Jesus's next Visit

 1 Corinthians 15:51-58

Do you enjoy a mystery?  In my opinion, a good mystery book keeps giving me clues but does not reveal the truth till the very last pages of the book.  The apostle Paul is telling us about a mystery and he begins in verses 51 and 52; “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 imperishable, and we shall be changed.”  When Paul uses the word sleep, he is referring to death in Christ, and the mystery is, Jesus coming back for His church, but many will be alive at the time of Christ returning in the clouds, but they will be changed as in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, “For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”  Many refer to this as the rapture of the Church it is not the second coming, for Jesus is not coming at this time to reign for a thousand years.  But it seems clear that when the Church is removed so will the Holy Spirit’s influence and the evil one will have his will for a time with all who are left.

So as we visit verses 53-56, it becomes clear that all was put under authority at the cross, when Jesus declared it is finished, the final victory was won over death and sin.  Returning to 1 Corinthians 15:53-56, “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
  O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Last week my pastor Ray Still shared this in his sermon, the democrat nor the republican, nor the Baptist, nor the United States Constitution died for my sins, only Jesus Christ, so I will only have allegiance to Christ, first and foremost.  I believe verse 58, gives us the same orders, put on Christ, and make sure your loyalties are to the one who paid your debt in full.  Verse 58, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice