Joseph Prince - The Rapture and End-Time Tribulation Explained
How are y'all doing? We are living in exciting times, amen? I mean, do you feel like there's an acceleration of time, people? Isn't it amazing? And we now have the blessing of hindsight, all right? Every time we look behind, we can see the goodness of our God. We can see all that he's done in our lives in protecting us, keeping us. God knows the future. So God allows man to use their free choice to decide which path they want to take. If you're wondering what God is doing, let me just tell you this. God will not stop you right now even from standing up by your free choice and walking out. You have that free choice.
If God made us robots, there'll be no problems in the world, but God doesn't want robots, God wants men and women with free choice to love him, to worship him, to obey him, all right? But one thing we are not free, we cannot choose the outcome. We cannot choose to put our finger in the fire and say, "I choose to put my finger there, but I choose not to be burned". No, you choose fire, you choose burn. You cannot change the result of your choice. So in essence one time God told Israel, "I set before you life and death". And it's almost like God in his love says, "You know what? Choose life, that both you and your seed, your children, will live".
So God is a good God. He's a wonderful God, a heart that is kind beyond all measure. His mercies endure forever. And all day long the Bible says that God stretch out his hands to unrepentant, rebellious, sinful men. God is making the appeal and God can wipe all of them out, but God is still making the appeal. And when Jesus came, the Bible says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. Reading down John one it says, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us". Or the Greek there, tabernacled among us. And we beheld, it's almost like in parentheses, the apostle John writing this at almost 100 years old, some scholars tell us, he looked back at the time when he was a young man and he says, "And the Word was made flesh and tabernacled among us". And he wrote in brackets, parentheses, "And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth".
Let's all say it. Full of grace and truth. John says, "We saw him in the flesh, God in flesh. The Word become flesh, and we beheld his glory full of grace and truth". So glory has got to do with grace and truth, or true grace. "He came unto his own and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them God gave power to become sons of God, even to those who believe on his name". And Jesus came for Israel. His first coming was for Israel. When Israel rejected him, the salvation was offered to the entire world. Now, God had the entire world already in mind. Before God chose Abraham and the nation of Israel to come forth from his loins, God already have the blessing of the world in mind. But God wanted an example and a nation that will reflect his goodness, manifest his glory, amen?
Provoke the nations around by the blessings that's on their lives and the favor that's on them that they also might seek the true God and turn from idols to serve him. So that's the reason God raised Israel, and God cut a covenant with Israel. And until today, even though Israel has rejected her Messiah, God has not forgotten Israel. Daniel prophesied in the Old Testament even before the time of Alexander the Great. And in fact in the vision that Daniel had, Daniel saw Alexander the Great and even saw that the horn of the goat will be cut off very quickly. His conquest will be speedy and his death will be speedy. He died at the age of 33. At the same time, Daniel had a vision from God that he saw the end times and he says there'll be a revived Roman empire: the United States of Europe. They'll be the last kingdom empire from which the Antichrist will rise and rebuild a temple in Israel.
Now, when Israel was scattered by the Romans in AD 70, Jesus prophesied that would happen. Jesus told Israel, at one time he came down riding on a donkey on the very exact day, you can calculate it. On the exact day that Daniel prophesied. In Daniel 9, Daniel had a vision, or rather the angel Gabriel came to him and gave him this Word, "A prophecy concerning your people," the angel said. Jewish people, he told Daniel. There'll be 70 weeks of years. In other words, one week is seven years. That's Hebraism. You know, Jacob wanted to marry his beautiful Rachel. The father says, "Fulfill her week". And he served seven years.
So one week is seven years prophetic speaking, all right? So 70 weeks are determined upon the Jewish people, and you can calculate that when Jesus came and Israel rejected Jesus, Jesus came riding on a donkey. The Bible says, "Here comes your King humble and lowly riding on a donkey," not a horse, and he comes in mercy. He comes in tenderness. He comes with love, with power to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, unstop deaf ears, bless the children. And if they had received Jesus Christ that day when he rode into Jerusalem, heaven would come down on earth. There'd be no more sick children. There'd be no more poverty. There'd be no more death.
If Israel knew the hour of a visitation and receive the King, the long-promised King, the one the Bible says the son of David, the greatest son of David, if they had accepted Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God will come on earth. So that's why John the Baptist did not preach the gospel of grace. He preached the gospel of the kingdom. Even when Jesus came, Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom. The gospel of the kingdom is that the King is here. "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," not far away. "I'm here now. If you accept me, that's the end of your sickness, that's the end of your poverty, that's the end of all your troubles and mankind troubles". Because he will rule from Jerusalem. Ever wonder why there's so much unrest in Jerusalem? But alas, Israel rejected Jesus.
I shared about how Jesus came as the King and he was rejected, and then the idea, the mystery of the church. They never understood the church. The 12 disciples did not understand the church. The church was a mystery hidden for the apostle Paul, who will be born again later, to unveil to the church. So the church is a mystery. The church is not a building. The church is all of you, the called out, redeemed ones by the blood of Jesus Christ, sons of God, the greatest organization of living, thriving, throbbing, resurrected organization or organism in the entire universe that is the most powerful, the most successful and eternal. And you are part of it. You are citizens of it. Are you listening, people?
But when Israel rejected Jesus Christ, and don't forget it's not just Israel's sin. The Gentiles, the Romans were involved. All our sins were involved. There came another offer on the day of Pentecost. "I know", Peter stood up and Peter said to the Jewish people, just a number of days after Jesus died and rose again from the dead and Peter preached to the Jewish people and says, "I know you did it out of ignorance that you killed him, but God has raised the prince of life". And there's a purpose for him dying. He bore our sins, suffered under the wrath of God for all our sins, and put them all away efficaciously. So today for God to judge you will be to be untrue to what Christ has done. It will be a miscarriage of divine justice for God to judge you if you're a believer because Christ took away your sins. There is therefore now no condemnation for us who are in Christ. Are you understanding? All right?
So Jesus looked at Jerusalem on the exact day prophesied by Daniel, 433 years exactly. Sixty-nine weeks have passed, four hundred and eighty-three years. Seven years left to complete the seventy weeks. He rode into Jerusalem. He wept over Jerusalem on Mount of Olives. He said, "If only you knew. How I wish I could have gathered you like a mother hen will gather her chicks, but you would not have me". You would not have your protection. Like a mother who love a child so much and the child grew up under her care, her tenderness. She sacrificed so much for the child. The child turns around and disowns her or spurns her. Her heart is broken. Jesus wept over Jerusalem and Jesus says, "Now you are left to yourself. Your house is left to you desolate".
