The Last Recorded Words Of Christ To The Churches

What is the last thing in the Book of Revelation spoken by God to the believers of the church age, just before the Rapture? Most believers have read it many times, but how many have considered the importance of God's last words to us? The Rapture is presented in chapter 4, verse 1: "AFTER THESE THINGS I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here..." Revelation 4:1 After what things? After the letters to the churches, the final words of Christ just before the Rapture.

The first three chapters of the Book of Revelation are all entirely and exclusively about the churches, the believers, and the church age. Then comes chapter 4 verse 1 which says, "Come up here...." and from this point onward, THE CHURCH IS NO LONGER SEEN ON EARTH until the end. In chapter 5, the church is seen in heaven worshiping "the Lamb," which is the Lord Jesus Christ. The chapters following are about the Tribulation as God pours out the seals, the trumpets, and the vials of his wrath on a Christ-rejecting world. So - it can't be stressed enough how important it is that we pay attention to the last words of Christ to the churches: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:22 He who has an ear... Who has an ear? Some in the churches don't: What is going to determine whether the virgins waiting for the Bridegroom actually go with him when he comes? The story is recorded in Matthew chapter 5. They're all waiting for the Bridegroom but when he comes half of those waiting don't have enough oil for their lamps and therefore cannot go out to meet him. In the Bible, oil represents the Holy Spirit. So the virgins who cannot go out to meet the Bridegroom are left behind because he comes at midnight and they do not have enough light to go to him. These are they who paid no attention to what the Spirit said to the churches. These are they whose focus was on how they could succeed in life, how they could get multitudes to fill the pews, how they could entertain in such a way as to draw the crowds. They didn't follow the Spirit of God, they followed their own crowd-winning methods of playing church. And those who played church are those who are left behind when the Bridegroom comes. They do not have oil and their lamps are empty. He who has an ear to hear, let him HEAR. Let's look at how tight those verses are together. In our Bibles, men have made chapters for easier reading. But if you put the end of Revelation 3 and the beginning of chapter 4:1 together, this is how it would read: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. AFTER THESE THINGS I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here..." Do you see how tight these verses are together? After what things? After what is written up to that point – and that is the church age, the letters to the churches. Then, the door closes on earth and a door opens in heaven. In another Rapture passage we're told that this event is going to take place so suddenly that it's described as happening "in the twinkling of an eye." "Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye..." 1 Corinthians 15:51 Those who were led not by their own desires, but by the Spirit of God, those who were willing to pay the price, they are the saints who heard what the Spirit said to them, and they obeyed his leading. And in a moment, suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, they will be changed into their immortal bodies and be whisked up to meet the Lord when he says to them, "Come up here!" They have enough light to go to meet him when he calls. Will you be in that number? That depends on whom you listen to. If you were playing church, if you were seeking your own glory, "doing it my way," going to churches that provide entertainment instead of the hard warnings from Christ to the churches - then you will be left behind. But if you were seeking the will of God even when it opposed your own will, if you had ears to hear and a heart to obey, then very suddenly, in a space of time no longer than the twinkling of an eye, you who heard and obeyed will be taken to be with the Lord whom you have loved so faithfully. You will find yourself before him never, ever to be separated from him for all eternity. Let those who have an ear HEAR TO HEAR - hear what the Spirit says to them. MORE ON THE RAPTURE