WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.660 There has never been a time in my ministry when 00:00:03.660 --> 00:00:10.279 I have received more questions regarding the 00:00:10.279 --> 00:00:13.919 rapture of the church. We call it the rapture 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:18.679 of the church. That's the scriptural term for 00:00:18.679 --> 00:00:25.719 it, or the great catching up, the time when the 00:00:25.719 --> 00:00:28.940 church of the Lord Jesus Christ will be caught 00:00:28.940 --> 00:00:34.539 up, will be raptured. And that event can take 00:00:34.539 --> 00:00:39.780 place any day, any hour, any moment, without 00:00:39.780 --> 00:00:45.479 violating one portion of the Word of God. We're 00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:50.380 that near that great event. And so for a few 00:00:50.380 --> 00:00:52.979 minutes today, you and I are going to have a 00:00:52.979 --> 00:00:55.039 heart -to -heart talk regarding the rapture. 00:00:56.320 --> 00:01:00.820 And I do hope... that all of you folk who have 00:01:00.820 --> 00:01:03.380 questions regarding the rapture of the church 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:09.560 will be there listening. Remember one thing. 00:01:10.140 --> 00:01:16.540 The rapture will be a surprise. Let me read a 00:01:16.540 --> 00:01:20.439 portion of the Word of God. That's our absolute 00:01:20.439 --> 00:01:26.159 authority. And again, may I remind you, if... 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:30.620 You have been taught one thing, and the Bible 00:01:30.620 --> 00:01:38.040 teaches another. The Bible is right. If you belong 00:01:38.040 --> 00:01:45.400 to some church, and that denomination does not 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:51.299 believe in the rapture, the great catching up, 00:01:56.250 --> 00:02:01.989 Bible is the very word of God. And you and I 00:02:01.989 --> 00:02:06.329 dare not close our eyes. We dare not close our 00:02:06.329 --> 00:02:14.750 ears to the word of God. Let him who has ears 00:02:14.750 --> 00:02:21.150 listen. I give you the word as recorded in the 00:02:21.150 --> 00:02:26.430 24th chapter of Matthew. Jesus himself is speaking. 00:02:27.349 --> 00:02:32.949 Of that day and hour, and he's referring to the 00:02:32.949 --> 00:02:37.650 rapture of the church. Of that day and hour knoweth 00:02:37.650 --> 00:02:42.490 no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my 00:02:42.490 --> 00:02:48.810 Father only. We can know the times. We can know 00:02:48.810 --> 00:02:54.560 the seasons. But the exact day. I would speak 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:58.819 in error if I would say to you, tomorrow we're 00:02:58.819 --> 00:03:02.259 going to have a great catching up. I would speak 00:03:02.259 --> 00:03:09.159 in error if I would say so many days hence. We're 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:12.460 going to have the rapture of the church. The 00:03:12.460 --> 00:03:16.259 Bible clearly teaches that the day, the exact 00:03:16.259 --> 00:03:25.030 day, the exact hour, no man knoweth. Not even 00:03:25.030 --> 00:03:30.669 the angels of heaven. It is such a closely guarded 00:03:30.669 --> 00:03:37.150 secret that even the angels do not know. They 00:03:37.150 --> 00:03:42.250 do not have this information. But my father only. 00:03:43.210 --> 00:03:49.229 God the Father alone has this highly secretive 00:03:49.229 --> 00:03:58.330 information. The times and the seasons, the stop, 00:03:58.330 --> 00:04:02.069 look, and listen signs are out. And he continues, 00:04:02.310 --> 00:04:07.229 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the 00:04:07.229 --> 00:04:10.310 coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days 00:04:10.310 --> 00:04:13.669 that were before the flood, they were eating 00:04:13.669 --> 00:04:17.670 and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, 00:04:17.990 --> 00:04:21.889 until the day that Noah entered into the ark. 00:04:22.699 --> 00:04:26.899 and knew not until the flood came and took them 00:04:26.899 --> 00:04:31.279 all away. So shall also the coming of the Son 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:36.139 of Man be. Then shall two be in the field, one 00:04:36.139 --> 00:04:40.879 shall be taken, the other left. Two women shall 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:44.100 be grinding at the mill, one shall be taken, 00:04:44.300 --> 00:04:50.579 the other left. Watch therefore. In other words, 00:04:50.660 --> 00:04:56.930 the exact... hour, the exact day, you and I cannot 00:04:56.930 --> 00:05:01.629 know. He has given us the times, the seasons. 00:05:02.689 --> 00:05:09.470 Therefore watch, for ye know not what hour your 00:05:09.470 --> 00:05:14.870 Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good 00:05:14.870 --> 00:05:17.930 man of the house had known in what watch the 00:05:17.930 --> 00:05:22.360 thief would come, he would have watched. and 00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:25.079 would not have suffered his house to be broken 00:05:25.079 --> 00:05:31.180 up. Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an 00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:37.420 hour, as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. 00:05:38.120 --> 00:05:42.920 Again I repeat, the rapture would be a surprise. 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:49.220 He will come as a thief. Now a thief does not 00:05:49.220 --> 00:05:52.810 announce his coming. He comes for a certain purpose. 00:05:55.009 --> 00:05:59.910 And he does not take everything there is in the 00:05:59.910 --> 00:06:05.990 house. He takes only the precious things. That's 00:06:05.990 --> 00:06:10.550 what he's looking for. The precious things. The 00:06:10.550 --> 00:06:13.990 jewels, the gold, the silver, the fine wearing 00:06:13.990 --> 00:06:18.069 apparel, the furs. He's looking for diamonds. 00:06:19.379 --> 00:06:25.459 valuable things, precious things. He does not 00:06:25.459 --> 00:06:29.259 come to stay. As soon as he secures what he's 00:06:29.259 --> 00:06:34.300 after, he leaves, he departs. And so Jesus, at 00:06:34.300 --> 00:06:40.360 the rapture, will come. He'll take away the jewels, 00:06:40.420 --> 00:06:48.399 the precious things, the saints of God. And at 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:52.040 the time of the rapture, only those who have 00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:56.360 been born into the body of Christ will be taken. 00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:02.300 The thief leaves much more than he takes. He 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:05.399 leaves the house. He leaves the furniture. He 00:07:05.399 --> 00:07:09.879 leaves the household utensils. And so the Lord 00:07:09.879 --> 00:07:11.839 at the time of the rapture will leave the wicked 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:18.879 and the great mass. of civilization will be left 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:24.800 behind. It is my firm conviction that so far 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:30.920 as numbers are concerned, there will be comparatively 00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:40.259 few who will be taken. Just pause a minute. Think 00:07:40.259 --> 00:07:45.870 of civilization. There are comparatively few 00:07:45.870 --> 00:07:51.949 who are among the blood -washed strong, whose 00:07:51.949 --> 00:07:55.829 sins have been covered with blood. There are 00:07:55.829 --> 00:08:00.769 millions of church members. You know, we've gotten 00:08:00.769 --> 00:08:03.790 to the place where we almost feel that even here 00:08:03.790 --> 00:08:05.689 in the United States, one is almost a heathen 00:08:05.689 --> 00:08:09.389 if he doesn't belong to church. Practically everybody 00:08:09.389 --> 00:08:12.290 is a church member. If there's somebody in your 00:08:12.290 --> 00:08:16.740 block, who isn't a member of some church. You 00:08:16.740 --> 00:08:22.500 almost consider him a heathen, an atheist. Everybody 00:08:22.500 --> 00:08:25.660 belongs to some church. Oh, he may never go. 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:30.560 He may turn out Easter Sunday and get all dressed 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:33.759 up. Or he may go when there is some special occasion. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:40.899 Or when the baby is to be dedicated. Or there's 00:08:40.899 --> 00:08:45.299 a funeral. And sometimes the funeral is his own, 00:08:45.379 --> 00:08:50.799 you know, but it's just like that. But you cannot 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:56.159 find any place in the Bible where God says those 00:08:56.159 --> 00:09:02.100 who belong to some church will be taken. He does 00:09:02.100 --> 00:09:07.000 not put a premium on just church membership. 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:13.080 Just to join a church doesn't mean... any more 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:22.139 than to join some club. And the only reason that 00:09:22.139 --> 00:09:25.399 you haven't joined the club is because membership 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:29.600 costs you something and there's many a person 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:33.059 who has joined the church and they've gotten 00:09:33.059 --> 00:09:35.299 in for two bits a Sunday. Kind of like that, 00:09:35.379 --> 00:09:40.649 you know? Sure. Watch something and we need to 00:09:40.649 --> 00:09:44.110 look the thing directly in the face. Church membership 00:09:44.110 --> 00:09:47.070 has nothing to do with the great catching up. 00:09:47.929 --> 00:09:55.250 Has nothing to do with securing you that safety 00:09:55.250 --> 00:10:00.830 in being a part of the rapture of the church. 