W HEN YOU THINK of the future, does your mind major on the hardships and vicissitudes of old age? For the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, there are some wonderful things in store. Sometime ago, when I was a stu dent in a university, I had an inter esting discussion with my psychology professor. He said to me, “You know, I am certain that such and such is going to happen, just as sure as death and taxes.” I replied, “Well, Dr. Rogers, it is true, one may be sure cf taxes, but frankly, I’m not quite so sure of death.” He was rather star tled as .1 continued, “I expect to pay taxes, but I don’t expect to die.” Now he was sure I had “slipped a cog.” “Are you crazy?” Smiling I went on, “You know, those of us who are born- again Christians have a wonderful hope in our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. We know for a certainty that He is going to return. If it is during my lifetime then this body will never experience the ministry of an under taker’s art.” This further startled him. I proceeded to take my Bible out of my briefcase and to show him some of the passages of Scripture which hs.“' to do with this blessed hope. Perhaps a brief study of them would be a help to you, too. Paul writes, “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and 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 a ir ; and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thess. 4:16, 17). This is the description of our Lord’s return and the effect it will have upon you 8
and me. The Lord will return with a shout descending from heaven and with the voice of the archangel, the trump of God shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. That means those of our loved ones who have loved the Lord and who have experienced what the world calls death. Actually, the believer never really experiences death, spiritual death, for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. If you are a saved individual you will never be at your own funeral; you will be in the presence of the Lord. Those who are alive will be caught up in their physical bodies with those who have died and whose souls will be reunited with their re deemed bodies as together we meet the Lord in the clouds. The reference to clouds here is not a weather report indicating th a t Christ can only return when there are clouds in the sky. But it speaks of clouds of the redeemed who are translated to glory. There will be no “freeway” problems on the road to heaven that glorious day. The reason is that we will all be going in one direction: up. We will all be going at the same speed and our governor will be the Lord Jesus Christ. Ever since the fall of Adam man has been living in a world of death. To the mind of the unbeliever a natural question should fo llow , “What will happen to me if He should come?” The answer can be settled in your own heart as you rest your whole soul upon Christ. His promise is “Verily, verily I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlast ing life, and shall not come into con demnation (judgment); but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).
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