I'd like to speak on the rapture. There's a lot of confusion about the rapture. There's folks out there that don't believe there's even going to be a rapture. Well, the word rapture is not found in the Bible, so therefore there is no rapture. Well, we're going to cover a few things here and help clear up some misunderstandings and dig right down into the Word and find out that there is going to be a rapture You better be ready for it, because whether you believe it or not, it is going to happen. One thing is that all the prophecies that needed to be fulfilled before the rapture would occur have been fulfilled. So the rapture could occur at any minute, at any moment. It could occur before this message is done here today. The word rapture itself isn't found in the King James Version or any of the modern translations. The rapture is an English version of a word that was in the Latin Vulgate and that word, rapture, is what that phrase or that term is coined to represent. what in the King James Version is translated as caught up, and verb meaning to be caught up. And if you would turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and 13, you'll see where that is most quoted and most used. Once again, it's 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 13, and it reads, not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, 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. 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." So in here, this, like I say, is the most used and most quoted of the scriptures pertaining to the rapture. The word rapture here is found in verse 17 translated in King James as shall be caught up. Like I say in the Latin Vulgate, right there the word raptismo is used. So in the English translation we've got the word to be caught up. Okay, so that is where they come up with the rapture. Let's go back over a couple of things here. It says, but I would have in verse 13, chapter four, verse 13 of First Thessalonians reads, but I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. The hope is the hope of salvation, the hope that we receive when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That hope is that eternal reward, that everlasting life that is promised to us in John 3.16. Okay, and right here where it says, concerning them which are asleep, the asleep being here representing the dead, and they shall be raised first. Verse 14, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, those that are saved, the term here, sleep in Jesus, represents, will God bring with him. So those that are already dead, as they say, dead in Christ down here in verse 16, shall come back with the Lord. Now, he is not coming back all the way to the earth and stand on the ground like he will at the end of the tribulation in the second coming. This is the rapture. This is not the second coming in the sense that when he returns he's going to set up his millennial kingdom, which a lot of the teachings pertain to that. We'll go over a couple of things there showing the differences between the rapture and the second coming. Let's continue here. It says in verse 14 again, 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 or proceed them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first." So all those saved, that have ever been saved, all the way to the point of the rapture shall rise first. It says, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, in the clouds, not down on the ground. It's not going to be on the earth at that time. We're going to be in the clouds. So this is a meeting together in the air. It says to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. So once we get together with Him, we'll always be able to remain with Him. And those are the saved. Those are the born again. Only the born again will have that opportunity. Because like it says in Luke chapter 21 verse 36, it says, Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. The things that come to pass here he's talking about, as you know, in Luke chapter 21, it speaks of the last days. It speaks of the tribulation and the great tribulation. It gives detailed account of what's going to occur during that time period. And if we want to escape those things that are going to occur during the tribulation, we need to be held accountable, be held accounted worthy to escape that. And that escape is the rapture. Let's read that again in Luke 21 verse 36. It reads, Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. Now that standing before the Son of Man is the time of accountability for the Christians because immediately after the rapture, we will go to the judgment seat of Christ where we will stand before Jesus. and be held accountable for everything that we've done as Christians. So don't think that you just got a free pass for everything that you've ever done. You shall be held accountable for everything. Your salvation can be secured by giving yourself over to the Lord, making Him your Lord and Savior. But as a Christian, you are responsible for what you do as a Christian. You should work for the Lord. You should go out and witness. Whatever talent and ability He's given you, whatever He's called you to do, you should be doing that. Because you shall stand before Him and He'll be wondering why you didn't do what He gave you the assignment to do. So all of us Christians need to be working as best we can to do what He's told us to do. Whatever field that might be, whatever aspect of Christian life that He's placed you in, whatever job or task He's given you, do it with all your heart and all your might You can stand and proudly stand before the Lord and be accounted worthy. Let's go over to Acts chapter 1 and read what he was telling the disciples. After his resurrection, he gathered with them. Let's read this. The book of Acts in chapter 1 says, have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after that He, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen." Now, the sentence here is, this is after Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, and He spent time with the apostles and the disciples, a scene of some 500 folks or so, This is after that, before he ascends up into heaven. We'll just continue here in your lunchtime. Chapter 1 of Acts, verse 3. To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion, that being the crucifixion and so forth, by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God, And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." Now, today, when a Christian gets saved, they receive the Holy Ghost. immediately when they give their lives over to the Lord. Now, the Lord here, as he had already instructed them and told them, that when he departed, then he would give them the Holy Ghost. But after that, as we can read here in the scriptures and so forth, continuing on over here in Acts, there's some accounts also of like 3,000 people receiving the Holy Ghost. But they received the Holy Ghost right after they got saved, immediately at that point. Okay, continuing on here. In Acts 1, verse 6, it says, When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel? Now, this kingdom that they were hoping for him to restore is actually going to be the millennial kingdom spoke of There's so much prophecy and so forth about that, and in the last days, this accounts in Revelation and in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all the Gospels, the kingdom that they're speaking of here. In verse 7 it says, And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. The uttermost part of the earth. We're supposed to spread the gospel all over the place. To the uttermost part of the earth. Verse 9, it says, When he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight, And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? The same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Okay, so he was taken up right there. in the form of like what we were going to be going up in the rapture, taken right up into the heaven. And he will return in that like manner to gather all of the saved. And we will all receive our glorified body at that time. But let's look at a couple of things here to compare the second coming to the rapture. Now we know that the New Testament indicates that the rapture is different from the second coming. There's a few things here. First, the rapture is a movement from earth to heaven that will occur before the tribulation, while the second coming is a movement from heaven to earth that takes place at the end of the tribulation. That's when he's going to return on the white horse with the saints clothed in white, and at the end of the tribulation, the battle of Armageddon, and he will establish his millennial kingdom at that time, and reign for a thousand years. That's the second coming. That's different from the rapture. The rapture is going to come, remember as we read, in the air, in the clouds, and we should be caught up to be with him in the air. Okay, and second, the doctrine of the rapture is a simple one. Prophecies regarding the rapture make no mention of angels or attending hosts and no mention of a judgment on earth to follow. The second coming is a complex event and will take place over many hours as a gigantic procession of millions of saints and angels move from heaven to earth. Okay, let's look at a couple of the accounts of the second coming itself so we can have a little bit of a comparison here. Now the second coming is mentioned in Matthew 24 and is also mentioned in Revelation 19. So first let's go over to Revelation 19 in verse 11. And this reads, chapter 19, verse 11 of the book of Revelation. This is John, the vision that was given to John He reads, And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doeth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, And his name is called the Word of God. Remember in John 1.1, it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And in John 1.14, where the Word became flesh and dwelt among men. Well, that's what he's speaking of here. The Word was called the Word of God. Verse 14, And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And verse 16 reads, And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Alright, let's turn, if you will, over to Matthew. Matthew 24, verse 23 reads, Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before, Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth, behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. For 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. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Now he's speaking of right here what's going to occur near the end or at the end of the tribulation, the events that are occurring. If you read in chapter 24 of Matthew, you can see more details about this, about how the descriptions of what's going to occur during the tribulation. Don't get confused with what's going to occur during the rapture. Okay, verse 29. Matthew 24, verse 29. It says, Immediately after the tribulation. See, we're going to differentiate. The rapture is going to occur before the tribulation. The second coming is after the tribulation. In verse 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light. And the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. And they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. You see, during the rapture, the only ones that are going to see and know what's going on are the Christians themselves. Those that are born again, they shall be caught up. And here it speaks of, the second coming here speaks of that all the nations and tribes on the earth are going to mourn. These are the nations and tribes of the earth that have not turned their lives over to the Lord. They're going to mourn because they know, well, here it is, Judgment Day. Verse 31. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect. His elect is those born again and those that were set aside, 144,000, those elect as well from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. He is going to come back at the end of the tribulation and gather up all those that are saved, that are on the earth at the time, that made it through the tribulation. All those that were chosen to be the preachers and teachers of that time period that were left behind after the rapture. Because remember, as I said, if you wanted to escape all the things that are described the scriptures about what's going to occur during the tribulation. Like I said in Luke 21, it says, Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. Another comparison here between the two on our list. Number three is in all the scriptures about the rapture, a preceding event is never mentioned because nothing has to occur before the rapture occurs. Nothing at all. You hear some folks say, well, the gospel has to be preached through all the nations before the rapture can occur. That is wrong. That does not have to occur. The rapture can occur right now. We are instructed to preach the gospel and spread it throughout all of creation, as he already instructed us there, even in the book of Acts and the Great Commission and so forth. But we know that nothing has to occur before the tribulation. Look over here in Matthew 24 verse 14, it reads, "...and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come." That's the verse that a lot of people get misplaced, or I should say misused, taken out of context, because he's speaking of here, read it, study it, chapter 24. What he's saying here, and this gospel, this gospel is the good news about the kingdom, the good news about the millennial period. That's what will be preached to all the nations that are here on earth that remain after the rapture. That will occur at that time, because he's also right here, it says, and then shall the end come, the end of the age, the end of time as man knows it, because then he's going to return in the at His second coming there and establish His millennial kingdom. That is different. That's not talking about the rapture. So always make sure you get those two squared away there and rightly divide the word of truth. 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 10, it reads, And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. That deliverance from the wrath to come is being raptured before the tribulation. Before the wrath to come. There's all sorts of prophecies about the tribulation and the things that are going to be happening there. 1 Thessalonians 5 And verse 9 says, For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. He has not appointed us to have to go through the tribulation to wrath. People say, well, the church is going to go through the tribulation. It is not going to go through the tribulation. The church is those that are saved, those that are born again. We shall be caught up. He says in 1 Thessalonians 4.13. We shall be caught up. It says in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 17, it says, Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. We shall miss out on all the horrible things that are going to occur during tribulation if you are saved, if you are born again. That's the only way you're going to be able to Unless you die before the tribulation, of course. Or die and all the chaos is going to occur immediately after the rapture. There's going to be a lot of things going on. So we all know that we have to make a decision. We have to decide now. Do we want to take a chance of not accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior? Possibly be here? after the rapture and go through the tribulation period. There's so many things that are spoken of here in the scriptures about the horrible things that are going to occur during that seven years. There's so many signs that it is immediate. I mean, it can come at any moment. It can occur, like I say, before this message is done. There are so many prophecies that have been fulfilled to the title, as it says. That gives us our confidence that the scriptures are correct because all the prophecies that have to be fulfilled before the rapture have occurred, they've already been fulfilled. So we know that the rapture could occur at any moment. So what do we need to do? We need to bow down and pray to the Lord and get forgiveness for all that sinned and come short of the glory of God, like it says in Romans 3.23. And we know that for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord in Romans 6.23. So what did God do for us? He says, but God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We have an opportunity to turn ourselves over to the Lord to get forgiveness. Let's look at Romans 10.9. It says, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. That being saved is saved from that wrath, that judgment that's going to occur during the tribulation, that horrible time, and saved from an eternity in hell. Hell made for the devil and his angels. We don't want to wind up there. We want to spend our eternity with the Lord. We want to reign with Him during the millennial period after the tribulation. So if you want to miss all that horrible judgment that's going to occur during the tribulation, be part of the rapture. Or be saved so that when the rapture occurs, you'll be amongst that first group that comes. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So all you've got to do is call upon the name of the Lord, kneel down, pray, ask for forgiveness, and turn your life over to the Lord. He'll come unto you, and you'll receive the Holy Ghost. Along with that, you'll receive understanding. Get you a good King James Version Bible and start reading. Some people don't like the King James because it's the old English. Well, learn the old English because, in my opinion, the King James is the closest translation that we have. It's the most accurate that I have studied. Until I'm able to read the Greek and the Hebrew, I'm going to stick with the King James Version. But, like I say, we must turn our lives over to the Lord and yield to Him. And us Christians, we all have to be ready because there will be a time of accountability for them as well. Luke 21, verse 36, we'll finish it up with this. It says, So we all must stand before the Son of Man. Whether we have that opportunity to stand before the Son of Man immediately after the Rapture as Christians, or whether we're going to stand before the Son of Man at the end of the millennial period at the Great White Throne Judgment, which is an entire other message. Let's go ahead and pray. Lord Jesus, Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this opportunity we've spent studying your Word. has heard this message, that don't know you as their personal Savior, please help them be able to make that decision before it's everlasting too late. We don't know at what hour, at what moment that you may return, so please give us all that burning desire to be ready, to be ready always, as we pray in Jesus' precious Holy Name.