Greetings and it is our joy to be able to come to you this week. This week, we are going to spend some time talking about the rapture of the church. I hope you are excited about looking into the scriptures in this topic. From time to time, we like to revisit what the scriptures teach us about the end times and especially about the rapture of the church, look at the scriptures and remind ourselves of what the bible says. Some of these things may seem almost incredible but this is what we are looking forward to, it is the word of God and we know it is going to happen. We are going to read from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 13 to 18, the apostle Paul writes here, ‘But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.    For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 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. 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. 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. Therefore comfort one another with these words.’ There is always a debate going on whether the rapture is in the bible or not. Of course, we understand that the word rapture itself is not in the English text but we get it from the Latin version of the bible. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 17 uses the word, ‘simul rapiemur’. It is from these two words that we get the English word rapture. Simul rapietur simply means simultaneously together or to be raptured together. Is the idea of rapture being caught up together with the Lord in the air in the bible? Absolutely, right here, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 17, apostle Paul tells us that in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the body of believers will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and that is what we mean by the rapture of the church. If somebody says rapture is not in the bible, they are wrong, it is in the bible, just that the word comes from the Latin version of the bible but the idea is right here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. So, the apostle Paul in telling us what is going to happen says, a time will come where there will be the sound of the trumpeter, the voice of an archangel and the Lord will descend. Many refer to this as the secret coming of the Lord because not every eye is going to see Him in this coming. He is going to come, He is not going to come on the earth, He is going to be up mid air and He is going to bring with Him those who have already died in Jesus, those Old Testament saints and all other believers who have already fallen asleep. In the middle of the air, in the twinkling of an eye, they will receive glorified bodies and at that same instant, those of us believers who are alive on the earth, in an instant our bodies will be changed into glorified bodies and we will meet the Lord in the air and there will be this great assembly of saints with glorified bodies meeting the Lord in the air and from then on, we will be with Him forever and ever, this is what we call as the rapture of the church. With this, the church age comes to a close which we call as a dispensation. This time period referred to as the church age comes to an end, the church is raptured and taken with the Lord to be with Him in heaven. We are going to have glorified bodies just like the body of Jesus. We will delve more into this, this week. Let’s pray, Father, we thank you for all the glorified things that you have planned ahead for us, what eyes have not seen, what ears have not heard, what man has not even imagined, such things you have prepared for us who love you and we ask that you will help us stay ready for your coming, in Jesus’s name, Amen.

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