Comfort One Another with These Words
Paul wrote to a young church that was burying its dead. The believers at Thessalonica had turned from idols to wait for God's Son from heaven, and some of them now feared that their loved ones who had died would miss His coming. Paul did not answer with a chart for debate. He answered with a hope, and he told them what to do with it: Wherefore comfort one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:18).
That hope is the Rapture. The Lord Jesus Himself will come for His church. It is not a side road for prophecy enthusiasts. It shapes how you grieve, how you live, and how urgently you tell others about Christ. It also reminds you that hard times do not last forever, and you can endure almost anything when you know it will not last forever.
We believe in the pretribulational Rapture of the church. All true believers, the dead in Christ and those still living, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air just before the seven-year Tribulation. Seven years later Christ will return to the earth with His saints to reign as King for a thousand years.
The sudden coming of Christ in the air, before the Tribulation, to raise the dead in Christ, change living believers, and catch them all up to be with Him for ever.
If the Lord came for His church today, would you be ready? Would the people you love be ready?
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For Deeper Study
- The Rapture QuestionAmazon John F. WalvoordA classic defense of the pretribulational Rapture by a longtime president of Dallas Theological Seminary, revised and enlarged in 1979, with a survey of the other views.
- Maranatha: Our Lord, Come!Amazon Renald E. ShowersA thorough study of the Rapture (1995) with careful attention to Daniel's seventieth week, the day of the Lord, and imminence.
- Things to ComeAmazon J. Dwight PentecostA classic dispensational, premillennial study (1958) that sets the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the Second Coming in order.
- Understanding End Times ProphecyAmazon Paul N. BenwareA readable survey, revised in 2006, that frames the end times by God's covenants and compares the major views.
- Three Views on the Rapture: Pretribulation, Prewrath, or PosttribulationAmazon Craig Blaising, Alan Hultberg, and Douglas J. MooEach view argued by an advocate and answered by the other two (Zondervan, 2010). Read it to hear the views answered in this study in their own words.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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The Millennial Kingdom
After the Tribulation Christ will return to the earth and reign on David's throne for a thousand years, keeping God's promises to Israel and ruling the nations in righteousness.
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