Welcome To AFFI District One June Council 2025 Day 2

[Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] down. Hey. [Music] Praise the Lord, everybody. Come on. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good. Come on, His mercy endureth forever. Come on, let's give God a little praise. Let's give God a little praise. I know we're going to talk a little bit. Let's give God some praise before we talk. This is the day that the Lord hath made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it. Come on, let's give Him praise. Let's give Him praise. Let's give Him praise. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And Father, we thank You and we love You, and we ask You that You would give us clarity of mind and thought. Lord, help us to work together to speak from Your word. And we thank You for what You have already done in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen.

Truly, we honor the Lord for His grace and His mercy. We give honor to the Spirit of Christ. Uh, to our presider, Bishop Charles Johnson, to our diocesan, Bishop Bratcher, and to our chair, uh, Bishop Watkins. Uh, today we're going to be having a great discussion. We have some panelists that are ready. They have prepared themselves and made themselves ready for this discussion. And the reason why this is so important is really based on the climate of the time that we're living in. We're living in crucial times. And uh, with the advent of uh, social media and all the YouTube and TikTok and all of those things, a lot of foundational principles are being challenged because people are being exposed to all kinds of voices, and it is really important that there be clarity in uh, what we understand concerning the scripture because there are so many voices out there. And so today, uh, of course, our discussion will sit around, center around, "Are You Rapture Ready?" And uh, we really wanted uh, to get some insight and understanding uh, so that we can help each other. Look at somebody and say, "Help each other." That's what we're here to do. We're here to help each other. And uh, of course, we're going to be covering a wide range of subject matters. I'm going to tell you up front, this format is not going to allow us to dig too deep because we don't have enough time to dig too deep, but there's enough information for the surface so that we can begin the process. All right.

And so, uh, we're going to be talking a little bit about eschatology. And of course, that is the study of last things, the end time, death, judgment, destiny, and uh, final uh, destiny of human humankind. And these subject matters are very important for us as believers. And so, uh, we really want to start off, uh, asking a question across the board for all the panelists. And I'm asking that when you are going to speak, you just raise your hand. Uh, I would prefer not to call you out, but I will if we flow nice, then I won't have to point to you. All right. Uh, but raise your hand and please speak clearly in the mic for the benefit of those who are watching online. All right. Uh, well, the first question is, does the church still adhere to the doctrine of the end times? Does the church still adhere to the doctrine of the end times? Please uh, raise your hand and take your mic in your hand. You can forgive me. Let me make sure that we're clear who's our speakers. District Elder Fletcher Davis, Elder Richard Lawrence, Pastor Aaron Freeman, and Dr. Michelle Harris.

All right. Praise the Lord, everyone. Praise Him. Um, the short answer is yes. And um, in reference to the church being the true apostolic church, definitely. Um, when we talk about Christendom or church mainstream, there are many, many different beliefs. But when we're talking about the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostolic church, yes. Um, and the reason is, uh, there are many biblical prophecies in the Old and New Testament that speak to the end times, um, Daniel, Isaiah, Zechariah, Joel, um, and the culmination primarily of Revelation, a whole um, uh, book of the Bible that's referring to the end times. What will, what we can anticipate in terms of the end times? So yes, the church does believe, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ does believe in the doctrine of the end times.

Are there any other responses? I, I concur uh, with Dr. Harris. Uh, the real church, which is the apostolic church, the body of Christ, uh, yes, still believes in the doctrine of uh, end times. The religious world, as she stated, uh, they do not. And as a result, uh, they do not preach or teach it or emphasize it. Uh, but that's a distinction between the religious world and the real church. Uh, can one of the panelists give us some scripture reference that points us towards understanding or knowing that we are there in the end times?

We can go to Timothy. Go ahead, Dr. Go ahead. Praise the Lord. Um, Matthew 24 and 6, it speaks of, "You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not troubled." Um, Matthew 24 and 44. Um, "Therefore, be you also ready, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man cometh." Is, um, referring to the unexpected moment of which it will occur. Um, in terms of the chronological um, events of our history, um, the last major prophecy was when the nation of Israel came back as being a nation. So that in terms of the timeline, you, you didn't ask, you asked for a scripture though. Um, the next event is uh, the rapture of the saints, and then Second Peter 3:3 and 4, "Knowing this, that thou shalt come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lust 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 the creation." Those just are just a few.

Can I make a point as well? Back to your original question about the, um, does the church still adhere to the doctrine? Thank you, Mike, sir. Does the church still adhere to the doctrine of end times? The church does adhere to the doctrine of end times, but as uh, Elder Davis had said, uh, District Elder Davis had said, uh, it requires us to teach it. A lot of churches don't talk about it no more. Uh, we, you know, we, we deal with it. We believe in it. A lot of churches don't teach it. But the evangelical church is big on it. The evangelical church is teaching it. The evangelical church is pushing the end times, but they don't have the name. They don't have the apostolic doctrine, but they push the end times. They can tell you from Genesis to Revelation about about what's going to happen at the end times, but if the gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost. So, just a thought.

Oh, wait. Are there any other comments? Uh, I, I just want to make a comment. Uh, now, when we make this statement of the evangelist, mystical churches, that's not the apostolic churches that we're referring to. So, I think we got to be a little cautious, uh, because the true church is the apostolic church, meaning they, they operate in the fullness of the gospel. They're convicted concerning the baptism in Jesus' name, the infilling of the Holy Ghost. There are a lot of religious uh, organizations. They're aware of scripture concerning references concerning end time. But we're talking about practicing biblically practicing Christians who have a conviction concerning the end times and and not just an intellectual awareness uh, of happenings and events concerning uh, the end time. Uh, for the most part, we must be convicted. We are pre-tribulation saints. We anticipate the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to carry away that which belongs to Him, His elect. Uh, so I think we got to be a little cautious in in our distinction between other religious organizations who don't adhere to the fullness of scripture.

Here's the next part of this question. Uh, of course, uh, Dr. Harris talked about uh, things that pertain to the world, wars, rumors of wars, things of that nature. But does the scripture speak specifically? Because when we look at our culture and look how things are spiraling out of control, can we see through scripture uh, those things that speak directly to us that should be a sign to us that things have rapidly changed and that we are in the end times?

Bishop, the again, the answer to that, I, I would make reference to First Timothy chapter 4. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils; speaking in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received." I quote the scripture because these are preliminary events that will occur in scripture that that gives us identification of the closeness and the imminent coming of Jesus Christ. When we see these happenings occurring, the Lord is letting us know there's a uh, a great need for preparation for His coming. These latter-day events must occur before the coming of Jesus Christ. So, this is where we are now. We're in the last days where we're seeing events occurring in the world, in the religious world, that is signifying to the true church, "Get ready."

How any other comments? I have one to add to exactly to um, District Elder Davis' scripture and that is Second Timothy 3. "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truthbreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good." We see that, don't we? Yes. People that they, He's not saying don't love, but they're more, they're more focused on lovers of their own selves. Covetous, wanting what other people have, boasters, you know, so much, I, I, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection. That's that's legalized today. Unnatural affection, truthbreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. We, we find um, persecution of those that preach the gospel throughout the world, actually, having a form of godliness. And that's, I often hear uh, Bishop Marcus talk about the false church. They, they shout like us. They, they run up and down the aisle, but they don't have the power, as District Elder Davis was just saying. Um, also it says, "but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts." So, these events have, are increasing um, exponentially in terms, yes, it's been happening for a while, but we, we see where it's okay today. Those are critical, we are living in critical or perilous times, and I think that's a great indication of the spirit of lawlessness that's throughout the world, even in this nation that was supposed to be founded on the principles of the Bible. We can find that there's such a um, a um, almost a hatred of the truth. So, I think that should be a sign. That is a sign.

All right, great answers. Uh, is there a reason in particular, and this is of course based upon your opinions in part, uh, that you believe that the end times are rarely preached now?

Praise the Lord. Praise God. Uh, this is me, y'all. I think one of the reasons is because of the spirit of this age. Our teaching and preaching has become sensationalized, and it's about it. It's almost like going on Facebook, getting a blurb here and a blurb there, and we get these little catchy phrases and say a few things and have people hoop and holler, and that's it. You can't do that with the end times. And on top of that, I'm sorry, but some of our ministers don't study God's word. Some of our ministers don't study God's word. And you can tell by the lack of depth to the ministry. And in order to preach and teach this, you got to study this and be before the Lord in prayer to get what He's saying about it. Thank you.

I would also like to add, I think that there is a lack of uh, conviction concerning the fullness of truth, even among us who fall under the umbrella of uh, apostolic. Apostolic is not a religious phrase. It is a doctrinal conviction. We aspire and adhere to only that which the apostles were taught, because they were taught by the Master Teacher, Jesus. So, a conviction comes about as a result of your faith and trust in the purity of the word, not somebody's philosophy. We're living in a dangerous age whereby the philosophies and thoughts of men supersede scripture. Uh, and so, I, I agree, this, as, as Elder Lawrence is saying, we're more um, fancied by personality than we are by the purity of God's word. Uh, and we have to be very careful because even among us so-called apostolics, uh, you have to listen intently. Some of the preaching today, as opposed to the word, you'll hear philosophies of men, quotes of men over scripture. And when you, you err when you do that because you're making what has been interpreted concerning scripture lord over scripture, and that's error. Uh, so, uh, some are really, even among the apostolic umbrella, they are not convicted concerning the imminent coming of Jesus Christ.

All right. Along that, you have another comment. Um, based on opinion and thought, um, I believe that's fear. Fear of the unknown and fear of having to face the Lord. Um, we quite often, we are so engrossed in this world, and we think this is our home, and it's not. We're just passing through here. We have to spend eternity somewhere, but we're so in love and so caught away with the affairs of today and the distractions of today. Um, also such that spirit of immorality and wickedness, seducing spirits, lukewarm saints, and itching ears. We have lost our saltiness. You know, the Bible talks about how what good are we if we're, if we don't have salt, or if we don't have that light. And uh, we have fallen away, and that's why it's not, I believe that's why it's not taught. But I think it should be taught on a regular, on a regular, preparing the saints for uh, the end times. Um, I just want to say this, in the '70s and the '80s, it was so much talking about the rapture, the Lord is coming. But today, very many, and I can't remember who said this, but it's not being, I think it was Elder Lawrence, it's, it's not really being taught like it needs to be taught. And when you talk about the rapture, they don't know when it's going to happen. You know, is it pre? They don't even really know what the rapture is. The younger saints, they want to, you know, they enjoy shouting. I do too. But getting into this word, yes, Elder Lawrence talking about, you got to spend time and get to know this word. And I think we're not teaching it, or we're not, we're not preaching it, is because we're not um, in tune with what the word is saying, or even, let me shut up. But even in terms of looking at the um, events that are going on in the world prophetically.

All right. Along that line, what are some of the prominent thoughts that are being put out now as opposed to end times? Because it's being replaced by something. That means there are certain topics, subject matters, uh, doctrines that are being preached now. I suppose one of the things that we need to be mindful of uh, when we hear a lot of that, understand that that's leading us astray. Well, I don't know. I don't know what all these doctrines are because I don't listen to all this stuff. Uh, and some of our problem is, everything that comes over the internet, we just Google into it. Stay away from that. If that's contrary to what your pastor is teaching, leave it alone. The other part of that answer is, if what they're telling you, you can't find it in here, then you do what Bishop Johnson says, do let it ease on down the road. Stay in this. I was in this before there was an internet. This is all that matters. Regardless of who it is, never mind about a new doctrine. What I have, I received the Holy Ghost when I was 10 years old. It has brought me this far. I don't need anything new because what? I have more time behind me than ahead of me. And it's no time to switch horses now. Over and out. [Applause]

Amen. I say amen to what Elder Lawrence has said. I also like to say two aspects of of uh, uh, false doctrine among us is really victimizing the apostolic uh, church, and that's apostolic church in terms of organizationally speaking, and that is the the gospel of prosperity and the prophetic. Uh, we, we are inquisitive. If it's new, we think it to be true. Doesn't have to be backed by scripture. We allow people to lie to us because that's what the flesh wants to hear. We want to be rich. Everybody's not going to be rich. Very. And the scripture says, I mean, for a rich man to enter in, uh, the eye of a needle. See, we got to know, Elder Lawrence said, we got to know scripture. Uh, it is not God's desire for us to be rich, but to be saved. He didn't promise that He would make all of us rich. So, the prosperity gospel, uh, pro, I got to have a new car, new finest of cars, finest of houses, money in the bank. We're substituting, amen, the doctrine that allows us to live free from the practice of sin with materialism, as a means of God's sign of blessings and favor, and that's very deceptive. Then the prophetic, or the Lord showed me, I don't let people speak into my life over my pastor, and that's very dangerous. The prophetic gift, somebody can just come to me, "Lord told me that He's going to bless you with a husband." "This is supposed to be your husband." "You got a job coming." "You're going to make a million dollars a year." We, we're inclined. All we need is to have, can, don't jump me. Todd Hall or one of those folks come in here and and prophesy. And you'll be surprised how many folks would be victimized. The whole church was victimized. Whole church that sold their homes, sold their homes and brought the resources uh, to the church. And those people were victimized by false prophets and false doctrine. And so, uh, we have to be careful that the emphasis in church today should be readiness for Jesus and not catering to the flesh. Everybody's not going to be healed, right? Everybody's not going to be rich. Thank you.

