His Perfect Love

Announcer: We're gaining a better understanding of God's prophetic program next on His Perfect Love. This is His Perfect Love.

Larry: Well, if you've ever wanted to do an in-depth study on the rapture of the church, you've picked a good day to join us for His Perfect Love. All this week, Pastor Matt VanderVen is answering the who, what, when, where, and why of the rapture. When will it happen? How will it happen? And what should we be looking for? What are the different positions? And why do we study this? Let's set out to answer that and more as we turn together to Revelation chapter 4.

Matt VanderVen: So as you might remember from those that were with us last week, we were beginning chapter 4, verse 1, and we got through really verse 1, and I don't think we even got through verse 1 because we said after these things, and we talked about the Greek for what that word looks like, you know, meotauto or matotato, however you prefer to say it. It means after these things. And then we look back, just back as a reminder, chapter 1, verse 19, where Jesus Christ gave us the outline for the book of Revelation. He says, write these things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this.

And we talked about how when we say after these things, after dinner is dessert, nobody comes to dinner and says, well, why isn't dessert being served? We all understand the English language. We understand the Greek, well, many of us understand the Greek language. When we say after these things, we mean after. And we talked about how we're living in the church age. Chapter 2 and 3 is all about the church and the church age, and we know the church age is still going on because what was our answer? Because we're still here. We all recognize that pretty quickly. The bride of Christ is what can, forms the church.

And then we began to talk about, really, the rapture, and I said we're going to take some time out, almost having a topical or thematic study on the rapture of the church, because it's really important when it happens, how's it going to happen, what is, what should we as born-again believers be looking for, what are the different ideas behind it? Not because we want to give into man's wisdom of ideologies, but because we should know the scriptures, but then also be able to give an explanation or a defense for why we believe what we believe, okay? So sometimes that means we study things, just like in the Christian Academy in our science classes.

We talk about evolution. We don't believe in evolution. We believe in creationism, right? Six literal days. We believe in Genesis chapters 1 through 11, literally six days, yom, you know, day in the Hebrew. We teach all that to our children, but we also teach them and help them understand what is this idea of evolution. Well, it's the same thing for us as Christians. We're going to study here together the rapture, but it's most every Christian believes in the rapture, but there's this idea of when is the rapture? Is it pre-tribulation? What does that mean? Tribulation, the great tribulation, 7 years.

Is it mid-tribulation? Is it post-tribulation? Right? And then there's even additional t, you know, things that are coming up. And I just thought, you know, we need to every once in a while just pause before we go into chapter 4 and make sure we understand there is a very critical event that's about to occur at any time. No man knows the hour or the time. It's going to come like a thief in the night, but oh boy, everything scripturally has been fulfilled, and it could happen at any moment. So why do we study this? Because we want to understand God's program, right? It's not a debate, post-trib or pre-trib.

As I said last week, we need to let love rule our position, okay? I clearly believe that the Bible teaches in a pre-tribulation rapture. I just want to express that to you, scripturally speaking, so you understand what my presupposition is, and it's based on the word of God, not on my opinion, and I pray we all will see that together, but you be Bereans in what the Lord should show you. We're going to get more into the timing of this in a moment, but the pre-trib rapture teaches that we believers in Christ will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye, and I mentioned to you last time, does anybody know how fast that is?

And it's really somewhere around 200 milliseconds. So, very fast. And then it says when the last trumpet is blown. Now, when the trumpet is blown, those who died will be raised to live forever in Christ, and that's a very important part because that creates a lot of confusion with Old Testament saints compared to New Testament saints who are in Christ, okay? And I just want to bring that out because the word in the Greek brings that out. Our mortal bodies will be transformed into immortal bodies. Some of you may be saying, but I don't understand, I'm confused. How does this work? The minute you pass, the minute you die, if you should not be taken in the rapture, your body, you're made up of mind, certainly a body, okay?

