The Rapture - Meeting the Lord on His way down to Earth

The Rapture - Meeting the Lord on His way down to Earth

Jesus does not meet us on our way up to heaven,

but rather,

We meet Him on His way down to rule the earth.

In I Thessalonians chapter 4 and verses 16 - 17

we read:

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven 
with a cry of command,
with the voice of an archangel,
and with the sound of the trumpet of God.
And the dead in Christ will rise first. 

Then we who are alive,
who are left,
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. 

When we are "caught up",

it will be to "meet" the Lord.

It was a common practice
When an important person was coming to a city,

a group from that city would go out to "meet" him, 

to travel with him the rest of the way into town.

When the Rapture ( or getting caught up ) occurs,

Jesus does not meet us on our way up to heaven,

but rather,

We meet Him
on His way down
to rule the earth.

This return includes the voice of the archangel 
and the sound of the trumpet of God,

so this can not be a secret Rapture.

Instead, it is the time of Christ's physical return,

as Paul also mentions in this same letter,

see chapter 3 verse 13

so that he may establish your hearts
blameless in holiness
before our God and Father,
at the coming of our Lord Jesus 
with all his saints.

This coming as we know from Acts 1 and Zechariah 14
is when His descends on the Mount of Olives.

And John tells us
in Revelation chapter 1 verse 7,

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, 

and every eye will see him, 

even those who pierced him, 

and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. 

Even so. Amen.

Nowhere in scripture do we see the Lord
"descend from heaven"

and then reverse course
to go back up to heaven.

Although, that is what many have been saying
from their pulpits for the past 100 years or so.

Ignore what you may have heard,

and let the scripture speak for itself.

Note: the dead that rise first, 

are also in the air
( not heaven ),

when we meet.

So we ( those saved by faith ),

will always be with the Lord.

When He returns to earth,

we will be with Him on earth.

And those who are worthy,
will also reign with Him,

as promised.

AMEN!

***

Additional reference:

There are many examples of the word "descend" used in the New Testament,

and none imply just a "hovering" above.

Matthew 28:2

And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

Luke 9:54

And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?

John 1:32, 

 And John bore witness: "I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

1:51 

And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

3:13,

No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

6:33, 

For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

38, 

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

41,

So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."

50-51

This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Acts 11:5

I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me.

Revelation 10:1-2

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 
2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 

13:13

It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,

16:21

And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

20:9

And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,

21:2

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

YouTube video version = https://youtu.be/eRhGB8XQqiM

--

Saved by Grace,

Andrew Cross

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 

not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, 

but exhorting one another, 

and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews 10:23-25

YouTube channel = We belong to the Day