This is my fourth study from the book of Revelation but the source is actually the four previous studies. Paul, in 2Corinthians 5:8, said, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,” but in 1Corinthians 15:51, Paul said, “We shall not all sleep.” It should be clear Paul kept the commandments of Jesus just as it should be clear the church never has. Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, said, “I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all.” In this verse Paul said two things foreign to most Christians: he thanked God for the gift of tongues and stated he spoke with tongues more than all of them.
Now, not that there should be a competition as to who could speak in tongues the most, but Paul was writing to bring some order to the Corinthian’s services because there was so much speaking with tongues going on, yet bragged he outpaced them all. Clearly there is an appropriate time and place to speak with tongues but when was the last time you heard anyone thank God they were able to speak with tongues or brag they spoke with tongues more than anyone else.
Jesus told us, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love,” which means if you do not keep Jesus’ commandments, you will not abide in His love. For Paul, to be absent from the body was to be present with the Lord because by keeping Jesus’ commandments, he would abide in Jesus’ love, but the vast majority of Christians sleep after death. This is because most Christians do not know or recognize the commandments of Jesus.
Now, what am I talking about? In Acts 1:4, after Jesus was made King of Kings and Lord of Lords, after all power in heaven and earth had been given to Him, after He had set up the kingdom of heaven; Jesus issued three commandments. He commanded His followers to wait for a baptism with the Holy Spirit, He commanded them to preach a gospel, and He commanded them to disciple converts. The word, keep, from John 15:10, means to maintain a prescribed condition, which means, in order to remain baptized with the Spirit, the gift of tongues must flow regularly, as Paul said, “I speak with tongues more than you all.” This is the gospel the Church was called to preach. Except for a short period of time in the very beginning, the church has never kept these commandments.
Let’s go back to my first study on Revelations. After reading the book through twice, the thing that stood out to me was a phrase I found twice in the Good News Translation. The phrase was “The secret thing foretold by the prophets but revealed by Jesus.” As it turns out there is no such phrase in the Good News Translation and my second study began with that point. However, there is no doubt there is a secret thing foretold by the prophets and revealed by Jesus.
The secret thing is the whole of the new covenant. The church, by and large, does not know living in the love of Jesus is dependent on keeping Jesus’ commandments or what those commandments are. The whole of the new covenant is hidden from view. In 2Corinthians 12:2, Paul said, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven.” Paul goes on to say he heard things unlawful to tell. In other words, Paul heard secrets but Jesus tells us before the end every secret will be revealed.
So, in 1 Thessalonians 4:15, when Paul tells us: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which sleep,” these that sleep are those who believed in the Christ, they are those who believed Jesus died because of their sins on the cross. These believers did not believe 2 Corinthians 5:17, that if you are in Christ Jesus you are a new creation, old things have passed away and all things have become new. They did not believe the Lamb of God was sacrificed in heaven by the hand of the Father, or that they needed to keep the commandments of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. They did not believe in the only begotten Son of God, who was begotten by God in heaven after the Father had taken the man, Christ Jesus’, life.
If we consider again Revelation 1:20, the seven golden candle sticks in Jesus’ hand is the seven churches Jesus is about to dictate letters to. Jesus is displeased with each of the churches and accuses each church of abandoning the doctrine it was founded on. Still, even the church He is most displeased with is represented by a golden candlestick. As much as church leaders publicize the love of God, I think they woefully underestimate it.
1Thessalonians 4:16 continues: “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and the voice of an archangel and the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first.” The dead in Christ are those that sleep. They believed enough to get their foot in the door and Jesus honors that faith but they must prove themselves before they can rise to heaven. What is the voice of the archangel?
In Daniel 7:1, Daniel has a vision that is troubling to him and he asked one who stood near the meaning of the vision. In chapter 8, the one he asked to explain the vision turns out to be the archangel Gabriel. This continues for several chapters where Daniel receives a vision and Gabriel explains its meaning. It is clear one part of the responsibilities of archangels is instruction. So when Jesus descends with the voice of an archangel, he is descending with instruction.
The trumpet call of God is the call to repentance. During the time the judges ruled Israel, the trumpet blast was used to gather Israel together. Jesus uses the trumpet blast in the same way: to gather men to Himself. This call however demands a decision. Each time the trumpet was blown in Israel, men had to decide if they would stand with those sounding the call or not. In order to stand with Jesus, each man must decide if he will keep the commandments of Jesus or not.