You have a soul, which is we know today is the conscience, and you have a spirit. Animals have everything I just mentioned except for a spirit. The animals cannot be regenerated as we would understand it. They have a spirit, but they're not regenerated, okay. That's why animals can walk, and sometimes animals have a beautiful way of expressing their affection. Sometimes when something's going on, they know it. They can come right over you because they have a conscience, or sometimes I've watched animals kind of tilt their head and almost like a human would, you know, in some capacity of understanding or compassion.

Animals absolutely can do those things, very compassionate because they have a conscience. They don't have a spirit. They don't have, they're not indwelt with the spirit of God, as an example, okay? And the Bible doesn't teach that anywhere, scripturally speaking. Now, that's not to say that there's not animals in heaven or there's not animals on earth. We know both those things to be true. And what's one of the first ways we know that to be true? Because if we're Bereans and we studied scripture and we know Revelation chapter 19, we are all going to come back riding what? Horses. Last I checked, horses are what?

Animals. Therefore, I know animals are in heaven because either, unless God goes, okay, there's a horse here right now, and that is a possibility, there are animals in heaven. Okay? Can I tell you how they get there and all that? Were they created up there? Do animals? I don't know any of those things, and I don't want to speak any of those things matter of factly, but there's other passages very clear in scripture that describe different animals that are in heaven and even will be on the earth, okay? And it's just important to understand that. Many people think about those things. Well, because of that, people question, well, then what happens when you die?

This has always been a tent. This is nothing more than a an earth suit. What, and we just, the family was actually just discussing this the other night. It's so cool how the Lord always gives us a sort of a conversation at our dinner table. We were just discussing this at the dinner table, you know, if you, you know, with all the modern technology, if I took the brain out and put it into another person, if I took a heart out and I put it into another person, you know, if I took the body, how many body parts before that person becomes the other person? And I sat there and I suggested that it doesn't matter because what makes that person is their spirit, and that spirit isn't transformed.

We don't believe in reincarnation. The Bible doesn't teach reincarnation. We don't believe that somehow our spirits go from one person to the next. But there was some really interesting debates and article, you know, thoughts behind that because, well, what happens when you have the conscious? Could the conscious be part of, I don't know, what about the thoughts? How much of that make up the person? We all believe that, and I taught this during the leadership class we had, we have personality. I'm going to use our conscious to describe it in those terms. We have personality. When you are born, anybody who's a parent in here or watch somebody that has a young one, you have seen that child come out.

And if you've had multiple children or multiple grandchildren, or you've seen relatives that have other children, you know each one of them, we might even joke sometimes, boy, that one's spunky, right? Or that one's quiet, or this one's very, oh, they're a good sleeper. Boy, my other one up all night keeping me away. We all describe that. They're each different with different personality, and they come right out of the womb that way, don't they, ladies? Many of you are moms and grandmoms, and you, your grandpas and father, you know this. I'm not telling you anything you don't know. So then the conversation goes, well, if they come out with personality already, is that personality baked?

And I said, well, that's part of the combination of spirit. And then they said, well, what happens through life's experiences? And then you have environment, right? Your environment, your environmental factors that change us, history, things that happen, all these things make up who we are, right? It's not just a, but right out of the womb by God, knit in our mother's womb, is this perfect, holy personality given to a person, and they come out, and that is what we initially identify and know before we know anything else, even before that child can react to their environment. Their eyes aren't even open.

As you know, most newborns can't see for a number of days at first, and yet they react to stimuli like warmth, cold, being changed or not changed, hunger, not hunger. Some of those things might be environment, but how they react to them, each child's personality dictates because some are different. Some will sleep all the time, some you got to wake up. Get up, come on, it's time to eat, right? Every child's different, but that's because their spirit is unique in the child. There is no two spirits that way. And so, when we think about when we die, what goes to be with God? The spirit. Our spirits is what go absent with the body, present with the Lord.

So what happens with the remains? Well, that's up to you, right? Some folks get put in a box. I've always told my family, I said, don't you go crazy on this. I said, you go ahead and if there's anybody in the church that's willing to, you know, cut a couple pieces of plywood up, put some screws in it, I think we're good, right? Like, I don't, that's my belief on the whole thing, right? Some people want to be cremated. God's good at puzzles. It doesn't matter, is the point, right? And I'm, I hope I'm not offending anybody here that's like, you know, I need the Rolls-Royce of coffins. Hey, have at it.

