Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I do look forward to worshipping with you tomorrow morning. The Lord is good! He provides us with his holy Word to steady us and help us grow through all kinds of trials and hard things. One of those is grief at the loss of a loved one. This is what Paul was addressing in the later part of I Thessalonians 4 (vss. 13-18).
This is the classic rapture passage in dispensational theology. It is the view that Jesus will partially return to earth before he returns in full. He will do this to rapture his church out of the world just before the final tribulation of the Book of Revelation occurs, or perhaps midway through the tribulation.
The focus of Paul’s words clearly was not on the rapture of the living saints at some point before his return. Rather the focus is on this, that those who have died in Christ will rise first when Jesus does come. The dispensational interpretation misses Paul’s point entirely and the significance of key terms he uses to describe what is to come.
Well, I’m not spending preaching time tomorrow to rebut the views of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, but I am snatching an opportunity here to offer a comment or two. Jesus is coming, and it’s going to be the very best thing that has ever happened to you, if he is your Savior!
Sincerely,
Pastor Curt Young
