Proclamation:
"For The Lord Himself will come down from
heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with
the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet The Lord in the air.
And so we will be with The Lord forever." 1 Thessalonians
4:16-17 (NIV)
Explanation:
These
words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle Paul, the human writer of almost
half (thirteen of the twenty-seven Books) of The New Testament of The Bible. They were recorded in his letter to encourage
the believers in Thessaloniki. Paul told
them that those who died believing in Christ would be raised from the dead, and
they would meet The Lord God in the air. Those of us who are alive when
Christ returns, will meet up with them in the air. This meeting of the
believers in the clouds in the air is referred to as the rapture of The Church.
Application:
The first time that Christ came to earth, He came as The
Sacrificial Lamb, to die in our place, to pay the price for our sins for our
salvation. (John 1:29, John 18:37, 1 Corinthians 15:3, and Galatians 1:4)
Jesus said that He would come to earth a second time. (John 14:2-3)
Also an angel appeared to His disciples after He ascended to
heaven and told them that He would return. (Acts 1:11) When He comes to earth the second time, He will be coming to
translate and rapture His Church. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) He is coming
to gather all believers unto Himself. We need to get ready now so that we
can be ready when He comes back, for no one knows the hour or the day of His
return. (Matthew 24:44, Mark 13:32, and Luke 12:40) He may return sooner
than we think or expect. (James 5:8)
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