by John Hagee
To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time.
(HEBREWS 9:28)
If Jesus is coming back, why now? The Bible says:
Scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?’ For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.
(2 PETER 3:3–4)
The fact that men do not believe Christ is coming back is living proof and biblical evidence that the Rapture of the church is imminent. If you listen closely you can hear the footsteps of Messiah . . . tiptoeing through the clouds of heaven.
Get ready! The King is coming!
Paul describes the Rapture to the believers in Corinth and Thessalonika by declaring:
1. “For the [last] trumpet will sound . . .” (1 Corinthians 15:52) and “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout . . .” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
2. “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—” (1 Corinthians 15:51) and “The dead in Christ will rise first . . .” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
3. “In the twinkling of an eye . . . the dead shall be raised . . .” (1 Corinthians 15:52) and “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
Have men been taken into heaven before their death? The answer is yes . . . twice!
Enoch, the father of Jared “walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24 NIV).
The prophet Elijah was carried into heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11). He has been there for thousands of years and will return to earth during the Great Tribulation as God’s messenger to the Jewish people announcing to them that Messiah is coming!
Think also of Jesus Christ, who went into heaven forty days after He rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven from the Mount of Transfiguration in full view of His disciples. He arose on the 16th of Nisan, which is the Feast of First Fruits. In His resurrection, He is the firstfruits of the millions who will be raptured in the church.
The following verse paints this picture—Jesus Christ, the Prince of Glory, appearing suddenly in the heavens:
Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.
(ACTS 1:11)
When the time comes, the trumpet of God shall sound, announcing the appearance of royalty, for He is the Prince of Peace, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is coming in the clouds of heaven for those who are watching for His glorious appearing. Look up, my friends, for the King is coming!
THE REAL JESUS
If you don’t believe in the Rapture as described in the Bible, where believers rise to meet the Lord in the air, how will you know when the real Jesus comes to earth?
Anyone can stand on the Mount of Olives and say, “I’m Jesus.” Anyone can wear a white robe and claim to be a descendant of King David. Anyone can have his followers crown him as the king of the “New Israel” on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Anyone can surgically have scars placed in his hands and feet. Even the False Prophet of the Antichrist will cause a statue to speak and perform other miracles at his bidding.
This is not the real Jesus! He’s an imposter! A fraud! This is satanic deception—which Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24:5 and 11.
God knew from the beginning that imposters and frauds would come and claim to be Christ, deceiving many, “if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24). Jesus said, “If anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it” (v. 23).
On one occasion a church member told me, “Pastor, a lady said she was driving in California, and suddenly Jesus appeared in the car with her. What do you think?”
“I’ll tell you what I think: I believe it not!”
Jesus Christ is not in California, New York, or Rome. He is seated at the right hand of God the Father—where He will stay until Gabriel blows the trumpet to call the dead in Christ from their dusty couches of slumber to mansions of splendor in heaven.
Jesus knew that many “false christs” would come, saying, “I am the Christ” and will deceive many (Matthew 24:5).
A FAILSAFE STRATEGY
God installed a failsafe strategy in Scripture that is so staggering in supernatural power, so earth shattering by design, that not even Satan and his demonic legions could imitate it, much less duplicate it.
That failsafe strategy is the rapture of the church!
Satan tries to replicate whatever God does. He disguises himself as an angel of light emulating Jesus Christ who is the Light of the World (2 Corinthians 11:14). In Revelation 6, the Antichrist rides out onto the stage of world history on a white horse as the “prince of peace” who will plunge the world into the bloodiest war in history. He does so because Jesus returns to earth riding a white horse in the book of Revelation (19:11).
The Antichrist will be shot in the head and will recover miraculously (Revelation 13:3), imitating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Satan hates the Rapture teaching and has his deluded disciples saying there will be no Rapture. The rapture is Christ’s celebration over death, hell, and the grave which He defeated when He died on the cross. It is the ultimate humiliation of Satan.
How will you know when the real Jesus gets here?
Not by what you read in the New York Times or by what some Ivy League theologian says, not by some charismatic personality standing on the Mount of Olives in a white bed sheet saying he is the king of the New Israel, and not by a warlock calling fire from heaven.
You will know it’s the real Jesus when your body sails through the air past the Milky Way a million miles a minute; you will know when you stand in His glorious presence with your brand-new, disease-proof body.
When you stand in His presence with your transfigured body, your fatigue-free body, your pain-free body, and your never-dying body, you’ll know it’s the real Jesus and this is the real heaven.
THE BIBLE: LITERAL OR ALLEGORICAL?
Those attacking the Rapture are teaching that the Bible is not literal, that it’s allegorical or a myth. If the Bible is a myth, then I’m myth-taken, myth-tified, and of all men most myth-erable! The Bible is literal from cover to cover:
• God Almighty literally created the “heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
• Jesus was literally born of a virgin named Mary. (Luke 1:34)
• He was literally born in Bethlehem, Israel. (Matthew 2:1)
• He literally healed the sick, diseased, the blind, the lame, and the leper instantly. (Matthew 4:23; Mark 10:52; Luke 7:22; John 5:8)
• He literally died on the cross. (Mark 15:22–32; Matthew 27:33–44; Luke 23:33–43; John 19:17–24)
• He literally was buried in a borrowed grave. (Matthew 27:57–61; Mark 15:42–47; Luke 23:50–56; John 19:38–42)
• He literally rose from the dead and was seen by five hundred plus people in thirteen different places. (John 21:14; Mark 16:14; Acts 1:1–13)
• He literally sits at the right hand of God the Father. (Hebrews 12:2; 1 Peter 3:22)
• We are literally going to rise to meet Him in the air in the twinkling of an eye. (1 Corinthians 15:52)
• He literally is coming back again with power and great glory, and: “Every knee should bow . . . every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10–11).
• We are literally going to walk on streets of gold. (Revelation 21:21)
• We are literally going to wear a crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)
• We are literally going to live forever and forever in God’s tomorrow. (Revelation 13:6)
CAUGHT UP TOGETHER
Critics of the Rapture claim that, “The Rapture does not exist because the word Rapture does not appear in the biblical te
xt.” True, the specific word Rapture is not mentioned in Scripture; however, the Bible is a book of concepts and word pictures, so simple that a person of modest comprehension can grasp its truth.
The biblical text does not have the word Trinity, but repeatedly the Scripture refers to “the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
The concept of the Trinity is very clear within the context of Scripture.
In Genesis we have the first hint of the Blessed Trinity, a plurality of Persons in the Godhead.2 Later in Genesis 1:26, God said: “Let Us make man in Our image.” “Our image” refers to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Trinity is also seen during Jesus’ baptism:
When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were open to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
(MATTHEW 3:16–17)
Notice the depiction of the Trinity in this Scripture setting: Jesus the Son is in the water being baptized; the dove, representing the Holy Spirit, is descending from heaven and the voice speaking from heaven is God the Father, extending His blessing upon His Son.
Matthew 28:19 also refers to the Trinity: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit [three in one].”
Just as these examples depict the Trinity, 1 Corinthians 15:51–52 and 1 Thessalonians 14:16–17 are clear word pictures of the Rapture of the church of Jesus Christ.
STAY ON THE ALERT
Although Christians like to debate about when the Lord will come, Scripture is clear that the Lord expects us to be on the alert for the time He is coming in the clouds to take his bride to heaven. Why? The answer is in the Word of God.
But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.
(LUKE 21:36 NASB)
So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
(REVELATION 3:3 NASB)
Jesus Christ is telling us to stay on the alert and to wake up! Because if we are not watching for His return, we will miss His coming and will not escape the future horrors of the Antichrist, and we will not receive the crown of life.
. . . in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
(1 CORINTHIANS 15:52)
“The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout” and summon the righteous from their graves with the sound of the trump. All over the earth, tombs will explode as the occupants soar into the heavens; headstones and marble mausoleums will topple as the bodies of resurrected saints rise to meet the Lord at the meeting in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).
When that time comes, cars will suddenly stand empty beside freeways and highways, their motors running with drivers and occupants strangely missing. Homes of believers will have the dishes on the table; the food will be on the stove in preparation of the meal, but the tenants will have gone to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Headlines will be screaming in bold type: “Millions Are Missing.” “Christians Have Disappeared from the Earth.” “Global Economic Crash Is Coming!”