Jesus descends with three things to call the dead in Christ back to life. He descends with a shout, Dead in Christ, arise! He descends with the voice of instruction, You must keep the commandments of the new covenant, and He descends with a call to repentance. This is because the dead in Christ have failed to exercise the faith that would give them eternal life. John 3:16 tells us we must believe on the only begotten Son of God in order to inherit eternal life but when was Jesus begotten of God?
Three times in the scripture we find the phrase: “You are my beloved Son, This day I have begotten you,” but what day did it occur; where; and when? If everything begets after its own kind, as we are told in Genesis, then when was Jesus not God? He was certainly not God on the cross when the Father abandoned Jesus and He cried out, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me.” If Jesus was God on the cross, how could God abandon Him?
Jesus was not God when He raised His body from the grave or when He ascended into heaven. When the Father laid Him across that heavenly altar and pulled that knife across His throat, He was not God. When the Father infused His own life into Jesus, Jesus was made God again and this is when Jesus was begotten by His Father.
In Hebrews 8:5, it is recorded that Moses was to construct the old covenant tabernacle “exactly as you saw on the mountain.” Hebrews goes on to tell us there is a tabernacle in heaven with a sacrificial altar. What would the purpose of this altar be? We are told Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice.
If you didn’t know this was when Jesus was begotten by God, don’t feel bad. This is one of the secret things Paul heard but was unable to tell. Every single New Testament writer tried to tell this secret. Every single Old Testament writer tried to tell this secret. And Jesus tried His best to tell it. Mankind was unable to hear it or receive it. When Jesus descends with the voice of the archangel, the dead in Christ will hear it, will believe it, and will go out preaching it. Many of the Christians who are on the earth at that time will also believe it and go out preaching it; after all, Jesus will unleash an army of resurrected dead onto the earth. They will not eat or sleep or work or play. They will be raised from the dead for one purpose and one purpose alone: to reap the precious fruit of the earth.
These resurrected dead will know the gospel they heard while living was wrong. They will be desperate for the truth. They will know they have a short period of time to correct their faith and nothing will stop them from learning the truth and putting it into practice. They will know they have but one opportunity to get it right. The phrase, you will find me when you search for me with your whole heart, will define these resurrected dead perfectly.
Today, as absurd as it may seem, with Christians suffering every disease known to man, and every calamity suffered by any other man, with a few thrown in just for Christians, it is not readily apparent that Christians do not abide in Jesus’ love. However, the perspective of having been asleep in Jesus when all the theologians said to be absent from the body was to be present with the Lord, will be an enlightening experience for the dead in Christ.
Of course, I believe there is a period of time between 1Thessalonians 4:16, “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and the voice of an archangel and the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first,” and 17, “After that we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so shall we be forever with the Lord.”
The question is: “After what?” Paul says Jesus descends with three things but Paul does not describe those three things. Jesus descends with a shout but the word, “shout,” is in the imperative form of the verb. This makes this shout a command. And just as Jesus stood before Lazarus’ tomb and with a loud voice, said, “Lazarus, come forth,” Jesus will descend from heaven and shout, “Dead in Christ, arise,” and the dead in Christ will obey.
If the dead in Christ rose immediately to meet the lord in the air, there would be nothing else required, but Jesus also descends with the voice of an archangel. This means the dead in Christ need some instructions before they can rise to meet the Lord in the air. Instructions take time. What could these instructions be?
Then Jesus also descends with a trumpet blast. In other words, He rallies the dead in Christ for a corporate purpose; He calls them to Himself. Each of the dead in Christ will have to decide whether they will take on the voice of the archangel. Now, curiously, in John chapter 10, Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice and the voice of another, they will not follow.” But if I am correct, the dead in Christ spent their lives following the Father, even though the Father gave all power and all authority to Jesus, and Jesus established a whole new kingdom and covenant with it. The dead in Christ haven’t followed Jesus, did not know His voice and are not one of His sheep. They were however, in the Father’s pasture.
Again, Paul followed Jesus but Paul thanked God for the gift of tongues and bragged that he had outpaced the Corinthians in His pursuit of the gift. How many Christians do you know who are thankful for the gift of tongues and go around bragging about how much they speak with tongues? Most Christians attempt to put enough space between themselves and the gift of tongues to maintain a comfort level because the gift of tongues makes them uncomfortable.