The prophetic time clock stop at 483 years, 69 weeks. How many more left? Seven more years left. There'll be the Great Tribulation, the book of Revelation. And between 483 years to 490 years, it's 7 years. It's like prophetic time clock stop and God says he's going to redeem and save the called-out ones, those who'll respond to the good news of grace. Now the good news of grace came in and everyone who believe in his Son will have Jesus as King in their lives. But there is a time when God says the very last one, I do not know when that is, but God says when the times of Gentiles is fulfilled and then there's a last person to be saved and God says, "That's it," Jesus comes back. He comes back for Israel, mind you, Israel that has rejected him. And Zechariah prophesies he will show Israel his wounds and they'll say, "How come you got these wounds"? And he says, "In the house of my friends".
Oh, what a wonderful day it will be when we see him face to face, amen? But you and I are going to see him earlier. There is a rapture for the church first and this rapture is a mystery hidden from Israel because Israel never even dreamed there'll be a church. There'll be a called-out ones. Obviously, the disciples didn't understand. Even after Jesus rose from the dead, in Acts 1 they said, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel"? Jesus looked at them and says, "It's not for you to know the times or the seasons that the Father has put in his own authority, but you'll receive power". Two thousand years have come and gone and God is reaching out to nations all over the world, not just Israel.
While Israel is in partial blindness, there are many believers now, but God is reaching out to the entire world. But the last one will be saved. I don't know when. God will estimate that. He goes, "It's enough". God says, "Son, go take your bride". And the bride is a many-membered redeemed body of Christ, members of body of the Christ that are redeemed from every nation, every tribe, every kindred, every tongue, every language. We are part of them. And then he will come back. And when he comes back, listen, he will come back Savior for us, judge to the world. His first coming the angel announced, "Behold, I bring to you good tidings", the message of Christmas, "Born to you in the city of David in Bethlehem is a Savior," not a judge. But when he comes again to the world, he's going to judge. Everything will be equalized.
Let me tell you this, all right? Everything that's evil will not go through the millennial rule of Jesus Christ when he comes to reign as King, nothing. And for the first time in the history of the world, the ruler will be someone who is kind, gentle, powerful. But when I say this, don't forget he is the Lion and the Lamb, not just the Lamb. As a Lion, out of his mouth will come fire, a sharp-edged sword that will kill the false beast and the Antichrist from the revived Roman Empire of the United States of Europe. Somebody's going to rise up, but we won't see him rise up, because we'll be out of here. Do you understand? "So what's going on, Pastor Prince? Tell me what in the world is going on right now".
You know, our grandfather would never dream, you know, that Israel will be back as a nation, but it happened during their lifetime. Our great-grandfather never saw Israel come back as a nation. In fact, when Charles Spurgeon during the time of 1800s when Charles Spurgeon lived, D. L. Moody, F. B. Meyer, G. Campbell Morgan, all these great men of God, they would say things like this. They would say that for there to be a rebuilt temple where the Antichrist prophesied by Daniel would stand in the temple, there must be a time when the Jews will come back to the land in unbelief. Because don't forget, at AD 70 Titus the Roman general came into Jerusalem and destroyed all the Jewish people. Jesus saw that coming. Jesus says, "Now Roman", I mean, "The armies will come around you, lay a siege on you, and kill you, destroy you. Many of you will be scattered around the earth".
And that has happened for 2,000 years. Jesus came to bring protection. They reject protection. There's a principle here. God will not give you a blessing you don't want. God cannot protect anybody who say that "I can protect myself". It's amazing how people reject God, put God out of their thoughts, and then when bad things happen, they say, "Where's God"? They are quick to blame, not quick to believe. God is a good God, and he wants to be God to you. One of the greatest things you can memorize is this: "The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not lack," all right? It's like one of the English poets says. It's like the beautiful swan that is on the lake. You see one, but you see two, poetry.
When you see the Lord is my shepherd, it means you will not lack. You see one, you see two. And God doesn't mince words. When God says you will not lack, you will not lack. But is he your Shepherd? It's not the job of the sheep to take care of the shepherd, it's the job of the shepherd to take care of the sheep. But if you're outside the flock, how can he take care of you? Be a sheep. Sheep may be stupid, but they are loved, cared for, protected. So Jesus cried over Jerusalem and says, "Your house has left you desolate". The prophetic time clock stop, which will be resumed, what we see in the book of Revelation, seven years of tribulation before Jesus returns, the Second Coming of Christ, but meanwhile there is a rapture, and people don't understand this, okay, that the Second Coming of Christ many a times in the Bible is referred to when Jesus comes bodily for Israel before the Antichrist destroys Israel.
He himself will return and destroy the armies, the Bible says, with one blast of his breath, and then he will rule from Israel, from Jerusalem in particular, the place where he died for all the world. He's not dead, people. He's alive at the Father's right hand. He conquered death. He rose from the dead. He crushed Satan's skull. I'm here to tell you that we belong to the winner of all winners. So Jesus saw AD 70 coming. And when he said that, it was about AD 33, give and take one, two years. About 40 years after that, AD 70, General Titus, he was the son of the emperor of Rome at that time, Vespasian, and his son was the general. His son brought the armies, the Roman armies. They laid a siege around Jerusalem.
And Jesus prophesied, "When you see the armies lay a siege around Jerusalem", he told his disciples. He told all those who would believe on him, all the Jewish people who would believe on him, because at that time only Jewish believers. He said that "when you see that happen, the armies are surrounding Jerusalem", at that time, they still allow people to go out if they want to. "Leave," Jesus says. "Do not go to your housetop. Don't go back to your house to get any stuff, leave. The moment you see that happen, leave and flee to the wilderness". The wilderness is Petra in Jordan, that area. And do you know Josephus, who is not a believer, Josephus is the Jewish historian who lived during the time of the Roman, during the wars of the Jews, the Romans attacked Israel. He was alive. He recorded it down.
The atrocious things that you will read in the wars of the Jews by Josephus the Jewish historian, he said that the believers in this Messiah, not a single one died. They remembered what he said, and they fled, and General Titus came into the city, all right? They destroyed the city. But General Titus said something very interesting. He told the people that his army, don't forget he's the son of the emperor. He told his armies, "Don't destroy the beautiful temple," all right? But what happened was that they burned Jerusalem. The Roman army burned Jerusalem, and as the gold melted, the temple has a lot of gold outside, all right? And as the gold melted, inside as well as outside, in the pillar, as it melted it went between the stones. The gold became liquid and went between the stones. So his armies disobeyed their general, which is unheard of in the Roman army. And they pried the stones open, throw it down to get the gold so you know, before it's too late. And the whole thing went... It's like a bunch of rioters, but these are armies.
Now we come to the message I want to preach. Matthew 24, I'll read the first two and then I'm going to have Pastor Gabriel read the entire thing, all right? This is my message, if you want to know what's happening in the world today. Like during the time of Spurgeon, D. L. Moody, and all that, they were looking at the future and they said Israel is a malaria-infested place now. They call it Palestine at the time. Nobody is there but some goats and wild animals and some Bedouins. So for Jesus to come to rescue Israel, the Jews must be back in the land. We have seen that happen, okay? So we are that generation that Jesus says, "This generation will not pass till all these things be fulfilled". Now, watch. "Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple".
