VOL. 14 NO. 7- SEPT. 1982

SAINTS: I WANT TO ASK YOU ONE QUESTION BEFORE I EVEN START TO DEAL WITH OUR ANNOUNCED SUBJECT. IN WHAT WAY ARE YOU, AS AN INDIVIDUAL BELIEVER, WATCHING FOR THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH? THIS SUBJECT IS VERY MUCH TALKED ABOUT IN OUR DAY, BUT SOME OF THE IDEAS THAT PEOPLE WHO CLAIM TO BE BORN AGAIN COME UP WITH, CAUSES ME TO WONDER IF THEY KNOW ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT IT. EVEN SOME WHO YOU KNOW SHOULD KNOW BETTER, STILL SPEAK OF IT AS SOMETHING THAT COULD TAKE PLACE JUST ANY MOMENT. IT IS MAINLY FOR THIS REASON THAT I FEEL LED TO DEAL WITH IT AT THIS TIME.

I BELIEVE WE HAVE SUFFICIENT SCRIPTURES TO PROVE TO ANY REASONABLE THINKING PERSON, THAT THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD CANNOT TAKE PLACE JUST ANY MOMENT NOW. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE MESSAGE IS NOT MEANT TO GIVE ANYONE ANY REASON TO BE CARELESS, OR SLOTHFUL IN THEIR CHRISTIAN LIVING, FOR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST MAY COME FOR YOU BEFORE THIS MESSAGE IS FINISHED. IF HE DOES, YOU WILL STAND IN THE RESURRECTION INSTEAD OF THE RAPTURE OF THE LIVING BRIDE. THEREFORE I HOPE YOU WILL ALL BEAR WITH ME AS WE LOOK AT THE MANY SCRIPTURES THAT SHED LIGHT UPON THIS SUBJECT.

TEXT 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18

In an age when so many people are talking about the rapture of the bride of Christ, the translation of the saints, the catching away of the church, and so forth, let us endeavor to make sure we understand the terminology, and also, exactly who it applies to. Many people in our day who claim to be waiting for the rapture to take them out of this world and into the presence of Jesus, could not possibly partake of that blessed event as long as they hold to their present theology and traditional beliefs. Jesus is truly going to to call some saints to meet Him in the air one day, and it probably will not be much longer, but not everyone that speaks of such an event will be a part of it, for the scriptures tell us that He will present to Himself a perfect church without spot, wrinkle, or blemish. That, of course, will rule out all those who are trying to make it in on grandma's religion, or some Trinitarian concept of what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. Our title for this message, "WATCHING FOR THE RAPTURE," speaks of something every true child of God ought to be doing. Not with a telescope, but with eyes of faith, and a steadfast confidence in our hearts. To watch for that which the word of God tells us is coming, is not just a privilege we have; it is also our responsibility. But our watching must be based upon something more than just the doctrine of the translation; it must be because our lives are being lived according to the revelation of the hour, and we are ready to meet the Lord just any moment. Now please do not take this to mean that I am expecting the rapture just any moment, for as we have said before, there are still a few prophecies of the scriptures that must be fulfilled before that blessed event occurs, but those who are ordained to be in the rapture will not wait until all prophecies are fulfilled before they begin to make themselves ready to meet the Bridegroom. Yes, that's right; if you are among that number it will be because you have made yourself ready; the preacher cannot do it for you. Revelation 19:7 says, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife HATH MADE HERSELF READY."

TRIBULATION SAINTS NOT RAPTURED

The rapture will be the glorious climax of a certain people's journey through life and time. It will translate those who are ready into the very presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and they shall be with Him for ever and ever. But we are told to watch, and the Bible tells us how to watch, so that is what we are going to look at in the various scriptures we will read. Naturally we will be reading after the apostle Paul; for he was the scripture writer that had the revelation of how this journey will end for the bride of Christ. He did not have a revelation, or we will say His recorded revelation did not cover the foolish virgins that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 25:1-13, therefore what he wrote, was written to what he saw as the church of the living God, overcoming believers. He did not speak in a haphazard way. His objective was always consistent; and what he wrote to the various assemblies showed that he viewed all of them in the same light. It was he, who saw that there would actually be a translation of the saints. Jesus spoke of a resurrection for those who believed in Him, but He never gave any kind of order in which it would take place. Nor did He give any clues that would give anyone anything to go on; He only established the fact that there would be a resurrection. Therefore what Paul spoke concerning these things had to be spoken from a personal revelation given to him by the Lord Himself. There was no scriptures in the Old Testament that he could draw from as to the order of the resurrection, or the rapture of the saints, even though it did speak of a resurrection. Job, and David, and various others looked for a resurrection, but nowhere do we find any order given to it, or even who the beneficiaries will be, except in Paul's writings, John, many years later as that first age was closing out, began to see things that would set in motion conditions which would enter in and run right on through to the end, making room for the fulfillment of what Jesus said about foolish virgins at the end time. In the book of Revelation, John tells of seeing a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, kindreds, people, and tongues standing before the throne worshiping God, and he is told that this great multitude are those which have come up out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Of course that scripture alone does not speak of foolish virgins, but when you read it with Matthew 25:1-13, and Revelation 20:4, you will see that this great multitude not only consisted of martyred Jews from the great tribulation, but it also included those foolish virgins, people that believed in God, looked for the rapture according to man's traditions, and failed to make themselves ready to partake of that blessed event. We will see more of the conditions that actually set the stage for foolish virgins as we go into the message, but now, let us go to 1Thessalonians where we will actually begin our study for this message, "Watching for the Rapture."

STRAIGHTENING UP A REVELATION

Here we have an assembly of saints that have been taught by the apostle Paul, but like everyone else, their revelation had to be tested. Conditions will always arise that will test our attitude towards the scriptures, and how they are to be applied to our life. Our faith must run in true continuity with the scriptures that are revealed in our age, and many times we have to be reminded to check up on ourselves, and see if we are truly following a genuine revelation. From what we read here in 1 Thessalonians, I would say that a lot of them had begun to question the loss of loved ones in death, for they believed that Jesus would return in their lifetime, and no doubt expected all the saints to live to see Him. They were looking for the rapture, but somehow they just had not been able to see where saints would die before it took place. Therefore I can hear them, Bro. Paul: What is the meaning of all this? What has gone wrong? Paul had laid a good foundation for their faith to rest upon, but time itself takes it's toll, so Paul writes them this letter dealing with various phases of the Christian life, and finally comes to the part about the resurrection, and the catching away of the saints in chapter 4, verses 13-18, so let us read some of what he had to say there. After exhorting them on how to walk and grow in the stature of Jesus Christ, dealing with proper attitude and conduct, he approaches the thing that seems to be bothering them the most. Verse 13,"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, ( What a statement. Yet this is common terminology applied to those who do not have a revelation of the Word of God. We are to be enlightened scripturally.) concerning them which are asleep, (dead) that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." Brothers and sisters, God intends for His true children to understand that which they have faith in. Of course there may be things written in the book ( Bible) in a mysterious way, but in every age God has always revealed to His true people what they needed to know to enable them to walk in the light of their age. Furthermore let me say this, God has never intended for anything to be written in a mysterious way, to confuse the saints. It is to hide truth from the world in general, so He can reveal it to those who love truth, and have purposed to walk accordingly. You can rest assured if you are walking in all the truth that God has revealed to you, that whatever else is destined to affect your life will be revealed to you also. Naturally we are speaking from the standpoint of a dedicated life of holiness before God and man, and not just that we may know something for the sake of telling it to show how much we know. I believe you understand. What we are dealing with here, is just some of the basic things that Christians are expected to grow in, as they take on the mind of Christ in their daily Christian walk.

THE FIRST RESURRECTION

Notice verse 14, "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus (saints that have died) will God bring with him." Let us understand now, that when Jesus comes fulfilling this scripture, He will not be bringing any literal bodies with Him. When Christians die, their bodies are entombed, but their spirit returns to the great eternal God, who is Spirit, and therefore will be present with God in spirit form only, when Jesus comes for the resurrection of the dead, and the translation of the living saints. Alright now, verse 15, "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." You will notice that Paul is not giving reference to anything that he has read out of a book. He says this is by the word of the Lord, which means, by the word of revelation. What is revelation? It simply means that we now understand something that was previously unknown and mysterious to us. Paul had a revelation and could state positively that the living saints would not prevent, or hinder those who had not died in the faith from being resurrected when that time arrives, and to be in Jesus, is to be in Him by the baptism of the Holy Ghost, according to 1 Cor. 12:13. "For by One Spirit are we all baptized into one body, ( the body of Christ) whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free: and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." People in former ages did not have end time scriptures revealed to them in fullness; they were only allowed to see a little profile. Full understanding is only imparted to the generation of believers that will be affected by the fulfillment of these various scriptures. In other words, They will be the ones that will see the real beauty of them. God has this thing so precisely worked out, that once a scripture is revealed to you, everything else that you may have believed about it suddenly becomes history. God's objective is materialization, in the end, of all that the church has only been able to see through eyes of faith while on her journey through time. Let me say also, Here in verse 15, Paul is not talking about when Jesus comes to earth for the Millennium; this is when He comes to ressurect the righteous dead, and translate the living element of His bride into His very presence. This will be the 2nd phase of the 1st resurrection, leaving the 3rd phase to take place immediately following the great tribulation; for that is when those martyred saints that will be killed because of their faith during that dark hour of time, will be raised to reign with Christ and His bride for one thousand years. Going into the Millennium, only the wicked dead will be left in the ground, and they will remain there until the last resurrection of Revelation 20:11-15, the great white throne judgment, where all the wicked dead are resurrected, judged, and cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. You will find verse 6, of that chapter saying, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the 1st resurrection: (Those that were raised when Jesus arose from the dead, those that will be raised when the bride is translated, and those tribulation saints that will be raised going into the Millennium.) on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him (Who? Christ) a thousand years. So you can see that there will be saints from every age taking part in the 1st resurrection, and most of them have understood very little about this event during their lifetime, but that will not prevent them from being raised to reign with Christ in the Millennium. ( A lot of people feel that we should not teach anything about the Millennium, but what we teach comes from the Bible.)

CAN JESUS COME ANY MOMENT?

I have heard evangelists down through the years of my life, say, How many of you believe in the second coming of Christ? Well naturally that is the Christian's hope, so then they would say, How many of you believe He could come just any moment? It was all designed to work on the emotions of the people and get them down to the altar boo-hooing. (crying) but in reality they had not been enlightened to one single truth from the Bible. People have been moved psychologically, to believe, or accept certain statements that had no scriptural authority whatsoever. Right here, I must say again as I have many times before. Jesus Christ CANNOT come just any moment to rapture the church. He can come for any individual at any moment, and that is why we need to be ready and watching, but that route will take you through the grave, and you will stand in the 2nd phase of the first resurrection when the time does arrive for the rapture of the church. This statement does not take from, nor add to that which the word of God proclaims; it just simply destroys a lot of evangelistic nonsense. Even Jesus Himself did not know the exact day and hour that the rapture would take place, but I assure you, He knew what would have to proceed the rapture in order for all of the prophecies of the scriptures to be fulfilled. Now some will say, But Bro. Jackson, if Jesus Christ was God, why would He not know everything? You must first understand that Jesus Christ was God in the sense that the great eternal Spirit, the Father of all creation incarnated Him, there at the Jordan River when John baptized Him. Therefore we could say that the Father in Him absolutely did know everything, and everyone that would ever breathe the breath of life, but from the standpoint of the Son, which was the flesh man Jesus, we would have to understand that there were some things that had not been committed to Him when He walked upon earth in His prophetic role. Truly He did say,"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" but that does not change, nor alter anything that we have said, and here is why. He was exercising Himself in His prophetic role then, He has been in heaven interceding for us in His role as high priest for almost two thousand years, and one day in the very near future He will don His kingly robe and fulfill those scriptures that proclaim Him to be King of kings and Lord of lords literally, instead of just spiritually, as He is to believers right now. So in each phase of His three fold office work He is invested with all power and authority in heaven and in earth in order to fulfill His redemptive work in the plan of the Father.

THE SHOUT

In the years prior to His first advent, some of those Jews might have thought that their Messiah could come just any moment, but you know, and I know that He could not come even one day before His appointed time, and that time was determined in the mind of the great eternal Spirit, His Father, the one who counseled with Himself before the world was ever created. On the other hand the very moment He arrived on the scene the Spirit of God announced it. Brothers and Sisters, these are some of the basic things that believers should be getting settled in their minds by now. Yes, He can come for me at any moment, but if He does, I will take my place among those that sleep in Jesus, and we will still have to wait until time itself has materialized to coincide with the mind of the great eternal Spirit. Therefore with this in mind, let us read verse 16, of our text, and please notice the three fold identify that Paul the great apostle to that first age, gives to His coming for the church. I believe Paul was actually seeing this in a visionary way. First he says, " For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, ( and secondly) with the voice of the archangel, ( and thirdly) and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first." This lets me know that when time has expired to the point for this event to take place, there is not one single thing that any man could do to hurry it up, nor to delay it, not even for one hour, for it is all activated from the heavenly realm. Now I realize that there is still a lot of confusion among the followers of Bro. Branham's message about what the shout consists of, or what it is, but I will say this in defense of the scriptures, Whatever you term the shout to be, it is for one specific purpose, to get your attention. When you yell or shout at someone, it is to get their attention. That is why I am convinced that the shout has got to have a profound meaning, and that it is not to the dead, as many believe. If Paul here, was saying that the shout is what will get the dead out of their graves, then how could he justify what he said in Romans 8:11:? "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, (there is your key; you must have that same Spirit dwelling in you before you die, that Jesus had dwelling in Him.) He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken (make alive) your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." Do you see what I mean? It is that Spirit in you, that is going to give life back to your dead bodies, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you, so just be sure you know that you have been awakened to the reality of what is about to come. Furthermore, be sure you do not wake up and head in the wrong direction.

THE VOICE AND THE TRUMPET

Saints, I want to use a certain term right here, but first I want to be sure you understand that I am not speaking of three persons of the Godhead as a trinity minded person might be prone to do, for we know that God is one. Now here is my point. It is the three personages involved in verse 16. First I want you to notice that it is the Lord Himself, the God-man, our Lord and Savior that gives the shout. That is to wake us up to scriptural reality. But the voice of the archangel speaks of another being. God has followed a pattern of having certain great events announced by the voice of an archangel. Gabriel announced the birth of John to Zecharias, and how he would fulfill his part of Malachi 4:5-6. He also announced to Joseph how the birth of Jesus would fulfill Isaiah 7:14, and announced to Mary concerning the birth of Jesus and of John, and so forth, but my point is, there is a phase two of the total event commonly referred to as the rapture, and that pertains to something that is to be announced during an interval of time between the shout and the last trump. In the first advent setting, neither John, nor Jesus came on the scene without it first being announced by the angel of the Lord. But who was the announcement to? Not to the world; but only to those that would be directly involved in the event. I hope you are getting this, for this lets me know that there is to be something announced pertaining to this event prior to its occurrence, and it will only be heard by those who are to particpate. The drunks in the local tavern will not hear it, and neither will the tares that my be sitting among the saints, but if that same Spirit dwell in you that dwelleth in Jesus Christ, you, if you are still alive at that time, will hear it, for it will be something pertaining to the total event that you will need to know. But now we come to the third phase, if it may be properly referred to like that. This is a little hard to express in a way that will give a clear picture, because this trump of God is not referring to the God-man Jesus. It is referring to the great eternal Spirit. For He is the one that has the last word in every event. Throughout the Old Testament you will find the trumpet associated with the voice of Jehovah. Maybe I can use a little illustration that will help. In the old U.S. Cavalry, then the commander had the trumpeter blow the charge, every last one of those cavalrymen knew exactly what to do, and that was their signal to commence. Likewise, this verse 16, will have its fulfillment in the same manner. How did those cavalrymen know what to do when they heard that trumpet blow? You say, Why, they had been taught what it meant. Al right we have the same situation here. The shout awakens an element of people spiritually, the voice gets them ready, and the trumpet turns it all loose. It is by the authority of the great eternal Spirit that the trumpeter is being held from blowing the charge, and He is the only one that can give the signal, or word of authority to blow the trumpet. Therefore Brothers & Sisters, it is not the shout that the dead in Christ will hear, and it is not the voice of the archangel that they will hear; all of this is for those who are still alive when time for this event corresponds with God's perfect time table. But Praise God! When that trumpet sounds it's blast, it will be heard around this world, and saints from all ages will come forth out of the ground. Hallelujah!! There is not one thing that any preacher can do to change the present physical state of the dead man. Furthermore, the dead do not have to worry or even think about when the rapture is going to take place. He does not have to lay there wondering, How am i going to have faith enough to get up out of this grave? No, He has been laid to rest, having the seal, the security, and the promise, that the same Spirit which raised up Jesus Christ will also raise him up when the time comes. That is why the Bible tells us that the Holy Ghost is our rest. He is the promise that fulfills all promises. Therefore those who hear the shout and the voice of instructions pertaining to that cherished event will be those who are still living, having the Spirit dwelling in them.

WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED

Let us go to 1 Corinthians 15:51 now, where we find Paul dealing, not with the rapture, but with the resurrection of the dead. He says nothing whatsoever about a shout, nor does he mention anything about the voice of the archangel, for he is dealing strictly with the part that brings the dead back to life, the resurrection. Notice, "Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." Right here is where some people stop, for they go back and get the scripture where Paul, this same apostle, said to the Hebrews, in dealing with another subject, "And as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment," and they will say, The Bible says we are all to die. They never bother to get the setting; they only take the words that were spoken. But when you stop to realize that Paul was dealing with the penalty for man's sin in the garden of Eden, then you realize that after the death sentence was imputed to mankind, that has been the lot of every generation since then. But when you go into 1 Cor. 15:51-58, Paul is dealing with a time when God is again going to change the trend of things, a time when death will cease to rule over mankind. He is talking about a day when ( Picture: The Modern Councils of Churches That Claim to speak for millions of Protestants) death is going to be swallowed up in victory. He says, I am going to show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. He just puts the living saints, and the dead saints all together and says, We shall all be changed, and Praise God! We surely will. Now notice this next verse. He skips the shout, and the voice of the archangel, and goes directly to the sounding of the trumpet. " 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." He doesn't bother to mention the shout, nor the voice of the archangel here, because he is dealing strictly with the resurrection of the dead, but you rest assured, that when that trump sounds for the change it will be both for the living and the dead saints. Revelation of the word of God comes when the Holy Spirit helps us put one scripture with another scripture until a complete picture is formed of the thing we are looking at. That is why we have no right to expect every little detail of any event to be covered in any one place in the scriptures. But Paul is the one that had the revelation of the resurrection, and of the rapture, and therefore we can put complete confidence in what he had to say about it. Please remember though, that the last trump he mentions here has nothing whatsoever to do with the seven judgment trumpets sounded to the nation of Israel, beginning in Revelation 8:7, to vindicate the ministeries of God's two witnesses to them.

INCORRUPTIBLE AND IMMORTAL

Let us yet look at the remaining verses of 1 Cor. chapter 15, and notice what Paul says in connection with the trump he is dealing with. Verse 53, he is explaining the change, so notice. "For this corruptible ( the dead) must put on in corruption and this mortal (That is those who are still living but have a death sentence hanging over them.) must put on immortality." Immortality means that the death sentence has been removed and those that are left alive shall never die. 54 "So when this corruptible shall have put on encryption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall it be brought to pass this saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." Praise God! Death is swallowed up in victory. For these, death will have no more hold, but death is not completely out of the picture, for there are yet many tribulation saints to be martyred in that dark hour of Antichrist rule upon earth. Nevertheless, for those that are changed according to the scriptures we have just read, death definitely is out of the picture. Therefore Paul went on to say, "O death, where is thy sting: O grave, where is thy victory? The stings of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Saints: There is total victory up ahead, so press on. Keep a strong faith in Him who is able to perform all that He has promised to them that love Him and follow His word. When the change is completed there yet remains the catching up, to meet the Lord Jesus in the air, to ever be with Him, and Paul says, that we should comfort one another with these words. That simply means that we should remind and exhort one another with the words of the believers hope that lies just ahead of where we are today.

DO NOT BE IGNORANT

Let us go back to 1 Thess. chapter 5, where Paul goes ahead saying, "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. (Naturally he is speaking of years and months and anything that would give anyone any reason to set a date for this blessed event to take place.) For yourselves know perfectly that they day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night," To some this might sound like a contradiction to our remarks about the previous verses, but to whom will He come as a thief in the night? Certainly not to those who are scripturally watching for His return. It is the world in general that He will come like that. As for those who are awaiting His return, certainly some of them shall be asleep, taking their night of rest, for when it is daytime on this side of the globe, it is night time on the other side. That is the reason He said there would be two in the field, one would be taken and the other left. It would be daytime in their part of the world. But then, He went on to say that there would be two in the bed, one would be taken, and the other left. They would be on the night side of the globe. But that is not what Paul is referring to here. He is speaking of a time when the people of the world are so taken up with worldly concern, that they will not even know what is happening until the wrath of God is upon them. Let's let Paul speak to us now. Notice verse 3. "For when they ( Who? People of the world system.) shall say, Peace and safety; then cometh sudden destruction upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." The world has never yet come to the place where they could say, Now we will have peace and safety. They have tried, and they are still trying to get a world peace agreement signed, so they can sit back and say, Well now, for the first time in the history of mankind we do not have to be worried about war. We finally have peace and safety throughout the whole world. They will have such a peace agreement signed, but do you know what scripture that will fulfill? Daniel 9:26, when the peace agreement is signed, with the Antichrist overseeing it, and controlling it. How long will it last? Three and one half years, and then cometh the great tribulation upon those that are left here after the rapture takes place. We will say more about that when we get into 2 Thess., where Paul actually speaks of this man of sin, the Antichrist, that shall be revealed. We have had our U.N. Charter, and ever since the miserable thing was signed, we have had more bloodshed and turmoil then whole world over, so it did not produce a condition of peace and safety. Neither did the European Peace Pact, the League of Nations, nor any other effort, but they were all forerunners of the one that will seem to secure a peace and safety condition for the world, but Paul says, When this condition finally does exist; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child. What woman is there among you that can predict the exact time that your travail pains will start, when your time for delivery is drawing nigh? In this case you would be looking for them, but usually when the first one hits, it startles you, so that is what Paul used to exemplify the suddenness, or sureness of the (the Contender, Bro Turners picture and comments)worlds pain of travail. Having to depend upon the translators choice of words, at times, is a little unhandy, but we are sure that Paul's revelation was consistent, and in line with all other scriptures, so we must make the application according to the total picture instead of just one verse that might sound like sudden destruction would be immediately following such a peace pact. That is why Paul started out by saying, Brethren, I would not have you to be ignorant. He made sure that they had every opportunity to understand what the Spirit of God had revealed unto him. Therefore in verse 4, of chapter 5, he could say, "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. No, it will not slip up on a rev elated child of God, for they will be watching the signs that forerun what the Lord will do, and when the rapture takes place, they will have made themselves ready to meet their Lord; therefore they will not even be here on the earth just prior to that destruction. They will be with their Lord in glory. Therefore I say to you here in Faith Assembly, Let your mind rest at ease in the scriptures, and avoid this condition of spiritual darkness that is upon so many church going people of the world. They take what Paul said about the rapture, and lay it alongside what John said about a great multitude that overcame the beast, and so forth, and they become completely confused. You can hear them talk, and pray, and they do not know if the bride will have to go through the tribulation or not. They do not know if the rapture could take place tonight or not and they do not know if the battle of Armegeddon is the same as the battle of Ezekiel 38 or 39, or not. That is why I have been preaching on this Ezekiel conflict, and that is why I have said, You, as church, are not going to leave here in the rapture until you have seen Ezekiel 38 or 39 fulfilled first. It is a Middle East setting, but there will be far reaching effects that may very well drastically change our lifestyle. Nevertheless when it is over, Bride, you can know that the coming of Jesus the bridegroom, is close at hand. But not before then. Hallelujah! Brother, that war will let us know that the word of God is being fulfilled according to prophecies that have laid right there in the scripture through the ages. But only right here in this last age, has the true people of God been allowed to understand the significance in God's total plan of redemption and restoration. Why are we privileged to know these things? Because we will be affected by them, and because we are children of the light. Why are we children of the light? Because we have been born again. Saints of other ages had no need to know exactly what would precede the rapture of the church, but we do, because we are living in the age when not to know would leave us in darkness. 5 "Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

WATCH AND BE SOBER. That word sober, is usually associated with, and is the complete opposite of being intoxicated with liquor. To be sober is to have your right mind, and able to think properly. Therefore when you give verse 6, it's spiritual application, "Let us not sleep," it simply means, Be spiritually awake to all that pertains to your hour of time. He says, " Let us watch and be sober." Well, you have to be awake in order to watch, and you have to be sober, (serious minded, level headed, spiritually alert) in order to know what to do about what you see.

BE SOBER

Do not ever think Paul might not have known what he was talking about. He was so sure of what he taught, he could preach it, and then just sit down, cross his arms, and defy any man to preach anything different. In the Galatian letter, he wrote. If we, or even an angel from heaven, preach anything different (any other gospel) let him be accursed. 7 "For they that sleep sleep in the night; (spiritual sleep in spiritual darkness) and they that be drunken are drunken in the night." In Revelation 17:1-2, we find John speaking of a great whore with whom the Kings of the earth have committed fornication, (spiritually speaking) and the inhabitants of the earth have been drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Her doctrines) This is a prevailing condition in the world today; but the true children of God are not a part of that spiritual darkness. 8 "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, (Not partaking of any of those doctrines of spiritual darkness; putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake (remain alive until the end) or sleep, (die, and must be resurrected)we should live together with Him." The world is appointed to wrath and destruction, because their hope is wrapped up in man's wisdom, and his great worldly achievements, but we that are of the day, (walking in spiritual light) have our hope in the integrity of the word of God that promises salvation to all who believe and obey God in this present life upon earth. Out lot is to be with Him while He is pouring out His wrath upon those who have ignored Him, or blasphemed Him. In the world of religion, there are those who are so uninterested they are not even drunk on the false doctrines of religion; they just want to be left alone, to sleep on in their spiritual darkness. But there are others that completely intoxicated with their doctrines and church programs in their state of spiritual darkness, and neither group has any idea at all as to whether the coming of Jesus is close at hand or not, from the standpoint of the scriptures. They have no spiritual armor whatsoever, but we are exhorted to put on the whole armor of God, keep awake, be sober, love one another, and comfort one another with the words of our hope of salvation, knowing that He who has called us into this glorious light, will perform all of His good pleasure on our behalf. We will not worry about our dead brothers and sisters who have died in the faith, for God will bring them with Him, and rejoin them to their resurrected bodies before anyone is caught up to be with the Lord. What a blessed hope.

WHY THE VOICE?

After Paul had no doubt received a reply to his first letter to the church at Thessalonica, it seems that he felt compelled to write them another letter in which he would go into more details, clarifying this subject of the resurrection and translation of the saints, and he refers to that event as, our gathering together unto Him. We are in 2 Thess, and we will begin with verse 1. "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, That ye 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." Before commenting on these two verses, let me review a little of what we have already read from 1 Thess. 4:16, especially about the voice of the archangel. I consider it very important to our understanding these scriptures, to realize that there will be some saints alive at the end of this age, that will have something communicated to them by the voice of an angel of the Lord. I do not want to say very much about the shout, for we already have too many ideas floating around as to what the shouts consist of. But this voice of the archangel is something that carnal man cannot tamper with, nor duplicate. This voice is going to declare something to those living saints that will be partakers of the rapture. I mentioned this earlier, but now I want to explain exactly what I meant. The scriptures themselves declare that certain events will take place, even to the point of telling why, and in some instances even setting an order for them to occur, as in our text. But now, listen to me for a few minutes, and I will believe you will see something here. Just suppose that Elizabeth, after being barren for so many years, had suddenly began to feel a change in her body, without having first been told what to expect. She was an old woman, well past the age of childbearing; so what do you suppose she would have thought was wrong with her, when she began to feel that strangeness in her body, after conceiving seed that would actually fulfill scripture? I can just hear her crying to Zecharias, Honey, there is something wrong with me. Furthermore Zecharias never would have been struck dumb. He would have kept his voice, and just wondered what was wrong with his wife, but no. An angel had appeared to him sometime before that, saying, "Fear not, Zecharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before Him, in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Brothers and sisters: I want you to know, that Malachi 4:5-6, had been laying right there in their scriptures for four hundred years, and the people of Israel looked for this Elijah that was to come, just like grace age Christians have looked for the rapture, but if that angel had not appeared to Zecharias and informed him of what was taking place, would he have known: Would he have known what to name his son? Would they have known what purpose of God was to be fulfilled through their son's life, if the angel had not communicated that information to Zecharias: Of course not. It was necessary for God to inform those who would be directly involved in the fulfillment of those scriptures, of the part that was not recorded in the written word. It was the same with Joseph and Mary, when time came for the Messiah to be born. The event was prophesied in the scriptures. Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bare a son, and shall call his name Immanuel, or Emmanuel." In Isaiah 9:6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." it goes on to speak of Him sitting upon the throne of His father, David, and so forth, and all Israel was aware of these scriptures, and they looked for their Messiah, but do you think that young virgin girl would have known what was happening to her when she began to feel the change in her body, knowing that she had never been informed ahead of time? You know very well, that she would not have known what was wrong with her. The scriptures that give the setting for such an event had been right there for over seven hundred years, but no one knew what generation that virgin would live in. Only God Himself knew what young virgin of the nation of Israel would bare a son that would one day be their Messiah. God had the young lady picked out, and no one need know anything in order for the Holy Ghost to overshadow her and cause a supernatural conception. But just suppose it had been done without first informing her: She was already engaged to a man named Joseph, she knew she was a virgin, and Joseph believed she was, so just imagine what great conflict of emotions the young lady would have experienced, if one day she began to feel the life of a little baby within her. Surely you do not think that she would have suddenly figured out that she must be the virgin Isaiah spoke of. I believe you can see why it was necessary for God to send His angel to communicate with her in this matter. It enabled her to look upon everything that would happen, knowing that God was fulfilling His word spoken by His prophets of old.

MARY HEARS FROM GOD

Notice, in Luke 2:26-35, what Gabriel actually said to Mary. "And in the sixth month (that was the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy) the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin;s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this would be. (He still had not given her the main message, therefore she wondered why anyone would be speaking to her in this manner) and the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. (Picture: stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord, man facing cross) And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." The angel went ahead and told Mary about her cousin Elizabeth, being with child also, and then said, "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Then Mary answered him, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it unto me according to thy word." That angel of the Lord not only told Mary that she was going to conceive; he told her how she would conceive, and also that she would bare forth a man child, and even told her what to name him, and capped it off by telling her that He would be king, and that His kingdom would be forever. Mary's only question was a natural one that anyone would have asked, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" But when she received an answer to that question, she immediately submitted to everything that had been presented to her.

THE ANGEL APPEARS TO JOSEPH

What the angel told Mary did not help Joseph any though, for when he discovered that she was with child, he determined that he should just quietly break their marriage agreement, and fade out of the picture, and do it in such a way as not to publicly embarrass her; therefore it was necessary for God to send His angel messenger to him also; in order for him to be a willing participant in this plan, for in the natural genealogy he would be looked upon as the father of this child Mary was carrying. We will not read that scripture, but you may want to read it later, how the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, "Fear not t take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." (Matt. 1:18-25) Alight, the instruments through which this great event would unfold have been informed, therefore they will not have to guess about anything that they should do. After the angel appeared to Joseph, he immediately did according to the word of the Lord, taking Mary to be his wife, but withholding himself from her until after the birth of this child. Then when the child was born, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and placed in a manger, what did God do to make his birth known? Out there on the countryside were shepherds keeping watch over their flock at night, when suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared to them, with the glory of the Lord all around them, and they were afraid. But the angel said to them, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host Praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." When the angels were gone, those shepherds went immediately to verify what they had heard, and when they found that it was all true they broadcast the news abroad, and caused many people to ponder in their hearts, just exactly what all that meant. Nevertheless the announcement was made that the Savior was born, so all that heard of it had their opportunity to know what was transpiring, and therefore did not need to be unaware of what was happening 30 years later, when Jesus came to John to be baptized of him.