Amir Tsarfati
“Christ Himself will descend from heaven.” Now, the last time I checked, descending means coming down. So He is up there in heaven, as we know, and He will leave and descend from heaven.
Step number two, “He comes to receive us unto Himself says John 14:13. “Receive us.” So He’s coming down in this position, “Take a look at me.” Hands to receive, that’s how He comes. He is not coming riding on a horse. He is not coming with a sword in His hand. He is not coming to consume. He is not coming to destroy. He is coming to receive us unto Himself.
You see, that’s why you cannot mix it with the second coming of Jesus, riding a horse, ready to destroy all of His enemies. He is coming and He’s coming down, and He’s coming to receive us unto Himself.
And number three, “He comes in the twinkling of an eye with a shout of the trumpet call of God.” 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16. “Twinkling of an eye.” It is going to be rapid, it’s going to be amazing, going to be sudden, it is going to be swift, it’s going to be quick, it’s going to be amazing.
But they will hardly notice that we’re gone because there’s no process here. It’s the twinkling of an eye. Bang, we’re out of here.
So He will come down and He will come down to the clouds and we will be snatched from earth and meet Him in the cloud.
There is no verse that talks about the rapture just like Jesus’ ascension. Because Jesus’ ascension was seen by the disciples. The Bible talks about it in the Book of Acts that the men of Galilee were standing and looking at Him going up and they were just gazing into heaven. And the angel says, “Men of Galilee, what are you doing?” You know, “I've been waiting here for an hour.” “This same Jesus,” he said, the angel. Same Jesus, say that. Same Jesus. “Same Jesus will come back, likewise.” Same thing. So He will come back with His feet on the Mount of Olives, but we or the world will not see us going up just as the disciples saw Him going up. It’s going to be swift.
It has been said; “What problem do you have that the rapture wouldn’t solve?” The wonderful thing about this proposal is the number of things we know are associated with it.
1 Corinthians 15:50-53
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
The first-century Christians referred to the grave as sleep. They did so because when someone falls asleep, they also wake up. They believed that someday the dead bodies of all believers in Christ would wake up and rise from the dead. They also believed that those who are still alive will experience a radical change where all the negative things we worry about and struggle with in life will be over faster than we can blink. All the pains and problems our physical bodies endure will end at the same speed, in the twinkling of an eye.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
For this, we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Not only will all the things that burdened and bugged us be over, but they will be over forever! While we await that moment, that fact can bring us comfort. All the trials and tribulations of life are temporary. Paul even called them “light afflictions” (though they sure didn’t seem light at the time), but he also gave us the tool by which we can put them in their proper place and perspective:
Romans 8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Our tendency, far too often, is to compare our lives with that of someone else – someone who hasn’t gone through what we have, someone whose life seems a lot easier than ours. That’s not the proper comparison to make if we want to be comforted in this present time. We have to compare “what is” to “what is coming”. That’s because “what is” in these present times will be far overshadowed by all that will not be part of our eternal existence.
God does not expect us to live as mindless robots un-impacted by life’s pains and problems. But He does want us to keep the future in mind as we face them.
Titus 2:13
…looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ…
This is how we should face each day, by looking for the blessed hope of His glorious appearing. Then, if He doesn’t come for us today to take us to where He is, we will already know how we should live tomorrow. Looking for that blessed hope that will happen in a moment and twinkling of an eye after which we will forever be with the Lord. If things are hard and the trials are constant right now, comfort yourself and one another with those words.
Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus,
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