TV cameras will go to the cemeteries around the world broadcasting empty graves and shattered mausoleums. They will show abandoned homes in suburban neighborhoods, the vacant high rise apartments in the world’s cities, and tractors running aimlessly across acres of planting fields because the Christian farmers are gone!
All Christians will have been caught up heading to mansions on high!
Phone lines will be jammed with families trying to “reach out and touch someone” but their long distance service won’t reach that far! People will be screaming into their smart-phones, “Can you hear me now?”
Churches all over the world will be packed with weeping, sobbing, and hysterical people. Their friends and loved ones will suddenly be gone, and they will be left behind to go through the living hell of the Great Tribulation.3
When that happens, the chaos on earth will be failsafe evidence that Christ has removed His church from the planet. The salt and light of the earth will be gone. The restraint of the Holy Spirit will be removed and Satan and the demons of hell will rule the earth for seven years of unspeakable horror and bloodshed.
THE LAST TRUMP
There are some who, because of their interpretation of 1 Corinthians 15:51–52, teach that the church will go through the Tribulation.
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep [in death], but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
The confusion comes with the phrase “the last trumpet.” The only Bible passage that describes a series of trumpets is in Revelation, where seven trumpets announce seven judgments coming on the earth.
Those in confusion interpret that the Rapture will happen after the seventh trumpet sounds, since it’s the last trumpet in a series of trumpets. This interpretation is in error.
The first trumpet (shofar) sound recorded in the Bible was at Mount Sinai, where the children of Israel received the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19:16):
On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.
The last trump is recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:52, when the church is raptured:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
The great trump is blown at the second coming of Jesus Christ, as recorded in Matthew 24:30–31:
Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
We are commanded to “watch,” which means we must know the Spine of Prophecy and diligently look for God’s announcements in the heavens through signs such as the Four Blood Moons. The Bible is clear that only those who “watch” will be counted worthy to escape those things that are coming on the earth.
Exactly what are we going to escape?
THE TRIBULATION
Those that are “taken up” in the Rapture will escape the wrath of the Antichrist. The Tribulation begins with the four horsemen of the Apocalypse appearing in Revelation 6. The first rider is the Antichrist, riding a white horse and coming to conquer the nations of the world.
He will make a seven-year peace treaty with Israel and break it after only three and a half years; he will cause every person on earth to receive his mark on their right hand or forehead, and without it you cannot buy or sell. Those who reject his mark will have their heads cut off (Revelation 13:16).
The monster on the white horse will put together a world government, a New World Order that will have ten kingdoms, which he will initially rule. The Antichrist will receive his power directly from Satan; he is the “son of perdition” (John 17:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:3), which means the chief son of Satan.
He will conquer three of these ten kingdoms, and the final form of the New World Order will be a kingdom with seven heads and ten crowns described by the prophet Daniel.
UNSPEAKABLE SUFFERING
In addition to the Antichrist (the Beast of Revelation), the Tribulation will bring global wars that will bathe the earth in blood (Matthew 24:6), earthquakes that will reshape the earth as mountains are reduced t
o rubble (v. 7) and the islands of the sea will disappear beneath the water (Psalm 46:2).
The sun will become so hot that the vegetation of the earth will be burned up; the oceans will be turned to blood and the waters of earth will be as bitter as wormwood, bringing death to those who drink it (Revelation 8:11).
Locusts the size of a horse will be released from the bottomless pit for five months and will be given power to sting men with venom that causes excruciating pain (Revelation 9:5).
In Revelation 9:15, four angels are released by God Almighty to destroy one-third of mankind in one day. In America that is the equivalent to one hundred million people in one twenty-four-hour period. In the world that would mean two billion people. It’s absolutely mind-boggling.
Just how bad will it get? John, the Revelator pulls back the curtain of time and allows us to look into the abyss of unspeakable suffering:
The kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
(REVELATION 6:15–18)
I ask those of you who are of sound mind, do you want to escape these horrors that John the Revelator so graphically described? I do! I really do! I am going to escape, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump!
I’ll literally rise into the heavens with millions of believers, to meet the real Jesus. I will walk on literal streets of gold and live in very real mansions of splendor with the bride of Christ . . . and so shall we ever be with the Lord!
