Apostle J.S. Gyimah the 2nd speaker for the third day of the 2010 Glory Conference spoke on the topic “the Glorious Return”. He introduced his message by saying he was surprised when he was informed by the organizers of the ITI about the theme for the conference. He had just come from the chairman’s residence and had discussed this year’s theme for the Church with him personally but he wasn’t expecting anyone else to have had knowledge about it. But how the organizers got the same text from 2 Corinthians 3:18 baffled him a lot. He said what he had experienced at the conference grounds was awesome which proved beyond all doubts that indeed the Spirit of the Lord is at work in the Church.

His message coincided with a testimony Professor Odamten had given earlier. Professor testified that he died out of a little stomach ache and dizziness a couple of days ago but was asked to return to earth by an Angel because his time was not yet up to die. He said he could feel his soul leave his body and floating as feather as he headed towards a long tunnel with a ray of light brighter than anything he’s seen on earth. As the Angel asked him to return he could see and hear his wife and other neighbours screaming and praying for him to return to his body which he successfully did. He had a message when he came back to life that “we must go and win the world to Christ, the crowns we shall receive in heaven are the number souls we would win to God and not mere crowns as we see here”.

Apostle was quick to acknowledge the fact that it was a good thing that testimony had come because it was going to set the stage right for his message. He said most people turn to shun away from this topic because they think it is abstract, but whether we like it or not Jesus Christ is still going to come back the second time. he said many Christians are doing the “cool decide journey” which is to mean going to the bottom of a street and back repeating that same thing several times without any sense of directions “most Christians don’t know where we are going” hence they flock into churches where sermons preached are mostly centered on prosperity, deliverance and earthly things. He preceded by thanking God for the organizers including this all important topic to the conference.

His first Bible quotation was from Philippians 3:20 -21 “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body”. He recalled that in the days of old they could hear their old ladies and old men in Christ sing songs of the end time which always made them conscious that there was somewhere they had to go from here for this world is not their home; they were just passing through and were living here as strangers waiting for their master to come for them to their glorious home. He also stated that the second coming of Christ is certain and not just that, but also it is imminent so we need to be conscious about His second coming. All the things we see around us indicate that Jesus is coming very soon. He added that the testimony Professor Odamten gave really gladdened his heart because these testimonies used to be said during conventions in the olden days but we don’t seem to hear these things in our modern world “there used to be testimonies about people seeing the other parts of the world”.

He said our main aim for gathering that afternoon was to talk about our Lord Jesus Christ and His second coming but there seems to be two phases when we talk about His glorious return. The first phase is His coming to meet the saints in the air. People have different views and different inclinations but he says he did a research on what is called our spirituality at the masters’ level.  Spirituality in its simplest form is what we do with what we believe and what we believe is what is going to dictate what we do, therefore if we lose sight of His coming we are going to be like any other people in the world who don’t have any hope but we thank God that the Church as a fellowship we have our hope the hope of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and when He comes, He’s coming to meet His saints in the air which is called the rapture of the Church. The second phase is His visible return to the earth which is known as His appearing.

These two phases of His glorious return is separated by a period 7 years referred to as the Great tribulation Mathew 24:21-22, Daniel 9:27, Luke 24:21-22. If those days of the tribulation are not shortened, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. It is this same period that the saints who will be ruptured will be with the Lord and shall receive their rewards in the form of crowns as professor Odamten said. They will be with the Lord in heaven whiles the world is in turmoil and they will attend a wedding feast of the Lamb, but Apostle was quick to add “I’ve always said that I’d be with the Church I will not be on earth to witness that time of horror” but some people think that the Church will have to go through that time. These events will take place in heaven.

The second coming described in the Bible by different Greek words which seem to be applicable to both phases is Parousia which simply means His presence or His coming. Parousia is a subject where those involved in each of phases will experience the Lord’s physical presence, hence the preferred use of the parousia for describing the second coming. At the rapture only the saints in Christ will see our Lord Jesus Christ that’s why the Bible says He will come as a thief. But at His appearing all eyes shall see Him even those who nailed Him on the cross.

The word rapture is from the Latin word Rapto meaning “the catching up” of saints who belong to the Church both living and dead. Although the word does not appear in the Bible it is widely used to describe the coming of Jesus in the air to gather His saints into heaven. Rapture of the church is the sudden supernatural removal of the body of Christ from the earth to meet the Lord in the air     I Thessalonians 4:16 & 17, II Thessalonians 2:6. These Thessalonians had heard the Gospel and Paul had said that Jesus would soon come and their greeting was Maranatha that is to say Jesus cometh but people kept on dying and falling sick so they wrote to the Apostle inquire what was happening and that was Paul’s reply to them. It involves a two fold separate operation which will occur in immense rapidity at a twinkle of an eye. The bodies that resurrect will be given new forms just like Christ’s not being any different from the body that died. These bodies will be reunited with the Spirit and Soul that were with Jesus until His second coming.

This will be the state of events during His coming; first a loud command from the Lord Himself, then the voice of the arch angel and the trumpet call of God. The bodies of the dead ones will resurrect and a new one will be given them. In I Corinthians 15:35 - 45 Paul describes vividly without doubt what will happen on that day. When the bodies are raised they will be full of power like the seed which is buried with new kinds of bodies. II Corinthians 5:2 -4 states that we will slip into the new body which will never die. He says it is what our fathers having been teaching which we believe in because they are scriptural. He said if people will continue teaching about keys to success and neglecting the rapture, we shall surely die but the important thing is that we shall prepare ourselves for meet him in heaven. The next worth noting is that within a twinkle of an eye those who live shall be transformed and lifted up into the air to meet with Christ. Paul describes this mystery in I Corinthians 15:51. When the last trumpet sounds the Christians who are dead will be transformed and then the bodies of those living will also be transforms then we’ll catch up m with Him.

He stressed that most people are worrying themselves too much about their bodies trying to make them look nicer, polishing them, having artificial surgeries on them, and forgetting that these mortal bodies would be changed into better immortal ones. An example of how our bodies will be is when Jesus entered the room where the disciples had gathered, he needed no key all he had to do was just enter. That body knows no obstacle. After the rapture the world will be left without the Church.

He said “all Christians are believe that there is second coming, however there are different views of how and when the rapture will take place”. The various views include Pre-tribulation, Post – tribulation, Mid- tribulation and Partial tribulation.

Pre – tribulation is the believe that the rapture will occur before the great tribulation I Thessalonians 1:10. This seems to be the most promising of all the views since it is taken directly from scripture.

Post – tribulation is the believe that the Church will be going through the tribulation and the rapture wont occur until the end of the tribulation. This theory is refuted by the fact that God has promised at least 4 times to save us from this tribulation in Romans 5:9, I Thessalonians 1:10, II Thessalonians 1:5-10, Revelation 3:10. These scriptures tell us that Christians won’t go through the tribulation.

Mid tribulation, these people believe that the rapture of the church will take place in the middle of the tribulation and that Christians need to experience a part of the tribulation in order to be purified but he said that purification needs to be done now. It is not the wrath of God that will purify the Church. We must be pure as we look up to seeing Jesus’ second coming because He is pure Himself. This theory is refuted by the same text in the post -tribulation.

Partial tribulation teaches that the rapture would only include spiritual Christians whiles the canal Christians would be left behind to endure the tribulation but in 1 Corinthians 15:51. We all shall be changed so there is no need for us being with the tribulation to experience any part of it. The catastrophe that will befall the earth during the great tribulation will be unbearable and unprecedented Mathew 24:21. Just imagine passengers in a train moving at a speed of 600Kph where the engineer is whisked into the air…what then will happen with the passengers? From this he said since we have had the opportunity to hear these things we need to go out and tell the world about this deadly day ahead of mankind.

Apostle Gyimah again recalled that when he was young his mother told him a story about the end times and the fires and brimstones that was going to destroy the world. Interestingly enough he was told the story just before he went to bed. Whiles he slept he dreamt that Jesus Christ had come and many people were running helter scatter as he found himself running along side with them but as he run he cried and wailed for not having been able to join the elite during the rapture. He immediately woke up from bed and felt a sigh of great relief as he realized it was but a dream. He said he wants to avoid the great tribulation that’s why he’d do anything to be a part of the transformation. Paul says I don’t fight like someone who is blowing the wind he knows what he wants and goes after it. Apostle continued that it is not just for the comfort of the things about the world but also he has been conditioned to think about the tribulation.

As a co-founder of ITI he told us that when he and other two members decided to form this conference with its maiden being in Accra Academy, their main aim was to save people from the wrath of God that was to come. He felt satisfied and gave Glory to God for how far He’s brought ITI PENSA, how the Lord is using students in the rural areas, even in foreign countries and other manifestations of His glory. The challenges they used to face in the days of old are no different from that of today just that they’ve been given different names to fit the times, but when you know where you are going you stay focused and stay on track. Some churches he said have termed some times as dating time where they meet together and mess themselves up. During that time parents will be looking for their children, husbands look for wives, friends look for their loved ones but will never find them on earth “the great tribulation is a time we need to avoid” Mathew 24:21.

He says these events of the tribulation will make men pray and even plead for the rock to fall on them but this will never happen unless God ordains that they die Revelation 6:15-17. The presence of the Holy Spirit is obstructing evil to have its own way. Once again he recalled that he was returning from an all night program back in KNUST and as he got to “catanga” (one of the halls of the school), one of the boys upon setting eyes on him shouted “scatter the pente crife people are coming they will report us to God” at that time they used to be called “pente crife” because they were known to be on fire.

He said they know that what they are doing is wrong but the will to stop the sins isn’t there. But the Spirit convicts the world of their sins through the church, therefore when the church leaves the earth there won’t be any conviction on the earth and no more forgiveness will be left on earth. He said at a point in time a Christian can chose to seize to be a Christian. The death mentioned in Romans 8:13 isn’t a physical death but “seizing to have the life of God in you”  that life will die and when you hear the voice of God you cant determine His voice and you may dance and do all the wonders and gimmicks in Church but you will be dead in spirit.

The great tribulation is time of distress, trouble, persecution and judgment for sin where God’s wrath will be poured on the earth. Revelation11:3-10 talks about the first 31/2 years of the tribulation and the greatest of this event will be the witness of two witnesses who will witness to save some people within the tribulation and the Bible calls the saved as the tribulation saints. They would include the 144000 Jews who will be sealed in order that they will not die no matter the turbulence they will be going through during the tribulation. The Bible says it will be 1260 days which will be up to 42 months and 3 ½ years that’s why we say it will last for 7 years. The second half of the period is recorded in Revelation 5:18 where the beast is allowed to blaspheme for 42 months that is when you won’t be allowed to buy or sell without the 666. He further asked participants not worry themselves about the rumors of 666 and the sing of the dollar since they would be raptured before that time.

In conclusion, he said after the 7 years of the tribulation Jesus shall visibly return to earth with the saints in their glorified bodies time not Spirit and Souls but in their glorified bodies “it will be an awesome sight a day where the tribulation saints will rejoice at the appearance of their deliverer”. The unbelievers would wail and mourn. Jesus will return to earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords Matthew 24:23. We should therefore be cautious about that period and work hard against that day.

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. Amen.