Come Up Here :: By Dennis Huebshman

Starting with 1 Corinthians 15:52, “’in a moment,’ in the ‘twinkling of an eye,’ at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead shall be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” (emphasis mine)

Before continuing, I have heard people say they believe this trumpet is from the Revelation 8 & 9 Trumpet Judgments. This is not so. The trumpet in this passage is an “alert” notice for all true believers that we are about to head for Home. This earthly body will be converted to an eternal, imperishable and immortal body that will be pain-free, sin-free and death-free for all eternity.

Next, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “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.”

At almost every important Jewish event, there would be shofars or trumpets used to announce that something important was about to take place. The “calling up,” “Harpazo” or “Rapture” will be the most important event to take place for all believers going back to the moment of the crucifixion at Calvary, and right up to the moment of the Savior’s call.

Paul used “twinkling of an eye” to indicate just how fast this event will occur, and I believe only those being taken up will hear the trumpet and cry. For the nonbelievers, it will occur so fast (less than one second) that they will only know people are suddenly gone.

Paul does not tell us what the “cry of command” is, but I believe it will be three words that were used in the past. In Revelation 4:1, “After these things, I looked and there was a door standing open in Heaven. And the first voice I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, Come up here, so that I can show you what must happen after these things.” Next is from the future as given in Revelation 11:12 when the two witnesses that were slain by the antichrist are raised from the dead. “Then they (all around them) heard a loud voice from Heaven saying to them, Come Up Here! So the two prophets went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies stared up at them.” This will not be as rapid as the Rapture, but God will use it to show He is in full control.

We are rapidly nearing the end of this age, and the commencement of the wrath of God, also known as the tribulation, will take place. People can deny the word of God all they want, but He has proven to be 100% accurate in all the completed prophecies so far. There aren’t all that many events left before the actual “touch-earth” return of Jesus. After that, we will have His millennial reign on earth, followed by everyone’s eternity.

There will be those who refused to accept the will of God from creation up to Calvary, and refused to accept Jesus as their Savior from the Cross all the way to the end of the Millennium. Their fate is given in Revelation 20:11-15. All in attendance at that Great White Throne will spend all eternity in a place that was made for the devil and his angels [demons]” (Matthew 25:41).

All who followed God’s will up to the Cross, and all true believers of the Savior from the Cross to the end of the Millennium, will spend eternity with Jesus in a new Heaven and new Earth as given in Revelation 21-22.

The amazing part is we have a Creator – our Heavenly Father – who could demand our worship and praise, or cause us to suffer terrible consequences. That would not be a God of love, but a tyrannical ruler. Our God loves us more than we can begin to comprehend (John 3:16; Romans 5:8), and He gives us free will to choose which path to eternity we decide to take.

He really wants every soul on earth to accept His Son, and to spend eternity with Him, and He gives us every opportunity to repent and be saved (2 Peter 3:9).

Some may ask, how can a God of love “send” anyone to an eternal hell. As stated, all who end up there will have chosen it for themselves. Our Heavenly Father is faithful and just and allows this free will.

Satan and the fallen angels have no pathway to forgiveness as they had been in the presence of our Most Holy Almighty Heavenly Father. Humans have the ability to be forgiven of all sins except one. That would be to take their last breath on this earth without Jesus in their hearts. That is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit in denying Jesus as the one and only true Savior (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

As each day goes by, my constant plea is “Father, today would not be too early.” I believe we will hear the trumpet soon, and then the most beautiful words ever, “Come Up Here!”

For anyone who has not received and accepted the gift our Savior provided at Calvary, now would be a good time to consider doing so. See Romans 10:9-13; Acts 4:12; John 14:6; John 3:16-18 and 1 John 5:12 for starters. There is no guarantee of tomorrow, but we do have the promise from the Heavenly Father of a wonderful eternal life if we are part of the Savior’s flock (John 10).

