There has never been a time in my ministry when
I have received more questions regarding the
rapture of the church. We call it the rapture
of the church. That's the scriptural term for
it, or the great catching up, the time when the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ will be caught
up, will be raptured. And that event can take
place any day, any hour, any moment, without
violating one portion of the Word of God. We're
that near that great event. And so for a few
minutes today, you and I are going to have a
heart -to -heart talk regarding the rapture.
And I do hope... that all of you folk who have
questions regarding the rapture of the church
will be there listening. Remember one thing.
The rapture will be a surprise. Let me read a
portion of the Word of God. That's our absolute
authority. And again, may I remind you, if...
You have been taught one thing, and the Bible
teaches another. The Bible is right. If you belong
to some church, and that denomination does not
believe in the rapture, the great catching up,
Bible is the very word of God. And you and I
dare not close our eyes. We dare not close our
ears to the word of God. Let him who has ears
listen. I give you the word as recorded in the
24th chapter of Matthew. Jesus himself is speaking.
Of that day and hour, and he's referring to the
rapture of the church. Of that day and hour knoweth
no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my
Father only. We can know the times. We can know
the seasons. But the exact day. I would speak
in error if I would say to you, tomorrow we're
going to have a great catching up. I would speak
in error if I would say so many days hence. We're
going to have the rapture of the church. The
Bible clearly teaches that the day, the exact
day, the exact hour, no man knoweth. Not even
the angels of heaven. It is such a closely guarded
secret that even the angels do not know. They
do not have this information. But my father only.
God the Father alone has this highly secretive
information. The times and the seasons, the stop,
look, and listen signs are out. And he continues,
But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the
coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days
that were before the flood, they were eating
and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,
until the day that Noah entered into the ark.
and knew not until the flood came and took them
all away. So shall also the coming of the Son
of Man be. Then shall two be in the field, one
shall be taken, the other left. Two women shall
be grinding at the mill, one shall be taken,
the other left. Watch therefore. In other words,
the exact... hour, the exact day, you and I cannot
know. He has given us the times, the seasons.
Therefore watch, for ye know not what hour your
Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good
man of the house had known in what watch the
thief would come, he would have watched. and
would not have suffered his house to be broken
up. Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an
hour, as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.
Again I repeat, the rapture would be a surprise.
He will come as a thief. Now a thief does not
announce his coming. He comes for a certain purpose.
And he does not take everything there is in the
house. He takes only the precious things. That's
what he's looking for. The precious things. The
jewels, the gold, the silver, the fine wearing
apparel, the furs. He's looking for diamonds.
valuable things, precious things. He does not
come to stay. As soon as he secures what he's
after, he leaves, he departs. And so Jesus, at
the rapture, will come. He'll take away the jewels,
the precious things, the saints of God. And at
the time of the rapture, only those who have
been born into the body of Christ will be taken.
The thief leaves much more than he takes. He
leaves the house. He leaves the furniture. He
leaves the household utensils. And so the Lord
at the time of the rapture will leave the wicked
and the great mass. of civilization will be left
behind. It is my firm conviction that so far
as numbers are concerned, there will be comparatively
few who will be taken. Just pause a minute. Think
of civilization. There are comparatively few
who are among the blood -washed strong, whose
sins have been covered with blood. There are
millions of church members. You know, we've gotten
to the place where we almost feel that even here
in the United States, one is almost a heathen
if he doesn't belong to church. Practically everybody
is a church member. If there's somebody in your
block, who isn't a member of some church. You
almost consider him a heathen, an atheist. Everybody
belongs to some church. Oh, he may never go.
He may turn out Easter Sunday and get all dressed
up. Or he may go when there is some special occasion.
Or when the baby is to be dedicated. Or there's
a funeral. And sometimes the funeral is his own,
you know, but it's just like that. But you cannot
find any place in the Bible where God says those
who belong to some church will be taken. He does
not put a premium on just church membership.
Just to join a church doesn't mean... any more
than to join some club. And the only reason that
you haven't joined the club is because membership
costs you something and there's many a person
who has joined the church and they've gotten
in for two bits a Sunday. Kind of like that,
you know? Sure. Watch something and we need to
look the thing directly in the face. Church membership
has nothing to do with the great catching up.
Has nothing to do with securing you that safety
in being a part of the rapture of the church.
You must be born again. Born into this glorious
body of Christ. The bride of Christ. You're born
into the bride of Christ. You're born into his
church. That's the reason I still contend that
when it comes to the time of the rapture of the
church and the wicked, the great masses of...
Those living will be left behind, and those taken
will be comparatively few. The rapture will be
elective. It will not only separate the saints
from the unbelievers. It will separate husbands
from wives, brothers from sisters, friends from
friends. It will separate... Church members from
those in that church who were really born again.
Oh, the churches won't be empty by a long shot.
No. After the rapture of the church, there'll
still be a service the next Sunday morning. And
I hate to tell you, but there's many a church
who'll still have the pastor in the pulpit. the
next Sunday morning at the rapture. I'm sorry
to tell you, but there'll still be some of the
deacons still deaconing after the rapture of
the church. I might be sorry to tell you, but
there'll still be choir members in their usual
places after the rapture of the church. Mm -hmm.
It'll not only separate husbands and wives. It'll
separate church members from those in that church
who were really born again. I give the scripture
again. And it's Jesus speaking. He says, I tell
you, in that night, there shall be two men in
one bed. The one shall be taken, the other left.
Two women shall be grinding together. The one
shall be taken the other left. Two men in the
field. One shall be taken the other left. It's
there, the 17th chapter of Luke, beginning with
the 34th verse. Mm -hmm. Two in bed. Two grinding
at the mill. We know immediately that this morning
someplace in the world is... Evening, another
place. Two in the field. It's midnoon someplace.
This shows that the rapture will happen all over
the earth at the same time, or as the apostle
describes it, in a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, as the lightning cometh out of the east.
and shineth even unto the west, so shall also
the coming of the Son of Man be. That's the way
Jesus puts it. The rapture be the most startling
event of this age, and believe me, we've had
some mighty startling things happening recently.
Some mighty startling things. How often? During
the past several weeks, I've heard folks say,
I never dreamed I'd live to see this. I never
dreamed this would happen in my day. I never
imagined that it would happen in my generation.
They talk about startling things that have happened
in this dispensation, in this generation. I'm
going to tell you that the rapture would be the
most startling event of this dispensation, of
this generation. It's going to happen in the
twinkling of an eye all over the earth at the
same time. As to the shout of the Lord and the
voice of the archangel and the trump of God,
we do not know whether... their sound will be
heard and distinguished by others than the dead
in Christ and the living saints, I've often wondered.
There will be a shout. There will be the trump
of the Lord. But I cannot tell you definitely
that the whole world will hear the trump of God.
I cannot assure you that the whole world will
hear the voice of the archangel. If I were to
make the decision, I'd say, oh, go it loud enough
for everybody to hear it. Uh -huh. I would like
to say, oh, please, when the archangel speaks,
please speak with a voice that the whole world
Every man and every woman would hear that voice.
But I'm not sure. I do know one thing. The dead
in Christ and the living saints will hear the
trump of God and the voice of the archangel.
I'm dead sure of one thing. I'm going to hear
it. And I pray to God you will hear it. We know
that one day the Father spoke to Christ in a
voice that he understood. Jesus heard the Father
speak when he said, This is my beloved Son in
whom I am well pleased. But the people who stood
by mistook it for thunder. They thought it was
thunder. Read it in the 12th chapter of John.
They did not recognize it as being the voice
of God. Sometimes I wonder when that great event
takes place, the event that will be the greatest
of this generation, this dispensation. I'm wondering
if when the trump of the Lord sounds to the masses,
to the millions who will be left, they will hear
the sound, but to them it may too only be the
sound of mighty thunder. the loudest, the most
startling thunder they've ever heard. I don't
know. I don't know. When the Lord appeared to
Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus and spoke
to him, the men that journeyed with him stood
speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no man.
and not understanding what was said. That's scripture.
They heard a voice, but seeing no man, and not
understanding what was said. We know, however,
that the dead in Christ will hear the sound.
We'll know it's his voice. The trump of God.
The voice of the archangel. We'll understand.
That's one thing I can be positive of when I
give you that truth. And in that moment, there'll
be no graves so deep. No mausoleums so thick.
but what the sound shall reach their depths,
and the dead in Christ shall hear the cry. Awake
ye sleeping saints and arise from the dead. It
is morning, that glorious morning of the resurrection,
that glorious morning that you've been waiting
for. Oh, what a day that's going to be. What
an... hour that's going to be, what a moment
that's going to be, but it's only going to take
a moment. It will only take the time of the twinkling
of an eye. In other words, sitting there right
now, just blink your eye. It only takes a split
second. That's what it means, the twinkling of
an eye. The batting of an eyelash. Right now.
Even as I am doing it. Just close your eye. Open
it very quickly. That's all the longer it's going
to take for the saints of God to go all the way
from earth to glory. You'll not have time to
prepare. You'll not have time to make things
right. No. Now is the time to get ready. There'll
not be time. Then.