(1 Cor. 15:51,5251Behold, I show 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. (1 Corinthians 15:51‑52); 1 Thess. 4:13-1813But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 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. 18Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13‑18))
By LANCE-CORPORAL B. H. H.
Sitting in the barrack room one Sunday morning and thinking of the military, with its sounding of trumpets and many parades, my mind turned towards God’s holy Word where we read of the last trumpet that shall sound (1 Cor. 15:5252In 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. (1 Corinthians 15:52)). This will indeed be “the last reveille” that the Christian soldier will hear. “For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible; and we shall be changed.”
I have heard the sound of the reveille many times, but none like this one for me: “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout; with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God.” At the sound of this trumpet the Christian soldier, with all the redeemed, will come up on parade with the blessed Son of God. “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.”
It is very evident that the dead spoken of here are those that have died in the faith of Christ; those that “sleep in Jesus”; those that have gone before. The apostle is writing, by the Spirit, to the Corinthian Church or assembly (1 Cor. 1:22Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: (1 Corinthians 1:2)) (which is composed of those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ) at Corinth, those that have been redeemed by His precious blood.
Now, the reason why some Christians will be raised from among the dead, and others changed, is that “we shall not all sleep.” Just think: it is possible that if the Lord came tonight every Christian walking this earth would go to heaven without dying. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples when on earth, and when about to leave them to return to the Father’s right hand: “In My Father’s house are many mansions [or places in that house]; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where l am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-31Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1‑3)).
I knew a sergeant who was killed in action a few months ago, and who, on the clay before his death, was reading the following words, which will be found in 2 Corinthians 5: “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” This dear saint, with whom I have often sung God’s praises when sitting round the home fire, is one of those who is now sleeping in Jesus; and when the trumpet shall sound “the last reveille” he, with all the redeemed, will parade with the Saviour when He comes again. How blessed to be able to say, “I know” that, if my earthly house were dissolved, I have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens! May you, dear reader, be found among those who are ready to meet the Lord when He shall come, and be forever with Him, when the last trumpet is sounded and the door is shut.