>1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11
- An UNPRECEDENTED event is about to occur! The bible says the church will be "raptured" or "...snatched away with great force".
Yesterday, I was researching the events of "911". Terrorists flew two Boeing 767's full of passengers from United Airlines and American Airlines straight into the World Trade Center. I was at home and in shock as I watched the second plane hit the tower live on TV. Over 2,600 people lost their lives in the tragedy! I was reminded of the fact of how our world was instantly changed...nothing has been quite the same since. Personally, a few weeks later, my job came to an end as the company folded under new pressures directly because of this murderous act. This terrorist event was UNPRECEDENTED in human history!
The prophet spoke of an event to come.....Messiah, Jesus our Saviour would come! When it DID happen just as the prophet had said, His first arrival was terrific news for humanity. Although he made quite a humble entry, that God would personally intervene in the affairs of humanity.... that the "Word would become Flesh" wasUNPRECEDENTED in human history...something of this nature had never happened before! He brought us life and hope in the Salvation he offered. When he went away, he said he'd be back....unschedulled.....like a thief in the night. "...I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:3).
Perhaps I would be remiss if I did not mention that when he went away, he gave us the Promised Holy Spirit, the Comforter! This is an UNPRECEDENTED gift to those who believe and a very deposit of Himself!
Because of the signs he gave us, we are expecting this UNPRECEDENTED event of the Rapture to occur at any time, and the signs are likely it will occur VERY SOON.
- This is Christ coming FOR his Church. (1 Thessalonians 4)
In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul counsels us on what is ahead...
"16For 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. 17After 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."
The Second Coming.
- This is Christ coming WITH his Church. (Rev 19 /Zech 14 /Mat 24 /Mark 13 )
It is important that we have a biblical understanding of the sequence of end time events. Sometimes people confuse the Rapture with the Second Coming. This mistake is easily recognized with a bit of bible study. The word "Rapture" is not "seen" at first glance in scripture, at least not in English. However, when we know that the New Testament was written in Greek, we can source the New Testament Greek word "harpazo", from where we get the translated English words "caught-up" or "rapture", and the meaning is to be "...snatched away with great force".
One of the ways we can better visualize these events is through the use of charts that artists and scholars have created from what scripture has revealed. Here are a few for you to study. (click on the chart to enlarge it).
I hope you enjoyed this chart study. The bottom line....be waiting, watching and ready for His promised return! By His UNPRECEDENTED Salvation we have an UNPRECEDENTED way of escape from the horror and wrath the bible tells us is to come!
