Soaring With the Angels Into the Lord’s Presence

SOARING WITH THE ANGELS INTO THE LORD’S PRESENCE

MIKE CUNNINGHAM

NOVEMBER 8, 2009

A couple of weeks ago as I was checking the statistics for my web site I learned it had just reached 65,001 hits. When I mentioned this fact to my daughter in an email, I asked, “I wonder how many of them Charlie and his kid are responsible for?” She responded and said, “Dad. That’s great! Most of those 65,001 hits probably feel a lot better about themselves and their families after reading about those whack jobs. Love you!” I shot back saying, “And little do they know I’m planning to have Charlie’s brother Claude with his self esteem issues join the Bible study sometime in the future. And then when Claude’s shrink starts attending; I may even get more hits than Facebook and Twitter combined. How good can it get?” I can’t imagine why she didn’t respond to that one.

You may recall that in my last message Charlie’s son announced he could care less about the “End Time” stuff and the “Rapture” because there was a much more serious issue he had been wrestling with. Before he could explain, Charlie suddenly keeled over and fell to the ground, Martha started screaming and almost passed out, and the Bible study came to an abrupt end. At the conclusion of my message I explained that since I’m the boy’s “creator,” I can arrange for him to return today and put some “Icing on the cake,” and also have him share with us that much more serious issue he’s been wrestling with. I asked you to let me know if you would like me to. Although it appears as though folks were in favor of bringing that cast of characters back this morning, and I enjoy using them to explain biblical truth, I decided to give them a break and cancel today’s fictitious Bible study. Charlie and Martha are still emotionally drained from their nine and a half hour ordeal at the ER and could use some more rest. The boy would benefit by using this unexpected free time to continue searching the Scriptures. I’m also going to let the teacher continue savoring his once in a lifetime incredible experience of watching the boy over the course of several weeks being powerfully drawn to Jesus by our Sovereign God, and then actually being present the moment the Lord opened the boy’s heart much as He did a woman named Lydia a long time ago. The teachers “creator” honored and gave him the privilege of being present when the Father gave the boy to His Son, (John 6:44; Acts 16:14) just as the Creator of Paul, Silas and Timothy did for them.

So this morning I’m going to pinch hit for the boy and try to tie up some loose ends which are still dangling about the Rapture. Once again, I want to remind you of the fact that whenever we read the New Testament we are actually reading other people’s mail, such as those letters which were addressed to specific people i.e. Timothy and Philemon, and members of the various churches in Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi, and Galatia, the Christians in Rome and the folks the letter to those long dead Hebrew Christians was written to. I’m not suggesting they weren’t written “for” you and me but we must remember they were addressed and sent “to” severely persecuted people who were alive thousands of years ago. Each of those letters contained vital information such as acknowledging their horrendous hardships, and encouraging them not to lose hope, especially about their loved ones who had already died in the persecution, because the Lord was going to come back and put an end to it soon and bring all of them into His loving presence.

Those letters were read in “their” places of worship. We must always keep this fact in mind such as folks thousands of years in our future who may be listening to a CD of a worship service taking place today in Addison County should. If they don’t, they may jump to the erroneous conclusion that the 21^st Century preacher is speaking to them about a hardship they are currently enduring because of a bridge they rely on is currently out of service. If those 23^rd Century Christians were to play that CD over and over again just as you and I read and reread those New Testament letters, and if those yet to be born Christians hear it often enough, they are apt to believe today’s preacher is speaking to them about something that they are soon going to experience. That two thousand year old information about the Champlain Bridge is irrelevant to them. However, they can certainly benefit from the preachers advice to trust God in all their circumstances. Don’t ever forget to remember the old saying that if we hear something often enough we run the risk of actually believing it. The leaders of the cults, many televangelists’, pseudo faith healers, doomsday prophets and politicians have all capitalized on this phenomenon. Now let’s take a close look at a part of a letter written by Paul which he sent to those early Christians to encourage them, especially those who had lost loved ones during that time of horrendous persecution.

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. ¹⁴For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive, who are left, 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. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 (ESV)

Speaking of the same event prior to His death and resurrection, Jesus told His disciples that,

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24:29-31 (ESV)

If these events (1 Thess. 4:17; Matt. 24:29-31) already occurred in A. D.70 as I believe they did, do you find it odd that there’s nothing recorded in the Bible concerning them? Surely those first century Christians would have known the Lord did indeed come back and execute judgment upon those unrepentant Jews just as He promised, and that He would do it in the same manner in which He did in Old Testament times (see my sermon, “The End of the World,” 10/11/09. (a) But then, why didn’t they say or write something about it? To imagine that none of those folks thought Jesus and His disciples wasn’t speaking or writing to them about incredible life altering events which were going to occur in their lifetime, but instead to and about people such as you and me who would be born thousands of years later; those first century Christians would have to have been idiots. But then how can we account for the deafening silence of the Christians who were still alive immediately following the events of A. D. 70? Surely some of the thousands of them who were still living at the time would have been able to connect the dots and conclude that Jesus must have returned and left them behind. Can you imagine how they must have felt? Why didn’t they say something about it? Anything! If you were in their shoes, how do you think you would feel and react? Most importantly; how are you going to explain that deafening silence to an unbeliever who has been sincerely searching the Bible in hopes of discovering an answer to the meaning of life?

In his endorsement of the classic work, “The Parousia,” Dr. R. C. Sproul wrote: “…The issues raised in this volume with respect to the time-frame references of the New Testament to the Parousia are vitally important not only for eschatology [the study of last things] but for the future debate over the credibility of Sacred Scripture.” In his book, Russell cited a magazine review in which there was a review of a book entitled “The Life of St. Paul” by a man named M. Renan. The reviewer wrote: “This volume takes us through the whole period of, what we may call, the ministry of the great apostle, embracing those all-important fifteen or sixteen years (A. D. 45-61), during which his three missionary journeys were undertaken, and the infant church, with four bold strides, advanced from Jerusalem to Antioch, from Antioch to Ephesus, from Ephesus to Corinth, and from Corinth to Rome. Once arrived there, once securely planted in that central and commanding position, strange to say, the Church, with all its dramatis persona, suddenly vanishes from our view. The densest clouds of obscurity immediately gather round about its history, which our eager, curiosity attempts to penetrate in vain. It is gone, amid a wreath of smoke, as completely as when a train plunges into a tunnel. In the words of M. Renan-‘the arrival of St. Paul in Rome, owing to the decision taken by the author of the “Acts of the Apostles’ to close his narrative at that point, marks for the history of the Origin of Christianity the commencement of a profound night, illuminated only by the lighting flash of the Apocalypse.’ The causes of this sudden and confounding disappearance have not, to this day, been thoroughly investigated…The history of St. Paul’s life, and the history of the Apostolic age, together abruptly end. Black darkness falls upon the scene; and a grim and brooding silence-like the silence of an impending storm-holds in hushed expectation of the ‘day of the Lord the awe-struck, breathless Church. No more books are written, no more messages are sent, and the very voice of tradition is still. One voice alone, from amid the silence and the dread breaks upon the straining ear; it is the Apocalyptic vengeance-cry from Patmos, ‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen! Rejoice over her, thou heaven and ye holy apostles and prophet’s! For God has avenged you on her: she shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her,’” Rev. 17:20. Russell addressed this issue, and in so many words said something to the effect that: “No wonder there is a “total blank” in contemporary history; that there is a lack of continuity in the records of the Christian Church; that the pen of St. Mark was arrested in the midst of an unfinished sentence; and that St. Luke abruptly broke off his narrative of the life and labors of St. Paul.” (b)

Now allow me to share the following concerning the Thessalonians passages from a very insightful book entitled “Taken to Heaven in A. D.70,” by Ian D. Harding. Concerning the deceased believers, Harding wrote, “At the soon coming of Christ the already deceased saints [believers] would be raised with heavenly, spiritual bodies to be with Christ in Heaven. Those still alive at Christ’s coming would, at the time of His coming, be changed/transformed, and bypassing death would be glorified in their heavenly, spiritual bodies to join with the risen deceased saints into the presence of the Lord, with whom they would all live forever.” (c) Edward E. Stevens in his equally insightful work entitled “Questions About The Afterlife” writes: “Before Christ’s resurrection, the saint, or believer, went to Hades in a disembodied (or “naked spirit” form. These souls of saints waited in Hades, not having the power to break free, nor the right to go to heaven and be in God’s presence. They were disembodied or “unclothed.” Their souls had neither Christ’s righteousness, nor immortality. Christ broke those bonds and set the captives free. At His death on the cross, when He entered through “the gates of Hades” (death), a limited group of saints (“many”) were immediately set free from their bondage to Death and Hades in the unseen realm (Matt. 27:52). Then, when He came out of Hades on the third day, they came out with Him and were reunited with their physical bodies and came out of their tombs and appeared in Jerusalem (Matt.27:53). This seems to be the order in which this remarkable event happened. Their resurrection was different from Christ’s in that they did not have their immortal bodies yet (like Christ did). Their physical bodies were merely raised like Lazarus’ had been, to live out the rest of their lives and die again.”