But at the end of the day, the body decomposes in the ground, right? No matter how much oxygen gets to that body, and some of you are like, oh, it's already Sunday morning. How did we get, we're supposed to talk about the rapture? Well, part of what has to happen, and we need to understand, is the body decomposes, ashes to ashes and dust to dust, and it comes back and returns into the ground. But the person you love isn't in there. When we do a funeral, we do that for all of us, a memorial, right? And for those that knew the... but the person's not there. Even their ashes, we'll have them present, but they're not in the ashes, right?

But we respectfully recognize that. It's out of respect and for the family and the loved ones, we honor that. But we know very clearly, 2 Corinthians 5:8, absent with the body, present with the Lord. But there is something that happens uniquely at the rapture, and I want to take a few minutes to look back at this because this is going to kind of get us into our passage, and we studied a little bit of this last week, but it's important to understand how this all works scripturally. So please turn back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 in your Bible, and we're going to be looking again at verse 13. I'm going to read this to you here this morning.

Know we're taking some time at this, and I know it's a little different than how we normally do things, line by line, verse by verse reading, but this is what happens when we go a little topical. When we do systematic theology and study, it's important. We're going to jump around in our scriptures, but keep everything in context, okay? So 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 13, Paul, we read this last week, speaking to the church at Thessalonica, only spent about 3 weeks there, okay, very short time as he pastored that church. He says, but I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, those who have died, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.

He says, I don't want you to not have hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus, those who are dead in Christ. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, thus saith the Lord, that we who are alive, describing what? He says, those who are alive and remain until the coming. Now, I neglected to bring this out in the Greek last week. Forgive me for this. This word coming, circle that in your Bible. That is the word perousia or perousia I was talking about in the Greek. That is the Greek term for the second coming. When Jesus says, I'm coming again, he uses that word parousia or parousia.

If you see that word coming right there, circle it in your Bible and write parousia. And the reason for this is because in this one passage, we have two Greek terms that describe a coming, both unique and different. And the Greek brings it out beautifully, and it cannot be misunderstood. The second coming has two phases. Let me just explain it that way so every one of us gets this. It's two phases, just like when Jesus Christ was coming the first time, right? How many were confused at the time, and we understand maybe they didn't understand the scriptures. We look back, oh, it's easy for us to understand, but many were saying, well, you're going to overthrow Rome.

And Jesus says, no, I didn't come this time to set up my earthly kingdom. This time I came to do what? I came to die. I came to redeem all of humanity, whoever would place their faith and trust in me as Lord and Savior. The work on the cross. Next time I come, I will come to establish, speaking of when he touches down my earthly kingdom, and that will be again during what we'll call the millennial reign, and it's after the Great Tribulation. Don't take my word for that. We'll see it directly in scripture here. But as I was reading this word coming, Perusia of the Lord, okay, so that's the second time he physically touches down, okay?

That means he's going to be in Israel, in Jerusalem, like the angels told us, where are you looking up? He'll come back the same way in which he ascended into heaven. He will come back down in the same place. Mountains will split in two. There's going to be tons of casmat, you know, all kinds of earthquakes, shaking, all kinds of things from a chasmolytic, or however you say that word, forgive me if I'm not saying it right. It's going to be something where anybody who's alive that's still here on the earth, again, the Harpazo will have happened by that point, but those who are alive on the earth will have no mistake, everyone is going to see Jesus coming again.

So it says that they will no means precede those who are asleep, so those who have died, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout. Now, if we're not careful, we might think, well, this is the same descension or the same coming down with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God. So we're going to hear an archang- well, we're going to be looking down from the mezzanines. He says, well, actually, excuse me, at this point we'll be on the earth, we'll be looking up, I meant to say, from the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Now, this is really important.

