If we believe that Jesus has died and has risen again, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 4:14 JND). Christ is coming for His saints and will come with His saints. The succeeding verses then unfold how to this end, our Lord will first come for them, “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout … the dead in Christ shall rise first: 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” (1 Th. 4:16-17 KJV). The Lord coming for His saints, and then bringing them with Him, are two events, which Scripture nowhere presents as following each other in quick succession without a moment’s break, as some teach. The writer vividly remembers rising one morning very early when on a ship between the Shetland and Orkney Islands. The faint light was sufficient to fade out of the sky the shining of every star but one. There shone the brilliant Morning Star in its solitary beauty. Far away on the horizon the sun, hidden as yet, was beginning to shoot upwards beams of light, before it emerged into sight, turning night into day. The star shone by night. The sun ruled the day. It was impossible for both of them to shine together at the same time. And this is just the illustration the Scriptures use. Our Lord presents Himself as “The Bright Morning Star”—His coming at the rapture (Rev. 22:16). The Old Testament ends with the hope of God’s earthly people, the Jewish nation, looking for the Lord’s return to earth to reign. We read, “But unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings” (Mal. 4:2). What a wonderful prospect for this poor blood-stained, tear-soaked earth to find peace, quiet and security at last. The scepter will be in the right hands at last, even those of our blessed Lord.God Bless The Reading of His Word Amen.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 08:03:05 +0000
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