________________________________________________________________________

It has slipped into Christianity as unobtrusively as one might get a virus. Quietly it began to spread until now there are many churches in America that are infected with it. Some say it's a "backlash" to the "in-your-face" commercialism of the "Left Behind" series. Some call it by it's seemingly innocent, academic name "preterism." You may have never heard of it before. Perhaps you've never contacted someone who is infected with this false doctrine, but you will one day because silently this heresy has spread throughout America through the medium of influential ministers and churches. It doesn't call any one denomination or fellowship it's home; it's an old heresy with a new look that has found it's way even into Apostolic, Pentecostal churches. Wherever it shows it's ugly head, confusion and hurt and destruction are the results. In churches where the pastor did not actively take a stand and deal with it head on, it has caused division and splits. I don't know of anyone in our local congregation that is infected with this heresy, but let's call this sermon a little "pre-emptive maintenance." Call it "protective medicine." Eventually, perhaps, we will have to face this diseased doctrine and I want to go on the record today as to what I -- and more importantly, the scriptures -- teach!

Let me explain to you what it is, this false doctrine that I am preaching against today. It's official name today is called "preterism." It comes in many shapes and forms but usually it teaches several points: 1. the belief that all prophecy has already been fulfilled. 2. the belief that there will be no future Millennial Reign where Jesus Christ rules and reigns upon the earth. 3. The belief that Jesus Christ is not coming back for His church but already returned A.D. 70 at the fall of the temple at Jerusalem. Because they believe these points, they also go on to falsely conclude: 4. We are currently living in the prophesied Kingdom of God upon the earth. 5. There is no future resurrection of the dead, either at Christ's Return, or at the White Throne Judgment. And some even go on to believe that 6. There is no literal hell or heaven but those terms in scripture simply refer to spiritual "state of beings" that people experience on this earth. In the past three years I have ran into people in this area that believe this heresy, so I am not talking about something that is not "close to home."

I could easily spend until next Sunday scripturally "tearing apart" each point of this false doctrine, but I'm not going to do that chiefly because most people here do not believe the false doctrine anyway. What I want to focus on today is the part that has -- probably without you realizing it -- touched our lives and affected us. And that is the part about "Jesus is not coming back."

________________________________________________________________________

Maybe you believe that Jesus is coming back as I do, but yet I must admit that this heresy has affected you and I. How? The church of today has lost it's expectancy of Jesus' return. When you read the New Testament, you will find that it is a subject that the Early Apostolic Church leaders returned to time and time again. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, the writer of Hebrews, James, Jude, and even Jesus Himself -- in other words, every writer of the New Testament -- mentioned and mentioned often the coming return of Jesus Christ. It is found in almost every epistle of the New Testament. It was a reoccurring theme of the preachers of the 1st Century. If you had been a saint back then, the odds were that you would not go but a few services without someone preaching a message that brought your focus back to the fact that Jesus Christ is coming back!

Today, we try to have the same "candy sticks" of the Apostles. We try to preach most often the things that they preached most often. That's why that if you go to this church more than two services, you will probably hear me mention such topics as "repentance, water baptism in the name of Jesus, receiving the Holy Ghost, forgiveness, enduring persecution, prayer and fasting, worship, the identity of Jesus Christ and the work of Calvary." But in two areas of subject matter, I have neglected to preach on as much as I should. The first is the most neglected subject of today and yet was Jesus' most often mentioned teaching: "hell." The second area that I have neglected is in preaching to you is about the "coming of Jesus Christ."

And this neglect is obvious throughout America. The church of today is no longer excited about talking about Christ's return. You can see it most prevalent in the worship music of today. I like some of the modern songs and I believe the scripture when it says that we should sing "a new song." We do that around here and when we find good choruses, we add them. But understand that when the Holy Ghost began to flow through America in the early 1920s and 1930s and anointed men and women began to write the songs that we now call "hymns," over 80% of the songs were about the future coming of Christ and getting to heaven and the New Jerusalem. They didn't always get their prophecy right, but it's obvious from their songs that in their heart was an expectation, a "looking forward to" of the return of the Lord. A quick glance through the songbook "Pentecostals Praises" will reveal songs such as "Oh, I Want to See Him," "Everybody will be Happy Over There," "I'll Fly Away," "Just a Little While," "Heaven's Jubilee," and many, many more! Today, praise songs about the return of Jesus Christ make up less than 1% of the songs that we sing.

