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14 results for “1 Thessalonians 4”
Clear searchMichael Brown, 2 Thessalonians 1, and the public vindication of the saints
When Do Persecuted Christians Receive Rest? Michael Brown, 2 Thessalonians 1, and the public vindication of the saints In his presentation Why I Reject a Pre-tribulation Rapture, Michael Brown identifies 2 Thessalonians 1:5–10 as a decisive passage. P…
Read article →The gathering of the elect, one taken and one left, and Paul's revealed mystery
Does Matthew 24 Place the Rapture after the Tribulation? The gathering of the elect, one taken and one left, and Paul's revealed mystery Matthew 24 contains the most direct Gospel objection to a pretribul…
Read article →A forensic reading of Christ's Olivet Discourse
Who Are the Elect of Matthew 24? A forensic reading of Christ's Olivet Discourse "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light... And he shall send his…
Read article →The man of sin, the last trumpet, the first resurrection, and the last day
…s which appear least friendly to it. Four objections deserve particular attention: Second Thessalonians 2 appears to place Antichrist before our gathering. First Corinthians 15 places the resurrection at the "last trump". Revelation 20 calls a post-Tribulation event "the first re…
Read article →Signs, expectancy, and the event the Church is told to await
…hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." —Titus 2:13 "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." —Philippians 3:20 The object of expectation is not first the Antichrist, a covenant,…
Read article →A response to Hank Hanegraaff on resurrection, Daniel’s final week, and the Tribulation
…e are abandoned to an unparalleled holocaust. He then appeals to John 5, Daniel, Matthew 24, Romans 8 and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 to reject the system. Some of his criticism is directed particularly towards the language of Tim LaHaye and popular Left Behind presenta…
Read article →Why apantēsis does not settle the timing of the rapture
…ving believers will be caught up with the resurrected dead "to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The word translated "to meet" is apantēsis. It is often argued that apantēsis carried a recognised civic meaning. When a ruler or honoured visitor approached a city, a…
Read article →Why a loaded label does not settle the question
…rd descending “with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Nothing secret there. The real question is whether Scripture distinguishes Christ coming for His Church from His later return with His saints. That question cannot be…
Read article →The positive argument of the whole series, brought together
…se; living believers are changed; and together they are caught up to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:50-54). The question is not whether Christians should believe in that gathering. The question is where it belongs within the wider prophetic program…
Read article →The event is explicit; the real dispute is its timing
…them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." —1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 The dead in Christ rise. Believers who remain alive are caught up with them. Both companies meet the Lord together and are thereafter always with Him. Whatever positi…
Read article →Governmental restraint, the final ten kings, and the preparation of the temple
…l sequel to my rapture book, I have been revisiting Paul’s account of the restrainer in 2 Thessalonians 2. Something holds back the revelation of the final lawless ruler. The Thessalonians knew what Paul meant. We have his letter, but not the earlier conversation to which he refe…
Read article →Labour, purpose, and faithfulness in a fallen world
…took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." —Genesis 2:15 Adam was placed in a world which God called very good, yet he was given something to do. He was to cultivate and guard the garden. Work therefore did not begin as punishment. Purposeful a…
Read article →What the historical evidence proves—and what it does not
…s what Christ prepared for His people as "this ascension into heaven" (Against Marcion, V.15). In On the Resurrection of the Flesh (41-42), he distinguishes the dead who rise from believers found alive in the flesh. The latter are transformed, put on immortality, and escape death…
Read article →Earth-dwellers, heaven-dwellers, and the literary structure of the Apocalypse
…elation 3 is often stated as though silence alone proves a rapture between chapters 3 and 4. It does not. A word count cannot establish a doctrine which the narrative never supports. The silence is nevertheless significant when placed within Revelation's wider literary movement.…
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