The first print is 15. 1 Corinthians 15, I'm going to start reading in verse 20. Read a few verses and then skip to verse 50. So 1 Corinthians 15, beginning in verse 20. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive, but each in his own order. Christ the firstfruits, after that those who are Christ at His coming. Then comes the end. when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death." And then jumping to verse 15, Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable. and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on the immortal, then will come about the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory." Let's pray. Father, I pray that You would speak to us through Your Word and by Your Spirit. Father, such important things that we're looking at, that we have been going through, the end, or the end that every single one of us that are here, every single person that has ever lived, will experience the things we are talking about one day, even more sure than the sun coming up tomorrow, because we don't know that it will. But we do know that Christ will return, and that you will judge the living and the dead, and that everyone will stand before you, and everyone will bow and will confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ really is the Lord of all creation. For some, it'll be in their way to hell, Lord, there won't be a soul in hell that has not professed that Jesus really is Lord, and yet it'll be too late. Because this is the end that we're talking about. The end of this creation, the end of this life. waiting matters, Lord. I pray that you would give much, much help, Lord. And that you would use this thought of Christ returning as you did in my life once. Lord, that you would cause those that don't know you to sear. And that they would tremble before you. And that they would cry out, save. In Christ's name, amen. For it is a serious matter. It is both joyful and terrifying, this matter of the resurrection. The Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is a wonderful day. It is a terrible day. It is an awesome day. And we're looking at We're looking at the end. We've gone through in the previous verses the comparison of the body that will go into the ground and the body that will come out of the ground. As Paul's dealing with false teaching in the church, people that are saying there is no resurrection, that when you die, that's it. And Paul says, if that's true, there is no gospel. Because the Christ we preach is the risen Christ that came out of the grave. And that we will be raised like Him. He's the first fruit. He's the first one, so far the only one, that has been raised like He was raised. He's not the first one to come back from the dead. He's the first one that has been raised. resurrection body come back from the dead. The first fruits in that regard. That's what our hope is, is the day that we will be raised like Him. That this mortal will put on the immortal. And we've looked at that. How this body that we now have When we looked and we saw the different things, the perishable, the dishonored, the natural body, the earthly body, and what he describes here in verse 50 as flesh and blood, the perishable, that's not referring to the corpse that goes into the grave. It's referring our current state. This body that we all have right now. This body is what goes into the grave. But these things that he's describing, he's not describing the corpse. He's describing us. As we are right now. We are perishable. Our nature has been corrupted. It's been dishonored because of the sin of Adam. Which we were all born into. And in having just given this comparison back and forth of the body that is now and the body that will be, he says, now I say this, brethren, flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the imperishable inherit the imperishable. When he says flesh and blood here, But then he turns around and says, a body. I think it was the last time I went through it. I was very adamant about the fact that an actual body will be raised. Physical body. Just like Jesus when He appeared to the disciples, remember? He said, touch me. Spirit doesn't have flesh and bones like I do. Give me something to eat. Why? Because spirits don't eat bread, fish, food. They don't need to. He was proving to them it was Him in the flesh. But in the new flesh. In the risen flesh. But a real body. And then here He says flesh and blood can't inherit the Kingdom of God. So, we looked at this last time. I don't know if you remember or not. He's doing this by way of comparison. This body that now is. This flesh and blood that we now have cannot inherit the Kingdom of God that's coming. What has to happen? Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. Again, it's the comparison of what is now and what will be. The flesh and blood is that which is perishable. What he says, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. So that's what he's describing. This body now that we have can't inherit the Kingdom of God. Can you think about any men that didn't die? Can you think about anyone? You know, what does the Bible say? What happened to Him? He was taken. God took Him. Did He take this body that is this flesh and blood? Did He take this? No. He had to be changed. He had to lose this flesh and blood. He didn't die a natural death the way men die. God just took Him. God just brought him up. Remember Elijah? Taken up in the whirlwind? Well, that doesn't mean that this body went into heaven. This body can't go into heaven. This flesh and blood cannot go into heaven. Because this flesh and blood is dishonorable. This body that we have. What did Paul say to the Romans when he was writing to the Romans? What are we waiting for? The redemption of The body. Our body in this state is not yet redeemed. We are redeemed as people, as individuals, like Jim was talking about in the Lord's Supper. Me, I, the life I now live, I live in the flesh. So me, I, the person, am redeemed, but my flesh is not yet redeemed. That is coming. We do have eternal life now, but like we've talked about so much in the past, we're not saved yet. We're being saved. Salvation is sure, but not finished. Not complete. What Paul is describing here is just that. The end. The completion of our salvation. He says, Behold, I tell you a mystery. Not something that is a mystery. In Scripture, when this is used, a mystery, it's something that was once hidden, but is now revealed. So when He says, I tell you a mystery, He's saying, I tell you something that we now know that once we didn't know. Colossians 1.25, you don't need to turn there. Paul says, of this church, I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the Word of God. That is, the mystery which has been hidden from past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is what? Christ in you. That was hidden. It doesn't mean we can't find it in Scripture. It means, well, just like what Paul told the Corinthians about the Jews. A veil lies over them until this day. It's hidden. The truths were hidden from them. Only revealed to the saints. Truths only revealed to saints. Things written down, but revealed. In the VBS, we talked about this very thing. It goes back even before Abraham. But in Abraham, what? We have this mystery of the Gentiles. All the nations will be blessed in you. That's it. To us, it's revealed. Now, we see clearly, of course, that's what God was talking about. The salvation not just of the physical seed of Abraham, but all those that would be of the promise. All those that would have the faith of Abraham. In Ephesians 3, Paul talks about this mystery as well in Ephesians 3 verse 2. He says, If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given me for you, that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit, to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. He goes on to explain more. So Paul says that, behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. He's not bringing something new to light to them, but something that was previously hidden, but in Christ, it's now been revealed. We won't all sleep. We won't all die. We will all be changed. Sleep here, I don't think he's referring like he does in 1 Thessalonians when he says, those who are alive and remain at the coming of the Lord. I don't think he's referring to that here. I think he's talking about we won't all die, but we won't remain dead. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. contrasting the death of this body with the life coming out of the ground, the resurrection. We will all be changed. If you remember last time, what example did we use of this change? Remember? We used more than one. Butterfly. Yeah, the worm, the caterpillar. And then the butterfly, the transformation that goes on. Each one suited for its own environment. The caterpillar suited for its environment that it lives on, which is the ground. Crawling around on the ground and plants and things. And the butterfly suited for its environment, which is the air. It's changed. Its nature isn't changed. And neither will we. We won't become angels. We're people. We're human beings. We will be raised human beings in the truest sense. We will be more human in the resurrection than we are now. We will be more human in the resurrection than we are now. Because we will be as God intended us to be. without sin. Perfect. Perfect human beings. Not gods. That's a different nature. Now we're getting into the dual nature of Christ. What was His nature? He was God. He was man. He was truly God. He was truly man. He had two natures. We have one nature. We're people. We're humans. We will be changed, But not a new nature. Our nature is human. The psalmist wrote about this, I don't remember off the top of my head if it is David, Psalm 102. And, verse 25, "...of old you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. Even they will perish." But you endure. And all of them will wear out like a garment, like clothing. You will change them. And they will be changed. But you are the same. And your years will not come to an end." The psalmist there referring to the world. This world will be changed one day. Peter talks about it. We're looking forward to the day when this earth, that is preserved for fire, will one day be burnt up. Jesus even said, heaven and earth will pass away. They will. But My Word will never pass away. We will be changed at the resurrection. We must be changed because this nature, who we are now, the corruption of our flesh cannot inherit that which is incorruptible. And so we must be changed. And when will it happen? We will all be changed, verse 52, in the moment, in a twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." all this, he's repeating over and over about this transformation that is going to take place. Because the argument was, remember, if you remember what he's arguing against, is someone will say, what kind of body will it be? What kind of body is going to come out of the ground? In what state will it be in? And he is going to great lengths to say that It won't be like the body that goes into the ground, but it will be a body, a real body, a true body at the last trumpet. There are several circumstances in Scripture where trumpets are used. And I spent a whole lot of time yesterday going through verse after verse after verse about trumpets. One of those things in studying where I'm not sure if I should be spending this much time or not. But there's a lot to be said. And it's very helpful. Trumpets are used in different ways. In some places in Scripture, voices are compared to trumpets. In the prophets, God would send prophets, and they are to herald His Word. To trumpet the Word of God. We can see it in Revelation 1.10. He says, I was in the Spirit in the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet. Trumpets are used to summon people together in the Scripture. In Jeremiah 4-5, it says, "...declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, Blow the trumpet in the land, cry aloud, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities." So, trumpets can be used to get people's attention and to make the sound of everyone needs to gather together. Everyone needs to come. Everyone needs to assemble. Trumpets are used in making announcements. Similar to that, there's overlap in many of these verses. But in Matthew 6-2, it says, So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. The idea there is that Pharisees, they would literally blow trumpets so everyone would look around to see what's going on and see them. They're announcing what they're doing. Announcing their giving to everyone so that everyone will see it and think well about them. There's, I'm sure, other ways in which trumpets are used in Scripture, but by far the most common was the sounding of a trumpet as a warning of war and or judgment. A warning, the announcement of judgment, like blowing the bugle of charge, you know. Jeremiah 4.19 says, My soul, my soul, I am in anguish, O my heart, my heart is pounding in me. I cannot be silent because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet and the alarm of war. Or the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. And by far, this is how a trumpet is used most in Scripture. It's sounding the alarm. Essentially, the prophets in the Old Testament were God's trumpets. He would sound the alarm, judgment is coming, Israel. Because of your sin, judgment is coming. I'm going to judge you. How? I'm sending armies to conquer you. War is coming. I saw you read this apocalyptic language of when the armies come and they're like locusts. That they devour everything in front of them. And there's even different kind of locusts. Some devour this, what they leave, the others locusts devour. What they leave, others devour. It's the idea of a flood coming. A flood of soldiers. A flood of people to utterly annihilate and destroy. And in so many of these things, trumpets are used to sound the warning. So what's the significance of this trumpet that we're looking at here? We're going to be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. Well, one thing is to notice right away, we're told it's the last trumpet. Again, trumpets are used multiple times in Scripture. Going back into Genesis all the way through, multiple times for multiple things. But what we're referring to here is this trumpet, and it's important to take note of. It's the last one that is going to sound. There won't be any more trumpets heard in this world. There will be no more warning to men. There will be no more call to come and trust in Christ. There will be no more call, no more warning, repent of your sins, you're going to die one day. This is the last trumpet. It's the end. It's the end of the world. Literally. Literally. This world is going to end. I think sometimes it's almost like a far off notion. It doesn't seem real. You know, we watch movies about, apocalyptic movies about the end of the world, but there's always survivors. Otherwise, it would be a very short movie. It would be, boom, the end. That's what this is. Of this world, boom, the end. At the last trumpet, everyone, every person that has ever lived will be raised. will be changed. It's the end. It's the last trumpet. At its sounding, at the sound of this trumpet, the dead are summoned from the graves. V. 52 The dead will be raised. They will be changed. It also announces the return of the king back in v. 23. Talking about Christ being raised, each in his own order. Christ the first fruit. After that, those who are Christ at His coming. Then comes the end. When does the end come? When Christ comes and raises His people. when He hands over the Kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and all power, for He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. That's it. When Christ returns, that's it. Death will be put away. It will be done away with. Christ has already defeated death. Remember, I'm going back. He had to defeat death to come out of the grave. He had to. I think this is an often misquoted scripture, the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. That's a resurrection. That's a resurrection passage. We die, we'll be martyred. Many believers, many, many believers die because of their faith, because they're Christian. Looks like they're defeated. Kind of like when the Jews handed Jesus over and the Romans crucified Him. Looked like defeat. It wasn't defeat. He had to die to beat death. He had to succumb to death in order to overcome death. He defeated death. We're talking about when He does away with death. Completely. No, never to die again. So, this last trumpet, it announces the return of the King. When Christ returns. When He comes again. What else can we know about this last trumpet? It will be a joyful time for all the saints and holy angels. A time of eternal celebration. She stays in the Old Testament. There were trumpets blown throughout the different feasts. Times of joy, times of celebration. Well, it's going to be the same. This last trumpet will be a joyful time for the saints as we enter into eternal celebration, eternal joy, time of eternal feasting. and rejoicing, but at the same time, it is a time of war. This trumpet that will sound is announcing the final battle. And it won't be much of a battle. It won't be much of a battle. Revelation talks about Christ slaying His enemies by the word of His mouth. Now, I don't know exactly what that looks like. I think it will probably be giving the command to the angels to go out and slay all the wicked. It's the last time. It's time to get the tares out of the world. He said, leave them together until the end. Let them grow together until the end. And then He sends His harvesters. I believe that's likely what will happen. Jesus will give the commands. And it's time for the whole world to be judged. We read of a lot of places in the Prophets of different nations that God judges. Edom. Israel. Judah. Canaan. Israel had to go into captivity for 400 years. Why? Because God was being patient with the Amorites in the land of Cana. And their sin hadn't been filled up to the full yet. But there is no escape. It's a time of war. This last trumpet. It's a time of war and judgment and destruction. In 2 Peter, I'm just going to scan through several verses in chapter 2, and then we'll read a few in chapter 3. It talks about denying the Master who brought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. It says their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. God didn't spare the angels that sinned, but committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment. It says, He brought a flood upon the world, the world of the ungodly. He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives. Do you hear that? Sodom and Gomorrah. What were they doing? We were doing a lot of things. They were ignoring the orphans. They were mistreating the widows, the orphans. They were showing favoritism to one another. And in their selfishness, it just led to such degradation that when the angels showed up, the men of the city all gathered together around them and wanted to have sex with them. They were sodomized. They were given over to sexual perversion in ways that would probably make the transvestites of today blush. I can't say that I would recommend this. But I've watched documentaries about Pompeii. And artifacts and things that they have found in Pompeii. And it was everywhere. Perverse images. Symbols. Just of the worst perversion. In pottery. In signs on the wall. In decorations. It's just everywhere. They found tons and tons of them. This reminds me, I mean, the same thing happened to them that happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. It's not recorded in Scripture, but it was, I'm sure, the judgment of God upon them because of their sin, because of their immorality. What is this supposed to do? It serves as an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter. That's us today. If you're going to do what you want to do, you need to learn from Sodom and Gomorrah. It will end in destruction. So the Lord knows how to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment. Chapter 3, verse 7, he says, But by His Word, the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men." Verse 10, "'But the day of the Lord will come like a heat in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.'" And since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be, in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat. But according to His promises, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. The end of the world is not the end of humanity, but it's the end of this world. It's the end of this age. And it will usher in the age to come. The eternal age. The spiritual age. Not the age of spirits. But that which is spiritual. That which comes from God. Created by God. Perfectly. No tree of the knowledge of good and evil. No temptation in that new heavens and earth. And everyone said, praise the Lord. No temptation. Not only that, we will be changed like Him. Freed from this fallen, corrupted nature that we now have from Adam that is often referred to as flesh. That's this last trumpet. The world being burnt up by fire. Image used to mean judgment. God's righteous judgment on the wicked. Destruction by fire. Let's look at another passage where Paul describes this last trumpet. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians 4, and reading in verse 13. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, those who have died, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, like Jesus died and rose. Even so, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep." So those of us who are alive when Jesus returns, we won't go before those that have already died. Right? That's important to note. V. 16, For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with the shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. What will happen at this trumpet of God? The dead in Christ will be raised. He doesn't talk about the wicked here. Because that's not the purpose of him talking about the resurrection here. The purpose of him talking about the resurrection to the Thessalonians is because some of them have died for the faith. And he wants to encourage them, look, you'll see them again. We'll all be together in the end. And so his focus here is on those in Christ. Those, their loved ones. It would be like if we, right here, were being persecuted and some of us died because of our faith. We could encourage one another with what? We'll see Him again one day. We do that. We do that now. Praise the Lord. We'll see Him again one day. Get to see loved ones again. Get to see brothers and sisters that have died. Gone to be with the Lord. We'll get to see them one day. This is why Paul is writing to them here. The trumpet here is the last trumpet of 1 Corinthians 15. This is the end. This is the resurrection. This is those that have died, those who are sleeping, will be raised. Verse 17, Then, after we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the Lord. Therefore, because this is the case, this is what's going to happen, comfort one another with these words. Just that very thing, Paul is writing to them about the resurrection to comfort them. Because there are some among them that have died. So we see that the trumpet of God here is the last trumpet that Paul wrote to the Corinthians about. And in v. 17, after the dead are raised, putting an order to this, how much time after? That's not the point. The point is the order. How fast will we be changed, according to 1 Corinthians? In a moment, the twinkling of an eye. So it's not like trying to set a measured amount of time here, it's setting an order. The first is those, where he says, after the dead are raised, then those who are still alive will be raptured, will be caught up, right? So I know a lot of people have been asking this question. So is there a rapture? Well, yes, of course. Paul just described that. This is where the word rapture comes from. It's this verse. It's not the only place it's used in Scripture, but as far as the dispensational, pre-millennial view of a rapture before the Great Tribulation. Or some believe that a rapture will happen in the middle of the Great Tribulation. Some people believe it will happen after the Great Tribulation. So, there's a lot of different views about this. But what's being described here? Not the Great Tribulation. Not a millennium. Not all these other things that men make all kinds of systems about. Just read it. I'm sure everyone here at one point believed in the Rapture probably. I would be shocked if no one here didn't or even doesn't believe in the Rapture surrounding the Great Tribulation. Right? That's what I was raised with. That's what I spent years believing. Do I believe it anymore? No. And why don't I believe it anymore? Well, I made the mistake, thankfully. I stopped listening to what men said that these passages said, and I simply read them. Because this says, after the dead are raised, then those that are alive and remain will be caught up. This is the resurrection. This is when Christ returns. This is the end. This is at the last trumpet. The dead will be raised. And after that, the rapture. The catching away of everyone that's still alive. And what will happen? Just like what happened with Enoch, with Elijah. Those that are still alive, they will be changed. That's what he was writing to them, the Corinthians, about. Well, they will be caught up. It's interesting that this is used. It literally means to seize, to snatch away, to carry off. It was used, not necessarily in Scripture, but in the time of the writing in the early church, it was used to describe a thief snatching something. You know, pickpocket. You know, he seized it. He caught it. It's kind of interesting that the Lord is said to come like a thief in the night. I'm not saying we should make the connection. That's what I was thinking about this. But it is what will happen at the end. We will be caught up with those who come with the Lord. The picture here is a king returning victorious from battle, and he's bringing all the spoils of war back with him, all the people. It's like when Abraham went after Lot and those that were taken, he went and rescued them and brought them back with him, and all the spoils of war with him. This is the picture here of the triumphant king returning victorious in battle and bringing everyone with him. And then those that remain in the city, they rush out to meet him. And then everyone returns into the city with a joyous celebration. That's the picture that's going on here. But is there a rapture? as is most commonly thought today. And the idea of a dispensational pre-tribulation rapture is actually declining quite a bit. And the reason why is because people are reading their Bibles and not following what other people are saying the Scripture means. All you have to do is read it. Some have died. Don't be discouraged. The Lord's going to return. The dead will be raised. And then all of us who are still alive when that happens, when the Lord returns, we'll be caught up with Him. To be with the Lord. To meet the Lord in the air. And we'll always be with the Lord. What about the wicked? We can read about that in chapter 5. I'm not going to spend a lot of time in it. But verse 2, he says, you know yourselves that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night when they're saying, peace and safety. Then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with a child. And they will not escape, but you, brethren. So this is what happens when the Lord returns at the resurrection. You, brethren, are not in the darkness that the day would overtake you like the feast. He goes on to say, in v. 9, God has not destined us for wrath, but obtaining salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing. That's the point of this that he's writing to them about. Encourage one another. We'll be with the Lord forever. Those that have died and gone on, we will be united with them one day when the Lord comes, and we will be with Him forever. This is the description of the end. The end. The last trumpet. That's what this is a description. Another passage that's used most to describe the Rapture is in Matthew 24. So turn to Matthew 24. And as you're turning there, we're going to start reading in verse 37. But I want to point out something. In Matthew, What precedes, what brings about the Olivet Discourse? That's what these chapters are referring to. Chapters 24 and 25. It's referred to as the Olivet Discourse. It's when they come out of the temple and the disciples point the stones out to Jesus and say, you know, wow, look at these magnificent stones. And Jesus tells them, And they're not going to be standing very long. They're all going to be torn down. But what precedes it? It's what we see in chapter 23. The woe upon the Pharisees. The denunciation. Jesus denounces the Pharisees. That's what a woe is. It's to denounce them. And it ends with Jesus declaring that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on the earth. 2335, and that followed by Jesus saying that all these things which come upon this generation will come upon this generation, which is something that He repeats several times, referring to the coming of the Son of Man. And He consistently warns His disciples, you will see this happen. Alright, so Matthew chapter 24, Verse 37, we don't have time to go through all of it. Verse 37, he says, "...for the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah injured the ark, and they did not understand, the flood came and took them all away. So will the coming of the Son of Man be." This is going to be really familiar, I'm sure, to everyone. Then there will be two men in the field. One will be taken, and one will be left. Now, according to the rapture theology, who's taken? The believer. They're raptured. They're caught up. The Lord takes them away. Verse 41, two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken. And one will be left. Who's the one left? The unbelievers, right? Is that what this passage says? Very clearly. Let's read it again. The coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. What happened in the days of Noah? God destroyed the world, right? But He saved a few people in the ark. They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving marriage until the day Noah entered in the ark. So that's describing the wicked. The wicked were carrying on with life as normal. They didn't fear any judgment coming. They didn't fear God's wrath. They didn't fear having to stand before Him. They were just carrying on life as normal. Noah would try to pass a tract out to them and they would go, no, I'm ok. That's the modern day equivalent. Or, no, I don't need that. I'm good. Whatever the case may be. This is what the earth was like in the days of Noah. Verse 39, They, the wicked, did not understand until the flood came and took the righteous away. Took them all away. The wicked. They're the ones that got taken away. So will be the coming of the Son of Man. So will the coming of the Son of Man be. There will be two men in the field. One will be taken." Who was taken in the days of Noah? The unrighteous. The wicked. The sinners. They're the ones taken away in destruction. In judgment. The one left. is like Noah. He was left on the earth. God saved him. He preserved him and his family. They were the ones that were delivered. And they remained here. Two men will be dining at the meal. One will be taken. One will be left. This is what Jesus says the coming of the Son of Man will be like. It can be It's hard to understand passages dealing with divine judgment, wrath, and deliverance because all of those things that have gone before, before the final judgment, before the final trumpet, the last trumpet, they're all types that serve as a warning call. It's very, very similar. The destruction of Noah is very similar to the destruction of Canaan. It's very similar to the destruction of Israel. Very similar to the destruction of Assyria, of Babylon, of Judah. Of all these different times, all these different judgments that God has bring. Including the Son of Man. The coming of the Son of Man. Which is not something we're looking forward to. But what is described here is very much parallel to what we are looking forward to, which is the second coming of Christ. The return of Christ. Why do I say that the coming of the Son of Man is not something we're looking forward to? Let's go back and just skim through this extremely quickly, beginning at the end of chapter 23. Again, Jesus pronounces the woes of the Pharisees. And he says, then, upon them that he's... or verse 35, "...so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." Then Jesus laments over Jerusalem. He says, your house, verse 38, your house is being left to you desolate. He's referring, I believe, and most people agree on this, no matter what their view is, that the house referred to here is the temple. That is their house is left to them desolate. For I say to you from now on, you will not see Me until you say, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Then, they're walking out of the temple. Disciples point out the stones. In 24-2, Jesus says, you see all these things. I say to you, not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down. Go out to the Mount of Olives. Jesus sits. The disciples ask Him, when are all these things going to happen? In verse 4, Jesus answered and said to them, see to it that no one misleads you. Jesus was sitting, talking to His disciples, asking a question that they asked Him, when is this going to happen? And Jesus says, you, be sure you are not misled. Right? We're going to talk about wars, rumors of wars, different things. Verse 8, all these things are merely the beginning of the birth pains. Verse 9, so they will deliver you to tribulation and will kill you and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. And there's going to be falling away. False prophets are going to come. The Gospel is going to be preached to the whole world as a testimony to all the nations. Then the end will come. Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, who sees it? Them. The disciples. His disciples. That he's talking to. Slee. And I believe it's Luke, he mentions when you see the city surrounded, flee to the mountains. When Rome surrounds Jerusalem, flee. The one on the housetop, don't go down. Don't stop to pack your bags. Don't stop to grab things. Get out. It's reported, this isn't Scripture, this is history, that Jerusalem was surrounded by the army, Something happened. They got word. The soldiers pulled back. They went back for a brief amount of time. I can't remember what it was. It was a very short amount of time. And the Christians ran. They ran to the hills. Everyone else stayed in the city. Because that's what you do. You stay at the walled city. It's a safe place. It's a place of safety. Jesus told them, His disciples, the followers, they told others, run! When you see this happen, run." And then the army closed in around the city again, and Jerusalem was overrun and the temple was destroyed. Verse 21, he says there will be great tribulation. 22, if the days hadn't been cut short, no life would be saved. Verse 23, then if anyone says to you, behold, here is the Christ, or there He is, don't believe Him, He's going to be false Christ. Verse 25, behold, look, pay attention, I have told you in advance. He's telling His disciples what to look for. So if they say there's a Messiah in the wilderness going out, don't believe them. Verse 27, just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. It's not going to be missed. It will be seen by everyone. Verse 29, "...immediately after the tribulation of those days..." What days? The days He just got through describing to them. And everything that we just went through. The overthrow of Israel. by Rome. This happened in 70 A.D. The events leading up to it, it took a few years that led up to it. There were times of great sorrows and troubles that came upon Israel. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, which He warned the disciples to walk out for, the sun will be dark and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from the sky and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then, The sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and great glory." This is not talking about the sun. This is not talking about the end. This is not talking about the last trumpet. This is not talking about the return of Christ. When the world will be destroyed and burnt up. This is apocalyptic language that has been used in the prophets several times before describing destruction that would come upon them. And the same thing was used. The stars fell from the heaven. The sun was blackened out. That's where this comes from. This apocalyptic language that's just meant of a great and terrible day of destruction and armies. He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds from one end of the sky to the other. Learn the parable of the fig tree. Verse 33, So you too, when you see all these things, Recognize He's right at the door. When you see all these events hobbling, wars, rumors of wars, all these different things, Rome coming, the city being surrounded, all the things that He's just said, when you see these things, recognize that He is right at the door. This is Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One of Israel, who came to His own, but His own did not receive. Who said He came? I came only to the twelve tribes of Israel. We told His disciples, don't go to the way of the Gentiles. Don't go to them. I came to Israel. But Israel did not receive Him. Jesus said, He told the Pharisees, all the righteous bloodshed, all the prophets, all the prophesied of this, all of this is coming on you. on this generation, you that are hearing His voice, this generation, verse 34, truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But of that day and hour, No one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son of Man. For the coming of the Son of Man, that's the day He's referring to. The destruction of Israel, the destruction of the Temple. This is what's going on here. And don't have time to unpack it. The writer of Hebrews said that these things are