Christ Is Coming!

Passage:  1 Thessalonians 4:13-18  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.  14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  15  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.  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.  18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

 

Main Point:  Live in Christ and be with Him forever.  This is the hope of the believer.  No grave, no persecution, nothing will ever change that!  Christ is coming for those living in Him!   Are you living in Him?

Devotional:  The grave seems hopeless to many people.  I mean, it's the end of life, right?  Not so fast!  It is the end of life on earth - and then there's "the other side."  For those who know Jesus as their Savior, God will do something special - take us to be with Him (v. 14)!  Those who have  not yet entered the grave will also have a hope!  Nothing stops that hope.  It is as certain as Jesus' resurrection.  It will be the "Rapture!"  ("Rapture" comes from rapturo, the Latin translation of the Greek word harpazo, which also means in English, "caught up.")  The Lord will meet the believers in the air and we will forever be with Him.

     These words are a comfort to the believers who grieve.  They have a hope that there will be a Regal Reunion around the Glorious King of Grace, Jesus Christ.  That is not the hope of pipe dreams; it is the hope of certainty. 

     These words are a comfort to the believers who are weary fighting sin.  The world may get worse and worse, the persecution may rise to a fevered pitch, but there is the hope that either the grave will provide a temporary respite until Christ returns, or we will be delivered in the midst of our spiritual and physical battles by the rapture.  Nothing will keep us down, and nothing can keep us from serving Christ.  Take comfort, my friends.

     But these words are a discomfort to the unbelieving and the worldly.  Believers and people who do not love the thought of the glorious appearing of Christ will be sadly disappointed.  Believers will be disappointed because their worldly desires will have to be left behind as they are escorted into glory.  But who really wants a tent as a home when a mansion is available?  The unbelieving will be left behind altogether, and never see the glorious Lord as their beneficial and caring Savior.  They will remain until the judgment, when their sins are held against them.  No excuse will be available.  When Christ gets His people, it is those who belong to Satan that stay behind.

     So, dear friend, which kind of person are you?  Are you the Believer who loves the Lord's appearing?  Are you the Believer who dreads the Lord's appearing?  Are you the Unbelieving who has no hope at Christ's appearing?  If there is anything in you that wants a greater hope, a deeper assurance that the best God has to offer will be yours, you can truly have it today - by trusting that what Jesus did that day on Calvary was to pay for your sins.  Trust that what Jesus did three days later was to rise again to assure you that death will not hold you, either.  Give yourself to Christ in loving obedience to Him today.  Ask Him to forgive your sins; ask Him to live your life for you.  You will forever be His by faith.  "The righteous live by faith."  Only by faith, not by works, can you have this hope - today!

Holler for Jesus,

Greg Yount

Check out my blogs:

Just-a-Thot - Devotional thoughts - http://justa-thot.blogspot.com

As I See It - Biblical perspectives on current events - http://asiseeit10.blogspot.com