The Christ in Prophecy Journal

The Church in Prophecy (Part 4 of 4)

The Triumphant Church

Positive End Time Prophecies

Not all the prophecies about the Church in the end times are negative in nature. In fact, there are many more positive ones, and their glorious nature more than overshadows the negative ones.

The Latter Rain

The incredibly good news is that the Bible prophesies a great pouring out of God’s Spirit in the end times to empower those who are receptive to stand against the onslaught of Satan.

The prophecy is found in Joel 2:28-30. Because this prophecy was quoted by Peter in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost to explain the phenomenon of tongues (Acts 2:14-21), many have assumed that it was fulfilled on that day. That assumption is erroneous.

The context before the passage (verses 18-27) makes it clear that there will be two outpourings of the Spirit (the “early and latter rain”) and that the final outpouring will occur after the Jews are regathered to their land and re-established as a nation. Also, the context after the passage (verses 31 & 32) indicates clearly that the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy will occur during the season of the Second Coming.

We have been in the period of the “latter rain” ever since the re-establishment of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948. The Spirit is being poured out, and the gifts of the Spirit are being manifest in a way unparalleled since the First Century. The praise and worship of the Tabernacle of David are also being restored to the Church to further empower it for spiritual warfare.

This great anointing of the Spirit is producing a remnant that is immersed in the Word, committed to righteousness, crucified to self, dedicated to prayer, surrendered in worship, zealous for evangelism and yearning for the soon return of Jesus. It is this remnant that will respond to the Lord’s appearing in the Rapture with a cloud of praise.

Special Blessings

The great outpouring of the Spirit is only one of many glorious blessings promised to the Church in the end times. Among them are the ones listed below:

  • Rapture — The promise that Jesus will appear in the heavens at the end of the Church Age and will resurrect the dead in Christ, giving them glorified, eternal bodies. Immediately following their resurrection, the Lord will snatch away all living believers, translating them from mortal to immortal on the way up, without experiencing death (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
  • Rewards — Following the Rapture, all Church Age believers will be judged in Heaven by Jesus, not to determine their eternal destiny, but to ascertain their degrees of rewards, based on their service in this life (2 Corinthians 5:9-10, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 and 1 Corinthians 4:5).
  • Celebration — After the rewards have been distributed, the Church (the Bride) will celebrate its union with Jesus (the Bridegroom) at the marriage feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9).
  • Second Coming — The Church will return to earth with Jesus and will witness His triumph over the Antichrist and his forces (Revelation 19:11-21).
  • Coronation — The Church will witness the triumphal coronation of Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords after He enters the Eastern Gate (Psalm 24:7-10) and begins to reign from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:1-4).
  • Millennium — Believers will be scattered all over the earth to reign with Jesus for a thousand years over those believers who lived to the end of the Tribulation and were allowed to enter the Millennium in the flesh (Revelation 20:1-10). The Redeemed will witness the earth flooded with peace, righteousness and justice, as the waters cover the seas (Isaiah 11:9).
  • New Jerusalem — At the end of the Lord’s thousand year reign, the Redeemed will be transferred to the New Jerusalem Jesus has been preparing (John 14:1-4). From that vantage point, they will witness the earth being consumed with fire, as the pollution of Satan’s last revolt is burned away (2 Peter 3:10).
  • Eternal State — After God provides a new earth and refreshed heavens, the New Jerusalem will be lowered down to the new earth, and God Himself will come to earth to reside among the Redeemed. In other words, Heaven will come to earth, and the Redeemed will live eternally in the New Jerusalem in the presence of their Creator and their Savior (Revelation 21:1-7 and Revelation 22:1-5).

Conclusion

So, as you can see, there is both bad news and good news for the Church in the end times. But the good news is so much better than the bad — so incredibly glorious — that the Apostle Paul was motivated to declare (Romans 8:18):

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Hallelujah! and Maranatha!

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Dr. David Reagan

Dr. David Reagan is the Founder and Evangelist Emeritus of Lamb & Lion Ministries. He is a life-long Bible student, teacher, and preacher and he led over 45 pilgrimages to Israel. Dr. Reagan was the host of the radio then television program Christ in Prophecy for nearly 40 years.

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