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All right then, happy to be here preaching to you guys once again. I'm continuing our mini-series within the series on the end times and the mini-series that I'm covering within the series is which I titled the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Deception. So I started to preach about this Sunday afternoon and I'm continuing this. I realized I'm probably going to need at least another sermon to cover all the arguments that come from this book for the pre-tribulation rapture. The reason I decided to read through Psalm 40, it doesn't really play any major role with the end times, but one of the things, as we're debunking the pre-trib rapture, one thing you've got to understand, the pre-trib rapture believers that are there, they have this great hope, this great desire to be delivered before anything bad happens to them. They believe they're going to just be cruising through life and before they know it they'll be in heaven and they'll miss any negative things, they'll miss all this tribulation, they'll miss the persecution and that is their great hope. That is something they're looking forward to and so when we come with this teaching saying actually no, believers will go through the tribulation, therefore you're a bunch of sadistic people, you just want to suffer, you just want to go through pain and suffering and torture and all these kinds of things. To be honest that couldn't be further from the truth, but here's the truth, when we talk about the blessed hope, the coming of our Lord, it'll be more blessed when you're going through difficulties. You have greater hope for His coming when you're going through those trials and when we read there in Psalm 40, I just wanted to pick up a few things there in verse number one, it says, I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. When is the Lord going to come? When is He going to come to help you? When He hears your cry, and look at this in verse number two, He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings. You see the Lord does look forward to delivering us from our hard difficulties, He does look to deliver us from the coming tribulation, but you must understand the deliverance of the Lord comes when you're in the miry clay, when you're stuck in that horrible pit as it were. Look at verse number 13, the Psalmist says, be pleased O Lord to deliver me, O Lord make haste to help me. At what point are you going to want the Lord to make haste, to speed up His return? It's when you're going through those difficulties, it's when you're going through difficulties and trials that you're going to be asking the Lord, can you make haste? Look at verse 17, but I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me, thou art my help and my deliverer, make no tarrying O my Lord. He says, don't wait longer than you have to, don't tarry longer than you have to, but our Lord is our deliverer, He is our help. So just because we believe we're going to be going through the tribulation, doesn't mean we don't believe in that the Lord's going to help us, it doesn't mean that we don't believe He's going to deliver us, it just means we're going to find ourselves in a miry clay, we're going to find ourselves in a horrible pit, we're going to find ourselves in a place where we're crying to the Lord for deliverance and we're going to be asking not to tarry. We're going to ask Him to make haste. And of course if you know Matthew 24, you know those words of Jesus is that those days will be shortened for the elect's sake. So the Lord knows that He wants to make haste, He wants to come and deliver us and so He's not going to allow us to go through the full brunt of the tribulation to come, He's going to make those days shortened, He's going to deliver us before things get extremely, you know, He's not going to allow us to go through the entire difficulty, He's going to shorten those days. And so the Lord does want to deliver us, even those that believe in a post-treat pre-wrath rapture like we do, believe that the Lord is going to come back to deliver us and that is His desire, that is our hope, that is our blessed hope. But I'm going to continue through this book, Reverend, and like I said I wanted to conclude it this time around, but there's just too many things that I need to cover. And so I've just called this, the sermon title, like once again the pre-tribulation rapture deception continued, alright. The pre-tribulation rapture deception continued. So we're going through the arguments, not black and white verses that are presented in the Bible for a pre-treat rapture, no. This author, J. Dwight Pentecost, very famous author, actually there is one correction that I want to make. I said in my previous sermon that I said something like, I don't know how many millions of copies were sold. And the reason I made that comment is because I remember when I first got this book you mentioned something about a million, but I went to look at it once again and they say a quarter of a million of copies have been sold. It's still a lot of copies. It's still a very popular book, but that's just one small correction that I wanted to make. And so we're up to argument number 11. Argument number 11 from this book and we're going to seek to debunk these arguments for a pre-trib rapture using the Word of God. So the first one I've got here is the necessity of an interval. The necessity of an interval. Let me just find my place here in the book. The necessity. So these are arguments. This is why the author believes in a pre-trib rapture. He says it's necessary that there's an interval. It's necessary that there's a period of time from the rapture till the time Christ comes back to establish his millennial kingdom, okay? Now please go to Revelation chapter 9. Go to Revelation chapter 9 in your Bibles. So remember this is an essential argument for the pre-trib rapture. The necessity of an interval. Now brethren, do I believe there's an interval between the rapture and Christ coming back to set up his millennial kingdom? Yeah. We all do, right? We also believe that there's an interval between that time. So if we