Words from the Lord:
"Comfort one another as you keep looking to Me and fix your eyes on Me. Because I will never leave My people nor forsake My people, no matter what has become of this world. My promises for My people is not slack, and I am in the midst of preparing My bride for My glorious coming. There shall be a great ingathering and reunion of My people - for those who have fallen asleep together with those who are alive!"
Hallelujah! The Lord says there will be a great ingathering and reunion of His people - those who have fallen asleep and those who are still alive - together!
So, will you meet your loved ones or good friends again up there in heaven? Yes! For all of us who are in Christ - Yes! There will be a reunion for all of us!
In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (NKJV), apostle Paul wrote, '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.'
See? Sleep in Jesus! It's not just 'sleep', but 'sleep in Jesus.' The word 'asleep' here is 'koimao' in Greek. It literally means 'to fall asleep', and in the context of our study here, it can mean 'to cease', 'to cease from this earth', or in other words, 'deceased'. So, 'fall asleep' here means a person has been brought home into the arms of the Lord.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16 (NKJV), apostle Paul wrote, '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.'
In 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 (NKJV), apostle Paul wrote further, '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.'
Notice the word 'together' here? 'Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them'. Now, the question here is who are these 'them' here? Those who have fallen asleep, but whom the Lord will resurrect!
Let's go to The Amplified Bible for 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18, 'Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will simultaneously be caught up (raptured) together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord! Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these words [concerning our reunion with believers who have died].'
See the word 'reunion' here? Reunion with believers who have fallen asleep, i.e. those who have gone before us! Do you see that? Reunion! Ingathering for all those who have fallen asleep (who have gone before us) and those who are alive and remain!
You know what this means? It means for those of you who have lost your loved ones or good friends who are in Christ, you are going to have a reunion with them, meeting the Lord together with them! Hallelujah!
The word 'together' here is 'hama' in Greek. It means 'at the same time'. It means we, at the same time with those who have gone before us, will be meeting the Lord together! Another definition of 'hama' is 'closeness (in being together) with one another'. It means you will see and meet each other, together, even as you meet the Lord in the air, up there!
Now I'm going to show you the words 'caught up' that you see in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. What is this 'caught up' here? In The Amplified Bible, there's a bracket that says 'raptured'.
The word 'caught up' here is 'harpazo' in Greek. It can mean 'being pulled away, being seized away, being caught away, being taken away'. And in the context of 'being caught up' here in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, it means you are being pulled away by the Lord, seized away by the Lord, caught away by the Lord, or taken away by the Lord from this earth to meet Him face to face, to be in His presence, in His glory; to be in His arms, the Heavenly Father's arms.
Now, that's how the word 'rapture' in English is derived from, i.e. from this word 'caught up'. The word 'caught up' here is 'raptura' in medieval Latin. By the way, 'medieval age' is a period between Roman empire and the Renaissance, and that's between the 5th century and the end of 15th century. And this word 'raptura' is where the English word 'rapture' comes from, which means 'an act of carrying away, carrying off, seizing away'.
So, as you can see here, the word 'raptura' in medieval Latin has the same meaning as the word 'harpazo' in Greek. Both speaks of 'being carried away by the Lord'. It means the Lord carries you away from this earth to meet Him in the air!
From our Bible study today, the Word of God says there will be an ingathering and reunion for those who have deceased and those who are still alive - together! It means you will be meeting your departed loved ones or good friends, even as you meet the Lord in the air! And that's good news, especially if you have lost a loved one or a good friend before (i.e. they have passed on). But if they are in Christ, you are going to meet them together! This is an assurance and comfort that the Lord wants you to receive today. And that's why the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:18, 'Therefore comfort one another'.
Another assurance you can have regarding those in Christ who have departed from this earth, is that they are merely sleeping, and are actually not dead! That's why apostle Paul wrote 'fallen asleep'. Now, the Bible says so. This is not a fantasy. This is not a make-believe. This is the reality in the spiritual realm. Those who are in Christ, who have received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, when their spirit depart from their body, they are not dead, but they are just asleep! And you'll be meeting them again!
Let me explain the word 'asleep' here in the context of what apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. We actually have a glimpse of eternity while we are on earth. Imagine you have been running around and you have been so busy the whole day. By the end of the day, you are so tired. And say, you sleep at 10pm. You're so exhausted, so tired, and the moment you lie down on the bed, you fall asleep. And the next thing you know is you wake up and it's already 6am! From 10pm to 6am, 8 hours passed by just like that! Now, you have just experienced a glimpse of what it is like in eternity. In the spiritual realm, in eternity, we are not time-bound anymore. Just with a twinkling of an eye, and just like that, 8 hours!
Just as when you sleep while you are on earth, it is the same with those (your loved ones or your good friends) who have departed. They are now fallen asleep in Christ, and the moment they wake up, we shall all meet again! That's what the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18!
Therefore, be comforted if your loved ones or good friends have gone home to be with the Lord. Recently even for me, a good friend and a fellow minister of God of mine has gone home to be with the Lord. God brought him home after he has fulfilled His purposes on earth. Surely I will miss him. But I can be comforted because it's actually not a permanent loss, because as the Scripture says, there will be a reunion one day!
Isn't this a deep comfort and assurance for all of us who are in Christ? Yes, we may have missed some of our loved ones or good friends who have departed, but that is just temporary. Now, this is not my idea. Check it out in the Bible yourself. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 says so!
That is why it is so urgent and important to share about Jesus to your loved ones, to those whom you care, to those whom you love. You want to see them in eternity together. So, this is the time to share the love of Jesus, pray for them, pray for their spiritual eyes to be open, so that they will see that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Let them see that Jesus is the Lord, and only Jesus, the Salvation, can save them from this fallen world! And that's how we all can be together in eternity!
After all, the earth is only a temporary place. You know it very well. We are just sojourners or pilgrims on this earth. The Bible says so in 1 Peter 2:11. Our permanent place is up there, where we will see no more pain or suffering. And we will all be in the loving arms and embrace of the Lord. Indeed, once we have fulfilled our God-given purposes on this earth, He will bring us home. There will be a homecoming!
So, take heart, be encouraged, and stay strong, no matter what happens in this world. Keep running this race of faith. Keep fulfilling all that God has purposed for you to be on this earth. Keep focusing on the Lord. Keep fixing your eyes on the Lord. Keep trusting the Lord. Keep putting your hope in the Lord.
In John 14:1-4, Jesus Himself said, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know."
It is then written in John 14:5-7, 'Thomas (one of His disciples) said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."'
It means Jesus was saying, "If you see Me, you would have seen My Father as well." Because Jesus and the Father are One! You see, God the Father was being revealed through Jesus who came!
Let us pray:
"We thank You Lord God that You have reminded us of all these verses, that we will be together with those who have 'fallen asleep', to meet You in the air, according to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Therefore, we receive Your assurance, we receive Your comfort, as we keep looking to You and fix our eyes on You, till the day of Your glorious coming. We thank You Lord God that You have shown us there will be a great ingathering and reunion of Your beloved, for those who have 'fallen asleep' together with those who are alive and remain. In the name of Jesus. Amen."
So there you have it, today's message is a message of comfort for you to keep running the race of faith and keep fulfilling all that God has purposed for you on this earth!
Encourage one another, comfort one another, and continue to share about Jesus, about the love of Jesus. When everything else on this earth fails, the Lord's love, Jesus' love, never fails!