“This reappearance in Jerusalem of some of the dead saints was for additional evidence that Christ had indeed come back out of the dead and brought some of the “firstfruit” saints with Him. How would we have known that others besides Christ were released from Hades if Christ had been the only one to reappear? This reappearance of others confirms that Christ (as High Priest) was taking the firstfruits with Him to present to the temple so that the rest of the harvest could be brought in. Only some of the souls that were raised out of Hades with Christ reappeared in Jerusalem. The few commentaries that deal with this event most often suggest that those “saints” were folks who had died recently and would therefore been easily recognizable. Their testimony about Christ’s resurrection would have been more compelling.” (d)

There was a vast difference between the body of Jesus and the body of those folks being brought back to life at His Resurrection only to eventually die and reenter Hades. Then in A. D. 70, together with the Christians who hadn’t died, they were gathered by the angles to be with the Lord forever. But how is this possible? Could their bodies now somehow last forever? Of course not! Something had to happen first. I’m indebted to Brian Martin the author of the terrific book “Beyond the Pearl of Moses” for steering me towards the following passages which hopefully will shed some light and help us to understand. Let’s take a close look at the sequence of amazing supernatural events which took place at two different tombs. The first concerns a recently deceased man named Lazarus.

“When Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ⁴⁴The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go,” John 11:38-44 (ESV). Now let’s look at the account of what took place at the tomb of Jesus.

“Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ²So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” ³So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. ⁴Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, ⁷and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. ⁸Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead,” John 20:1-9 (ESV).

Did you happen to notice that in both cases the stone had been rolled away from the entrance to each mans tomb? Why do you suppose they were rolled away? It’s certainly obvious Lazarus couldn’t just walk through the stone any more than you and I could, could he? But, how about the stone at the entrance to Jesus’ tomb? Did it really have to be rolled away? I believe the answer is yes and no. Hopefully, the following passages will begin to shed some more light and help us connect some more dots.

“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” ²²And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” ²⁴Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” ²⁶Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you,” John 20:19-26 (ESV). I hope by now you folks are getting closer to being able to connect those dots.

In his endorsement of another excellent book entitled “From Grave to Glory,” by Murray J. Harris, James I. Packer writes: “… This is a clear, warm-hearted book, impeccable in scholarship and inspiring to read. Resurrection questions are not easy, and not all readers will agree with professor Harris on every detail, but Harris is undoubtedly in the main stream of resurrection faith, and there is no more thorough treatment of the questions currently in print.” Contrasting the difference between the experience of Lazarus and Jesus, Harris writes: “There is also an implicit contrast between the circumstances of the revival of Lazarus and those of Jesus’ resurrection. Both died, Lazarus as a result of illness (John 11:14), Jesus at His own volition (John 10:18). In each instance a stone sealed the tomb, but in one case it was removed by natural means (John 11:38-41), in the other by supernatural means (John 20:1, by implication). Both [men] were bound in graveclothes when buried, but whereas Lazarus needed others to unbind him when he emerged from the tomb (John 11:44), Jesus left His own burial clothes intact in His grave as a sign of His resurrection (John 20:5-7). Both rose from the dead, Lazarus with a new lease of physical life (John 12:2, 10), Jesus as the possessor of a transformed body (John 20:17, 19-20, 26).” (e)

Why then was the stone at the entrance to Jesus tomb rolled away? After all, He could have simply walked through it as He did the doors recorded in (John 20:19; 26). According to Harris it was to enable Jesus disciples to get into the tomb where they would be able to see something that John had seen which convinced him that Jesus had indeed been resurrected from Sheol/Hades. At that point in time the others still hadn’t connected the dots of what the Scriptures had predicted. Jesus hadn’t been brought back to life like Lazarus was. Instead, He was resurrected with an immortal spiritual body. In the same manner, those first century Christians who were alive at the time of Christ’s return, together with some others such as Paul who had previously been beheaded, were all caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Each of them now possessed a new immortal, spiritual body which was invisible. And ever since that truly amazing supernatural event back in A. D. 70; at the exact moment a Christian dies, thanks to everything Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection, he or she is immediately clothed with their very own new immortal/invisible/spiritual body and leaves their dead physical body behind. If there are believers who are present at the moment a Christian loved one dies will put on their eyes of faith, they will be able to joyfully visualize their ecstatic loved with a brand new immortal/invisible/spiritual body soaring with the angels into the Lord’s presence.

Lord willing…next week.

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(a) http://s128601634.onlinehome.us/sermons/end_world.htm

(b) The Parousia, by James Stuart Russell, M. A. New Edition published 1996 by Kingdom Publications, 122 Seward Ave. Bradford, Pa. 16701, pp 4-5.