In the Twinkling

of an Eye

932-b

THE MYSTERY

Imagine if you will, that for the first time in your life, you have found a copy of the Bible. Let's imagine that the copy you found contains everything from Genesis 1 through 1 Corinthians 14, no more, no less. With an insatiable hunger, you read it from cover to cover. From the Old Testament, you learn virtually all you need to know about creation, the fall of man, the flood, the patriarchs, the law, the wilderness wanderings and the words of the Prophets.

As you read through the New Testament, you find all that is necessary about the birth of Christ, the life of Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ and the ascension of Christ. You know from John 14 that He is coming again to take His group of followers home. You learn from Matthew 24 and 25 that He is coming WITH His followers to set up His millennial reign.

But there is at least one thing you won't know without 1 Corinthians 15. In verse 15 of this chapter, Paul makes this astonishing statement, "Behold, I show you a mystery." In other words, Paul is saying, "Listen, I'm about to unveil a secret. I'm about to tell you something you never knew before. It is this,

We shall not all sleep, 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.

Paul said, "Here's a mystery never before revealed." It is not that Jesus is coming again. It is not that the dead shall be raised incorruptible. We all knew these things. The mystery is, We shall not all sleep. The mystery is, it is possible to go to heaven without dying. Not everybody will die, but everybody will be changed.

You may ask, "Was Paul talking about Enoch?" No, he wasn't. You may ask, "Was Paul talking about Elijah?" No, he wasn't. You may ask, "Then just who was he talking about?" Maybe about you. Maybe about me. We don't know for sure just who, but we do know that a whole generation of people who know Jesus Christ as Savior will not taste death.

Paul was unveiling an incredible mystery. The mystery is that Jesus would come for His church at a time in history when the Church was still functioning on earth. A whole generation of believers would never have a funeral service. They would never have a death certificate. They would never have to be buried in a grave. They would be going about the Master's business, living their lives as generations before them had. Then, suddenly, in a moment, in a split second, IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE, in an instant too quick to measure, an entire world full of Christians will vanish. Paul said, "Now tell me, is that a mystery or is that a mystery?"

The Bible is full of mysteries, of course. There are hitherto unrevealed secrets explained to redeemed man at precisely the time in history that would best glorify God.

In Matthew 13:11 we read that the interruption of God's program with Israel by the introduction of this age was a mystery.

In Romans 11:25 we learn that Israel's blindness to allow the Gentiles to come in was a mystery.

In Ephesians 3:3-9, Colossians 1 and Romans 16 we learn that the formation of the Body known as the Church made up of Jews and Gentiles alike was a mystery.

1 Corinthians refers to the entire program of God that results in man's eternal salvation as being a mystery.

In Colossians 2 the relation of Christ to men in redemption was called a mystery.

In 1 Timothy 3 the incarnation itself is called a mystery.

In 2 Thessalonians the development of evil until it culminates in the revealing of the man of sin is referred to as a mystery.

In Revelation 17 the development of a great apostate religious system is referred to as a mystery.

Secrets now revealed at precisely the proper moment in time, these are the mysteries of the Kingdom.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul has dropped another theological nitrogen bomb which has exploded a myth that was plaguing the early church. In the process, he multiplied the hope of every generation that has ever walked the face of this earth as Christians since. Not only will every generation of believers be changed in the twinkling of an eye, ONE generation of believers in that same twinkling of an eye, will be translated from one realm of life to another. Without having ever walked through the corridor of the darkness of death, they will instantly be transported into the realm of light.

As the pages of the calendar of life have turned from age to age, this promise does not wane in its significance. Rather, with every passing generation, with every new decade, with every new sign that comes to pass that signifies His coming may be nearer, this exciting mystery swells with ever increasing significance. For, Beloved, every generation can triumphantly pronounce that theirs (more than the one just passed) has a greater chance of being called the "Saints of the Translated Era."

With Israel back in their homeland, with nations rising up against nation, with famines, plagues and earthquakes abounding, with perversion and immorality becoming an international lifestyle, with false Messiahs appearing on every hand and with the preaching of the Gospel being beamed across the world via satellites, is it any wonder that the spiritual blood pressure of this generation of Christians is rising with every heart beat of the latest news to a state of unprecedented expectation? Has the mystery Paul had spoken of so candidly in 1 Corinthians 15 ever been more relevant? For in a moment, in the "Twinkling of an Eye", every born again saint on this earth COULD be in the presence of Jesus.

You can keep your Earle Stanley Gardner mysteries, your Agatha Christie stories, your Rex Stout thrillers. God has revealed a mystery that causes all other mysteries to pale into insignificance. It's the mystery of the "Twinkling of an Eye." In case you haven't guessed, the title of this lesson is no mystery. It is entitled, In the Twinkling of an Eye. It is the second in a series of lessons we've chosen to call "Once the King Has Come." In the first lesson of this series, I outlined it and gave you a preview of what was to come. Let's now embark on our journey into the pages of prophecy and walk a step at a time through the soon to be unfolded experiences we've come to call the "End of the Age." Our lesson will involve three parts,

I. The Mystery

II. The Miracle

III. The Message

THE MIRACLE

As we have just seen, the mystery of Christ's coming FOR us is that we shall not all sleep. A whole generation shall pass from one form of life to another. The mystery is only a small part of the story. It is the miracle of His coming that staggers us. The miracle of His coming is unfolded by God in a series of statements that leaves us with absolutely no doubt as to what we need to know about that incredibly exciting moment in history. It is a moment that could take place at any time. It is a moment that could well take place in the twinkling of an eye.

God just doesn't tease His children with tantalizing tidbits of information to whet their appetites and then leave them without any basis of fact on which to build their faith. Our God delights to reveal to His children ALL they need to know to be intelligent saints. Yet, He delightfully withholds just enough to create in us an element of faith that requires us to rest in Him.

In 1 Thessalonians 4, God filled in the blanks for us concerning this newly uncovered mystery that we call the rapture of the church. In the King James Version of the Bible, the word "rapture" is not used. We also find that the words, "Trinity", "demon", "Bible", or "grandfather" are not used. This does not mean that the Scriptures do not speak of the Trinity or demons or the Bible or grandfathers. It simply means that the English words we use today to express those terms were not used when the King James Version was translated.

The word "rapture" actually comes to us from the Latin word, "rapere", meaning "to be caught up". This is what is translated in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The Greek word for "rapture" comes from "harpazo". The meaning of the word has come down through the centuries quite clearly by using the word "rapture", so we won't break precedence here.

Paul explains the miracle of the rapture quite clearly as he writes to the church at Thessalonica. Let's turn to chapter 4 to begin to accumulate all the information we can from the Scriptures about this momentous event. We will find the first fact by reading in verse 13,

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

Fact 1- God expects us to understand what's about to happen. Paul says, "Gang, I don't want you to be in the dark here. This is not one of those things you are to wonder about." Paul uses this expression, interestingly enough, four times in the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians 10:1 he told us that we were not to be ignorant of Old Testament examples and their significance to us as believers. In Romans 11:25 he told us we were not to be ignorant with regard to the restoration of Israel. In 1 Corinthians 12:1 he told us that we were not to be ignorant where the matter of spiritual gifts was concerned. Now in 1 Thessalonians 4, he warns us that we are not to be ignorant of the rapture of the Church.

Fact 2- We are not to be overcome with sorrow when Christians die. Here Paul contrasts the attitude of the believer towards the death of other believers with the attitude of those who "have no hope." Paul tells us that nonbelievers have reason to be sorrowful. For them, death is a stark reality. But for the Christian, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The day is soon coming, Paul reminds us, when those who are "asleep" in Christ, meaning those believers who have died and are now with Him, will in the "twinkling of an eye" receive their resurrection bodies.

Fact 3- As surely as we believe that Jesus died for our sins, so are we to believe that God will bring with Him those who have died in Christ. We do not understand just HOW it will happen, but we can be assured it WILL happen just as sure as we are that Jesus died and was raised from the dead. What we can be assured of is that when Jesus comes FOR those who have not yet died, He will bring WITH Him those who have died before as Christians. They will receive their resurrection bodies in the "twinkling of an eye."

