The Rapture - Rev 4:1

“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which 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.”

Instantaneously:

*Heaven is opened

*The Trumpet sounds

*The Voice calls us up

But first... John looked! As he was looking way back then, so ought we to be looking today.

Note: Where are you looking? The Christian needs to take 3 looks: Inward, to guard his relationship (I Cor 11:28). Outward to look for souls for the kingdom (Jn 4:35). Upward from whence cometh our help! (Ps 121:1)

Don’t ever look down. Looking down strikes fear into the heart.

John was the last of the original disciples, longing for the promise that the angels gave them in Acts 1:9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 

Jesus had said to Peter concerning John:

Jn 21:22  Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. 23  Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? 

If John was looking, anticipating, expecting then, how much closer is His coming today? He could have come at any time in the interim, but there is an appointed season, day and time.

Mk 13:32  But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. 33  Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. 

But the Lord says that there are dozens of signs that do point to that day. And we ought to be able to discern the seasons. See, He said no man knows the day of the hour, but Paul says that we should not be ignorant of the times and the seasons. It isn’t much of a stretch for us to imagine that all we are seeing and hearing portend the coming of our Lord in the clouds to call us home!

Ø No doubt Gabriel is prepared as the announcing angel (to: Mary, Joseph, Shepherds – “Jesus is coming!)

Ø No doubt the Mansions are being prepared as Jesus told Thomas in John 14:1,2 “Let not your heart be troubled…”

Ø No doubt the Bema is being prepared  II Cor 5:10

Ø No doubt the Supper is being prepared   Rev 19:9 (Cooks are in the kitchen, the servants are polishing the silver)

Ø No doubt the Guardian Angels are ready to return home from their earthly deployment   Heb 1:14 “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister to us”

Ø No doubt the Spirit that withholds is prepared to be taken out of the way   II Thess 2:7

Ø No doubt this old world is groaning for the end   Rom 8:22

Ø No doubt our loved ones are gathering at the river bank

Ø No doubt Jesus longs for His own to be home  “So shall we ever be with the Lord”

It all just awaits the Father's command: "Son, go get our children!"

Are you looking for His coming? Luke 12:37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. 

I wonder if, even now, heaven is about to open, if the angel is getting his trumpet shined and lips ready, if the Lord is clearing His throat for the call home…

John was looking, Paul was looking, the martyrs were looking, our parents and grandparents of old were looking, the old time preachers were looking, SO SHOULD WE!