IOPNA's conversation with a skeptic about the 'Rapture' continues:
Righto….what else can you tell me about this ‘Rapture’ business from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians?... I think it was chapter 4.
You will see that Paul first of all reminds them about honour – of God, of our brother or sister, and of our own bodies. (vv1-12)
Now see how he goes on to reassure them that they not grieve over their dearly departed, like people around them without hope – how does he do this?
Just as you believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead (based on reliable witness in 1 Corinthians 15) so also believe that God will see to it that the deceased believers will come back with Him when He returns. (vv13-14)
Hey?? You’ve got some explaining to do mister.
Let’s leave that for Paul to do because he now repeats what the Lord Jesus Christ told him (v15):
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| Gone! |
Those who are alive when He comes for His saints will not get the jump (phthano: anticipate, precede) on those deceased by getting there first to meet their Lord. He will personally come from heaven and call them all with the shout of an archangel and with a trumpet blast from God, then the dead in Christ will rise and be joined in the clouds by those already living to meet the Lord in the air. From then on the saints will always be with their Lord. (vv16-18)
Do you mean to say that everybody who believed on Jesus Christ, then died, will be raised instantly?...some were possibly vapourised at Hiroshima/Nagasaki, many fragmented on battlefields or cremated, thousands drowned or buried at sea – that’s physically impossible!! They’re now fertilizer on the fields or mud on the sea floor!
Well that depends on whether you and I believe the first 5 words of the Bible: “In the beginning God created…” (Genesis 1:1).
If the almighty eternal God was there in the beginning to create everything from nothing, by His word (Hebrews 11:3), then He has the power to raise Jesus from the dead, along with anybody else: whether dust or ashes.
WOW!! That would make for the most supernatural miracle in all of history!...and what’s the word?...decisive. It sounds like you will be taken or be left behind, all depending on whether you believed on Jesus Christ!
Did you say they all meet Jesus in the air, not on Earth?
That’s right. We have now been told that what happened to Jesus, in breaking the power of death, will happen to His saints who have died: they will be raised from among the dead (leaving others behind), they will ascend into the clouds (with the living) to meet Jesus (privately) in the air. Later they will all return to Earth with Him, when every eye will see Him. (Revelation 1:7)
Is that mentioned anywhere else – this returning to Earth with Jesus Christ?
Sure it is!
Colossians 3:4 Jude 14-15 Zechariah 14:5 Matthew 24:31
Let me ask you something now:
If you were a king marshalling your army to deal with a rebellious colony, wouldn’t you firstly call out ALL of your loyal subjects to a secret rendezvous before you laid siege so that they would not die in the conflict but ALL live to enjoy your victorious entry with you?
NEXT: 'He's coming!'
Did Jesus actually say He is going to come back for believers?
Click on: http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/hes-coming.html
Did Jesus actually say He is going to come back for believers?
Photo credits: burial at sea / thesun.co.uk
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