2 Corinthians (Program #13) – The Ministers of the New Covenant (6)

At the beginning of chapter 5 in 2 Corinthians Paul the apostle speaks in a strange way.

1 “For we know that if our earthly tabernacle dwelling is taken down, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.”

Well, we may consider that we have understand this at least in parts. But listen to:

2 “For also in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our dwelling place from heaven,”

3 “If indeed, being clothed, we will not be found naked.”

Actually what Paul is expressing here is his deep longing and desire to be raptured.

Rapture, is a topic today that fascinating millions today even unbelievers are intrigued by this topic as we’ve seen by the tremendous popularity of recent series of novels on this subject.

But what is most often missed by Christians considering rapture it that it’s linked not just to our initially salvation but much more to our growth and maturity in the divine life. For as we grow and mature, our longing for this day deepens as we can clearly seen in Paul’s words.

4 “For also, we who are in this tabernacle groan, being burdened, in that we do not desire to be unclothed, but clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.“

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Romans (Program #21) – Heirs of Glory (3)

Our destiny in Christ as we will see today is not to die and go to heaven but to become heirs of glory, fully conformed to the image of God’s Firstborn Son.

Christ is not only the only begotten Son of God with respect to His eternal deity but He is also in God’s economy the Firstborn son. The New Testament gives us a full and balanced revelation concerning Christ. It is an undeniable fact that Christ always was, is, and always will be with respect to Godhead the only begotten Son of God. This is His status eternally in the Godhead but when the Son of God as the embodiment of the Father and by the Spirit, became a man, He took on humanity.  more…

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Luke (Program #45) – The Man-Savior’s Presentation of Himself to Death for Redemption (5)

At the time the Lord Jesus was on the earth, all those around Him, both His followers and those opposing Him wanted Him to tell them about the end time. When is the kingdom coming? What about the rapture? When would the Lord’s second coming be? These questions continue to interest mankind, both believers and the unbelievers share a certain curiosity, Yet the Lord Jesus both then and now is not so much interested in satisfying our curiosity as He is in awaking us up from our spiritual sleep that we would be wise and beseeching Him that we would not be those who are caught unaware or worst, unprepared at His coming.

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Luke (Program #44) – The Man-Savior’s Presentation of Himself to Death for Redemption (4)

One item that seems to interest all believers is the rapture of the Christians at the time of the Lord second coming. The prevailing thought among believers today is that the rapture rescues all the saved ones so that they do not have to pass through the suffering associated with the great tribulation.  But the Bible if you read it carefully just does not support such a view. Because it depicts aspect of the rapture taking place at different times. In history these passages had led to confusions, and strong disputing among the brothers and sisters in the Lord. We will touch some of this confusing matters today.  If the Lord is merciful, we would be brought into a clearer view of this very crucial matter.

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Luke (Program #37) – The Ministry of the Man-Savior in His Human Virtues with His Divine Attributes from Galilee to Jerusalem (17)

The Bible in both the Old and New Testaments speaks of the coming of the Kingdom of God. The Jews at the time of the Lord Jesus and His disciples had a definite understanding of this fact. So, it’s not surprising that the pharisees questioned Him about when the Kingdom would come. His answer is recorded in Luke 17 gives us tremendous insight, not just to the timing of the Kingdom, but as to what the Kingdom of God is in reality. And, His answer touches many topics of great interest even today such as the rapture of the believers. If you’ve ever wondered when will the Lord Jesus come again and set up His Kingdom, you won’t want to miss our program today.

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Revelation (Program #49) – The Harvest of the Great Winepress

The timing of the rapture for Christians will depend upon their growth and maturity. Revelation chapter 14 likens the different stages of the rapture of Christians to the harvest of a wheat field and its different stages. On today’s life study of Revelation, our topic is “Growth to Prepare for Rapture”.

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Revelation (Program #31) – The Rapture of the Believers (3)

When will the Christians be raptured? Some say before the Great Tribulation, and others say after the Great Tribulation. But the Bible actually reveals more than one rapture in the book of Revelation.  Rapture is our topic today on this life study of the Bible.

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2 Thessalonians (Program #3) – A Word of Correction of the Misconception Concerning the Day of the Lord’s Coming (2)

Though the word “rapture” cannot be found in the Bible, the fact of the believers being caught up to the air to meet the Lord at the time of His coming again to the earth is definitely revealed in numerous portions.  According to Paul’s own word in 2 Thessalonians he must have mentioned this matter in a general way to the believers in Thessalonica when he first passed through the city and established the church there.  But by the time of these two letters to the church about a year later he had realized that there were many wrong concepts and rumors confusing the church on this matter. And so he gave them more instruction in first twelve verses of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.  Actually many of these same misconception plagued the church today. We all can benefit from the reexamination of this chapter concerning the Lord’s second coming and our being rapture to meet Him.

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1 Thessalonians (Program #16) – Cooperation with the Divine Operation (2)

1 Thessalonians chapter 4 is a chapter presenting the promise of the Lord’s return and the rapture of all the believers at the end of this age. And to the young believers in Thessalonica these word were encouraging and fill them with hope.

But in Chapter 5, Paul begins with the word “but”, implying that though it’s good to be encouraged by the hope of the Lord’s second coming, before He does come, we need to be watchful and sober, and most of all prepared and ready for His coming.  It’s in this light that we come to the last half of the final chapter of the short book to the new believers in the Church in Thessalonica.

Chapter 5:12 begins this way, “Furthermore we ask you, brothers, to acknowledge those who labor among you and take the lead among you in the Lord and admonish you, And to regard them most highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.“

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1 Thessalonians (Program #14) – Watchfulness and Soberness

When Paul wrote words to the Church in Thessalonica to encourage them, he stressed that the life of the believers is a life full of hope. And even at the endurance needed to live the Christian life is linked to that hope and flows out of that hope. But just as what is the hope that he is referring to? Well, is not the hope that one day we will all die and go to be with the Lord in heaven.

Our hope and the hope of all believers is that one day the Lord Jesus will come again and we all will be caught up or rapture to meet Him. The rapture of the believers and the second coming of Christ are topics of immense interest to Christians and even to many unbelievers. But do the popular and common notions about these important matters really hold up in the light of an honest and thoughtful examination of Scripture?

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