The Two Trumpet Call Events
Part Five
Paul
reaffirms to the Corinthian Church, that when Jesus comes He will change our
natural bodies to spiritual, from mortal to immortal, from corruption to
incorruption and from weakness and humiliation to glory and power. Our new
transformed bodies will be flesh and bone like Christ's body of Glory which He
showed to the disciples before He ascended to Heaven (Lu 24:36-43).
The
Church and all the saints of God will go up to be with Jesus - Old Testament
and New Testament saints alike - right back from Adam, Abel and onwards. This
even includes Rahab the harlot (Josh. 2:1-6, 6:17-25; Heb. 11:31; Jas 2:25-26).
There
will be two resurrections of the dead. “The First Resurrection” is to Eternal Life
for the righteous dead, who will stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and The
Second Resurrection - over 1,000 years later - is to eternal damnation for the
wicked dead. They will be judged and consigned to hell at the Great White
Throne Judgment.
For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, that
each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body,
whether good or bad.
2 Cor 5:10 NIV
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given
authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because
of their testimony for Jesus and because of the Word of God. They had not
worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their
foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand
years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were
ended.) This is the First Resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have
part in the First Resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but
they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a
thousand years.
Rev 20:4-6 NIV
Then I saw a Great White Throne and Him Who was seated on it.
Earth and sky fled from His Presence, and there was no place for them. And I
saw the dead, great and small, standing before the Throne, and books were
opened. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were
judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave
up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in
them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and
Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If
anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the
lake of fire.
Rev 20:11-15 NIV
The
Rapture is the blessed hope of the Church. The Church has been waiting for it
to happen since Paul's day. Paul knew the Rapture could have happened in his
lifetime, and he communicated that anticipation to the Thessalonian Church (read
1Thess. 4:13-18). We likewise are to be in eager anticipation of it and communicate
it to others also.
Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we
have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3
because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in
this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed
but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be
swallowed up by life.
2 Cor 5:1-5 NIV
Read
also Romans 13:11-14.
The
Rapture is a purifying hope - a source of inspiration and consecration for all
sincere Christians, and a comfort to those being persecuted for Jesus' sake.
Jesus
said something very important concerning the Rapture in Luke 21:36, this
teaches us that there is a way to escape the Great Tribulation and that is to
be accounted worthy. The more Scriptures we study the more we see the Church as
being accounted worthy through the Blood of Christ (see Rom. 5:8-10). The Bride
of Christ (His chosen Church) is not going to go through the Great Tribulation.
The Tribulation is God's wrath poured out upon sinners, not saints (Eph 5:1-7).
Only
those walking in the Light as God is in the Light will be taken up in the Rapture.
Christians who do not remain faithful to the Salvation benefits wrought out for
us by Christ on the Cross of Calvary will have the wrath of God poured out upon
them, the same as unbelievers. They will go through the Great Tribulation with
the unbelievers (1 Thess. 1:6, 9-10). This makes it clear that truly faithful
believers are not appointed to go through the Great Tribulation, and that they
can know they will be taken out of the way when Jesus appears for His saints at
the Rapture.
Let’s
see what Jesus promised the Philadelphia Church in Revelation 3:7-13
"To the angel of the
church in Philadelphia write:
These are the Words of Him Who is Holy and True, Who holds the Key
of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before
you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength,
yet you have kept My Word and have not denied My Name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of
satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars — I will make
them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have Loved
you. Since you have kept My Command to
endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to
come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.
I am Coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take
your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the Temple of My God.
Never again will he leave it. I will write on him The Name Of My God and the
Name of the City of My God, the New Jerusalem, which is coming down out of
Heaven from My God; and I will also write on him My New Name. He who has an ear, let him hear what The
Spirit says to the churches.
Rev 3:7-13 NIV
Read
also 1Thessalonians 5:1-11.
This
teaches us that the Day of the Lord, designated by the Great Tribulation will
not overtake us like a thief in the night because we are not the children of
darkness, who it will overtake, but the children of Light, and we are not
appointed to go through the Tribulation. Again we see that God's wrath is to be
poured out upon sinners, not GOD’s children who live by His Word. This is
further proof for those who are not sure that the Rapture will precede the
Great Tribulation, however we must all comply with the conditions of verse 6-8
to qualify for the Rapture:
So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be
alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get
drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the Day, let us be
self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of Salvation
as a helmet.
1 Thess. 5:6-8 NIV