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Real Rapture-NOT Coming Soon
by Phil Maxwell, November 2002
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about
those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with
Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of
the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall
not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of
God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,
and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with
these words. (1 Th 4:13-18)
“Those who are asleep” is commonly thought to refer to those who had
physically died in Christ, but that isn’t exactly what Paul meant. This is
clear in the subsequent verses, where the apostle exhorted them not to “sleep
as others do,” indicating a matter of personal vigilance, not the inevitable
physical death that all are subject to, including Paul.
While many would have us to believe that this passage is about a near term
“rapture” of some or all believers, they are mistaken. Paul carefully
qualified what he wrote, saying, “this we say to you BY THE WORD OF THE LORD,
that WE who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord…Then WE who are
alive and remain shall be caught up….” There was no mistake in what Paul
wrote – he fully expected to be amongst those who were alive and remained
until this grand finale of this present heaven and earth, and rightfully so. He
understood what John detailed in the closing passages of Revelation – that
there are two resurrections. Those found “blessed and holy” (who are alive,
not sleeping in Christ) will be a royal priesthood ruling over the earth for a
thousand years while the rest remain sleeping in their graves. (Rev 20)
Then, there will indeed be a “rapture,” immediately following the final
resurrection of the dead, including many whose names remain in the Lamb’s Book
of Life, but who missed the profound blessings of the first resurrection. They
will be joined by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the apostles and prophets,
along with many of this generation who will distinguish themselves through the
terrible tribulation ahead. Having long before been resurrected, these will be
“caught up” and changed to meet the Lord in the air, where they will ever
remain.
Alas, you who are longing for the day of the LORD, for what purpose will the
day of the LORD be to you? It will be darkness and not light; As when a man
flees from a lion, and a bear meets him, or goes home, leans his hand against
the wall, and a snake bites him. Will not the day of the LORD be darkness
instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it? (Am 5:18-20)
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