Well, recently we've received a lot of important questions on 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 to 17,

that famous rapture text.

Here's one from Jonathan who listens to us from New Jersey.

Hello Pastor John, it's fairly typical to hear Christians say of someone who has passed

away.

There with Jesus now.

But in 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 to 17, it sounds like Paul is saying that Christians who have

died will meet Jesus at the second coming.

Do Christians go to be with the Lord when we die?

Or when we meet him when he comes back to earth, I guess what I'm asking is this.

When a Christian dies, what comes first?

Seeing Jesus or being raised from the dead.

The reason this is an excellent question is because 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 and 17 really

do sound like what Jonathan says that believers who have died are raised from the dead and

in that sense, first meet the Lord at his coming rather than immediately meeting him

when they die.

It sounds like that.

But I'm sure that's not what Paul means there and I'll try to show why.

I think it's really plain from two passages of Scripture that Paul was certain that when

he and other believers died, they would go immediately to be with the Lord Jesus and

see him in that moment.

And here are those two passages.

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