Is 1 Thess 4 part of these rapture verses? Ok, pay attention.
1 Thess 4:
13Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death,
c so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.
14For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.
15By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that
we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep.
16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise.
17After that, we who are alive and remain
will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.
18Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1. God will raise Jesus and bring Him together with the dead in Christ
2. Paul is counting himself among those that are alive for he says "
we who are alive..."
3. The risen dead are caught up together with Paul and the rest of the living
Now listen carefully to Paul again:
2 Cor 4:
10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.
12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
13It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”
b Since we have that same spirit of
c faith, we also believe and therefore speak,
14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. 15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
1. God who raised Jesus will also raise Paul and others and be presented with Jesus and those that are living
2. Paul is counting himself among the dead who will be raised
3. Risen Paul (and others) will be presented together with Jesus and his living listeners for
their benefit.
Conclusion
1. Resurrection seems to be a continuous event rather than a single mega event. Paul once counts himself among the risen dead and in another place counts himself among the living
2. Caught in the air does not mean flying off rather the spirits of the risen dead indwelling the living
for their benefit. Now, if the spirits of the dead saints rise to space, how will that benefit the living?
Peter puts it clearly how his dying will help his listeners (2 Pet 1:13-15)
