Up, Up, and Away

In A Moment; In The Twinkling Of An Eye – I’ll Fly Away

Suddenly And Without Warning

“For the Lord, Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with 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. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

The Lord is coming back just as He promised. He is coming twice. First, He is coming for His church in what is known as the Rapture. And finally; He is coming in judgment against a rebellious and evil world at His Second Coming. He came in His first Advent to pay the price for the sin of mankind and offer forgiveness and new life to whomsoever will believe in Him and His sacrificial death at Calvary. Our introductory verse in this article addresses the Lord’s coming for His church prior to the Great Tribulation. The Lord said the following concerning this time of final judgment:

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved (left alive)” (Matthew 24:21,22). The Lord promises to keep His church from this end-time judgment as He makes clear in the following verse :

“Because you have obeyed My command to persevere (remained faithful persevering), I also will keep you from the hour of temptation (the Great Tribulation), which will come upon all the world, to try them who dwell upon the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

Obviously, it would be best to be caught up to be with the Lord in the Rapture before the judgment. When He comes for the church He will not come all the way back to earth but will meet us in the air. All the believers who have died will rise first, and then we who are alive at the time will be caught up to be with the Lord. And along with the wonderful promise to be with the Lord forever; we will be raised incorruptible, without a sin nature, as the following verses explain:

“Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trump shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1Corinthians 15:51,52).

“For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:53,54).

When the Lord comes for us we will not only rise to be with Him but we will be changed. We will receive our glorified bodies and will no longer live in our current tent with a fallen sin nature. What a promise! And it gets even better as the following verse states. Jesus made the following promises to us prior to His crucifixion:

“In My Father’s House are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2).

He promised to come for us (the Rapture) so that we might be where He is. He left to prepare our home (many mansions) for us and we will be with Him forever! All this could happen at any time. There is nothing prophetically that must happen prior to the church being caught up (raptured) to be with the Lord. His coming will be sudden and without warning.

“Behold I come quickly (suddenly without warning)” (Revelation 3:11).

Whether we die in the Lord prior to His coming in the Rapture, or we are alive at His return; The following song expresses our joyful anticipation of His soon return:

I’ll Fly Away

Some glad morning when this life is over; I’ll fly away! To a home on God’s celestial shore. Just a few more weary days and then; I’ll fly away! To a land where joy shall never end; I’ll fly away!

(I’ll Fly Away composed by Albert E. Brumley in 1929)

Always Remember,

God Loves You!!!

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Here I Am, Lord – Tom Quinn Ministries – tqministries.com 2022