Joseph made this confession to his family: "I am dying". I am dying. The fact is every person in this room listening to this telecast is racing toward a rendezvous with death one day at a time. The Bible says there's an appointment that all of us have. "It is appointed unto men once to die". It is an appointment every person in this room and all over the world is going to keep. What is your final Exodus? Joseph's final Exodus and request to his family was, "Carry my bones up from here. Don't leave me in Egypt. Take me up to the Promised Land". The question is: are you prepared to meet the Lord? Are you prepared for the rapture of the church where your body, our bones are going to be snatched from the grave and escorted by angels into heaven, which is the Promised Land?
There are people who say, "Pastor, I don't believe in the rapture". But saint Paul said very clearly, "Behold, I show you a mystery". In the Bible, when the word "Mystery" is used, it does not mean something that is unknown. It means that's something that has not been revealed until now. Why? Because Jesus had been crucified. He rose from the dead. And he told his people, "I'm coming soon". And they were looking for him to come back any day. Now church members were dying. The New Testament church wanted to know what of these people who are dying. So Paul says clearly to that church and to this one, "Behold, I share with you something that has never been known before. We shall not all sleep in death, but we shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye... The dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" with a glorified body.
See people say, "Well Pastor, what's the difference whether I believe in the rapture or not"? Exactly this: the Bible says in Hebrews 9, "To those that eagerly look for him, he will appear the second time". Look at the word, "Eagerly look for him". The point is, if you're not looking for him, you're not going with him. That's what's important. The Bible says, "Watch and pray that you be counted worthy". "Watch and pray". Will there be a rapture? The Bible says, in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, "For the Lord himself," get that. "For the Lord himself shall descend with a shout and with a voice of the Archangel and the trump of God". The shout is the victory over death, hell, and the grave. The trumpet is because he is royalty. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the King of kings. It says, "The dead in Christ are going to rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds of glory to meet the Lord in the air".
Some say, "Well, that's never happened before". Oh, yes, it has. Elijah was taken into heaven with a chariot of fire. He's been there for 3,000 years. He's coming back at the Great Tribulation to be a minister to people on the earth to say, "Jesus, the Messiah, is coming". Enoch was taken into heaven. He went out for a walk one day and it ended in heaven. God just took him. Enoch and Elijah are going to come back in the tribulation together. Jesus, on the resurrection morning, was talking to his disciples and was taken into heaven. And the angel said, "You men of Galilee, why are you here gazing into heaven? This same Jesus", say that with me, "This same Jesus shall come in like manner, as you have seen him go". You will see him come again. You literally saw him. He physically left. He visibly was there. When the king comes back, you will see him in all of his glory. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God!
Put all of these verses together and you have this picture: Jesus, the Prince of Peace: Jesus, born in the womb of the virgin Mary: Jesus, the healer: Jesus, the teacher that terrified Satan every time he opened his mouth. He appears suddenly in the heavens, a brilliant starburst of a dazzling light, as lightning is flashing from the east to the west, the Bible says. The trump of God shall sound, announcing the appearance of royalty. For he is the Prince of Peace and the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The voice of the Archangel shall summon the righteous from their graves. Our bones and a perfect body shall meet the Lord in the air. This is our final Exodus. The question is: are you ready, because it could happen before this day ends? The king of glory, Jesus Christ, is coming to earth again to snatch us from this place into his glorious presence! Hallelujah to the Lamb of God!
When Jesus comes, all over the earth, graves of the righteous will explode, as the righteous rise to meet the Lord. Cars will be empty beside the freeway. The motors will be running. The drivers and the occupants will be strangely missing. Homes of believers will have the supper dishes on the table. The food will be on the stove, but the occupants will be gone to the marriage supper that God has prepared for the righteous. On planet earth, fake news will have the headlines, "Millions are missing". Some say they are Christians, disappeared from the earth. There will be a global economic crisis. I assure you the Bible says there are thousands times thousands and thousands of thousands of Christians that are going to leave instantly. The Christians are the people who are doing the work in this country.
As soon as we're gone, there won't be a tax base. Washington and the economy of this nation will collapse. Fake news will do their usual telecast with Godless and brainless commentators, sitting around the table, trying to explain what's happened. America's occult society will be jabbering about an invasion of spaceships. Aliens came and snatched us away. You know they're talking about that right now. Psychologists will explain this as mass hysteria. Churches are going to be packed with weeping and sobbing and hysterical people because they failed to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. There was that secret-besetting sin that they were never able to shake. And it will be too late after the trump of God sounds. The Lord has come, and you have been left behind to go through the hell of the Great Tribulation and the antichrist. It could have been so easy, had you just received Jesus!
Some of you are reading this and you're going to be the first to welcome the antichrist, because you think what I'm saying is absolute foolishness. You're living a Godless life. And Jesus Christ is the very last person you want to see. That's too bad. He's coming whether you're ready or not. Jesus is not in heaven saying, "Let's make a deal". He's in heaven saying, "This is the deal". This is the deal. The king is coming. He says, "I am the Lord and there's none like me". "I'm coming soon, and my reward is with me". I am the King of kings. I am the Lord of lords. "Every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father".
Presidents and prime ministers, senators, mega millionaires, billionaires are going to line up down Yehuda Street in Jerusalem to bow at the feet of Jesus Christ, because he's Lord and master of the universe. Happy day, happy day, happy day. When we get there, there will be five kinds of crowns to receive. We're not all going to look alike. There's the crown of life. There's the crown of glory. There's a crown of righteousness. There's a soul-winner's crown. There's a martyr's crown. You'll be able to look at a man's crown and know exactly what he accomplished in this life. Just like it is when you look at a man's military uniform, you can tell exactly his rank, exactly what he's accomplished. So will the crown that you wear in heaven. We will sit at the wedding feast that God has prepared for the bride, for seven years.
But think about this. There is a Bible tradition that the wedding feast lasts as long as the father's money. Not much has changed, by the way. The point I'm making here is that God our father has all the wealth in the universe. So, if at the end of seven years, that wedding feast is over and we return to earth, most established theologians say that wedding feast is going to continue 1,000 years. It will never end. Wow! This is the Kingdom of God that goes forever and forever and forever and forever and forever and forever and forever. After 50 million years, you're just getting started, because forever never begins because it can never end. That is a concept I have never been able to grasp, eternity. I assure you, the years we are promised here is a snap of the fingers compared to the joy that we're going to have forever and forever in the arms of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
The question is asked: if you don't believe in the rapture described in the Bible where people rise to meet the Lord in the air as described by Paul, how will you know when the real Jesus gets here? I know some of you don't want him to come, period. Anyone can stand on the Mount of Olives and say, "I'm Jesus". Anyone can wear a white robe. Anyone can claim to be a descendant of king David. Anyone can have his followers crown him as the king of the new Israel on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. He can surgically have scars put in his hands and in his feet. The antichrist is going to be able to call fire from heaven. The Bible says, "The false prophet is going to cause a statue to speak". This is not the real Jesus. He's an impostor. He is a fraud. God knew in the beginning that impostors and frauds would come and claim to be Christ, "Deceiving many," the Bible says, "Even the very elect". Jesus said, "If any man comes to you and says, 'lo, here is Christ or there is Christ,' believe it not".
It's the only place in the Bible, Matthew 24:23, where you're asked not to believe something. The antichrist will imitate Jesus Christ in Revelation 6. The antichrist is coming on a white horse, because in Revelation 19, Jesus returns to earth the second time riding a white horse with the body of Christ. On the cross, Jesus defeated death, hell and the grave. The rapture is Christ' celebration over death. It is his celebration over death, hell, and the grave. It is the ultimate humiliation of Satan. That's why he hates the doctrine of the rapture. How will I know when the real Jesus gets here? Not by what you read in the newspaper. Those people don't even know where they are. Not by the fake news that you hear over the television. Not by some charismatic standing on the side of the Mount of Olives with a white bed sheet, saying that he's the new king of Israel.
I'll tell you when it's the real Jesus. When our glorified bodies sail through the air past the milky way a million miles a minute, when we stand in the glorious presence with our disease-free body in the presence of Christ, I'll know this is the real Jesus. You folks over 60 ought to be clapping your hands off right about now. Critics of the rapture say, "Well, the word rapture does not appear in the Bible". That's right: it doesn't. Why? Because the Bible was written centuries ago when many people had little education.
But the Bible is a book that's written so clear that the Bible says, "A fool cannot err therein". In the Bible, if you call someone a fool, you're in danger of hell fire. Critics say the rapture teaching is nothing but escapism. Not hardly. The people who are trying to escape the real world. The rapture is no more escapism from the world than salvation is escapism from eternal hell. I gladly tell you, Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Heaven is my home. Christ is my Savior. The Bible is my guiding light. I am thrilled out of my ever-loving mind that I'm leaving this madhouse called earth. Give the Lord praise for that today!
Peace movements want to escape the war. America would like to escape from congress and fake news. It's going to happen. The Bible teaches us to prepare for escape. Luke 21:36 says, "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape those things that are coming upon the earth". Hebrews 2:3 said, "How shall we escape", listen, "If we neglect so great a salvation"? Jesus went to the cross to give you the chance to live forever. And if you deny Jesus as Savior and Lord, if you deny the efficacious blood of the cross, you will not go to heaven! It's not optional. You are either a servant of Jesus Christ or a slave to sin and Satan, so says saint Paul. What are we going to escape? We're going to escape the Great Tribulation. Very quickly, if the trump of God sounded right now, the antichrist would soon appear.
This is all in the Bible, would soon appear immediately. And he would make every person on the earth take his mark in their right hand or in their forehead. And if you refuse to take his mark, he will cut your head off. There will be a New World Order, a government that will follow this man. It will be divided in ten divisions. We will have a one world currency and a one world religion. The wrath of God is then going to be poured out on the earth, because the only thing that equals the love of God is the wrath of God. People read the Revelation and say, "No, God would never do that". I will tell you, he most assuredly will. I remind you he drowned the world at one time because they rejected him. And America is clearly rejecting the Son of God right now. Hebrews 2:3, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation"? You will not.
Walk with me very quickly through seven years called the Great Tribulation. There are 21 major disasters that happen in those seven years. Let me give you just ten of them. One, one-third of all the vegetation will be burned up, all the grass and trees because of the intense heat of the sun.
Secondly, the sun and moon will be darkened for long periods of time, creating a sense of gloom and depression, because Satan is the prince of darkness.
The gates of hell are opened, the Bible says, and hordes of locusts, the size of a horse, will come out on the earth and sting men like a scorpion. That sting will last for five months. Men will beg God to let them die and they cannot die.
Four, there will be a coming worldwide famine. You are now seeing the worldwide food shortages that are about to happen.
Five, the world war's so bloody that the blood of those killed in battle will flow for 200 miles to the bridle of a horse in the valley of Jezreel called the Battle of Armageddon.
Six, every person on earth is covered with great runny festering boils. Think about that.
Seven, the seven seas on the earth will turn to blood. The plagues that God put on Egypt are coming back to the world. He turned water to blood in Egypt and he's going to turn every drop of water on planet earth to blood. Every river, every stream will be turned to blood.
The sun will scorch the earth and men with fire. Think about that.
Nine, the Bible says, "Mighty men, kings, and men of war will gnaw their tongues in pain". They will crawl into caves and beg God to kill them. The Bible says, "They will seek death and cannot find it". That's in the Bible. That's the most powerful people in America. There is no escape.
Ten, earthquakes so shattering that the islands of the sea will disappear, Puerto Rico, Hawaii. Every wall is going to fall down flat in the major cities of America. Millions will be trapped beneath the rubble and there's no one to come to their aid. Revelation 9:15 says four angels are released. This is the last one. Four angels are released by God Almighty to destroy one-third of the earth's population. One-third of the people on planet earth are going to die in one day. In America, that's 110 million people.
"Oh, God would never do that". Let me remind you about the flood. Let me remind you that God's law is when you take somebody's life, you have to forfeit yours. We have murdered 65 million babies in our abortion mills. There's 65 million of them right there. God is going to clean house. And he's going to balance the scales. Those of you who are instrumental in taking the life of a child, God is coming after you. If you do not confess and forsake your sin, you will not have mercy with the Lord. Do you want to escape that? I do. I really do. What's the price? One prayer of repentance. Jesus paid the price at the cross. But all you must pray is one simple prayer of repentance and receive Jesus as Christ and Lord.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, Jesus is coming. The lion of the tribe of Judah is coming. The Lord of glory, the light of the world, the Lamb of God, the lover of my soul is coming. He is the daystar. He is the bright and the morning star. He's the fairest of 10,000. He's the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley. He's coming. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Bread of Life. He is the captain of my salvation. He is the Cornerstone, the mighty counselor, the Prince of Peace. He is Immanuel, God with us: the friend that sticketh closer than a brother. He is the fountain filled with blood. He is heaven's hope and hell's dread. For he is King of kings and Lord of lords. Give him praise in this house.
If you're not ready to meet the Lord, you have two choices: accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord or get ready to go through the torment of the Great Tribulation. Where are you going to spend eternity? Are you ready? The Bible says, "In an hour that you think not, the Son of Man is going to appear in all of his glory in the clouds of heaven". Some of you can say, "Pastor, I have never heard of the rapture before today. I do not want to lose my soul and go through the terror of the Great Tribulation that's coming upon earth. I want to come today and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of my life". If that describes you, Pray this prayer with me:
Heavenly Father, I come before you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I ask you to cleanse me by the blood of Jesus from all of my sin. Erase my record in heaven and make it pure because of the blood of the cross. From this day forward, I will serve you, I will read your word, I will obey that word, because above all else, I want to spend eternity in heaven with Jesus Christ. He is my Lord and Savior. Amen. Amen. Amen.