I don't believe that you have to sing those specific hymnals in order to be saved, but there are many here today that have no real idea about what to expect at the Lord's return. You are not excited about Jesus coming back because you're not sure what's going to happen. And that's because preachers like myself have not put the truth of Christ's return in front of you enough.

Some of the first that preached this heresy were two men named Hymenaeus and Philetus. Paul wrote about them to the young pastor Timothy:

The antidote to this false doctrine was to "study" the Word of God. In other words, Paul was telling Timothy "you need to take the time to see exactly what God's Word says about this subject." So for the rest of this sermon, I'm going to preach to you in a slightly different style. I'm going to preach you the facts about the future coming of Jesus Christ. I'm going to quote much scripture and you probably will not have time to turn to them. You can get my notes, or view them on the internet, or buy the tape and go back slowly through them later. Today, I want you to let truth sink into your mind and heart and hopefully to allow an expectancy of Jesus Christ's return to be placed back within your soul!

________________________________________________________________________

In our first text today we read about when Jesus Christ ascended into heaven leaving His disciples to go tarry in Jerusalem for the Holy Ghost. Jesus had been appearing to the disciples off and on again for 40 days after His resurrection but now He was going away in physical form so that He could return to live in Spirit form inside of them. To the disciple's astonishment, Jesus began to slowly ascend into the sky until He disappeared in the clouds. Apparently they stayed there for some time just staring blankly up at the sky because God sent some angels to talk to them and to ask them:

He shall come "in like manner!" In other words, He will appear in the clouds again when He comes back! And no where in history has this yet happened. Jesus did not come back "in this manner" when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. because John writing in the book of Revelation in 100 A.D. told us that He was yet to come. And the scripture is very clear, when He comes back, it's not going to be in some spiritual way. It wasn't talking about receiving the Holy Ghost, or Jesus in Spirit form inside our lives, but those angels said "He will come back in like manner." There is coming a day when the physical body of Jesus Christ will appear visible to ALL in the clouds and He will gather His church to Him. It has not yet happened, but it WILL happen and sooner than you think!

We shall gather together with Him in the clouds! Our other text in 1 Thessalonians said "caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air!" It may sound crazy, but the old song "I'm going to fly away" is scriptural truth! We will meet Him in the air! The Saints of God will rise to be with Jesus!

There are many Christians that do not realize the difference. When Jesus Christ comes in "like manner" for His church to gather them together to Him, He will not step foot upon the earth, but will come in the clouds and then the saints will rise to meet Him there. The scriptural term for this is "the catching away of the saints." Even though it is not a scriptural term, most preachers use the term "rapture" to refer to this "catching away of the saints" and "meeting Jesus in the air." The word "rapture" was chosen because it means "an emotional state in which intense joy, and love possesses the mind to the exclusion of any other feeling" (New Webster's Dictionary, 1992). It's a good name for this event because as you are flying through the air to meet Jesus Christ in the clouds, you will be in a "raptured state" with all of your thoughts on Jesus Christ!

The term "Second Coming" refers to the events of Revelation 19 when Jesus Christ comes back with the raptured saints to fight the Battle of Armageddon and deliver Israel from the Antichrist. At His second coming, Jesus' feet will touch the earth on Mt. Olives and will fight for Israel. This sermon is not about the 'second coming" of Christ but about the Rapture of the Church. What I am preaching about today is the "Rapture" of the Church when Jesus comes back in the clouds and the saints of God fly through the air to meet Him and return to heaven with Him. When you read scripture, it's important to discern as to whether or not you are reading about the "Rapture of the Church" or the "Second Coming of Christ." Today I am focusing on the "Rapture of the Church."

In other words, those who died right with God will be resurrected (brought back to life) at Jesus' appearing! Our second text read:

Paul said "if you believe that Christ rose again, then you must also believe in the future resurrection of the saints!" When a saint that is bought with the blood of Jesus Christ and filled with His Spirit, and is right with God dies, they die unjustly because the death of Jesus Christ was their substitute. In other words, when you are washed in the blood of Jesus and His Spirit, you no longer reap the wages of sin which is death but the wages of Jesus Christ which is life. That means that your death is just a "time of sleep." It is only a temporary rest. Because when Jesus Christ, the resurrected One steps down to the clouds and calls for His church, those who have been "justified" and made right through His blood and Spirit are going to get up and live forever! And those who are still alive will rise never having to face physical death! There's going to be a resurrection!