Fact 4- These promises are nothing less than a guarantee from God Himself. 1 Thessalonians 4:15 says, For we say unto you by the Word of the Lord. In other words, this is not an interpretation by Paul of what will happen. This is a direct word from God that cannot fail.

Fact 5- There will still be some people alive when Jesus comes for the Church. Paul continues in verse 15, we who are alive and remain inferring either that he was hoping it would happen in his lifetime, or that he was speaking for the Church as a whole. Here he is repeating the mystery God used him to reveal in 1 Corinthians 15. He is clearly stating as a Word from God that a whole generation of people will not taste death.

Fact 6- Those who are alive will not precede those who have died as Christians. Apparently, Paul is assuring those whose loved ones had already gone to be with Christ that their departed loved ones will not be overlooked at the rapture. He words it this way, we who are alive and remain will not precede them who are asleep.

Fact 7- Jesus is coming for us Himself. Verse 16 says,

16 For the LORD Himself shall descend from heaven.

Paul is reaffirming that the Lord's promise to us in John 14:2-3 will come to pass. In this verse He guarantees us that

2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place fore you.

3 And if I go to prepare a place fore you, I will doubtless come again and receive you UNTO MYSELF that where I am, there you may also be.

The King is not sending for us, the King is coming for us. His sheep know His voice and they follow Him. He calls them by name. God isn't issuing a general call at the rapture. He is issuing a general call this moment that whosoever will, may come to Him. But once He comes, He will be coming only for those who have said "Yes" to His invitation of grace. Jesus is coming only for His own, and He is coming personally. There will be no mistake. You and I would easily take some who were not really His and leave some who were. Not so with Jesus Himself.

The illustration has been given of a huge magnet that passes over a floor that is strewn with particles of metal mixed with shavings of wood. To us, many of the tiny wooden particles LOOK like metal, but they're not. To us, many of the metal particles may be rusted and their real identity hidden. Ah, but the magnet makes no mistakes. No matter how rusty or unused, any particle that is really metal, the magnet will not leave behind. But likewise, any particle that is not metal, no matter how shiny or misleading in its appearance, will be left behind. The magnet only draws its own kind. Jesus Christ, at His coming, will make no mistakes. Those who belong to Him, He will come for PERSONALLY. Those who are not His, He will not take with Him. Jesus is coming for us Himself.

Fact 8- Jesus will descend from heaven with a shout. One commentator wrote this: "Whenever Jesus was responsible for a shout in the New Testament, a resurrection took place." We see this in John 11:43 when He cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"

In Matthew 27:50-53 we read,

50 Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up His spirit.

51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

53 And came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Beloved, when God shouts, death is defeated.

Fact 9- Jesus will be accompanied by an archangel. After the Lord Himself shouts in victory, the voice of the archangel will be heard. Now, I do not believe any one will hear the Lord or the archangel except for believers. Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me." To the unbeliever, it may sound like thunder, I do not know. But I do know that believers will clearly hear His voice, followed by the voice of perhaps Michael or Gabriel. Just as an angelic messenger announced His first coming, so will they herald His coming again.

Fact 10- The trumpet of God will sound. Dr. Pentecost in His book, Prophecy for Today, makes this observation:

ÒIn the Old Testament, the trumpet was used for two things: to summon to battle and to summon to worship. He suggests that in this passage, both meanings are involved, one directed at the angelic host, the other to the believers themselves. To the angels, the trumpet blast will mean Òprepare for battleÓ. His supposition is that the satanic host will no doubt do all in its power to withstand the power of God as He sweeps up His saints and draws them magnetically to Glory. The angelic host will suddenly be on call. To the believers, he goes on, that same trumpet blast will mean Òprepare to worshipÓ. In Numbers 10 we read,

And the Lord spake to Moses, saying, "Make thee two trumpets of silver that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly. When they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle.

Of further significance is Numbers 10:4 were we read,

If they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee.

Dr. Pentecost concludes ÒAt the rapture, only one trumpet is sounded.Ó (Suggesting that in God's sight, all believers occupy a place of princely importance.)

