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you Please stand. Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful day. Day I will never forget. After I'd wandered in darkness
away, Jesus, my Savior, I met. Oh, what a tender, compassionate
friend. He met the need of my heart Shadows
dispelling with joy I am telling He made all the darkness depart
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul When at the cross the
Savior made me whole My sins were washed away and my night
was turned to day. Heaven came down and glory filled
my soul. Born of the Spirit with life
from above Into God's family divine Justified fully through
Calvary's love Oh, what a standing is mine And the transaction so
quickly was made When as a sinner I came And with the offer of
grace He did proffer, O save me, O praise His dear name! Heaven came down and glory filled
my soul, When at the cross the Savior made me whole. My sins were washed away and
my night was turned to day. Heaven came down and glory filled
my soul. Now I've a hope that will surely
endure After the passing of time I have a future in heaven for
sure There in those mansions sublime And it's because of that
wonderful day when at the cross I believed. Rich is eternal,
I sing supernal from His precious hand I receive. Heaven came down
and glory filled my soul. When at the cross my Savior made
me whole My sins were washed away and my night was turned
to day Heaven came down and glory filled my soul Heaven came down
and glory filled my soul. Jose is brave. He tries to sing
those high parts. Is this yours? Good to see you this morning.
Let's go to the Lord in word of prayer. Father, we thank you for the
privilege that we can come to church and hear the word God
preached to be around our brothers and sisters in Christ. Well,
if there's someone here today that's not saved, I pray Lord
you'd help them to realize their need of need of that today. And
that by the end of the church service, they'll come and get
saved. I pray Lord you'd help those of us that are saved that
we'd realize what great privilege it is to be in the house of God
and hear from the word of God today. Blessed by the nickel
speak through him to us in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated.
He brought a bottle of water and a taco. I'm not sure if he's
going to take a lunch break in the middle of the service or
not. No, sir. All right, 286, let
the lower lights be burning. Brightly beams our Father's mercy
from His lighthouse evermore. But to us He gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore. Let the lower lights be burning,
Send a gleam across the wave. Some poor, fainting, struggling
seaman You may rescue, you may save. Dark the night of sin has
settled, loud the angry billows roar, eager eyes are watching,
longing for the lights along the shore. Let the low lights
be burning Send a gleam across the way Some poor fainting, struggling
seaman You may rescue, you may save Trim your feeble lamps,
my brother, some poor sailor tempest-tossed. Trying now to
make the harbor in the darkness may be lost. Let the lower lights be burning,
send a gleam across the wave. Some poor, fainting, struggling
seaman, you may rescue, you may save. It is always a privilege to have
folks fiercely with us. If you're here for the first time, the
first time in a long time, if you slip your hand up for a second.
Didn't see anyone, but don't want to miss anyone. Good to see the young folks there.
Has this young man been here before, sis? Okay, I just didn't remember.
I don't want to miss anyone. Good to have all of you. Now
again, if you missed the revival, the time we had last week, you
can always go back. It's a lot better in person always,
but if you missed a message, you ought to go back. Brother
Coral was with us last week. We prayed for it for weeks in
advance. He was finally here last week, and again, it was
such a blessing. Now the books are on the book
table. The ladies will have that open after church this morning
and again this evening. The way it typically is, there's
a few exceptions, but the front row is $5 books, the second row,
the middle row, is $10 books, and the back row is $15 books.
And again, if you have any questions or need some help, especially
if you're looking for something, Brother Coral, I did not know because
I just have bought all the kids' books in the past and know which
ones are salvation messages. If you have lost grandkids and
want to give them a book that will not only be a good reading
book, but also have one with a salvation message to it, the
girls know there's, I believe, four books on the table that
all have a salvation message to them. That is the theme. It's
a story, but the theme is, By the end, they're ready to get
saved. So again, a good book to get for your grandkids. But
there's a lot of good reading on the table. If you have a question
about almost anything, it's probably in one of those books on the
table. And if you need some help, the ladies will be glad to help
you with that. As far as folks that we're praying for this week,
we have Mrs. Judy 6 o'clock for the evening service.
