Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13
One of the young men in our Assembly had given us a word of ministry on the topic of the Rapture. He had some interesting and encouraging thought to share from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. As I spoke with him after the meeting, he mentioned how much he enjoyed studying that portion. The more he dug into it, the more exciting he found it to be. Anyone who studies about the Rapture will tell you the same; it is a very exciting study. Sadly, not enough people are studying it, or are sharing the result of their study; the Rapture is spoken of less and less as the years go by. We are losing our appreciation for it, and it is a great loss. Because the Rapture has much to offer the Christians, as we live in a world that is filled with discouragements and disappointments.
The word ‘blessed’ means happy. So our text is speaking of a happy hope. There is little to be happy about in this fleeting and shallow world, and there is certainly no hope to be had in what we see around us today. But in the Rapture there is a hope that will make us happy whenever we consider it. Our Saviour has promised to come quickly, and even if He does not return before we die, we still get to live in the good of His imminent return. When the circumstances get rough and the loads become heavy, there is that light of expectation that someday, the Rapture will bring an end to all of our sorrows and burdens. The world struggles along with its ups and downs, knowing that the last move will be down. Not so with the saints of God; we also have ups and downs, but the last move will be up. That’s something to be happy about.
So is the appearance of our God and Saviour. You and I have never seen the Lord Jesus with our eyes; only by faith have we appreciated Him. For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). That all changes at the Rapture when faith gives way to sight. The One Who was despised and rejected when He walked this earth will appear in His glory when He comes to receive us. That glory goes far beyond what we can imagine, even though we have brief hints at it in the disciples’ description of the Mount of Transfiguration, and in John’s description of Him in the book of the Revelation. All we can say in expectation of that great sight is that it will be a glorious appearing.
The first thing that Paul said concerning the Rapture is that he was looking for it, and that we should be looking for it. Are we? Our happiness depends on it. – Jim MacIntosh