Immediately after these times and seasons of great suffering for the Church, the Rapture of the Church will take place.

Mark 13:24–27
²⁴But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, ²⁵And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. ²⁶And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

The day on which the Rapture of the Church will take place is called the Day of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:1–2; 2 Thessalonians 2:1–2). The Bible bears witness that on that Day, the sun will be darkened at its rising, the moon will no longer give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Acts 2:20
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come.

On that day, the men who are rejecting God in this present time will be in utter dismay; on that day, those who will have accepted the Antichrist will be in total confusion. They will mourn bitterly when they see Jesus Christ coming upon the clouds with glory and power, accompanied by His holy angels (2 Thessalonians 1:7; Revelation 1:7). They will have believed they had received a true messiah during the period of peace and safety — when in fact it was the son of the devil. In short, on that day, men will be in desolation, terror, and anguish.

Luke 21:25–28
²⁵And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; ²⁶Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. ²⁷And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

On that day, before the Church ascends to meet Jesus Christ in the air, the dead in Christ will first rise. 1 Thessalonians 4:15–16 declares this: "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."

In truth, the resurrection of the dead in Christ is the very hope upon which the faith of every true Christian rests. Indeed, we — the saints of God, disciples of Jesus Christ — believe that just as God raised Jesus Christ from the dead by His Spirit (Romans 8:11), so He will also bring back to life through Jesus Christ all our brethren who have already died or who will die before the Rapture of the Church. This is none other than the will of God.

John 6:40
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

1 Corinthians 15:22–23
²²For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

This will therefore be the resurrection of all those who died keeping the testimony of Jesus Christ and faith in Him — beginning from the first Church all the way through to the period immediately preceding the Rapture of the Church. On that day will be raised our earliest brethren who served the Lord before us in Spirit and in Truth — among them Stephen, James, Paul, Peter, John, Mary (the mother of Jesus Christ), Jude, Timothy, Titus, and many others. Through the passages of Philippians 3 and John 11, we can clearly perceive this hope and expectation of the resurrection among these brethren.

Philippians 3:10–11
¹⁰That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; ¹¹If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

John 11:24
Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

Our brethren who will overcome the beast — those who will be killed or put to death by the Antichrist — will also be raised on that day. To state it plainly, this resurrection of the dead in Christ that will occur on the day of the Rapture of the Church is called the First Resurrection. The Bible speaks of two resurrections: the first resurrection — unto life — which concerns the saints (the Church); and the second resurrection — unto the final judgment — which concerns the ungodly and the sinners.

John 5:29
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Daniel 12:2
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Revelation 20:4–6
⁴And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Revelation 20:12–14
¹²And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. ¹³And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. ¹⁴And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Still on that same day, the bodies of both the resurrected and the living will be changed — and this in the twinkling of an eye. The Lord will clothe His saints with glorified bodies — that is, incorruptible and immortal bodies; and His Church will be made like unto Him on that day, for she will see Him as He is.

1 Corinthians 15:51–53
⁵¹Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵²In 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. ⁵³For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Philippians 3:20–21
²⁰For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: ²¹Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

1 John 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

And so, after being transformed, the Church of Jesus Christ will ascend into the air to meet her Lord and to celebrate the Marriage Supper with Him.

1 Thessalonians 4:15–17
¹⁵For 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. ¹⁶For 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: ¹⁷Then 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.

The Adoration of God

Once in heaven with our Lord, the first moments we spend with Him will be moments of adoration and praise — moments of thanksgiving to our God for the salvation He has freely given us, and for having made us conformed to the image of His Son Jesus Christ, according as it is written: those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). On that day, all the raptured of God will stand before the Throne of the Almighty — each one with a harp in his hands — to render unto our God what is His due: Adoration.

Oh beloved! Imagine for a moment the level of glory there will be on that day in heaven. Imagine the happiness, the gladness, the joy, the love that will fill the hearts of the Sons of God on that day. I implore you — do not miss that day!

On that day, there will be great joy in heaven; the entirety of the heavens will be in a holy fervor because of the worship of God's saints. All the angels of God, the Elders, and the Living Creatures will join us before the Throne of God to adore Him whose ways are just and true; Him whose works are great and marvellous.

Revelation 7:9–12
⁹After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; ¹⁰And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. ¹¹And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, ¹²Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

The songs we will sing on that day will be the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.

Revelation 15:2–4
²And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. ³And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. ⁴Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

I would even venture to say that on that day, not a single saint of God will seek to hold back his adoration and praise — so wondrous and beautiful will it be; so utterly immersed in the presence of the living God will we be. And this will be but the beginning of what God has reserved for eternity.

The Hour of Rewards

After these moments of adoration and praise, the Church of God will be called to pass into other moments with her Saviour: the moments of Rewards. Let us begin by reading 1 Corinthians 15:58.

1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Beloved, know this: the work we do for God will never be in vain. The work we do for God will be rewarded when we are in heaven with Him. On that day, after the moments of adoration, the Lord will proceed to bestow rewards. He will reward each and every one according to the work accomplished upon earth — according as it is written: "I render to every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds." There will therefore be those who receive more than others, and those who receive nothing — yet who will nevertheless be saved.

2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

1 Corinthians 3:14–15
¹⁴If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. ¹⁵If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

The Lord will thus reward His saints with various gifts. He will reward His servants with crowns of life, of righteousness, of glory, and more.

James 1:12
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

2 Timothy 4:7–8
⁷I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: ⁸Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

1 Peter 5:4
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Beloved, note that this list of rewards is not exhaustive; the Lord reserves yet more rewards for His servants that you will discover in chapters 2 and 3 of the book of Revelation.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Beloved, after the hour of rewards for the saints of the Most High will come the hour of the great supper — the hour of the great feast — the hour of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Revelation 19:7–8
⁷Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. ⁸And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

As you have just read in the passage above, on this day of the wedding feast, we — the Church of the Lord — will be clothed in fine linen, pure and radiant, and we will sit at table with the Lord to eat and drink with Him. On that day, the Church will be at table alongside the saints who died under the old covenant — among them Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David, and many others.

Matthew 8:11
And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

On that day, the Lord will serve us dishes we have never yet tasted; He will serve us succulent meats full of marrow; He will serve us aged wine. We will feast upon the oxen and fatted beasts prepared for us.

Isaiah 25:6
And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

Luke 5:39
No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.

Beloved, I could not give you in this teaching the full account of everything that will take place in those moments of the wedding feast with the Lord Jesus Christ; I could not describe it in its entirety. I could not describe to you the joy that will be read upon the face of every saint; I could not describe to you the happiness that every son of God will feel on that day; I could not describe to you the joy that will be shared among the Sons of God on that day. All I can say to you is this: Blessed — truly blessed — will be all those who take part in the feast, in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

May the Lord bless you!