F.M. Riley (11
June 2017)
"Death, the
Resurrection, and the Rapture"
Biblical Answers About
Death, the Resurrection,
and the Rapture
By Pastor F. M. Riley
June 1, 2017
"And as it is appointed unto men once
to die, but after this the judgment:
So Christ was once offered to bear the
sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear
the second time without sin unto salvation." Hebrews
9:27-28
"Looking for that blessed hope, and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus
Christ," Titus
2:13.
Introduction
There appears to be a lot of confusion
and misunderstanding today, even among true believers, about the
subjects of death, the resurrection, and the rapture. In
this study, I make no promise to clear up all of the
misunderstanding about these subjects, but I can and do promise
to give to my readers some Scriptural light on what the inspired
Word of God has to say about these subjects. Let us
begin.......
MAN'S APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH
Does the Scripture text for this study
actually and literally say that all men must die?
No! It most certainly does not! What this passage in
Hebrews 9:27 actually and literally says, is that "it is
appointed unto men once to die." Yet many today in the
churches and the ranks of Christianity, dogmatically teach that
every person born into this world must experience
death. That is not what this Scripture says, and it
is not what the inspired Word of God teaches.
Now let's go to God's Word and get the
Scriptural truth about man's appointment with death.
The very first mention of death in
God's Word is found in Genesis 2:17, "But of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for
in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
Now who was speaking in this
Scripture? It was the Lord God! And who was He
speaking to? God was speaking to Adam, whom He had
created. It then should be glaringly obvious, to
those believers who pay attention to what they are reading in
God's Word, that it was the Lord God who made Adam's
"appointment" with death. Adam did not make the
appointment! God made the appointment! And since it
was the Lord God who made man's appointment with death,
then it is the Lord God who can cancel that appointment, at any
time He chooses, for anyone He chooses.
That this is absolute Scriptural truth
is quite evident to any one seriously studying God's Word.
For some believers in the history of mankind, have already had
their "appointment with death" cancelled, and for some believers
living today the Lord God will yet cancel their
appointment! Glory to God!
Proof? Gladly! None other
than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself explicitly stated that some
believers will never experience death.
In John 11:25-26, in speaking to
Martha, the sister of Lazarus, in the context of the death of
Lazarus, the Lord explicitly stated, ".....I am the
resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live; And whosoever
liveth [is alive; living] and believeth in Me shall never
die. Believeth thou this?"
Do our readers believe what the Lord
Himself said? Martha said she did! 11:27.
Of course she did! After all, it
is clearly recorded in the inspired Word that Enoch, the seventh
generation from Adam, never experienced death. Read it for
yourself in Hebrews 11:5 and Genesis 5:18-24.
But Enoch was not the only person in
the Bible and human history who never experienced death.
The inspired Word makes it very clear that the prophet Elijah,
was taken to Heaven in a whirlwind without ever experiencing
death. Read it for yourself in 2 Kings 2:1-11.
It was also the Lord Jesus Himself who
gave the message about the "new birth" recorded in John 3, which
includes verse 16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life." I am well aware that
the word, "perish," in this Scripture is referring to perishing
eternally. No true believer will ever "perish" eternally,
but all incorrigible unbelievers will. What makes
the difference? Whether one has believed on and placed
their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their
eternal soul.
Every true believer is given
"everlasting life." Even though the body of true believers
presently grows old and dies, the true believer doesn't
die. Having believed on the Lord Jesus, death has become
merely a doorway that the true believer steps through into
"everlasting life" with the Lord Jesus and His people.
Glory to God!
As verification of this truth, it was
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who also said, "Verily, verily, I
say unto you. He that heareth My word, and believeth on
Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life," John
5:24. Notice that the Lord Jesus clearly stated
here, that those who believe, already have "everlasting life" as
a present possession. While their bodies may grow old and
die physically, their souls have already "passed from death unto
life." Glory to God! Praise the Lord!
Doesn't the inspired Scripture
also plainly state that "Enoch was translated that he should not
see death," Hebrews 11:5? Every honest reader knows that
it does. Enoch was the 7th generation from Adam, and a
type of those true believers who will be raptured to glory just
before the seven year Tribulation period. Those true
believers who are alive on the earth at the time the rapture
occurs, also will not see death. Read it for yourself in 1
Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.
Folks, what some believers today
overlook or ignore, is that Christ Jesus paid the penalty for
our sins in full.
No dear readers! It is not true
that every person born must die! Those true believers
living at the time of the rapture will never meet the angel of
death, nor experience death. Glory to God! Praise
the Lord!
