The Rapture is Imminent — John 14

0:00 Good morning. After I finished my my, talk last Sunday, I had some request to continue on the subject and maybe discuss the the rapture, the coming of the lord a little more thoroughly, try to get a sense of of maybe a little a short overview of prophecy and how how the rapture fits in. And so I went home and I made all kinds of plans and and, as you see, there's a tremendous amount of material actually in in the thing I handed you. My my guess is I won't get through a lot of that, but but what I what I am interested in doing and and just to make a declaration of purpose and then try to hold myself to it is is for you and I to have a sense of the fact that the lord is coming, a sense of his coming, a a sense in my own soul like my desire is a moment by moment sense that Jesus might come. I have been definitely thinking about putting a wallpaper theme at work that says perhaps today or something like that in big letters, I think it would be a good thing for me to do somehow to remind myself, come into work in the morning and and jump into my work and and hopefully I'm sincere about doing a good job but somehow, sometimes I'm not thinking, you know what?

1:35 Today, the lord Jesus might come and and though I know it to be a a a true doctrine, I I don't necessarily always live in the good of it. And what I'm trying to... What my objective today is to not only give to you a sense of that, but even to give myself more of a sense that Jesus is coming again. It could be today. Now I'm going to I'm going to just move down this first sheet here.

2:02 And so we're going to start off with the with John 14, and and I'm gonna read the first three verses. John 14, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you.

2:23 I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also. So, in in this in the context here, the lord Jesus is in the last supper. He's he's giving like his final message to the disciples, to the 12 in particular here. He's giving a final message before he leaves and and he has just told them, he's just told them, I'm I'm going somewhere and when I go to that place, you can't come with me. Well, Peter doesn't like that.

3:05 He, no way. I'm going with you. So so basically, that that's the time when the lord Jesus kind of told Peter, you know, Peter, before before the cock crow, you're going to deny me three times and oh, boy, can you imagine how Peter felt? And and and so they were they were feeling low, weren't they? So the lord Jesus, pretty quickly, he responds, let not your heart be troubled.

3:33 Don't don't be troubled because I'm going away for a purpose, I suppose, is the thought. I'm going to my father's house. I'm going to prepare a place for you. And it's almost like the lord says, and let me tell you something. If I'm gonna go and prepare a place for you, I'm gonna come back and I'm gonna receive you to myself.

3:52 And so you're one of these 12 apostles and you're sitting there and say, wow, he's going away but he's not gonna stay away. He's gonna come back. He's going to get us and take us to be with himself. So, so that's the that is to to my knowledge would be the first actual declaration of of what we call the rapture. He's going to come back and get us.

4:31 Acts chapter one, I'm just trying to pick up context here. So we'll start with the first verse. The former account I've made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach until the day that he was taken up after he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen to whom he also presented himself alive after his sufferings by many infallible proofs being seen by them during forty days and speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And so we see Lord Jesus, he died, he was crucified and he was raised again from the dead. And then for forty days, he showed himself time after time.

5:20 I may have my count wrong, but in my memory, I think I found 17 describable events when he showed himself to the various believers at that time. One of them included more than 500 people at one time. No wonder when Luke was writing, he said he showed himself alive by many infallible proofs that upon which our faith can rest. And so then the fourth verse being assembled together with them. So this is that last time before he left, being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, you have heard from me.

6:11 For John truly baptized with water but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. And so, he's speaking of course of Pentecost, that time when the Holy Spirit came down and baptized all the believers into one body, we'll call it the birthing place of the church, the day of Pentecost. So he says, now you stay here in Jerusalem because this is going to happen. Therefore, when they had come together and asked him saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, it's not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority.

6:51 Now, I'm going to stop there. We're going we're getting ready to get into the exciting part of the story but I'm going to stop there because for a moment because I want us to understand what the lord is saying here. Lord was saying that there are things, there are things about the future especially the timing of it. There's things about the future that that god's not going to tell us right now. He's not going to tell us.

7:14 We have to wait for the time that we'll learn about. There's many things that he does tell us, but there's but a lot of the timing. So so he says, I'm not I'm not going to you you don't get to know the answer to your question. The question was, lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Well, we're two thousand years later.

7:31 We sell, oh, I guess the answer is no, isn't it? So so, but but but the lord didn't tell them that. Now, I think that's instructive and one of the reasons I say that is, why don't we know when the rapture is going to come? Why don't we know when the rapture is going to come? Well, if the lord had told us at that time, you know, you don't need to worry.

7:51 He would say, you know, it's going to be about two thousand years or whatever happens to be. It's going to be about two thousand years before I come back. You might say, maybe I don't need to worry about that. Maybe I don't need to worry about that. Maybe I don't need to let that be important to my thinking and that's just what the lord didn't want them to do.

8:09 So, he says, there's some things that he's not going to tell us now because we have to be throughout our lives. We have to have this expectation and it's interesting that when the when the apostle was talking to the the church at Thessalonians at at Thessalonica, he told them, he he he, I'll say he complimented them. This is one Thessalonians one ten. Complimented them. He said, you you you were waiting from waiting for the lord from glory.

8:41 I'm I'm misquoting it. So, I'm going to just grab the verse. He says, you were waiting for his son from heaven. You're waiting for... And it's like the Lord is putting before us this expectation.

8:58 He's coming again. He's coming again. He's coming again. And as we might say, maybe it'll be today. Maybe it'll be today.

9:08 It's the expectation that God puts before us and He wants us to have and it will make a difference in our lives if we have this expectation. Okay. So let's get into the... My story back in Acts. Okay, eighth verse.

10:07 Wonderful commission. So after having given this commission to them, now in my imagine, the Lord Jesus is putting out his hands and he tells him, he gives him this commission and then, suddenly, he's standing there and and this is what happened and when he had spoken these things while they watched, he was taken up into heaven and a cloud received him out of their sight And while they looked steadfastly up into toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. And they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. So we're even told where this happened.

11:03 So so here here he is, he's... The Lord's... He's he's given them this commission and suddenly he just starts going up and and and my imagine, I can I can? Imagination, I can just see them and they're they're and they're watching them and I suppose their mouth's hanging open and they're staring up there and he goes up and up, he starts getting smaller and smaller and they're staring up there. They're staring up there and like he's maybe almost a dot, black dot, and suddenly he goes into the cloud.

11:39 And they're staring up there just amazed. And suddenly, they realize that they're not alone. There's two men in white, two angels in white that are standing there beside them. And they say to them, say to them, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go.

12:04 Now, suppose they must have grappled with what does this mean? What does this mean? And so he's saying to them that however it happened, however he went up there, he's gonna come back similarly. And so he went up in bodily form into the cloud. From there, we know he went up into heaven when Stephen was martyred perhaps a year later and and he's right at that point where he's about to die and he stares up towards the sky or up towards the heavens and and god opened a vision to him of heaven itself and he said, I see Jesus seated at the standing at the right hand of god and and so, where is our precious lord right now?

12:59 Well, he's he's up there in heaven and at that moment, he was standing because his first martyr was just about to walk through the door in his presence. It was a wonderful moment but he's up there and he's coming again. Jesus is coming again. Just wanna somehow grasp in our souls it's gonna happen. It is going to happen.

13:24 Okay. Turn with me now to first Thessalonians four. First Thessalonians four. And we're going to want to be on 16 through 18, but I'm going to I'm going to start with verse 13 to give us context. But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.

14:00 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. And this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that is he's got this from the Lord himself. This we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means proceed those that are asleep. Stop there for a second. So so the first thing, it it would appear that that some of them were were sorrowing particularly over those that had passed away, perhaps martyrs that had passed away or loved ones that just plain, just died and they said, what what about our loved ones?

14:45 And of course, the apostle Paul makes it clear that to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord. That's second Corinthians five and so so with this idea in mind, know that whenever we pass out of these bodies, we go directly into the Lord's presence, but our bodies are still here and it's our spirits are there in the glory. And the Lord is saying, you don't need to be sorrowing about that. Don't sorrow, at least don't sorrow as those that have no hope. And this very idea of calling death asleep is it gives us a sense of the way God wants us to look at death.

15:28 He wants us to look at death as something that's so temporary that it's just like you fell asleep. And there's gonna come this time, not too far away, when the Lord's gonna come and He's gonna wake us out of sleep, so to speak, and and he's gonna raise us from the dead and and we'll be with him. So, he just wants it to be he wants it to be us to think of it as a temporary happening that we we want to realize that he's coming again and and that sorrow that you felt will be over forever at that point. Okay, then the fourteenth verse, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, god will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. Now, I I think I understand what this verse is saying.

16:14 He's saying that when when Jesus comes down at the time of the Trump, when Jesus comes down into the clouds, he'll have with him will be the spirits of all those that have died and and at that moment when he gives the gives the shout and their bodies are are you you in our minds, we're trying to think how's how's this happen, you know, and and the molecules come together and the dust come together and and suddenly, in in that moment, twinkling of eye of the eye time, their bodies are restored and and and those bodies instantaneously head up into the clouds. What's happening? They're getting reunited with the spirits and and so, I I think that's basically what that's saying. So, because it says that that that those that those that he will bring with him those that sleep in Jesus, okay? So, then he makes the point in the fifteenth verse.

17:12 Now, be careful to understand that the dead in Christ are going to precede those of us that are alive at that moment. Okay, and now comes, now comes our our verse that we have and we had this last last time too. The lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. Now, we we've got, we've we've seen the, we've pictured the Ascension. He's gone up there in the glory.

17:37 We've seen through the through the eyes of Steven. We've seen Jesus himself standing at the right hand of god and god has his timetable here and there's going to come this time when I I'm saying this graphically when when the alarm bell goes off. It's time. The time has come. I don't know that it'll actually be an alarm but the the there is a fixed time that's going to come and when that time comes, he's coming and and it's it's the time for the rapture.

18:09 So, it we're we're told that the lord Jesus, the lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God. So the shout, I don't know exactly what will shout will be. Like to think of it that it's just simply come and it's such a voice of authority. It's the voice of the archangel has spoken with a great power and authority. It's accompanied by the trump of God, which is used for communication in its own rights.

18:38 And when the shout comes and when the trumpet of the God sounds, what happens? Well, the Lord comes into the clouds and the dead in Christ will rise first. So here we see them down here, they're just dust, Decayed bodies instantaneously. They are resurrected into actual bodies and they go up and they are united with their spirits up here in the clouds and then almost instantaneously afterwards, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so just like the angel said, he'll come in like manner as you've seen him go and will will go with him and thus, we shall always be with the lord and and first Thessalonians four adds this statement.

19:41 Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. Let that be a comfort to your hearts. It's going to happen. So we have this wonderful picture. This is probably the most graphic description in all of scripture.

20:23 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortality, mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your sting? Oh Hades, where is your victory?

21:03 The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And the conclusion, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Okay, so he starts off by telling us that this is a mystery. This is a mystery. This rapture thing, this is a mystery, wasn't known previously.

21:42 I want you to do something because I don't think I'm gonna have time to show it to you later, but I want you to pull your charts up and on the back page on the chart is is a is a an accordion page. So you can pull it out. Now, in the Old Testament prophecies, and I'm not going to go into detail on this because I'm going to leave this chart with you to give you points. But in the Old Testament, there's a remarkable prophecy in in Daniel nine twenty through 27. The prophecy of the seventy weeks and in this prophecy, there's sixty nine weeks and then Messiah is cut off.

22:21 Then Messiah is cut off, and then there's another week after that and it describes it and it becomes apparent that that week is the tribulation. Now in the Old Testament times, they were in the habit of speaking of weeks of years, so a week in their terminology is seven years. So Daniel's seventy weeks would be four ninety years. So if you go through Daniel's first sixty nine weeks, you get to the cross and it's interesting, isn't it, that it was prophesied to the year ahead of time when the Lord Jesus would be cut off? And so you get time schedule goes up to the cross and then something happens, that seventieth week doesn't happen.

23:18 And we believe that the answer is that because the Jewish people rejected the Messiah that they have to wait. They have to wait to get their Messiah and so God sticks in the middle of between the sixty ninth and seventieth week, He sticks a parenthesis and it's a mystery. If you were to read Ephesians three:three-six, you'd see it referred to as a mystery, the mystery of the church or of the church period. And so how long will it last? We don't know.

23:55 We think and hope, it might be about two thousand years, but my my point my point here is that is that it's a it's a sort of a parenthesis that comes in between into the old testament prophetic picture and that in itself is reason to believe that the church will not be in the tribulation and indeed that's what you find out is true. Okay. I I see I'm I'm deviating from my point. I did that because of the word mystery. Behold, I I tell you a mystery.

24:38 We shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed. Now in this case, the mystery is is the rapture itself, in this case. And one of the wonderful parts of this mystery is that we won't all sleep, we won't all die, but we will all be changed. So there will be some at the time of the rapture that are alive, there and will be many that are dead. In a sense, it doesn't make any difference which one you actually are.

25:06 You're still gonna be raised from the dead. You're still gonna be raised up to heaven. And so we shall be changed, speaking of those that are alive and remain. And then it goes, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. Now this trumpet is the same trumpet that we that we have here in one Thessalonians four, and the trumpet sounds and the dead are raised incorruptible, so those that had decayed away through corruption, they're raised again incorruptible.

25:41 That that phase of of their of their existence is is removed. They're raised up incorruptible and and then it says, we shall be changed. Now, now, supposing the lord Jesus came tomorrow, I could say today, couldn't I? Supposing the lord Jesus came this afternoon and and and so he he comes down and and and the trumpet shouts, the trumpet goes off and and you and I are out of here. Okay?

26:13 And and so what's it saying that's happening? It's saying, your your body's going to be changed. It's it's going to be different. Yes, it's your body, but he's going to make it incorruptible and immortal. It neither, you're not gonna be affected by sickness anymore, you're not gonna be affected by such things, you're not gonna be affected by death anymore.

26:33 Death is over for you, you'll be changed. So this corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass that saying, 'Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting, O Hades? Where is your victory?' So God has the victory over death itself and the resurrection is the proof of it.

27:26 If this is true, brethren, if this is going to happen to us, well then how should, what difference should that make to me? He says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Okay, so now I want us to turn to one last verse, and this is in one John. This is in first John chapter three. I'm just gonna read the first three verses.

28:09 Behold what manner of love the father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of god. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. So, he's talking about that time that when he will be revealed and and we we will be caught up and we'll be like him. So that's why the incorruptible body and the immortal body will be like him, will be changed, and and and he he acknowledges here, John acknowledges here.

28:58 We don't know exactly what that means. It's like, don't, we, what we shall be, we do not know. So we don't know exactly what by need, but we do know this, that we'll be changed to be like him. And so I think it's just kind of neat. Now, if you have that hope in you, how should it affect you?

29:18 What should be the effect in my life and in my heart? He says, and this is what he says, Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. The motive for holy living in this life is that we have a sense in our hearts that he's coming again. This isn't the end of things, he's going to come again. It's worth it, it's worth it.

29:45 Now, I want to go to another slide and and again, this is the same one we had last time and I I will I'll apologize for giving you a copy of the same thing. It's not really the same thing with the Christian's help. I had I got several typos and and a couple of references that was messed up, added a few extra references, and and so it's it's it's essentially the same but there are a few corrections in it. Okay. So, so, basically this is to give us an overview.

30:18 So I've drawn a timeline across here and we're living in the day of grace, the church is on earth and the redeemed are in heaven. And when we die, that's where we go immediately to be with the Lord. Apostle Paul was caught up into paradise and and we're told that let me let me get the quote right on it. We're told that that he heard inexpressible words that it's not lawful for a man to utter and later on, he he said this, I has not seen or ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which god has prepared for them that that love him and so that's that's our part in heaven. Now, probably the big point for us as Christians living on the earth today and the day of grace, the big point for us is that the next rapture, the next prophetic event to happen will be the rapture and and now, I I know something like this makes sometimes makes us look look at prophecy with with kind of a technical eye and I suppose we we do need to try to get it right but but a technical eye is not going to is not going to lay a hold of my heart.

31:42 What's going to lay a hold of my heart is the reality of it. So, what I really want us to understand is, yes, it's technical in the sense that that god has given us enough information to to understand it but the but it's not technical in the sense that it's meant for my heart. It's meant to reach in and change me and make me something else. Okay, so the next great event, the next prophetic event of scripture is going to be the rapture. We've already talked about the rapture, so I'm not going to go into it anymore except that it's the next one.

32:17 And also, since we've already presented the rapture as the the moment by moment, ever present hope that's put before us as Christians, if there were any prophetic event that had to occur before the rapture, then it's not gonna be a moment by moment ever present hope for me. And so that in itself is reason to believe in a pre tribulation rapture, which I have put in here a sheet which we're not gonna have time to look at, but I put in here a sheet that gives eight reasons why I believe that the church will not go through the tribulation. So, means then that we're looking at the rapture as being pre tribulation. Now, one word about the tribulation before we go into what we'll be doing in the tribulation. The tribulation is indeed that, a terrible time, seven year time of tribulation that'll make the Holocaust seem like a Sunday school picnic, so to speak, and the tribulation will be a terrible, terrible time.

33:25 It's divided in half. There's three and a half years of of really bad tribulation and then the last three and a half years are called the great tribulation is it's a terrible, terrible time that now, what is the big lesson to us today about the tribulation? What's the big lesson for us about the tribulation? This is the lesson, you don't wanna be there. So if there's anyone here that has not trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, I wanna tell you, you don't have to be there.

33:58 You can go up in the rapture, but it means you need to be saved. You need to be one of God's own children in order to be caught up at the time of the rapture. You need to be a believer. Okay, so having made that point, so what about the church? Well, in the rapture, the church is up in heaven and one of the reasons, one of our understandings is that the marriage of the lamb involves the marriage Jesus Christ to his church, okay?

34:30 Now, it should be fairly clear, it should be fairly clear that you could not have a post tribulation rapture or the church wouldn't be up in heaven for the marriage of the lamb. Now, we we if you were to turn, I'm I'm not going to for sake of time but if you were to turn to Revelation nineteen five through nine, I believe it is. You would you would see describe the marriage of the lamb and it's described as right at the end of the tribulation, right before the lord comes back on the great white throne and returns to earth and so the marriage of the lamb happens sometime in the latter part of the tribulation. Now, it it I don't know that we're actually given an exact statement as to when the judgment seat of Christ was but it only makes sense to us that the judgment seat of Christ would proceed the marriage of the lamb because if you were to look in the verses of the marriage of the lamb, it says, to her is given to be clothed in in linen, pure and white, a fine linen, pure and white for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.

35:44 And so for that verse to be true, just about have to have the judgment seat where the evaluation of our lives is actually made. The judgment seat we believe to be sometime in the first part of the period and the marriage of the lamb to be right near the end. Okay. Then now there's there is there's a verse. I I'm going to take time to look at this verse with you.

36:55 That's fairly new term. That isn't what they called it then, but but I'm gonna call it the mission statement of the church. Titus two eleven-fourteen. Let me just read it through for you. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous of good works.

37:36 And this basically is a summary of what the church age is all about. So first of all, we're rejoicing, we're rejoicing in the grace of God that brings salvation appearing to everyone, and then we're rejoicing that He has taught us the way that we ought to live our lives, denying ungodliness and worldliness. We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age. There's a way of living our lives. And then in the thirteenth verse it says, looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

38:12 And I want to point out to you that there is an end there, and these are actually two different events. And I'm gonna propose to you that this is the blessed hope of the church. This is what the Thessalonian church was waiting for, for his son from heaven and it is the blessed hope of the church. They caught away and to be with him in glory but then, there's another event that happened seven years later that's called the glorious appearing of our great god and savior, Jesus Christ and this is the time that the lord Jesus comes back in great glory and and it's described in detail in the last half of Revelation 19. He comes on a great white horse.

38:58 He comes and he executes judgment and we find there's at least three verses that speak about us accompanying him when he comes. The lord returns with all the redeemed. Now, following that event, the lord Jesus sets up his wonderful millennial reign and that's described in great detail. Revelation 24 through 10 and there's four different times that it actually mentions one thousand years. I mean, there's a prophetic standard or doctrine that we don't give credence to but it's post millennial, that is some way or another the church is supposed to influence the world in such a way that it become, it turns into the kingdom of god and when it gets good enough, it gets to the right place then, Jesus will return again and that's post millennial but but they generally debunk the idea that it's a thousand years but to me, I I read that portion and it says, four different times, one thousand years.

40:10 I think that's pretty good indication. That means thousand years, don't you? And and so so it's described in Revelation 24 through 10. There's there's some wonderful descriptions of of the beauty of that time in Isaiah. I enjoy this one here.

40:26 Here here we have the picture of the lion and the lamb. The the wolf and the lamb shall feed together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox. The dust shall dust shall be the serpent's food, they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. And so the Lord Jesus comes in great judgment, but then he sets up this righteous kingdom and it goes in such such peace and and and wonder.

40:50 Now, at the at the end of the one thousand years, there's there's an event there there's some we're given some detail the of the millennial reign but at the end of the thousand years, there's what's called the the great white throne judgment. It's a very serious time and and we'll we'll stop with with the great white throne judgment but but we're told and this is this is given to us in Revelation twenty eleven through 15 and we're told that we're told that men will be judged according to things that are written in the books of heaven. So some way in the memory of God, in the memory of heaven, it's recorded everything that you and I have done. So those that are not saved appear before God at this moment to receive judgment. And this is the point where those that do not know the Lord Jesus as their savior are cast into hellfire.

41:52 It's a terrible, terrible moment. One of the interesting points that's made in that portion is whosoever was not found written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire. Terrible, terrible statement but a wonderful statement at the same time. So, here's the acid test. Are they written in the lamb's book of life?

42:18 Are they written there? If they're written in the lamb's book of life, then they're going to be safe. They don't need to worry about. They don't need to be worried about being cast into the lake of fire. And so let me ask friends, we close, just ask this question.

43:15 I want to I want to have my name written in the lamb's book of life and here's your opportunity today and and if you haven't, then, I suggest you, don't even go out of this room and tell you you tell you tell the lord Jesus Christ you want him to be your savior. Lord bless you. Father god, we just commit this these wonderful verses that that are so fulfilling. We commit them into your hands that that each one here would would come to a knowledge of the lord Jesus Christ and that they would be ready for that time when the call comes and the trumpet sounds and they would go up to be with you in heaven. We pray for for each one in here.

43:57 In Jesus name, amen.