Encouragement

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First Thessalonians 4:18 says to, “Comfort one another with these words.” To what words is this referring? From what can we be comforted? 

     The previous verse provides the answer. Verse 17 describes an event at some point in time when a select group of people will be “caught up...in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

     This raises two more questions. One, what is this event? What group of people is the ”We?” The event is the disappearing of millions of Christians in the twinkling of an eye. Remember the series of books and the movie “Left Behind“ that was popular several years ago? 

     Would you believe that the human race is getting close to that moment? Why do I ask that? The context of these verses is the Second Coming of Jesus. At this point world events and conditions will continually get worse and worse. The world has been experiencing an increase in all the signs and what the Bible refers to as “birth pangs.” Also, all the signs are converging for the first time. Matthew 24:33 says “when you see all [the signs] recognize that He is near, right at the door.”

     All “these things” are leading up to a time of “great Tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now...“(Matthew 24:21). As bad as the Coronavirus is, pandemics and a host of other afflictions will be a lot worse.

     Things will get so bad that people will wish they were not here to experience it. Part of it will be the result of humanity’s doing, and part will be the direct judgment of God upon a human race that has rejected God.

     God, in his divine love and grace will call out a portion of the human race that will not have to experience God’s judgment. He will call them up to heaven into His presence.

     This select group of people will be those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. This is not religion, nor doing good works. It is acknowledging Jesus as the Son of God in human flesh. It is admitting that one is a sinner in need of God’s grace. Then there is confession that Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins and that He physically and bodily rose from the dead.

     The group of people from all over the world who have acknowledged and confessed the above are the ones who have great comfort from the words, “caught up to be with Lord.”

    The question is, will you be in that group?

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