ready to pass away and are passing away. He's referring to the old covenant that God made with Israel. That's why so much of the New Testament Scripture is dedicated to telling you Gentiles, you don't have to become a Jew. Because now, the Gospel's gone out to the whole world. And the Gentiles are saved just like the Jews were saved. Safe in Christ. This is describing the wrath of God on Israel for rejecting their King. For rejecting their Messiah. And God Himself putting an end to the sacrifice. Temple destroyed. No longer. I know. There's lots of plans, lots of talking about, ever since I can remember. Jim can remember longer than I can. What have you heard about in Israel? What's everyone excited about? They're going to build a temple again. To make sacrifices again. Yeah. Hasn't there been the last sacrifice? The one sacrifice to sin? And don't you know that you are the temple of God, and that His Spirit dwells in you? The temple is being rebuilt, just like it was prophesied. But the mystery has been revealed, and you are the temple, the church, the people of God. A royal priesthood. A holy nation. Living stones, Peter says. Coming to Him as living stones. My point in all this, is that the last trumpet, when those that are alive will be caught up with the Lord, it's at the end. It's at the end. The great tribulation was Jacob's trouble. I can't remember the passage. It's the destruction that would come upon Israel. It was their tribulation. Their great distress. Now what? Now who belongs to the kingdom? People from every tribe and tongue and nation. So that when Christ returns, The whole world will be judged. And everyone that has sinned against whatever light they have, they will be judged. And the Lord will preserve His saints. The righteous will be raised to life. I know there's a lot of questions. send them in for Q&A. There's no way to go over this in one city and I don't want to get distracted with going through a longer look at it. But it's hard to understand a lot of passages, and there's still passages I'm wrestling with and not real sure about. But it is evident that this event that Paul is describing in 1 Corinthians, along with in 1 Thessalonians and 2 Peter, they're all referring to the end of this age, the end of the world. this trumpet will be the last one. And all those who are not ready when it blows, it'll be too late. There are no second chances. That's why the warning goes out now. That's why knowing the fear of the Lord, Paul said, we persuade men, be reconciled to God. This may not happen for 10,000 years. May not. The Lord may not return again for 10,000 years. You may drop dead of a heart attack or an aneurysm or get killed in a traffic accident, get cancer and die 10 years from now. You don't know. One thing you do know is you will face God one day. You're gonna face God. Everyone will. You can ignore it and say, eh, I'll worry about it later. You're a fool if you do. If you know someone was going to rob your house tonight, what would you do? You would watch. You would be ready. Which is exactly what Jesus goes on to say with the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents, Watch. You don't know when He's coming. He was talking to them about the destruction that was coming upon Israel. The destruction that they would see. The judgment that they would see. And He said, be watchful. Be ready. Because you don't know when He's coming. Warning has gone out. The only thing is, will you heed the warning? Why wouldn't you? Again, it's a terrible day. The last trumpet, when the last trumpet sounds, that's it. It's the last one. There may be trumpets sounding in heaven, but it'll be because of celebration and because of joy. And it'll be a new earth. But in this earth, the last trumpet, it's the end. It's too late. I know some people say, oh, you're just trying to scare people. Yeah, exactly. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and it's the beginning of knowledge. You should be afraid. If you don't know, like Jim was saying, if you don't know Christ has died for you, If you don't know God loves you, and it's evidenced by faith, by your trusting in Him, yeah, you should be afraid. You should be terrified. Because we don't know when it will happen. Well, let's pray, and we'll get set up for a meal. Father, I just thank you once again for your word. Thank you that you have made these things known. Although so many things are hard to understand, but some things are very clear and very plain. And we know at the last trumpet, the dead will be raised. Some will go into eternal life, paradise, and others will be judged and will be passed into hell. for eternity, and there is no end. It's the final destination. Just like this trumpet we're looking at, it's the last one, it's the final one. Lord, I pray, Lord, that you would send your Spirit, and you would do what you did for me all those years ago, and just, you would make men afraid. men and women and children, that they would be afraid of what may happen, and that that fear would cause them to run to Christ and be saved. And that the fear would turn to love, and amazement, and wonder, and just in faith they would not be able to believe it. That You, my King, should die for me. Amazing love. How can it be? Father, just thank You. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for warning us. Thank You for giving us promises. Thank You for revealing these things to us. Pray that You would reveal them to us all in Christ's name. Amen.