Now, what you're seeing behind the picture is the Western Wall, which is a remnant of the temple that's left, not the temple itself. It's just the wall. But Jesus talked about the temple and Jesus said to them, he's talking about the beautiful temple, the temple that Herod built. "Do you not see all these things"? Jesus told his disciples, "Assuredly", actually, I love the original. Truly, truly, which is amen, amen. "Truly, truly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down". So the Son of God said not one stone of the temple, all right, not the wall, the temple. Not one stone will be left unturned. That's what the Son of God said. The son of the emperor, General Titus, said, "Don't overthrow the stones. Don't destroy the temple". He should be the one saying, "Overthrow the stones".
The Son of God instead says, "You see all this beautiful temple? Not one stone will be left," why? God will move out. He won't protect it anymore. They have rejected the Son. The Son of God says it will be unturned. The son of the emperor says, "Don't destroy it". Result? Well, it's destroyed. We were there. Every time we go down there, you know the place that I preached the last time at the southern steps, 2,000-year-old steps? One of the astronauts said this. When he stands down there, it's better than standing on the moon, "'Cause this is the place where my Lord stood". Where I had the privilege of preaching to hundreds and hundreds of people over there. And I'm telling you, it's a great experience. Well, near the southern steps, the southwest area, you'll find this picture of... those are our people there, all right? And stones have fallen from up there on the Temple Mount. Let's have a closer look. And these are how big the stones are. Jesus said this will happen.
Let's go back to what Jesus said, okay. "So do you not see all these things? Surely, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down". Referring to the temple proper. Next verse. "Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, 'Tell us,'" three questions, "'when will these things be"? The first question, when will the temple be destroyed? Second question, "What will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age"? Third question. Three questions asked, all right? "When will the temple be destroyed? What's the sign of your coming? What's the end of the age"? "Jesus answered and said to them, 'Take heed that no one deceives you'."
Now, we're about to commence his answer to all the three questions, but just to let you know that actually four disciples came to him to ask these questions. Mark covers some things that Matthew doesn't. And Mark 13 says as he sat on the Mount of Olives, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him these questions, okay? So you have Mark 13. Luke also talk about this question and Jesus talking about the end times. Luke 21, "Teacher, when will these things be"? The interesting thing is this. Every gospel has its purpose. In Matthew, "Tell us when will these things be"? He just said that what? No stone will be left unturned.
So the first question is, when will the temple be destroyed? Luke answers that. Matthew answers question two and question three. This, you're about to read. He's going to answer question two, "When will be sign of your coming and of the end of the age"? But Luke 21 answers when the temple will be destroyed. So real quick, go to Luke 21, all right? "When you see", Jesus say, "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, let not those who are in the country enter her. These are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled". Next, "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days. There will be great distress in the land and wrath upon these people. They will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations".
Two thousand years on, we have Jewish people in all the nations of the world, man, the diaspora. "And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles". It was under the Romans AD 70 all the way down, all right? We have different, different Gentile nations conquering Jerusalem for these past 2,000 years, all right? The Mamaluks. You have the Turkish before the British, all Gentiles, all non-Jews until 1948. The Jewish feet step back after the Holocaust. All the nations of the world had sympathy, and the United Nations agreed they'll be a nation again. Don't forget it was their nation. David was their king. David chose that as the capital of the Jewish nation. I know it's a big, big, big, big debate right now around the world. It's the hottest property.
The Temple Mount is the hottest property in the entire world. But why our generation? Why are we seeing this happen? The more I watch the news and the more I read in the newspapers, the more it establishes that the Bible is amazingly inspired. It's God-breathed. It's way beyond its time. Amen. Jesus said when the Holy Spirit comes, he will show you things to come. And I believe he was not just referring to the book of Revelation. He's referring to all the prophecies that will happen. Two thousand years ago he already said, "The Holy Spirit will show you things to come". And John saw what's going to happen, how in the end times men will identify each other by numbers. "What's your ID number? I don't care how you look. You got a mustache or a beard or not, all right? What's your ID number? What's your identification number? We need your number". Everything is going by numbers.
Now, "Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until," there is an until, "the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled". So give and take, right now is back, Jerusalem is back in the hands of the Jews, but yet it's not back in the hands. The Temple Mount literally is still under the hands of non-Jews. So yes and no, which means the fullness of the time of the Gentiles is not yet fulfilled. You say, "Why"? God is merciful. Let me just tell you this. When Jesus returns, all right, he's going to return as Savior for his people, but judge to the world.
You say, "Pastor Prince, I thought he is gentle, he is the lamb, you know". Hey, friend, let me tell you this. Wrong is wrong, right is right. Wrong has to be judged. If wrong is given a lot of chances, a lot of leeway, a lot of time and still refuses to change, before the wrong destroys others and propagate more wrong, it must be destroyed. That's something I don't understand why the world don't understand that. Sometimes you need to stop it. You got to kill the cancer before it spreads. Can you understand that? There are some moral wars to stop even more wars. We see in the history. Thank God for America. Thank God for the allied nations with America. Anyway. So times of Gentiles are fulfilled. So we are living in those days, all right?
D.L. Moody cannot claim this because Israel is not back in the land, but we can see it happen already in our generation. And the war was oblivious to it, but you, child of God, don't be oblivious to it. Amen. Okay, let's go back to his question in Matthew 24. Don't forget this. Luke answers when will the temple be destroyed. He's talking about AD 70. That's when it happens. But in Matthew, he answers the last two part of the question, "What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age"? All right, ready? I'm going to rest my voice for a while and let Pastor Gabriel with his beautiful, baritone voice read to all of us, but I'll make comments as we go. I need for you to see the panorama. We're not going to read the entire thing. It's too long, all right, for one session. But I'm going to read a lot of it and comment as we go along, okay? Start, bro.
"And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Take heed that no one deceives you'." Wait, verse 3 says, "As He sat on the Mount of Olives". All this is shared on the Mount of Olives. So you have the backdrop of the Temple Mount. And the photographer is taking it from the Mount of Olives. So I want you to know something. It's amazing how Jesus sat down on the Mount of Olives and outlined the future of Europe even. Awesome, awesome. So I'll make comments as he goes along. I'll make comments as we go along, okay? Go on. "For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom".
Okay. Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. Now, kingdom is larger, all right? It's countries. War, world war. There going to be world wars and all that. But Jesus said, now, our generation sa... or not my generation, of course, but our grandfather's generation saw, and great grandfather's generation saw two world wars in one century, okay? The first one, nation will rise against nation, the Greek word is ethnos where you get ethnic. Ethnic groups. Different races will fight with each other. They'll be an increase of this. The world is not getting better. He's going to come and set the world right. I know there are people who preach that, "Oh, the preaching of the gospel will envelope the world, and then the world will". And these are the same people who'll make fun of the Second Coming. They'll make fun of the rapture. Scoffers. Don't listen to them. Read your Bible. But you and your family will be blessed in the midst of darkness, okay?
Read on. "And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places". Okay, stop. Pestilences are? Ebola virus, other viruses. Jesus predict that in the end time all these things will only increase. Great earthquakes, famines, and earthquakes in various places. Another gospel says great earthquakes is not just four point something five point something. I'm talking about seven point something, eight point something. Do you know something? Since the beginning of time, since earth existed, since man is on the earth, they had, geologists will tell you and all the seismologists will tell you there has never been great earthquakes as often in these few decades. This past decade and two decades ago, we have seen more than all the history of the earth in our generation. Great earthquakes will increase.
Read on. "All these are the beginning of sorrows". It's only the beginning. Keep on reading. "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another". Stop here. I'm going to say something to you right now. I'm going to take you out of your misery right now. That is why a lot of people when they read this, they apply it to the church. The church is not in this picture. He's talking to the Jewish people, to the Jewish believers. He's talking about the nation of Israel. Do you understand that? He's not talking about the church. And many of us, we apply this to ourselves, and then we get into fear. We believe we're going to see the antichrist. No, we're not going to...looking forward to see the antichrist.
The Bible says the grace of God that has brought salvation has appeared to all men, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Titus chapter 2. We're not looking for the antichrist. We are looking for our Lord Jesus Christ who'll return from the clouds, the same one who opened up the scroll of Isaiah 61 when he was in the synagogue in Nazareth and he read, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to heal the broken heart, to open prison doors to those who are bound, to heal the brokenhearted, to open the eyes of the blind," and then he said, "to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of God's favor," and then he closed the book, the Bible says. But if you read Isaiah 61, it says, "The year of God's favor," comma, "the day of vengeance of our God".
But Jesus stopped right at the acceptable year of the Lord. And between this comma and the day of vengeance is 2,000 years. You talk about the grace of God reaching out to men. You see, preachers, Jesus knew how to rightly divide the Word. We need to learn where to stop. It's not the day of vengeance yet. For Israel, days of vengeance happened when they rejected Jesus Christ. There's like a mini days of vengeance, but there's one to come. And the church is not in the days of vengeance, people. These are not spoken to the church. It's spoken to the Jewish remnant. These are days of God's wrath. The 7 years of tribulation is called the days of God's wrath. And let me just tell you right now, for believers, Romans 5, verse 9. "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood".
Have you been justified by Jesus's blood? What has happened to you? Much more now, all right? Much more. Been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus and what he did for us on the cross, a believer will never see God's wrath, which includes the 7 years of tribulation. He will come and rescue us before all this happens, all right? But the rapture was not shared in the gospels. Now, let me qualify myself. It is shared, but it's not shared openly with the Jewish people. Do you know when it was shared? In the upper room. The very last part of his ministry, they went to the upper room, all right? In the upper room, Jesus said to his disciples, John 14, "Let not your heart be troubled," Jesus told them.
Now, when was this? Just the night. A few more hours they will all flee, leave him alone. He'll be captured, crucified. On the third day, he rise from the dead. He knew it was going to happen, and he told them this: "Let not your heart be troubled. Cool, man". The one who is going to be taken is the one telling the rest who will be running off, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions". It's not a hut. It's a mansion. "If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you". The Jewish weddings during the time of Jesus it's like this. Once they are betrothed, the day come for their consummation of marriage, okay?
And the man, once he's betrothed to the young lady, he will go and prepare a house for the girl. And then when he comes to fetch her, they roughly know the season, but they do not know which day, which night. It can happen day or night. And he will come. And they will all be sleeping sometimes, all right? It's a Jewish picture. He is coming back for his bride. "If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will," what, "come again", now, this is not coming for Israel. This is not the Second Coming of Christ. It is not. It is the rapture. "I'll come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also".
Where is the Second Coming? Matthew 24. So Matthew 24 is talking to the Jews, and the central focus there is Jerusalem in Israel, but in the upper room, which a picture of heavenly truths, John 13, 14, 15, 16 all contain epistle truth, truth that to be revealed by Paul. He talk about the Holy Spirit is going to come. He talk about praying in Jesus's name. He prayed about the new commandment. He told us about new commandment. He prayed for us. Everything in the upper room is church truths. He read at the end. And because even then they cannot understand, it took Paul. God had to raise a man called Paul to teach the mystery of the church, the most powerful thing God has on planet earth. Hmm?
So there he reveals to his disciples in secret, "I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also". He didn't say there in Jerusalem. No, "Where I am, there you may be also". So when all these things are happening on earth, you are looking down. So go back again to Matthew 24 and see what happened to the Jewish people. "They'll deliver you, kill you, many will be offended. Many false prophets", these are Jewish believers even, "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many". Go on. "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come".
Hmm, here is one of the most misunderstood verses, I think. And people use these verses to frighten other Christians and they try to use this verse to say, "See? He who endures to the end will be saved. Have you endured"? "Oh, I think so". "No, no, not good enough". "How do you know"? No, the word safe is a very rich word. The word safe can mean safe from hell. It also can mean safe from temporal danger. It can also mean healed. It's all the same word, sozo. When Jesus healed that woman, he says, "Your faith has sozod you, but healed you". It means help. It means deliverance. So he who endures to the end will see deliverance, all right? He's writing to Jewish believers during that time in the end.
Do you know they're Jewish believers now? But they are not going to the end. They will be raptured with us. After we are raptured, the people we are telling about, plus this sermon on TV, on DVD will be left behind, not the speaker though. Hallelujah. It'll be left behind. And many people will say, "Look, they are all gone". And some people will say the... "You know, the invasion of the body snatchers. That's why the devil is preparing the world for the invasion of the body snatchers. Aliens have come and taken them away. So, you know, we do not know where they are. Maybe they'll be released in a month's time, in a year's time, but when they come back, they'll teach us all kinds of things".
Stop it. There's nothing but our perishings in the sky that Jesus mentioned. There'll be signs in the heavens, and it's demonic. When you see something flying up there, it's demonic. The devil wants you to believe in UFO. And "Men in Black" don't exist. And there's no talking bulldog either. So what is this? He's talking during the end times. "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come". "Pastor Prince, the gospel must be preached to all the world". Let me stop you here right now and tell you this. It's not the gospel of grace. It's the gospel of the kingdom. Remember what I said? The gospel of the kingdom started when John the Baptist had his ministry. He preached the gospel of the kingdom.
"The king is coming," in the first come, in Jesus's First Coming. "The king is coming". And he baptized those who believed. Unfortunately, only a remnant believed. Then Jesus came and started his ministry. And Jesus's first words were, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand". The offer is what? The good news of the kingdom. "The kingdom is coming, Israel. The kingdom is here," in him. Then he show a sample of the kingdom. He cleansed the leper. He unstopped deaf ears, opened the eyes of the blind, cast out demons from demon-possessed people, all right, and to preach gospel, good news to the poor, which is, "God will supply you. The Lord is your shepherd. You will not lack, all right"?
So that's the sampling of the kingdom when the king is here. The king will set things right. There'll be no more sickness even. Says that, "People, repent. The kingdom of heaven is at hand". The offer is what? The good news of the kingdom. The kingdom is coming, Israel. The kingdom is here in him. Then he showed a sample of the kingdom. He cleansed the leper. He unstopped deaf ears, opened the eyes of the blind, cast out demons from demon-possessed people. All right? And to preach the gospel of good news to the poor, which is God will supply you. The Lord is your shepherd. You will not lack. All right? So that's a sampling of the kingdom when the King is here. The King will set things right. There'll be no more sickness even. So he says, "People, repent. The kingdom of heaven is at hand". And they rejected him.
Now, after we are raptured, there'll be people who will believe because of my DVDs. I'm not the only one, of course. But there'll be many; an army of stuff, materials left behind. They will believe. In Israel, they will see the Jewish believers, messianic believers we call them, raptured, and then all of a sudden say, "My goodness, what they said is true". They'll become believers. But after the Rapture to become a believer, it's a pretty hard life. There's a lot of sufferings involved. These are the believers that will endure through 7 years to wait for Jesus to come back. You see, the Rapture is imminent. No one knows when it will happen. The Rapture doesn't wait on Israel coming back as a nation, even though it's come back.
The Rapture doesn't wait for any event to be fulfilled. The Rapture can happen any time. It can happen afterwards. It can happen tonight. It can happen tomorrow. The Bible says those who have this hope purifies himself. It's a hope that purifies. Amen. Some people say, "Well, teaching prophecy is very confusing. It's dark". Well, it's not dark because Peter says we have a more sure Word of prophecy that you do well to take heed like a light, like a lamp that lights up in a dark place. So it's not dark. The Word of prophecy is a light, a lamp. The devil doesn't want you to study prophecy because, you know, he knows that, hey, a large part of the Bible is prophecy.
When Jesus was born, the king Herod asked his scholars in his palace, these corrupted scholars, "According to the Bible, where will the Messiah be born"? And they say, "He'll be born in," reading from Micah, "He'll be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah". "Send soldiers there to kill him". They're using their Bible. They're using Bible knowledge against Christ when the Bible is to unveil Christ. So be careful of, you know, so it's prophesied where he'll be born, how he... I'm not going to go there because it takes time. All right? His First Coming is prophesied. His Second Coming is prophesied. So Rapture is not Second Coming of Christ. Second Coming of Christ is for Israel and to judge the world. All right? The Rapture is the Rapture. "Well, Pastor Prince, do you know the word rapture doesn't appear in the Bible"? Oh, very smart.
Do you know the word trinity doesn't appear in the Bible? I'm asking you. Do you know the word trinity doesn't appear in the Bible? But the truth does, yo. All right? The triune God, Elohim, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, the truth does. We call it trinity, triunity, three in one, one God. All right? So don't come and be smart. All right? In fact, you can call it the Snatching Away because that is used in the Bible in Thessalonians. We'll be caught up. It's like there's powers of darkness in between, and Jesus come and snatch us out before the worst happens. Harpazo, the Greek word. Snatch, seizing away. I love it. So you don't like Rapture? Harpazo. Okay, Pazo? Okay. So this gospel of the kingdom will be preached. So is it preached by us? No, we are up there in heaven. It will be preached by 144,000 Jewish evangelists and what will they preach? They will preach the gospel of the kingdom. "Get ready. The King is coming back". Same message.
Now, in between, we are preaching the gospel of grace, that you are saved by the blood of Jesus. You are saved. Amen? And your citizenship is in heaven, not Jerusalem. That's the gospel of grace that's lasted for 2,000 years now. But the message of the gospel of the kingdom that came when he first came will be preached again, not by us, by 144,000 Jewish evangelists. Some people say, "Well, I'm part of that". Oh, what tribe are you? Okay? It clearly tells you, all right, how many thousand from Reuben. All the list is there in Revelation. It's all Jewish from different tribes, 144,000 of them. And the gospel will be preached in all the nations. Are you listening, people?
And then the end will come. He will return. Verse 15, "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains". This is talking about people in Judea, all right, not in Clementi. Go on. "Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days. And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath".
Stop. Sabbath. Who is he talking to? Sabbath. It's the Jews. They still celebrate Sabbath today. The Jewish synagogue still celebrates Sabbath. We celebrate the Lord's Day because he rose again from the dead. Sabbath is like God worked 6 days, rested on the 7th. Ours is we enter into the Lord's Day, all right, which is Sunday, and then we enter into rest. We enter into a finished work, and then we can work. It's the opposite. Okay? So one day I'll teach on the difference, Sabbath and the Lord's Day. It's a very interesting teaching. But let's go on. It's not spoken to the church, it's spoken to Jewish people. Go on. Verse 21, "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not been seen since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened".
Elect, the Jewish people. Okay? Not just the church. Church is part of the election, but this elect here is referring to the Jewish people. They have a covenant with God. Next. "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ..'." "Here is the Messiah," telling the Jewish people 'cause they are waiting for the Messiah now. "Or, 'There,' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in a desert,' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it".
All right, because of time, I want to show you some portion before time is being taken quite a lot. So it's not your reading, bro, you know. You're strong and steady. Let's drop to verse 29, 29. Okay. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven. The powers of the heavens will be shaken". By the way, if you study Greek, the powers of the heavens will be shaken, the power of the heavens... heavens there is uranus, the Greek for uranium. Uranium will be split. Atomic energy will be split, all right, in the end times. "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven".
All right. He will stop the world from destroying itself. Yes, there are nuclear weapons, but I'm telling you he's in charge. Nothing can be pressed or done before his time, okay? Does that help you understand? Even though we're not around. You all don't forget that, okay? If you insist that we'll be around and we'll be going through a tribulation, help yourself. Okay? Help yourself. I really think that people don't study their Bibles. That's it. All right? If you study your Bibles, you'll see very clearly. "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn". Now, when we see him, we rejoice. "I'll come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. Let not your heart be troubled". But for them they are mourning. Why? Because they have rejected him. They have blasphemed him. They'll mourn when they realize he's coming back as judge.
And, friend, let me tell you this. If a judge does not judge in the courts of law, all right, he is not being kind, he's not being merciful, he's not living up for the further good in the future of his nation. Okay? Always remember that. I know that today people don't want to say certain things about, you know, certain morality issues and all that, but wrong is wrong and right is right. Don't forget to tell your children that. We're not justified by our right and avoiding the wrong, we are justified by the blood of Jesus. But we are justified and created in Christ unto good works. Okay? It's a result. Okay, let's go on. And he'll appear on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Verse 31, "He'll send His angels and they'll gather His elect from the four winds". Why? Because the Jewish people are scattered. Even though there's Israel right now, not all of them go back to Israel. They're in the four winds of the earth; north, south, east, west. The angels will go and bring them back. There will not be any move. He'll bring them back to Jerusalem from one end of heaven to the other. "Now learn this parable from the fig tree," Jesus says. The fig tree never refers to the church. The fig tree always refers to Israel. All right? Jesus says, "When its branch has already become tender, puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near". Okay? Right?
Now, this means when Israel comes back as a nation and puts forth its leaves, a young nation, 1948. Actually it's an old nation, but it came back young. When you see fig tree blossoming, next verse, know also, "You also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the doors. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation," this generation that see Israel come back as a nation, "will by no means pass away till all these things take place". That tells me the Rapture must happen first. So, people, we are very near. We are very, very near. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away". We'll stop there, all right, for Matthew 24, talking to the Jews.
Now I want to talk about the Rapture. People, it's throughout the entire epistles. So in other words, the disciples didn't understand the mystery of the church. Even when Jesus rose from the dead, in Acts 1 they said, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel"? See, their mind is still the kingdom, not the church. But Jesus knew there'll be 2,000 years left. Well, someone say, "Well, I've been hearing about the promise of his coming all these years since I was a boy in church and all that, but still there's no coming. Ha ha ha. You know, these Christians are preaching all that". God says, "Watch out". All right?
Please 2 Peter, 2 Peter. "Know this first," in the end times, "scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation'." Be careful. Bible calls them scoffers in the last days, and some of them are Christians. You hear them making fun of the Rapture. Their dream is that we'll occupy. Look, when he said, "Occupy till I return," don't get the idea, all right, buy property and buy property and buy property while there are starving, hungry children around. All right? It's for the gospel. You buy property for a purpose. You're not here to enrich yourself. Every pastor, remember this. We are here to serve and to enrich the church.
Now, sometimes God put us on television for the purpose of the great spread and the farther spread of the gospel he's given us, which is the gospel of grace. But never forget the reason why he did it is so that the whole world gets to hear it. Television is God's invention. It's not meant for filth and nonsense and blasphemies. Okay? So they'll say, "Since the fathers fell asleep", the conversation is recorded for us. Peter 2,000 years ago by the Holy Spirit saw the future. Scoffers will come in the last days. "So, Pastor Prince, but why is it the delay 2,000 years? Why"? All right, drop down the same portion. "Beloved," he's talking to the believers now, "do not forget this one thing. With the Lord one day is a thousand years and a thousand years is as one day".
So the earth has been in existence for 6,000 years. All right? Do not listen to the records of so-called evolutionists who believe that, you know, millions of years old and all that kind of thing, and you can read that in Christian science, not Christians who are scientists all right, who believe those creationism. You can read that on your own. Okay? But let me tell you this. The earth is 6,000 years old. Amen. And carbon dating must assume that there was no flood for it to be effective. That's how sometimes when they predict things before the flood, they don't believe in the flood, so they assume things are normal like today. Things were not normal. That's why the moment, okay, anyway, I don't want to go into that. That's another sermon altogether. So we come back to this again. So 1,000 years with God is one day.
As far as God is concerned, two days has passed since Jesus died for our sins and he was raised from the dead, went back to heaven to be our high priest, to keep us clean. Are you listening, people? As far as God is... two days. So you pray for something, God says, "Hold on a second". You work out your math. No, I'm just teasing. I'm just joking, all right? So Prophet Hosea prophesied after 2 days he will revive us, and on the 3rd day, we will live in his sight. After 2,000 years... do you know we are the generation that saw the 2,000 years? Wow. Double wow. Amen? So why is the Lord delaying? Watch this. May this touch your heart. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise," people, "as some count slackness, but God is longsuffering towards us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance". Because judgment is coming.
When Noah says, "The flood is coming," they laughed at him. "The flood is coming," they laughed at him until it's too late. And regardless of the modern movie, they were not fighting into the flood. The Bible says the Lord shut the door. When the Lord shut, even Noah cannot open. So there is a time when God says, "Enough is enough. I'm going to make a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness, where even a child can play with a snake, where the wolf and the lamb will lie down together". There'll be nothing during that time that will hurt or destroy. All earth has fallen. Okay? So that's the reason why. So what are we waiting for? Are we waiting to die? No. In fact, that's not the right posture for a believer. Even the apostle Paul, he didn't look to death.
Of course, it was way beyond his time, right? But he looked forward to the redemption of the body, which no one knows. Even at the time, no one knows when he will return. But of all the candidates, we are the best. We saw Israel come back as a nation. In terms of 1,000 years, God made everything in 6 days completed. God rested on the seventh. There'll be a millennial rule of Jesus for 1,000 years on earth, amen, before we are with him in heaven completely, but there'll be a millennial rule. We'll be here ruling with him, praise God. And how long is that? One thousand years. So we are now in the 6,000 years going to the 1,000 year. God made the earth in 6 days, rested on the 7th. Six thousand years, one thousand. Are y'all with me or not?
All right, Romans 8 real quick. Romans 8. What are we looking for? "We know the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we," believers, "also have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for," what? For death? No. For the adoption. What is that? The redemption of our body. People, the only thing that we'll get from God, we get every other blessing, but the only thing that's left outstanding, that Jesus paid for at the cross when he died for us, he paid for it when he rose from the dead. He paid for it. Let me tell you this, people. He rose in a glorious new body. But how come we don't have a new body yet? I believe it's part of the training process for the sons of God, training for reigning. Amen.
I believe that you are destined to reign, people. And you start reigning down here, but you're left in your old body. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit is there to quicken your body. But the Bible says the one blessing outstanding is the redemption of our body. When Jesus comes in the Rapture, the first thing you receive, bang, straight away you have a brand new body. Looking good, bro. We'll take off our shirts, guys. We'll compare our... glorious body, man. All right, so we are waiting, eagerly waiting for death. Are we eager? No. Even for them back then, they're eagerly waiting for Jesus's return, the redemption of our body. Mmm. 1 Thessalonians 4. We use this a lot at the funerals, but let me tell you this, it's not a funeral passage, okay? It is a glorious passage.
Let me tell you this. "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren". Paul is writing this, all right? This is not Second Coming. Listen, he says, "I don't want you to be ignorant". And yet the church is ignorant of this. He says, "Concerning those who have fallen asleep". That means those who have died, believers who have died. The Holy Spirit used the word fallen asleep for believers. Why? Death is no more death for us. It's like you know, you step into a door, you're in a new place, but you leave your old suit behind; the old suit that's always feeling bored, feeling tired, sleeping when the pastor is preaching, you know, subject to sickness, headaches, fatigue, always tired, always tired. You're going to leave that behind and you have a brand new body. We're not looking forward to death. Believers don't look forward to death. They look forward for the redemption, for the return, eagerly anticipating the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul says in so many ways in his epistles. And here he says, "I don't want you to be ignorant concerning those who have passed on to be with the Lord, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope". Others who don't have Christ. "If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus". Next verse. "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord". It is not the figment of Paul's imagination. It's the word of the Lord. He says, "That we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of archangel, with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first". Next verse. "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up", That's the word harpazo, "Caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord".
People, it is not going to heaven, wonderful as that is. It's not walking down the streets of gold, wonderful as that is. It is no more sickness and disease, wonderful as that is, all right? No more hospitals there, wonderful as that is. It is always be with the Lord. Heaven is not heaven without Jesus. You know, the way the Bible says it's so tender. For it says, go back verse 16, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven", I love that. You know, you won't do violence with the English language by saying, "For the Lord will descend from heaven".
It's the correct English. The Lord will descend. Doesn't say that. The Lord himself, himself will come. I love this himself revelation in the Bible. Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. The disciples were talking on the road of Emmaus, all right? Give them that. "It was while they conversed and reasoned Jesus Himself drew near". Nothing wrong in English to say Jesus drew near, but it's not warm. It's not warm. The writer inspired by the Holy Spirit said, "Jesus himself drew near". And then when he expound the Scriptures, he expound things in the Scriptures concerning himself. Paul says, "The Son of God who loved me and gave himself". Ephesians 5, that's right, "Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma".
People, it's being with him, the one who loves us so much. Nobody loves us the way he loves us. Nobody knows everything about you and still loves you. No one will ever, you know... Go back to 1 Thessalonians 4. We are bringing this to a close, all right? Verse 17. I believe we are at verse 17. "We who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them", with them, those who have died earlier, all right, we'll be caught up with them. We'll meet them. So widows, believing widows, orphans, the circle will come back one full run. It will be unbroken. We're going to see those who have gone on before.
I want to see my grandfather. He received Jesus the very last moment, and he passed on with the Lord. He's down there now. He's saying to me, I believe in the cloud of witnesses, "Come on, sunny boy. Come on". He's a young guy, you know, right? Up there in heaven, he's young. He's young. He's not like grandfather. He got his hair all back. There's nothing in heaven that falls off. You will never need false eyelashes anymore. "We shall always be with the Lord". I feel like camping down here, don't you, just to be with the Lord. We're not looking forward for the antichrist. We're not looking for the false beasts. We're not looking for the United States of Europe, all right, the revived Roman empire. We're not looking for that. We are looking for Jesus. We're not looking for death even. We're looking for Jesus. Anytime, it can happen. It can happen today.
The Rapture is imminent. Once the Rapture happens, you can count when he will come back for Israel because it's 7 years exactly. So he's not referring to that. The imminence, anytime, anytime, it can happen, refers to the Rapture. Okay. "Therefore comfort one another with these words". Don't forget he's not coming to deal with your sins, believer. If you're a believer, your sins were put away in his first coming when dying on the cross. New Living Translation brings it up in Hebrews 9, verse 28. "So Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice", once for all time. He won't do it twice. His first one is fully efficacious, all right? "To take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins", but to deal with the sins of the world? Yes, but not with our sins. "But to bring salvation", this salvation here is our body, our new body, all right?
Don't forget the word salvation is all inclusive, includes our brand-new body, to all who are eagerly waiting for him. All right, mmm. Are you enjoying yourself so far? So we're going to have a new body. Philippians, Philippians. I'm showing you Paul's writing is full of it. I don't know why preachers are not preaching more on it. It's a hope that purifies. Amen. It gives us a purpose to know that we are living our lives here temporarily. So make sure that we live our lives for his glory, when you see him face-to-face. Amen? Philippians chapter 3, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ".
You see, Paul is waiting for the coming. He's not waiting to die. He's not waiting. That's the posture God wants all believers to have. We don't know when he's going to return, all right, but we know it's imminent, especially for this generation that saw Israel come back as a nation, who would eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Actually, what it should say in the Greek, all right, it's brought forth in the Amplified. Greek scholars tell us that, the last part, "Patiently await, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior".
Does that help you? Does that comfort you? He's not coming back to deal with your sins, believers. He's coming back as Savior to save your body. Your sins was dealt with in his first coming. And that's why I'm preaching grace, because today the gospel of grace is to be preached and bring as many people as possible. So people cannot understand. There are Christians who'd say, there are Christian who will go through the tribulation and those who are sinful or there are those who partial rapture. There are those who say those who are sinful, all right, Christians, you know, and that's very hard to define sinful because you yourself who find fault with people and you also sinful, you know.
So anyway, these people is partial rapture they say that only those who are pure and all that will go up. Well, if that's the case, then he's dealing with us based on believers' sins. So he's not. It was dealt with once and for all. And then many people find that hard to believe, okay? The Bible says that in Hebrews 10. It says he dealt with our sins once and for all in Hebrews 9, right? So here is...go back again to Philippians 3. Read the New King James. Back to New King James. We're looking for the Savior. Actually, he'll come as Savior for the believer who will transform, Jesus will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body, his new body when he rose from the dead, he says, "Give me the fish," he ate. You can eat. You still can eat the marriage supper of the Lamb, all right, our ten-course, I think is 100-course dinner. I don't know what is it.
We'll go to David, "Hey, David, now, you know, I don't understand this part of Scripture where you..." You know, you meet all of them. Not only your relatives, they'll all be there. He'll transform our body not just like any other body, that it may be conformed to his glorious body. Another thing, his body can appear. It's physical. He told his disciples, "Touch me. I'm not a ghost. A ghost does not have flesh and bones, a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see me have". And yet he could appear and disappear. It transcends the law of physics. That explains when the rapture happens we'll be transformed before we hit the roof. You understand. You don't have to, "Wait, Jesus. Wait". Take the lift. "How come the lift is so slow"? Crowded, crowded.
"Wait, wait, wait your turn next". No, it won't be like that. You can be in a building. You know, we all had crazy ideas when we were young, all right? But Jesus's body can appear and disappear. It can transcend closed doors. The disciples were in the upper room. It was shut, and then the Lord appeared. Our body will be like his body. I didn't say it. The Bible says it. He's going to conform our body to be like his body. Isn't it wonderful to know that in our new body you will never displease the Lord again? You cannot. Your days of sinning is over. Those things that you're shameful of that you fall into once a while, you don't have to be any more in that new body.
And last portion, and we'll close. 1 Corinthians 15, "Behold, I tell you a mystery". And that's why it's a mystery. You must study all the mysteries. Maybe one day I'll do a series on the mysteries of the Bible because the church is a mystery. Mystery means the Old Testament saints even did not fully comprehend. Sometime they prophesy its hidden form, yes. You can see types of the church, but the church is not a revealed truth in the Old Testament. It was revealed, even the gospels, the four gospel doesn't reveal the church. You have glimpses like Jesus says, "Upon this rock I will build my church, my called-out ones, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it," Matthew 16.
That's a church. But there if... Jesus cannot share with them the fullness yet. It wasn't time. But God raised Paul to write 3/4ths of New Testament. And this is what Paul says: "Behold, I tell you a mystery". Even the Rapture is a mystery. "We shall not all sleep", that means what? We shall not all die. Y'all should say, "Praise God". You're looking forward to that or what? We shall not all die. "We shall not all sleep," all right, "but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible," your body will be incorruptible, "and we shall be changed. For this corruptible," this body that's corruptible now, "must put on incorruption, and this mortal," body, "must put on immortality".
When Jesus comes, you are putting on immortality. You know this means? It means you cannot die. Next verse. "So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying," by Isaiah the prophet, all right, in the book of Isaiah that is written, "'Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O,'" hell, "'Hades, where is your victory'? The sting of death..." God never meant for death to come in in the first place. "The sting of death is sin..." Sin brought death. And what is the strength of sin? "The strength of sin is the law". Go back again. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. It will happen so fast.
The Second Coming is different. He will come, and all the earth will see him come. He will come bodily. And by the way, there's a group called preterists. They say that, "Oh, Second Coming, there's no such thing". You know, that kind of thing. They say that it all happened in AD 70. That kind of thing. But, friend, then they say that, "How do you explain Jesus coming back? He didn't come back in AD 70. Oh, he came back spiritually". Now, that's dangerous. Now, you are saying Jesus Christ didn't come in the flesh when he comes back again. And the Bible says in Acts 1, one last verse real quick. Acts 1 says what? "While they looked steadfastly toward heaven," when Jesus went back to heaven bodily, the disciples look up, "as He went up, behold, two men," angels obviously, "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'."
How did he go up? Spiritually? No, bodily. He will come back bodily, in like manner. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise; he's coming back in spirit. No, bodily. The way you see him go up, in like manner. If only we'll stick to the Bible. Amen, church? All right, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. In a moment is the word atomic. I'm going to close with this. Atomos in Greek. Atomos. A is like untrue. When you put un, it's the opposite of true, all right? A is like negation. Atomos. Probably get our English word atomic second. Atomic. Literally atomos means cannot be divided, indivisible. It cannot be divided. That's why atomic bomb becomes a bomb when it's split.
So it's so quick, you cannot divide it. Bang, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. You see a twinkle in someone's eye? Real fast you see it, then you don't see it anymore. In other words, the Rapture will happen so fast. Even you're with a non-Christian believer, all right, you're in the lift, he look around, talking to you, you disappear. That's how it will happen. Do you understand? It's not like, "Bye-bye. See you". You know? You know? It won't be like that. It'll be bang, you're gone. You're gone in a new body. And straightaway you are with the Lord. You won't be afraid of heights because in the new body you're afraid of nothing.
So those of you who say, "Well, Pastor Prince, I'm so scared of heights," you'll have a new body, lah. All right? So the trumpet will sound. The dead will be raised incorruptible. It's all will happen so fast the world will not see it. All they'll know is that there's been a great disappearance. There's been a great disappearance. And that's why the devil is trying to put up films and all that about the great disappearance. He has to explain. Nonetheless, many will be saved after we are gone, but life for them will be terrible under the Antichrist. Amen?
So, church, he's coming back for you because he loves you. So when you see all these things happening, people, before the worst happens, Jesus Christ will return. And this is the hope that purifies. Every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place. I'm going to pray a blessing for you towards the end of this service right now, presently. Let's not take protection for granted. If you are here, my friend, and you have never put your trust in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, the Bible says God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
You see, it's love, friend, that sent Jesus to die on the cross. It was love that kept him there. He loved you, and he hung for your sins until the very last vestige of judgment that was meant to fall on you, he exhausted it at the cross. He exhausted all of God's wrath at the cross for you and I. And it was God who sent him for this purpose. God love you, my friend. He loves you so much. He wants to bring you into his family. Don't be a wild sheep outside there. When you see a sheep, you don't think of a wild sheep. You think of a wild goats, but you don't think of a wild sheep.
Sheeps are meant to be in the flock. Don't be out there where wolves are, where you're not cared for. You're not meant, sheep is not meant to care for itself. God knows the burdens on your shoulders, the cares of this life, your day-to-day responsibilities. But, friend, will you come under the good shepherd? When the Lord is your shepherd, you will not lack. That's Scripture. God-breathed Scripture right there. Put your trust in Christ. All across this place and everywhere that's watching this right now, you say, "Pastor Prince, pray for me. I want Jesus Christ to be my Savior and Lord". If that is you, wherever you are right now, say this from your heart. Say this prayer from your heart. Say:
Heavenly Father, I believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins, I believe that on the third day, you raised him from the dead with a brand-new body, and I thank you that all my sins have been efficaciously put away once and for all and Jesus will return to transform my body like his glorious body. I'm awaiting that. Meanwhile, fill me with your Holy Spirit, anoint me to live a life that glorifies your name among the unbelievers. In the name of Jesus, I ask. Amen.
It's yours. Now, you're a child of God. Man, your sins are all forgiven. You are justified from all things. Friend, God loves you. Amen? Keep on coming to church. Keep on bringing a friend, all right? Tell the world what you just heard. Amen. Tell them. Amen. Now you got world events to back you up. So we are all going towards one direction the whole world is, but before the worst happens, he's going to rapture us. Let's all stand for the blessing. Thank you so much for coming. Amen, amen, amen. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. You see, those who don't understand grace won't understand the sermon today, and that's why they'll mix everything together, 'cause they believe that Christians will still be punished. That's why it's vital you understand grace, to rightly divide the Word.
Lift your hands all across this place and everywhere that's watching this right now. This is the posture Jesus took the last time the disciples saw Jesus in the flesh, in his new body. In the Gospel of Luke, it says as he went up, his hands were stretched out. What a beautiful picture. In like manner, he will come. He left blessing them, he'll come again blessing his church, his bride, in like manner. And I believe that one of the things he said is this. The words that God said, the high priest of Israel pronounced over the people, and God will put his blessing on them.
The Lord bless every one of you. May you always be healthy and strong and use that strength for his glory, and don't squander it upon your lust. May the Lord increase your wealth, but never use it for selfish purposes but to be a blessing, a great blessing. May the Lord cause your enemies that come against you one way flee before you more confused, flee before you seven ways. May the Lord bless your children not just to pass exams but with the wisdom of God, to have a personal and their own intimacy with himself. That they'll experience his love at a young age. That they'll be saved just as you are saved. The Lord bless your seed, your children. The Lord protect you throughout this week from all evil, from all viruses, from all infection, from all disease, from accidents and danger, from evil people, from all the powers of darkness, from every demonic power, from the evil one himself. The Lord himself keep you from evil. The Lord grant you favor, crown you with success. The Lord cause everything you touch to prosper as he did for Joseph. The Lord lift up his countenance on you with hands stretched out. He wants you to always remember him like this, blessing you, loving you always. And the Lord smile on you, grant you shalom peace in Jesus's name, amen.