COMFORT

 

The title of today's posting comes from the commercial about the Capital One Credit Card. The catch phrase is "What's in your wallet?" The inference is that your wallet has no use or purpose without the Capital One Credit Card in it.
What's in your mouth? What is it that you speak daily? Does your words give value to what you believe or are you simply imitating what you hear on the daily news.

Paul writes in I Thessalonians 4:18: Therefore comfort one another with these words.
The word "therefore" is a connecting word. Paul is tying two thoughts together, so for us to understand what the verse is referring to, we have to look back at the context given in the preceding verses.
Paul is referring to the rapture.

The rapture has fallen out of favor with a lot of churches today, and with a lot of pastor/teachers.
Some would lead you to believe that he rapture is old hat. antiquated and out dated.
My friend, be careful about what you allow to roll around in your brain. Be careful about the subtle voices that you listen to that don't disallow for the rapture. They simply don't teach it or speak on it.
They speak on the fact that we should be focused on what needs to be done now.
They promote a social gospel of doing good works and helping people.
This kind of teaching, while not evil, carries with it a trap that snares us. What trap? The trap of feeding our flesh. Inflating our ego. Putting our will at the center of God's will and not God himself. Instead of coming to the realization that we are created in the image of God....we create a god in our own image.

I am not here to debate or discuss the position of the rapture in relation to God's plan. I am simply here to say that if Paul says we should comfort one another concerning the calling up by the Lord Jesus Christ of his church, then we should be speaking on the subject.
In fact the word "Comfort" used in the verse carries with it the idea of teaching or exhorting each other. Why? Why speak out on the Rapture?
Because it builds hope within us. It tells us that no matter how hard or bad things get here on earth, at some point the Lord Himself. Do you see that? The Lord Himself will descend. He isn't going to send angels after us. He will come.

The custom in Jewish Weddings was for the husband, during the betrothal period, to work and prepare a place for the couple to reside in. Did Jesus not say that he was going away to prepare a place for us and that it he was going away, would he not come back and get us? I think the answer is yes. This brings comfort to us on so many levels. It soothes my spirit and lets me know that what I am going through here on planet earth is temporary.

Some say the rapture is pie-in-sky-theology.
My friend, I say it is Jesus-in-the-sky-truth.
Read the words of I Thessalonians 4:13-18 for yourself.
Take heart!
Jesus is coming back to call his bride unto himself.......and thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Maranatha, Lord Jesus!
God on you..........
mb