QC session 5/2/16
The main discussion item was triggered off by Andrew and Deanne, who arrived first for dinner, then found no one else around (Joyce and I were upstairs). "The rapture has happened!" they said.
So the question was= Will there be two returns of Christ - one invisible, then one visible, or only one? Will Christ return once to take up His people secretly, then once again to judge the world in a way that everyone will see?
So I said that Biblical passages about Christ's return are divided into 2 groups - one group (e.g. Matt 24:44, 25:13) tells us that we 'do not know the day or the hour'. The other group tells us of signs of His imminent return. These include the preaching of the gospel to all nations(Greek= ethne = people groups)(Matt 24:14), a time of tribulation (Matt 24:15-22), false Christs (Matt 24:23-24) and signs in the heavens (Matt 24:29-30).
We can then know the broad requirements for Christ's return, but never the exact time or date. Nevertheless, all of us who love the Lord should long for His appearing (Rev 22"20, 2 Ti 4:8) and must be ready for Him (Lk 12:40).
The idea that Christ comes twice ("Pretribulational/dispensational premillenialism") finds its basis in 1 Thes 4:16-17. The 'rapture' (Latin = rapio, to seize, snatch) means that Christians are taken up suddenly by Christ (leaving crashing cars and jetplanes with Christian pilots/drivers). As I see it, this is a predominantly American view starting all the way from some Puritans in the 18th century, then popularized by the Scofield Bible and more recent TV series. The view has the strength of seeing the possibility of Christ returning at any time, but U see little else to commend it in Scripture.
So the question was= Will there be two returns of Christ - one invisible, then one visible, or only one? Will Christ return once to take up His people secretly, then once again to judge the world in a way that everyone will see?
So I said that Biblical passages about Christ's return are divided into 2 groups - one group (e.g. Matt 24:44, 25:13) tells us that we 'do not know the day or the hour'. The other group tells us of signs of His imminent return. These include the preaching of the gospel to all nations(Greek= ethne = people groups)(Matt 24:14), a time of tribulation (Matt 24:15-22), false Christs (Matt 24:23-24) and signs in the heavens (Matt 24:29-30).
We can then know the broad requirements for Christ's return, but never the exact time or date. Nevertheless, all of us who love the Lord should long for His appearing (Rev 22"20, 2 Ti 4:8) and must be ready for Him (Lk 12:40).
The idea that Christ comes twice ("Pretribulational/dispensational premillenialism") finds its basis in 1 Thes 4:16-17. The 'rapture' (Latin = rapio, to seize, snatch) means that Christians are taken up suddenly by Christ (leaving crashing cars and jetplanes with Christian pilots/drivers). As I see it, this is a predominantly American view starting all the way from some Puritans in the 18th century, then popularized by the Scofield Bible and more recent TV series. The view has the strength of seeing the possibility of Christ returning at any time, but U see little else to commend it in Scripture.
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