believe that, could you really say this is an argument for the pre-trib rapture? No. It's not an argument for the pre-trib rapture. It's an argument for an interval. And there is an interval in this. So look at Revelation chapter 9 verse 1. Now the author makes, it's quite interesting why he believes in the interval. He basically argues this from logic. He just argues and he's got different reasons why there needs to be an interval, but he doesn't go to the word of God and say well this is what the word of God says, this is why there's an interval. And what I want to do is just show you from the word of God just one way of knowing why there's an interval between the rapture and the return of Christ to set up his kingdom. Verse number 1, Revelation 9.1, it says, And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth, and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit, and there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth, and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented, how long? Five months. And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, and he striketh a man. Now we believe in a post-tribulation pre-wrath rapture, okay? And so what we're reading here is the wrath of God. And one of the key things, one of the elements that you notice here about the wrath of God are these locusts from hell or from the bottomless pit, they're coming out and they're tormenting those that have taken the mark of the beast. They're tormenting those that are not the people of God. And listen, we're not going to be there. The rapture has already taken place. We believe in a pre-wrath rapture. And so there must be an interval. And here's the thing, I don't need to argue that from logic, I don't need to argue that just from common sense man's wisdom, but we have something here in the word of God that one of these pieces of God's wrath are these locusts, and they're tormenting people for five months. Drop down to verse number 10. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt men five months. So what do we learn from this? If we have a period of time during the wrath of God being poured out on the earth, the wrath of God has to be at the very minimum at least five months, right? Just for this one event. But here's the thing, this is just one thing. The wrath of God entails the seven trumpets and the seven vials. And this is just one of those, okay? So what's the conclusion from the word of God? That the wrath of God must take longer than five months. In fact, it's closer to the three and a half years, okay? And I just wanted to show you that because we definitely believe as a post-treat pre-wrath believers, we definitely believe in an interval between the rapture and when Christ comes back to set up his millennium. We do not believe it's the same and one thing. And in fact, I want to have a look at some of the comments on YouTube after I preach my sermon Sunday afternoon. Some random guy goes, this preacher doesn't know the difference between the rapture and when Christ comes back to set up his millennium. I don't know exactly what he says. No, we do believe that, okay? But this is you just not understanding what the tribulation is. It's you not understanding what the wrath of God is, all right? So get some smarts, open your Bible and work out what the difference is. So look, is the interval between the rapture and Christ setting up his millennium, is that an argument for the pre-treat rapture? Well, it is an argument for the pre-treat rapture, but it's also an argument for the mid-treat rapture. It's also an argument for the post-treat pre-wrath rapture, okay? So I agree with him. I agree with the author. There is an interval, but that has nothing to do with a pre-treat rapture. That's not proof for a pre-treat rapture. There are other positions on the coming of Christ that would agree with that assessment. So it's not an essential argument for the pre-treat rapture. The next thing that he has here, and this is going to take up most of our sermon tonight, point number 12 is distinction between the rapture and the second advent. This is very similar to what we just discussed, this interval of time, but the distinction between the rapture and the second advent. Now Brevin, one thing I want you to understand, if you're talking to someone that believes in a pre-treat rapture, they'll often say this. They'll often say, no, the rapture is different from the second advent. What's an advent? Does anybody know? An advent can be described as, well, if you just look at a definition, as an arrival or a coming, an arrival or a coming. Now one thing you need to understand, they want to use specific words to confuse you. Because here's the thing, you go and look up the word advent in your King James Bible, zero results. It's not there. You look up arrival in your King James Bible in reference to Christ coming back, zero results. You know what word the Bible uses? He's coming. He's coming. Many, many times, all right, about the rapture. But let me just read to you what it says here in this book. It says, there are a number of contrasts to be drawn between the rapture and the second advent, all right, which will show that they are not viewed as synonymous in scripture. Now I agree. I agree what he calls the second advent, Christ setting up the millennium, we agree it's different from the rapture, okay? But he's using his terminology to confuse you, all right? What he wants you to think is that the second coming, the second advent is not the rapture, okay? And what I want to show you now is the Bible makes it crystal clear that the rapture is the coming of the Lord. It is the coming of the Lord, okay? But you just said it's different. It is different. But let's have a look at this. If you guys can please go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. I just want to prove this without a shadow of doubt, you know, that the rapture is the coming of the Lord. Because listen, you need to understand, when you're discussing a, you know, a false doctrine with people, many times false doctrine wants to reinvent terms, okay, to confuse you when you read the Bible. And when this comes up, all you need to do is say, look brother, the word advent is not used in the Bible. Can we go back to the Bible and use Bible words? Let's go back to the Bible and see what the Holy Spirit calls the rapture, the resurrection. Let's start there. And as soon as you start there and you use the Bible to define your terms, their argument falls apart. Now, if you continue with their argument and their terms, which don't come from the Bible, you're going to lose the argument. You're going to lose it because you're, you know, they're wanting you to use their terminology. What you want to do is go back to the word of God and make them use the terminology that the word of God uses. You guys are going to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. I'm going to read to you from Acts 1, 9. It says here, And when they had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up. That's Jesus being 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 wide apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This Saint Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. How was he taken up to heaven again, brethren? With a cloud. It says in the same manner, he will come, he will so come in like manner. Listen, when he comes, the coming of the Lord, the second coming, it's going to be with the clouds, okay? You guys are in 1 Thessalonians 4, look at verse number 17. Everybody knows this is the rapture verse. This is the rapture passage, verse number 17. And 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. Actually, I've got the wrong passage there. Let me turn there very quickly. It's still 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, just bear with me, brethren. 1 Thessalonians chapter 15, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 15, amen. It says, 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. Hey, what's the rapture called here? The coming of the Lord, okay? It's the second coming, all right? Now they're saying it's not the second coming. So what is it then? The Bible says it's the coming of the Lord. Is it coming one and a half? What is it? Is it a point five coming? No, it's the second coming. It's Christ coming back in the clouds. Please go to Revelation 1, Revelation chapter 1 verse 4, Revelation chapter 1 verse 4. Remember, this book is written for the churches. It's written to the seven churches in Asia Minor. It says in Revelation chapter 1 verse 4, John to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come and from the seven spirits which are before his throne, okay? He's writing to the seven churches, he's writing to New Testament believers. Look at verse number seven now. Behold, he's telling the churches, watch, behold, he cometh with clouds. Is he coming? Yes, it's his coming. How's he coming? With clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, amen. Brethren, what are New Testament believers looking forward to? The coming of the Lord, the rapture, the resurrection, being caught up in the clouds and so what the writer here, what John is saying to the churches, you know, behold, he cometh with clouds. He's coming. That's what the rapture is called in the Bible more often than not. It's his coming. Please go to Revelation 19. Revelation 19 verse 11. Revelation 19 verse 11. What I wanted to draw your attention to, brethren, there are the clouds and he's coming. The clouds and he's coming, all right? Now, look at Revelation 19 verse 11 because when Christ comes back to set up his millennial kingdom, he's not coming with clouds, all right? What does it say here? Revelation 19 verse 11, and I saw heaven opened and behold, a white horse and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true and in righteousness, he doth judge and make war. Is Christ coming from heaven again later on? Yes. Does he come in clouds? No. On a white horse. What does it say there? And behold, a white horse. What did it say in Revelation 1.7? Behold, he cometh with clouds. The rapture is with the clouds. When he comes to set up his millennial reign, it's with a horse. Look at verse number 7, Revelation, sorry, 19, 14, sorry, Revelation 19, 14. And the armies which were in heaven followed after him upon white horses clothed in fine linen, white and clean. So not only when Christ comes to set up his millennium, not only is he coming with a white horse, all of the believers, all the saints in heaven with him are coming with him on white horses as well. This great army from heaven, Brethren, you're going to be riding a horse, all right? Praise God for that, okay? And if you're allergic to horses, I don't know, you have a new body by then, all right? You won't be allergic to those animals. But Brethren, there's a difference, yes. The rapture, the coming of the Lord in the clouds, amen, then the interval as we spoke about, you know, the wrath of God, then Christ comes back on horse, on a white horse with the armies of heaven on a white horse. Do you notice that Revelation 19, you can read it for yourself, doesn't mention the clouds because that's not important to this aspect. It is important to the rapture. It is important to the rapture. And so, Brethren, yes, there is a different, yes, I agree with this author that there is a difference between the rapture which is in the clouds and then when he comes back to set up his millennium with the horse. But notice the language he wants you to use. He wants you to say, no, the rapture is not the same. How many times have you heard that? The rapture is not the second coming, you know, over and over again. And you say, well, why is that? Please go to Matthew 24. Let me give you the reasons why they do not want you to believe the rapture is the coming, okay? The second coming. This is the reason. Matthew 24 verse 3, Matthew 24 verse 3. And I know, you know, I'm using a lot of the same verses we've used before but for different arguments, for different reasons, right? And obviously, those that believe in a pre-trib rapture will say to you, Matthew 24 is not for you, all right? It's for the Jews. It's for the non-believing Jews that reject Christ, you know, they'll say. And the reason is because of this. They don't want you to think even though the Bible makes it clear that the rapture is his coming. They don't want you to think that because in Matthew 24 verse 3, it says here, and as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately saying, tell us, when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? So they're asking Jesus, what's the sign of your coming? What was the rapture called? The coming. All right, go to verse number 29, Matthew 24 verse 29. Does Jesus answer the question about his coming? Absolutely. Go to verse number 29, immediately after the tribulation, hey, we're post-trib. Guess what immediately after the tribulation means? Post-trib. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give a light and the star shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, look at this, and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Is he coming on a white horse, Brethren? No, he's coming in clouds and he says it's the coming, they shall see the son of man coming. They ask, what is the coming? He says, this is the coming when I come in clouds. All right, what's the rapture, Brethren? The coming of the Lord in the clouds. Now I'm going to just speed through. Please go to 1 Thessalonians. Go to 1 Thessalonians. And as I said to you, Brethren, this series on the end times is less preaching, more teaching. It's just like a Bible study. We're going to look at many, many passages because we need to nail this down. I think the Bible is crystal clear. I don't think this is something that is confusing. I understand why people are confused. It's not coming from the Bible. It's coming from their Bible colleges. It's coming from their lecturers. It's coming from their pastors who have not spent the time to study it for themselves. It's coming from the prophecy experts, the confusion, not from the Word of God. Let me just read a few passages to you. I'm going to read to you from Corinthians. You guys are going to 1 Thessalonians. But hey, listen, the Corinthian church, is that Old Testament saints? Are they non-believing Jews or something? No, they're New Testament believers, right? First Corinthians 1, 7 says, Hey, what is the day of the Lord Jesus Christ? It is the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the Corinthian church is being told, hey, I'm getting you ready for the coming of the Lord. What's the coming of the Lord? The rapture. All right? They're coming. The coming of the Lord is the rapture. Chapter 15, verse 22, 1 Corinthians 15, 22. It says, Hey, that's the rapture, the resurrection, where we get the new resurrected bodies. And then it says this in verse 23, Say it's Christ that resurrected from the dead first. Afterward, this is what's next, afterward, they that are Christ's at His coming. Hey, the whole chapter is about the rapture. Everybody knows the second most famous passage about the rapture, calls the rapture, His coming. You say, we know this, let's just keep going. You guys are in 1 Thessalonians 3, 13, sorry, 1 Thessalonians 2, go to 1 Thessalonians 2, 19, sorry, 1 Thessalonians 2, 19. Hey, this is to another church. The Thessalonians Church, right? Those in Thessalonica, New Testament believers, not unbelieving Jews. What's it being taught here in chapter 2, verse 19? What's the rapture? The coming of the Lord. Go to chapter 3, verse 13. To the end He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. At the coming of the Lord, why is He coming with all His saints at the rapture? Because they too, those that have died, they too need to receive their new resurrected bodies. Look at verse number 14, and I already read this one, sorry, chapter 4, 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. Go to chapter 5 now, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 23. Look how consistent chapter after chapter after chapter to the New Testament Church, it's called the coming of the Lord, the rapture is. Is the rapture the coming of the Lord? Well, if I believe the Bible, it is. If I believe this man here, he will say it's not. Hey, who's deceiving you, brethren? Who's deceiving you? Chapter 5, verse 23. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the books of Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, everybody, you know, every believer recognizes these are the two major books of the epistles of Paul that speak of the coming of the Lord, the second coming. And guess what we find? The rapture, the coming of the Lord. Let me read some other passages to you, James 5, 7. Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husband and waiter for the precious fruit of the earth, and have long patience for it until he received the early and latter rain. Be also patient, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord, Joraph Nigh. Hey, the coming of the Lord is getting closer and closer. Every day that goes by, we're getting a little bit closer, a little bit nearer to the coming of the Lord. Second Peter 1, 14. Second Peter, if you're quick, you can turn there. I'll just read it to you. Second Peter 1, 14. Knowing that shortly, I must put off this, my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ have showed me. What is Peter writing about here? He says, look, there's going to come a time shortly that I'm going to put off this tabernacle. He's talking about his old body, his flesh. He's going to put that away. What's he talking about? That's the rapture, the resurrection, the new bodies that we receive. And then he keeps going to verse 15, Moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance, for we have not followed cunnily devised fables, the preacher of rapture, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Hey, listen, he says, I'm going to put off this tabernacle. He's going to put on a new tabernacle, a new body, he speaks of, and he calls it the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to be careful not to follow cunnily devised fables. This book is full of cunnily devised fables, full of it, full of it. And another passage, 1 John 2.28, and now little children abide in him, that when he shall appear, what's that about, when's he going to appear, the rapture, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. We should not be ashamed, brethren, and that's important that we are working hard for the Lord, we're serving the Lord, we're doing as much as we can, you know, to be in fellowship with him, preaching the gospel, winning souls, so we would not be ashamed at his coming. And brethren, I need you to go to 2 Thessalonians now, 2 Thessalonians 2. Is the rapture the second coming? Absolutely. Unless you want to call it coming one and a half or something, but that's just stupid. Okay, nobody wants to use that term, right? But listen, the rapture is the coming of the Lord, but here's what you need to understand. When Christ comes on that white horse, he fights the armies of the Antichrist, he destroys the beast, the Antichrist, if you know the story, you know, he takes him, he puts him into the lake of fire, that is also the coming of the Lord. That is still the second coming of the Lord. All right, let me prove this to you. 2 Thessalonians 2.1, let's have a look at this, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 1. But now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him. Hey, you know, when we gather together to the Lord in the clouds, what is this being referred to here? As the coming of our Lord, right? The second coming, drop down to verse number 8 now. And then shall that wicked be revealed, who's that wicked? That's the Antichrist, that's the beast, okay, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Okay, now, if you remember, when Christ comes on the white horse, what's his weapon of choice? The two-edged sword that's coming out of his mouth, right, and he destroys the armies of the Antichrist. This is confirming for us that he's going to destroy, he's going to consume that wicked weapon, and when he does that, the Bible also calls that the brightness of his coming. What am I saying to you, brethren? I'm saying that the second coming starts at the rapture, it continues on. It continues on. You know, the Lord, of course, goes back to heaven, but as far as the Bible is concerned, that's still his coming. When he comes back on that white horse, that's still the second coming. You know, I argue to you, even when he's ruling and reigning for the thousand years on this earth, that's his coming. I mean, it's like, let's think of his first coming. You know, he was born in the manger. We would call that his first coming, right? When he was baptized, we would still say that his first coming. When he was crucified, we'd still say that his first coming. When he resurrected from the dead, we'd still say that was his first coming, right? I mean, that's a period of 33 years, at least, right? And so, when the Bible uses the word the coming of the Lord, yes, it does refer to him coming on the white horse, destroying the Antichrist, ruling and reigning, but it also includes the rapture, okay? Now, I'm not saying those two things are the one and the same, as we discussed before, there is an interval between those two things, okay? But use Bible terminology. The pre-trib rapturous does not want you to call the rapture the coming of the Lord. But how many times did we see in the Bible? Over and over and over again. In fact, that's the word of choice. You know, the word rapture is not in the Bible, okay? Now, I use the word rapture because everyone knows what it means. I'm fine with it, okay? But the word of choice by the Holy Spirit to tell us about that event, he calls it the coming of the Lord, okay? So let's not shy away from Bible words, as soon as you show them that, as soon as they concede that point, their arguments fall apart, okay? Because they want to deceive, they want to deceive, right? And now our goal, and listen, I'm not saying that all deceivers, many pre-trib rapture believers, even pastors are deceived. Our goal is to love our brethren, pull them out of that deception and face the truth, right? of the word of God. See, this is why I couldn't finish all of the arguments, because this is a major point that he makes here, okay? Now I'm going to keep reading from the same portion he says here, because he says, you know, the distinction between the rapture and the second advent, whatever, he writes this. Now please go to Philippians 4, Philippians 4. It says here, the expectation of the church in regard to the translation, the translation, that's the rapture, where our bodies are translated, changed, right, is the Lord is at hand. That's found in Philippians 4, 5. Let's look at that for a moment. And then it says, while the expectation of Israel in regard to the second advent is the kingdom is at hand. So he's saying, look, we've been told, like, you know how he believes in an imminent rapture. He says that Philippians 4, 5 is one verse that teaches us that the Lord is at hand. He's coming back at any moment, okay, the imminent rapture. Let's have a read of that. Philippians 4. Let's start with verse number 4. Philippians 4, 4. Now, Reverend, it does sound interesting, the Lord is at hand, you know, if someone's preaching you the preacher rapture, the Lord is at hand, you know what the congregation is going to say? Amen. Amen. This is why you go back, you've been noble like the Bereans, you go back and read your Bible and I keep everything in its context, in its proper context. Let's before we read verse number 5, let's just go back one verse just to build some context. Philippians 4, 4, rejoice in the Lord all way and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Verse number 6, let's get a bit more context around it. Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. What a powerful passage about the imminent return of the Lord, about the rapture. Is that a passage about the rapture, brethren? The Lord is at hand? Listen, you know what that's teaching us? It's just saying the Lord is at hand. He's available. He's always there. He's not left us. He's not forsaken us. The Lord is always there to help you, right? And for that reason, as of the previous verse, we should rejoice about that. We should rejoice that we're in the Lord. Let your moderation be known unto all men. That's not being humble, not being excessive. Let your moderation be known. The Lord is at hand. Why is that important? Because in verse 6, be careful for nothing, don't be full of worry, but in everything by prayer and supplication. He's saying take your prayer, your concerns, your worries to the Lord because He's at hand. He's always there. He's always there to help you in trouble. That's what the passage is teaching us, that we can have close fellowship with the Lord. We can rejoice in the Lord. We can bring our prayers and our worries before the Lord because He's at hand. He's always there for you. No, that's about the pre-treat rapture. Come on. Is that about the pre-treat rapture? Context, brethren. Nothing like it. This is about knowing the Lord is always there, whether you're rejoicing, whether you're struggling. The Lord is always there at hand for you. These are the weak arguments that they make, and I just want to show you how silly they are, how silly they are, but again, brethren, my brothers in the Lord attend church that believe in a pre-treat rapture. The preacher gets up, the prophecy expert, the Lord is at hand, amen. I'm just telling these people, if they're listening, go and read your Bibles, please. Stop listening to deceivers, okay? Now the next point that's made here, point number 13, is the 24 elders. Please go to Revelation 4. Revelation 4, the 24 elders that are found in Revelation chapter 4. And I don't know how much I'm going to get through my notes here, but let's just try my, I'm going to try my best to get through everything here. The 24 elders. Okay. I think I can get through everything that I've prepared. All right. Verse number 2. And immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. So where is John here? He's in heaven, right? He's having this, he's in the Spirit, he's having this vision of heaven. In verse number 4, and round about the throne were four and 20 seats, and upon the seats I saw four and 20 elders sit in clothed in white rainments, and they had on their heads crowns of gold. So we're not going to deny what the word of God says. John's caught up into heaven. He sees 24 elders sitting around the throne of God, okay? That's very clear, black and white in the Bible. Now apparently this is supposed to be an argument for the preacher rapture, okay? So let's see what the author says. Now one thing I've noticed about this book, and I don't know if everyone notices as they read through this, but when the author is confident about something, he would just state it. He would say, look, this is what it is. I notice when he's not confident, he appeals to another authority, okay? And so he wants to make this argument that these 24 elders represent the New Testament church. All the New Testament believers, that's what he wants you to believe. In other words, before Jesus Christ opens the seals that we find in Revelation 5, in Revelation 4, we see this representation of the New Testament church. In other words, all the believers of the New Testament age have been caught up, have been raptured, and now they've been represented by these 24 elders. That's the argument for a pre-trib rapture, okay? That these 24 elders are representative of the New Testament church. My thought is this, why can't the 24 elders just represent 24 elders? Isn't that the literal reading of the word of God, they just represent 24 elders? Wouldn't a literal reading of the word of God say, well, hold on, these actually represent a big age of a group of people of the New Testament? That's a figurative teaching, remember what they taught before? Now we're all literal, we're the most consistent when it comes to the literal reading. Now what's the authority that he turns to, because the author's not confident, he turns to C.I. Scofield, okay? Now C.I. Scofield, his study bible is the main reason, the main source that was put into bible colleges, the main reason why, you know, churches today believe in a pre-trib rapture, okay? So here he says, Scofield presents evidence to support the view that these are representatives of the church, that's the 24 elders. Now what I want you to do, just please now go to 1 Chronicles, go to 1 Chronicles 24. Say good night, why are we going to 1 Chronicles? Well, we've got to prove that it's the church, right? So common sense, we go to Chronicles. Anyway, let me just, I mean there's a few things here but I just want to show you one of the silliest things that I see here. So according to Scofield, you guys are going to 1 Chronicles 24, 1 Chronicles 24, it says here according to Scofield, the number of these representative elders in the book when numbers are so great a part of the symbolism is significant. You see what they appeal to? Symbolism. Not a literal reading, it's all symbolic, right, significant. For 24 is the number of the choruses in which the Levitical priesthood was divided. Let's have a look at this quickly, okay? First Chronicles 24 verse 1, now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron, Nadad and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithama. Nadad and Abihu died before their father and had no children, therefore Eleazar and Ithama executed the priest's office. All I want to show you right there is that this is talking about the priesthood, the children of Aaron and that are serving in different offices for the Old Testament temple, okay, or the tabernacle. Now drop down to verse number 18. I don't have time to read through all of it. If you're interested, you can read it all in your own time but the Lord then starts to divide, they start to be divided into these groups and look at verse number 18. It says, the three and twentieth to Deliah, so that's 23 and four and twentieth to Maaziah. These were the orderings of them in their service to come into the house of the Lord according to their manner under Aaron their father as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him. And here's 24, okay, representing priests and what are we in the New Testament brethren? Aren't we kings and priests? And so symbolically, you know, because there were 24 that were representing the priesthood in the Old Testament and we are priests, well there are 24 elders that represent in the New Testament church. What a blessing. Listen brethren, that's where they go from Revelation to 1 Chronicles from the Old Testament taking something that the New Testament is not even referring to. Listen brethren, the 24 elders, let me just shock you, there are 24 elders, that's it. There are 24 elders sitting on thrones serving the Lord, worshiping God. Praise God for those 24 elders. Now listen, what could they represent? What about this? You know, please go to, well actually, let me keep reading, let me keep reading about this. Let me just show you just how silly this is. I'm going back to the book here. Inasmuch as Israel is not resurrected until the end of the 70th week, the author is saying that Israel, non-believing Jews, will be resurrected, will have their rapture at the end of the 70th week. Book chapter verse, have you got anything teaching that? Can you think of anything in the Bible about some other rapture just for the Jews? No. Okay, so I mean he's just making this up now, but then it says, it is concluded that the church must have been raptured before the 70th week begins. So because there's people in heaven, that must prove, and Israel have not yet been raptured, the Israelites, then that must be the New Testament church that have been raptured, and they're the ones sitting on the throne, and that's representative of the New Testament church. Now think about that. I mean, someone that's foolish can be fooled by that easily, okay? But would it, again, does this shock you Brevin, if I said to you that there are believers in heaven right now before any rapture? You know there are thousands, yea, millions of believers in heaven with the Lord right now before they've even been raptured. And you know who they include? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, Samson, keep going Brevin, who are some famous men? Noah, Enoch, Adam, Eve, Abel, Lot, even Lot, even Lot will be there. You know the Old Testament saints are somewhere. You know where they are? In heaven. You know when the thief on the cross believed on Christ, what did Jesus say? Verily I say unto thee, today thou shall be with me in paradise. Hey, that's an Old Testament saint that got saved literally as the last day of the Old Testament finished up. He ended up in paradise with Jesus Christ. And you know who else is in heaven? New Testament believers. All the apostles of the Lord. You know Paul and Barnabas and Apollos and Priscilla and Aquila and yea, you know, even those that passed down the gospel throughout the centuries, you know, we were blessed with hearing the gospel because of that line being presented, you know, believer after believer after believer. You know where they are? They're in heaven. You know what's heaven made up of? Believers of the Old Testament, believers of the New Testament are in heaven. Why can't those 24 elders be them? Of course they're them. Well, what else could the 24 elders represent? You know, we're in the book of Revelation, are we going to go to Chronicles to work out what 24 may represent? Now, I'm not going to be dogmatic about this, but why don't we just stick to the book of Revelation? All right? If that's where we're at and we're being taught this, go to Revelation 21, please. Revelation 21, verse 12. Revelation 21, verse 12. This is the description of New Jerusalem, heavenly Jerusalem, Revelation 21, 12. It says here this city, and had a wall great and high, and had 12 gates, and at the gates 12 angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. Hey, that sounds good. We've got 12 of the tribes of the children of Israel being represented in that city. That's pretty good. They sound like 24. All right, let's keep going. Verse number 14. And the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and in them the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. Hey, 12 plus 12 equals 24. Why can't 24 elders, if you want to make it represent anything, why can't it represent 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ? And who are the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ? They're the ones, after Christ was ascended up into heaven, that started the first New Testament churches. So listen, all I'm saying to you, the 24 elders, are 24 elders. But if you want them to represent something, why not Old Testament saints by the 12 tribes of Israel, and the New Testament saints by the 12 apostles of the Lamb? I mean, we're sticking within the same book, 12 plus 12 equals 24, okay? Now when I teach chapter by chapter for Revelation, I'll probably make that point again, but I'm not going to be this dogmatic about it. I'm just going to say, look, it could represent that, or it may not. Those 12 could be the patriarchs of the tribes of Israel. And the other 12 could very well be the apostles. Or maybe they're not even them. Maybe they're just other great men throughout the Old Testament period and New Testament period that are sitting on those thrones. So it's just a stupid argument. And to think you're going to go back and, well, they represent the New Testament church, and I'm going to prove it to you by going to the Old Testament Israelites. If you're going to use that to represent 24, wouldn't the better argument be that those 24 elders sitting on the throne actually are those 24 priests, you know, that have been named there in 1 Chronicles? You can just see, it's just a game. And I don't want you to get caught up in this game, you know. I want you to know your Bibles and not to be deceived. Now let's go to the final point, and I'm probably going a little bit over time, but the final point that's, well, not the final point in this sermon. I'll continue this as well in my next opportunity that I have. Point number 14 is the problem behind 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 to 18. So please go back to 1 Thessalonians 4 once again. And once a reminder, this is the most famous passage on the rapture, okay. So did you know there's a problem behind 1 Thessalonians 4? Apparently there is. Okay, and this problem helps us believe in a pre-trib rapture, apparently. I mean, I never knew there was a problem, but apparently there is. All right, let's read this passage. Let's read it slowly. Actually, let's just read verse number 13, 1 Thessalonians 4, 13. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. What's asleep? That's believers that have passed on, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. Okay, so Paul is writing this to the Thessalonian church to comfort them, to encourage them about those that have gone before, okay, those that have passed away in Christ. Now, according to this author, it says here, if the Thessalonians had believed that the church would be going for the 70th week, that's the tribulation, right, they would have rejoiced that some of their brethren had missed this period of suffering and were with the Lord without experiencing the outpouring of wrath. First mistake, he puts the wrath and the tribulation together. First mistake, we already covered that, okay, but here's what he's saying. The reason that they're sorrowing proves that they were not happy, okay, and if they believed they were going to go for the tribulation, they would have been happy that the brethren had died because then their brethren would not have suffered in the tribulation. I want you to think about that for a minute. Is this reality or is this a straw man argument that has no basis in reality whatsoever? Brethren, do we believe we're going to go for the tribulation? We do. Do we believe we are going to go for the tribulation if we're that last generation to face that time, okay? So now when our brethren, our saved brethren pass away, do we rejoice? I mean, is what this author is saying is true? Are we rejoice? Yes, you know, brother so-and-so, he died yesterday, praise God, he's not going to go for the tribulation. Is that how we behave? This author wants you to think that's how Christians behave if they believe they were going to go for tribulation. You know, brethren, when we lose loved ones, we mourn for them, okay? It saddens us. Why? Because you miss that person, right? You know, I love my mother and father but if they were to pass away, you know, I'd miss them. I would mourn. You know, I know I wouldn't see them anymore in this life until I'm in heaven, okay? You know, mourning is natural. It's normal. Whether you lose a loved one that is unsaved, you're probably going to mourn more because you know where they are. But you know, even if you lose a loved one that is saved, you're going to mourn as well because you're going to go through life without seeing them again in this life, okay? And so, I mean, that is such a stupid argument. I mean, do you think really everyone that believes in some level of post-trib are rejoicing every time someone dies? Because they're going to, not because they're in heaven, rejoicing because they missed out on the tribulation. Stupid. Okay, you know what this, you know what the point is that he's trying to make here? Is that when Paul is accompanying them, he's accompanying them that they're not going to go through the tribulation. That's what this author wants you to think. Let me keep going. It says here in the book, these Christians, the Thessalonians Christians evidently believed that the church would not go through the 70th week and in their anticipation for the return of Christ mourn for their brethren whom they thought had missed the blessing of this event. That's why they were mourning. They were crying, oh no, brother so-and-so, you know, he missed out on the rapture. I'm so sad for him. That's why this author believes they're mourning. Instead of just knowing the reality of life, when you lose a loved one, you mourn. That's all that passage is about, brethren. Listen, what's the hope here? We should not mourn. Yes, we will mourn, right? 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. Are you going to have sorrow? Are you going to mourn? Yes, but should you mourn as those that have no hope? No. Should you mourn as the unsaved, the non-believing world? No. Why? Because, you know, from their perspective, they believe they're never ever going to see anybody again that passes away. We should not sorrow like that. Verse number 14, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, those that have died, will God bring with him? Remember his coming with his saints? God's going to bring them with him. Verse number 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, there's the coming of the Lord rapture, shall not prevent them which are asleep. We're not going to go before those that have died. In fact, they're going to go first. Verse number 16, for the Lord himself, who is alive and remain unto the coming of the 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. They're going to get their bodies first. Verse number 17, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, there's the clouds, there's the coming, to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord, wherefore comfort one another with these words. What's the comfort about? Is the comfort you're not going to have any tribulation? You're so comforted you're going to miss, you're not going to have it, no. The comfort is we're going to see our loved ones again. We don't have to have sorrow and mourn like those that have no hope. We have a hope that we're going to see them again in the clouds at the resurrection with Jesus Christ. You know, this is an exciting verse about the coming of Christ, but really it's more pointed toward that we're going to see our loved ones once again. Look at verse number 17 just one more time. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, with our loved ones in the clouds. That's what gives us comfort. That's the comfort of these words. Not that you're going to skip the tribulation, not that the rapture is going to come before the tribulation. And brethren, look, I mean, am I spending too much time? I think it's necessary. I think it's necessary. As I said, this book is used throughout colleges, throughout churches, a lot of brethren have this book and this is what they're trusting to believe in a pre-trib rapture. It's important we go for these points, point by point and debunk the nonsense, the nonsense that is found in these pages. All right, brethren, thank you for your patience. Let's pray.