Presents
Pamphlet 1578 Rapture
kc 2-2
We
are now ready to weigh the scripture of scriptures
upon
which the entire Rapture theory hangs in the balance.
Presents
Pamphlet 1578 Rapture
kc 2-2
We
are now ready to weigh the scripture of scriptures
upon
which the entire Rapture theory hangs in the balance.
1 Thes. 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
It stands here all alone, pulled out of context.
Do you know what subject is being discussed here?
The return of Christ?
Wrong!
You can't guess at these things.
They
are too important
and
they affect the very salvation of the souls of men and women.
To arrive at the subject being discussed here we must back up to verse 13.
Let's look at both the King James and the Moffat translations together.
1 Thes. 4:13 (KJV) But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.1 Thes. 4:13 (Moffat) We would like you brothers, to understand about those who are fallen asleep in death; you must not grieve for them, like the rest of men who have no hope.
The subject is "where are the dead?"
Paul doesn't want us to be ignorant about where the dead are.
The Sadducees were running
around telling everyone there is no such thing as a resurrection,
i.e. there is no
life after death.
Those who believe that lie have no hope.
Too bad!
[14] (KJV) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.[14] (Moffat) Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then it follows that by means of Jesus God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep.
If
we believe that Jesus died and rose again then we must also believe
that
our loved ones who have died,
knowing
Jesus,
rose
also (changed of course into their spiritual
bodies) to be with Him,
and
so they are with Him.
So when Jesus comes back He will bring them with Him.
I like it!
[15] (KJV) For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.[15] (Moffat) For we tell you, as the Lord has told us, that we the living, who survive till the Lord comes, are by no means to take precedence of those who have fallen asleep.
How could we precede those have died and are already present with the Lord?
We can't, they are already with Him.
[16] (KJV) 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:[16] (Moffat) The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a loud summons, when the archangel calls and the trumpet of God sounds; the dead in Christ will rise first,
If you've come this far you are no longer ignorant.
That's the purpose of
Paul explaining this...
"I
don't want you to be ignorant concerning where the dead are."
So..... Quiz time!
Where are the dead in Christ?
Right!!
They are already with Him.
So don't let your mind think about people "rising" from graves.
They aren't there.
They are already with Christ.
Take your Strong's concordance (if you don't have one, get one published by Hendrickson, not Nelson) and check out the Greek word and its prime roots for "rise". It means to stand-up or present.
So
the "dead in Christ",
those
who have died believing in the Lord,
who
are with Him now,
will
present themselves or stand-up first when Christ returns.
[17] (KJV) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.[17] (Moffat) and then we the living, who survive, will be caught up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall be with the Lord for ever.
Then let's play Final Jeopardy! Today's category is (Christ's Return). Your Final Jeopardy answer is:
First contestant: The spurious messiahAt the sound of the Seventh Trump, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, He changes everyone's flesh bodies into their spiritual bodies.
Alex: No, I'm sorry, "Satan" isn't the correct answer. He only performs illusions in the sight of flesh men and women promising to Rapture them away soon. And I see you wagered your soul on that. It'll cost you everything!
Second contestant: !@#$%^&
Alex: Oh, so sorry! I see you couldn't come up with an answer. Looks like you're still ignorant of God's Word. Better start studying before it's too late. I see you also risked it all. Too bad.
Third contestant: Jesus Christ
Alex: You are right. You're a champion of your people. You shall receive rewards.
Let's look again at 1 Thes. 4:17
[17] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
In
other words,
we
are going to gather together as a group with the saints
that
are coming with Jesus when He returns.
Paul uses the same
colloquial expression in Hebrews 12:1
when he refers to
a great cloud of witnesses,
meaning a group of
witnesses.
Christ is returning to the Mount of Olives where He will stand.
That is where we gather to Him, not up in the sky in clouds made of water vapor.
There is so little scholarship given to the Bible today that it is shameful.
There
are many figures of speech, analogies, metaphors, etc.
that
the Holy Spirit uses in the Bible as tools of communication to better teach
us.
But they are often ignored because of ignorance.
I guarantee you that if a verse in the New Testament read "The apostle Paul got into hot water" that we would have churches whereby in order to be in good standing you would have to get into a tub of hot water. Then there would be great discussion as to how much water you should get into and what temperature is considered to be hot. This would go on in spite of the FACT that the verse had nothing to do with water at all. It is a common expression in our language meaning he "Got into TROUBLE", not water!
Well,
we are going to gather to Christ as a collective group,
NOT
in clouds (unless you have your head in the clouds).
There is one more word you need to look up for yourself.
Don't take my word for it.
I'm not going to be there
at your Final Jeopardy round.
I'll be playing Wheel
of Fortune.
The word is "air" in verse 17.
This
verse really sounds like we are going to fly into the clouds,
up,
up and away into the air.
The
Greek word in the original text is "aer" and it has nothing to do
with the "air" we find up in the sky.
The Greek word translated "air" is aer,
which
also means to breath or respire.
It refers to
our spiritual body, our "breath" of life body.
Remember the secret?
We gather back
to Christ, along side our brethren who passed away earlier and are already
in their spiritual bodies. Now we are going to gather with them and Christ
in a group, we also being in our new spiritual bodies.
It has nothing to do with clouds and oxygen.
Do
you feel better?
Paul
thinks you should !
1 Thes. 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
I know it is not popular to teach against such a widespread doctrine as the Rapture.
But
we don't conduct any opinion polls or focus groups here
to
see what pleases the people
and
then stroke them with lies to keep them coming back.
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits;
to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
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