May 19, 2019
Adrian Rogers
Scripture Passage:Revelation 4:1-5
The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is called our blessed hope. We live in the Church Age, but at the midnight cry, Jesus will return for His own.
Revelation 4:1-5 tells us more about the Rapture of the Church and our heavenly homecoming.
“After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this’” (Revelation 4:1).
The Rapture is a sacred mystery, which we will never figure out on our own. We can only obtain details of the Rapture by divine revelation.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 gives a promise that we can hold onto. According to these verses, Jesus Himself will descend from Heaven, a shout will come from His mouth, and we will rise in the air to meet Him.
Adrian Rogers says, “Those who have been Heaven-born will be Heaven-bound.”
As Christ followers, we believe in the Rapture, because we believe in the Gospel; we know God is not finished, and the Rapture is linked to redemption.
Revelation 4:4 mentions twenty-four elders who are representatives of God’s people: the twelve patriarchs of the Old Testament and the twelve apostles of the New Testament. Scripture describes their white robes and golden crowns, testifying to the purity and royalty of those who belong to Christ.
No one knows when the Rapture will take place, only that it will happen immediately when the trumpet sounds. Regardless, every Christian is right to expect Christ’s return in his lifetime. We are not waiting for some fulfillment of prophecy: the Second Coming is always near.
The reason our Lord will Rapture His church is to receive His Bride for Himself and rescue Her before the Great Tribulation. It is also a time of reunion, in which we will be joined with one another and with the twenty-four elders. Though we may not know many details about the Rapture, we know it will be a glorious day indeed.
What can we do as we wait for the Second Coming of Jesus and the Rapture of the Church?
