Beloved friends, we welcome you to the wonderful study of the Word of God and our present study on the Blessed Hope of the Church. That imminent and glorious prospect, when our Savior will return, when he will come for his redeemed saints, and take them all to the Father's home, all gathered together. Let me repeat his promise. Drink in the precious promise of the Lord Jesus from John fourteen, verse three. If I go away, I will come again, and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also. My beloved friend, if you know your Bible in any way, whether it be much or little, you must know where he is, that he is not upon the earth, but he is in heaven. And his promise to the church consists of the marvelous, unprecedented Miracle of such a magnitude, taking it to glory, that it is very difficult for our finite minds to comprehend the vastness of this omnipotent operation. Now we wish to take our scripture that describes to us the details of this divine operation, telling us how God will accomplish this marvelous event. In First Thessalonians chapter four, for the sake of valuable time, we would read only the words of verse sixteen and seventeen, from which we will study the varied features concerning that blessed rapture of the church and the resurrection of the saints. For the Lord himself, Paul writes, 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." May I first of all suggest the occasion for this divine revelation, it should be understood, and it will be, carefully if you read the whole context from verse thirteen through eighteen Paul and his missionary companions never fail when preaching the gospel to also teach the return of Christ they knew not only from the lips of the Savior but from the many Old Testament prophecies he must come again and set up his great earthly and heavenly kingdom the Christians in Thessalonica They kept looking. They were waiting for that, which you can plainly realize if you read the Holy Epistle. But to their surprise and astonishment, some of their fellow believers were taken away in death. Then they began to wonder, how can their deceased brethren and sisters meet the Lord and meet him when he returns? Now that is why the Apostle writes, for their consolation and for their assurance and information that they should not be ignorant about the whole matter, even as others who have no hope. Please note Paul's expression. He declares any others have no hope. But those who know the Lord Jesus, at his coming, Paul tells them the departed saints would return with him, and their resurrected bodies join the living saints to be translated to meet the Lord in the air. Now let us go further. Let us call this blessed event by two names, which certainly synonymously covers two tremendous subjects of eternal importance. Here it is. Though we consider it as one event, it covers what we first would call the rapture. And second, it also covers what we can call the resurrection. This account includes the resurrection of saints. And at the same time, the translation or the catching up of not only those who were resurrected but the living saints who will be upon the earth at that time, they will be caught up together. It is this great translation that evidently expresses the event as the rapture. Oh, the rapturous event it will be when the Lord comes for his saints. All of this taking place when the Lord descends from heaven to gather them together. Now let us follow the steps of this operation very carefully, as to what exactly takes place with the saints, both with the resurrected ones and the living ones. And may we grasp the complete nature of this wonderful event of the rapture. May I suggest we shall cover five different features that will happen in this great event. First of all, as you read the Scripture saying, we shall be caught up together, there will be, first of all, a catching away. Note verse seventeen particularly, the word caught, which means and signifies a sudden action, to be snatched, to be seized. And the word means to snatch or to catch away. It is said of Philip the Evangelist. If you will read Acts chapter eight, thirty-nine, it is said of him that he was snatched away. You can read of Paul being caught up to paradise in second Corinthians twelve and verse two and four. And it's the same with the rapture of the man-child. In the vision that John writes in Revelation chapter twelve and verse five. All these scriptures have the same truth for the word caught. It conveys the idea of a sudden force being exercised, and the rapidity of it is best described in First Corinthians chapter fifteen, verse fifty-two, to be done in a moment and in the twinkling of an eye. Suddenly, in a moment, all the saints, let me repeat that, all the saints resurrected and living, will be caught away. But consider with me what shall they be taken away from. When the Lord himself descends from heaven and he gives the signal, the word of command, a shout of command, and all the saints will obey it. Immediately, where the dead are living, they will be caught away from the world, taken out of the world, a world of sin, a world of death, of trouble, of sickness, of burdens, of trials, of persecutions, of oppression, of poverty, of hatred, and away from the entire sphere of sin. Is it not written in Revelation chapter twenty-one and verse four those wonderful words concerning the redeemed in glory, there shall be no more sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. Now may I be reminded from God's word? That, according to the word of God, the world is in the hands of the wicked one. First John, five, nineteen. And I cannot easily agree with that. I see it today. Satan is called the God of this age, and Satan is the prince of this world. and the world is filled with the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life according to first John two verse sixteen and that is true now permit me to make a solemn application since God has provided such a work of power and mercy and grace through Christ to take his church to all of his saints to a better place than this world Do you not believe that every person ought to be concerned and make sure of having his or her part in such a blessed event? An event of such magnitude and of such blessing. Now I'm sure that I am speaking to many that perhaps may not feel as I do and feel as many other of my fellow believers who have passed through many testings and trials. and many who today I know are suffering, whether mentally, spiritually, or bodily, but longing for that moment of deliverance when the Lord Jesus will take them out of this world. But it is the most astonishing fact that people today around us do not seem to desire to leave this world, and especially to go to heaven, and be sure of it. Now, what's the trouble with people? I remember offering a lady in a tubercular institution years ago in the state of Virginia, a very simple gospel message in a tract, and said to a lady, Here is a gospel message that will tell you how to get to heaven. To my astonishment and surprise, she quickly retorted to me, I'd like to know how to get out of this here place first. Well, I quickly answered, by God's grace, I can tell you how. She said, How? I said, Go to heaven. Then very hastily she raised her hands high and shouted, No, no, no. Well, my friend, let me ask you, what better place could she go? What better place can anyone go? I certainly did not tell her to go to the wrong place. My beloved Lord, please me, I say, and this is upon my heart and conscience. We're living in a day when so many do not want to go to heaven, and seem to prefer to go the broad way that leads to destruction. My beloved fellow believer, this lesson tells us that all believers will be snatched away in a moment in the twinkling of an eye when the Lord comes. Now, my friend, if you that are unsaved, would you not want to be there? Note the scriptural condition upon from the Word of God. whereby you can be sure of being there. And I quote the words of Paul that he has written in our scripture with First Thessalonians four, verse fourteen. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, I beg of you not to note any other condition is mentioned. This is the message of the glorious gospel. How that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture. That he was buried and that he rose again according to the scripture. And faith For salvation plus nothing must be resting upon the great redemptive work of Christ alone, thus to make sure that you and I will be caught away from this world to be with Christ at his coming. Now then, beloved friend, please let me ask you faithfully, should you not prepare your soul for that moment that is coming when Jesus returns, And in the words of the old hymn, can you sing when the roll is called up yonder? I'll be there. Father, by the Holy Spirit in His convicting grace and power, convict the sinners and save them, cover the saints and cheer them, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.