SOARING WITH THE ANGLES
INTO THE LORD’S PRESENCE
MIKE CUNNINGHAM
NOVEMBER 8, 2009
A couple of weeks ago as I was checking the statistics
for my web site I learned it had just reached 65,001 hits. When I mentioned
this fact to my daughter Anne-Marie in an email, I asked, “I wonder how many
of them Charlie and his kid are responsible for?” She responded and said,
“Dad. That’s great! Most of those 65,001 hits probably feel a lot better about
themselves and their families after reading about those whack jobs. Love you!”
I shot back saying, “And
little do they know I'm planning to have Charlie's brother Claude with his
self esteem issues join the Bible study sometime in the future. And then when
Claude’s shrink starts attending; I may even get more hits than Facebook
and Twitter combined. How good can it get?” I can’t imagine why she didn’t
respond to that one.
You may recall that in my last message Charlie’s
son announced he could care less about the “End Time” stuff and the “Rapture”
because there was a much more serious issue he had been wrestling with. Before
he could explain, Charlie suddenly keeled over and fell to the ground, Martha
started screaming and almost passed out, and the Bible study came to an abrupt
end. At the conclusion of my message I explained that since I’m the boy’s
“creator,” I can arrange for him to return today
and put some “Icing on the cake,” and also have him share with us that much
more serious issue he’s been wrestling with. I asked you to let me know if
you would like me to. Although it appears as though folks were in favor of
bringing that cast of characters back this morning, and I enjoy using them
to explain biblical truth, I decided to give them a break and cancel today’s
fictitious Bible study. Charlie and Martha are still emotionally drained from
their nine and a half hour ordeal at the ER and could use some more rest.
The boy would benefit by using this unexpected free time to continue searching
the Scriptures. I’m also going to let the teacher continue savoring his once
in a lifetime incredible experience of watching the boy over the course of
several weeks being powerfully drawn to Jesus by our Sovereign God, and then
actually being present the moment the Lord opened the boy’s heart much as
He did a woman named Lydia a long time ago. The teachers “creator” honored
and gave him the privilege of being present when
the Father gave the boy to His Son, (John 6:44; Acts 16:14) just as the Creator
of Paul, Silas and Timothy did for them.
So this morning I’m going to pinch hit for the
boy and try to tie up some loose ends which are still dangling about the Rapture.
Once again, I want to remind you of the fact that whenever we read the New
Testament we are actually reading other people’s mail, such as those letters
which were addressed to specific people i.e. Timothy and Philemon, and members
of the various churches in Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi, and Galatia, the Christians
in Rome and the folks the letter to those long dead Hebrew Christians was
written to. I’m not suggesting they weren’t written “for” you and me but we
must remember they were addressed and sent “to” severely persecuted people
who were alive thousands of years ago. Each of those letters contained
vital information such as acknowledging their horrendous hardships, and encouraging
them not to lose hope, especially about their loved ones who had already died in the
persecution, because the Lord was going to come back and put an end to it
soon and bring all of them into His loving presence.
Those letters were read in “their” places of
worship. We must always keep this fact in mind such as folks thousands of
years in our future who may be listening to a CD of a worship service taking
place today in Addison County should. If they don’t, they may jump to the
erroneous conclusion that the 21st Century preacher is speaking
to them about a hardship they are currently enduring because of a bridge they
rely on is currently out of service. If those 23rd
Century Christians were to play that CD over and over again just as
you and I read and reread those New Testament letters,
and if those yet to be born Christians hear it often enough, they are
apt to believe today’s preacher is speaking to them about something that they
are soon going to experience. That two thousand year old information about
the Champlain Bridge is irrelevant to them. However, they can certainly benefit
from the preachers advice to trust God in all their circumstances. Don’t ever
forget to remember the old saying that if we hear something often enough we
run the risk of actually believing it. The leaders of the cults, many televangelists’,
pseudo faith healers, doomsday prophets and politicians have all capitalized
on this phenomenon. Now let’s take a close look at a part of a letter written
by Paul which he sent to those early Christians to encourage them, especially
those who had lost loved ones during that time of horrendous persecution.
“But
we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who
are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
14 For since we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring
with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you
by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until
the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord
himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of
an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ
will rise first. 17
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always
be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians
4:13-17 (ESV)
Speaking of the same event prior
to His death and resurrection, Jesus told His disciples that,
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days
the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars
will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear
in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth
will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory. 31
And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call,
and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven
to the other. Matthew 24:29-31
(ESV)
If these events (1 Thess. 4:17; Matt. 24:29-31)
already occurred in A. D.70 as I believe they did, do you find it odd that
there’s nothing recorded in the Bible concerning them? Surely those first
century Christians would have known the Lord did indeed come back and execute
judgment upon those unrepentant Jews just as He promised, and that He would
do it in the same manner in which He did in Old Testament times (see my sermon,
“The End of the World,” 10/11/09. (a) But then, why didn’t they say or write
something about it? To imagine that none of those folks thought Jesus and
His disciples wasn’t speaking or writing to them about incredible life altering
events which were going to occur in their lifetime, but instead to and about
people such as you and me who would be born thousands of years later; those
first century Christians would have to have been idiots. But then how can
we account for the deafening silence of the Christians who were still alive
immediately following the events of A. D. 70? Surely some of the thousands
of them who were still living at the time would have been able to connect
the dots and conclude that Jesus must have returned and left them behind.
Can you imagine how they must have felt? Why didn’t they say something about
it? Anything! If you were in their shoes, how do you think you would feel
and react? Most importantly; how are you going to explain that deafening silence
to an unbeliever who has been sincerely searching the Bible in hopes of discovering
an answer to the meaning of life?
In his endorsement of the classic work, “The
Parousia,” Dr. R. C. Sproul wrote: “...The issues raised in this volume with
respect to the time-frame references of the New Testament to the Parousia
are vitally important not only for eschatology [the study of last things]
but for the future debate over the credibility of Sacred Scripture.” In his
book, Russell cited a magazine review in which there was a review of a book
entitled “The Life of St. Paul” by a man named M. Renan. The reviewer wrote:
“This volume takes us through the whole period of, what we may call, the ministry
of the great apostle, embracing those all-important fifteen or sixteen years
(A. D. 45-61), during which his three missionary journeys were undertaken,
and the infant church, with four bold strides, advanced from Jerusalem to
Antioch, from Antioch to Ephesus, from Ephesus to Corinth, and from Corinth
to Rome. Once arrived there, once securely planted in that central and commanding
position, strange to say, the Church, with all its dramatis persona, suddenly
vanishes from our view. The densest clouds of obscurity immediately gather
round about its history, which our eager, curiosity attempts to penetrate
in vain. It is gone, amid a wreath of smoke, as completely as when a train
plunges into a tunnel. In the words of M. Renan-‘the arrival of St. Paul in
Rome, owing to the decision taken by the author of the “Acts of the Apostles’
to close his narrative at that point, marks for the history of the Origin
of Christianity the commencement of a profound night, illuminated only by
the lighting flash of the Apocalypse.’ The causes of this sudden and confounding
disappearance have not, to this day, been thoroughly investigated...The history
of St. Paul’s life, and the history of the Apostolic age, together abruptly
end. Black darkness falls upon the scene; and a grim and brooding silence-like
the silence of an impending storm-holds in hushed expectation of the ‘day
of the Lord the awe-struck, breathless Church. No more books are written,
no more messages are sent, and the very voice of tradition is still. One voice
alone, from amid the silence and the dread breaks upon the straining ear;
it is the Apocalyptic vengeance-cry from Patmos, ‘Babylon the great is fallen,
is fallen! Rejoice over her, thou heaven and ye holy apostles and prophet’s!
