Here’s something we have to look forward to… the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, at the Rapture.  According to 1 Thes 4:16-17, it’s going to be like this.  “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: Then 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.”

Have you ever just meditated on those three sounds we’re going to hear when the Lord comes for us?  We’re going to hear the Lord shout.  We’re going to hear the voice of the archangel.  And we’re going to hear the trump of God, which will be the sound of a trumpet.  Let’s talk about those for a few minutes.  

A Shout – When the Lord shouts it’s going to sound like a roaring lion, Hos 11:10.  That roar is so scary and loud that “the children shall tremble from the west.”  In Ps 29, look what the Lord’s voice will do when he comes to the earth at the Second Advent.  His voice thunders [Ps 29:3].  In Ps 77:18, it causes the earth to tremble and shake.  His voice is powerful, so powerful that it breaks the cedars, makes the mountains skip, and shakes the wilderness [Ps 29:4-6, 8]. In Jer 25:30-31 it can be heard even to the ends of the earth.  In Joel 3:16, his voice is so powerful that it causes the heavens and the earth to shake.  That’s going to be a shout unlike anything this earth has ever heard.

Every morning when you arise and every evening when you go to bed, you ought to be listening for the shout.  It shouldn’t come as a scary surprise to you but as a long awaited call to come home.  I’m reminded of my childhood when it was time for supper.  We’d hear a shout and you knew it was time to come home.  The Lord is going to call us home one of these days.  This is going to be the greatest shout you’ve ever heard in your life.

The Voice – when the lord comes for us at the rapture, you’re going to hear the voice of the archangel.  This voice is going to also be loud.  When you read the Book of Revelation, you see angels doing many things.  And when they speak, they seem to always speak with a loud voice, John says.  You might wonder just how loud their voice is.  I think the best example is found in Rev 19:17-18, when the angel is calling the fowls of heaven to come and dine on all the carcasses left after the Lord returns.  Look where the angel is standing.  He’s standing “in the sun.”  He can do that because God “maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flame of fire,” [Ps 104:4].  And he’s calling to the fowls “that fly in the midst of heaven.”  That’s the heaven of Gen 1:20 where the fowl fly now.  That angel’s voice is so loud that he can can call from the sun to the earth and the fowls will hear him.  Let me tell you something.  You’re getting ready to hear a voice like you have never heard in your life.  Don’t let it scare you.  Be ready when he calls.

The Trump – this is the trump of God.  John heard this trumpet in heaven, Rev 4:1.  So, a door was opened in heaven and a voice came through the open door.  John was still on earth when he heard the trumpet say, “Come up hither.”  That is some kind of trumpet, my friend.  When the Jews heard this trumpet in the wilderness in Ex 19:19 there were 600,000 men beside women and children and the mixed multitude out there.  And they all heard it.  And that trumpet was so loud, they didn’t want to hear it anymore and Moses trembled and quaked with exceeding fear at what he heard and saw, Heb 12:18-21.  When that trumpet makes its last blast, that’s when we’re coming up, 1 Cor 15:52. 

Conclusion: Are you listening for his shout, the voice, and the sound of the trumpet, like the Jews heard in the wilderness only louder?  I’m thinking about the reaction of the people to the 49 plane flyover… they were excited, waving, and shouting.  Just imagine the reunion in the sky we’re going to have when we all meet the Lord in the air.  And then imagine the singing, shouting, and praising of the Lord around the throne, and every creature in heaven, on earth, and in the sea praising God, Rev 5:12-13.  And then his voice at the 2nd Advent while we’re shouting like the Jews did when they knocked down the walls of Jericho.  And the trees clapping their hands, and the sea roaring, and this whole earth praising God.  That’s going to be something.  I hope you’re looking forward to this everyday for the rest of your life.