I, I just want to add something to what District Elder Davis said, and that is the scripture says, "Know them that labor among you in the gospel." Don't have nobody strange coming up to you with stuff. Who taught them? Yes. Where'd they get their teaching? Who's their pastor? We have to be wise as serpents but harmless as doves. Use wisdom and use this. Amen. Yes, sir. Uh, I also wrote on here too, um, we've got comfortable here. We've, you know, uh, we, you know, we don't preach it like we used to. We don't teach it. We've, we've become comfortable. We used to sing that song, "Goodbye world, I'll stay no longer." No, the reality, we want to stay here. We like it. You know, we, we've, you know, we've got comfortable. When reality is, we're supposed to be wearing these garments, our garments as loose garments, drop, getting ready to drop them and roll and go, drop them and rise, or whatever it is, because why? Because Jesus is coming. And the reality is, we are the Laodicean church. We're increased with goods and have no need of nothing, and we go and we want more and more and more and more and more. And the more we get, the more we want. And we don't, we don't want to go nowhere. When, when the reality is, Jesus is saying, "Get rid of it. I'm trying to purify you so you can get out of here." So that's my thought.

All right, great answers. Uh, next question. Along those same lines, what should be the posture of the saint in preparation? Because we know these are the last days. What, what should the saint look like? And I'm not talking about their physical being. I'm talking about in terms of uh, their lifestyle and where they're focusing their attention. What should that look like in these end times?

Uh, I, I, I'll say that we should be ever praying, ever studying, ever looking at the current events. I'm not saying uh, stay on the news 24/7, but you got to be, excuse me, deaf, dumb, and blind not to know Jesus is coming. I mean, looking at the current events of the world, seeing what's happening in Israel right now, a lot of the, and we saw this years ago, seven, eight, nine years ago, when, if I can use, when ISIS had first arose, they were beheading Christians. That wasn't, that was second coming or advent events that were going to take place where they were going to be beheading Christians. Well, we're seeing second coming things happening. Well, we know the rapture got to happen before the second coming happens. So, if we're seeing all these events take place, well, where's the rapture? That means we're ever more close. It's more closer than now when we first believed. And so, we ought to be girding, as the scripture talking about girding yourselves up, uh, mortifying our members, making sure, "Lord, if there's anything in my life that's not pleasing to You, Lord, please take it out. I do not want to be left here. I don't want no small foxes spoiling my vine." You know, that thing that's supposed to be connecting me to You. Don't let nothing cause me to miss out with You. That's what we ought to be doing. Lord, help me, Jesus. Because, you know, at any moment, He could come. You done fussed somebody out this morning, and Lord, that was it. And you didn't mean to, but you've been fussed. Find yourself fussing for no reason. I'm talking to myself. You find yourself fussing. And that's the very thing that you need to be delivered from. Amen. That's the very thing God wants to set you free from. Lord, take it away from me so purify my heart so I can be saved. So I can be washed, me. Make me clean. Help me, Jesus. So I can, so I can go back with You when You come. You ain't out here sinning, but it's these small things. Purify me, Lord. Excuse me. Thank you.

Praise the Lord. In terms of posture, um, First Peter the 5th chapter, 8th verse says, "Be sober, be vigilant." And, um, I think that's, that should be our posture is that we're always looking. Could this be the day? Could this be the moment? Um, will the Lord crack the sky today? And the scripture also says, "Let a man examine himself." And I think that's something that we need to do on a regular is to examine ourselves to see if, you know, like he said, like, uh, Elder said, and last night it was said, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Um, the final thing I think our posture should be is to come out from among them. We've allowed ourselves to become so contaminated with the um, philosophies and beliefs and all, all the ideologies of this world. So many has influxed our our nation, even our churches. So, I think we have to, uh, our posture should be um, one that is practicing holiness on the inside and ever in a place where we can hear what the Lord is saying to the church.

