1. How Does the Application Apply to Those to Whom the Book or Passage is Written? Jesus was justifying the fact that He was going to leave the disciples in John 14:2-3. This is the first mention in Scripture of the Rapture of the church. They were in no position to understand the difference between Second Coming of Christ and the Rapture. 60 In the context of whom Jesus was speaking to in the passage in John, the application applied to the disciples. Two Scriptural references will bear this out: (1) John 14:26 where Jesus says in response to Judas’ (not Iscariot) question about why Jesus was going to disclose Himself to them and not the world, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you”, (2) and later in John 16:13, “but when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” The things the Holy Spirit would disclose included the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection as well as future things concerning Christ’s return.61
In the context of who the Gospel of John was written for, as previously stated, it has been suggested by Tenney that it was written for second- and third-generation Gentile Christians with a basic knowledge of Jesus’ life and works, but who needed further confirmation of their faith and new defenses for problems raised by apostasy in the church and growing outside opposition. 62
According to Paul Enns, Christ “... taught that his return would be a comfort to His followers because He would be returning to take them to be with Him in His father’s home (John 14:1-3) . . . This hope is a comfort, not only for living believers, but for all those who have departed, because they will rise from the dead, receiving new, immortal bodies (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Therefore, believers should be anticipating His coming as a happy event (Titus 2:13) . . . The return of Christ has an important implication for the believer because it means the hope of bodily resurrection. The resurrection hope is taught in both the Old and New Testaments and is foundational to the Christian faith . . . In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul cites the resurrection as foundational to the Christian faith . . . The resurrection is also explained in connection with the return of Christ (1 Thess. 4:16).” 63
2. How Does the Application Apply Dispensationally? According to Charles C. Ryrie, “Dispensational theology grows out of consistent use of the hermeneutical principle of normal, plain, or literal interpretation. This principle does not exclude the use of figures of speech, but insists that behind every figure is a literal meaning. Applying this hermeneutical principle leads dispensationalism to distinguish God’s program for Israel from his program for the church. Thus, the church did not begin in the Old Testament but on the day of Pentecost, and the church is not presently fulfilling promises made to Israel in the Old Testament that have not yet been fulfilled.” 64 Prophecy should be interpreted under this light.
Mal Couch writes, “The biblical word for dispensation is OIKONOMIA, i.e., “house-law.” It conveys management, economy, stewardship or administration. Though confined to the New Testament and used almost exclusively by Paul, the term describes how God dealt differently with various periods of time.
Paul writes of a dispensation entrusted to him, which he labels the GOSPEL. The gospel (Dispensation of Grace/Church Age), plainly explained in the New Testament, is in sharp contrast to the period of the Mosaic Law. In Ephesians 3:2-3 Paul again refers to this Dispensation of God’s grace. He calls it a mystery (that is, not before revealed) made known to him especially. He says this Dispensation was hidden in ages past, 3:9, and repeats these concepts in Colossians 1:25-26, saying they are just now being revealed to God’s saints.
There are six distinct dispensations recorded in Scripture. The most obvious dispensations observed when using a literal interpretation of the Bible are: INNOCENCE, CONSCIENCE, PROMISE, LAW, GRACE, and KINGDOM.” 65
According to Mal Couch, the dispensation of grace begins in Acts 2:1 with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, launching what is also called the church age. The period ends with the time of apostasy that precedes the Rapture of the church. “In later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons . . .” (1 Tim. 4:1). The removal of the church takes place before the terrible period called the Tribulation! “We who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord . . .” (1 Thess. 4:17).