So the Lord will descend. He will shout His victory cry. The archangel will follow suit. The trumpet of God will sound its shrill, yet unmistakable call to worship. Now tell me, aren't you getting a little bit excited?

Fact 11- The dead in Christ will rise first. Those who have died from Pentecost to the Rapture will receive their resurrection bodies. It will be done instantaneously in the twinkling of an eye. However, it will be done orderly. The dead in Christ will rise first. Not some of them, or a few of them, or maybe them, but in orderly, perfect fashion, God will speak and they will respond to the one voice that death cannot silence.

Fact 12- The living saints will be raptured. In other words, in the twinkling of an eye, if you are still living on that glorious day, you will be swept up into the arms of Jesus. Not maybe, but for sure. This is for real. This is your written guarantee from God that if you are alive when He comes, this is what will happen to you. How could we live unmindful of that possibility? It could happen this morning, this afternoon, tonight or tomorrow. It may not, but it COULD. That's the issue, and eventually it will happen. That is the assurance.

Fact- 13 We will meet the Lord in the air. Jesus isn't coming to earth yet, but it won't be long. When the rapture occurs, we will be magnetically drawn up into the clouds to meet Him. Do you believe that? You must. God said it. You will be raptured together with other believers. You will be caught up into the heavenlies where IN THE AIR you will meet Jesus. Doesn't that make you want to stop and sing that song again?

Oh, that will be, glory for me,

Glory for me, glory for me.

When by Thy grace I shall look on His face,

That will be glory... be glory for me.

Fact- 14 We'll never again be separated from Jesus. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, so shall we ever be with the Lord. Just as today, nothing can separate you from the LOVE of God, so then nothing can separate you from the PRESENCE of God. You will be with Him forever and forever and forever. We'll have a lot to go through together, but we will never again be separated from our King.

Fact 15- This ought to be a source of great comfort. 1 Thessalonians 1:18 adds, Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. In other words, this passage should be read again and again and again in the church as a comfort to Christians who are engaged in the battle. He would not have us to be ignorant. He would not have us to be sorrowful. God has given us His Word.

A generation of Christians will suddenly hear the voice of Jesus. They will suddenly hear the sound of the archangel. They will suddenly hear the trumpet call of God calling us to worship. Then, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be changed. First, our departed Christian loved ones and friends will receive their resurrection bodies. Then, we who are alive, if indeed we should be alive at that time, will be raptured, swept off our feet into the heavens to meet Jesus and our loved ones in the air. There we will never again leave His side.

Now this is comforting. There may be times in your life when you can think of nothing comforting to say. When this happens, read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 aloud. God says it will comfort us. I believe it already has.

Fact 16- The rapture will come like a thief in the night. Now, I don't have to remind you that thieves don't give much warning. Thieves in the night give even less. Paul goes on to say in 1 Thessalonians 5:1,

But of the times and the season brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For you, yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

Paul is saying, "Don't expect God to give you some inside scoop about the day or the hour. It will happen suddenly, when you least expect it."

Fact 17- The world will not be expecting Him. We read on in chapter 5:3,

for when they shall say, 'Peace and safety,' then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

In other words, God's judgment through the tribulation will be about to come upon man, and man in his self-centered ignorance will think he's finally gotten the world under control.

Fact 18- Though we may be surprised we ought not to be caught off guard. We read on in chapter 5:4-6,

4 But ye, brethren are not in darkness, that this day should overtake you as a thief.

5 Ye are all the children of the light, and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness;

6 Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober.

You and I need not be overcome with fear at the thought of His coming. The thief only overtakes the one who is unprepared. We don't know the hour, but we know it IS going to happen. So we need to live in readiness so that we are never caught off guard or taken unexpectedly. Like a thief in the night, He will come, but we will be ready and excited.

So this is the miracle of the rapture. In graphic detail, God has told us all that we need to know. He simply does not want us to be ignorant. He rather wants us to be ready. What then is the message of the rapture? What is God saying to us by giving to us the detailed explanation of exactly how and why and when and in what order He plans to call us home?