Wednesday night, 7.30 for prayer and Bible study. Thursday night
is sowinning. We go out sowinning and visiting
on Thursday night. Saturday is bus visitation and sowinning,
both at 10.45. Then also Saturday, there is
a workday here at the church. Starts at 7.30 in the morning,
goes till it's done. There will be food and water
provided. That is next Saturday, and there's a sign-up sheet in
the hallway at the little table right outside the ladies' bathroom
door there before you go outside. Also this morning, they're going
to be having pizza for the bus kids. And I hope you heard me,
pizza for the bus kids. For most of us, we did not ride
the bus. So the bus kids get pizza for
free, but they said there will be some extra pizza. So if you'd
like a piece of pizza and a bag of chips, you can get that for
$2. They're going to put that right back in the bus fund. So
if you said that pizza smells so good, walk in there, if they
have an extra piece, they'll sell it to you for $2 and you'll
get a bag of chips as well. So you can say, I had pizza and
a bag of chips. So you'll get both of those.
You say, are there any drinks? Yes. Go out in the hallway there,
there's this little fountain. You push that button and water
comes out. It's a miraculous thing. You can even get a drink.
And that one's free, so it won't cost you a thing. But that is
in the Fellowship Hall after the bus, kids get theirs. Some
upcoming events, we have Let's see, we have a wedding. Mark
and Maria is getting married on November the 9th at 4.30. We have a bridal shower from
Miss Christina Bays. That is November the 16th, Saturday
at 2 p.m. And then the next thing on our
church, the big thing on the church calendar is Brother Owens. He'll be with us on a Wednesday
night, which is December the 4th. Then we'll be at Texas Baptist.
We're hosting a youth conference there. And we're using their
church because they have a gymnasium for the activities on Saturday,
but that's the 6th and the 7th We'll be at Texas Baptist Church
over on the other side of town and that will be Friday night
at 7 o'clock Saturday morning starts at 10 o'clock and again
We'll get to hear brother Owens first here at our church on Wednesday
night Then if you want to hear him some more We'd love to have
you. That'll be the 6th and the 7th. Again, we got some folks
that are homesick. Other folks are out of town.
Don't forget to always pray for the brothers and sisters in Christ. And again,
good to have all of you here this morning. Amen. Please stand. Number 43,
nothing but the blood. Amen. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Nothing can for sin atone Nothing but the blood of Jesus Not of
good that I have done Nothing but the blood of Jesus Oh, precious
is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace. Nothing but the blood of Jesus
This is all my righteousness Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Oh, precious is the flow That makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father,
thank you for the opportunity to be in church today. I pray
that you bless this offering, Lord. Bless the gift and the
giver. Exceed the needs of our church and be with the prayer
request mentioned. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Amen. 354, tell me the story
of Jesus. Tell me the story of Jesus, write
on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious,
sweetest that ever was heard. Tell how the angels in chorus
sang as they welcomed His birth. Glory to God in the highest,
peace and good tidings to earth. Tell me the story of Jesus Write
on my heart every word Tell me the story most precious, sweetest
that ever was heard. Tell of the cross where they
nailed Him, writhing in anguish and pain. Tell of the grave where
they laid him Tell how he liveth again Love in the story so tender
Clearer than ever I see Stay, let me weep while you whisper
Love paid the ransom for me Tell me the story of Jesus Write on
my heart every word Tell me the story most precious Sweetest
that ever was heard Pianist is up. I believe the virgin birth of
Jesus really happened. In Bethlehem the Son of God became
the Son of Man. He lived a sinless life, but
for the sin of all creation, was crucified upon a cross. He died, yet lives again. ♪ For it is the power of God ♪
Unto everyone who believes ♪ I believe the gospel ♪ And it's settled
now with me ♪ One day I will see the face of God ♪ I believe
the gospel ♪ ♪ There can be no greater love
♪ Than God displayed at Calvary ♪ A love that sealed him in a
tomb ♪ But that is not the end ♪ For the power of the gospel
♪ Is a resurrected savior ♪ Jesus is alive ♪ He who was dead now
lives again I believe the gospel for it is
the power of God I believe the gospel and it's
settled now with me. One day I will see the face of
God. I believe his death upon Mount
Calvary, rising up to victory. And it's settled now with me
One day I will see the face of God I believe, I believe. Thank you, ma'am. If you're wondering
how hard that was, that was hard. It's hard enough to play the
piano than to sing and play. I think her and Mrs. Sanders
are the only two I know that can do that very easily. Most
of us can only do one, and some of us can't even do one very
well. Thank you. Good morning. Well, let's open our Bibles this
morning to John chapter 14. We're going to read three familiar
passages. I believe the gospel, the gospel
Romans 1 16 is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that
believeth, that trusteth, that puts their faith in the Lord
Jesus and the gospel that he provided for us. The word gospel
by definition as a word it means the good news or the glad tidings. What the Gospel consists of 1
Corinthians 15 verses 3 and 4 is how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures and He was buried and He rose
again the third day according to the Scriptures. and through
that he made it possible for me and for you to go to heaven
if we'll receive his gospel. That's what he came when he came
2,000 years ago. He came to die, be buried, and
rise again so that we could have an opportunity to be saved. And
now I'm gonna talk about something else. John chapter 14, First
Thessalonians chapter four and First Corinthians chapter 15. John 14 verses one through three,
Jesus said this the night before his crucifixion, talking to his
disciples, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe also in me. In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Now notice especially verse three,
what Jesus said. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that
where I am, there ye may be also. Then 1 Thessalonians chapter
four, and we'll read verses 13 through
18, this is the passage that's known as the
rapture passage. And here's what the scripture
says, 1 Thessalonians 4.13. But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that's
Christians who have died, that ye sorrow not, even as others
which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
The word prevent is a word that means to go before. So those
of us then which are alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord shall not go before them which are asleep. For the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in
Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. and so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. And then back just a few pages
to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Another great passage dealing
with the rapture and the resurrection. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And beginning with verse 50. Now
this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. So something has to happen to
change these bodies for us to go to heaven is what verse 50
said. And then verse 51 explains what's gonna happen. Behold,
I show you a mystery. Now, a mystery, and you see that
word a number of times in the New Testament, it means a previously
hidden truth, something that wasn't revealed in the Old Testament,
but is now being revealed. through the apostle Behold, I
show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. Not all
of God's people are going to die But we shall all be changed
in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump For
the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we, the living, shall be changed. For this corruptible,"
that's those Christians who have died, this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? I'm gonna speak this morning
to you for a bit On this, I was kind of hesitant to should I
preach this, because I've been preaching on Sunday night on
prophetic themes for over a year, I guess, probably a year and
a half by now. But then I thought, well, we
talked about the rapture a long time ago, it's been a while,
so you can't talk too much about this. But here's how I'm gonna approach
it. I'm gonna speak on the subject, what the rapture will mean for
the unsaved. What the rapture will mean for
the unsaved. I hope you'll listen. Father,
thank you for the privilege of coming to church today. Help
me now as I try to preach your word. I want you to be glorified. I pray that if there are people
with us this morning who've never had a time in their life when
they personally received the Lord Jesus, as their Savior. I pray that you'll draw them
to Jesus, help them to come to Him today and trust Him and be
saved. And I pray that the Word of God
will be a blessing to your people. Now please help as I endeavor
to preach. Help me to do so in the power
of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, Amen. The three
passages that we read as text passages this morning are probably
three greatest passages in the entire Bible concerning the event
that we call the Rapture. In John 14 we saw Jesus' promise
of the Rapture. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4
we saw the program of the the Rapture and in 1st Corinthians
15 we saw the product of the Rapture. Now let me explain what
the Rapture is and I know most of you know but the way we do
it we still need to define it so that everybody knows what
we're talking about. Now when we talk about the Rapture
we're talking about the first phase of the Second Coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ. You see the Bible indicates that
Christ's second coming will be in two phases, two stages with
a seven year period of time between the two phases. Now the first
phase, the first stage of Christ's second coming and the one that
we read about in our text passages this morning, Bible students
refer to as the rapture. And the term rapture is a fitting
term for this first phase of Christ's return for this reason. The word rapture comes from a
Latin word which means to be caught away. Now a lot of times
when we talk about somebody being enraptured, we're talking about
them being caught away happiness or something like that. But what
we're talking about now is the first phase of Christ's second
coming. And exactly what will happen
at that first phase of Christ's return is that saved people will
be caught away from this earth and taken to heaven to be with
the Lord. Now seven years after the Rapture
the second phase, the second stage of Christ's Second Coming
will occur. Whereas the first phase of His
return is called the Rapture, the second phase of His return
seven years after the Rapture is referred to by Bible students
as the revelation. Now, whereas in the rapture,
Jesus only returns into the clouds and from there calls Christians
up to be with him, in the revelation, Jesus returns all the way to
the earth, leading the armies of heaven and he sets up his
thousand year millennial kingdom on earth at that time. And so then the second coming
of Christ is divided into these two phases, these two stages. First the rapture, then seven
years later the revelation. And our focus this morning is
gonna be on the rapture. Now, follow me as I try to explain
some things in connection with this event, the rapture. Now,
man, a human being, is tripartite in his nature, I should say,
in our nature, because all of us have these three components.
man has these three components to his makeup and the Bible sets
forth these three components in 1st Thessalonians chapter
5 and verse 23 where Paul said, I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. And so then Man consists of spirit,
soul, and body, those three components. Now, what happens at death, at
physical death, is that the soul and the spirit leave the body.
James 2, verse 26 says, the body without the spirit is dead. And so you see, at physical death,
the spirit leaves the body. Genesis 35 and verse 18 describes
Rachel's death and says that her soul was in departing for
she died. And so then at physical death,
the soul and the spirit leave the body, depart from the body. Therefore, when a person dies,
That's what happens. The soul and spirit leave the
body, and the body is dead. Now, if the person who dies was
a saved person, one who has personally put their trust and their faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, then their body goes to the grave
when they die, but their soul and spirit go immediately to
heaven to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why 2 Corinthians
chapter 5 and verse 8 tells us to be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. That's why Paul said to the Philippian
Christians in Philippians 121 that for the child of God to
die And the reason is because he points out in verse 23 of
that chapter that when the Christian dies and departs this life, he
goes to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. and that's a blessed
thing. He said that's gained for a Christian
to die, because then we go to be with the Lord. On October
the 1st, 2000, my mother died in the Methodist hospital up
here. She had lived here for the last
a little over a decade of her life and had been a member of
the church here. And so when she passed away,
we had a funeral service for her here. And then we shipped
her body back to West Tennessee where she considered home. And we had another service there. And there we buried her body
in a little cemetery out in the country. cemetery like the house
sometimes out in the country. There'll be a little country
church there and in the back or surrounding it is a cemetery
and that's where my mother was buried and there her body lies. But it's only her body that's
there in the grave. Her soul and spirit are in heaven
with the Lord Jesus Christ. About three or four months after
my mother died, my favorite preacher was having a heart operation,
and there in the midst of this heart operation, Dr. Jack Iles
died. And I went up and they had a
big funeral for people from around the country on a Friday night. I was there for that. Then they
had another big service on Saturday morning for the church people
there. But I was there for the Friday night service. I walked
by and saw his body, my wife and I did. I think what she said
was true as we looked at his body and my wife said he was
a special man and I believe that. My favorite preacher and they
took his body out the next day to the that the church he pastored
bought and buried him there in the plot where his mother was
buried and he had moved his father from being buried up in Italy,
Texas to the plot there in Chicago. And there they buried the body
of my favorite preacher. But again, it's just his body
there. His soul and spirit are in heaven
with the Lord Jesus Christ. A number of years went by and
a man that was a friend of mine and had been a pastor of mine
in days gone by, Dr. Jim Vineyard, he passed away. I went to his funeral. They buried
him, his body in a cemetery there in Oklahoma City. But it's just
his body there, the soul and spirit are in heaven. A short
time after he died, my oldest brother, who led me to Jesus
Christ. and he went to Heaven. I went
and we buried his body in the same plot of ground that my mother
and my daddy are buried in. And my brother led me to Christ,
taught me, basically raised me as a Christian, as a young Christian,
taught me basic things. And I've considered His witness
and my mother's prayers to be the two things, humanly speaking,
that brought me to Jesus Christ. But we buried His body there
in the ground, but it's just His body there, soul and spirit
are in heaven. Last year around Christmas time, I had a grandson that died. And we had the funeral here,
took the body out in the country where his daddy was buried and
buried him there. But it's just his body that's
there, the soul and spirit are in heaven. But what now, now
all those people, what's gonna happen is this, at the rapture,
the Lord Jesus Christ will return into the clouds of the sky. bringing
with him the souls and spirits of all the Christians who have
died. He'll send out the clarion call,
come up hither as the trump of God sounds and the voice of the
archangel and the bodies of all those Christians who have died
will be raised from the dead, reunited with the soul and spirit
and their bodies will be changed into incorruptible glorified
bodies like unto the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And at
the same time, those Christians who are still living here on
earth at that time will also be called away to be with the
Lord. And as we go up to be with him,
our bodies will be immortalized so that they can never die. and we'll receive our glorified
body as a body fashioned like unto the body of the Lord Jesus
Christ, 1 John chapter three, verse two. And so then, at the
rapture, there are actually two things which take place. Number
one, the resurrection of the bodies of Christians who have
died. Those bodies are coming out.
And number two, the rapture, the catching away of those Christians
who are still alive. Now, it's important that we understand
that this event called the rapture, this first phase of Christ's
second coming could occur at any moment. Now, it may not happen
for another hundred years, but it may happen today. The emphasis
of the Bible on this point is that no one knows when the rapture
will take place, but we who are saved are supposed to be expecting
it, looking for it, and ready for it all the time because it
could take place at any time. Now, when the rapture occurs,
it will mean a couple of things for Christians, for those who
were taken out at the rapture. It'll be, number one, a time
of joy for God's people. You see, at the rapture, Christians
will receive our eternal glorified bodies, which will never again,
no sickness, never again, no pain, never again, no disease,
never again, no temptation, never again, no death. At the rapture,
Christians will meet all the great men and women of God that
we've read about in the Bible and in church history, along
with a great host of people who we have never read about, but
who were saved and nobly served the Lord. He knows about it,
we don't, but we'll meet them when we get there. At the rapture,
Christians will be reunited with our saved loved ones who went
to heaven before us. At the rapture, Christians will
see our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, face to face. a time of joy. That's why 1 Thessalonians
4.18, after explaining the rapture, Paul said, wherefore comfort
one another with these words. See, for the Christian who understands
the joy that awaits God's people at the rapture, there's comfort
to be found in thinking about and talking about this first
phase of the coming of Christ, the rapture. Titus chapter two
and verse 13 refers to the rapture as the blessed hope. First Peter
chapter four and verse 13, Peter writes to Christians who were
suffering persecution for Jesus' sake, and he said, but rejoice. inasmuch as ye are partakers
of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed,
ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. And so when he comes back
in the rapture, it'll be a time of joy for God's people. But
now secondly, don't miss this, I'm talking about for God's people,
those who are saved, it'll also be a time of judgment. One of the things that will take
place during the seven year interval between the rapture and the revelation
is what the Bible calls in Romans 14, 10 and 2 Corinthians 5, verse
10, as the judgment seat of Christ, the bema. Now, here, every Christian,
every person who goes to heaven in the rapture will appear before
the judgment seat of Christ to be judged for rewards in heaven. You see, every person who trusts
Jesus Christ as Savior goes to heaven. But not everybody who
goes to heaven will be rewarded the same in heaven. person goes
to Heaven freely by the grace of God when they put their faith
and trust in Jesus and the blood He shed on the cross as the payment
for their sin and the fact that He rose again from the dead three
days later. A person goes to heaven freely,
but rewards in heaven are determined by the Christian service for
the Lord on earth after they got saved. The judgment seat
of Christ immediately following the rapture is the place where
the Lord Jesus will give rewards to his people based on their
service for him in their Christian life. And so then, when the rapture
takes place, It'll mean for the Christian a time of joy, the
time of judgment at the judgment seat of Christ, the bema. But
now, what I want to discuss with you for the next few minutes
is what the rapture will mean, not for saved people, but for
unsaved people. Not for people who have put their
faith and trust in Jesus Christ and received him as their savior,
but for people who have not, for people who have rejected
Jesus Christ. And dear friend, hear me, if
you refuse to receive him, you automatically reject him. and
those who reject Jesus Christ, I wanna talk to you for a few
minutes about what the rapture will mean for unsaved people,
people who do not know Christ as Savior. Dear friend, if you're
not saved when the rapture takes place, and again, it could take
place, it could take place before I finish what I'm doing right,
I mean, it could happen right now. It could happen this afternoon. If it doesn't happen today, it
might happen tomorrow. We don't know when it's gonna
happen, we just know that it's gonna happen and we're supposed
to be ready for it all the time. But my dear friend, if you're
not saved when the rapture takes place, you can expect the following
three things. Are you listening? Number one,
what will the rapture mean for the unsaved? It will mean number
one, a time of separation. There's an interesting passage
of Scripture which has to do with Christ's second coming.
Some Bible students believe that it's referring to Christ's revelation,
but I think that really that it's referring to the rapture.
Listen to what it says. Matthew 24 verses 40 and 41 Jesus
said, Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken
and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at
the mill, the one shall be taken and the other left. At the rapture
All the saved will be taken to heaven. The unsaved, the lost,
those who never trusted Christ as Savior, will be left behind. It'll be a time of separation. A married couple, one of them
saved, the other one lost. The morning will come, if the
rapture occurs at night, the morning will come, and the lost
person will wake up in their bed, will look over for their
mate, but the mate's not there. So they walk around the house
and go in the kitchen, look in the backyard and all that, but
they can't find the mate. The mate's gone. The mate was
saved, you were lost. There'll be unsaved young people
who have saved parents. Maybe the young people will come
home from school expecting the parents to be there but to get
home and the parents are not there. And so they expect them
to come back in just a little while. Maybe they went to the
store or something, but hours go by and day becomes night and
they don't come back. There'll be unsaved parents with
saved children. The children are playing, the
parents are inside, and they can hear the kids outside playing. Kids hardly go outside and play
anymore. They're usually sitting in front
of a TV with a gizmo to mess with, whatever device. But these kids are outside playing,
the parents, inside, the saved children outside playing, the
unsaved parents inside, and they hear the kids playing out there,
but suddenly it's quiet. They don't hear the kids anymore.
So they go and look outside to find the kids, investigate where
they are, but they can't find the kids. Hours go by, nothing
is heard from the children. They call the police to report
that their children are missing, only to learn that hundreds and
thousands of children are missing. Friends, one saved, the other
unsaved. Walking along a roadway or a
sidewalk, chatting, suddenly one of them disappears. The other one thinks, well, where'd
he go? He went somewhere you could have
gone if you trusted Christ, but you didn't. Two workmates on the job, one
of them saved, the other one unsaved. Suddenly, that saved
one disappears, he's gone. I'm saying that the rapture,
when it happens, for those who have not trusted Christ as Savior,
it'll be first a time of separation. Secondly, The rapture for the
unsaved will mean a time of deception. A time of deception. Now don't
miss this. After the rapture, a political
leader will come to power who will ultimately bear rule over
the entire world. He'll be so wicked, so ungodly
that the Bible refers to him as the man of sin and the son
of perdition. I usually call him the Antichrist. He will lay claim to that which
belongs only to Jesus Christ and the world will follow and
worship him. Now remember all saved people
went up at the rapture. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 tells
us a good bit about this evil individual and what will happen
when he comes to power. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, hear
what verses 9 through 12 tell us. Even him, speaking of the
Antichrist, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all
power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for
this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Among other
things, this passage tells us that those who rejected the truth
and refused to be saved before the Antichrist came to power
will be deceived by him. When he does come to power, God
himself will send delusion into the minds of those who rejected
his son and they'll follow the Antichrist. Oh, I've heard people, well,
I'm gonna wait till the rapture takes place and then I'll get
saved. Well, let me say two things about
that. Number one, that's a pretty sorry way of doing things, I
gotta tell you. I'm gonna spit in God's face
as long as I can and try to slip into heaven by the skin of my
teeth at the very last possible second. That's really a pretty
sorry way of treating God. And number two, it won't happen. you reject Jesus Christ you have
the opportunity to come to Him now and receive Him as Savior.
And if you do you'll go out at the Rapture and you won't have
to worry about this. But if you don't and the Rapture happens
today or whenever it happens if you're not saved when the
Rapture happens you will be deceived by the Antichrist and you will
follow Him. I mean, good night, I look around
some of these idiots that Christians follow now. And I think, boy, it wouldn't
be a long step to the Antichrist coming to power, and the same
people that'll receive her will receive him. Okay, let me go on. See, if you're not saved when
the rapture takes place, when Jesus comes and raises the bodies
of the saved and takes the living saved people to heaven with him,
you can expect a time of separation. You can expect a time of deception. Thirdly, if you're unsaved, you
can expect a time of tribulation. The seven year period after the
Rapture, particularly the last half of that seven year period,
the last three and a half years, will be the most terrible time
in all human history for those on Earth. For those that were
left behind at the Rapture. Bible students call it the Tribulation. It's also known as the 70th week
of Daniel. It's described in terms that
are unmistakable. Jeremiah chapter 30 verse 7,
Alas for that day is great so that none is like it. Daniel
chapter 12 and verse 1, there shall be a time of trouble such
as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. Jesus said in Matthew 24, 21,
for then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning
of the world of this time, no nor ever shall be. The worst
time in human history. Now human history has had some
bad times. And it looks like we may have
some more. You know, we talk about tribulation.
A lot of bad things could happen before this. And I'm very much
fearful that if what I look at as the wrong person steals the
election this year like they did four years ago, we'll be
in a world war within a few months. But it won't be as bad as what
I'm talking about here. It'll be bad. World War II was
bad. World War I was bad. And that's
not even mentioning all these skirmishes around that were maybe
on a smaller scale, but just as vicious in other wars. But Revelation chapter 6 through
19 describe the seven year tribulation as being a time of brutal dictatorship
under the Antichrist, a time of terrible warfare. A time of
unprecedented natural disasters, the worst earthquakes in history
that'll shake and move every mountain and every island. Two
different earthquakes. Cosmic, comets or meteoroids or other
things from space crashing into the earth. That'll mess things
up, won't it? It'll be a time of increased
demonic activity. It'll be a time of religious
deception and religious persecution. and then hell after that. Now the rapture could occur today. And dear friend, if you're not
saved, what I've talked about is what you can look forward
to. It's what the Bible tells us. Well, why doesn't he come
yet? People been saying he's coming
for years. Yeah, 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse
9 says that he doesn't come as quickly as you think he ought
to because he's giving unsaved people time to repent and be
saved. He's not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance. He wants you to
be saved. That's why He hasn't come yet. He's giving you time
to get saved so that when this rapture takes place, you'll go
up with those who know Him. If you're not saved, I hope you'll
come to Him today. He died, shed His blood, was
buried, rose again three days later. I'm not asking you to
come trust a dead man. I'm asking you to come and trust
a man who was dead but is alive at the right hand of the Father
in heaven and in the business of saving those who'll come to
Him and trust Him. If you haven't, I hope you'll
come to Him today. If you cannot go back to a time
and place that you've asked Jesus Christ in
"What The Rapture Will Mean For The Unsaved"
| Sermon ID | 102024154366670 |
| Duration | 1:05:29 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | 1 Thessalonians 4:16; John 14:1-3 |
| Language | English |
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