When we are resurrected, it will not be into our old, painful bodies that were born into sin, but we will be given a glorified, heavenly body that will never hurt, wear out, or break! And our new bodies will last for eternity!

We will be changed! We will have an incorruptible body! And notice that Paul wrote about the dead and then wrote "we will be changed." Even back then Paul wrote with anticipation of Jesus' return for His church. This was the same Paul who had scars and wounds across his back from the beatings and stonings that he had taken. This was the same Paul who three time asked God to take away the "thorn in his flesh" and yet had to live everyday in pain. Rather than get down about his physical condition, Paul used it to cause him to look forward to the Rapture of the church!

Maybe you can't get around like you used to. Maybe your knees or back or whatever doesn't work well anymore. Maybe health problems are a constant battle in your everyday life. Instead of getting down and depressed about something that you cannot control, why don't you get the attitude of Paul and say: "It only causes me to look forward to the day that Jesus Christ comes back and I get my glorified body!" I've got to stay faithful to Him, because at His appearing I'm going to be changed! This corruption will put on "incorruption!"

You will not have a glorified body with defects and such, but the scripture says that we shall be like unto the spotless, blemishless Lamb of God!

In other words, there is hope because even though we are only trying to be more like Jesus right now, one day we will be like Him in every way. And that includes our physical bodies. Jesus Christ was resurrected at 34 years of age and was in perfect health. If you die on this earth at 90 years of age, I believe that you will be resurrected similar to a youthful 34! If an infant dies at 3 months, I do not believe that they will be resurrected in diapers for eternity but instead will look similar to what they would have appeared at a mature 34! We will be like Him!

Also the resurrected Christ was able to fly. He was able to walk through walls and yet still be touched by those around Him. He was able to eat but didn't have to and didn't gain an ounce! He was able to lie down but did not need sleep! There will be no sickness in the New Jerusalem, no crying, no tears, no heartaches, no hurts, no pains, no muscle aches, no headaches -- therefore we must be changed from this earthly body to be LIKE HIM!

________________________________________________________________________

I could go on and on about the particulars of His coming such as the scriptures say that He will come back in the eastern skies (Matthew 24:27). When Jesus Christ came to earth the first time as a baby, His star appeared in the eastern sky. When He comes back for His church, He will appear there. The east represents the sunrise, and a new beginning. And the Rapture of the Church will be a glorious beginning for the Church!

I could get into the particulars of how there will be a trumpet that sounds and I could talk about the two-fold meaning of the trumpet in scripture and that was 1.) to announce the beginning of a celebration or Jubilee and 2.) to announce the beginning of war and destruction. The "last" trumpet that will sound to signal the Rapture of the Church will have both meanings: It will be the beginning of a celebration for the church and the beginning of war and destruction through the Wrath of God to those who remain behind.

So for the conclusion of this message, let's get down to the "nitty-gritty" of the Rapture.

The "Left-behind" series is just wishful thinking because there is not ONE scripture that gives hope to those who had an opportunity to be saved before Jesus Christ's coming, rejected that opportunity, and missed the Rapture. If you do so, you will not be given a second chance.

When Jesus comes, everyone that has lived or reached an age of accountability up to that point will be judged as either "righteous" or "unrighteous;" saved or lost. Sure the 1/3 of the Jewish people who live through the terrible Wrath of God will have a second chance. The children that reach an age of accountability in the Millennial Reign and are born during that time will have a chance, but you and I who had our chance during Grace will not. In prophesying about the time period after the Rapture Isaiah said "let the sinner be accursed" (Isaiah 65:20)!

We are baptized in Jesus' name for the "remission of sins" (Acts 2:38). It is properly applying the blood of Jesus Christ to our lives. In the Passover, the properly applied blood was what caused the sentence of death to pass over the people of God. To be "resurrected" from the dead, you must be baptized in His name and have properly applied the blood to your life.

