As the time nears for Jesus (Jehovah Saves) to come for His Saints (sanctified, set apart for salvation), I feel an urgency for those who will believe, to have sound Biblical doctrine to give them assurance that we WILL NOT go through the Tribulation.

There is so much false doctrine and doctrinal debates of when we will experience the 'Rapture' that many are confused and are become fearful that they will experience the horrors of the coming world Dictator and then face the 'Wrath of God' and of the 'Lamb' (Jesus) as well.

These following chapters from Profiles of Prophecy were written near 30 years ago, but the truths in them are just as relevant today as they were when they were written back then, only today we are more certain then ever that our generation will be the one to see the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to God's Truth, as it is the Truth that makes us free.

To know Truth, is to be so familar with the Word of God, that when the counterfeit comes along it is easily reconized for what it is. The foundation of our faith is the Word of God and every doctrine should be weighed accordingly, so be sure to verify what you read with the Word itself as there is no substitute for Truth ... God's Word is Truth (John 17:17).

MEETING IN THE AIR!

Jesus is coming again! This marvelous fact has a magnitude of abounding proportions and a magnetism of captivating force. It is a fact established with convining and reassuring impressiveness. All prophecy, either directly or indirectly, revolves about the return of Christ (Messiah)who will deal with the Church, with Israel, and with the nations.

"I will come again" is His personal promise (John 14:3). "This same Jesus, whom you see go into heaven shall so come in like manner" is the dramatic corroboration (Acts 1:11). "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven" is the alerting emphasis (1 Thess.4:16). It will bring release from bondage, rest for weariness, reward for labor, and rejoicing forever.

There are some matters which our Lord delegates to others - to angels, to men - but "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven" to take unto himself His "purchased possession." He will come with the shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God (! Thess.4:16). This is termed "the Rapture."

Being such an extraodinarily exclusive church event, it is difficult to understand why some attempt to bring Israel and the nations into it. They tell us the shout is for the Church, the voice of the archangel for Israel, and the trump of God for the nations. No, this is uniquely Church truth. Inject Israel and the nations here and the matter would be distorted.

Whatever the true significance of these salutatory expressions, the Lord Jesus Christ is the One who will employ all three in calling unto Himself those who are the "members of His body, flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone" (Eph. 5:30).

If there is any merit or value in attempting an explanation, and if similar employment of such terms constitutes a criterion or furnishes a corollary, perhaps the shout is to awaken the believers who have died, even as Jesus "cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth" (John 11:43).

And the voice of the archangel coming from the skies does not mean that Michael is with the Lord. The language is quite emphatic - "the Lord himself shall descend ... with the voice of the archangel." The Scriptures make it plain that the Lord Jesus employs many kinds of voices. John heard Him speak with a voice as "the sound of many waters" (Rev.1:15).

Michael of course is known as the archangel. His activity in the New Testament is limited, and has to do with Satan. In Jude 9, he contends with the devil. In Revelation 12:7, he fights against the dragon (Satan) who is the archenemy of both God and man. It is well known that Satan seeks to prevent men from receiving the Savior, plagues them in their pilgrim journey, and apparently will try to block their ascent at the time of the rapture, for he is termed, "The prince of the power of the air." This may be the reason for our Lord's employment of Michael's voice - to clear the way through the enemy's territory for His homeward bound saints.

The word "archangel" is a composite of several ideas, such as high, chief, first, etc. Thus, in this climatic moment, He will come with the voice of incomparable force and finality. And, as the shout of power will summon the dead in Christ, even so the voice of unchallengeable authority from the Chief will terminate the labors of the servants and will end their earthly activities.

The "trump of God" may be thought of as signalling the heavenly transport, as constituting the marching orders, when the dead in Christ (then with incorruptible bodies) and the living saints (then having put on immortality) will be caught up as one company to meet the Lord in the air, to be with Him forever.

While the coming of the Lord has been meticulously considered throughout the centuries - preached, published, sung - the ocean of truth surroundeing it has never been fully fathomed. It is an exhaustless message. And even though we read and hear again and again the salient features of this glorious event, the devoted heart never tires of simple repetition.

THE TIME OF FULFILLMENT

Advent truth is the corona of the 'aurora borealis' in the purpose of the infinite God, and since all other prophetic matters more or less revolve around it, it should not be difficult to understand that the time of its development is unalterably fixed in the divine economy. It is not with God, as with man; a matter of schedule. It is purpose, and no power can change it (Isa. 14:26). Though some, with the utmost sincerity, speak of hastening His coming, we must know that God does not operate faster or slower depending upon man's fluctuating devotion.

Concerning the first advent of Christ, it is written, "But when the fullness of time (the time appointed) was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law" (Gal.4:4,5). Regarding the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, "I will send him unto you" (John 16:7). When? "When the day of Pentecost was fully come" (Acts 2:1). The praying of the people in the upper roomm and their tarrying ten days, had no bearing on the time of His manifestation. And so it shall be when our Lord comes again. It is written, "Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, yea the set time is come" (Ps. 102:13).

The time to favor the Church, to deliver it, to present it unto Himself (Eph. 5:27), is likewise a set time in the purpose of God.

PRESENT BENEFITS FOR BELIEVERS

The meeting in the air is an exclusive appointment of the Lord with His Church. It looms on faith's horizon as the golden prospect. It furnishes an inspiration for vision, an inducement to purity, an incentive to patience, an impetus for witnessing, an expectation of deliverance, an anticipation of reunion, and the gateway to glory.

When the apostle Paul spoke of "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ," he was not only directionalizing activity, but encouraging vision. And this kind of looking gives perspective to the whole life. To keep ever before our attention, constantly in our hearts' afection, our actual confrontation with the Lord of glory must have an inspiring effect.

Perhaps no blessing of the blessed hope, apart from the actual meeting of Christ, is more tender and more comforting than the promise of meeting those who have gone before. The dead in Christ will be raised first, then the living believers will be caught uo together with them (1 Thess.4:16). All the grief of laying away the bodies of loved ones will be obviated in the rapturous joy of that glad reunion/ This is why it s said, we "sorrow not, even as others which have no hope" (1 Thess. 4:13). And what is the hope which alleviates the sorrow? The anticipation of this meeting in the air!

THE CLOUDS

"Caught uo in clouds" is a detail of revealing importance. It is not 'the' clouds, but simply clouds. There will be nothing nebulous on that bright, golden day. Groups on earth are termed crowds; in the air, clouds. Thus, there will be clouds of saved people going up from every geograhical area of the earth - a cloud from Hong Kong, a cloud from Johannesburg, a cloud from Ankara, a cloud from Berlin, a clooud from Stockholm, a cloud from Chicago, a cloud from London, another from Denver, another from Montreal, one from Anchorage, one from Auckland, etc. Believers may be comparativily few among earth's inhabitants, but they are everywhere. All will be caught up!

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col.3:4). He is the door to the Father's family in His death and resurrection (John 10:9), the forerunner into the gateway to glory in His coming for the Church (Col. 3:4).