Rightly dividing the Word of truth requires distinguishing between the Rapture and the Revelation of Christ's return. The Rapture, described in 1 Thessalonians 4, involves believers being caught up to meet the Lord in the air, serving as a bridegroom claiming his bride and a Lord gathering his church before the tribulation. In contrast, the Revelation, as seen in Zechariah 14, depicts Christ returning to earth, specifically to the Mount of Olives, as a conquering King to claim his territory and deliver Israel from their enemies after the tribulation period. Understanding these distinctions in place, purpose, and timing is crucial for accurate biblical interpretation.
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And now as we continue with our studies in the Word of God, I want again to read to you our basic text for our lessons for this week. Reading from the second epistle to Timothy chapter two and verse fifteen. Study. To show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. I remind you that this verse sets before us a basic principle for Bible study and interpretation. We should be prepared then to be diligent in order to present ourselves unto God, in order to receive his approval, to be like workmen.
that when our work is put under review, we will not be ashamed. And in order to do that, the principle to be observed as this, we must handle or write the word of God. So therefore our text says, Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Let us bow for prayer. Our Father, we come to thee again. Thou art the eternal God, the unchanging God, the one who abides the same yesterday, today, and forever. It's with thee we have to do.
We acknowledge that in thee we live and move and have our being. Look down in mercy upon all thy people now. Bless them out of the abundance of thy storehouse. For the Lord Jesus' sake we ask it. Amen. Now today, as we take our text again, and we're going to seek to handle or write the Word of God in relation to something that we've mentioned in previous studies, but perhaps we'll go into a little detail today. Now, in the first days of this week, those of you who were listening will remember that we sought to handle a right.
and to give the proper interpretation with regards to the distinction between the Jew, the Gentile and the Church of God. So for a proper understanding of the Scriptures, these things must be kept in mind. And then we sought to make a difference between the different dispensations, the different eras of time in which God dealt with the human race, And each time man proved to be a failure. And then yesterday's study we dealt with the two advents. That is Christ's first advent when he came in all humiliation and was born at the place God Bethlehem and lived in poverty in the town of Nazareth and finally rejected and placed on a cross.
And then we pointed out that the same scriptures that set forth Christ coming to suffer also set forth the fact that he will come again in glory. Now, it's this second thought I want to take today and enlarge upon. If we have come to the conclusion, then, that the man who died on Calvary's cross, he who was the rejected Messiah, He who was Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. If we have concluded that He is coming again, it's only but right that we should understand what the Scripture speech concerning His Second Advent.
Now, with this in view, I want to read to you two little passages from the Bible, and then to set forth what I believe these things really teach. The first one is a well-known passage and a basic passage regarding the return of the Lord, or shall we call it his second Advent. Paul, in writing to the Christians who lived at Thessalonica, in what we call the first epistle to the Thessalonians, in chapter four, verse sixteen, he writes words like these.
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. Now over against that I want to read to you now some verses from the Old Testament, from the prophecy of Zechariah chapter fourteen, verse one.
Behold the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished, and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle.
And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof, toward the east and toward the west. There shall be a very great valley. and half of the mountains shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azzal. Yea, ye shall flee like as ye fled, from before the earthquake in the days of Azaiah, king of Judah.
And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. I trust you'll find time to read the rest of that chapter at home. Now I have read these two passages from the Word of God for a particular reason. I want to draw your attention now and point out that in rightly handling the Word of Truth, we must make a distinction between what we call the rapture and what we call the revelation. What I read in First Thessalonians chapter four, verses sixteen through eighteen, is referring to the rapture.
What we read in Zechariah chapter fourteen is referring to the revelation. Now let me explain the difference between these two terms. When we speak of the rapture, we are speaking of the fact that there are people who will be caught up. We found that expression in First Thessalonians chapter four, verse seventeen. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up. Now these two words caught up correspond to the word rapture, being raptured, being caught up.
Now notice. They have to be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Now at the rapture then, our attention is drawn to a particular place and it is the air, or if you like, the heavenlies. So when the Lord comes to the air, there are certain people to be caught up. Now the question arises. who will be caught up. Now, we don't require to go outside of the letter sent to the Thessalonians to know who will be caught up.
