(1Tm) The Last Trumpet Will Sound
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For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew 24:27)
Anyone who has lived where there are electrical storms knows there is nothing secretive about lightning. The dark clouds swollen with rain blot out the sun, moon, and stars. Tension builds as the electrons accumulate on the higher points of the landscape.
Suddenly the electricity discharges, leaping from the earth to the clouds. Brilliant forks of light reflecting enormous energy momentarily illuminate the blackness. We know that the energy of the Holy Spirit that will lift the Church in the Day of the Lord will be enormous—powerful enough to pluck God’s saints from all the forces of Satan.
Then comes the crashing roar of the displaced air rushing back together. The windows rattle. People and animals are stunned. Somehow the majesty of God comes to mind and the affairs of earth are seen in perspective to be the feeble activities of ants crawling about in the dust.
So it will be in the Day of the Son of Man. The light of the Holy Spirit suddenly will shine through the saints—the saints on earth and the saints coming from Heaven with the Lord Jesus. The light of God in the saints, the same light that was separated from the darkness in the beginning of the creation, will reach from horizon to horizon. This will take place when spiritual darkness is at its peak.
Earth’s peoples will see the Light of God’s Glory on the saints.
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise on thee, and his glory shall be seen on thee. (Isaiah 60:2)
Then will come the galaxy-creating power of the Word of command of Christ and the powerful voice of the chief angel of God. The majesty of God will be revealed. The peoples of the earth will stagger about in frightened confusion. Their terror and frustration will turn to unbearable remorse as they realize that the gates of redemption may be closed to them for eternity.
Remorse will turn to rage as the lost confront their leaders, their deceivers—those who have taught them that man can bring peace on earth apart from Christ.
Satan will mock the lost in that hour, heaping coals of torment on their heads. The vials of Divine wrath will be poured on the wicked, on the servants of Antichrist. They will cry to the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of God and the Lamb.
Up to the time of the appearing of Christ the saints had been persecuted and tormented by Antichrist and his wicked subjects. Now the vengeance of God has been revealed from Heaven and the tormentors have become the tormented.
The sons of God will show no mercy on evildoers in that Day but will crush the wicked under their feet.
And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 4:3)
Relief will come to the besieged saints of the last days, not by a mythical "rapture" but by the reinforcements that will descend from Heaven and destroy the forces of Hell.
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: (II Thessalonians 1:7,8)
As soon as their spirits have been reunited with their bodies the saints of all ages will ascend from the face of the earth. Their movement upward will be graceful, magnificent—wonderful beyond words. The sky will be filled with them. They will be as clouds ascending into the clouds.
The anthems of praise to God and to the Lamb that was slain will thunder from horizon to horizon as the music of a celestial pipe organ. The incredible grandeur of that moment will surpass any scene that could be painted by the most gifted of artists.
Truly, God shall prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies.
Now the wrath of God will be poured on the wicked of the earth.
They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. (Luke 17:27)
But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and sulfur from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17:29,30)
We have just completed the sixth of the seven major events in the coming of the Day of the Lord.
This marks the end of the Christian pilgrimage as we know it. From this point onward there will be no more trials for the saints (according to our understanding in the present hour), no more sickness or death. They are forever with their Lord. They are immortal having been clothed with bodies of glory. This is the first resurrection, the reward of the overcomer. The saints now will be assigned their places of authority and service.
The time has come for Christ and His coheirs to inherit the earth and earth’s peoples. Christ will sit on the Throne of David in Jerusalem and the nation of Israel will be exalted to preeminence. The Gentile nations that have survived Armageddon and have been accepted of the Lord will have a thousand years to inhabit a redeemed earth. During this period of time they will be compelled to obey the laws of the Kingdom of God.
Each saint will become a fountain of the living waters of the Holy Spirit. Out from the Body of Christ will flow the River of Life, bringing salvation and healing to the saved peoples of the earth (Ezekiel 47:9).
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