The immediate return of our beloved Lord is the sure hope of every believer. Comforting, reassuring: then why so seldom preached? The apostle Paul revealed this mystery in the first Thessalonian letter. He said, ‘I do not want you to be ignorant brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you should sorrow as others who have no hope.’ This expectation shines brightly amidst the biting sorrow of death. Then he claimed, ‘For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.’ Oh, what rich comfort this brings to the Lord’s people when a believer is taken from this life.
This comfort is reserved for those who believe that Jesus died and rose again. Hence the urgent need to preach our Lord’s atoning death and His triumphant rising again from the dead.
The lack of this powerful preaching is linked with the obscured hope of His near return?
Let’s examine the rich features of this comforting word. Jesus is coming again! Soon.
Isaiah the prophet knew these truths, ’Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust, for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.’ Only God’s Spirit could write authoritatively of the resurrection from the dead; and the earth, including the oceans, releasing the bodies of believers for the resurrection. 26:19 Our eternal God releases eternal truth for the heirs of eternal life.
Paul argues strongly, ‘If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8;11 If the Holy Spirit raised the God-Man, Jesus, from the dead, then He who raised the Messiah, our Prophet, Priest and King, will enliven our frail bodies. His captivating second coming is like what our Lord does in our perishing bodies. Bodily resurrection and rapture of the church are parallel truths.
In 1 Corinthians 15, the resurrection chapter of God’s word, we expect to find the unified truth of resurrection and rapture. ‘Now is Christ risen from the dead, and has become the first-fruits of them who sleep.’ The Lord ascended to heaven after his resurrection, paving the way for us His blood-b ought children to follow. Paul continued, ‘Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ, all shall b e made alive. He states our resurrection hope and the rapture of Christ are linked with each in his own order: Christ the first-fruits, ( that is, the resurrection from the dead ) and afterwards those who are Christ’s at His coming, the silent, rapturous seizing of the saints . What blessed hope!
Scripture simply and powerfully states, ‘ After the resurrection and rapture of the saints, God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. V 14 Paul reinforced this in 2 Corinthians 4;14, ‘Knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.’ God has so intertwined our lives with His dear Son, that the Father is obliged to raise us up together with His beloved Son, and present us to Himself before heaven’s throne. When we know these real blessings , Christ becomes exceedingly precious to us. Some believers are strangers to them.
The Bible describes the secret, snatching away of the blood-bought church , the resurrection of the bodies of believers, our reception in heaven itself for the marriage supper of the Lamb. The secret appearance, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, is distinguished from the majestic appearance of the Christ after the 7 years of tribulation, when ‘He will send His angels, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other‘. Matthew 24:31 That includes those who have trusted in Him and His salvation during those fearsome tribulation years. The rapture and second advent of our Lord are separate events.
Paul contends that our true home is heaven and He is our realisation: as we keenly anticipate His coming. ‘He wrote, ‘Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Philippians 3:20 Please observe the full title of our Lord, who loses or forfeits nothing of His majesty and splendour in this secret transaction. We shall cheer our victorious Lord when He has fulfilled this remarkable deliverance.
The staggering physical change in each believer is resurrection restoration by our all-powerful Lord, ’ Who will transform our lowly bodies that it may be conformed to his glorious body , according to the working by which he is able to subdue all things to Himself.’ Philippians 3:21 As frail, finite creatures, we must not limit our mighty Lord’s transforming power, by estimating cells and rearrangements in a body and final expulsion from the grave-that is God’s dominion, and we leave it confidently in His skilled hands. ‘He makes all things new‘. Spirit, soul, body!
The Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God. God used the trumpet to awaken His people. Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.’ God’s symphony arrested them: deafening peals of thunder, fearsome flashes of lightning, an ominous rain cloud and the penetrating, trumpet blast, ‘On the third day in the morning, there were thundering and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountains, and the sound of a trumpet was very loud, so that all the people that were in the camp trembled.’ Understandably, the Lord will usher in the second coming of our Lord with a shattering, trumpet blast, heard by every believer. At the foot of the Kokoda Trail in WW11, we heard the trumpet blast reverberate through our valley each morning and evening, sounding the Reveille and Last Post. Resurrection follows death.
John had a vision of our Lord Jesus Christ on the isle of Patmos. Indeed, John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and he heard behind him a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying I Am Alpha and Omega , the First and the Last. Revelation 1:10 The trumpeting voice shattered the eternal silence, heralding the title of our Lord as Beginning and End.
In 1Corinthians 15:52, the last trump will sound. God hid this second coming truth until this moment except for the Lord‘s promise in John 14:3, ‘I will come again and receive you unto Myself.’. Oh, what an event it announced. Paul disclosed it in 1 Corinthians 15:52, ‘ Behold I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep ( that is die ), but we shall all be changed: in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, ( requiring 1/100 second ) at the last trump. Then the announcement, ‘The trumpet shall sound. And the dead shall b e raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.’ Notice the Lord’s announcements are simple: there is no hesitation, no approximation; God planned it; He will perform. He cannot doubt His ability to accomplish what He has promised. Nor should we!
Scripture teaches there is coming and going between heaven and earth: two way traffic.
’ We shall be caught up’ is normal activity from God’s viewpoint. We are obsessed with earth’s gravitational pull, presuming that only earth has such a tug, while heaven’s attraction is a much more powerful force. Consider Elijah, who had enjoyed faith-challenging fellowship with Elisha. ’Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirl-wind, 2 Kings 2:11. From heaven’s viewpoint, that is understandable - it seems strange only from human understanding. No chariot of fire with horses could compare with the Lord of glory.