At the end of chapter one, he has said this, And they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turn. Now he's writing to the Christians at Thessalonica. how that ye turn to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. So at the end of chapter one he tells us it's the Christians who are waiting for the Lord to come. Now he's writing to the same people, And when he comes to these verses at the end of chapter four, he says that the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.
And watch now, he says, and the dead in Christ, that is, people who have trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior. And these people have passed into or through the article of death. Their bodies have been buried, while they themselves have gone on to be with the Lord. The body is buried. That's the person that's called dead in Christ. The dead in Christ shall rise. That means there will be a resurrection at the time of the Lord's coming. Then he speaks of some who are still alive. Then we which are alive and remain.
So at the time that the Lord comes to the air, some Christians will be in the grave. In fact, I think we will all agree on this, that from the time that the church was brought into being nearly two thousand years ago, right up to the present time, there must be more Christians who have died and whose bodies are in the grave than what they are alive on the earth at the present time. And he speaks of the dead in Christ, and they will rise. They will be raised. He also speaks of those who are alive and remain. Now those who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them, with those who have been raised.
And we're going to be caught up in the clouds. And we're all going to meet the Lord. Now the place where we shall meet him is in the air. The rapture then will have to do with Christians. Those who belong to the Lord, those that are His, and those who have trusted Him, these are the ones who will be caught up and will meet the Lord in the air. That's the place where we'll meet Him. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Now, I want you then to contrast that with what I read to you from the prophecy of Zechariah chapter fourteen.
There's nothing here in Zechariah fourteen about being caught up to meet the Lord in the air. But simply this, he tells us in verse two that the nations are going to be gathered against Jerusalem in order to have a battle. And there's going to be a battle around Jerusalem. Under that very time when the city is encircled with enemies. At that time the Lord shall go forth, and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle, and his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives.
Now then, here is the difference between the rapture and the revelation, regarding place. At the time of the rapture, they that know the Lord will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. But when you come to read this in Zechariah fourteen, the time of the revelation, when the Lord shall be seen, when every eye shall see him, and you come, it's not to the air, but he's coming right down to the earth. And a particular point on this earth is mentioned. It's called the Mount of Olives. Now this to me is very interesting. because at the time when he left his own, he took them out to the Mount of Olives.
That was after his resurrection, and after he had appeared to them for forty days, and they knew him, they had talked to him, and now the time had come for him to leave them, and he leads them out to the Mount of Olives. And while he's in the very act of blessing them, and raised up his hands over them in blessing, his feet left the mount, and he was taken up from them, and they saw him go out. And while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received them out of their sight. While they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up. Behold, two men stood by them in white apparel.
Now watch. They were standing on the mount of Olives. They saw him go up, his feet left them out. They saw him go up, and he became enveloped in a cloud, and he was taken out of their sight, carried up into heaven. Then the two witnesses stood by them, which said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Now notice, two distinct stages here in his going up. His feet left the Mount of Olives, number one. And as he was ascending, he was enveloped in a cloud, a cloud of glory.
And the cloud of glory conveyed him up into glory, into heaven itself. Now, when the two witnesses spoke to these men of Galilee, these who had been the disciples of the Lord, it said, He's coming again. This same Jesus shall so come. He will come in the same way as ye have seen him go into heaven. Now then, how did they see him go? From the earth to the cloud, from the cloud carried into heaven. How is he going to come back the same way to the clouds? And then from the clouds right down till his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives.
But there's a time factor between the time that the cloud will break and the rapture will take place. and his own shall be caught up to meet him in the air until the time that he comes back with his saints, and at that time he'll come with them, and his feet shall stand again on the Mount of Olives. It's a very interesting thing that not only does he mention his return, or Paul mentioned the return of the Lord at the end of the first chapter of Thessalonians, He mentions it again at the end of chapter two. He says, what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing?
And not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming, for ye are our glory and joy. Now, at the end of chapter three, he continues with this thought. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another and toward all men, even as we do toward you. To the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. Now it's obvious that if he's going to come with them, he must first of all come and get them.
