Today we will be having a study on RAPTURE and how to DEBUNKING THE DECOY SURROUNDING IT
This is going to done through the word of God, i will employ you be with your BIBLE so as to follow me carefully with understanding.
Our Text will be from: 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.1 Thessalonians 4:15 (KJV)
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: 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (KJV)
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 Thessalonians 4:17 (KJV) Wherefore comfort one another with these words”. 1 Thessalonians 4:18 (KJV).
Question: Can this happen without a rapture, a physical trumpet being blown, then people seeing Jesus in the cloud, etc. I’m somehow confused. Can you help out?
Answer: Using 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18:
Firstly, Paul was talking about resurrection not rapture. From vs 13, don’t be ignorant about those who sleep or have died in faith, in the Lord, they will be raised at His ‘Coming’ then vs 15 explained how the dead would be raised to life. We that are alive and remain at His coming.
Now the coming of the Lord here has three dimensions, firstly, the revelation, the unveiling, the manifestation of God in a people. God revealed in us. The word used is Apokalupsis. Acts 2:11-22; 2Thes 1:7 &10. He comes to be admired in the saints. When He is manifest in us or revealed in us, we shall be just as He is. So that’s a dimension of the coming.
Another dimension is the appearing. The Greek word is Epiphanea – to appear and be manifest.
Epiphanea see 1Tim 6:14; Titus 2:14; 1John 3:2 it means for something to be thoroughly understood. This coming will make us know Him fully. We come to have an experiential knowledge of Him. We know him in our experience. That is His appearing in our circumstances as healer, provider, comforter, helper and so on.
Lastly, is the word ‘coming’ which means, Parousia. the presence of God. To be near, to be present. God is always near us and present with us but we don’t even know it. This is where the Apokalupsis and Epiphanea makes sense, we shall progressively come to thoroughly understand His presence, His nearness to us then we shall be changed to be like him, We shall see Him and know Him for who He really is. The Lord shall descend- this explains how His presence is made manifest and the effect it will have on us.
God keeps descending. Remember Jacob’s ladder. The gate of heaven, angels ascending and descending. Angels are messengers, God’s servants, ministeries. God descends in a shout- the Greek word is command. The word of the king is a command, a decree. I will declare the decree…” He descends, He comes with a shout, a decree to raise the dead. He shouted, Lazarus, come forth. That was the shout of resurrection. That shout is still on. The dead shall hear the voice of the son of man and they shall live. Hallelujah!
THE SHOUT WITH TRUMPET
The shout is with the trumpet. Trumpet symbolises message. The gospel is the message that causes the dead in trespasses to rise from the dead. Even physical dead people are raised by the gospel isn’t it? The word archangel in Greek is chief messenger. The fivefold ministries are the chiefest of ministries in the body of Christ. They are governmental ministries. They carry with it authority to command obedience. This is Very Christ manifested in ministry gifts. The trumpet is actually symbolic of a message like I said before. The angels in revelation had trumpets which they sounded. Every sound of a trumpet carries with it a message. like in the military, there is sunset, there’s a particular trumpet sound for battle, when a hero is fallen, there’s victory sound, there’s parade. So trumpet actually means message.
The angel is not a winged creature but a messenger. The trumpet is the message which the messenger brings. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s the message that liberates and set free, the message that delivers from sin and death or eternal destruction. This is the gospel that raises the dead from the grave. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He said, “I Am” not will be. He is. His presence when made known, unveiled or manifested which is a dimension of His coming; that’s the Apokalupsis. For this presence to be manifested or for this coming to be tangible, we must thoroughly understand Who He is, God must grant unto us the Spirit of Wisdom and revelation in the knowledge (GK- Ginosko– knowledge gained by experience) of Him so that we might know the exceeding greatness of His power at work in us (power available to us, power in us and power through us) this selfsame power that God exerted when He raised Jesus from the death. This is the resurrection power. Paul cried, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection…”Phil.3:10.
Please kindly stay abreast to follow us daily as the understanding unveil daily God bless you.