Yet Jesus said, “If you believe on me, out of your belly will flow rivers of living water.” And this spoke He of the Holy Spirit. To be a follower of Jesus is to be a tongues talker. Many of those who embrace a gift of tongues are by and large not particularly comfortable with the gift and seek to hide their involvement. Most are not outspoken or braggadocios. Friends and family do not know or have ever heard them speak with tongues. They are by definition, not a follower of Jesus and therefore do not know His voice.
In the church today there are seminars on how to hear God’s voice and a debate rages over whether God still speaks to His people. Of course, under the kingdom of God, God only spoke to His prophets. If you are a follower of the Father, unless you are called to the office of prophet, there is no reason to expect to hear from God. If you are a follower of Jesus, however, Jesus speaks to His sheep and His sheep know His voice and will not follow a stranger.
Paul says, “After that.” After what? After the loud command calling the dead in Christ back to life, after the instructions, after the trumpet blast, and after the dead in Christ are obedient to the Lord’s commandments, “we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” Now, these four things could not happen in a manner of minutes, they could not happen in a matter of hours or days If you consider the dead in Christ spent their lives living for the Father God, under the kingdom of God, it might take some time for them to acclimate to the kingdom of heaven. The truth is, if I’m right; the dead in Christ don’t know the Jesus that is returning to call them home.
Look, John 3:16 tells us we must believe on the only begotten Son of God to inherit everlasting life but the dead in Christ believed on the Christ; their faith was affixed to the Christ. They can’t inherit everlasting life through belief in the Christ. Moreover, Isaiah 53:6 tells us, “The lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all,” but when did this happen? If it was not at the cross, the dead in Christ has their faith focused in the wrong place.
It must be understood Jesus redeemed mankind from the law through His death on the cross. Galatians 4:4 tells us, “In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.” Jesus came to earth as a man to redeem mankind from the curse of the law. He did that by living the law perfectly, then dying as one who had transgressed the whole of it.
Having fulfilled the law, Jesus ascended into heaven and presented Himself before the Father as the perfect sacrifice for sin. His throat was cut and the life of Jesus poured out into a bowl. The Father raised Jesus from the dead by infusing His own life into Jesus. Jesus took His own blood and sprinkled it over the new covenant tabernacle to cleanse mankind of sin. Jesus certainly lost blood during His suffering and death on earth but it is not the blood that cleanses mankind of sin.
The dead in Christ must make a rather large adjustment in their thinking, then, the dead in Christ must keep the commandments of the new covenant in order to establish citizenship in the kingdom of heaven. Throughout the years mankind has been told that belief in Jesus would give them eternal life but the Jesus they were told to believe in was the wrong Jesus. The Jesus mankind must believe in issued commandments that must be kept.
Consider the nature of faith. James famously said, “Faith without works is dead.” If a man, therefore, believes Jesus was raised from the dead with all power in heaven and in earth and with this authority established a new covenant, which established a new kingdom, obedience to His commandments would come from that faith. If a man does not believe in this Jesus, he will likewise not bother with obedience.
It is similar to what the Old Testament prophet told the Jews, “If God be God, serve Him, but if Baal be God, serve Him.” In this case we would say, “If the Father be God, serve Him, but if Jesus be God, serve Him.” To serve the Father is to keep the old covenant law with the Ten Commandments. To serve Jesus is to keep Jesus’ commandments. It is significant that Jesus told the disciples, “All power in heaven and earth has been given to me,” and when John looked at the throne in Revelation 5:6, he didn’t see the Father setting on His throne. He saw Jesus.
This is exactly what we would expect from Philippians 2:9-11. “Wherefore the Father has highly exalted Jesus, and given Him the name above every other name: that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue shall confess Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
According to Isaiah 53:6, the Father was Lord under the old covenant but according to Philippians 2, the power and authority of Lord was transferred to Jesus. The dead in Christ are called to a rude awakening. They are called to an awakening of the Father serving Jesus. Or what did you think it meant when it said all things in heaven will bow at the name of Jesus? As far as I know, the word, all, still means, all. Did God misspeak? Did He stutter? No, He said what He meant and meant what He said. Jesus has been made Lord of All. A failure to recognize this is a failure to make heaven your home.
There is a second chance to get it right, however. The dead in Christ are called back to life. They are given instruction and having realized they did not go straight to heaven after death, they are aware something is amiss. This makes them open to hear the voice of the archangel and heed the instructions.
It has now been 5,993 years since the beginning of our time and 4,993 years since God destroyed the world that then was with a flood. The tons and tons of water aged the first 1,000 years to the point that scientists today see millions of years of history. It’s hard to believe we are at the end and absurd to expect Jesus’ return in the coming weeks.