154 - THE REVIVAL OF A FORGOTTEN TRUTHMAY 15, 1963
PASTOR HENRY F. KULP
I Thessalonians 4: 13 - 18 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Here, Paul speaks about the Rapture of the Church or the translation of the Church into Heaven. He tells us that at any time, God could descend with a shout, the voice of the Archangel, the trump of God, and the Church will be caught up to be with Jesus Christ. Now it is necessary for us to see three things before we get into the heart and study of this passage.
1/ The first of the three things I want you to see is that truth was forgotten for a long, long time. During the Dark Ages, when the professing church was anything but Christian—this truth, along with salvation by grace through faith without works was completely forgotten. The church put tradition in the place of the Bible, and, of course tradition does not center upon Godly things, but upon fleshly things. And then the church had the glorious awakening in the Reformation and salvation by grace plus nothing was presented. They failed to see this truth about the Rapture of the Church. It has only been at the turn of the century that this truth has again been proclaimed. For all those hundreds of years this truth was hidden. It is necessary to see when you have a recovery of truth, it is always progressive, and many new things are found out as people turn back to the truth.
2/ The second thing to see is that this is not the Second Coming of Christ. Many folks, as the truth was recovered from the Dark Ages, mixed up the Second Coming of Christ, and the Rapture of the Church. But they are two entirely different events. Then the third thing to see is that this truth is Pauline. This is a special doctrine that God gave Paul to reveal to just the Church, which is His Body.
3/ The companion passage to I Thessalonians 4 is I Corinthians 15: 51, 52 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
You will notice here it says, I shew you a mystery. A mystery is something that has been hid in ages past and is now being revealed. It is not that this is too hard to understand, it is not that it takes a lot of intelligence to comprehend it, but the fact that it has been hid before and now it is being revealed, and Paul is now revealing, a brand new fact, that a day is coming when those who are members of the Church which is His Body, shall be caught up into Heaven.
4/ In the Old Testament and the Gospels we have much about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, but we have nothing concerning the Rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ. For example, as I read about David as he draws his finger across the golden harp strings, we can hear him sing as he lifts his voice, Psalms 96: 13 where he sings, He cometh, He cometh to judge the earth. This is the Second Coming. This is not the Rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ.
5/ Then as the Old Testament comes to a close, the very last chapter, we have the Lord’s Second Coming, not His Appearing for the Church.
Malachi 4: 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
Then we go ahead to the ministry of Jesus Christ, and he does not mention the Rapture. He does not talk about it.
John 11: 23, 24 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
We have Martha answering Jesus Christ by saying, I know my brother shall rise again in the resurrection in the last day. That is all she knew about the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, she knew nothing about the Rapture. Then notice what Christ taught when He was upon earth.
Matthew 25: 31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
When He says, The Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, and then shall He sit upon on the throne of His glory, and before Him shall He gather all nations. This is the Second Coming of Christ.
Luke 21: 25 - 28 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
When He talks about signs in the sun and the moon and in the stars and on the earth distress of nations, and then He says, then shall they see the Son of Man coming in power and great glory. This is the Second coming of Christ.
6/ I Thessalonians 4: 17 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.
Here we read the dead in Christ shall be raised first. Last week we spent some time talking to you about this—that the dead in Christ shall rise first, and the dead will be resurrected before the living are changed and caught up to be with the Lord Jesus Christ.
But this morning I am primarily interested in the dead in Christ. What does that phrase include? What does it mean to be in Christ, and who are the dead in Christ? Obviously, the dead in Christ are those who in life were in Christ and died a physical death. This expression, in Christ, occurs about 40 times in the New Testament, and in most of these instances refers to our position in Christ. When a person receives Jesus Christ as Saviour and trusts Him as the Son of God, he is in Christ.
Lewis Sperry Chafer in his book “Salvation” lists 33 things that occur, instantaneously, the very moment a person puts his trust in Jesus Christ. One of the things that occurs is that we are placed in Christ, we are baptized into one body, we are baptized into Christ, and this occurs the instant we put our trust in Christ.
7/ THIS IS A SELECTIVE RESURRECTION, IT IS NOT WHEN ALL DEAD WILL BE RAISED. IT IS VERY CLEAR THAT THE UNSAVED WILL NOT BE RAISED. THE UNSAVED WILL NOT BE RESURRECTED UNTIL MANY YEARS AFTER THE TRIBULATION AND THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF JESUS CHRIST IS ALL OVER.
8/ Now does this dead in Christ, mean all the saints who have died up to this time? Does it include all the saints from Adam on through?
Dr. C. I. Scofield who proved to be a blessing to many people, notices in Thessalonians 4 tells us that the dead in Christ includes all saints—that means the Old Testament and the New Testament saints.
Lewis Sperry Chafer, who for nearly two decades Scofield’s associate, he came to a different conclusion. He said the dead in Christ refers to only those in this present dispensation, and then John Valwoord, who is now president and the head of the same school that Chafer founded, Dallas Theological Seminary, says the very same thing—it cannot possible include the Old Testament saints, and to this I heartily agree. The dead in Christ refers to only the Church which is a Body of Church.
9/ You will always find that the resurrection of the Old Testament saints has to do with the Second Coming of Christ. And this is not the Rapture of the Church which is His Body.
