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Why do people believe in a Rapture?

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Short Timer

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I think that the sentence ALIVE AND REMAIN UNTO the COMING of the Lord used by Paul point out that only a REMAINING of believers will still be alive to be part of the resurrection/translation and caught up to meet Jesus in the air UNTO Jesus Coming after the Tribulation..All this happening at the Parousia.However Paul give us the certitude that all those in Christ whatever dead or alive and remain will be part of that Resurrection

Lu 20:35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

According to my bible, those resurrected don't marry, so some will still have to be "physically" alive when Jesus returns to marry and produce the boys/girls playing in the streets of Jerusalem during the MK.

Zec 8:3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.

4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.
 
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Riberra

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The way Paul wrote 1thessalonians4:13-18 it could talke place anytime - because there are no conditions in the text.
-This cannot "take place anytime"
-The moment is determined by UNTO THE COMING OF THE LORD.The original greek word that Paul used is Parousia


1 Thessalonians 4
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and REMAIN unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and REMAIN shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
 
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Douggg

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-This cannot "take place anytime"
-The moment is determined by UNTO THE COMING OF THE LORD.The original greek word that Paul used is Parousia


1 Thessalonians 4
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and REMAIN unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and REMAIN shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
"unto the coming of the Lord" is Jesus coming (for the rapture/resurrection), but it does not say his Second Coming or coming a Second time. I am not reading anything in 1thessalonians4:13-18 about other activities that would normally be associated with His Second Coming.
 
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Riberra

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"unto the coming of the Lord" is Jesus coming (for the rapture/resurrection), but it does not say his Second Coming or coming a Second time. I am not reading anything in 1thessalonians4:13-18 about other activities that would normally be associated with His Second Coming.
Nowhere in the OT or NT you will see the term - Second Coming -
Unto the coming of the Lord refers to the only coming of the Lord yet to come in the "End time" -The End of the present way of things-
The scriptures tell us that the Lord will return as King of the Kings to establish His Kingdom on the Earth.There is no return in between.
 
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Short Timer

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Nowhere in the OT or NT you will see the term - Second Coming -
Unto the coming of the Lord refers to the only coming of the Lord yet to come in the "End time" -The End of the present way of things-
The scriptures tell us that the Lord will return as King of the Kings to establish His Kingdom on the Earth.There is no return in between.

You just made Paul out to be lying is saying there is a coming of Jesus that is a "Mystery" coming not revealed prior.

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

All deceased/departed saints return "With Jesus" from Heaven, whatever of tares and wheat that is still alive will be separated by the angels, and the "Wheat" goes on into the MK to marry and repopulate the earth.

"Nobody" still alive is changed at the second coming, or there wouldn't be any to marry and repopulate the earth, since those changed/resurrected don't marry.
 
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Short Timer

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JESUS WAS A GOOD MAN BUT NOT THE MESSIAH

You said Jesus was not the "Messiah".

Zec 1:16 Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies:

Zec 8:3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem:

Zec 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives,

Do you know what "Returned" means, in case you don't I tell you,

It means he has already been there "Once before", but like too many other Jews,

Lu 19:44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King (God in the flesh) cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Mt 21:5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,

7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
 
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Short Timer

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Nowhere in the OT or NT you will see the term - Second Coming -
Unto the coming of the Lord refers to the only coming of the Lord yet to come in the "End time" -The End of the present way of things-
The scriptures tell us that the Lord will return as King of the Kings to establish His Kingdom on the Earth.There is no return in between.


Was Paul lying is saying there was a coming of Jesus that was a "Mystery" not revealed until he revealed it???

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Joh 14:2 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.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

The second coming has been known for Millenniums, the rapture only became known when this other "Mystery", the church, became known, two thousands years ago.

Your cistern won't hold "water". (doctrine)

Jer 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
 
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Riberra

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You just made Paul out to be lying is saying there is a coming of Jesus that is a "Mystery" coming not revealed prior.

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
Reread what Paul said ,the mystery is Not about a mystery coming of Jesus.The mystery is about the change into immortality of those in Christ still alive that will happen in the twinkling of the eye.

All deceased/departed saints return "With Jesus" from Heaven, whatever of tares and wheat that is still alive will be separated by the angels, and the "Wheat" goes on into the MK to marry and repopulate the earth.
All the Saints in Heaven are there ie(their souls/spirit)because they have deceased NONE of them are in Heaven because they have "departed" while they were alive.

"Nobody" still alive is changed at the second coming, or there wouldn't be any to marry and repopulate the earth, since those changed/resurrected don't marry.
Only those in Christ still alive unto the coming of the Lord will be changed in the twinkle of the eye.
 
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Riberra

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The second coming has been known for Millenniums, the rapture only became known when this other "Mystery", the church, became known, two thousands years ago.

