(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) so you just read matthew chapter 24 now this is a chapter that is under attack by so many heretics today people denied that it's even about the rapture but what's funny about that is when it comes to the scriptures where jesus is talking about how hey watch because you know not when the son of man is coming back right no man knoweth the day or the hour all of a sudden matthew 24 mark 13 luke 21 is about the rapture then but when you show them proof that hey look it has all the same attributes of the rapture then they'll switch their position and say no no no that's you know the battle of armageddon or something like that and it has nothing to do with the second coming of christ but i'm going to show you over the course of this sermon that matthew 24 mark 13 luke 21 the theological term for this sermon jesus preached is the olivet discourse and i'm going to show you beyond any shadow of a doubt that it is talking about the rapture the title of my sermon is fundamental truths about the rapture and i'm going to talk about you know old testament types or pictures of the rapture we're going to look at characteristics of the second coming of christ what is that day going to look like what's going to happen and then i'll show you as well the timing of the rapture and basically all things rapture this morning here today so what i want to do first of all is define a few terms i'm going to be using for the next hour just in case there's anyone here who needs a quick refresher or someone who maybe hasn't heard of this stuff before daniel 70th week i'll be talking about about that a lot you see a chart here this isn't to scale okay so it's not completely perfect but this is daniel 70th week and what we did was we put together a chart here in order to picture what exactly is going to happen in the end times daniel 70th week is a seven-year time period in the end times which culminates with this event right here armageddon where jesus returns he dismantles satan's new world order and sets up his own kingdom the anti-christ that's a fake messiah the anti-christ i believe will one day be inhabited by the devil himself which is why he's referred to as the son of perdition in second thessalonians chapter two and he's going to rule over a corporate world government in the end times the tribulation is a period of time in which christians are going to face insurmountable persecution that's the first half of daniel 70th week and great tribulation is where christian persecution reaches its climax that's this area right here i'll get to that a little bit later on but the first point i want to make is that the rapture is pictured in the old testament we see this clearly in several places i'm going to show you three examples of that obviously there are way more but for sake of time so we're not here for three hours this morning i'm going to stick to just three examples two of them were cited by jesus himself the first old testament type of the rapture that i want to talk about is the flood so i'm going to write it right here the flood is a picture of the rapture and you'll have to excuse my poor handwriting i didn't write this stuff which is why you can read it but anyway the first old testament type is the flood now you're there in matthew chapter 24 look at verse 37 it says but as the days of noe were so shall also the coming of the son of man be now the name noe that's just the new testament rendering of the name noah because of course the new testament was written in greek in the old testament written in hebrew hebrew predominantly look what it says in verse 38 for as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and given in marriage until the day that noe entered into the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away so shall also the coming of the son of man be so jesus refers to the flood to make his point about the second coming and he does so for a reason oftentimes preachers will focus on the fact the people were eating and drinking before the flood came and destroyed them all but i think the primary point jesus is trying to make by citing the flood is to talk about the fact on the same day that the waters came down from heaven noah and his people went into the ark remember that the ark had one door which signifies there's only one way to heaven the bible jesus himself says i am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me so let's go back to genesis chapter 7 and look at the story jesus is talking about here the flood a really famous story so go to genesis chapter 7 genesis chapter 7 and when you get there raise your hand i'm just kidding you don't have to do that but go to genesis chapter 7 look at verse 11 when you get there in genesis chapter 7 let's take a look at the story being cited by christ in order to explain the rapture what it's like what his second coming is going to be like in verse 11 it says in the 600th year of noah's life in the second month the 17th day of the month the same day where all the fountains of the great deep broken up and the windows of heaven were opened what i want to focus on there in that verse is it says in the same day look what it says in verse 12 and the rain was upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights in the self same day entered noah and shem and ham and jay fifth and the sons of noah and noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them into the ark so in the same day that noah entered the ark the bible says in verse 11 was the same day that it began to rain it says there in verse number i should say they entered to the ark verse 13 it was the same day that it began to rain in verse 11 the bible says so notice god's established pattern here the righteous are saved then he pours out his wrath and we see that in the end times as well the righteous are taken out and then god begins to pour out his wrath here in the second half of daniel's 70th week now i'm going to look at the second old testament picture of the rapture here the second type and that would be lot and sodom or sodom and gomorrah so i'm going to go ahead and write that here lot and sodom all right so in genesis chapter 19 you don't have to flip there but in genesis chapter 19 it says in verse 16 and while he lingered the men laid hold upon his hand and upon the hand of his wife and upon the hand of his two daughters the lord being merciful unto him and they brought him forth and set him without the cities so what's happening here is the angels take lot out of the city afterwards god pours out his wrath on the faggots the queers get it they get the fire and brimstone they get totally destroyed but notice the righteous lot gets taken out first and then the fire and brimstone commences that's what happens again in the end times you've got the rapture the righteous are taken out the same day that lot was taken out of sodom he began to rain god began to rain fire and brimstone the lord rained fire and brimstone from the lord in heaven and destroyed the queers in the second half of daniel's 70th week you can bet that that plenty of homos are going to get wiped out there and that's obviously justified now go to joshua chapter 6 if you would joshua chapter 6 and this is the third and final old testament type i'm going to reference here to talk about pictures of the rapture in the old testament and this third type is going to be rahab rahab the harlot and jericho so i'm going to write that right over here rahab and jericho so what happens here with with regard to rahab the harlot is that her and her kindred they are preserved from destruction they're saved from destruction on the same day that the israelites invade the city of jericho and wipe it out look at verse number 22 the context here is the children of israel knock the walls of jericho down they invade they take over and in verse 22 the bible says but joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country go into the harlot's house and bring out thence the woman and all that she hath as he swear unto her and the young men that were spies went in and brought out rahab and her father and her mother and her brethren and all that she had and they brought out all her kindred and left them without the camp of israel and they burnt the city with fire and all that was therein only the silver and the gold and the vessels of brass and of iron they put into the treasury of the house of the lord of course we found out later on that one of the children of israel achen out of covetousness keeps some of these items here from jericho and he gets punished for it but rahab the harlot her father her mother her brethren all that she had they were kept safe they were given asylum and then god pours out his wrath if you will with the israelites coming in and wiping the city clean the bible says it was burned with fire and when god pours out his wrath in the second half of daniel's 70th week there's going to be plenty of fire there's going to be plenty of wrath and destruction being poured out but we see god's pattern of behavior which is secure the righteous then doll out judgment secure the righteous then doll out judgment that has happened over and over again throughout biblical history and is going to continue in the end times now the second point i want to make is that the rapture occurs after the tribulation it doesn't occur before the tribulation or in the middle of the tribulation it occurs after the tribulation go to daniel chapter 7 if you would daniel chapter 7 so i talked about a few examples of old testament types of the rapture pictures of the rapture showing god's pattern of behavior that he secures the righteous then pours out his judgment now we're going to look at exactly when the rapture is going to occur so much deception when it comes to this topic most churches will tell you jesus can come back at any time that the rapture is going to happen before the tribulation you don't have anything to worry about but here's why that's a dangerous doctrine because it's the catalyst for just pure apathy in all the churches most of the churches that you'll find if you think you're just going to get out of here at a random point and no man knows when that day is going to happen which i agree with right but it's going to happen after the tribulation but my point is if you don't if you think that you're just going to get raptured out at any second then you don't have the motivation to go out and win souls because tomorrow could be the end of your life you could just end up going to heaven so it inspires apathy it's a false doctrine now in daniel chapter 9 the bible says and he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the ablation to cease and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate even until the consummation and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate what i just read about there in daniel 9 27 is the abomination of desolation and what this is referencing is the seven year period i've already referred to here daniel's 70th week and the abomination of desolation according to that verse it's right here at the midpoint the abomination of desolation is going to be when the anti-christ sets up the image the abomination of desolation in the temple of god he's going to proclaim himself to be god and he's going to force people in order to receive the mark of the beast which will enable them to buy or sell they will have to worship the beast and his image and that happens directly at the midpoint this image is set up in a rebuilt temple in jerusalem and again people must worship that image to receive the mark those who reject the beast those who reject his image will be executed many christians will die during this time so i'm going to go ahead and write in the midpoint right here the abomination of desolation i'll abbreviate it with aob right there so now you're there in daniel chapter 7 if you would look at verse 24 daniel chapter 7 verse 24 it says and the 10 horns out of this kingdom are 10 kings that shall arise and another shall rise after them and he shall be diverse from the first and he shall subdue three kings and then it says that he shall speak great words against the most high and shall wear out the saints of the most high and think to change times and laws and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time he's going to think to change times and laws which means it might be illegal one day to even gather together like we are at church it might be illegal one day to go out and reach the lost with the gospel of jesus christ but the part i want to focus on there is the end of verse 25 where it says a time and times and the dividing of time so what that's talking about is a time is one year times is two year two years and the dividing of time is a half of a year so if you add that all together and even if you're not very good at math you can manage to do this one plus two is three plus a half three and a half years so we're talking about here a three and a half year period and this makes sense because seven divided by two would be three point five now remember one month on the biblical calendar is 30 days that's a very important point if you're going to try and plot this stuff on a chart to understand that one biblical month is 30 days on the biblical calendar now three and a half years would then be 42 months which would then be if you do the math 1260 days now you see that prophecy a lot in the bible a prophecy concerning 1260 days what we read about there in daniel 7 25 is a prophecy concerning the anti-christ but it also helps us when trying to figure out when the events of the end times will take place so let's go ahead and plot 1260 days in the first half of the chart here the first half of daniel 70th week 1260 days covers the tribulation period and you see seals one through five here seal one refers to the anti-christ rising to the top of the globalist political power structure seal two refers to wars there's going to be world war everywhere explosions violence seal three famine hyper inflation seal four death in the quarter of the earth seal five martyrs appear in heaven i believe that you'll find that in matthew chapter 24 verse 9 and then the abomination of desolation happens afterward now go to daniel chapter 12 if you would daniel chapter 12 the question we're going to answer now is does the rapture happen before the tribulation or after the tribulation the old ifb will tell you before any of this occurs anything whether it's the start of the tribulation all the way to armageddon they'll tell you the rapture happens before any of this goes down that it'll happen at just any moment any time it could be tomorrow and they often joke about it when they come to church if there's a low attendance oh man i guess the rapture happened because in their eyes they think uh you know that it's imminent now you're there in daniel chapter 12 if you would look at verse number one let's talk about let's see when the rapture is actually going to happen in verse one it says and at time and at that time shall michael stand up the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that time and at that time thy people shall be delivered every one that shall be found written in the book now what i want to focus on there is it says there shall be a time of trouble that sounds like tribulation to me so we see the tribulation comes first and it says a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that time now that sounds a little familiar doesn't it you heard theo read matthew 24 earlier and it says in verse 21 of that chapter for then shall be great tribulation listen to this such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time no nor ever shall be so i believe that's what's being referenced there in daniel chapter 12 verse 1 the tribulation look at verse 2 and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt i'm here to tell you today if you're saved today if you have the holy spirit today if you're sealed forever you will wake up to everlasting life not everlasting content but notice that we see a resurrection following the tribulation people will be delivered the bible says but that happens after the tribulation is talked about there in daniel so now skip down to verse 11 if you would look at verse 11 it says in verse 11 and from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that make it desolate set up there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days and it says in verse 12 blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days don't worry i'm going to explain this in a moment if it sounds confusing but go thou thy way till the end be for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the day so the word rest is being used there in verse 13 because daniel is saved and he's going to rest until the day that he's resurrected and he's gathered together amongst the elect and given his glorified body just like the rest of us that's what's going to happen to us as well at the rapture we're going to receive a glorified body in first corinthians chapter 15 it says we will be changed this corruptible body will put on incorruptible we'll never be able to die we'll never be able to sin we'll have perfect bodies now the bible says that there's 1290 days from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that make it desolate set up i believe that's the same event and here's why when the anti-christ reveals himself to be a false messiah to be a fake god remember he sets up the abomination of desolation but remember folks the whole reason why people do animal sacrifices to begin with is to point to a future messiah well it would make sense for the anti-christ after he reveals himself to be quote god to get rid of or to cease the animal sacrifices that are going on there in the temple in jerusalem so i believe that's the same event now now with that in mind the 1290 days then they start it starts at the midpoint and it continues to the end of daniel's 70th week so i'm going to go ahead and plot that on the chart now we see 1290 days here the question is though why does daniel 12 11 refer to 1290 days rather than the 1260 number you see in the first half of the seven years it you know you would think if it's divided in the middle that these numbers would be equal but the reason why there are 30 more days on the second half of the seven years i hope you guys are following i know this might be a little deep but just follow along with me it'll make sense the reason why there are 30 more days on the second half of the seven years is because on the biblical calendar you have to remember every six years there's a leap month so you have to add 30 more days to the calendar they basically repeat a month so you after it's just like we have a leap year in our calendar in order for everything to even out mathematically it's the same thing with the biblical calendar every six years you add 30 days to the calendar in order for it all to fit together like a perfect puzzle from a mathematical standpoint so that's why i have 1290 on the other side now notice it says in verse 12 blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days now the reason why this person would be blessed is because those who come to the 1335th day from the beginning of this seven-year period they will be raptured that's why they're blessed because they're going to take part in the second coming of christ they're going to see the messiah in the air they're going to look up because the redemption draweth nigh and they're going to see their savior and they're going to meet him in the air as the angels gather together they like that's why this person will be blessed because it's referring to the rapture so the 1335 days starts at the beginning of daniel's 70th week and as you notice here it puts you just over the midpoint now there might be a little too much space here again it's not a perfect chart but it puts you just past the midpoint there so let me go ahead and write let me denote this here this is 1335 days that we read about there a few minutes ago so let's do some math let's find out when this rapture is going to happen okay well it already we can pretty much already figure it out now but 1335 days you subtract that by 1260 what do you get you get 75 and that is how we know that the great tribulation will last for 75 days it's not just some random number that our movement made up it's biblical so 75 days right here of great tribulation after this point you get the return of christ you get the second coming of jesus christ so now that we've done our math and i wrote well i gotta fix one thing actually let me take care of that here so now that we know that the great tribulation lasts for 75 days we now know how long god's wrath is gonna last for and if you subtract 1290 minus 75 what are you gonna get 1215 that's how long god will be pouring out his wrath on this earth 1215 days and i got that number from subtracting 1290 minus 75 doing a little math this morning trying to get your brains ready for the rest of the day so the post trip position makes perfect sense just from the book of daniel alone we don't even have to have the olivet discourse we don't even have to have second thessalonians chapter two if you just read the timing that's given to you in daniel chapter 12 you compare it with other prophecies and other different scriptures there you have it folks tribulation rapture happens after this is when it's going to occur now go to matthew go back to matthew chapter 24 and let's look at some clear scriptures a clear scripture right here that tells you when jesus is coming back and it proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that this pre-trip position it's nothing more than a dispensational zionistic fairy tale folks and it's promoted by some of the worst people it's also the newer doctrine it came out in eight in the 1830s you had john nelson darby who popularized it john nelson darby created his own bible he's burning in hell today he was a reprobate son of belial who tried to alter god's word and he's the one that came up with this doctrine to confuse people and unfortunately a vast majority i would think of biblical christianity have been deceived by this false doctrine thinking jesus can come back at any time and like i said earlier that inspires apathy so you're there in matthew 24 look what it says in verse 29 it says immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the star shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken it says in verse 30 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 and he shall be and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other now if you want to study this at home what you can do is you could take matthew chapter number 24 mark 13 luke 21 and line it all up with first thessalonians chapter 4 the famous rapture passage and revelation chapter 6 and what you're going to notice is that each one of those chapters have very similar characteristics why because it's describing the same event matthew 24 is under attack people think it's not the rapture they say it's not the rapture in order to wiggle their way out of this inconvenient verse here in verse 29 which specifically states that it happens after the tribulation but it's a perfect fit if you line it up all together those scriptures i reference so the question is though who are the elect it says in verse 31 and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect now there's something you'll hear from the old ifb which is the elect are supposedly these bunch of christ rejecting askenazi these christ rejecting jews in jerusalem today who believe in the talmud which says blasphemous things about jesus it is wicked as hell and these jews supposedly are the elect here in verse 31 that's garbage that's one of the stupidest doctrines you could believe in the bible says in romans 11 and i'm not going to spend too much time on this because i don't have too much time but in romans 11 it says what then israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for but the election hath obtained it and the rest were blinded so we're seeing a distinction between israel christ rejecting jews and the election so how can the election be israel there are two different groups the elect are those who believe on the lord jesus christ people who are saved are the elect you guys are the elect that's what the bible says now go to revelation chapter seven if you would election means chosen when you get saved you're chosen of god because you chose through your own agency to place your faith on christ through your free will you chose christ and so god chose you now you're flipping to revelation chapter seven while you go there i'm going to read out of second thessalonians two where the bible says now we beseech you brethren by the coming of our lord jesus christ and by our gathering together unto him one thing i forgot to mention the rapture it's often referred to in the bible as the day of the lord and the day of christ now you're going to revelation chapter seven i'm reading out of second thessalonians two it says that she be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as that the day of christ is at hand and then it says let no man deceive you by any means you know what that means it means the pre-trippers out there who are talking about how the rapture can happen at any moment at any time promoting this eminency myth they are deceivers according to the bible they're deceiving you intentionally and it says for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called god or that is worshiped so that he as god sitteth in the temple of god showing himself that he is god that's the abomination of desolation people will be forced to worship that image to receive the mark now we see there a certain sequence of events must happen first before the day of christ before the second coming of christ that destroys imminency right there it's done finished put a nail in the coffin of that imminency doctrine the anti-christ comes first folks why would it explain this to me how does it make any sense that the real thing comes before the fraud who's going to believe in the fraud if the real thing comes first stupid revelation six you're still in revelation seven in revelation six it says and i beheld when he opened the sixth seal and lo there was a great earthquake and the sun became sackcloth of air of hair and the moon became as blood the sixth seal is right here the rapture the second coming notice it says that the the the sun will be black as sackcloth the sun will be darkened verse 13 and the stars of heaven fell into the earth even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind and the heaven departed as a scroll when it's rolled together and every mountain and island were moved out of their places and the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bond men and every free men hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for us the rapture is going to be a monumentous positive happy event because we're saved so we're going to be excited obviously to see our messiah return for the second coming of christ but for those who aren't saved they're going to be scared out of their minds and you see here they're yelling for the rocks and the mountains to cover them to protect them from the wrath they know is coming see there's no excuse for people to turn their back on god romans chapter one tells us that the creation itself is a witness to the fact god exists and he expects something out of us a certain pattern of behavior and people who don't want to retain god in their knowledge i believe they know deep down that there is a creator and when that creator returns they're going to be petrified knowing that they're going to get it now it says in revelation seven where you're at now i just want you to notice that revelation six it talked about the sun and moon being darkened and that rolls right into what i'm about to read to you in revelation seven in verse nine it says there and this i beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues hey sam gibb it says all nations kindreds and peoples and tongues this isn't just jews you moron sam gibb what a loser yeah the bible says there that all kindreds and tongues and nations are going to take part in the rapture because it's not just for the jews the same guy that thinks jesus isn't his messiah that the name of jesus is some sort of mistake give me a break how do people even listen to this guy you know we're in the falling away today because guys like sam gibb are being promoted by the old ifb a loser a moron who doesn't know his bible at all but feigns himself as some sort of professor or some sort of professional when it comes to the scriptures he doesn't know a thing verse 10 i had to get that off my chest i'm sorry and cried with a loud voice saying salvation to our god which sitteth upon the throne and under the lamb and all the angels stood round about the throne and about the elders and the four beasts and fell before the throne on their faces and worshiped god saying amen blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our god forever and ever amen and one of the elders answered saying unto me what are these which are arrayed in white robes and whence came they now why do you think he's asking this because they appeared in heaven he's who are these people this is a great multitude of people who have appeared in heaven where did they come from who are they give me some information about who these people are that's what john the revelator is asking here now i'm gonna read to you verse 14 this is the verse that i guarantee you it appears in the old ifb's nightmares every night they think of verse 14 here in revelation 7 and they just wonder how can we wiggle our way out of this one how can we explain this one away well there's no way to explain it away look what it says in verse 14 and i said unto him sir thou knowest and he said to me it was the angel by the way i need to correct myself it was the it was one of the elders who asked whence came they where these people came from it was not john the revelator it was john who then asks sir thou knowest and he said to me these are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb therefore are they before the throne of god and serve him day and night in his temple and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them these are people who came out of great tribulation the bible says great tribulation this right here this 75-day period right here these people came out of that so how is it pre-trib if the people appearing in heaven came out of great tribulation explain that one to me in first thessalonians 5 the bible says for god hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our lord jesus christ i believe that amen i have no issue with that verse we're not appointed under wrath and guess what if you're saved you're not going to go through god's wrath it's not going to happen but you will go through tribulation you see you're raptured out before the wrath of god begins what a lot of people miss you know the mistake the error that they fall into is they don't make a distinction between tribulation and wrath revelation six it says for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand so how is god's wrath coming present tense if these seals you see on the chart there are part of god's wrath too doesn't make any sense the reason why they're saying that god's wrath is come present tense is because it starts at that point after the righteous are removed we saw in the old testament pictures of the rapture right the righteous they're secured then judgment is dulled out that's what happens in the end times revelation 12 it says therefore rejoice he heavens and ye that dwell in them woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the seal of the sea rather for the devil has come down unto you having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time so the first half of the seven years that is the devil's wrath the tribulation is attributed to satan himself remember jesus said in the world ye shall have tribulation when you get saved it's not a get out of tribulation free card although i mean obviously this day will be shortened but in our daily christian life we will face tribulation yay and all that will live godly and christ jesus shall suffer persecution the bible says but matthew 24 you don't have to go there the bible says 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 watch therefore for ye know not what hour your lord doth come we don't know when the rapture is gonna happen exactly when it comes to the day and time we know it'll happen after the trip but we don't know the day the hour these date setters are a bunch of liars and they're wicked and they're deceiving you you can't predict the exact date of the rapture that's what robert breaker does with his giant whiteboard that looks more convoluted than the most difficult algebra profess it you know a lecture that you'll ever see just got arrows going everywhere and things going up down left right that's because the pre-trib model is way too difficult to understand folks and you you watch any robert breaker video and he's got things going an arrow going this way he'd be talking about you know the deity of christ and it's like arrows going up and down and left and right i mean it's a simple doctrine there's a 14 000 arrows every time that guy makes a video but anyway enough about him the bible commands us to watch so that when the rapture does come we're ready for it so it doesn't catch us off guard that's why it says in mark 13 what i say unto you all jesus said what i say unto you i say unto all watch first less than five it says but ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief obviously the day of the lord the bible says will come as a thief in the night but if you're studying your bible if you're studying end times bible prophecy that day is not going to overtake you as a thief because you're going to see it coming right you're going to know that once these sequence of events that we talked about this morning come to pass that the end must be near you'll be ready now again you won't be able to predict the day and the time that no man know what the day or the hour but once you see the abomination of desolation once you see the events of the tribulation you'll be ready for the second coming of christ go to joel chapter 2 joel chapter 2 my third point is the rapture will feature a certain set of characteristics and we're going to look at that now the you know that the the characteristics of the rapture it says the first characteristic i want to talk about is that you know the bible says the sun and moon will be darkened the sun and moon are going to be dark that's the first distinctive you have to look at when you're studying out the rapture in the bible that the sun and moon are darkened that's a huge clue that what jesus was talking about in the olivet discourse was in fact his second coming because he he referred to the sun and moon being darkened now the day of the lord it's going to be miraculous it's going to be amazing for those who are saved but those who are unsaved they will be petrified in isaiah 13 the bible says behold the day of the lord cometh and it says cruel both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land desolate and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it for the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light the sun shall be darkened in his going forth and the moon shall not cause her light to shine so the sun and the moon will be darkened the first rapture distinctive there we see it in isaiah chapter 13 after we're taken out then god begins to pour out his wrath you see the seven trumpets and vials in the second half of daniel's 70th week so i'm going to go ahead and write the first rapture characteristic here which is sun and moon darkened right there so the sun and moon are dark and that's something we have to look out for when you're studying this topic now you're there in joel too look what it says in verse 10 it says and the earth shall quake before them the heavens shall tremble the sun and the moon shall be dark and the stars shall withdraw their shining now this passage is talking more about the vengeance aspect of the day of the lord because remember it happens all in the same day we're taken out then god begins to doll out judgment and that's what this is focused on it talks about darkness in joel chapter 2 verse 10 flat out says the sun and moon will be dark the stars will withdraw their shining which is what it says in matthew 24 when it says the sun will be darkened the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken you say well hold on a minute ben the day of the lord is not the rapture that's something completely different and there are some people who teach that but the problem is it is the rapture in first thessalonians 5 it says but of the times and the seasons brethren you have not you have no need that i write unto you for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the lord so cometh as a thief in the night so what's he talking about here remember first thessalonians 5 the beginning of it is a continuation of the thought in the second portion there of first thessalonians chapter 4 the famous rapture passage and so he's talking about the day of the lord characterizing the second coming of christ as the day of the lord and saying that it will come as a thief in the night in acts chapter 2 the bible says the sun shall be dark shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before that great and notable day of the lord come and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the lord shall be saved so we see there acts chapter 2 talks about the sun and moon being darkened we read it in revelation chapter 6 where the sun and moon are darkened it all lines up the first rapture distinctive let's move on to the second characteristic now which is that a trumpet sounds at the rapture an audible trumpet will sound the entire world will hear it go to zephaniah one if you would zephaniah chapter number one and i'm going to write trumpet sounds on the board as the second rapture distinctive to look out for so trumpet right there jesus returns with majesty and with pageantry you would expect that from god himself to make a grand entrance it's going to be a global event verse 14 of the chapter it says the great day of the lord is near look at verse 14 the great day of the lord is near and hasteth greatly even the voice of the day of the lord the mighty man shall cry there bitterly that day is a day of wrath a day of trouble and distress a day of waste and desolation a day of darkness and gloominess a day of clouds and thick darkness a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities and against the high towers now the reason why it's talking about there a day of the trumpet is because a trumpet will audibly sound at the rapture that's what the bible says in first corinthians 15 it says 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 shall be changed why why is a trumpet going to sound because the prince of peace is back because of the second coming of jesus christ of course a trumpet would sound to welcome him back to earth it makes sense now leviticus chapter 25 you don't have to go there but it says in verse 9 then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the 10th day of the seventh month in the day of atonement shall you make the trumpet sound throughout all your land now that's significant because we see there in the old testament god commands that the trumpet of jubilee sound just after the midway point of the hebrew calendar year on the day of atonement and that i believe signifies the fact that the trumpet will sound at the rapture just after the midpoint of the seven year period the of daniel's 70th week in the end times jesus christ returns a trumpet sounds on the day of the lord and again it happened shortly after the midpoint so the bible is in perfect harmony it's amazing there are so many nuggets you can find so many pictures in the old testament that fit like a puzzle the third characteristic i'm going to talk about is that it's a global event the rapture isn't something you're going to be able to miss and it certainly isn't going to be secret all eyes will be on jesus when he returns for the second coming go to first thessalonians chapter four and let's look at this together in first thessalonians chapter four if you would jesus is going to appear in the air it's going to be a grand entrance the second coming of christ will capture the attention of every single solitary soul on the face of the planet it's not going to be secret nobody's going to be able to miss it people aren't going to wake up one day and realize their loved ones are gone like it depicts and the left behind series those stupid books and the movie that's garbage they came out with a new one with nick cage i watched it before i was saved and even then i thought it was dumb the secret rapture is fiction folks it says in revelation one behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of them even so amen so the sun and moon are darkened jesus appears with the sound of a trumpet jesus comes with clouds the bible says you can't miss it it'll be a global event every eye shall see him now in acts one it says and 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 this same jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven so the same way that christ ascended after his earthly ministry is the same way he's going to return he's going to come with clouds and you're not going to be able to miss it first thessalonians 4 look at verse 13 in this chapter it says there in verse 13 verse 13 of first thessalonians 4 but i would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that you 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 so hey look don't sorrow for the dead they're sleeping and the bible uses the word sleep because it's going to come a day where they awake out of the ground they're going to be resurrected the bible says you will see that person again if they're saved when they're gathered together amongst the elect verse 15 for this we say unto you by the word of the lord that we which are alive and remain after 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 so again let's talk about the characteristics here you have the trump of god you have jesus appearing excuse me you have jesus appearing with clouds descending from heaven the angels gather together the elect now additionally everyone who's ever been saved throughout all of human history they will rise up out of the graves what a miraculous wonderful event that's gonna be you're gonna see everyone has ever been saved in glorified bodies come out of the grave matthew 24 it says and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his life from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other so you have the elect gathered and notice these same characteristics appear in first thessalonians chapter 4 and matthew chapter 24 which proves it's describing the same event in verse 17 of the chapter 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 and so shall we ever be with the lord wherefore comfort one another with these words all believers who've ever lived they will rise up out of the graves like i said and those who are alive and remain those who are who have survived the great tribulation the 75 days of great tribulation the mark of the beast and all the rest of it they're going to get glorified bodies they're going to be changed and then they'll ascend up into the sky and meet christ so let me write here a global event and you'll have to excuse my terrible handwriting but that is the final characteristic i wanted to talk about there now go to first corinthians 15 and we're going to be done first corinthians 15 and this is my final point that the rapture is the culmination of our christian life it's an extremely important event and that in and of itself is an understatement when you get to first corinthians 15 if you would look at verse 50 look at verse 50 when you get there it says in verse 50 now this i say brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god neither neither does corruption inherit incorruption behold i show you a mystery we shall not all sleep 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 shall be changed for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality the days of struggling with your sinful flesh will be over obviously it'll be over when you die and you get to you go to heaven to be with the father and jesus christ to be with god but at the rapture you're gonna get a physical glorified body the days of having to worry about walking in the spirit rather than the flesh the days of worrying about your body breaking down when you get older back problems knee problems sicknesses disease and all the rest of it those days will be over at the rapture when you get a perfect body it says in verse 54 so when this corruptible should have put on 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 we fight hard to subdue the old man in our daily christian lives but there's coming a day where you're not going to have to worry about that anymore the bible says in galatians chapter five if you walk in the spirit you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh well i look forward to eternity where i'll never have to worry about fulfilling the lust of the flesh the bible says not to make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof we're not gonna have to worry about that anymore once you know we we die obviously and then of course when we get our glorified body in luke 17 it says and then shall they see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory and when these things begin to come to pass then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh all i have to say about that is i can't wait i hope i'm alive to witness this wonderful event so the rapture characteristics the sun and moon are darkened you've got the trumpet sounds jesus returns with clouds all eyes see him it is a global event i wrote the chart here detailing exactly when the second coming of christ will happen and the elect are all gathered together and now i just want to close with this you know i remember when i heard my first sermon on the end times and i was thinking in my mind i said man this is amazing i had never really learned about these concepts before about the rapture about the second coming about the tribulation the great tribulation the persecution that christians are going to go through i didn't know a lot about it but as a babe in christ i'm learning i'm learning about the return of christ and all the rest of it i remember thinking in my mind man how amazing would it be just how amazing would it be if if one day i could be the catalyst for someone understanding the truth of the gospel of jesus christ and taking part in the event that we learned about this morning i remember thinking how amazing would it be if i could get my friend my best friend who i've grown up with to believe on the lord jesus christ and to get eternal life and to take part in this event the rapture so that he too can be gathered together with the elect to meet jesus christ in the air how amazing would that be i remember thinking how amazing would it be if i could get my mom and my dad who've been deceived by the wicked disgusting filthy pedophile catholic church how amazing would it be if i could get my mom and dad saved if i can get them to understand what the bible says about the gospel of jesus christ and i can see them at the rapture and i can see them be gathered together amongst the elect to meet jesus christ in the air i remember thinking how amazing would it be if i could get my best friend my friends everyone within my social circle my roommate my cousin my grandmother my grandfather everyone everyone within the sound of my voice if i could get them saved so they too can take part in this miraculous wonderful second coming of christ so i can see them be gathered together amongst the elect so i can see them in heaven first but if we make it all the way to this period i want to see them there i want to see them meet jesus in the air what we need to do with these truths you say well how does this apply to me so what okay rapture happens after the trip cool you gave us some some little nuggets about the end times how does this apply to me i'll tell you how this applies to you we need to be using this as an incentive to make sure as many people as possible can take part in this rather than this we need to make sure as many souls as possible can be sealed with the holy spirit of promise so they can be gathered together with jesus christ in the air rather than endure his wrath that's what we need to take out of the sermon that's the call to action and you can start today at two o'clock when we go out and we knock doors and we reach the lost with the gospel of jesus christ and we show them that it's by faith alone on christ not by works once you're saved you're always saved and we can make sure as many people as possible get to see jesus in the air rather than endure the wrath of god the seven trumpets the vials and then eternal torment in hell after it's all over let's make sure that we take these truths and use it as an incentive and let it inspire us to go out and win souls like we've never won them before and we can start today at two o'clock when we go out soul that's all i've got let's pray lord heavenly father i thank you so much for steadfast baptist church for brother theo and marcel and joe and everyone else here and pastor shelly i just pray that you help us to take these truths we've learned and do something with them and reach the lost with the gospel and lord i just i just thank you so much for having like-minded brothers and sisters in christ who know what's going on who will not be caught off guard by this event and who are studying this out lord thank you for all that we have and i pray that you bless this church and bless the soul-winning later in jesus name i pray amen you