Turn with me, in your Bibles
if you would, to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. We'll look at a passage
which brings comfort to the saints today, but has brought comfort
to the saints all through the ages. And think of this when
we're reading this portion. This letter is written to saints
who are alive at Thessalonica. They're concerned that those
who have died before them, what's gonna happen with them. And Paul
brings them clarity here. And again, I believe that this
section here speaks of the very end when Christ comes back. I
think it's so clear that way. Some people take this and they
say, well, this is what's called the rapture. And just the name
of the message, I've been accused by some people, they say, well,
you don't believe in the rapture. And I say, well, I believe in
a catching up. But the times that some people
believe it's gonna happen are different than when I think it's
gonna happen. Because I think it's gonna happen when the Lord
comes back. Don't think there's no secret rapture. It's very
public, as we're going to see. Very public. Okay. So let's go
to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. We'll read three verses, but
our main verse will be verse 17. Starting in verse 16, for
the Lord himself, look at that, the Lord himself, God, shall
descend. Look at that word, shall. Isn't
that wonderful? We're in love with that word,
aren't we? Shall. Shall descend. This is going to happen. from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with
the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall, again, rise
first. 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 look at this wonderful proclamation,
beloved, and look at that little word, shall. And so shall we
ever be with the Lord. That lit up for me yesterday,
beloved. Look at that. So shall we ever
be with the Lord. Oh my goodness, beloved. What
comfort. What comfort. And then look what
he says, look it, look it. Wherefore comfort one another
with these words. The Holy Spirit had Paul penned
these words for our comfort, beloved. For our comfort. It's wonderful. What comforting
words of the Holy Spirit of God has given us in these verses?
Look again, verse 17. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. Now, the saints in Thessalonica
were comforted by these words. The saints in the 1600s were
comforted by these words. The saints in the 1700s, 1800s,
1900s, 2000s, and here we are in 2025. And we're comforted by these
words, and you know what? Whoever comes after us will be comforted
by these words. Isn't that wonderful? That's
wonderful. When we meet the Lord, whether,
and think of this, whether it's at our death, or if we're alive
when he comes back, we will ever be with the Lord. We shall, we
shall, so shall we ever be with the Lord. Oh my! That's so comforting. Isn't that wonderful? Paul says
this in 1 Corinthians 15, 51. He says, we shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed. There it is right there in 1
Thessalonians 4, 17. If we've died, our soul goes
to be with our God and our body is in the ground, but it'll be
raised and we'll be raised. Brother, we'll be raised. The
corruptible shall be raised incorruptible. The mortal shall be raised immortal. Oh my, and so shall we ever be
with the Lord. Oh, my heart was singing as I
was putting this message together. It's so wonderful. We sludge
through this world of sin, you know, and we go to the castle
doubting like Pilgrim did. We go through the slough of the
spawn. Oh my, we see the lions raging at us. And when we depart
this world, so shall we ever be with the Lord. Oh my beloved. And you know what else this shows
us? This shows us that there will be a remnant of the elect
of God alive when Christ returns. We look and say, oh my, look
at what's going on, oh my. There's always going to be a
remnant, isn't there? One thing I love with Eric, he
always says, I'm searching for the remnant church, Brother Wayne,
wherever we go. Oh my. There's always going to
be a remnant, beloved. God's promise, and this verse
brings that forth, that there will always be a people of God
alive on the earth until the Lord comes back. Small, but they'll
be there, won't they, brother? Amen. There'll be a remnant according
to the election of grace. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, but
look at this. The remnant that are alive when
the Lord comes back, when he returns at the last day, in a
moment, in a twinkling of an eye. That's faster than this. That's longer than a twinkling
of an eye going like that. Snapping your fingers. In a twinkling
of an eye, in a moment. In a twinkling of an eye. Those
who are alive in Christ, when Christ comes back, when he returns,
they shall be caught up and changed. Oh my. And this will be a glorious
transfiguration. Remember Elijah? He's caught
right up to glory, wasn't he? Enoch. Gone. Oh my, beloved. Oh my. Swept up in the glory.
And this is what will happen with the Lord's people. Swept
up in the glory. Notice he doesn't come back to
the earth yet? We're going to get to that. They meet him in
the air. They meet him in the air, beloved.
Oh my! And you know what? Have you ever
heard people say this? Have you ever heard people say,
well, I know we don't know the times, but we can know the season.
I used to say that to my shame. Do you know that? I asked God,
please forgive me. Please forgive me for ever saying
that. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter 1. Hear from the
words of the Master. If you ever hear someone say,
Well, we don't know the times, but we can know the season. You
can tell them that's not true. And you can take them here. Acts
chapter one, verses seven to eight, look at this. And he said
unto them, this is the master's words, this is the words of the
risen God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, he saved his people from
their sins, he's paid for their sins with his precious blood,
and he says this to his apostles, and he said unto them, it is
not for you to know, that's for you and me too, beloved, right?