The Change
The inspired Apostle Paul, in 1
Corinthians 15:51, plainly stated, "Behold, I shew [reveal to]
you a mystery; We shall not all sleep [die physically], but we
shall all be changed." The Greek word translated as
"changed" in this Scripture literally means, "to change; to
exchange." See Strong's No. 236. In other words,
believers still physically alive at the time the Lord comes to
rapture His saints to glory, will never experience death, but
rather are going to exchange this old body, with it's fallen
"sin nature," for a brand new body, "that it may be fashioned
like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He
is able to subdue all things unto Himself," Philippians
3:20-21. Glory to God! Hallelujah! Praise the
Lord.
Paul wrote extensively about this
"change" in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5. All true believers will
experience this "change," both those who have already died, and
those who are still living when our Lord comes. But
carefully notice in studying this passage, the distinction Paul
himself made between the body and the soul, 5:1. The body
is not the real believer. The body is simply the house
that we [our immortal soul] are presently living in. We
believers have no desire to die, or for death, but rather to be
"clothed upon with our house which is from heaven," 5:2.
And we shall be, at the time of the resurrection and rapture.
It is stated very clearly in 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18, that at the time the Lord comes, the
souls of those "which sleep in Jesus" will come back with the
Lord, 4:14. Those souls will reenter their resurrected
"new bodies," [Philippians 3:21] just before being "caught
up" at the rapture.
However, there is a second group of
believers who will still be physically alive when the Lord
comes, 4:15; 4:17. This second group of believers will
never experience death. Rather in a split second, our
bodies will be "changed," [1 Corinthians 15:52], and made like
the Lord's glorious body, Philippians 3:20-21.
The Rapture
Then those "dead in Christ" who have
been changed and resurrected, and the "living in Christ" who
have been changed, will all be "caught up together.....to meet
the Lord in the air," 4:17. Glory to God!
Praise the Lord!
Every true believer is going to
fly! You may be one who has never been on an
airplane, and who has never flown previously, but at the time of
the rapture you are going to fly.
I have actually had a "professing
Christian" tell me that they enjoyed my preaching until I came
to this "rapture business," and right there they turned me
off. They just couldn't believe in suddenly being lifted
off the ground and flying through the air, and they didn't want
to hear about it or discuss it.
But folks, the rapture is explicitly
part of the true believer's "blessed hope," Titus
2:11-15. How can one claim to "believe God's Word," and
yet refuse to believe what the Word says about the rapture of
all true New Covenant believers?
As far as being bodily lifted off the
ground by the Lord's appearing, there is nothing for any true
believer to dread or fear, for the Lord Jesus has never lost one
of His people yet, and will never lose one who truly, by
faith in His saving grace, belongs to Him. Yes, when the
inspired Word says, "Then we which are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord," 4:17, there
isn't a thing for the true believer to worry about. Beside
that, you will have no time to fret and worry about it. It
will all take place in an instant of time. One minute you
will hear the Trumpet of the Lord sound, and the next instant
you will be with the Lord high above the earth, ready to be
taken to glory. Oh yes, what a soul thrilling experience
this will be for all of God's children. Glory to
God! Praise the Lord! What a day of rejoicing it
will be "When the saints go marching in!" Praise our
precious Lord Jesus.
Conclusion
I have now gone over Scriptures from
the inspired Word which concern the true believer's death,
resurrection, and rapture. I hope every reader of this
study will accept these Scriptures at face value for what they
actually and literally say.
And I hope that every reader is, or
will become, a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, God's
appointed Savior for mankind, Matthew 20:28; Luke 19:10
For folks, the time for these truths to be fulfilled is
here! We have arrived at the Scriptural "time
frame." At any minute of any day (or night) now, the
Trumpet will sound, and the Lord will appear in the heavens,
calling the "dead in Christ" to come forth with their new
bodies, and calling "we which are alive" in Christ to experience
an instant "change," and all of us to be "caught up together" to
meet our Lord in the air, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. I
earnestly would like to meet every reader of this study in glory
when our Lord comes. Please don't disappoint me.
"Even so, come, Lord Jesus," Revelation
22:20.
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Dear reader, if you are one who has
tried to call me, and could not get through, I sincerely
apologize, but my old phone does not ring most of the
time. I have no idea why, and have tried to have the phone
repaired, but it still isn't working right. It does ring
occasionally, but not like it should. I thank each reader
who has been patient with this situation.
If there are those who like to
write, please address all correspondence to me at: Pastor
F. M. Riley, 14275 County Road 8120, Rolla, Missouri 65401.
God bless you all is my prayer.
See you SOON in glory,
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