Your cistern won't hold "water". (doctrine)

Jer 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
That is the cistern of the Pre-Trib Rapture who have never hold water because it have to INVENT a MYSTERY COMING and an extra resurrection not prophesied in the Bible.

Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit about the COMING of the Lord prophesied by all the OT Prophets and by Jesus Himself.

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1Th 4:
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remainunto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Matthew 24:29-31
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

I do agree that the LAST TRUMP is not the 7 TH Trumpet sounding during the tribulation.The LAST TRUMP will sound at the resurrection of those who died/sleep in Christ unto the Coming of the Lord AFTER the Tribulation of those days.
 
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Douggg

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Nowhere in the OT or NT you will see the term - Second Coming -
Unto the coming of the Lord refers to the only coming of the Lord yet to come in the "End time" -The End of the present way of things-
The scriptures tell us that the Lord will return as King of the Kings to establish His Kingdom on the Earth.There is no return in between.
I think the phrase is coming a Second time (Hebrews 9:28). It still doesn't say in 1thessalonians4:13-18 coming a Second time, nor any of the other things usually associated with Jesus's return to this earth - like establishing His Kingdom on Earth, as you mentioned, being one of the more prominent.

The rapture/resurrection is not a return to planet earth. What it says in John 14 is this. It does say he will come again, but not to earth; and the Father's house where he would be preparing a place for us - is heaven, not on earth.

John 14:
2 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.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

If that passage were intending to mean that it is referring to His return down to planet earth, commonly referred to as His Second Coming, the phrasing would be different so as to say something like where you are, I will be there also - since we are here on earth. No, the persons who are going to be relocated is us - not Jesus relocating to earth in that passage.
 
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BABerean2

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Was Paul lying is saying there was a coming of Jesus that was a "Mystery" not revealed until he revealed it???

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Joh 14:2 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.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

The second coming has been known for Millenniums, the rapture only became known when this other "Mystery", the church, became known, two thousands years ago.

Your cistern won't hold "water". (doctrine)

Jer 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Was Paul lying when he said Jesus would "descend" in 1st Thessalonians chapter 4?

It is a mystery to me how you can ignore or redefine the word "descend", but call others a liar for believing that the word "mystery" in 1st Corinthians chapter 15 refers to the resurrection of the Church, instead of the timing of the event.



1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:



1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.



1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
.
 
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Riberra

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I think the phrase is coming a Second time. It still doesn't say in 1thessalonians4:13-18 coming a Second time, nor any of the other things usually associated with Jesus's return to this earth - like establishing His Kingdom on Earth, as you mentioned, being one of the more prominent.

The rapture/resurrection is not a return to planet earh. What it says in John 14 is this. It does say he will come again, but not to earth; and the Father's house where he would be preparing a place for us - is heaven, not on earth.

John 14:
2 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.
Before that Jesus ascended to Heaven we know that the believers place for their souls/spirits was Abraham bosom located somewhere in Hades.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

If that passage were intending to mean that it is referring to His return down to planet earth, commonly referred to as His Second Coming, the phrasing would be different so as to say something like where you are, I will be there also - since we are here on earth. No, the persons who are going to be relocated is us - not Jesus relocating to earth in that passage.
This passage is about the resurrection of those who died in Christ which the Apostles will obviously be part of.

I will come again : This is the prophesied Jesus Coming on the Earth to establish his Kingdom on the earth.

and receive YOU unto myself; that where I am, ye may be also.

At the resurrection we will meet Jesus -along with the resurrected apostles- in the clouds above the Earth to be forever with Him when Jesus will establish HIS EARTHLY KINGDOM .


1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord
 
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Douggg

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I do agree that the LAST TRUMP is not the 7 TH Trumpet sounding during the tribulation.The LAST TRUMP will sound at the resurrection of those who died/sleep in Christ unto the Coming of the Lord AFTER the Tribulation of those days.
What I am thinking is that phrase is just hyperbolic speech, not an actual trumpet sounding. I could be totally wrong. That like in the Exodus the journey to the promised land, we are all (should be) in a state of preparing to be called up unto the Lord - preparing for that day of moving, when the camp actually goes into motion to heaven.

I think it was back in the Exodus there were a series of trumpets blown to mark the various steps to breaking camp, gathering the various tribes together in order, and then at the last of that series of trumpets is blown - people, animals start walking toward the promised land following the cloud.
 
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Douggg

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At the resurrection we will meet Jesus -along with the resurrected apostles- in the clouds above the Earth to be forever with Him when Jesus will establish HIS EARTHLY KINGDOM .
Actually, it doesn't say we meet Jesus in the clouds.

