When Are We Now? 
The first of three studies of The Revelation of Jesus Christ  by Paige Ramsey
NOTE: Items in green depict the Pre-Wrath Rapture view, which is very well studied and quite plausible.

The Rapture of the Church – Lesson 12

 Revelation 4:1-3 
After this I looked, and, behold, a door opened in heaven: and the first voice I heard was like a trumpet talking with me; which said, “Come up hither, and I will show you things which must be hereafter.”  And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.  And He who sat looked like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like an emerald.

 John saw a door open in heaven.

Q: When did he see this door open?   A: vs. 1 – After this... 
 
Q: After what?   A: After the Lord dictated a letter to the Church of Laodicea.

Turn back to Rev. 1:19.  What did the Lord tell John to write about?

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 2. _____________________________________________________________

 3. _____________________________________________________________


At that point, the things John had seen are recorded in Chapter 1. John saw the Lord in His glory standing in the midst of seven candles which are the seven churches, with seven stars (angels or pastors of the seven churches) in His right hand.


The things which are reflect the things that are going on right at that time in the physical seven churches in Asia Minor. We’ve now looked at each of these churches. The Lord made no mistake in choosing these seven churches. The number seven is the number of completion. It is my belief that the seven churches in Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation represent the completed Church Age, with each church signifying a stage or era that the church as a whole will reflect during the entire Church Age. John wrote the things which are, not realizing that hidden in these messages is the clue to understanding the completed Church Age which had only just begun in John’s day.


The things which will take place after this are future events. They begin here at Chapter 4 and go on to the end of the book. These events have not yet happened. How do we
know that? We know it because the Church Age is still going on. It is not yet completed.


The last church, the Church of Laodicea, represents the Church in the end of the last days or the end of the Church Age.  When do the events depicted in Chapter 4 begin? These events will not take place until “After this…” (Immediately after the Laodicean Church Era ends). Our first series of twelve lessons has been When Are We Now?  We
determined that we are seeing the signs of the Laodicean Church Age today, which
puts us exactly in the very last of the last days.

 
What are some of the other earmarks of the last of the last days?
Look at 2 Tim. 3:12-13 – Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.  What will happen to those who desire to live godly?


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What will happen to evil men and imposters?


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Let’s continue reading 2 Tim. 3:14–17 – But as for you, continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

What are you supposed to be doing? ________________________________________


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Keep reading into 2 Tim. 4:1-2 – I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

What else should you be doing? ___________________________________________


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Why should we be so diligent to read God’s Word, obey God’s Word, study God’s Word, preach and teach God’s Word so that we can be ready to give answers, convince others of the truth, and rebuke those who are in error? Look at the next two verses: 2 Tim. 4:3-4 – For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.  What will people finally become like before the end? Name 4 aspects:


1. __________________________________________________________________


2. __________________________________________________________________


3. __________________________________________________________________


4. __________________________________________________________________


Before the end, there will be a great moral decline. Do you see signs of that today? Name some ways you can see that morals have declined in the last 100 years:


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Before the end, there will be many deceivers who have been deceived themselves.

Do you see this happening today? ____________

 Name some ways people are being deceived and some people who have been deceived
and are deceiving others:


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Sadly, we could each probably fill an entire page with deceivers and deceitful teachings that are prevalent in our society today. Are people willing to believe sound doctrine?


Our churches are filled with people who do not want to hear the moral truth. They don’t want to hear the truth that homosexual relationships are an abomination to God. They don’t want to hear the truth that abortion is a doctor and mother murdering her child. They don’t want to hear the truth that getting drunk and taking unnecessary drugs is against God’s law because the body is the temple of the Lord and should not be
controlled by such substances. They don’t want to hear the truth that pornography and sexual sin is a putrid odor in the nostrils of God. That marriage vows should be honored even before taken so that the marriage is pure and strong almost seems like a fairytale. That God’s child should not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever is pooh-poohed as rubbish. We have become congregations of “don’t tread on moral issues because we don’t want to offend anyone.”


Our churches also don’t want to hear the gospel truth. They don’t want to hear that God is completely sovereign and in control of everything. They don’t want to hear that a baby is born in sin. They are too proud to admit to their own sins or that they should have to pay for their sins. They don’t want to hear that there is a literal hell. They don’t
want to hear that Jesus took their place when He died. They don’t want to hear  anything about repentance (turning away from their sins). They don’t want to hear that salvation begins and ends with God alone – it is only by His grace and they can do nothing to earn it. They don’t want to hear that the only way they can ever have hope of eternal life is to trust in Jesus’ death for the payment of their sins – that He is the one and only way. They want a salvation on their own terms. They want to think that because they have prayed and asked Jesus into their hearts, everything is alright, that God will understand they are sinners and just can’t help it when they sin. In fact, many of our preachers actually preach this kind of “salvation” which is really no salvation at all! By preaching this false version of salvation, the deceived are deceiving others.