Underline this in your Bible. He didn't say the dead will rise first. Who did he say? The dead in Christ. This is what you and I know as born-again Christians, those who are dead from the day of Pentecost forward. And I'll explain that, and the Bible explains that very clearly, because those that died before the day of Pentecost were they in Christ Jesus? No, they were not. The Bible clearly teaches us in Hebrews that they were saved by their faith in God, right? It was accounted to them of righteousness. How do we know that? What book of the Bible? Hebrews, right? Remember Hebrews? We read that together, and he talks about the hall of faith in Hebrews, and we read of all of these men like Moses, like Noah.

We read of, you know, all of these men that are listed in there, and it's very, very clear. They did not, maybe some had a Christophany where they had a, you know, met Jesus, the angel of the Lord, but most of them did not. It was a relationship with Yahweh, God the Father, okay? And it was by faith. Here it's very specific. The Lord himself will descend with heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ. We cannot separate that. God is not grammatically challenged. Will what? Rise first. So remember the ashes and or the decomposition in the ground?

Those that are with God, those that we love that have already passed on, their spirits are with God right now. What they don't have yet is what? Their glorified bodies. And we're going to read about that in 1 Corinthians 15. It makes it very, very clear in verse 50. Then we who are alive and remain, that's all of us, if this should happen during our generation. Then we who are alive and remain shall be what? Caught up. Now that word caught up there is that word for the harpazo. It's totally different than perisseia. We can't confuse the two words. It's very, very clear. And he says we're going to be caught up together, the bride of Christ, with them in the clouds to meet the Lord where?

In the air. That's very different than everything else we read about the Parousia in Matthew 24 and other passages where it says Jesus is going to come down and we're, those that are alive, are going to see Jesus on the physical terra firma, meaning the what? Earth. He says the air. You think God all of a sudden got confused, the difference between the air and the earth? No, he never has been, and the Greek proves it out too. And he goes on to say that you're going to meet the Lord, I'm going to meet the Lord, if this should be the generation of the Harpazo, we don't know, but if it is, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Never again will we be separated from Jesus Christ. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. That is very comforting, isn't it? That the Harpazo could happen at any time, and Jesus could be coming and he catches up in the air, and all this will seem like a distant memory. But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. He's taught them well. You've been taught by the word of God as well. You know we're in the last of last days. There should be no one here that's ignorant to that fact, based on everything we have been reading in scripture for the last 10 years, 9 years, if you've been with us.

He said, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a what? Thief in the night. That's again a reference to Matthew 24:43. Okay, it can also be a reference for when they say peace and safety. I've always found this interesting. It's the inverse of what we think. Jesus is always giving us the inverses of things, right? You want to save your life, what do you do? Lose it, he said. Does that seem like common sense to us? No, it seems the exact opposite of common sense. Just like if I, somebody pushed you in a pool, do you just kind of bloop bloop bloop bloop bloop bloop?

No, you would what? Try to swim and get to the top of the surface. It's called survival, right? We all have a survival instinct in us. Yeah, that's what he's talking about, right? No, he says what you're going to see, and this is something that I've always been sort of comforted with, knowing the scriptures, is when it's really, really terrible and bad. Do I have to worry at that moment the possibility of Jesus Christ? I mean, look, God can come at any time, but would I be surprised? If Jesus came right now, would I be like, Lord, I'm surprised to see you. No, because it's really, really good.

A few years back, we had a different presidential system, different government. Things were a little bit better. There were some things happening in Israel and Jerusalem, you know, the Abraham Accord. There's some just different things happening. At that point, I was like, wow. And as a matter of fact, Netanyahu at that time, when he came to talk at the UN, I don't know how many times he said, you know, hey, things are really good. We have peace. And he said, we have safety. He was one word off. And I was paying attention. I was like, say it. I know he's going to say, okay, Lord, say it, say it.

