certainly must come for them before He can come with them. The assurance that God will bring them (Greeklead them forth) with Jesus (1 Thes. 4:14) is evidence. that He will first come for them, they being caught up to meet him in the air. Verse 17. The Greek word here rendered "to meet" signifies a going forth, in order to return with. The same word is used in Acts 28:15,6 where the brethren came out to meet Paul and had a season of thanksgiving with him at Appii Forum and the Three Taverns, when he was on his way to Rome. This exactly accords with our being caught up to meet Christ and afterward returning to the earth with Him.

Again, at the Rapture Christ comes as the Bridegroom' to take unto Himself His bride, the Church.8

At the Revelation, He comes, with His bride, to rule the nations.9

Zech. 14:5. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

(6) Acts 28:15. And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum, and the Three Taverns; whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.

(7) Mat. 25:10. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut.

(8) Eph. 5:25. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

26. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.

27. That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it

should be holy and without blemish.

28. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

29. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

30. For we are members of his body.

31. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

32. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

(9) Rev. 2:26. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 27. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Rev. 5:10. And madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon the earth.

At the Rapture He comes only to meet the saints in the air, 1 Thes. 4:17.

At the Revelation, He comes to the earth,10 and His feet stand upon the same Mount Olivet from which He ascended.11

At the Rapture the Church, like Enoch, is taken out of the world.12

At the Revelation, the Millennial Kingdom is begun.12

In Luke 21:28, the Rapture is referred to at the beginning of the Tribulation. "When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." (Redemption here meaning the first resurrection, same as in Rom. 8:23.) 13

In Luke 21:31, the Revelation is referred to, when "these things" (the Tribulation) have come to pass, and the kingdom of God draweth nigh.

Rev. 19:15. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

See also Rev. 12:5.

(10) Acts 1:11. Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

(11) Zech. 14:4. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

5. And the Lord my God shall com'e and all the saints with thee.

(12) Acts 15:13. And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:

14. Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.

15. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,

16. After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:

17. That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all

the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.

(13) Rom. 8:23. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

The Rapture may occur any moment.14

The Revelation can not occur, until Antichrist be revealed, and all the times and seasons (which point to the day of the Lord) in Lev. 26, Daniel and Revelation be fulfilled.

The Revelation ushers in the day, the Day of the Lord.15 The failure to make this distinction has led to great confusion among commentators upon this subject.

For instance: In 2 Thes. chapter 2, the apostle, in the first verse, speaks of the Rapture, to-wit: the coming of the Lord and our gathering together unto Him, of which He had written so fully in the previous epistle, especially in the 4th chapter.

In the second verse he speaks of the Revelation, or Day of the Lord,* which could not come, except there be a falling away first, and the "man of sin" and "that wicked," or the Antichrist, be revealed.

And yet, most commentators have argued that the apostle, in both of these verses, referred to one and the same event, and thus they have made Scripture contradict itself.

But we see plainly, that Paul had no intention of contradicting Christ's admonitions, unto all, to watch for His coming, as being imminent. Mark 13:35-37; Luke 12:3540. He only made the distinction, as above stated, between the Rapture and the Revelation. The persecuted Thessalonians thought that they were in the Tribulation, and that the Day of the Lord had set in. But Paul corrects them, first by reminding them that the Lord had not come for

*Greek, the oldest MSS. read κvpíov = Lord, not xploroÛ = Christ. See Bengels' Gnomon and others.

† évéσTηKEV (enesteeken) which authorized version renders "at hand," means to be present, or to have set in. See same word in Rom. 8:38; 1 Cor. 3:22; 7:26; Gal. 1:4; Heb. 9:9, in each place rendered "present."

(14) Mat. 24:42. Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

(15) 1 Thes. 5:2. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as

a thief in the night.

Luke 17:30. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

Also 2 Thes. 1:7-10; 2 Pet. 3:10-12, etc.

them yet, as He had said that He would (1 Thes. 4:15-17), and then by adding certain other things which must occur before the Day of the Lord should come. He had told them that the Day of the Lord should come as a thief in the night (1 Thes. 5:2), but that they were not of the night, and therefore He exhorts them to watch and be sober. (See also Lu. 21:36.16)

Another evidence of the difference between the Rapture and Revelation consists in the fact that the Church is to escape the Tribulation, which precedes the Revelation. (Mat. 24:29-30.)

Enoch, a type of the Church, by his rapture,-that is by being caught away or translated (Heb. 11:5)-escaped the flood.

Christ says, in Luke 21:36, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."

And in keeping with this injunction He gave a blessed promise to the Church, in Rev. 3:10, viz.: "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold I come quickly," etc. A special hour, or time, of temptation-i. e., trial--is here mentioned, which shall come upon all the world ( οἰκουμένη-oikoumenee the whole habitable

-same word in Mat. 24:14-all the world).

It is a time of trouble not limited to Judea, but as extensive as the inhabited earth. This accords with the great tribulation described in Mat. 24:21, a "tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world ever shall be."

nor

Jesus promises to keep the Church from, or (ek) out of this tribulation, or hour of temptation, that is, the watchful and prayerful believers will escape it. Luke 21:36. Now, as it covers the whole earth, there is no way

(16) Luke 21:36. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to

escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

of escape from it, but to be taken out of the world, and this is accomplished by the Rapture. Acts 15:14, and 1 Thes. 4:17, which thus presents a glorious deliverance for the Church.

The elect, a portion of Israel,18 will be gathered back to Jerusalem,19 and pass through the fire, or great trial.20 Like Enoch, the Church escapes from it.