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Is Jesus' Return Your Hope?
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 says;
"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:
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This event as described by Paul here is commonly referred to as the " rapture ".
For those people who deny this event on the basis that the word ' rapture ' is not in the Bible, let me explain why it is called the rapture.
Webster defines the word rapture as: " the state of being carried away with joy, love, etc.
- an expression of great joy, pleasure, etc." - also, " a carrying away or being carried
in body or spirit. " While it was initially defined as an emotional ecstatic feeling
the physical aspect was added.
Christians call the event described in this Bible passage ' the rapture '
because the Greek word " arpagesometha " which is translated " caught up ",
literally means " a thing to be seized or greatly desired, a prize, a piece of good
fortune, steal, carry off, drag away, take or snatch away, tear out, catch up,
carry away, seize or claim for oneself. "
The Greek word implies a taking by force because of being greatly desired.
Truly, this will be the case when Jesus does come for His own. This fact alone
should make the heart of the believer jump with joy! To think that Jesus wants
us that much!
I tell you all these definitions to let you know that if you are a born again believer
you do not need to be concerned about calling this event in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18,
' the rapture '. There is certainly nothing wrong in calling it this because the
word rapture describes it correctly.
Jesus refers to this event in John 14:1-3;
" Let not your heart be troubled:
you believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father's house are many 'abodes', *
if it were not so I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there you may be also."
( note* - greek interlinear... - the greek word "monai" (abodes)
neither implies "rooms" (NIV) nor "mansions" (KJV) - rather abodes, dwelling places.
Whatever our home will be, Jesus prepared it for us Himself personally
and I'm quite certain it will be nicer than any home here on earth. )
Another interesting note to consider about the phrase "the dead in Christ shall rise first"
is the Greek word "anastesontai", translated "shall rise first".
The Greek means shall rise 'again' first.
For those of you who believe in 'soul-sleep' this tells us that these christians were not
in slumber in the grave until this event. When they died at physical death, being in Christ
they went to be with the Lord in Heaven. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:8;
" We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body
and to be present with the Lord. " No soul slumber here mentioned.
Also in Revelation 6:9 John said;
" And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls
of them that were slain for the word of God,
and for the testimony which they held:
And they cried with a loud voice, saying,
How long, O Lord, holy and true,
dost thou not judge and avenge our blood
on them that dwell on the earth? "
This does not sound like they were asleep in their grave.
The 'dead in Christ' will come back with Jesus in the rapture.
The dust and/or bones, whatever is left in the grave will be instantly transformed
and reunited with the spirit of the christian who has been in Heaven with
the Lord since death.
They will rise again first ( I guess this means like as in when they died,
they rose to Heaven to be with Jesus but this time will be with a glorified body )
"First" means they will rise before the christians who are still alive here on earth at that time.
What an event!
Like anything else in the Bible, you either believe this or you don't.
But what an event to look forward to!
But let's get down to the nitty gritty of today's christian and where we are at.
Notice Paul said in verse 18 that christians should comfort one another with the words
of the event he just described.
The christians at this time were going through persecution and were no doubt
excited and looking forward to the return of Jesus. I'm sure they did comfort each
other with this passage. I'm sure no one was ridiculed for being
fanatical and called 'stupid'.
Yes, I know a pastor who said christians who talk about the Lord returning are stupid.
Can you imagine someone pastoring a church with this observation?
Sadly, like his family, there are christians who love this present world so much
that they actually are hoping Jesus does not return too soon.
Christians in other countries who are like the Thessalonians who were suffering persecution for their faith would probably say along with John in Revelation 22:20;
"... Amen, come, Lord Jesus."
But here in this country where christians have freedom to worship anywhere they choose
and can live like the world - that is, with one foot in Heaven and the other in the world...
are not too excited about this event in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.
I know there have been many christians who set dates over the years when Jesus
was supposed to be returning and He hasn't yet.
However, refering to these false date - setters is now only an excuse for these christians'
lack of love for the Lord. They have it so good in this life, enjoying the toys in this world.
I confess that I myself at one time didn't want the Lord to come back until I could do some things that at that time were more important to me than the Lord.
Like these other christians who do not want Jesus to return,
I had "left my first love". Revelation 2:4
Personally, to this day I do not know many christians who are really excited
about the return of Jesus.
I do not know when Jesus will return.
I do know that this event could happen at any time and I believe it will happen
before the 7 year tribulation period, whenever that begins.
But because of the general condition of the body of believers today
I believe that until Jesus returns it will be increasingly difficult to serve Him.
Yes, it could be that truly born again christians in this country will go through a time
of persecution, as is the case in other countries right now.
This will get some of us born again christians living like the world to come to a decision...
Either serve the Lord Jesus or don't.
Wayne Brown
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