The Blessed Hope For Believers

By Arthur J Licursi

In the years between the 18th and 19th centuries the doctrine of the Lord’s coming to catch away (Rapture) "the members of the church, which is His body" was recovered. Jesus Christ will then remove "the body of Christ" from planet earth, taking the believers to dwell with the Lord in heaven, "eternally" (2Cor 5:1). I say this truth was "recovered" because Paul originally wrote of this wonderful truth nearly 2,000 years ago and then lost to the church.

Soon after the catching away (Rapture) of the mainly Gentile "body of Christ"  to heaven, the Lord will then turn His attention again to Israel . Israel 's current "blindness" will then be removed. Paul wrote; ²⁵ ... BLINDNESS in part is happened to Israel , (but only) UNTIL the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. (Rom 11:25b). After the Rapture of "His body" the Lord will then fulfill the many promises and prophesies given to Israel . These include the coming world judgments and the long-promised kingdom of heaven to come to earth, in which the believers of Israel will "reign with Him" on earth (cf., Rev 5:10, 20:6). God will keep all His promises to Israel , but only after the Rapture of "the body of Christ."

⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise...(2Peter 3:9a) ¹⁰ (He) Hast Made Us ( Israel ) Unto Our God Kings and Priests: And We Shall Reign On The Earth. (Revelation 5:10)

We learn all "that blessed hope" from the Apostle Paul. Paul received progressive revelations from the ascended Lord (cf., 2Cor 12:1, 7, Gal 1:12). Similarly, the church has been blessed over the past 500 years with recovered truth that has been  progressively revealed as the light of the Holy Spirit was shed upon the text of the Bible in the view of men who sought truth. These men set aside tradition in favor of the truth of the Bible.

First, the core Christian doctrine pertaining to salvation, called "justification by faith," was recovered and restored to the church doctrine by Martin Luther and other reformers in the time of the Protestant Reformation - the15th-16th  centuries. Luther taught that salvation cannot be earned by good deeds, but rather God's salvation is to be received only as the free gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin and subsequently from "the lake of fire."

Less crucial, but just as notable as the recovery of "justification by faith," is what was recovered in the 18th-19th centuries. It was then that the truth of the catching away or Rapture of "the church which is His body" was recovered by men such as Jonathan Edwards and John Nelson Darby. They and others came to see the "blessed hope" of Christ appearing "in the clouds" to multitudes of grace believers by the catching away of "the body of Christ" to heaven. This truth is only spoken of in the epistles of Paul, "the Apostle to the Gentile's" (Rom 11:13). The Rapture is the completion of the grace believer's salvation.

¹³Looking for THAT BLESSED HOPE, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ... (Titus.2:13).

Note that the Greek word for "hope" in the phrase "blessed hope"  carries with it the idea of "a confident expectation." Believers have Paul's words such that they can "have a confident expectation" of the Rapture of "the body of Christ" when Christ will take His body with Him to dwell in heaven, "eternally" (2Cor 5:1). Consequently, we, as genuine believers today, should be those who "look for the Savior's" appearing in "the clouds."

¹ For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, ETERNAL IN THE HEAVENS. (2 Corinthians 5:1)

²⁰ For Our Conversation (Our Citizenship) Is In Heaven; from whence also we Look For The Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: ²¹ Who Shall Change Our Vile Body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:20-21)

Believers today should not be shaken. Rather, we should look for "that blessed hope" of the catching away, when we also will exchange our mortal, corruptible, sinful, bodies for new incorruptible immortal spirit-bodies, such as Jesus had when He was seen by more than 500 people after His resurrection.

Today some erroneously point to such passages as Matthew 24:6-9 and 29, 30 to prove that the Church will go through the tribulation and wrath of God. Others have adopted a “mid-tribulation” view, holding that the Church will go through only the first half of the tribulation period, and will be caught away before the fearful outpouring of God’s wrath in the “great tribulation.” Still others hold the so-called “partial rapture” view on the basis of our Lord’s exhortation to His disciples in Luke 21:36. According to this view only those “counted worthy” will be caught up at the rapture.

Paul, by inspiration of the Spirit, holds out the glorious prospect of “that blessed hope," to the members of Christ’s body. But today the Rapture of "His body" is again being lost to a growing numbers of sincere believers, simply because they fail to recognize it as a distinct Pauline revelation he received from the ascended Lord. Many preachers fail to follow Paul's admonition to "rightly divide the Word of God." That includes dividing the eternal destiny that pertains to Israel , destined to reign on earth, from the eternal destiny of the members of "the body of Christ" who are destined to reign in heaven (2Tim 2:12).

It's a notable that in his very first epistle (chronologically), Paul refers to hope for the members of "the body of Christ." The hope of a coming of Christ in the clouds to Rapture the church, which precedes Christ's 2nd coming to earth to reign in the eternal Kingdom on earth.

In 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 Paul wrote.“…how ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to WAIT FOR HIS SON FROM HEAVEN…” Then in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 Paul wrote.

“…We which are alive and remain…shall be CAUGHT UP (Raptured) 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.”

To those who don't see the truth of the Pre-tribulation Rapture, such passages as the Matthew 24 description of the coming world judgments obviously contradict Paul's words of "comfort" offered believers in 1Thessalonians 4:14-18. Where is "comfort" to be found in the awful time seen in Matthew 24:6-9? Jesus offered Israel words concerning the terrible judgments to come before the 2nd advent of Christ’s literal coming to earth. Any attempt to bring these terrifying words of Jesus into line with Paul’s comforting revelation concerning Christ's catching away of "the body of Christ" must bring these misguided people to utter confusion.

Confusion reigns in the church-at-large today on this and so many other matters of what Paul calls "the faith." The faith of many Christians today is shaken as they see daily the terrible events in the world and in our country; and then also as they consider the prospect of what is soon coming to earth. Today we live in the dark time that Paul wrote would occur in "the last days" (cf., 2Tim 3). Today there is a "falling away" from the simple truths of the pure grace gospel "the faith," just as Paul predicted. Paul admonishes the believers and says both the preachers and the people will prefer trivial words to soothe them and fit their preferences rather than the truth.

³ time will come when they (the believers) Will Not Endure (stand for) Sound Doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves (false) teachers, having itching ears (to hear what they want); (2 Tim 4:3)

⁴ Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. (1 Timothy 1:4)

We as grace believers do recognize the distinctive character of Paul’s apostleship and revelation he received concerning the unique position of "the body of Christ" and "the Rapture." We have no such problem to confuse us. We are comforted by Paul's words to the body of Christ. To us “That Blessed Hope” of the Rapture is a bright light... glowing brighter as the days grow darker.