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The Meeting in The Air J. R. Bronger It often becomes necessary to correct some false understandings about the Bible to clearly see what it actually says. Such is especially the case regarding eschatology, which is a study of end times and events surrounding eternity and the end of the world. There seem to be about as many ideas about the end of the world as there are people. Some churches got their beginning because of their peculiar ideas about what would happen at the second coming of Christ. This morning we wish to talk a little about the return of Christ and what will happen. I am not naive enough to think that this brief study can discuss all that will happen. Nor do I think that I can clear up all mistaken beliefs people might have about the return of Christ. All I hope to do is show from the Bible what will happen to believers when the Lord does return. To accomplish this, I must first direct our minds to something an angel said to the apostles just after they witnessed the Lord’s ascension into heaven. In Acts 1:11, an angel made this tremendous promise to those disciples who were present to see the Lord taken up into heaven: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven.” I am not sure what all these men would have comprehended when the angel said to them that Jesus would come again in the same manner in which he was taken. Whatever they did or did not understand, this angel’s promise would just reconfirm what the Lord said in Jn. 14:2–3, where the Lord said: 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. As we live in this world with all its hurt and evil, these just may be the most comforting words Jesus ever proclaimed. Christ’s return is a recurring theme throughout the Bible. The apostle Paul discussed the return of Christ in 1 Thess. 4:18, where he said, “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” Since the conclusion of the first century — for more than nineteen centuries — Christians have intensely and eagerly looked for his coming. Late during the first century, some disciples grew weary and concluded that the Lord was not going to return because they looked for his return to be imminent. Peter wrote about this when he said in 2 Pet. 3:1–4: Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. Peter gently rebuked these believers for being swept away with the jeering of the scoffers. Also, Paul found it necessary to write about the coming of Jesus to correct some profane misunderstandings held by some in the church at Thessalonica. It seems that some of those brethren concluded that Christians who already died had no hope of being reunited with the Lord upon his return. That is, it seems some believers thought that a Christian had to be living when Jesus returned to have any hope. To refute such misunderstanding, Paul wrote in 1 Thess. 4:13, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep [this is a euphemism for death] lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.” Verse 14 says, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus.” Paul affirms that when Jesus returns, He will bring with him those who have fallen asleep — that is, died — in Him. In other words, those brought with Christ are those who have been raised from the dead, as we will see in verse 16. Verse 15 says, “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.” The next two verses give us a more comprehensive view of the return of Christ than any other verses within the New Testament. By inspiration, Paul, assures us of the coming of Christ, and provides some important particulars about that earth shattering and time ending event. He says in verses 16 and 17: 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. 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. Now that we have read these verses, let’s spend the remainder of our study noting carefully some of the detailed events Paul says will occur at that time. First, we observe that Paul said, “for the Lord Himself will descend,” in 1 Thess. 4:16. This is important because it tells us that Jesus is not coming by proxy. When Jesus returns, it will not be by means of a representative or an ambassador. Jesus Himself will descend. On the surface, this point seems inconsequential, but it is not. There are those in Christendom, the Jehovah's Witnesses in particular, who are known for their efforts to eliminate the continuity of the Lord's existence. They deny that Jesus existed before his birth on Earth, and they deny that He continued to exist after his death on the cross. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the official doctrinal arm of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, wants you to believe that before being born to Mary in Bethlehem, Jesus was actually the archangel Michael. Next, they want you to believe that at his death, the spirit of Jesus died and ceased to exist. They try to convince us that the Lord’s literal body was absorbed into the gasses of the tomb in which his body was placed. Next they say that when Jesus rose from the dead, it wasn’t the Jesus who died on the cross. They say the Jesus who came from the tomb really was a new creation altogether. They conclude that God formed a new body for Jesus before he emerged from the tomb. The scriptures thoroughly expose and discredit this bizarre and false doctrine. First, Peter makes it clear that it was the same Jesus who was crucified who came forth from the grave. Peter said in Acts 2:32, “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.” “This Jesus” is the Jesus whom, in the words of Peter, you “have crucified, and put to death,” according to verse 23. Also, the angel said that it was “this same Jesus” who would return in Acts 1:11. This brings us back to our text in 1 Thess., where Paul assured us that it would be “the Lord Himself” who would descend from Heaven. Regardless of what the Jehovah’s Witnesses say, the Lord who returns will be the same Lord who walked the streets of Galilee, the same Lord who walked upon the water. It will be the Lord who was beaten and nailed upon the cross. This same Jesus will descend from the heaven where he has gone to prepare a place for the believers. He will come with