For God has avenged you on her: she shall be utterly burned with fire, for
strong is the Lord God who judgeth her,’” Rev. 17:20. Russell addressed this
issue, and in so many words said something to the effect that: “No wonder
there is a “total blank” in contemporary history; that there is a lack of
continuity in the records of the Christian Church; that the pen of St. Mark
was arrested in the midst of an unfinished sentence; and that St. Luke abruptly
broke off his narrative of the life and labors of St. Paul.” (b)
Now allow me to share the following concerning
the Thessalonians passages from a very insightful book entitled “Taken to
Heaven in A. D.70,” by Ian D. Harding. Concerning the deceased believers,
Harding wrote, “At the soon coming of Christ the already deceased saints [believers]
would be raised with heavenly, spiritual bodies to be with Christ in Heaven.
Those still alive at Christ’s coming would, at the time of His coming, be
changed/transformed, and bypassing death would be glorified in their heavenly,
spiritual bodies to join with the risen deceased saints into the presence
of the Lord, with whom they would all live forever.” (c) Edward E. Stevens
in his equally insightful work entitled “Questions About The Afterlife” writes:
“Before Christ’s resurrection, the saint, or believer, went to Hades in a
disembodied (or “naked spirit” form. These souls of saints waited in Hades,
not having the power to break free, nor the right to go to heaven and be in
God’s presence. They were disembodied or “unclothed.” Their souls had neither
Christ’s righteousness, nor immortality. Christ broke those bonds and set
the captives free. At His death on the cross, when He entered through “the
gates of Hades” (death), a limited group of saints (“many”) were immediately
set free from their bondage to Death and Hades in the unseen realm (Matt.
27:52). Then, when He came out of Hades on the third day, they came out with
Him and were reunited with their physical bodies and came out of their tombs
and appeared in Jerusalem (Matt.27:53). This seems to be the order in which
this remarkable event happened. Their resurrection was different from Christ’s
in that they did not have their immortal bodies yet (like Christ did). Their
physical bodies were merely raised like Lazarus’ had been, to live out the
rest of their lives and die again.”
“This reappearance in Jerusalem of some of the
dead saints was for additional evidence that Christ had indeed come back out
of the dead and brought some of the “firstfruit” saints with Him. How would
we have known that others besides Christ were released from Hades if Christ
had been the only one to reappear? This reappearance of others confirms that
Christ (as High Priest) was taking the firstfruits with Him to present to
the temple so that the rest of the harvest could be brought in. Only some
of the souls that were raised out of Hades with Christ reappeared in Jerusalem.
The few commentaries that deal with this event most often suggest that those
“saints” were folks who had died recently and would therefore been easily
recognizable. Their testimony about Christ’s resurrection would have been
more compelling.” (d)
There was a vast difference between the body
of Jesus and the body of those folks being brought back to life at His Resurrection
only to eventually die and reenter Hades. Then in A. D. 70, together with
the Christians who hadn’t died, they were gathered by the angles to be with
the Lord forever. But how is this possible? Could their bodies now somehow
last forever? Of course not! Something had to happen first. I’m indebted to
Brian Martin the author of the terrific book “Beyond the Pearl of Moses” for
steering me towards the following passages which hopefully will shed some
light and help us to understand. Let’s take a close look at the sequence of
amazing supernatural events which took place at two different tombs. The first
concerns a recently deceased man named Lazarus.
“When Jesus, deeply
moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
39 Jesus said, "Take
away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord,
by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days."
40 Jesus
said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the
glory of God?" 41
So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and
said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you
always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around,
that they may believe that you sent me." 43 When he had said these things, he cried
out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." 44 The man who had
died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped
with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go,"
John 11:38-44 (ESV).
Now let’s look at the account of what took place at the tomb of Jesus.
“Now on the first day of the
week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw
that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and
the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They
have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid
him." 3 So
Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb.
4 Both of them were
running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb
first. 5 And
stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go
in. 6 Then
Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen
cloths lying there, 7
and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying
with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first,
also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the
Scripture, that he must rise from the dead,” John 20:1-9 (ESV).
