Wednesday, May 14, 2003


At the end of our present dispensation of the Church which is the Body of Christ, Christ will appear in heaven, and believers will instantaneously appear with Him in glory. Paul called this event the appearing of the Lord and spoke of it only in the prison epistles after Israel's promise of the New Covenant Kingdom was set aside.

Col 3:4
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (KJV)

The tribulation period will follow the appearing of the Lord, but after the tribulation period, Christ will again gather His elect. This gathering will include all believers from the time of Adam who were not caught up at the appearing of the Lord. The Lord Jesus described this event in Matthew 24.

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)

Paul spoke of this event only in the pre-prison epistles before the setting aside of Israel's New Covenant Kingdom promise. He called this event the coming of the Lord.

1Thes 4:15-17
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (NKJ)

Matthew 24 and I Thessalonians 4 both refer to the trumpet sound which will occur at the second coming of the Lord, but in I Corinthians 15, Paul says this event will occur at the sound of the last trump.

1 Cor 15:52
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. (KJV)

The events of the last trump are recorded in Rev. 11.

Rev 11:15 and 18
15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." . . .
18 The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great-- and for destroying those who destroy the earth." (NIV)

At this time, Israel will accept Christ as her King. There will be a great banquet in the clouds above the earth. This celebration is called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Rev 19:7 and 9
7 "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." . . .
9 Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'" And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God." (NKJ)

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Other church links:
http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/
http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/
http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

James III’s link:
http://www.jeditime.blogspot.com

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