Philip was air-lifted from a revival scene by God’s power. The same Greek word ‘harpazo’ described the snatching away of the evangelist, ‘When Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away. ‘ Acts 8:39 God consistently uses supernatural means, revealing the uniqueness of Deity. Indigenous people of some nations speak of levitation of individuals, or the release of demonic power.
Presumably Paul spoke of his being caught up to heaven as in 2 Corinthians 12:2. Commentators agree that Paul was the privileged person. ‘I know a man in Christ, who fourteen years ago-whether in the body I do not know- or out of the body I do not know. God knows- such a one was caught up ( the same harpazo ) to the third heaven. ‘ Beyond the clouds,( first heaven ) the stars ( second heaven ) is heaven itself ( God‘s dwelling place ). He was caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.’ God consistently used the same expression when He intervened in locating and disposing of His children. Here, the Lord of glory lifted Paul out of this world into heaven - for an undisclosed time- and reinstated him to proclaim the Lord as no other has done. The same God will rapture His church of every generation, tongue and nationality since Pentecost. Numbers, distance, conveying and transformation are no impediment for our God.
We will b e in the illustrious company of the King of Kings when Jesus comes for His own.
Christ’s precious blood has rescued us, and he has paid the full liberating price to the Father.
All misery and distresses of life will b e replaced by delight and exaltation. Isaiah writes, ‘the redeemed shall walk there. The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.’ 35:10 Many saints yearn for their Lord and all the benefits that accrue from HIM, to come for them.
Warm comforting light will dispel the darkness, while His magnificence dissolves all shame.
‘Isaiah added, ‘The Lord will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory. Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will b e your
everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended.‘ 60:20 Christ’s rapture releases many from persecution, deprival of comforts, bodily weakness or gruesome suffering for whom heaven will be blessedness and overwhelming delight.
Our Lord isolated a promise of his coming for His Bride in John 14:3.when He said, ‘If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself.’ For what holy purpose? In the rapture, our beloved Lord will delight to show His magnificence., ‘That where I AM ( as the eternal Jehovah ) to his beloved bride, the church which he purchased, there you may be also.’ Paul shows us that we are immigrants from the body, and this passing world when we have been seized by the Lord. Heaven is endemic; for heaven is our eternal home and we are in the same culture as all that are redeemed with the precious blood of the Lamb. We are from ‘every kingdom, tribe, tongue, people.‘ We are ’at home’ with Him. Paul wrote, ’We walk by faith and not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased to be absent ( having emigrated ) from the body and be present with the Lord. ’ 2 Corinthians 5:8
Strong’s concordance translates this,’ Among our own people; present with the Lord; to be endemic; to be in our own place and land. Hence his cry: ’Even so come, Lord Jesus’!
In his Philippian letter, Paul told how he was in a bind; like a ship in a channel, such as the Suez Canal,` where movement is in only one direction; or a beast in a holding place where medication is administered by his owner. He wrote, ‘I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.’ Paul longed to be with his beloved Lord, yet, staying here for fruitful encouragement to God’s people, was essential.
In the Revelation John pictures the glory of our dear Lord in heaven. The curse has been removed; the throne of God and the Lamb are secure: all shall see Him in all His beauty; He will have inscribed HIS name on their foreheads ( a medical expression for our memory is in the frontal cortex of the brain ) ; no darkness shall infiltrate this territory, for the Lord of glory will illuminate the entire heaven. We all shall share the throne of heaven with our reigning Lord.
‘There shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; they need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign for ever and ever.’ 22:3.
Heaven is home. Our beloved Saviour has exalted and embraced us. He is our Husband, we His exalted bride. Time merges into eternity. All praise be to the Lamb on the throne.
Later, Paul speaks to his flock, ‘ Whether you wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.’ Then he commands, ‘Therefore, let us comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. ‘ 5:12 God commands us, ‘Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.’ v18
As the coming of our dear Lord approaches, we must build up each other in our most holy faith.
Isaiah amazes in the breadth of his vision, writing, ‘Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her that her warfare is accomplished. 40:1
How much more should we cry out comforting words to His blood-bought church as the warfare of Calvary is accomplished and the days of His coming quickly approach.
In Luke’s gospel our Lord dramatically pictured the concluding days of this world’s climax, ‘ ‘There will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and on the earth, distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; recurring earthquakes and tremors in China, displacing millions, losing many lives ; devastating floods in Myanmar ( Burma ) with vast numbers homeless, deprived of shelter, food and drinking water, with ‘Men’s hearts failing them for fear ( a high proportion of hospital patients in western world have depressive as well as organic symptoms)
And the expectation of these things coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall b e shaken; ( initiated at time of the Rapture of Christ, but magnified, expanded and multiplied when He majestically reigns. ‘Then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory,
‘Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.’ 21;25-28
Around the throne of God in heaven,
Thousands of children stand,
Children whose sins are all forgiven
A holy, happy band, Singing glory, glory, glory.
Because the Saviour shed His blood
To wash away their sin;
Bathed in that pure and precious blood,
Behold them white and clean.
On earth, they sought the Saviour’s grace,
On earth they loved His Name;
So now they see His face,
And stand before the Lamb.
Anne Shepherd.