Because the minute they say there's peace and security, well, that means things are going what? Well, which is why it's like a thief in the night, because you don't expect it when things are going well. Do you expect a thief in the night? No, right? You're sleeping. Have you ever thought about that? I mean, I don't want to be dogmatic. I don't want to say, well, thus say, I don't know, but when I read the scripture and I interpret it literally, he's telling me that when they say peace and security here, then sudden destruction comes upon them. Not when they're going, hey, things are really bad, and man, Lord Jesus Maranatha, come get us out right now.

No, he doesn't, it doesn't seem to read that way. I don't want to put too much into that. I'm always ready for him to come at any moment. I'm living like that, not having too tight of a grip on this earth. But I'll tell you what, it is interesting that he says, peace and safety, right? That's what they're going to say. Then sudden destruction comes upon them and labor pains upon a pregnant woman. Well, boy, oh boy, doesn't that sound like a lot like Matthew 24? Okay. And they shall not escape. There's no one, it doesn't matter. And when God said, and they shall not escape, look, you can buy all the hunkering down supplies you can.

You're not getting out of it, and your supplies ain't going to do a bit of good. You think, oh, but I've got enough for my family, it's hidden. You're fooling yourself. The air quality alone, you will not survive. It doesn't matter how much food, it'll rot because the oxygenization isn't going to be there. There's going to be not in the ocean, not drinkable water. Well, wait a minute, I just got that new straw, you know, that new straw that can I can drink water out of a pond and or, you know, or, you know, plankton and all that nastiness, and the straw filters it. Great. Do you know what the right thing to do is?

Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and not have to worry about a bit of it. Be raptured out of this place. This is His Perfect Love.

Larry: That is Pastor Matt VanderVen on His Perfect Love. We're going through Revelation at the present time, and I'll remind you that you can hear the program again when you visit hisperfectlove.org. That's hisperfectlove.org. We're also at oneplace.com, and look for us wherever you get your podcasts. We also offer a mobile app. This is a great way to take Pastor Matt's teachings with you on the go. You can learn more about the mobile app and start your download when you visit our website, hisperfectlove.org. And Pastor Matt, for those that hunger for more on the rapture, can you recommend some resources on the subject?

Unidentified Speaker: Yes, Larry, I can recommend two resources. So one's called, Can We Still Believe in the Rapture? It was produced in 2018 or authored in 2018 by Mark Hitchcock and Ed Hinson. I think it's a well-reasoned defense for the rapture. it'll talk about what is the rapture, why do some believers object to the idea of the rapture, and does the timing of the rapture really make a difference? Some of these topics I know are very important to our listeners today. And then really the second one I'd like to recommend is What's Next? Preparing for the Rapture, a Tipping Point series. This was just released in January 28th, 2025 by Jimmy Evans and also Mark Hitchcock.

Again, I believe really a must read. It's clear, it gives biblical evidence that the rapture is real and distinct from the second coming. Answers several common questions and objections about the rapture and the doctrine, and I think it's important because it gives us an up-to-date assessment of the signs pointing to the rapture.

Larry: Very helpful. Thanks again. We can't thank you enough for your prayers for this ministry. Please pray that as God's word goes forth, that lives will be greatly impacted for the glory of God, and people would grow by his grace and love, or even enter into a relationship with him. And if you have a prayer request, please send that our way. You can email that to us through our website at hisperfectlove.org. If you live in the Mechanicsburg, PA area, we hope you'll stop by for a visit. Just like you hear on the radio, Pastor Matt teaches verse by verse through the Bible here at Calvary Chapel, Harrisburg, West Shore.

Sunday morning services begin at 8:30 and 10:30. We have a midweek gathering on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. We're located at 28 North Locust Point Road in Mechanicsburg, PA. Go to ccharrisburg.org for more information, and then join us next time when Pastor Matt will pick up where we left off in Revelation here on His Perfect Love. This is His Perfect Love. His Perfect Love is brought to you by Calvary Chapel, Harrisburg, West Shore.

Announcer: Let the word go out, the perfect love of Christ to shine. Our lives will shout, I am my beloved's and he is mine. Every heart is in his hands, will never stop reaching out. This is his perfect love. The word goes out. This is what real love looks like. In truth and grace. This is his perfect love.