At the rapture he's coming for them. At the time of the revelation he's coming with them. At the time of the rapture his own are to be caught up to meet him. At the time of the revelation he's coming down and his feet shall stand on the earth, on the mount of olives, the very place from which he went up. Not only then is there a distinction made with regards to the place. The place of the rapture is the air. The place of the revelation is the Mount of Olives. But now, what about the purpose? What is the purpose of the rapture?
It is obvious that the bridegroom comes to claim his bride. You know, Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. And one day that church, which is his chosen bride, shall be united to him in marriage, and the bride will become the Lamb's wife. But the bridegroom is coming to claim his bride. What a beautiful relationship then exists between the church, the true church, and the Lord. He is the bridegroom, and the church is the bride. Then again he's coming to gather his church, and if the church has never been united in the sense that all members of the church have never been together at the same time, although they have a common attachment to the same Lord, he is head, and every member of the church is united to the head.
For the time will come when he shall call his waiting people home, and the Lord comes to gather his church. He is the Lord of all, and He's the Lord of the Church. He's the head of the body. And so, therefore, there will be completeness when He calls every member of that body home. There won't be one missing. There will be no such thing as a partial rapture. It's something that you cannot even contemplate that the Lord would take some of his church home and leave some of them down here for the tribulation. Oh, no, my friend, he's coming to gather his church. Complete. Every member of that church will be there, and that's his purpose for coming.
As a bridegroom, he comes to claim his bride. As a Lord, he comes to gather his church. Every one of them will be there. But what is the purpose of the Revelation? He's coming in the Revelation as a king. And as a king, he's coming to claim his territory. When he came in his first advent, do you remember the wise men said, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east, and they have come to worship him. He was born a king. He rode into Jerusalem as a king, in fulfillment of the prophetic scriptures.
But they said, We've got no king but Caesar. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. They said, as it were, Here is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and seize upon the inheritance. But the inheritance is his. After all, the earth is the Lord, and the fullness thereof. And when he comes, he'll come as a king, and he'll come to claim his own. He'll come to claim his own territory. He'll come to claim his own things. And he'll come in power and in great glory. And no one will be able to stand against his power.
When he comes to the Mount of Olives, listen to what John says in the book of Revelation. And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse. He that sat upon him was called faithful and true. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire. And on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. and his name is called the Word of God, and the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, and out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he shall smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treaded the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
and he had on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. See, when he comes for his church, he have come as a bridegroom for a bride, in love and in grace, coming to claim his own, the church for which he died. He have come as the Lord to gather his church. But now the purpose of his coming in the revolution, he comes as the king, coming to claim his territory. coming as a king to deliver his people Israel, because at that time Jerusalem shall be surrounded with their armies.
Not only will they be the armies of Israel, they'll be the armies that will be against the Lord. And therefore the Lord comes forth to deliver his people. When he delivered them from the land of Egypt, he split the sea. He opened the sea and brought the nation out. And at that time, as he brought them out, he overthrew their enemies. Remember this, my friend, the king is coming again. The Messiah will appear. His feet shall stand on the mound of olives. At the very time, when the enemies of Israel shall be surrounding that famous city. And these shall be overthrown when he comes as king of kings and lord of lords, with the shark's sword proceeding from his mouth.
And with the word of his mouth he will be able to overthrow his enemies. For the earth is his. It's his by right. His by right of creation, His by right of redemption, He's coming to claim His own. Now remember, there's a difference then in connection with the purpose of His coming at the rapture and the purpose of His coming in the revelation. And if He opened the sea to deliver them away back in the book of Exodus, He'll split the mountain when He comes this time and there will be that great earthquake. and that mountain shall divide, create the valley, into which the remnant shall flee and be safe, and he shall overthrow their enemies.
But then what about the difference in time? When he comes in the rapture, I make no apology for emphasizing this, that the rapture shall take place before the great tribulation period. Revelation chapter three, verses ten and eleven make that very, very plain, that he's going to keep his own from the hour of trial. He'll keep them away from it. He'll keep them out of it altogether. and his own shall not go through that time of tribulation. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.
The rapture shall take place before the tribulation. The revelation shall take place at the end of the tribulation. So he comes and takes his church away. And then after the end time, after the time of tribulation, he comes back to deliver the nation or the remnant of the nation of Israel. Learn then to distinguish between the rapture and the revelation. Thank you for being tuned in at this time. Remember all communications.