Heavenly Transport

"He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40: 28-31 KJV)

How and when is such a promise or prophecy fulfilled in the life of a child of God, in the life of that one who "waits upon the Lord"?

Certainly the language of the prophecy may be understood metaphorically or symbolically and may therefore speak of a Christian's perseverence in faith, in soul, mind, and spirit, and which is most often the way bible teachers have applied the passage.

But, it is a mistake to think that the language of the prophecy cannot or should not be understood chiefly in a literal sense, of physical stamina or of perseverence in bodily health and strength.

It is also a mistake to think that the fulfillment of the promise pertains to this life, rather than to the eternal life of the resurrected saints, when they will have received their immortal and glorified bodies, and when their bodies will have been "fashioned like unto his (Jesus) glorious body." (Philippians 3: 21 KJV)

Glorified believers will have the attributes of angels and of the risen Christ, acquiring bodies that have been gloriously changed for eternal existence.

"Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God...neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." (I Corithians 15: 50, 51 KJV)

"It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." (vs. 44)

"As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." (vs. 48, 49)

"...we shall all be changed...For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." (Vs. 51, 53)

This "glorious body" will no longer be subject to death or fatigue, nor one strictly subject to the physical laws of nature.

When will the saints "mount up with wings as eagles"?

"For as the lightning cometh (travels) out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming (arrival) of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together." (Matthew 24: 27, 28 KJV)

The lion, being the king of the beasts, or land animals, and the eagle, being the king of the fowl, or sky animals, are emblems of both Christ and his people, in the Bible.

"Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?" (Job 39 : 27 KJV)

But, the believer will "mount up" when Christ returns! They will be "caught up" or "raptured" to "greet the Lord in the air," and this not simply in spirit, but in a newly resurrected body also. (See I Thessalonians 4: 13-21) Believers will be given "wings," not literal, but "wings" denote the ability to transport themselves as do angels. When all believers have "mounted up" to meet the Lord, then will be fulfilled the words of Jesus - "there (and then) will the eagles be gathered together."

It will be at this time that the prayer and petition of David will be fully answered, who said - "And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest." (Psalm 55: 6 KJV)

We have some previews of the kind of celestial transportation that will characterize eternal life and immortal existence. There will certainly be no automobiles and human means of transportation in the "world to come."

"And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing." (Acts 8: 39 KJV)

"And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah? And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me? As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth." (I Kings 18: 12 KJV)

"And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send." (II Kings 2: 15, 16 KJV)

John Gill, in his famous Commentary, called these "small raptures." The "catching away" of Elijah, and Elisha, in the Old Testament, and of Philip the Evangelist, in the New Testament, are miniature pictures of that great "catching away" or "rapture" of believers in Jesus as mentioned in connection with the return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. (See I Thessalonians 4: 13-21) But, these "small raptures" also remove the veil and allow us to see something of the glorious coming estate in which resurrected and glorified believers shall eternally dwell.

Angels "run to and fro" through the earth and move about with the speed of light. Jesus, after his resurrection, had a changed body that was no longer mere flesh and blood, but a body transformed and made spiritual, so that it was no longer subject to the ordinary physical laws of nature.

"And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning." (Ezekiel 1: 14 KJV) So too will the resurrected saints be able to teleport at will in their new immortal and glorified bodies.

"Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." (John 20: 19 KJV)

Jesus could appear right in the middle of a locked and barred room! This was what he was able to do in his resurrected, glorified, and immortalized body. So will resurrected believers.

"Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." (Matthew 17: 19-21 KJV)

"And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you." (Luke 17: 5, 6 KJV)

Such power will be commonplace for the glorified sons of God. They will have power over nature just as Jesus demonstrated when he was here.

Friend, do you want to know that these glorious promises apply to you? They will apply to you indeed if you are truly a believer and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.