What Lord Jesus showed for the timing of His future return AFTER... the tribulation, is also what Apostle Paul taught about the gathering of the Church in 1 Thessalonians 4. And it is about a Post-tribulational coming by Jesus.
Matt 24:29-31
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
KJV
Lord Jesus gave 2 versions of the above, this one in Matt.24 and another in Mark 13. In this version of the gathering, these saints are gathered "from one end of heaven to the other." This is very... important to note, because the Mark 13 version of this is last phrase is different.
This Matt.24:31 phrase "from one end of heaven to the other" is about Paul's gathering of the saints from heaven that Jesus will bring with Him when He descends to earth...
1 Thess 4:13-16
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.
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:
KJV
What Apostle Paul taught above perfectly aligns with what Jesus taught with the gathering of the saints in Matthew 24:31. Jesus will gather the RESURRECTED saints from one end of heaven to the other bringing them with Him when He comes. And when did Jesus show when that future resurrection will be? Per John 6:40, Jesus said that resurrection will happen on the "last day", meaning the final day of this present world. So Paul is actually tying 1 Thess.4 with that "last day" resurrection of the asleep saints for when Jesus will come to gather His Church.
Now for the Mark 13 version:
Mark 13:24-27
24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then shall He send His angels, and shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
KJV
In that Mark 13 version, Jesus spoke of His future gathering of the saints "from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven." So do you notice the difference of that from the Matt.24:31 version about the asleep saints? These represent those of us still alive on earth that remain to the day of Jesus' future coming. This is what many call the 'rapture', but what Apostle Paul called being "caught up"...
1 Thess 4:17
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.
KJV
This means that what Lord Jesus taught about the gathering of the saints in His Olivet discourse is the SAME teaching that Apostle Paul gave about the gathering of the Church in 1 Thessalonians 4.
I find that many brethren who believe in a pre-tribulational rapture do not actually realize the above. Nevertheless, the above is HOW those in Christ are to study The Bible with proper interpretation. And many times the Truth can be written in a very subtle manner so that if one is not paying attention, they can miss it and think something else that is not written.
Matt 24:29-31
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
KJV
Lord Jesus gave 2 versions of the above, this one in Matt.24 and another in Mark 13. In this version of the gathering, these saints are gathered "from one end of heaven to the other." This is very... important to note, because the Mark 13 version of this is last phrase is different.
This Matt.24:31 phrase "from one end of heaven to the other" is about Paul's gathering of the saints from heaven that Jesus will bring with Him when He descends to earth...
1 Thess 4:13-16
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.
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:
KJV
What Apostle Paul taught above perfectly aligns with what Jesus taught with the gathering of the saints in Matthew 24:31. Jesus will gather the RESURRECTED saints from one end of heaven to the other bringing them with Him when He comes. And when did Jesus show when that future resurrection will be? Per John 6:40, Jesus said that resurrection will happen on the "last day", meaning the final day of this present world. So Paul is actually tying 1 Thess.4 with that "last day" resurrection of the asleep saints for when Jesus will come to gather His Church.
Now for the Mark 13 version:
Mark 13:24-27
24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then shall He send His angels, and shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
KJV
In that Mark 13 version, Jesus spoke of His future gathering of the saints "from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven." So do you notice the difference of that from the Matt.24:31 version about the asleep saints? These represent those of us still alive on earth that remain to the day of Jesus' future coming. This is what many call the 'rapture', but what Apostle Paul called being "caught up"...
1 Thess 4:17
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.
KJV
This means that what Lord Jesus taught about the gathering of the saints in His Olivet discourse is the SAME teaching that Apostle Paul gave about the gathering of the Church in 1 Thessalonians 4.
I find that many brethren who believe in a pre-tribulational rapture do not actually realize the above. Nevertheless, the above is HOW those in Christ are to study The Bible with proper interpretation. And many times the Truth can be written in a very subtle manner so that if one is not paying attention, they can miss it and think something else that is not written.
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