Month March 2025

Revelations – Rapture of the church

Pastor Dave Rose Leave a comment

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

This picture was in my grandparents’ house as long as I can remember. It is now in my office.

When will the Revelation times (also known as the tribulation) begin?  We do not know.  No one knows except God. The starting point will be a dramatic, fantastic, troubling, and great day.

The Rapture of the Church – coming soon!!! 

All who believe in Jesus as their savior will be called up to meet Jesus in the clouds. 

1 Thess 4:13-18

13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1 Corinthians 15: 51-52

51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 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.

Twinkling of an eye. Changed.  It does not matter how people died, were buried, cremated, killed in war, fires, explosions, or were buried at sea.  No matter. You will be changed in the twinkling of an eye. We who remain will be transformed into our heavenly bodies and meet Jesus in the sky.

This will be a great and violent day. Millions of people are gone.  Instantly. The world may already be going through a significant event of weather, earthquakes, war, and losing millions may not be the top story. 

What is keeping the Rapture and Revelation events on hold?

2 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

The rapture is the key to starting Revelation events.

5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed,

The power of the Biblical Church all across the world will be raptured up to meet Christ.  The power of the Church, full of the Holy Spirit, keeps lawlessness at bay in our world.  The prayers, church services, missions, and powerful preaching are keeping lawlessness in check. But when the church is taken away (raptured),  the power of holiness is gone, and lawlessness will take over. This is when the Revelation time (tribulation) will begin.

Lawlessness and rebellion will increase, and the lawless one who will become a leader in the Revelation times will be revealed. This disappearance of millions will cause much confusion, and this lawless man will be ready to come to power during this confusion. This man will become the Antichrist. We will learn more about the Antichrist in a few weeks.

Are you ready to meet Jesus? 

Do you have Him in your heart?  You can pray right now and ask Jesus to come into your heart and you commit to follow Him.  Attend a church that preaches the Bible and believes in prayer and repentance.  Then you will be ready for the great day when the trumpet sounds!

 Revelation Study

 I plan to teach one of the letters to a church, then move on to reading about the tribulation times. The following lesson will then return to the following letter to a church, and so on.

Revelation is all about Jesus.  Many people will be saved during the tribulation, but it will be much more difficult.  There will be a lot of judgment from God and deception from Satan. 

Buckle up, and let’s begin reading and studying the most avoided book of the Bible.  REVELATIONS Your LightNSide will be blessed.

A Study of Revelations

Pastor Dave Rose Leave a comment

Revelation 1:3  God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.

Revelation is the only book that promises a blessing if one reads, listens with one’s heart, and obeys the scripture. God had placed on my heart to share some of the truths of the book of Revelation in this blog. Many people have not heard the powerful messages of hope and judgment we will all experience. Revelation is a difficult book to read.  It has many dark chapters of God’s wrath poured out on those who reject God.  Revelations are also full of revivals of people turning to God.   Put on your spiritual seatbelt and dig into Revelation.

Revelation has five important parts.  1. The glorified Christ is described in chapter one. 2. The Letter to the churches (and to us all.) 3. The beginning of the tribulations. 4. The second coming of Christ and the millennial reign. 5 Final Judgement and a New Heaven and Earth.

The whole world will acknowledge Jesus as Lord.

Revelation 1:4-7

This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; 5 and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world. All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.  Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven.  And everyone will see him—  even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the world will mourn for him. Yes! Amen!

Philippians 2:10-11

…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Revelation is all about Jesus—His NEW look!

Rev 1:12-16

12 When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13 And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.

This is not the same image of Jesus when He was on the cross or after His resurrection and ascension. This description of Jesus is of a powerful Christ with great glory—a booming voice with power and eyes that see everything. He is the Christ of Revelation and the final Judge of mankind.

Jesus appeared to John to tell him to write a letter to the seven churches of Asia (and to us). Jesus also revealed to John the many scenes in heaven and earth during the years of the tribulation. Join me in this study of Revelation as we examine the letters to the churches and read key passages. According to Rev 1:3, you will be blessed if you read, believe, and heed what is written in Revelation.

Next blog: The Rapture of the Church. (This critical event will begin the prophecies of Revelation.)

Lord, bless our LightNSide as we study Revelation.