00:10:01.789 --> 00:10:08.129 You must be born again. Born into this glorious 00:10:08.129 --> 00:10:14.610 body of Christ. The bride of Christ. You're born 00:10:14.610 --> 00:10:20.509 into the bride of Christ. You're born into his 00:10:20.509 --> 00:10:25.889 church. That's the reason I still contend that 00:10:25.889 --> 00:10:28.710 when it comes to the time of the rapture of the 00:10:28.710 --> 00:10:34.370 church and the wicked, the great masses of... 00:10:34.750 --> 00:10:39.450 Those living will be left behind, and those taken 00:10:39.450 --> 00:10:45.850 will be comparatively few. The rapture will be 00:10:45.850 --> 00:10:50.230 elective. It will not only separate the saints 00:10:50.230 --> 00:10:53.549 from the unbelievers. It will separate husbands 00:10:53.549 --> 00:10:57.889 from wives, brothers from sisters, friends from 00:10:57.889 --> 00:11:06.080 friends. It will separate... Church members from 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:09.519 those in that church who were really born again. 00:11:10.299 --> 00:11:12.600 Oh, the churches won't be empty by a long shot. 00:11:14.139 --> 00:11:18.500 No. After the rapture of the church, there'll 00:11:18.500 --> 00:11:23.679 still be a service the next Sunday morning. And 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:27.580 I hate to tell you, but there's many a church 00:11:27.580 --> 00:11:33.220 who'll still have the pastor in the pulpit. the 00:11:33.220 --> 00:11:38.460 next Sunday morning at the rapture. I'm sorry 00:11:38.460 --> 00:11:41.600 to tell you, but there'll still be some of the 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:46.659 deacons still deaconing after the rapture of 00:11:46.659 --> 00:11:50.759 the church. I might be sorry to tell you, but 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:55.379 there'll still be choir members in their usual 00:11:55.379 --> 00:12:02.240 places after the rapture of the church. Mm -hmm. 00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:07.840 It'll not only separate husbands and wives. It'll 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:11.080 separate church members from those in that church 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:15.799 who were really born again. I give the scripture 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:20.379 again. And it's Jesus speaking. He says, I tell 00:12:20.379 --> 00:12:24.320 you, in that night, there shall be two men in 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:28.539 one bed. The one shall be taken, the other left. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:32.220 Two women shall be grinding together. The one 00:12:32.220 --> 00:12:35.700 shall be taken the other left. Two men in the 00:12:35.700 --> 00:12:39.919 field. One shall be taken the other left. It's 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:43.779 there, the 17th chapter of Luke, beginning with 00:12:43.779 --> 00:12:50.639 the 34th verse. Mm -hmm. Two in bed. Two grinding 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:55.580 at the mill. We know immediately that this morning 00:12:55.580 --> 00:12:59.690 someplace in the world is... Evening, another 00:12:59.690 --> 00:13:05.330 place. Two in the field. It's midnoon someplace. 00:13:06.909 --> 00:13:10.490 This shows that the rapture will happen all over 00:13:10.490 --> 00:13:14.409 the earth at the same time, or as the apostle 00:13:14.409 --> 00:13:18.190 describes it, in a moment, in the twinkling of 00:13:18.190 --> 00:13:22.210 an eye, as the lightning cometh out of the east. 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:26.720 and shineth even unto the west, so shall also 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:29.899 the coming of the Son of Man be. That's the way 00:13:29.899 --> 00:13:35.440 Jesus puts it. The rapture be the most startling 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:38.860 event of this age, and believe me, we've had 00:13:38.860 --> 00:13:44.220 some mighty startling things happening recently. 00:13:45.159 --> 00:13:52.669 Some mighty startling things. How often? During 00:13:52.669 --> 00:13:54.389 the past several weeks, I've heard folks say, 00:13:54.450 --> 00:14:01.190 I never dreamed I'd live to see this. I never 00:14:01.190 --> 00:14:07.850 dreamed this would happen in my day. I never 00:14:07.850 --> 00:14:12.690 imagined that it would happen in my generation. 00:14:13.610 --> 00:14:17.330 They talk about startling things that have happened 00:14:17.330 --> 00:14:21.870 in this dispensation, in this generation. I'm 00:14:21.870 --> 00:14:23.909 going to tell you that the rapture would be the 00:14:23.909 --> 00:14:30.389 most startling event of this dispensation, of 00:14:30.389 --> 00:14:35.529 this generation. It's going to happen in the 00:14:35.529 --> 00:14:38.529 twinkling of an eye all over the earth at the 00:14:38.529 --> 00:14:44.210 same time. As to the shout of the Lord and the 00:14:44.210 --> 00:14:47.169 voice of the archangel and the trump of God, 00:14:47.289 --> 00:14:51.700 we do not know whether... their sound will be 00:14:51.700 --> 00:14:55.960 heard and distinguished by others than the dead 00:14:55.960 --> 00:14:58.580 in Christ and the living saints, I've often wondered. 00:14:59.899 --> 00:15:05.299 There will be a shout. There will be the trump 00:15:05.299 --> 00:15:08.500 of the Lord. But I cannot tell you definitely 00:15:08.500 --> 00:15:13.259 that the whole world will hear the trump of God. 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:18.259 I cannot assure you that the whole world will 00:15:18.259 --> 00:15:25.710 hear the voice of the archangel. If I were to 00:15:25.710 --> 00:15:31.370 make the decision, I'd say, oh, go it loud enough 00:15:31.370 --> 00:15:36.629 for everybody to hear it. Uh -huh. I would like 00:15:36.629 --> 00:15:42.710 to say, oh, please, when the archangel speaks, 00:15:43.169 --> 00:15:47.529 please speak with a voice that the whole world 00:15:48.269 --> 00:15:52.389 Every man and every woman would hear that voice. 00:15:52.950 --> 00:15:59.210 But I'm not sure. I do know one thing. The dead 00:15:59.210 --> 00:16:03.549 in Christ and the living saints will hear the 00:16:03.549 --> 00:16:06.070 trump of God and the voice of the archangel. 00:16:06.970 --> 00:16:09.929 I'm dead sure of one thing. I'm going to hear 00:16:09.929 --> 00:16:14.840 it. And I pray to God you will hear it. We know 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:17.639 that one day the Father spoke to Christ in a 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:25.600 voice that he understood. Jesus heard the Father 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:31.059 speak when he said, This is my beloved Son in 00:16:31.059 --> 00:16:40.659 whom I am well pleased. But the people who stood 00:16:40.659 --> 00:16:47.759 by mistook it for thunder. They thought it was 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:51.399 thunder. Read it in the 12th chapter of John. 00:16:52.179 --> 00:16:57.799 They did not recognize it as being the voice 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:06.700 of God. Sometimes I wonder when that great event 00:17:06.700 --> 00:17:10.980 takes place, the event that will be the greatest 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:16.460 of this generation, this dispensation. I'm wondering 00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:23.180 if when the trump of the Lord sounds to the masses, 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:30.839 to the millions who will be left, they will hear 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:35.619 the sound, but to them it may too only be the 00:17:35.619 --> 00:17:43.980 sound of mighty thunder. the loudest, the most 00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:49.859 startling thunder they've ever heard. I don't 00:17:49.859 --> 00:17:55.799 know. I don't know. When the Lord appeared to 00:17:55.799 --> 00:17:59.319 Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus and spoke 00:17:59.319 --> 00:18:02.799 to him, the men that journeyed with him stood 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:09.119 speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no man. 00:18:09.849 --> 00:18:17.529 and not understanding what was said. That's scripture. 00:18:18.509 --> 00:18:24.609 They heard a voice, but seeing no man, and not 00:18:24.609 --> 00:18:30.569 understanding what was said. We know, however, 00:18:30.650 --> 00:18:34.450 that the dead in Christ will hear the sound. 00:18:35.950 --> 00:18:40.660 We'll know it's his voice. The trump of God. 00:18:41.660 --> 00:18:46.059 The voice of the archangel. We'll understand. 00:18:47.079 --> 00:18:52.839 That's one thing I can be positive of when I 00:18:52.839 --> 00:18:59.579 give you that truth. And in that moment, there'll 00:18:59.579 --> 00:19:08.079 be no graves so deep. No mausoleums so thick. 00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:13.579 but what the sound shall reach their depths, 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:19.980 and the dead in Christ shall hear the cry. Awake 00:19:19.980 --> 00:19:23.380 ye sleeping saints and arise from the dead. It 00:19:23.380 --> 00:19:28.180 is morning, that glorious morning of the resurrection, 00:19:28.259 --> 00:19:31.619 that glorious morning that you've been waiting 00:19:31.619 --> 00:19:36.160 for. Oh, what a day that's going to be. What 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:38.400 an... hour that's going to be, what a moment 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:40.400 that's going to be, but it's only going to take 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:50.299 a moment. It will only take the time of the twinkling 00:19:50.299 --> 00:19:53.980 of an eye. In other words, sitting there right 00:19:53.980 --> 00:20:01.279 now, just blink your eye. It only takes a split 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:05.240 second. That's what it means, the twinkling of 00:20:05.240 --> 00:20:10.490 an eye. The batting of an eyelash. Right now. 00:20:11.430 --> 00:20:18.490 Even as I am doing it. Just close your eye. Open 00:20:18.490 --> 00:20:22.589 it very quickly. That's all the longer it's going 00:20:22.589 --> 00:20:31.450 to take for the saints of God to go all the way 00:20:31.450 --> 00:20:40.319 from earth to glory. You'll not have time to 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:44.819 prepare. You'll not have time to make things 00:20:44.819 --> 00:20:53.819 right. No. Now is the time to get ready. There'll 00:20:53.819 --> 00:20:57.240 not be time. Then.