well. The same temptations that bring us to anxiety…
In fact, it can be said that Jesus actually understands the weight of our temptation better than we do.
A man strong enough to lift a heavy object appreciates its weight more than one who lacks the strength to hold it up.
At some point, the weak man's power runs out, and he never fully bears the load: he drops it.
Christ, in enduring our temptations without failure, experienced their weight far beyond the point where we would have failed and given in.
While we are tempted, and often sin, Christ was tempted in every way we are, but remained sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 3:5; 1 Peter 1:19).
This verse also clarifies an extremely important point about the nature of sin: namely, that The experience of temptation is not a sin, itself. I hope that’s freeing for you
In other words, feeling the lure of sin is not a sin.
The original Greek describing Jesus' temptations is pepeirasmenon de kata panta; literally, "tempted, even [neverthelessyet] in all things."
The fact that Christ experienced the temptation to sin, but was sinless, is monumentally important for our understanding of the gospel.
Why?
Too often, we categorize certain sins—usually ones we personally are not prone to—as those by which only "really bad" people are even tempted. (kind of funny)
Like the drug addict who steals cheats lies are way worse than the suzy homemaker who judges all her friends…
Rather than helping others recognize the difference between temptation and action, and guiding them to react in a godly way, we act as if being tempted is the sin, itself.
This, according to the Word of God, is simply not true.
Christ was tempted—Christ was without sin.
No matter what lures a person feels, God always gives them a way to respond without violating His will (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Instead of a cold, emotionless judge, or a flawed, fickle spirit, Christians worship Jesus Christ.
THIS MEANS THAT AT THE JUDGEMENT SEAT, WE CAN BE CONFIDENT IN HIS JUSTICE.
He is the only One who has both experienced and overcome the power of sin and temptation.
HEBREWS 4:16 GOES ON TO SHOW US THAT:
This not only takes away our excuses for failure, it gives us reassurance that, when we fail, He will offer us mercy and compassion.
We will conclude this 4th distinction with some more background for john 12:27
Where we will see how Jesus also makes an interesting statement about asking God to spare Him from what is coming.
JOH 12:27 "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.