Next, let’s look in Matt. 24:12 – And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 
Lawlessness here is referring to a lack of obedience to God’s law. We know and have already shown that lawlessness profusely abounds today. Now, what about the love of many growing cold? Do we see that today? Do you see evidence that people really love God fervently today? Name some specific things people have done that show they have a fervent love for the Lord:

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 Can you think of specific things people do that show a coldness for the Lord?

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Do you believe that love for God is fervent or cold in our world today? _____________


What about love for each other? John 13:35 says (Jesus speaking) “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Name some specific things God’s people have done to show love for each other:

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Can you think of specific ways God’s people have shown coldness toward each other?

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Do you believe the love for each other that God’s people have today has grown cold? 
 
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Do the signs for the last of the last days show we are experiencing them today? ______

So, now, after the Laodicean Church Era, a door is opened in heaven. An open door is an invitation – an opportunity – a bidding – a call. In my mind’s eye, when I read this passage, I see a literal, single door opening in the night sky, with brilliant golden light pouring out, and Jesus standing in the doorway with His hand extended, beckoning us to come home.


“…and the first voice I heard was like a trumpet talking with me…”  – the first voice indicates that there might have been other voices after this, or perhaps, the sounds of heaven were filling John’s ears, but he could only understand this one magnificent
voice.  And it was indeed magnificent! It sounded like a trumpet. John was already familiar with this voice. Look at Revelation 1:10. It was the voice of our Lord, Jesus! This voice first spoke with John from behind him.  Then, (look at Revelation 1:15) it changed. The Lord’s voice was a voice of many waters when He dictated the letters to the churches. As John put down his pen, he saw the door open in heaven and heard the trumpet voice calling him. The trumpet is significant. Let’s look at some Scriptures to see why.


1 Thess. 4:13-18 – But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 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 are asleep. 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.


Matt. 24:31 – And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.


1Cor. 15:51-52 – Behold, I show 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.


Paul said in Colossians 2:16-17 that the Jewish feasts and celebrations were a shadow of the things to come through Jesus Christ.  And though as Christians we may not commemorate these holidays in the traditional biblical sense, as we discover the significance of each, we will certainly gain a greater knowledge of God's Word, an improved understanding of the Bible, and a deeper relationship with the Lord.[i]


Rosh Hashanah, or the Feasts of the Trumpets, was observed on the first day of the seventh month (the month of Tishri). It is the Jewish New Year. Now, don’t be confused with what seems like a contradiction.


            The answer to this apparent contradiction is found in the fact that the Jews had 
            both a religious and civil calendar. The religious calendar, which regulated the 
            festivals, began in the spring, in accordance with God’s command at the time of
            the Exodus: "This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be 
            the first month of the year for your" (Ex 12:2; cf. Deut. 16:1). The first month in 
            the religious year was the month in which the Israelites left Egypt and 
            celebrated Passover, the feast of their redemption. It was originally called Abib 
            "the month of the ears," but after the Babylonian exile was named Nisan. It
             began at our new moon of our March or April. 

             The civil and agricultural year, as well as the sabbatical and jubilee years, began 
             in the autumn with the seventh month, which after the Babylonian exile 
             became known as Tishri. If it seems strange that the Jews should begin their 
             civil year on the seventh month, it may be well to remember that even in our 
             society the fiscal year for many organizations begins in other months than 
             January.[ii]


The Feast of the Trumpets is an interesting study, and as the feasts may have very significant meanings as to God’s actual timetable of future events, i.e. the Passover became the very time Jesus was crucified, Pentecost became the very day the Holy Spirit came to live within the hearts of God’s people, so Rosh Hashanah may give us a clue to God’s timetable for the sound of the “last trump.”


             The Feast of Trumpets heralded through the blowing of trumpets the final 
             phase of the Jewish religious year which, as we shall see, typologically brought 
             to completion God’s plan for the final disposition of sin and the inauguration of 
             a new world.[ii]


I encourage you to look up the references and read the articles to learn more about the Feast of Trumpets.


“Come up hither, and I will show you things which must be hereafter.” – The voice beckons John to come up into the door. Note: from this point forward, the Lord says are the things which must be hereafter or future events. 

 
“And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven”
– immediately, John is in the Third Heaven. This is a picture of the event that
we commonly call the Rapture of the Saints. Notice the word “immediately.” One
moment John was on the Isle of Patmos taking dictation, and the next moment He
was in God’s Throne Room. According to 1 Corinthians 15:52, this event
will happen in a moment – in the twinkling of an eye. Once our bodies are
glorified, travel happens at the speed of thought.



The word rapture is a Medieval French word which means “the act of carrying off.” A bird of prey is called a raptorial bird because it swoops down and snatches its prey and carries it off. The M.Fr. word came from another word, raptura, where our word “rape” comes from. The Medieval Latin word rapture means “seizure, rape, kidnapping” and originally referred to women being snatched, raped, and sometimes sold into prostitution slavery. The word rapture began to be used to describe the event where Jesus would snatch out His bride from the earth in 1600. Soon after that, in 1629 to be exact, the word rapture also began to be used to signify high spiritual emotion, or ecstatic joy (equated with one being transported from one sphere of existence to another: from earth to heaven).[iii]


In this event, as described in the verses we have already read, the Lord Jesus will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel, and with the sound of a trumpet. He will bring with Him the spirits and souls of those who have died in Christ. Next, the dead bodies of those in Christ will become glorified and rise to be rejoined with their spirits and souls in the air. Then, all who are alive in Christ will be
changed (glorified) and rise to meet the Lord and the other saints in the air.  Jesus will take us (His Bride) to His Father’s abode in the Third Heaven.