As with my plea to the Father, today would not be too early for you to guarantee your eternal soul will be with Jesus by calling on Him to forgive you and rescue you from the Lake of Fire.

Come, Lord Jesus!

huebshman46@gmail.com

 

Riots and Rumors of Riots :: By Daniel Payne

What we’re currently witnessing in America is nothing short of lawlessness. It’s quite obvious that the goal of the powers of darkness is to castrate the rule of law in America, through any and all of their willing puppets. It is only then that true lawlessness will follow.

Matthew 24:12, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”

The liberal news media is either complicit or insane. They only seem to serve to exacerbate any crisis situation, like COVID-19, or now the current riots.

There is an order to everything in nature: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

There is an ebb and a flow. Think of the tides rolling in and out of a bay. The incoming tide flows in, followed by the outgoing tide flowing out. That’s just the way of nature.

If there’s bad news that points toward things against opening up our economy, there’s also good news that points in favor of opening up our economy.

Why then does the liberal media always seem to only report “news” that leads against opening up the American economy? Why must they always dwell on the negative without dwelling on the positive?

The only thing positive they dwell on are COVID-19 test results. Even if they do happen to mention something that could be construed as a positive toward opening our economy, they always add an additional negative comment that extinguishes any hope.

Why? Do they not understand the natural order of things? It’s not possible for every thing to be negative as it relates to people getting their freedom back.

It’s as if they’re not letting the incoming tide follow the natural flow back into the bay. They’re like a giant face continuously blowing their enormous breath of putrid wind against the ocean, in order to keep the bay and inland waters from being refreshed by its plentiful waters.

To a reasonable person, it’s as if they’re trying to ensure that the COVID-19 crisis lasts as long as possible. How can that be? Is the media responsible for how many people get sick?

Of course not, and that’s the point. People are gonna get sick, most people are gonna get better, and some people will not. That’s just the way of things.

However, the media can and does control the response to the crisis, and they certainly know that. Nothing will stop them from laying out the red carpet for the man of sin.

Jesus warned us of these exact days that we’re currently living in:

Matthew 24:6-8, “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

The same Greek word translated as “wars” above is also used by James to describe quarrels:

James 4:1, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?”

It’s as if Jesus was warning us of the mobs and riots we’re seeing more and more now around the world. The word Jesus used for “wars” can also mean “battles,” and no one can deny that what we’re currently seeing around American cities today is nothing short of battles.

Then, in the next verse, Jesus described nations rising against nations. The Greek word that Jesus used for “nation” means “nationality,” “ethnicity,” or “race.”

In other words, the warning given by Jesus as to what the last generation would witness right before the Tribulation “could” rightly be translated as:

And you will hear of riots and rumors of riots. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For race will rise against race, and country against country. And there will be famines, viruses, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

With social media, information spreads at light speed, both true and false information. What’s really happening, and what’s rumored to happen.

With mobs tearing down statues, stores, monuments, police stations, and anything they can get their hands on, the words “wars” and “battles” seem very appropriate. It’s obvious that the raging lunatics have no real cause except to hate all righteous authority.

Psalm 2:1-2, “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against His Anointed.”

Based upon Christ’s warnings, it seems very likely that we’ll be witnessing wars between countries very soon. Of course, earthquakes can strike at any place, anytime; but with the fear of COVID-19, a brand-new Ebola virus outbreak in the Congo, and the pestilences of locusts and other factors causing severe famine in certain parts of the world already happening, military warfare seems next on the horizon.

Not to mention, this hurricane season is forecast to be yet another one for the record books.

Exactly when the true, faithful, watching, waiting, and warning church will be caught up to meet Jesus, will determine just how much more trouble we are going to witness.

However, nothing that is happening is outside God’s knowledge, power, and ability to protect His own. He has an exact date picked out already when we will be brought to stand before Jesus while the rest of the world stands before Antichrist.

Luke 21:36, “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”