Bishop, I would agree with everything that's been said and just like to add, a person shall also be becoming holy as He is holy. Uh, holiness is not a religious pursuit, but it's who Jesus is, and this is the reasoning for us being born again, to be like Jesus. And to be like Jesus, we have to uh, demonstrate the essence of His being, which is holy. He said, "Be holy" (present tense verb), "be holy, for I am holy." And that's our daily pursuit. We are being made a, one of the attacks among us, and that if we would be truly honest with ourselves, even in Bible class, uh, there has been a diminishing attendance. And I'm talking about worldwide among apostolics, where years ago, I remember the hunger that the real church used to have. We would take off lunch to go to convention Bible class. Uh, I would ask for an hour to be added to my lunch hour just to get the Bible class. That kind of hunger, we have lost. Uh, have you come in most Bible classes now? You won't see the Sunday crowd. You see the Sunday crowd we have on Sunday. You come back on Tuesday, wherever uh, days you have Bible class, because we don't think it to be that important. And really, it's essential because that that Bible class has given us what's necessary to be prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ. On on on that Sunday, the pastor is preaching, amen, to bring souls unto salvation and to edify those of us who have the Holy Ghost. But that that Bible class is instructional teaching. I need that. I need to know what God has required. I need accountability for how I live life before the Lord Jesus Christ. So, um, we, we're living in a polluted religious world, even among us as apostolics, and and the scripture says, "Save yourself from this untoward generation." That's my comment.

Yes, sir. You got to speak out loud, sir. Praise the Lord. This is part of that time he's talking about. Used to be a crowd of hunger, thirst. There's no more hunger in the church. You know me. But you got to want this for yourself. You got to strive. I hear people saying they pressing. No, they're pressing. But I'm striving. I'm not pressing because I, I've been running since '86. And I was a thief and a robber, and God came by and saved me. Bless. And I'm so grateful for the teaching. You know, I'm so grateful. You know, I mean, but you talking about this end time, to me, is right on point because He's coming. Yes. Just set yourself and be ready for His coming.

All right. Relative to that, uh, District Davis says something on the front end of his comments in reference to holiness and separation. And here's a question relative to the end time, because uh, is there a greater pressure uh, in these times that we're living to compromise, to become inclusive, and to even drop a distinction of holiness as a necessity? It used to be a way of life. Um, the sinners could, they even uh, were able to identify if somebody was saved or not. And now, when we are practicing and living that holy life and came out from among them and separate, they call it legalism. It doesn't take all of that. Uh, uh, that's what they used to teach, but they're speaking in tongues and they're, they're doing this and they're doing that. Why, why aren't they saved? So, there is indeed a a pressure to conform to this world, but the Bible tells us not to conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Uh, so what we are finding, and when I was younger, we did not allow anybody to come into the church and uh, preach in our pulpits, but that's, that's not the case all the time um, today. Thank God that this organization is standing for the truth, has not uh, moved from the landmark. But more and more, because of the government, people are afraid of the persecution. They don't want to be different. They, they, I believe they're looking at others and comparing and saying, "Well, they're doing this, and why can't we do that?" And and I, all of those things could make someone feel pressured. But if you have your own relationship with God, and you are just like a tree that's planted by the rivers of water, pressure, no pressure, whatever, your mind is made up. For God I live, and for God I die. I'll make one point too. Uh, I know uh, Bishop Bratcher often talks about in the Bible classes. He says, uh, "Whatever it takes to get them there, it's going to take them to keep them there." If it took a praise team, if it took some praise dancers, if it took uh, some, whatever to get them in, it's going to take it to keep them in. It's going to have to be the unadulterated word of God that sets them free and keeps them there. And their desire to want to be there.

Make a comment that um, one of the things that's very concerning during the end times is where we're seeing even among us under the umbrella of apostolic, uh, we have substituted worldliness, even when it comes to uh, a harvesting of souls. Uh, some of the churches under the apostolic umbrella look like nightclubs. I've never seen this before. I mean, it's amazing. You can go into some church and it's pitch black. You got smoke coming down from the screens. Uh, uh, that's a nightclub thing that's in. And you know, some things that we, we, we're utilizing as a means of trying to draw people is actually worldliness. Uh, we don't add to the church. The scripture says, all we have to do is preach truth, practice truth, live truth. And the scripture says, "He added, Jesus adds to the church daily such as should be saved." And so we have substituted the methodology of men and the religious minds of the world trying to add to the church because truly, we don't want souls. We want members. We want members because when we talk about souls, there's a consciousness of accountability to God for those that we're ministering to, and we don't play with that. Uh, so, I, I'm amazed even among us, Baptists can come in and preach to us. Methodists can come and preach to us, and then you're victimizing the congregation. And then if they leave you to go to the Baptist church, then they're backslid. But the leaders brought them in, and you polluted the environment by bringing in doctrine that was not apostolically, when I say apostolically inclined, it was not uh, what Jesus taught the apostles, and what the apostles admonished us uh, to propagate. So, we're living in the Laodicean age, even among those so-called, you have so-called apostolics. Uh, I would dare say, and I'm going to be careful with upcoming conventions, just watch who is invited to preach. Trinitarians will come in. How can they come in, and they disrespect the Godhead according to scripture, and we have them to minister to us? How can we do that? And so this is where there, where we have victimized the people. And I'm, I'm saying that I'm talking about some of the leaders of the various organizations have victimized the people because they invited them in. And they invited them in because they, they're crowd gatherers. I want to fill up the auditorium. And these persons have uh, renowned reputations, and they'll bring the money. That's why the scripture says, "The money is the root of all evil." Uh, the love of money, rather, is the root of all evil. That, that the motive is, get that money. And and so, we got to be very careful that there's a commitment in us when it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ. There's no compromise uh, to the persons that are ministering to us, and then what we deliver to the souls of God's people. But we truly are living in the Laodicean age.

All right. Thank you very much. Uh, next question. Do you believe in a pre-tribulation, uh, well, rapture? Do you believe in a pre-tribulation rapture? Because of course, there are three different positions now that are being pushed: a pre-trib, uh, a mid-trib, and a post-trib. And so, let's start first with the idea of the rapture. Can some of you define what is the rapture?

Biblically, it's a representation of the carrying away of the body of Christ. Um, and this Jesus Himself would do that. He would carry away. And I said, the body of Christ. The body of Christ is His elect. And I say His elect because God knows who is walking and living in harmony with His word. And He will make a decision on those that are to be called and uh, selected from this world unto Himself. Uh, we're pre-tribulation uh, saints in that uh, the saints of the, the Lord Jesus Christ that make up the bride of Christ will not go through the tribulation period. Amen. God will call us. He, He did that with Israel. He rescued them. He never judged Israel uh, as His elect with their enemies. And so, um, having said that, uh, the scripture bears witness that uh, the rapture, there, we, we don't see the word "rapture" in scripture, but we do see the concept of the word, carrying away of the body of Christ. First Thessalonians, and whereby He admonished that young church in preparation and encouragement and edification of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then the scripture lets us know that we don't know when He's coming. That's why there has to be a heart of readiness. "No man know the day nor the hour that the Son of Man cometh." But we are to admonish readiness. Preparation. You can't be ready if there's no preparation. So, first, there's preparation. And preparation equals readiness for His coming, the carrying away of the body of Christ. And He will do that. The trump of God will sound. And the scripture said, "the dead in Christ." So, even those of us that are saved and die, it won't inhibit us from being carried away. Uh, in the moment of a twinkling of an eye, the dead's going to be raised, and those that are alive and remain together, we're going to be caught up. That scripture, First Thessalonians chapter number four.

To also support what District Elder Davis is saying, um, yes, we do believe in the pre-tribulation, uh, that the rapture will occur prior to the tribulation. In 1 Corinthians 15:52 talks about how we're going to be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. When I looked up um, this, uh, how fast is a twinkling? It's about one millionth, um, um, in terms of light rays, it's, it's shorter than a blink. It's one-tenth of a blink. That's how quick a twinkling is going to occur, and that's how quickly we're going to be changed. Um, Revelation 3:10 speaks of this is the, the primary scripture I think that supports the pre-tribulation rapture. Revelation 3:10, it speaks of being that the saints of God are going to be kept from that hour of trial, that hour of trial. Um, Jesus talked about the great tribulation that's going to occur in the earth. And we can find um, the pattern of God. Whenever there's a great judgment, He rescues His people. We find, we find that with Noah. We found it with Sodom and Gomorrah. And we're going to find it with the church. He is not going to permit the church to go through that great hour of trial and tribulation.

