"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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
1 Thessalonians 4:17-18
Part 5
Yesterday:
Verse 17a:
“Then we which are alive and remain.”
All the believers who have not yet died in Christ.
“Shall be caught up.”
Will be “seized, snatched up,”[1] raptured!
“Together with them in the clouds.”
All the formerly dead in Christ, but raised. And all those presently alive in Christ will meet together with Him in the clouds.
Today:
Please take a moment and read the paragraph, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
“To meet the Lord in the air.”
“Here He will meet His Church. She will not need to wait until He sets foot on earth; but those who are ready, ‘looking for their Lord when He shall return’ (Luke 12:35-40), will hear His trumpet call and ‘go forth to meet the Bridegroom’ (Matthew 25:1,6).”[2]
“And so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
The best part of eternity is that we will forever be with the Lord. And this is the promise from Jesus Himself.
“If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor” (John 12:26).
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3).
All believers await this great day because while we are “at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6).
“Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
We, believers, have the “Comforter” the Holy Spirit of God living within us. It is interesting here that we believers are called upon to “comfort one another with these words.” As we grieve over the deaths of our loved ones, we are to remind each other of Jesus’ promises, and the fact is that He has not forgotten, and He will “never leave us nor forsake us.” He is coming back to get us!
“This rapture of the saints (both risen and changed) is a glorious climax to Paul’s argument of consolation” (Robertson).
“Paul assures them that they who had fallen asleep were with Jesus, and that they would accompany Him when He came again; To those who needed to be raised, Jesus would be ‘the Resurrection’; to those who were living, He would be ‘the Life.’ They that believed in Him, though they had died, yet would they live; and they who lived till He came would never die”[3] (Meyer).
Christ Returneth[4]
By H.L. Turner
1 It may be at morn when the day is awaking,
When sunlight through darkness and shadow is breaking,
That Jesus will come in the fullness of glory,
To receive from the world His own.
Refrain:
O Lord Jesus, how long, how long
Ere we shout the glad song,
Christ returneth!
Hallelujah! hallelujah!
Amen, Hallelujah! Amen.
2 It may be at midday, it may be at twilight,
It may be, perchance, that the blackness of midnight
Will burst into light in the blaze of His glory,
When Jesus receives His own. [Refrain]
3 While hosts cry Hosanna, from heaven descending,
With glorified saints and the angels attending,
With grace on His brow, like a halo of glory,
Will Jesus receive His own. [Refrain]
4 O joy! O delight! should we go without dying,
No sickness, no sadness, no dread, and no crying,
Caught up through the clouds with our Lord into glory,
When Jesus receives His own. [Refrain]
Believers take heart! Our Lord, our King, our Redeemer, our Bridegroom, is coming for us! Be ready!
[1] Cambridge Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
[2] Cambridge Bible, ibid.
[3] F.B. Meyer. Through the Bible Day by Day, the electronic version in eSword.
[4] “Christ Returneth,” Lyrics by H.L. Turner (19th Century). Tune, “It may be at morn when the day is awaking” by James McGranahan (1840-1907). Copyright status, Public Domain.