1thessalonians4:17
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

And it doesn't mention anything in the passage of 1thessalonians4:13-18 about being when Jesus establishes his earthly kingdom. Nor anything normally associated with Jesus's return to this earth, commonly referred to as his Second Coming.
Where in the passage is every eye will see Him, for example? All of the tribes of the earth will mourn, for example? The armies gathered to fight him, for example?
 
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n2thelight

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You just made Paul out to be lying is saying there is a coming of Jesus that is a "Mystery" coming not revealed prior.

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

All deceased/departed saints return "With Jesus" from Heaven, whatever of tares and wheat that is still alive will be separated by the angels, and the "Wheat" goes on into the MK to marry and repopulate the earth.

"Nobody" still alive is changed at the second coming, or there wouldn't be any to marry and repopulate the earth, since those changed/resurrected don't marry.

I Corinthians 15:51 "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,"
When is this change?

At the return of Christ,His one and only,call it a rapture or whatever,fact remains,Christ returns once more,not twice

As for the repopulation there won't be any,as the age of flesh is over...

I Corinthians 15:50 "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."

Flesh and blood can't and won't be here when Christ returns,period...

ALL are changed...Those who have died in Christ throughout time,return with Him,at His 2nd and only coming..

Scripture nowhere speaks of some living in flesh while others are in their spirit
 
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Riberra

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Actually, it doesn't say we meet Jesus in the clouds.

1thessalonians4:17
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
....to meet the Lord in the air above the ground where the clouds are ie(the sky where the birds fly /First Heaven ) = --Jesus coming in the clouds Matthew 24:29-30--

And it doesn't mention anything in the passage of 1thessalonians4:13-18 about being when Jesus establishes his earthly kingdom. Nor anything normally associated with Jesus's return to this earth, commonly referred to as his Second Coming.
Where in the passage is every eye will see Him, for example? All of the tribes of the earth will mourn, for example? The armies gathered to fight him, for example?
Why should it be another coming than the coming that Jesus Himself and all the Prophets of the OT said will happen?
 
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n2thelight

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....to meet the Lord in the air above the ground where the clouds are ie(the sky where the birds fly /First Heaven ) = --Jesus coming in the clouds Matthew 24:29-30--


Why should it be another coming than the coming that Jesus Himself and all the Prophets of the OT said will happen?

Because they think the mystery that Paul spoke of is the rapture,which the subject does not support
 
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Doug said in post 4988:

And no translation of the living, i.e. the rapture in Revelation 19:7-20:6. And no angels going out to gather anyone.

Note that Revelation 19 is Jesus' 2nd coming, which is when other passages show that he will rapture (gather together) the church (Matthew 24:30-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).

Revelation 19:7 to 20:3 will be immediately after the future tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 (Matthew 24:29-31). At Jesus' 2nd coming, before he goes to war (Revelation 19:11-21), he will rapture (gather together) the church (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1, Matthew 24:30-31), judge the church (Psalms 50:3-5, cf. Mark 13:27; 2 Corinthians 5:10, Luke 12:45-48, Matthew 25:14-30), and marry the obedient part of the church (Revelation 19:7-8, Matthew 25:1-13).

*******

Doug said in post 4993:

I gave some of those precepts in referring to the three heavens.

You are right to say that there are 3 heavens (2 Corinthians 12:2b). For the 1st heaven is the sky, the atmosphere, in which the birds fly (Genesis 1:20b). The 2nd heaven is outer space, where the sun, moon, and stars reside (Deuteronomy 4:19). Where God resides is the 3rd heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2b, Revelation 4:1-2), and so it is beyond outer space, in the sense of it being in a higher (i.e. a 4th) spatial dimension. And it is a physical place, for Jesus ascended there in his physical resurrection body (Acts 1:9-11, Luke 24:39). And Paul said that he could have visited there in his physical body (2 Corinthians 12:2). Also, Elijah and Enoch were taken up there in their physical bodies (2 Kings 2:11, Genesis 5:24, Hebrews 11:5). And the 2 witnesses will be taken up there in their physical bodies (Revelation 11:11-12).

In the 3rd heaven, there is currently a literal city 1,500 miles cubed (Revelation 21:16), which is called New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2), the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22), the Jerusalem which is above (Galatians 4:26), and the Father's house (John 14:2, Revelation 21:2-3). In the future, God will create a new earth (a new surface of the earth) and a new heaven (a new 1st heaven, a new atmosphere for the earth) (Revelation 21:1). And then God will come down in New Jerusalem from the 3rd heaven to the new earth to live with people on the new earth (Revelation 21:2-3, Revelation 3:12b). It is New Jerusalem which has the literal pearly gates and streets of gold (Revelation 21:21) which people ascribe to heaven. So what people think of as heaven, in the sense of living in bliss with God, will eventually be on the new earth.

