Intro: The word rapture is not found in the New Testament but the doctrine is clearly set forth in God’s Word.  (The word "rapture" means to be snatched away).
    A. The Rapture is a point of time when the Lord Jesus shall descend into the first heaven.
    B. A trumpet will sound, a voice will shout and the dead in Christ shall rise out of the graves, the living saints will be
        changed in a twinkling of an eye and all believers will be caught up into His presence, and forever be with Him.
    C. The rapture speaks of the second coming of Christ
        1. It is as literal and definite as His first coming.
        2. God’s saints have had a difficult past (hated, persecuted), but we have a glorious future.
        3. God has not forgotten His people.
        4. The world may scoff and ridicule the Christian, but God will avenge His saints in due time The rapture is described in
            1 Thess. 4:15-17. It will be twofold
    D. The resurrection of the “dead in Christ”.
    E. The translation of the “living believers”.
I. Jesus revealed this to Martha when he was about to raise her brother Lazarus. John 11:25-26
    A. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
        This is the first resurrection of the dead in Christ.
    B. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Those who are alive when I come back will never die.
        Believest thou this?
    C. Paul emphasizes the twofold character of the rapture in 1 Cor. 15:51-57
        1. For this corruption must put on incorruption—those in the graves.
        2. This mortal must put on immortality --- those living.
        3. O death where is thy sting? – Those living.
        4. O grave where is thy victory? --- Those coming out of the graves.
II. The rapture will be a surprise to many. Matthew 24:42-44; 1 Thessalonians 5:4 But ye, brethren are not in darkness,
that that day should overtake you as a thief.
    A. Christ will come back when we least expect Him.
        1. He will come as a thief to many.
    B. A thief doesn’t announce his coming.
        1. He comes for a certain purpose.
        2. He doesn’t take everything that is in the house.
            a. He takes only the precious things, the gold, the silver and the fine wearing apparel.
        3. He doesn’t come to stay, as soon as he secures what he is after he departs.
    C. So Jesus at the rapture will come and take away the believers only.
    D. The thief leaves much more than he takes.
        1. He leaves the house and the furniture and the household utensils.
    E. So the Lord at the rapture will leave the wicked and the great mass of unbelievers behind.
III. The rapture will not only separate the believers from unbelievers, but it will separate husbands from
wives, brothers from sisters and friends from friends. Luke 17:34-36
    A. This shows that the rapture will happen all over the earth at the same time or as the Apostle Paul puts it in the
        “twinkling of an eye”.
    B. The rapture will be the most startling event of this age.
    C. That part of the world that is not asleep will witness the event.
    D. We don’t know whether the “shout of the Lord” the “voice of the Archangel” and the “trump of God” will be heard
        by any other than the dead in Christ and the living believers.
        1. Illust. One day the Father spoke to Christ in a voice that He understood but the people that stood nearby mistook it
            for thunder.  John 12:28-29 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both
            glorified it, and will glorify it again. ~ The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others
            said, An angel spake to him.
    E. But we do know that the dead in Christ will hear the sound for it will be intensely penetrating.
        1. There is no “grave so deep,” no “catacombs so rock covered,” no pyramids or mausoleums so thick, but what the
            sound shall reach their depths and the dead in Christ will hear the cry – “awake you sleeping children and arise from
            the dead, it is morning, the morning of the first resurrection.”
    F. On that glorious day the air will be filled with the “spirits” of the “dead in Christ,” come back to earth to get their bodies,
        raised and glorified.
    G. If its night on our side of the globe when the rapture occurs our communities will wake up in the morning to find all the
        real believers gone.
    H. Many may hear the sound but thinking it is only thunder will turn over for another nap.
        1. Husbands will wake up to find that Christian wives are gone
        2. Wives will wake up to find that Christian husbands are gone.
        3. Brothers and sisters will be missed.
        4. Children will be absent not one infant will be left behind.
IV. The rapture will affect every segment of society.
    A. All religious restraint will be removed.
    B. Homes will be broken and shattered.
    C. Immorality will increase.
    D. Bitterness in the heart of man will abound toward God and man.
V. After the rapture the Christian who was looked down upon is now looked up to.
    A. Once he suffered in this world, but now he sees the world suffering.
    B. All because Jesus came the a second time just as He promised. John 14:1-3