all his regal power and majesty. I might point out here to those who have swallowed the false doctrine known as Realized Eschatology, which says Jesus returned the second time in 70 AD in the organization of the Roman army, are equally mistaken. Matt. 24:30 calls that coming in judgment on Jerusalem a coming of the Lord, but this is not the coming about which Paul writes. This is evident when we continue reading the context. Paul discusses a coming in which the Lord will arrive personally, not representatively. Paul continues by reminding us that the Lord will descend “with a shout,” according to verse 16. When Jesus died on the cross, a shout came from his lips. In Jn. 19:30, Jesus shouted, “It is finished.” This shout signified that his work of redemption was finished; he had accomplished what the Father had intended. He defeated the works of the devil. And when he descends from Heaven, he will shout again. This time it won’t be in agony and it won’t be a declaration that he accomplished the redemptive will of God. Instead, his shout will call the dead from their sepulchers. A most hopeful promise is made by Jesus in Jn. 5:28–29: Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. When Jesus shouted from the cross, he was dying. The shout at his return will proclaim his absolute victory over death. Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 15:24–26: Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. We must remember that in 1 Thess. 4, Paul writes only about those who have died in Christ — Christians. He did not discuss what will happen to those who die in sin and in unbelief. He makes it clear that the Lord’s victorious and powerful shout will raise those who die in the Lord. As he did at the graveside of Lazarus, the Lord will again announce the command “come forth,” this time to all the dead. At that time all the graves will be opened. Paul notes that another voice will be heard when Jesus returns. He says Jesus will return “with the voice of an archangel.” Whether we can fully understand them or not, the Bible teaches that there are beings known as angels. According to Jude 9, the archangel, or chief angel, is Michael. By the way, this is an interesting refutation of the Jehovah's Witness claim of Jesus and Michael being the same. This verse refers to both of them, showing that each is distinct from the other. We are not told what the archangel would be saying, and to comment would just be speculation. But we are told that angels will have a specific work to render at the judgment day. In explaining the parable of the tares, Jesus said in Matt. 13:39, “The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.” Also, in interpreting the parable of the dragnet, Jesus promised in Matt. 13:49, “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just.” In a way that is divinely suited to God, the angels will become reapers on judgment day. The angels will “separate the wicked from among the just.” It might be that the voice of the archangel directs the angels in their work as reapers. Regardless of what the voice is saying, it will be heard when the Lord descends from heaven. I find it very interesting that Paul makes it clear that when Jesus returns, it will be a raucous (noisy) event. Paul also says that accompanying the shout of Christ and the voice of the archangel will be “the trumpet of God.” Also, in 1 Cor. 15:52, Paul said that all this would occur “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Throughout the scriptures, God has often used trumpets to announce or proclaim. For example, when Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the Law, the Bible says in Exod. 19:19, “The blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder.” Also, when God announced the fall of pagan Rome in the book of Revelation, he did it with the sounding of seven trumpets. And God has promised that when Jesus returns, that he will announce it by the sounding of the trumpet of judgment. One thing that must be concluded from this is that when Jesus returns it will not be quietly or secretly — everyone will see and hear it. At that time, “the dead in Christ shall rise first.” Do not understand this statement to mean that those dead in sin will rise second. When Paul said in 1 Thess. 4:16 that “the dead in Christ shall rise first,” he did not imply that there were going to be two or more resurrections. Yet this is what many preachers teach. They conclude that the dead in Christ will rise first, and then one thousand years later the rest of the dead will rise. This understanding does not fit the teaching of the scriptures, and it especially does not conform to the context of 1 Thess. 4. In response to the trumpet and the call of the Lord, all the dead will be raised. We have already established this from Jn. 5:28–29, where it is written: Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth — those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. In 1 Thess. 4:13–17, Paul does not discuss what will happen to those who are condemned to perdition. He only discusses what will happen with those who have died in Christ. The Thessalonians wished to know what would happen to those who have died in Christ. Paul, in response, assures them that the dead in Christ will rise first. Well, what is next? Look carefully at verse 17. There, Paul says, “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” First, the dead in Christ will rise to meet the Lord. Then those who are alive when this glorious event occurs will be caught up to join the Lord and those resurrected believers in the air. By also checking with 1 Cor. 15, we discover that both the resurrected and the living saints will undergo some dramatic changes. The Bible assures us in 1 Cor. 15:51–53: Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep [that is, some will be living when Jesus returns], but we shall all be changed — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Those alive when the Lord descends from heaven will have no advantage over those who have died in Christ. At that time, the living will have their mortal bodies changed and will be clothed with immortality, suited for the joys and glories of heaven. This is true even for those whose bodies have decayed and otherwise been destroyed. John writes in Rev. 20:13, “The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and hades delivered up the dead who were in them.” This is not going to be a problem for God! If God could (and he did) create man from dust, it is a small thing to re-gather that dust and clothe it with immortality. Our present bodies are not suited for eternity. God gave us bodies, however, that are perfectly suited to life on Earth. But when Christ descends from heaven and the dead are raised incorruptible and the living are changed to reflect immortality, it will be so we can enjoy the grandeur of Heaven. Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 15:50 reflecting the need for this change: “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.” Let’s not overlook the last statement made by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:17, where he concluded, “And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” This glorious meeting with Christ and the saved will be in the air, not on the Earth. Let’s remain true to the scriptures. The verse says that we will “meet the Lord in the air.” It says nothing about meeting him anyplace on Earth. We will not meet him in Gethsemane and we will not meet him in Jerusalem. We will meet the Lord in the air. This will be the time that John anticipated in 1 Jn. 3:2, when he said, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” I must emphasize this again: This wonderful and final meeting will take place in the air, not on the Earth. Please take up your Bible and note that Paul said that when Jesus descends, the saved will meet him in the air. It will not be on the Earth. It seems that most preachers ignore this Bible truth. They are constantly yammering about Jesus returning to this Earth and reigning for 1000 years on David’s throne in Jerusalem. These preachers do this without one verse of scripture to prove their doctrine. There is not one verse of Biblical evidence to show that Christ and his exalted people will ever touch this Earth again. Peter tells us what is going to happen to this Earth. He wrote in 2 Pet. 3:7, “But the heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word, reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” Later in that same chapter, Peter leaves absolutely no doubt what will happen to this Earth. He says in 2 Pet. 3:10–12: But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? When Jesus descends from heaven, the closest he will get to this Earth will be in the air. The Earth will be burned up; its elements will melt with intense heat. When this happens, the saved will not be on the Earth; they will have been removed from it. Those who have spent their life loving and serving Christ will be caught up to join him in the air. Furthermore, consider carefully this wonderful companionship that Paul is describing here. He promises us that we will be with the Lord. We will enjoy face-to-face fellowship with the Lord, whom we have served by faith while living on Earth. In anticipation of this great event, Paul said something that should be the desire of every Christian. He wrote in Phil. 1:23, “For I am hard pressed between the two, [that is, living and dying] having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” Where will this fellowship take place? Where will we be with the Lord? Why, in the place prepared by Christ, of course; in the mansion that he has gone to prepare, according to Jn. 14:2–3. How long will we enjoy this fellowship? Look again at Paul's statement in 1 Thess. 4:17: “And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” Look carefully. Did you detect the length of this association? Paul said we would always be with the Lord. This companionship will be unbroken and uninterrupted in a world without end. The beauty of this thought is captured in the old hymn that believers have sung for years: “When we've been there ten thousand years/Bright, shining as the sun/We've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun After encouraging these believers with the hope of going home to Christ when He returns, Paul must also address when this would occur. You see, there would be such excitement among believers that they would want to know when Jesus would return. Paul writes that no one knows when the Lord will descend from Heaven. He says in 1 Thess. 5:1–2, “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.” Just as no one knows when a thief in the night will strike, no one knows when the Lord will descend. As strange as it sounds, Jesus even said he did not know when he would return. He said it like this in Matt. 24:36–39: But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. If the angels, who will serve as reapers, do not know when the Lord will return, and if Jesus does not know when he will descend from Heaven, how can we possibly know? Paul said it would be useless to speculate when the Lord would return. He said in 1 Thess. 5:1, “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.” In spite of this, men and women set dates for the Lord's return. As we approached the year 2000, some preachers tried to convince you that Jesus would return before that year. Others say that Jesus will return before this year ends. Not only do they not know the scriptures, they are claiming they know what the Lord said He did not know, which is when he would return. When the apostle Peter wrote about the coming of Christ and the destruction of the Earth, he used the same phrase used by Paul. Peter wrote in 2 Pet. 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” There will be no signs given helping us determine that the return of Jesus is near. Do not misunderstand — the Lord may return before this day is over. He could descend from heaven at any moment with a shout and the voice of an archangel. We may hear the trumpet of God at any second. But this is not something we can calculate. If it were possible to know when the Lord would descend from heaven, Paul would have told the Thessalonians. Yet he did not. He merely told them that Jesus would return and that the living and the dead would be caught up to always be with him. His conclusion was simply, “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” |
