Saturday 111624
Tonight, we’re going to finish our lesson on sin. We’re only going to follow what we find that pertains to us and realize that it’s only from our own effort in studying His Word that is going to let us take anything away that we can use in our lives by ourselves and with those that we love.
The verses we are going to study tonight:
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 4:1; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58; Colossians 1:24-29.
God rested on the seventh day.
Welcome back tonight. We’re going to finish the second part of this lesson.
We ended our last study speaking about the number seven. John’s last letter was to the seventh church, the church at Laodicea. I’ve made the comment several times, we are that church today in the 21st century.
God rested on the seventh day.
Before God can rest, before the horrors of Tribulation can begin, Jesus’ Church must first be removed from the earth.
There is not ‘1’ specific verse in the Bible that reads the church age must end before the Tribulation can begin; however, some Christians believe that the church will be ‘raptured’ before the tribulation, which would mean that the church age would have to end before the tribulation, can begin.
Maybe again, that key word: BELIEVE.
1 Thessalonians 4
vs13 ‘…But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope…’
vs14 ‘…For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus…’
vs15 ‘…For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep…’
vs17 ‘…Then we who are alive, who remain, 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…’
vs18 ‘…Therefore, comfort one another with these words…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
Maybe the keyword here is BELIEVE.
Unlike the ‘chosen people,’ the ‘Pharisees and the Sadducees’ … unlike so many in the world today …
… if we BELIEVE and trust what God tells us in His Word, we will receive that GIFT that God has given us through His Grace.
Once again, the keyword here is BELIEVE.
When we read the word regarding when we will be caught up (raptured) in the air, we read of a single trumpet call in vs16 of 1 Thessalonians.
vs16 ‘…For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with thetrumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first…’
In Revelation when we read about ‘after these things’ we also read about this single trumpet call.
Revelation 4:1 ‘…After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
Right before the Tribulation begins and the church age ends, there is this sound, this blast from a trumpet.
In the ‘blink of an eye,’ the church will be caught up in the clouds to remain FOREVER in the presence of Jesus and the seven horrible years of the Tribulation will begin.
1 Corinthians 15
vs50 ‘…What I mean, friends, is that what is made of flesh and blood cannot share in God’s Kingdom, and what is mortal cannot possess immortality…’
vs51-52 ‘…Listen to this secret truth: we shall not all die, but when the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed…’
vs53 ‘…For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal; what will die must be changed into what cannot die…’
vs54 ‘…So when this takes place, and the mortal has been changed into the immortal, then the scripture will come true: Death is destroyed; victory is complete…’
vs55 ‘…Where, Death, is your victory?
Where, Death, is your power to hurt…’
vs56 ‘…Death gets its power to hurt from sin, and sin gets its power from the Law…’
vs57 ‘…But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ…’
vs58 ‘…So then, my dear friends, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever useless…’ GNT (Good News Translation)
We are told in the Bible of a MYSTERY, a Secret that God has kept from mankind since the beginning of time.
WHY some will ask, when instead it should be shouted:
WHY NOT.
Who say’s God cannot keep secrets from us?
Who’s either brave or dumb enough to even try and ask God?
Colossians 1
vs24 ‘…I am happy in my sufferings for you. There is much that Christ must still suffer. And I gladly accept my part of those sufferings in my body for the good of his body, the church…’
vs25 ‘…I became a servant of the church because God gave me a special work to do. This work helps you. My work is to tell the complete message of God…’
vs26 ‘…This message is the secret truth that was hidden since the beginning of time. It was hidden from everyone for ages, but now it has been made known to God’s holy people…’
vs27 ‘…God decided to let his people know just how rich and glorious that truth is. That secret truth, which is for all people, is that Christ lives in you, his people. He is our hope for glory…’
vs28 ‘…So we continue to tell people about Christ. We use all wisdom to counsel every person and teach every person. We are trying to bring everyone before God as people who have grown to be spiritually mature in Christ…’
vs29 ‘…To do this, I work and struggle using the great strength that Christ gives me. That strength is working in my life…’ ERV (Easy-to-Read Version)
Maybe I should offer a different version of these verses.
vs24 ‘… Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I am supplementing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions in behalf of His body, which is the church…’
vs25 ‘…I was made a minister of this church according to the commission from God granted to me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God…’
vs26 ‘…that is, the mystery which had been hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His saints…’
vs27 ‘…to whom God willed to make known what the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is Christ in you, the hope of glory…’
vs28 ‘…We proclaim Him, admonishing every person and teaching every person with all wisdom, so that we may present every person complete in Christ…’
vs29 ‘…For this purpose I also labor, striving according to His power which works mightily within me…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
Everything is written in the Word, but we must not act as if we’re stupid and we cannot see.
The book of Revelation does talk about trumpet blasts, but those blasts happen during the Tribulation, itself.
The Bible doesn’t tell us when this will occur. The Bible didn’t let the disciples know about this church age that we are living in now.
So, we MUST, by example, see that God is capable of doing things the way and when He wants to have things done.
We shouldn’t take a chance that one day we’ll be able to catch up and get in line, we should use the wisdom from the Bible and let us know it could come like a ‘thief in the night.’
This has been a powerful lesson for me. Every time I open the book of Revelation and begin to read, I get an urge to make sure others know they better get ready.
I remember ten (10), or so, years ago, I was on a big kick of:
ARE YOU READY
I think it was at that time I went through my first study in the book of Revelation.
Way back then, the book hadn’t been as opened up for me as it is today. The longer and the more study we do in His Word, the clearer and more obvious is His desire and His wants and expectations from us.
We are not here on this earth for us. We are on this earth; our purpose is to be here for God.
Too many today want to believe what they want to believe. They want to read the version they believe is the only right version to be read from, and the thing is none of that really matters.
The ONLY thing that matters is what God wants.
What does God want to do.
We should all get deeper into His Word so we will know what He expects from us.
Keep your Bibles open and always study His Word when you have the opportunity. I’m blessed, I’m older and I have the time that I can spend five, six, seven hours a day in His Word studying what He has been telling us.
I know not everyone can do that.
I remember what it was like when I had to be at work at seven and work ‘til three-thirty so I could get a paycheck at the end of two weeks so we could make it in this world we live in.
I know that but guess what, God knows that also. Jesus walked this planet, working, making money so He could survive the life that this world has to offer us.
Jesus is God. He was God when He walked this earth. He didn’t have to labor and go through the grief that He went through, but He did it because He loves us. He wants us to have the ability to get more than what this simple created, human life offers.
I love ALL of y’all. I want to teach His Word because of the beautiful promises that He has made to us.
You will never know those promises if you don’t pick the Word up for yourselves and begin reading what He has for us, for you and me.
Be blessed and read and study His Word. Open your mind and think about what He wants from us rather than listening to what this world is lying to us every day telling us what it has to offer us in return for us doing something for it.
Jesus, I pray that those ears and eyes, either listening or seeing this message today would be opened to the very fullest and allow Your love to come inside their lives and comfort them. Teach us Jesus. Protect us. We love You. Amen
InHIM. ><)))o>