4. The Rapture
REVELATION 4:1
Here we enter into the third division of the book of Revelation. Chapter 4 begins with the Greek phrase meta tauta or "after these things."
After these things [the things of the church] I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter [also meta tauta - 'after these things'] (Revelation 4:1).
We have now come to the end of the church history upon the earth and the final message to the churches.
In His messages to the last four churches, Jesus spoke of His second coming. He warned the churches of His return.
"Behold, I come quickly," He said.
If they didn't repent they would be cast into the Great Tribulation. If they kept the word of His patience, Jesus promised that He would keep them from the hour of temptation.
"After these things" - after the church has finished her testimony upon the earth and God is through with us - there shall come from heaven, The voice of the archangel, and the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the
Lord (I Thessalonians 4:16-17).
The church will be transported into heaven for a seven-year period during which t ime there wi l l be Great Tribulation upon the earth. (For an expanded commentary on the rapture of the church, see Snatched Away! by the author.)
After the church's witness and work upon the earth is completed, the trump of God shall sound. The trumpet sound will be saying to the Christians, the body of Christ, "Come up hither!"
While in summer camp, I've heard the trumpet say "Rise and shine!" and I've heard the trumpet say "Go to bed."
I've heard the trumpet say "Come and eat!", and at football games I've heard it say "Charge!"
But I'm waiting for the trumpet to say "Come up hither!"
I don't know what kind of a trumpet call it will be - but I'll understand it and recognize it the minute I hear it!
When the trump of God shall sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible. And "we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (I Corinthians 15:51-52), "caught up... to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be
with the Lord" (I Thessalonians 4:17).
The Bible does not say that we shall be in heaven forever. It says that we shall be "with the Lord."
Wherever Jesus is, that's where everyone who is a Christian will be, because we're all part of the body of Christ. We'll never be separated from Him.
While He is in heaven, we'll be in heaven. When He comes back to earth, we'll come back to the earth. When He goes into the new heaven and the new earth, we'll go into the new heaven and the new earth.
The Jehovah's Witnesses say, "I don't want to go to heaven and twiddle my thumbs for eternity."
Born-again Christians don't intend to. We intend to be
there for seven years while the earth goes through the Tribulation.
We'll enjoy the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in heaven. Then we expect to come back to reign with Christ upon the earth.
We'll reign with Him as kingdom priests on the earth for one thousand years, then enter into the new heaven and new earth wherein dwells righteousness, and we'll live and reign with Him forever.
If the Lord told me to sit on a cloud and twiddle my thumbs, I'd be the happiest thumb-twiddler in all the universe!
I'm not afraid of what God has in store for me. I can hardly wait! I'm sure it'll be more exciting than twiddling my thumbs.
I feel sorry for those people who degrade heaven. They say, "You're always talking about the 'sweet by and by' or the 'pie in the sky.'
You should be more concerned with the 'here and now'."
It was Jesus who encouraged us and gave us this glorious hope. I'm looking forward to going to heaven. I don't care what they say, I'm anxious to see it.
Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:2-3).
There's the clue. Where Jesus is, that's where I'll be, and in His presence is fullness of joy.
It took seven days for the Lord to create this beautiful world. He's been preparing heaven for two thousand years. Imagine what it must be like by now!
And you don't want to go there? Friend, you can stay here in all this pollution if you want to, but I'm going up!
I believe that the rapture of the church takes place in verse one of Revelation 4 - after the things of the church history are completed.
John heard a voice as a trumpet saying, "Come up hither, and I will show you things that shall be after these things."
Now John will see the things that shall take place after the church
is gone.
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