That's for all God's people, it's not for us to know the times
or the what? Seasons. Seasons. We can't know. And you know in
the Greek, that's a singular word. Season. Because Christ's
only coming back once, isn't he? He's not coming back four
or five times. He comes back once. So in the
Greek, it's season. It's not for us to know the times
or the season. Which the Father had put in,
what? His own power. But, Ye shall receive power,
and we have. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, right? After the Holy Ghost has come upon you,
and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and all
Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.
And he's speaking this to the apostles, isn't he? Oh my, and
what did they do? They took the gospel into the
Gentile world, didn't they? Ain't that wonderful? And so,
let we who are the people of God, beloved of God, be content
knowing this, knowing this, that each day that passes, we are
a day closer to the Lord's return. Right? We're a day closer today,
Zane, than we were yesterday. Let us be content with that.
We're a day closer. Every day that passes, we're
a day closer to seeing our Lord. Now think of this, either at
our death, or if we are alive at his return, when he comes
back. But either way, we're gonna see
him, aren't we? We're gonna see him. And he tells us it's not
for us to know the time or the seasons, or season in the Greek.
It's not for us to know. It's in God's power. But you
have so many people, they have prophecy conferences, they have
all, what are they doing? Oh, they're making a lot of this,
aren't they? Oh, they're making a lot of money. That'll tell
you something. And I'll tell you what, they're
usually not preaching the gospel. They're all caught up in eschatology. Oh my, we're gonna just keep
preaching Christ. We're just gonna keep going forward for
the furtherance of the gospel, beloved. Until he either takes
me home or until if I'm alive when he returns, which I don't
have a clue. I'm ready to go anytime. Right? So whether we're alive at his
return or whether we die before, so shall we ever be with the
Lord, beloved. What comforting truths. Caught
up with the Lord. Caught up to be with the Lord. And ponder this. that those who
are alive when the Lord returns will be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Now, I was reading
one of our preachers and he said this, he said, let's ponder these
glorious words that God's people who are alive at his return will
be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air. The air is spoken of as the sphere of Satan's power. He's the prince of the power
of the air. Right? Notice, the Holy Spirit of God
has Paul right here, to the saints at Thessalonica, and to us today,
and to those saints who will be alive when he comes, that
Christ's return takes place right in the heart of Satan's territory. Isn't that amazing? Who's king? The Lord is King of kings and
Lord of lords. The lamb was slain, and all the
host of his elect shall be victorious, and we are victorious in Christ.
We're more than conquerors. And Satan shall be shamed and
mocked and defeated in the air. Today it appears as though he's
loosed for a little season. But his days are numbered, beloved.
His days are numbered. King Jesus will throw that old
serpent, that old serpent, into the lake of fire, and what a
glorious moment that'll be, beloved. Oh my. And think of this. The
reunion shall take place at the Lord's return. What a reunion.
God's people are reunited. Reunited. Those who are alive
still will be reunited with those who went before. Isn't that? Now, now we'll be united if we
die before the Lord turns. We'll be reunited with God's
people right there, won't we? The ones we knew. And then there's
a whole bunch of others we don't even know. Isn't that wonderful? Oh my. But those who are alive
when the Lord returns will be reunited with those who they
knew, but also a whole other family, right? At the Lord's
return, and they will never be apart again. So shall they ever
be with the Lord. This is speaking of all the elect
too, of all the ages, right? Because it's the dead in Christ
and those who are alive, all the elect of God. So shall they
ever be with the Lord. Oh my! That's so wonderful. Oh, in the last day, when our
Lord Jesus Christ comes back, everything will happen quickly,
but very orderly. Look at our text again, verses
16 and 17. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with
the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise. 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. Notice verse 16, the Lord will
descend, And then we see that the dead in Christ shall be raised
also in verse 16. Then in verse 17, we see those
who are still alive when the Lord returns, the elect of God,
shall be snatched up, caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
And note these wonderful words, and so shall they ever be with
the Lord. Oh, my. And then, and then the dead will
rise, right? The living will be changed to
meet the Lord in the air. And then the world will be destroyed,
beloved. The world will be destroyed and recreated. Oh my. And it's indicated, notice
that the Lord doesn't descend to the earth again. I just found
this interesting. One of our preachers brought
this forth. He said it must be purged with fire before he returns.
There must be a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Isn't that amazing? Oh my, this whole sin-cursed
world is gonna burn up, beloved, and there'll be a new heaven
and a new earth. Listen to this. For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come
into mind. Oh my goodness, that's amazing. But be ye glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem
a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and joy in my people. And the voice of weeping shall
be heard no more, or shall no more be heard in her, nor the
voice of crying. No more weeping, no more crying,
beloved. And then Peter says this. Peter says this in 2nd
Peter 3 verses 10 to 13, he says, but the day of the Lord shall
come as a thief in the night. Right? It'll be public, but no
one will be expecting it. Oh my. In the which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat, and the earth also, and the works that
are therein shall be burned up, seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye ye to be
in holy conversation and godliness. Looking forward, we're looking
for this, the hastening unto the coming of the day of God,
wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according
to his promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth wherein
dwells righteousness. Praise his mighty name, beloved. Oh my, so marveled, beloved of
God, by the purpose and decree of God, we shall forever be with
the Lord. So shall we ever be with the
Lord. Revelation 22. Amen and amen.