Did you happen to notice that in both cases
the stone had been rolled away from the entrance to each mans tomb? Why
do you suppose they were rolled away? It’s certainly obvious Lazarus couldn’t
just walk through the stone any more than you and I could, could he? But,
how about the stone at the entrance to Jesus’ tomb? Did it really have
to be rolled away? I believe the answer is yes and no. Hopefully, the
following passages will begin to shed some more light and help us connect
some more dots.
“On the evening of that day,
the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples
were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said
to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his
side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them
again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending
you." 22 And
when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive
the Holy Spirit. 23
If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you
withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld." 24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not
with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the
Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the mark
of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my
hand into his side, I will never believe." 26 Eight days later, his disciples were
inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked,
Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you,"
John 20:19-26 (ESV).
I hope by now you folks are getting closer to being able to connect those
dots.
In his endorsement of another excellent
book entitled “From Grave to Glory,” by Murray J. Harris, James I. Packer writes: “... This is a clear, warm-hearted book, impeccable in scholarship
and inspiring to read. Resurrection questions are not easy, and not all readers
will agree with professor Harris on every detail, but Harris is undoubtedly
in the main stream of resurrection faith, and there is no more thorough treatment
of the questions currently in print.” Contrasting the difference between the
experience of Lazarus and Jesus, Harris writes: “There is also an implicit
contrast between the circumstances of the revival of Lazarus and those of
Jesus’ resurrection. Both died, Lazarus as a result of illness (John 11:14),
Jesus at His own volition (John 10:18). In each instance a stone sealed the
tomb, but in one case it was removed by natural means (John 11:38-41), in
the other by supernatural means (John 20:1, by implication). Both [men] were
bound in graveclothes when buried, but whereas Lazarus needed others to unbind
him when he emerged from the tomb (John 11:44), Jesus left His own burial
clothes intact in His grave as a sign of His resurrection (John 20:5-7). Both
rose from the dead, Lazarus with a new lease of physical life (John 12:2,
10), Jesus as the possessor of a transformed body (John 20:17, 19-20, 26).”
(e)
Why then was the stone at the entrance to Jesus
tomb rolled away? After all, He could have simply walked through it
as He did the doors recorded in (John 20:19; 26).
According to Harris it was to enable Jesus disciples to get into
the tomb where they would be able to see something that John had seen
which convinced him that Jesus had indeed been resurrected from Sheol/Hades.
At that point in time the others still hadn’t connected the dots of what the
Scriptures had predicted. Jesus hadn’t been brought back to life like Lazarus
was. Instead, He was resurrected with an immortal
spiritual body. In the same manner, those first century Christians who
were alive at the time of Christ’s return, together with some others such
as Paul who had previously been beheaded, were all caught up in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air. Each of them now possessed a new immortal,
spiritual body which was invisible. And ever since that truly amazing
supernatural event back in A. D. 70; at the exact moment a Christian dies,
thanks to everything Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection,
he or she is immediately clothed with their very own new immortal/invisible/spiritual
body and leaves their dead physical body behind. If there are believers
who are present at the moment a Christian loved one dies will put on their
eyes of faith, they will be able to joyfully visualize their ecstatic loved
with a brand new immortal/invisible/spiritual body soaring with the angels
into the Lord’s presence.
Lord willing...next week.
-------------------------------------------------------
(a)
http://s128601634.onlinehome.us/sermons/end_world.htm
(b)
The Parousia, by James Stuart Russell, M. A. New Edition published 1996
by Kingdom Publications, 122 Seward Ave. Bradford, Pa. 16701, pp 4-5.
(c)
Taken To Heaven In A. D. 70, © 2005 by Ian D. Harding, First Edition, published
by International Preterist Assn. 122
Seward Ave. Bradford, Pa. 16701, pp
(d)
Questions About The Afterlife, © 1999 by Edward E. Stevens, International
Preterist Assn. 122 Seward Ave. Bradford, Pa. 16701 pp 17-19
(e)
From Grave to Glory, © 1990 by Murray
J. Harris, Zondervan Publishing House, 1415 Lake Drive, S. E. , Michigan 49506,
pp 90