Currently, the 3rd heaven is where paradise is (2 Corinthians 12:2,4). And paradise is where believers go when they die (Luke 23:43,46). So believers go to the 3rd heaven when they die. Also, paradise is where the literal tree of life is (Revelation 2:7). And the tree of life is in New Jerusalem (Revelation 22:2). So when people go to paradise, they go to New Jerusalem.

The earth's 3rd heaven could be high above the north pole (cf. the connection between heaven and the north in Isaiah 14:13, KJV). Regarding what we today call "the northern lights", even though they can been explained by physics, they could still point to the location of the glory of the earth's 3rd heaven. And Psalm 48:2's reference to the north could refer to the location of New Jerusalem in heaven.
 
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Short Timer said in post 4992:

explain who the fellow is that is kicked out of the Kings house that doesn't have a wedding garment on.

In Matthew 22:11-13, the wedding garment represents the righteousness of believers (Revelation 19:8), which is conditional not only on their continued belief (Romans 3:22), but also on their continued doing of righteous deeds (1 John 3:7, James 2:24). Some believers will end up suffering the fate of Matthew 22:13 because of unrepentant laziness (Matthew 25:26,30, John 15:2a, Romans 2:6-8), or unrepentant sinfulness (Luke 12:45-46, Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27), or apostasy (Hebrews 6:4-8, John 15:6; 2 Timothy 2:12b).

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Short Timer said in post 4997:

I guess we don't get to go the the Father's house and the place Jesus went to prepare so we could be "with him".

Note that there is no pre-tribulation-rapture idea in John 14:2-3, just as there is no "take you back" (somewhere). Instead, there is only a coming again of Jesus (i.e. his 2nd coming), and then a receiving of the church unto himself. Also, the pre-tribulation-rapture view can't (as is sometimes done) claim that the rapture is referred to only by Paul, and then admit that John 14:3 refers to the rapture.

John 14:2 means that one of the reasons Jesus left was to prepare a place for the church in the literal city of New Jerusalem, God the Father's house in heaven (Revelation 21:2-3). John 14:3 means that Jesus' leaving to prepare a place for the church means that he is not done with the church, but will come back to it. John 14:3 means that the church will be received to Jesus where he will be first at his 2nd coming, which will be in the sky (1 Thessalonians 4:17), before he lands on the earth at his 2nd coming (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Matthew 24:30-31, Zechariah 14:3-21), which won't occur until immediately after the future tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 (Matthew 24:29-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Revelation 19:7 to 20:6).

The church will live in its place in New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:24 to 22:5) on the new earth (Revelation 21:1-3) sometime after the millennium and subsequent events (Revelation 20:7-15). For during the millennium, the physically resurrected church will be ruling on the present earth with the returned Jesus (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 2:26-29, Zechariah 14:3-21).

Also, the church has already come to God the Father's house, New Jerusalem, which is currently in heaven, in the spiritual sense of coming under the New Covenant (Hebrews 12:22-24, Galatians 4:24-26, Matthew 26:28). Also, the souls of obedient people in the church go to God the Father's house when they die, for their still-conscious souls go into heaven to be with Jesus when they die (Philippians 1:21,23; 2 Corinthians 5:8). And they go into paradise (Luke 23:43), which is in heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2b,4), in the city of New Jerusalem (Revelation 2:7 and Revelation 22:2).
 
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n2thelight

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I guess we don't get to go the the Father's house and the place Jesus went to prepare so we could be "with him".
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John 14:2
"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."
Have you ever heard Christians say before, "I have a mansion in the sky"? Friend, that is not what "mansions" is talking about here, however it is even more beautiful then those thoughts of a large house in the sky. Let's take the word "mansions" as written in the Greek text. "Mansions" is "mone", # 3438 in the Strong's Greek dictionary, and pronounced, "mon-ay' ". It means a place to rest and abide where there is no trouble. Friend, this resting place is in Christ and the Father, that is the resting.
What is the subject of this chapter,? "Don't worry." Jesus is telling you don't worry at any time if you believe.

John 14:3

"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
This is Jesus' promise to you and I today, as much as it was to those eleven disciples sitting at the supper table with Him two thousand years ago. Jesus is telling us that we can count on Him, He is returning to earth to receive His own, and be with them here on earth during the Millennium age Kingdom.

John 14:4

"And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know."
Why? Because for the last three years Jesus told them over and over about His journey to the cross, His death and His resurrection. This is the way to the place where the preparation is made for theirs and our return to Him. That way leads down the path to the cross, and at His death it leads into the tomb where on the third day, Jesus rose for the dead to ascended to be with the father fifty days later.

Our resting place is in His Word, and under the shed blood of Jesus
 
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