THE MESSAGE

I believe that there is one particular statement that God is making about Himself by giving us such an intricately woven pattern of statements to clearly prepare us for the rapture. That statement is this: We belong to a God of infinite patience. 2 Peter 3:1-10 tells us,

1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:

2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

4 And saying, "Where is the promise of His coming?" For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Peter said that he wrote this second letter primarily to remind you that God always keeps His word. He wanted to warn you that the closer it gets to His coming, the more scoffers there will be. They not only won't preach about it, they'll laugh at it and make light of it. They'll use man's kind of reasoning and say, look how long it's been and nothing has changed.

What fools! Peter said. Nothing has changed. Are they ignorant of the creation? Are they ignorant of the flood? Are they ignorant of the patience of our God?

God hasn't forgotten what He promised He would do, quite the contrary, Peter concludes. You say then why hasn't He shouted yet? Why no trumpet? Why no archangel? Why no magnetic force lifting us up into the heavens to meet our Jesus? Has He forgotten?

Forgotten? Oh, Beloved, God has not forgotten. Why the delay?

Verse 9 told us - because of His incredible patience. It is not His perfect will that any should perish. So He waits, and He waits, and He waits, and He waits until every one who will come, has come.

But Beloved, once that last born-again one has been safely ushered into the ark of eternity through faith in Christ, once the last one who will say, "Yes!" says, "Yes!" in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, He'll come.

So what is happening today is that while the world scoffs and derides the gospel of the last days, while even the organized church to some degree tends to ignore the truths of the raptured church, even as the church has been lulled to sleep by the delay in His coming, Peter is saying that the very delay is in itself a sign. It is a sign of the kind of God we wait for. He loves each one of His creation with such an infinite love, that not only did He die to reconcile each of us to Himself, not only does He live to make intercession for us, but in patience He waits. Though He no doubt would hasten that day when sin is once and for all put away and His Son's bride is swept into heaven for a grand celebration, so patient is our God that for yet that last one who will come, He waits. He will yet for a moment leave the ninety-nine to call to that one. He will yet sweep the whole house for that one lost coin. So deep is His love, so infinite His patience, that He waits.

Could He be waiting for you? Could you be the one, or could you be one of the ones who has perhaps amidst even a life of Christianized activity, never stopped and once and for always, given your life to Jesus Christ? Have you again and again postponed saying, "Yes!" to Him because like the rich man of old, the cost is too high? Beloved, until you count the cost of saying, "No," you haven't really counted the cost at all.

If you haven't already done so, I invite you in the name of Jesus Christ, the One who died for your sins on a Roman cross, the One who was buried in a borrowed tomb, the One who was gloriously resurrected the third day according to the Scriptures, the One who is perhaps at any moment going to open His arms in the heavens and shout from heaven to gather us up to be by His side forever, in the name of this very Jesus, who would have come a long time before now except for His infinite patience, I invite you to invite Him to become the Lord of your life. He died for you, to live in you. Ask Him. Right now, He will come TO you. Who knows, very, very shortly, He may come FOR you.

The mystery is that an entire generation of Christians will not know the taste of death. The miracle is that the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. The message is that He would have come long before now, were it not for His infinite patience and love. He wills not that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Oh, we serve an incredible God. He is a God so patient that He will suffer untold abuse, untold suffering and untold unbelief, rather than come too soon. But, beloved, once the moment is right, make no mistake about it, our Jesus will come to take us home. Make no mistake about this either, He will do it, and when He does it will be IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE.

In but the twinkling of an eye

Our blessed Lord will come.

So quickly, human eyes won't see

Just what our God has done.

But, we who know and love Him

Will hear His voice at last.

A shout of triumph from our King

And then, a trumpet blast!

And in a grand, majestic plan

Those first who sleep will rise.

Then we who still alive remain

Will meet them in the skies.

And as we're swept on Heaven's wings

In our terrestrial ride,

We'll know without a doubt we'll be

Forever by His side.

No more will Satan hassle us,

No more will sin destroy.

No more will death it's ugly sting

Be able to employ.

"Hosanna, Praises to the King!"

With victory we will cry.

For Jesus came and swept us up

In the twinkling of an eye.


Questions regarding Discipleship Tape Ministries and its pages may be sent to: DTM	Last Update: April 30, 2002
© 2002 Discipleship Tape Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved.