John 14:1-3

The Synoptic Gospels, those written by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, with their similarities in content and narrative, all present the apocalyptic teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ as He met with His disciples across from Jerusalem upon the Mount of Olives. Each Gospel describes troubling and horrific times to come that will affect the entire world. These signs will be visible and unmistakable displays of the wrath of God upon wicked humanity and of the return of Christ to the earth as the conquering King of Kings who will establish a new heaven and earth forever.

John’s Gospel takes an entirely different direction in his recollection of Jesus. He is not just the promised Messiah, but God Incarnate who came into this world to bring salvation to both Israel and the world.

John 1: 1-4 declares that Jesus Christ is the Divine Creator of all things (Genesis 1; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1: 16-18; Hebrews 1: 1-2) and was with God the Father and the Holy Spirit from eternity past, with no beginning or end, outside of space, time, and matter and fully self-sufficient. He models the perfect love of the Father, doing the work expected of Him in the power of the Holy Spirit. John recorded eight miracles that showed Jesus’ Divine nature. He also wrote that Jesus did other great works that He did not record, but “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (20:30-31, NASB).

The miracles that John did write of included turning water into wine (2: 1-11); the healing of the nobleman’s son (4: 46-54); the healing of the man at the pool of Siloam (5: 1-9); the healing of the man who was born blind (9: 1-7); the raising of Lazarus from the dead (Chapter 11), and the great quantity of fish that were caught in the disciple’s nets (21: 1-6). In his commentary on the Gospel of John, Dr. John MacArthur gives some reasons as to why John wrote about his account of Jesus:

“John is the only one of the four Gospels that contains a precise statement of the author’s purpose (20:31). His objective was both apologetic (defense of the faith) and evangelistic. In keeping with his evangelistic purpose, he uses the verb “to believe” nearly one hundred times, twice as much as the Synoptics, emphasizing that those who believe in Jesus as the Savior will receive eternal life (3: 16, 4: 14, 5: 24, 29 –30, 6: 27, 33, 40, 47-48, 54, 63, 68, 10: 10, 28, 12:50, 14: 6, 20: 31). John’s evangelistic purpose is inseparable from his apologetic purpose, showing the identity of Jesus, that of God Incarnate.” (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: John 1- 11. Chicago, Moody Press, 2006, p. 9).

On the last night Jesus had with His disciples before He was to face betrayal, abandonment, a sham trial, and a horrific death upon the cross that would serve an eternal purpose, this account took place in what has been referred to as the “Upper Room” (Mark 14: 14-15). John devoted a large part of his Gospel to this event (John, Chapters 13–17).

Here, Jesus demonstrated the nature of service, told of the arrival of the Holy Spirit as their Teacher and Comforter, and declared that He is the ONLY way to the Father. He described Himself as the True Vine by which they would bear fruit, to look to Him in prayer for their needs, love one another as He loved them, and concluded the evening with the High Priestly prayer on their behalf and for those who would come to believe in the future. One of the teachings He gave was that He would come back at a special time to “receive them to Himself” and take them to heaven (14: 1-3).

Bible teachers such as John MacArthur; the late Drs. Lewis Sperry Chafer and John Walvoord, Tim LaHaye, Dr. Ed Hindson, and Zola Levitt; Drs. Mark Hitchcock and Thomas Constable; Pastors J.D. Farag, Billy Crone, and others believe that what was taught by Jesus refers to the event in Scripture known as the “Rapture,” the sudden “snatching away” of true followers (1 Corinthians 15: 51-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). It is also known as the “Blessed Hope” (Titus 2:11 –15). The Rapture event has been a source of debate and controversy for several years within the field of eschatology, or the study of last things.

The first issue of the Rapture is the word itself, which some believers and skeptics claim is not found in Scripture and an erroneous teaching. The word “rapture” is derived from the koine Greek, the original language in which the New Testament was written. The word is “harpazo,” meaning “catch,” “pluck,” “force,” “pull,” and “snatch” in a rapid manner. (Vine, W.A., An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words: Chicago, Fleming H. Revell Publishers, 1966, p.299).

Jesus will come and suddenly “snatch away” His true church, taking us to His dwelling place for all time. Jesus also referred to His return as being quicker than a flash of lightning across the sky (Matthew 24:27). Paul used this analogy when he described the “harpazo” being quicker than an eye takes time to blink (1 Corinthians 15: 51-52).

The second issue is whether there are any other occurrences in Scripture apart from the future tense of “harpazo” described in John 14:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:51-58, and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. In the rest of the New Testament, this term is used fourteen times (Matthew 11:12, 12:29; John 6:15, 10:12, 28-29; Acts 8:39, 23:10; 2 Corinthians 12:2, 4; Jude 1:23, and Revelation 12:5). There are two cases found in the Old Testament of being “snatched away.”

The Hebrew word is “laqach.” It applies to the patriarch Enoch (Genesis 5:24) and the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 2:1-11). Both men were known for their godly nature and were received into the presence of God without dying. According to some Bible teachers, these two men might be the ones described in Revelation 11 who are given miraculous powers to show everyone the holiness and judgment of God in the time of the Great Tribulation. They will be sentenced to death by the Antichrist, and their bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem for three days. Their deaths will be celebrated. Scripture says that they will also be raised to life again after three days and “caught up” into heaven as another sign of God’s authority over the wicked world.

Returning now to the interpretation of John 14:1-3 as the teaching of the “Rapture” event, we read that Jesus was going away to prepare a home for them. The features in this description do not describe Jesus coming to earth with His saints to establish His Kingdom (Revelation 19:11-15) but taking believers to live with Him in heaven. Since no judgment on the unsaved is described here, this is not the event of His glorious and powerful return where He will destroy the wicked (Matthew 13:36-43, 47-50) but His coming to gather His own who are alive and raise the bodies of those who have died to take them all to heaven.

After the Rapture, the true church will celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-10), be rewarded (1 Corinthians 3: 11-15, 4:5; 2 Corinthians 5: 9-10), and later return to Earth with Christ when He comes again to set up His kingdom (Revelation 19:11-20:6). As surely as He went away, He will come back again, for HIs desire is to have His own with Him for eternity.

I encourage you to do your own research and prayerfully conclude how these events play out as the days draw closer to the Lord’s return. Bible prophecy is not a checklist of times, signs, and seasons to win an eschatological argument. It is the complete and perfect fulfillment of the promises made by the Sovereign LORD God Almighty that, in the end, Jesus wins, the devil loses, and a new world is coming.

Share that with someone who needs to know that this world is heading for a reckoning and accountability before God, and to look to Jesus Christ for salvation and true peace. We serve a victorious God, and He desires that everyone be saved (2 Peter 3:9). That includes YOU.

Donaldwhitchard@gmail.com

www.realitycityreverend.com

 

 

For anyone to believe that they’ve lived a life good enough to get them into Heaven forever, Romans 3:10 sums it up best; “as it is written, none is righteous; no, not one.” The only exception to this came to earth about 2,000 years ago. Jesus, though fully God (John 10:30), became fully human to provide us with something that no one else in the whole history or future of this world could ever do. He never once sinned while He was here, and His pure, sinless blood sacrifice is the only one the Heavenly Father could ever accept. (ESV – all emphasis mine)

Hebrews 10:12-18 gives us a promise from the Holy Father; “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,’ then He adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’ Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.”

Up to Calvary, sacrifices were to be made continually every year in submission to the Father’s requirement for a blood sacrifice. This was always meant to be temporary from the very beginning. Hebrews 10:3-4 states, “But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

In Hebrews 10:9-10, Jesus is quoted, “then He added, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will.’ He does away with the first [animal sacrifice] in order to establish the second. And by that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Please note that all three members of the Holy Trinity are mentioned in the above Hebrews verses.

Sanctified, or sanctification, according to Miriam Webster, is “to set apart to a sacred purpose, or to religious use; consecrate; to free from sin; purify.” According to Dictionary.com, “verb; to make Holy; set apart or secured; consecrate.” Only the Holy Trinity could totally accomplish this.

The Father knew from the very beginning what had to take place, and it happened completely in His schedule. In Psalm 103:8-12, David wrote, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger [see 2 Peter 3:9], and abounding in steadfast love [as given in John 3:16]. He will not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.”

Fearing God does not imply that we are to be terrified of Him or to constantly be in a petrified state. One definition that makes total sense is that we must, first of all, recognize God is loving, merciful and forgiving. He is Holy, just, and righteous; and knowing and understanding His character, we accept that His justice and holiness cause Him to judge all sin, and it will be with absolute fairness.

In this sense, fearing the Lord is to appreciate His character. If He had chosen to be a tyrannical dictator, He could very well have done so. We should respect and love Him all the more for the infinite mercy He has shown each of us.

God does not lie, as given in Numbers 23:19; Hebrews 6:18; and Titus 1:2. He understands human nature far beyond anything we can imagine, and He has declared that we are not saved by any works but solely by the sacrifice given by our Savior on the Cross (Ephesians 2:8-9).

He has also made it very clear that all who reject Jesus as their Savior will ultimately be separated from Him forever.

All who truly receive and accept Jesus will be saved. See Romans 10:9-13 for the steps to Salvation. Also, God understands that we are human, and we will sin until we take our last breath on this earth. That is why He provided 1 John 1:8-9 as our path to forgiveness. To say we have never sinned would say that God’s word is untrue. Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23 let us know that even if we are saved, we will still slip and sin until we get our new, forever immortal, imperishable bodies and pure Jesus-like mindset.

That will take place after we have left this earth. Figuratively speaking, we will get “Across the Bridge” from this temporary life to be in our eternal Home forever when Jesus calls us up to meet Him in the air.

Jim Reeves sang a Walter Scott song in the early 1960s that makes a lot of good points. It’s called “Across the Bridge.”

1.) I have lived a life of sin in this world I’m living in; I have done forbidden things I shouldn’t do. I asked a beggar along the way if he could tell me where to stay, where I could find real happiness and love that’s true.

(Ref) Across the bridge, there’s no more sorrow; across the bridge, there’s no more pain. The sun will shine across the river, and you’ll never be unhappy again.

2.) Follow the footsteps of the King till you hear the voices ring; they’ll be singing out the glory of the Lord. The River Jordan will be near; the sound of Trumpet you will hear; and you’ll behold the most precious place ever known to man.

(refx2) (can be heard on YouTube)

For Jesus, He went back across the bridge after His resurrection. His Spirit was there the second His human body died. At that instant, the pure blood had been freely shed, and His final word, “It Is Finished!” declared there was a new straight and narrow path to Heaven. Satan was officially put on notice.

It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past, where you are from, the color of your skin, or any other human factors. If you will truly call out to the Savior, admit you are a sinner, ask His forgiveness, and to come into your heart forever – you will be saved. His blood covers all who will receive and accept Him from that instant on.

To put your decision off or to believe false prophets that say there are many ways to heaven without Jesus would be a serious mistake you definitely don’t want to make. By all prophetic signs, we are at the doorstep of the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53), and the shout and Trumpet blast could happen at any moment. Satan will try to convince you that there’s plenty of time. However, even he does not know the day or hour the Father has set to end this age and start the wrath/ tribulation. He does know it’s getting very close, and that appears to be a reason for all the increased satanic activity worldwide.

Eternity with the Savior will be absolutely much more fulfilling than eternal torment in the lake of fire. It’s totally your choice to make, and no one can make it for you. As stated, God is patient and wants no one to be condemned, as given in 2 Peter 3:9; but then there’s 2 Peter 3:10 when the time for avoiding the wrath is over.

As a personal note during this special time of the year, our wish for all is to be totally blessed and have Jesus as your Savior so that when we are taken up, we will have so many loved ones, old and new, to greet right after we are able to rise from seeing Jesus in person. Personally, I wish to be able to kiss the feet that walked this earth on my behalf, and for all He has done to allow Brigett and I to share His word. It’s not for accolades for us, but to put Our Savior, Our Shepherd, Our Messiah, Our God on every heart that will listen!

May the Lord Bless You and Your Loved Ones Richly!

huebshman46@gmail.com