In a Moment, in the Twinkling of an Eye

 All scripture references, unless otherwise noted, are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

In1st Corinthians 15:50-58, the Apostle Paul said , "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In 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.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 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."  I think the apostle had this by direct revelation from God that the dead in Christ would rise first from their corruption to incorruption. The apostle said, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed..."  We who are saved and remain will be changed from mortality, that is from this expectation of death to life everlasting. For as long as it takes for an eye to twinkle, that's how long it will take for the church to be changed.Think about it, the apostle said we who are subject to mortality and corruption will suddenly be changed. (see also 1st Thessalonians 4:14-18) In a moment of time? Yes in the twinkling of an eye. How then must we be ready for that great day. 

We recently had read to us a prophecy given to a highly respected retired missionary in August of 2019. This was read by our general superintendent during the 2020 general conference of the United Pentecostal Church. (You can see this information at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO_BvZSy7Jo) This prophecy speaks somewhat as follows: "My Son," it starts out, "I will send a devastation on the United States, the like of which has never been experienced..." The prophecy told that in 2020 there would be much chaos in the streets of the USofA and that we would see much malfeasance in our leaders. We currently have a pandemic in the year 2020 of Covid 19 that has devastated the world as well as our country. It has had a grave impact on our population as well as on our economy. Then there have been the riots in some of our major cities, such as Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington or New York City. One of the statements that the prophecy that makes me believe that it was from God was the statement in the prophecy, "But the end is not yet."

 

 The prophecy goes on to say that many who have been spiritual prodigals, "will return and re-consecrate their lives..." to the Lord. We have seen in our church new people come. We have also seen a young woman come and re-consecrate her life to the Lord Jesus. These were not contacts, they just showed up. The Lord Jesus said in the prophecy, "this will take place just prior to My return." Now I have never put much stock in prophetic utterances. There are many both in and out of our fellowship that profess to have prophecy down pat. Usually they specialize in Bible prophecy. There are a few that speak of future things. The fact that this prophecy is seeming to be fulfilled before our eyes makes it different. This seems to be the beginning of a great revival sent by the Lord Himself. I choose to believe this prophecy. Our pastor said at the beginning of the year 2020 that he believed the Lord showed him that 2020 would be different. I could not help remembering the many messages I have heard about the 2020 vision of the Book of Acts. I believe that the church will experience explosive growth and the Lord will come again to redeem us from this corrupt world. It will happen suddenly, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye."