><>...Captain, so glad you were able to come back and post....><>
Thank you for such kind words....it is the spirit of God, however, that shines through.....
The rapture theory is built on 1 Thess 4:16-17
1Thes 4:16-17
16 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:
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.
(KJV)
Scripture will answer scripture....
We need to examine these scriptures..
1.v.16..With the trump of God.
What trump?..
1 Cor 15:52
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
(KJV)
The last trump....the 7th trump....we shall All be changed
This trump...the 7th trump, heralds the return of our Lord Jesus..
Rev 11:15
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
(KJV)
It is very clear from scripture that our Lord returns at the 7th trump....it cannot be at any moment...It is also very clear that two events must happen before the 7th trump is sounded..
II Th 2:3
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come...,EXCEPT... there come a falling away first,...
AND... that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
(KJV)
Perdition # 684=Greek, Apoleia..riun or loss, perish waste, from a presumed dir. #622= Appolumi... Destroy fully, perish the base of 3639.....
Thereis only one who fits this description....only one that has already been sentenced to death...satan..Ez.28
satan is not an ugly monster with horns and red eyes who will be carrying a pitch fork....he is one of the most beautiful of God's creations....and he will come as Jesus...as people expect Jesus to look.......they will believe he is Jesus....Daniel, Paul,John in Rev.. and Christ Himself warn of this....that is why the world will be deceived...and after those days..Those days of the "first" tribulation
Matt 24:29-31
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
(KJV)
Now getting back to "the dead in Christ will rise first."v16,1Thess.4
The dead will rise first because thy are already with Him..
1Thes 3:13
13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.... WITH ALL HIS SAINTS..
Jude 1:14
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
(KJV)
So what we know from 1 Thess. 4:16 is that our Lord is going to DESCEND from heaven at the 7th trump, and He will be Descending with all His saints...those already with Him....
V.17 also tells us alot.
The first thing we must know is the proper translation of the word "air"# 109 Strongs....To breathe unconsciously, i.e. respire: by analogy to blow air....NOT Atmosphere..
Compare to:
Air# 3772...through the idea of elevation, the sky, by extension the heavens(The abode of God), air, heavenly, sky....
Air #109 in V. 17 1 Thess 4 is translated...spirit, distinctly different from atmosphere, Air33772.
So yes my good friend we will meet the Lord in the air.....#109 air..the spirit...Not air # 6772. atmosphere...Our Lord will descend to us...here on earth, and at that moment in the twinkling of an eye we shall ALL be changed...into a spirit.
Paul make it very clear in
1 Cor 15:52-53
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
(KJV)
This "flesh" must put on "spirit"..Why
1 Cor 15:50-52
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
(KJV)
Our brother Paul tells us a great deal concerning the return of our Lord in just a few scriptures;
1. How?....He will descend from heaven, and change us into a spirit body ... 1 Thess 4;16....1 Cor.15:51-53
2. Why All and not just christians...because flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God..1 Cor.15:50..(.the mellinnium begins at the return of Christ)...Rev.11:15
3. When...At the 7th trump, 1 Cor.15:52...but not until the two events spoken of by Paul in 2 Thess.2:3 happen first...
In conclusion....the return of our Lord:
1, Cannot happen at any moment....the Lord Himself tell us many things must happen first, Matt.24...and Mark 13
And
2. There is no "two process" second coming...It is not written.!
If you have any questions stay aboard and let's discuss it..
There are tons more scriptures that testify to the above.
This is the "Key of David"...spoken of by our Lord Jesus..Rev.3:7
Love in our Lord Jesus
Shalom....><> |
