Paul wrote Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians just before he was killed. They are among those epistles known as the prison epistles because Paul wrote them from his prison house. In all of scripture, the Church which is the Body of Christ was spoken of only in these letters. It is also true that the event known as the appearing of the Lord was revealed only in these letters. Paul said that, at the time of the Lord’s appearing, the Church will be caught up to be with Christ in heaven. In Colossians, he wrote:

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

In the books that Paul wrote before he was imprisoned at Rome, he never spoke of the Church which is the Body of Christ, and he never spoke of the appearing of the Lord. In the pre-prison epistles, he spoke of a catching up of believers which will occur at the time of Christ’s second coming to the earth. In Matthew 24, the Lord Jesus made it perfectly clear that His second coming will take place at the end of the tribulation period.

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)

In his pre-prison epistles, Paul spoke several times of this event.

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)

After Christ takes the Church which is the Body of Christ to heaven, many people will put their faith in Jesus Christ as great tribulation shakes the foundations of the earth. At the sound of the seventh trumpet, all believing Jews and Gentiles will be caught up to meet Christ in the air as He descends from heaven. At that time, all Israel will be saved, as Paul had prophesied in Romans 11: 26. The nation of Israel will at last receive her inheritance as she rules with Christ in a world wide kingdom of righteousness.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

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