65
. That door in heaven hqs .b~e1u:l_o_§e.d.for.n_~_d_y_~l!i.~u.:: sand years, but one day it will open again! It will open to admit the "redeemed of the Lord." What a day that will be! The world will know nothing of His coming: the unsaved will not see Him. Only His own will look upon Him. The world will know only that something strange and mysterious has John hears a voice; he sees an open door in heaven; and, being "in the spirit," he is caught up into the very presence of God Himself. There he is given a marvelous vision of the future. He sees the seals opened, hears the trumpets sounded: witnesses the terrible, astounding events which are yet to come to pass in the earth, after the true church has been caught away. What is the significance of the door "opened in heaven" and the voice "as it were of a trumpet" which John hears? These are symbolic of the fulfillment of the "blessed hope" of __!h~ _ch.u-t~h. which is set forthJ!.1.J .J'h.._e_$!>- 1; J_q-_l_~ John is a representative character: and his nearing the voice·and being caught up speak of that day which is the next great event in .God's plan-the day _wh~!l_ ".~E: .LQrc:lJJ.!l!lSelf shall descend from heaven w_ith ·a shout." Perhaps those very.words will be the commanding invitation to the church of God to "come." And in that day every believer, the dead as well as the living, will be caught up "to meet the Lord in the air." The Revelation of Jesus Christ no _longer occupied with _the _c_~tJrch of Jesus ~~!!st, either past or present. The church age is..over,-aiid-the true church is no longer seen upon the earth, in the place of testimony. The apostate church remains for judgment, but i!l.L._gl,!_e b.eliev.erS-a.r_e caughtJ!y,r_a_y. That is why _t!-ie.,~,r_o_r!=i_~'.church" _9isappears entirely-.from this book after the third chapter. _Saints we do find mentioned, but they are Jewi.§h. saints, and _not members of the body: of_c_;;hri~. THE DooR "OPENED IN HEAVEN" Now let us read again the first verse of chapter four: "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."
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker