“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord ” (I Thessalonians 4:17).

The event prophesied in this verse is often called “the rapture,” the return of Christ at the end of this present age, when all believers, both living and dead, will be raised in immortal bodies and caught up, or “raptured” to meet Him in the air. The order and nature of the events associated with His coming have involved much controversy between different schools of prophetic thought, and this has detracted from the truth that He is coming again!

Even more unfortunate is the frequent folly of setting the date of the coming rapture, with each mistaken prediction giving still more ammunition to those who delight in ridiculing fundamentalists.

But none of these speculations or controversial expositions should ever be allowed to distract us from Christ’s wonderful promise to come again. Even more glorious is His promise that “I will . . . receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3).

Whatever else may be ahead, the greatest truth of all is that the Lord Jesus Christ will return soon to complete “the redemption of the purchased possession” (Ephesians 1:14). All the trials and burdens and conflicts of this present life will seem as nothing and will quickly be permanently forgotten, for “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). “And His servants shall serve Him: And they shall see His face” (Revelation 22:3,4) and “so shall we ever be with the Lord.” In the meantime, He has told us to “watch,” and to “occupy till I come” (Matthew 24:42; Luke 19:13). HMM