We must be very careful that we do not get the Rapture confused with the Second Coming of Jesus. (Although, the "Pre-wrath Rapture" theory combines these as one event instead of two as the Pre-trib Rapture concludes. In the Pre-wrath view, Jesus comes in the clouds after the sixth seal is broken and calls His Bride to come, then immediately turns with His Bride to the earth.) At the Rapture, Jesus never stands on the earth. Rather, He stops in the air – “in the clouds” – gathers His people, and goes back to the Father’s house (the Third Heaven). At the Second Coming, Jesus steps upon the Mount of Olives, ready to judge the nations and set up His kingdom. These two different events are separated by seven years. In Daniel 9:24-27, this seven year period is the final “week” that was given to the Jewish nation until all things are fulfilled.  In Matthew 24:21, this seven year period is the Great Tribulation (or more accurately translated, the “Tribulation the Great.” [iv])


Here are some differences between the two events according to the Pre-Tribualtion view to help you keep them separated:


At the Rapture:                                                  At the 2nd Coming:

Jesus stops in the air                                        Jesus steps on the earth (Mt. of Olives)

Jesus comes for His Bride                                Jesus comes with His Bride

Jesus comes in the clouds                                Jesus comes on a white horse

Jesus comes privately (as a thief in the night)     Jesus comes publicly (every eye shall see Him)

Jesus comes with a shout and a trumpet      Jesus comes with a sword to conquer


Note: Those who hold to the "pre-wrath rapture" view believe that the rapture will be public, not private. They believe every eye shall see Him as He comes for His Bride, and that the rapture will take place after the sixth seal is broken and before the seventh seal is broken. This view is a very realistic possibility, and those who hold to it have studied it out well. This view is futuristic, pre-millennial, pre-wrath.

Once the rapture has taken place, the Seven Year Great Tribulation Period will begin
on this earth as described in Matthew 24:15-24. This will be a terrible time where pure evil will overtake the earth. Quoting Dr. Dan Cozart: “Because the restraint of the Holy Spirit will be withdrawn from the earth (all those who housed the Holy Spirit have been taken), man’s carnal desires will run rampant.”[v] (This is one of the reasons I believe in a Pre-Tribulation rapture.) Jesus said there has never been such a time as the
Great Tribulation nor will there ever be.


“…and One sat on the throne.  And He who sat looked like a jasper and a sardine stone…” – The jasper here is a beautiful crystal stone that looks like a diamond. The sardine is another beautiful stone that looks like a ruby – many think this stone actually is a ruby. These stones have a significant meaning in Exodus 28:15-20. The breastplate of the high priest contained 12 stones, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. The
jasper was the Benjamin stone, and the sardine (or sardius) was the Reuben stone.


 "…and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like an emerald.” – A rainbow – God’s own sign of promise. The rainbow was given to Noah and his family (of which we are a part) when the judgment of the flood was over to assure them that God would never again destroy all life with water.  Here is the rainbow around the throne of God Almighty for John to behold!!  Judgment is over! Praise the Lord, we have nothing to fear from the throne of God if we are in Christ Jesus! Here, the emerald is mentioned. According to Dr. John Gill, the emerald is the stone for the tribe of Judah[vi], from which our Lord came. Jesus Christ is the Lion of Judah. And here, the throne of God is surrounded by a rainbow that looks like an emerald. 


The Rapture – when Jesus comes as our Bridegroom to snatch away His Bride, the church – is something we can draw comfort from and look forward to! As we are seeing the evidences that we are indeed living in the Laodicean Church Era, the Rapture of the Saints could occur at any moment. Watch! Stay Awake! Be ready. Make sure your lamps are filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit and the wicks of your life are trimmed so that your light shines brightly in this dark world. The groom is coming!! 
  
  

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[i] Fairchild, Mary; The Feast of the Trumpets, About.com, 12 Aug 2013,
        http://christianity.about.com/od/biblefeastsandholidays/p/feastoftrumpets.htm 
 
  
[ii] Bacchiocchi, Samuele, Ph. D., THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES, 12 AUG 2013, 
         http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/books/festivals_2/2.html 
 
  
[iii] Dictionary.com, © 2013; "rapture." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 10 Aug. 2013. 
         <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rapture>; "rapture." Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. 
         10 Aug. 2013. <Dictionary.com  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rapture>.

  
[iv] Cozart, Dan W., D.D.S., sermon, The Rapture of the Saints, 8/12/2009.

  
[v] Cozart, Dan W., D.D.S., sermon, The Rapture of the Saints, 8/12/2009 – words in parentheses are mine.

  
[vi] Gill, John, Dr., John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, Exodus 28:18, public domain.