10/ Isaiah 26: 16 - 18 Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
Here we have Israel in trouble, receiving the chastening of the Lord, and they are speaking of their conflict during the tribulation and deliverance. And in Verse 19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
We have shown that after the tribulation, the time of chastening, at the last day, the dead shall live. If you eliminate the supplied words that the translators put in, the word, men, and together with, then recognize that the word, body, is in the plural and it should be bodies, we have Verse 19 reading this way. Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies will live. This means the dead bodies of Jehovah’s people. So here you have the resurrection of the Old Testament saints, it is after the tribulation, but we are going to be resurrected before the tribulation. But they shall be resurrected just at the beginning of the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ.
11/ Ezekiel 37: 1 - 5 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
What are these bones that are to live? The explanation is given to us in Ezekiel 37: 11
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
Here it is the whole house of Israel. That means the dead as well as the living saints. That means the Old Testaments saints as well as those who are living at the time of this portion of Scripture. The Old Testament saints will be resurrected along with those who are living at that time, and the whole nation, Israel, shall be back in the land. This has to be the resurrection of Israel at the start of the tribulation.
12/ Daniel 12: 1 - 3 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
Danial tells us of the tribulation. For Michael shall stand up with the Jews in that great time of trouble, and he says at that time when they are in this great time of trouble, they shall be delivered. Then in Verse 2 many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, and again we have the Jewish resurrection, but it is after the tribulation—Not before the tribulation as is the Rapture. So you can see the resurrection is different from the Rapture.
Then if you turn to Daniel 12: 3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
We have brought it out that after the resurrection there will be rewards for the nation of Israel, rewards, such as ruling over ten cities, or whatever it might be. This is exactly what Jesus Christ told the nation Israel. He did not tell it to the Church, He told it to the nation.
13/ Luke 14:14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
Here Jesus Christ says they shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. You will notice that Jesus Christ is definitely talking to the Jewish nation. He is talking to Israel not to the Church here. And the resurrection of the just is not the Rapture – it is not the mystery, it is the Jewish nation being raised from the dead, and then being rewarded.
14/ Hosea 13: 9 - 14 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid. The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children. I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
Here again we have it brought out that Israel will have God as its helper and as its King, and God will save them. In verse 14 He tells them, I will ransom them from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death. Here again, the millennial hope and physical resurrection are associated one with the other.
15/ We know the Old Testament saints will have to be resurrected before the Millennium, and not at the Rapture of the Church, for take the Twelve—They are to take part in the earthly Kingdom.
Matthew 19: 27, 28 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Here Peter says, we have forsaken of all to follow Thee, what are we going to have? This was a natural question, this comes out of the flesh, it can’t help it. They had just heard the rich young ruler turn down our Lord’s offer for He told him—sell all that you have.
In Verse 21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Peter says, Lord, we’ve done that. What are we going to get out of it? The rich young ruler wasn’t willing to do it—he has his riches now. So Peter is saying, Maybe we had better do the same thing.
What is it going to profit us if we do not do it? He says, they are to sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel during the Millennium. They are to be rewarded by sitting upon thrones, so they will be rewarded right after the resurrection from the dead.
16/ All the faithful Jews will be rewarded just prior to the setting up of the Millennial Reign of Christ and the finish of the Tribulation.
Luke 19: 11 - 19 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
Here you will have to admit this has to do all about the Second Coming of Christ. About Jesus Christ, a certain nobleman, who went into a far country, Heaven, for to receive Himself a Kingdom and to return. He had to return to have this Kingdom and so here it is. Those who are faithful prior to the setting up the Kingdom, will be rewarded when the Lord comes. Some will receive the award of ruling over five cities, some over ten cities. So this has nothing to do with the Church, but with the nation Israel.
17/ Now let’s notice, Isaiah 40: 10 Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
Here again, we have the faithful Jews who will be rewarded when he comes back to earth to set up His Kingdom. This is in harmony with Luke 4: 14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
18/ Matthew 25: 21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Here it tells us the very same thing, for the good and the faithful servant will be made a ruler over many things. But, of course, this is the Old Testament saints who were faithful, and the faithful Jews during the tribulation just prior to the setting up of His Millennial Reign.
19/ It is true that when Jesus Christ catches us up into Heaven that we will be at the Judgement Seat of Christ and we will be rewarded. But our rewards are heavenly rewards, not earthly rewards. We are not told that we are going to rule over five cities, we are not going to sit upon any thrones. We are going to be given a heavenly reward, or award.
I Corinthians 9: 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
We find that Paul tells us about rewards we can gain. It is an incorruptible crown for those who gain mastery over the old man. In other words learn how to control the old nature, and not have the old nature control them.
And then, I Thessalonians 2: 9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.
A crown for soul-winning, and actually it is brought out here as we told you before that the believer who wins another person, that person is his crown.
Then II Timothy 4: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
A crown of righteousness for Loving the Lord’s Appearing. So you can see that we will be rewarded, but all those rewards are heavenly. They are not earthly like they are with Israel.
20/ We read, I Thessalonians 4: 17 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.
We shall be caught up together. Here is the true ecumenical movement. There will be no ecumenical movement of God until this point when His Body will be united. The believing Jew and Gentile—dead and living shall be united, caught up together. No more separation—not even by physical distance.
What a glorious, wonderful truth this is! We will be united in Jesus Christ with all those loved ones and friends who have gone before us. Never to be separated again.
Complete victory over death.
AMEN
Ref: 05/19/1963 / 154 - THE REVIVAL OF A FORGOTTEN TRUTH / 10/19/2021
No comments:
Post a Comment