The Spirit of God dwelling inside of you will be what triggers the change from death to life from corruption to incorruption. Without the Spirit of God inside you, nothing will happen at the Rapture of the church.

The three key words there are "if," "dwell," and "in." IF the Spirit of God dwells "in you." Then there will be a resurrection. Not if you feel God's presence upon you. But if it is IN you. And not if it was in you at one time when you received the Holy Ghost 10 years ago, but if it DWELLS in you at the time of the Rapture. If you are still yielding to the work of God in your life just as much as when you first received Him!

This leads us to our next point:

Your wedding garment must be clean and pure. It's not about getting saved at a one time experience with God, but what's your wedding garment look like today!? That beautiful robe of righteous that was placed upon you in the spirit when you were baptized in Jesus' name, what's it look like today!?

There must be an expectancy and an anticipation live daily in our hearts that Jesus Christ is coming back! I've known people that were filled with the Holy Ghost and "in church" that did not look forward to the Rapture of the Church because they were so caught up in the cares of this life and the pleasures of this world meant so much to them that they didn't want Jesus to come back and "ruin their life." Such people will not go in the Rapture of the Church, but only those who allow their lives to be changed to the point that they loath this sinful world will go!

Only those who are expectantly anticipating His return will go! We must "look for Him!"

I could preach an entire message on this point alone. Whatever you are going through, get your eyes on the end and not on the present! As Jesus said: "He that endureth to the end shall be saved!" There is no pain nor hurt nor grudge nor person on this earth worth losing out on your eternal reward! You can't go anywhere or "run from your troubles" because:

I don't have time to spend on this like I could and we'll save that for future prophecy lessons, but there are some things that have yet to happen for Jesus Christ to come back in the air. Paul wrote:

I believe that the "great falling away" has already happened during the 1500s and the time that we know as the "Dark Ages." But the Antichrist must come and sit in a temple that has been rebuilt in Jerusalem and proclaim that he is god before Jesus comes back.

I once had a lady in a prophecy conference read that scripture and then raised her hand and said "if that's true, then I can live like the devil and then get things right with God at the last minute." That is a lie from the pits of hell! And let's finish with this:

You can't do so for the following reasons

1. You may die before the Rapture of the Church.

It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Don't be like the rich fool that Jesus spoke about who had his entire life planned out and then died the night before he could begin to enjoy it! You must live everyday as if it were your last. How you die is how you will face Jesus Christ!

2. You cannot approach Jesus Christ at your convenience or when you feel like it.

Godly conviction is permission to repent. God must first draw you with His Spirit before you can come to Him. He is drawing you today and has sent a preacher to preach to you, but if you wait a few more years, you have no promise that God will be drawing you or responding to you then. "Today" is the day of salvation. Seek Him "while He may be found!"

3. Even if you have a perfect and crystal-clear understanding of all end time events and prophetic visions, God is still going to allow everything to happen so that you can't figure out everything and must watch expectantly by faith for His return:

He's coming as "a thief in the night." He will come at a time when you least expect it. He will come in such a way that if you are trying to rely on your prophetic understanding rather than just living right every day, that you will miss His coming!

4. If you try to wait until the last minute and reject truth now, you will become one of the prophesied people under a "strong delusion" and will miss His coming.

It sounds harsh, but to put it as simply as I can: If you will not receive truth now and serve God while you have time, God will send you a strong delusion to make sure that you cannot be saved at the last minute. By choosing to willfully reject God now, you are sealing your fate of any last minute mercy! To reject truth is to believe a lie and so you will you be turned over to those who have a God-sent "strong delusion!"

I close with this:

They are with us today! I'm glad for the scoffers and the unbelievers. I'm glad for those who like the people of Noah's day say "we've heard about this all of our lives, do you really think that it will really happen?" And it wasn't long after they uttered those words that they were swept away in the Flood of God's Judgment! The scoffers prove that we are closer than we have ever been. The fact that there is a group of people rising up and saying that "He is not coming back" only proves to us that He is! And that His return is very soon!

Jesus is Coming Back! Let's allow an expectation to permeate our lives and day to day living! And let the last words of the Bible be our meditation:

Jesus, we are expectantly and joyfully awaiting your return! If there is something in your life that causes you to not feel that way, then today is your day to get things right with God! Jesus is Coming Back and you and I must be ready to meet Him!