I Thessalonians 4:16-17 “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.”

          Take a close look at what will happen at this event of the return of Jesus:

          1. “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven.”

The same Jesus, who was crucified, buried, and raised on the third day, will be coming back; not a substitute or anyone else, but the same person the disciples saw and followed.

          2. “With a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.”

This event will not go unnoticed to the believers. There will be those who will hear the shout of victory, who will hear the voice of the archangel, Michael, and who will respond to the call of the trumpet of God.

          3. “The dead in Christ shall rise first.”

Some of those who will respond to this event will be those who died, having put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Their bodies will be raised first to receive their souls and spirits, which Jesus will bring back with Him at this time.
I Thessalonians 4:14 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”
All throughout the world graves will open, but not all of the graves, only those of the redeemed. What an event this will be!

          4. “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up.”

After the dead in Christ are raised from the graves all over the world, those who are alive and have trusted Jesus suddenly disappear.
I Corinthians 15:51-52 “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.”
As quickly as you can bat an eye, people will disappear out of cars, homes, planes, factories, schools, businesses, fields, and all over the world. Jesus tells of it this way:
Luke 17:34-36 “I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

          5. “Caught up together with them in the clouds.”

First of all, the graves of those who died in Christ are opened, and their bodies are raised to make their way to the clouds. Then those who are alive and have put their faith in Christ are changed, and they start up through the air toward the clouds. Both of these groups will meet in the clouds and be together. What an event!

          6. “To meet the Lord in the air.”

After those who died in Christ, have been raised and those who are alive, have been raptured and meet together in the clouds, then all of them will go to meet the Lord in the air. There they shall see Jesus face to face, the same Jesus who walked on the earth about two thousand years ago. What an event!

          This great event of the rapture of the Christians will not happen without warning. God has provided many signs to let us know of the nearness of this event, so that we might not be caught asleep.

          The sad thing today is that as the disciples did not see and understand about the resurrection of Christ; many people do not see and understand the events leading to the rapture of the Christians. I imagine the disciples were quite embarrassed by not being present at the event of the resurrection of Jesus, even though they saw Him later, before His ascension into heaven. Will Christians today be embarrassed because they were asleep spiritually or in the wrong place at the time of the rapture? Many of these prophecies are on the postage stamps of Israel. Just as God provided prophecies and signs showing the disciples the nearness of the resurrection, He has also provided prophecies and signs to let the Christians of today know of the nearness of this event, the rapture. Do not be embarrassed!

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