SATURDAY 27th
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Does anyone remember this old song?
‘There’s going to be a meeting in the air,
in the sweet, sweet bye and bye,
I’m going to meet you, meet you over there,
in the home beyond the sky,
such singing there will be,
never heard by mortal ear,
‘twill be glorious I do declare,
for God’s own Son, will be the leading one,
in the meeting in the air!
I remember it vividly, being sang especially at the annual conventions we used to have in Hereford, because my late grandfather used to be the song leader, and I can see him waving his arms around with all the effort he could to get the song sung with full gusto. The song speaks of something future, it is a song that is seeking to portray something of what will happen after the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ when the redeemed of the Lord will be assembled in praise and worship around the throne. (Revelation 5) It is going to be amazing, but immediately prior to that meeting in the air something else is going to happen and to quote Scripture it will happen ‘in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye’. (1 Corinthians 15:52) (‘in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye’ NIV)
It is what we call the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the rapture of the living believers at the second coming of Jesus. Now, I am not going to use this devotion to go through all the varying views concerning the timing of the second coming, except to say that my personal view is that of pre-tribulation and pre-millennial.
Jesus is coming again, he promised he would and that is good enough for me, he also said that when he came again he would take the disciples to be where he was going to, which was to where his Father was. (John 14) This promise also stands for those of us who have subsequently come to faith. Paul tells us how Jesus is coming again and what will happen, or how he will take us to be with himself, it is either via resurrection from the grave or by being snatched, taken up. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ‘For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.’
During the week, I was having a conversation with a man who I had never met before, I was out walking and videoing the birds and he had seen me with my camera and enquired what the bird was up in the top of the tree. After telling him, the conversation continued, and he recommended to me a place to go to for a walk with the camera. I said I would need to write it down as I didn’t really know the area and would forget and so I got my phone out and typed the place in. The conversation continued and a few minutes later, he said, ‘I don’t think you have heard me right, it must be our accents,’ and proceeded to tell me the name of the place again. ‘Ah,’ I said, and repeated it and so the place name was changed. However a few minutes later he said ‘I still don’t think you have heard me correctly,’ and again sought to tell me the name of the place and yes he was right I had heard it wrong so a third attempt was made and I finally had the correct name. Initially I heard him say with his ‘very difficult’ to understand northern accent (difficult to me!) something like ‘Cler Bank’ He had actually said Clay Bank, I heard Claire Bank, then Clear Bank before finally getting to Clay Bank.
When it comes to what Paul has to say in 1 Thessalonians 4 concerning the second coming, we cannot mishear it, we do not need Paul to repeat it two or three times, the information is very clear and precise. Let us break it up:
The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel
At the same time there will be the sound of the trumpet of God
The dead in Christ will rise first
We who are alive, who are left will be caught up into the clouds
Together (the dead that have just been raised and the alive who have been caught up) will meet the Lord in the air
And so we will always be – that is with the Lord
That’s cler, ah no, that’s Claire, oh no, that’s clay, silly me, that is clear!
What will happen, which we reminded ourselves earlier will happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye and will be incredible. Imagine it, the dead being raised. I’m one of those who likes to walk around graveyards reading the tomb stones, and am amazed at the amount of effort that has gone into some of the massive slabs of stone or concrete covering them, and in a jiffy, at the shout and trumpet blast the bodies of those who have died in Christ are going to break through whatever has been placed upon the tomb, and as they ascend through the soil, concrete or stone, we the living believers are going to join with them and ascend into the presence of Jesus. Surely this is something worth getting excited about! And, in that instant an incredible transformation is going to take place. It is this transformation which was intended to be my subject today but I have gone the way I have and so we will have to continue tomorrow.
Let us get excited about the amazing future we have in Christ, a future that will last throughout the countless ages of eternity. There is going to be a meeting in the air, will I see you there?
You have heard of little Moses in the bulrush,
You have heard of fearless David and his sling,
You have heard the story told of dreaming Joseph,
And of Jonah and the whale you often sing.
There are many, many others through the Bible.
I should like to meet them all, I do declare!
By and by the Lord will surely let us meet them
At the meeting in the air.
There is going to be a meeting in the air,
In the sweet, sweet by and by,
I am going to meet you, meet you over there
In that home beyond the sky.
Such singing you will hear, never heard by mortal ear,
‘Twill be glorious, I do declare!
And God’s own Son will be the leading one
At the meeting in the air.
Many things will there be missing, in that meeting,
For the mourner’s bench will have no place at all,
There will never be a sermon preached to sinners,
For the sinner had refused to heed the call.
There will be no mourning over wayward loved ones,
There will be no lonely nights of pleading prayer,
All our burdens and our anguish will be lifted
At the meeting in the air.
There the doubters will be missing altogether,
All the sceptic will be absent on that day,
There will be no grumblers present to disturb us,
And the Achans will be busy far away.
There the saints will have His seal upon their foreheads,
Dressed in raiment none but ransomed ones can wear,
All who have the wedding garments will be present
At the meeting in the air.
CCLI788682