This is the blessed hope of all believers on the Lord Jesus Christ…that day when He will return in the air to gather all His saints to be with Him in glory forever.  Let’s read about that day in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, “Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 

BEHOLD I SHEW YOU A MYSTERY – The rapture of the church was a mystery hid in Christ until the Lord revealed it to us through the Apostle Paul, who wrote as led by the Lord. (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  Colossians 1:26 says, “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints. 

WE SHALL NOT ALL SLEEP – This sleep speaks of physical death as we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED – At the coming of the Lord to gather His church, all believers (those living and those who have died) will have their bodies changed into a body that is fit to live in Heaven.  “…the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”  (1 Corinthians 15:53).

IN A MOMENT, IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE – This shows how quickly this event will happen.  Faster, even, that we can understand.  Some have understood this “twinkling of an eye” to represent about 1/60 of a second.  Certainly quicker than anyone will be able to observe and understand.

AT THE LAST TRUMP – We are told in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “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.”  We also read in Revelation 4:1, “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and THE FIRST VOICE I HEARD WAS AS IT WERE OF A TRUMPET talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”  What and when is this trumpet to be sounded that will alert believers of the return of the Lord in the air to receive His own to Himself?  In the scriptures, the trumpet was used to summon an assembly. A few examples are:

  • Exodus 20:18, “And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.”
  • Psalm 81:3, “Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.”
  • Isaiah 18:3, “All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.”

The last trumpet is the one which concludes a series which have already been sounding at intervals. For example:

  • Psalm 47:5, “God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.”
  • Numbers 10:1-9, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee. When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward. When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations. And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.”

The “last trump” in 1 Corinthians 15:52 refers to that trumpet that is sounded to signal the time to ‘move out’.  It doesn’t mean there will never be another trumpet sounded, but this last trump is the one that signals the Lord’s return.  This trumpet could sound at any moment and all believers in Christ will be ‘raptured out’ and go to meet the Lord in the air.  Are you ready for this to happen?  Have you repented of your sins and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation?  I truly pray you are ready for once the rapture happens, those who have refused Christ as their savior will be doomed.  Read 2 Thessalonians 1-12. (CC)  (697.6)