Thus begins the dispensation of kingdom in Revelation 19:1 - 20:6. Quoting Mal Couch on the beginning of the kingdom, “Jesus [is] coming as the Son of David to reign over Israel for a thousand years (Luke 1:32-33). Thousands of verses in the Old Testament describe this period. The kingdom will have believers who are resurrected saints and those who enter in with their natural bodies as believers from the Tribulation. It is the children of those who enter with their natural bodies who will rebel at the end of the kingdom. [The period ends in] an insurrection against the Messiah, though this rebellion is stopped instantly! . . . Following the Great White Throne Judgment, history as we know it ends. An eternal new heaven and new earth begin: Revelation 20:11 - 22:5.” 66
Scriptures clearly set forth the distinctions between the church and Israel, according to J. Dwight Pentecost. He states, “The Rapture will remove, not all who make a profession of faith in Christ, but only those who have been born again and have received His life. The unbelieving portion of the visible church, together with unbelievers in the nation Israel, will go into the Tribulation period . . . The concept [is] given to us in the New Testament that the church is a mystery . . . This [mystery] program must be concluded [at the Rapture] before God resumes and culminates His program for Israel. This mystery concept of the church makes a pretribulation Rapture a necessity . . . Contrasts between Israel and the church show us conclusively that these two groups cannot be united into one, but that they must be distinguished as two separate entities with whom God is dealing in a special program . . . These distinctions give further support to the pretribulation Rapture position. 67
According to Paul Enns, “Herein lies the reason for belief in the pretribulation Rapture: The purpose of the Tribulation is to judge unbelieving Gentiles and to discipline disobedient Israel (Jer. 30:7); the church does not have purpose or place in the Tribulation . . . The Rapture, which is distinguished from the Second Coming of Christ, is taught in John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Prior to the advent of the Tribulation, Christ will descend from heaven, catching up the church to be with Himself while the Tribulation is unleashed on an unrepentant and unbelieving world . . . The first purpose of the Tribulation is to bring about the conversion of Israel, which will be accomplished through God’s disciplinary dealing with His people Israel (Jer. 30:7, Ezek. 20:37; Dan. 12:1; Zech. 13:8-9). The second purpose of the Tribulation is to judge unbelieving people and nations (Isa.26:21; Jer. 25:32-33; 2 Thess. 2:12).” 68
According to J. Dwight Pentecost, the eternal destiny of the church saints is in the eternal kingdom in the glorious presence of Christ and is primarily related to a Person rather than a place. The place (John 14:3) is important but is overshadowed by the Person into whose presence the believer is taken. It is the Person who is emphasized rather than the place where they are to be taken in the passages dealing with the glorious expectation of the church (John 14:3, Col, 3:4, 1 Thess. 4:16-17, 1 John 3:2). Pentecost states, “Since Scripture reveals that the church will be with Christ, it is concluded that the eternal abode of the church will likewise be in the new earth, in that heavenly city, New Jerusalem, that has been especially prepared by God for the saints.” 69
In relation to the millennial kingdom and the eternal state, Paul Enns writes, “The New Jerusalem that John sees coming out of heaven (Rev. 21:1-8) is the abode of the church, the bride (21:9), but undoubtedly also the redeemed of all ages in eternity. The New Jerusalem is probably related both to the millennium and the eternal state as this is the dwelling place Christ went to prepare (John 14:2). [Enns quoting Charles C. Ryrie] “In both periods eternal, not temporal, conditions obtain in the city and for its inhabitants. Therefore, the New Jerusalem is millennial and eternal as to time and position, and it is always eternal as to conditions inside it.” “ 70
3. How Does It Apply To Us Today? In light of the recent events of the twentieth century, the study of biblical prophecy and the doctrine of future things takes on an exciting sense of immediacy. Flying through the turbulent skies of contemporary times demands strict attention to “the flight manual of life.”
The next great event or prophecy awaiting fulfillment is the imminent coming of Christ in the air to take those who are His own, both alive and those who have fallen asleep in Jesus, with Him to heaven. This is the blessed hope for which we should be constantly looking. The Bible teaches a premillennial Rapture of the church and by using a literal hermeneutic, logically and systematically putting Scriptures together, no other viewpoint can be supported by the Word of God. The church will in no way go under the wrath of the day of the Lord, and in this the Bible supports the pretribulational position. Inconsistencies in aspects of a literal hermeneutic cause some to teach a mid-tribulation Rapture or a pre-wrath Rapture position. “For God has not destined us for wrath (the day of the Lord), but for obtaining deliverance through our Lord Jesus Christ.“ (1 Thess. 5:9). At the beginning of the Tribulation, the world will cry out: “Fall on us (mountains) and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath came; and who is able to be standing?” (Rev. 6:16-17).
In Scriptures the Lord gave us just a brief glimpse of an eternity in His glorious presence that is at the edge of our ability to fully comprehend. The Christian believer’s perspective on eternity in the Lord’s presence will influence his purpose on earth and his outlook on life, and ultimately will determine his world view and how he lives his life. “Beloved, since you look for these things (the day of the Lord, elements being destroyed), be diligent to be found with Him in peace, spotless and blameless, . . . What sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,” (2 Pet. 3:14, 11). 71
