DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT 03-27-2017
By Fred Trokie
1 Thessalonians 4:16 tells us:
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.
Please notice the phrase “in Christ”. It is a term that is applied to only those who are a part of the Body of Christ.
Now let’s look at verse 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.
The word “we” refers to believers in the “Body of Christ”. How do I know? We is a pronoun, and to find out who the “we” are, you must go back to the last antecedent which is the word “brethren” found in verse 13
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant , “brethren”, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
Brethren is a word used in relationship to the Body of Christ also. It refers to those who are “In Christ” found in verse 16, and the “we” which is found in verse 17.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 says:
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 .
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 tells us that the Rapture is a mystery which had never before been revealed. These mysteries (and there are a number of them) are strictly for the Church only.
There are many in the body of Christ who have different or incorrect views in regards to the rapture. The rapture is part of our positional benefits which God provides to us the moment we believed the gospel of our salvation (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Even those believers who do not agree in the pre-trib rapture of the church (which is the correct view), will be raptured at that time.
Meanwhile 1 Thessalonians 4:18 exhorts us to consistently comfort one another while we wait. For the appearing of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus (Titus 2:13)
1 Thessalonians 4:18
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
God Bless – Fred
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