The Two Trumpet Call Events
Part Four
You
have to get the picture very clear of how the Church is going to be taken out
of the way of the Great Tribulation, and if there was no other proof in
Scripture the promise of Jesus here alone would suffice.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust
also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would
have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you
also may be where I am.”
John 14:1-3 NIV
We
can be secure in the knowledge that as surely as Jesus went to Heaven so will
He return for His own, to take us too.
Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see
Me: because I live, ye shall live also.
At that Day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me,
and I in you.
He that hath My Commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that
loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be Loved of My Father, and I will Love
him, and will manifest Myself to him.
John 14:19-21 KJV
Jesus
said, "Because I live ye shall live also." We live, not in
anticipation of physical death as unbelievers do, but in anticipation of Jesus
coming again for us, and whether we be living or dead at that time we shall
rise together with Him in Glory. This is assured because Jesus has already
risen and ascended to Heaven and that is why His resurrection is so important
to believers - not only does it guarantee the future resurrection and ascension
of those who have fallen asleep in Christ, it also guarantees the Rapture of
those still living at that time. The ultimate purpose of The Lord coming back
for His saints is so they will be with Him in all eternity, and taking them to
Heaven is simply the first step in His purpose.
If
there is no Rapture then these Scriptures would have been meaningless, but they
are not meaningless at all.
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead,
how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is
no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if
Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More
than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have
testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise
him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then
Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your
faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in
Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be
pitied more than all men.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits
of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the
resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so
in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the Firstfruits;
then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
1 Cor 15:12-23 NIV
In
verse 32a, Paul said: “If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human
reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised…
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that
is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is
raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a
natural body, it is raised
a spiritual body.
(vv 42-44 NIV)
I declare to you,
brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the
perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not
all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised
imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the
imperishable and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been
clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying
that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in
victory."
"Where, O death, is
your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
The sting of death is
sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear
brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the
work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
1 Cor. 15:50-58 NIV
Brothers, we do not want
you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of
men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we
believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According
to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left
till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen
asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command,
with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead
in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will
be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And
so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these
words.
1 Thess. 4:13-18 NIV
These
passages clearly express God's eternal Purpose and Plan for His saints and are
unassailable proofs of the fact and the manner of the Rapture for those who
dismiss the Rapture as a fallacy of fundamentalism. We learn from these Scriptures
that the spirits and the souls of all that have fallen asleep in Christ will be
brought back from Heaven to be united to their resurrected bodies—and together
with the living-resurrected, shall meet The Lord in the air. The corruptible
bodies of those fallen asleep in Christ will rise up from the grave and put on
incorruption while the mortal bodies of the saints still living at that time
will put on immortality. Then we will all meet up together in the clouds with
The Lord before going to the place Jesus has prepared for us in Heaven as He
promised in John 14:1-3.
We
must therefore work faithfully and expectantly with The Lord towards God’s
eternal reward for His people (read Philippians 3:10-12, 20-21).
This
teaches us that our citizenship is in Heaven from whence we look for Jesus to
come and take us unto Himself.