All right, let's muddy the water a little bit. Uh, Matthew 24 uh, gives us an outline, uh, beginning at verse uh, 4. Jesus answered and said, "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. And all these are the beginning of sorrows." And then verse number nine, I believe this is where many of the mid-tribulation believers come to their position. "And ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." And so, here's the question relative uh, to these verses, because many of these same verses are used from the perspective of a pre-tribulation rapture. Uh, for the one who is believing in a mid-tribulation, it's because they see these events and then they see uh, these people suffering during that time. How would you answer that?

Well, I would say much of what you just read is going on now, and more of that's going to come, come to pass. Um, I don't want to get too far into this, but uh, when you look at different people that are being persecuted now, and it, the spirit of the age is, "I'm glad you're getting them." But just remember, they're going to come for us, too. We're on that list as well. And the reality is, um, I don't see anything in that that goes contrary to the pre-tribulation, um, rapture. And eventually, we're going to all find out which one was right, won't we?

Praise the L. I'm sorry. Um, praise the Lord. I think the key is in verse three of chapter 24. "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?" Um, quite a few of these uh, things that Christ was speaking of, to me, it appears is referring to His second coming, which is different from the rapture. Many, the rapture, the, the true saints of God, we are going to be gone. However, there are going to be some people that were lukewarm but know the rapture is true. They're going to be left behind, or whomever. There's just going to be people left behind that were not serving Christ. And they are going to experience a lot of these sufferings before Jesus Christ Himself comes back and fights that war of Gog and Magog, that when He's going to pour out His wrath upon those that were anti-Him. So, I, I think that these scriptures are referring more to the events that's going to take place after the rapture. That's my perspective.

Yes. Um, the Gospels were not written to the church. They were written to the Jews. Jesus was talking. He kept telling, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." Now, we can make application to them. But the Gospels were the Gospels were written uh, of what they were going to experience. The church here, this right here is talking about what's going to take place after the rapture. When He says, uh, "they shall deliver you up to be afflicted and kill you," this stuff is going to take place in the in the tribulation because you find the same thing when He says, uh, "these are they who have come through great tribulation, having their robes washed in the blood of the Lamb." These folks are going to be killed in the tribulation. These folks are going to have to give their, uh, and we also find that scripture that says, uh, "where I was hungry and you fed me not. I was naked and you clothed me." Uh, or, you know, uh, "you gave me food, you gave me drink." These are the ones God's going to, God, these are going to be saved in the tribulation. These are the ones that had helped the Jews during the tribulation. And so, we see the Gospels, uh, uh, separating the second coming and the and the rapture has to be divided. It's two different. That's why I say, you cannot, you have to, uh, the, the rapture is a distinct, uh, event. And a lot of people do not know how to separate uh, the second coming from the rapture. We have to go to Christ in order to come back with Christ. It's a separate event. And here He's talking. He says, uh, uh, "And many shall be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise and be deceived." Listen, after the rapture happens, you talk about all chaos going to break out. Deception at an all-time rate. Deception is going to be at an all-time rate. Amen.

One other scripture that uh, speaks to um, this being prior to the second coming and after the rapture is verse 15. When it says, "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place," that's referring to the Antichrist um, going into, uh, the temple. And this is going to occur during that three and a half year mark when the Antichrist um, goes against this um, covenant or this contract or whatever the word is called. And this is after the saints. So, these events are occurring, not to its fullest now, but will occur after the church has been raptured.

Any other comments? Bishop, I would just like to add quickly, Daniel 12:1-2. "At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." We know that Daniel uh, supports the book of Revelation when it also comes to end time events. We have the rapture occurring, and then some things are going to be sequential and occurring. And that is, uh, God is still dealing with the nation of Jews apart from the rapture of the church. There will be some Jews that will be considered members of the body of Christ. If they take the name of Jesus and the plan of salvation, then they will be of considered members of the body of Christ. But He also, at the same time, will be dealing with the nation of Jew, of Israel, the 12 tribes as a nation. That's after the rapture. Amen. That nation of Israel will be going through the tribulation. That's the, it's designed for Israel and for those who reject truth, who are not members of the born again experience in the body of Christ. That's what that tribulation period is for. So, some of those things are sequential. You have the rapture of the church occurring first, and then Matthew uh, 24 is also referencing some of the beginning phases of the end time, uh, which is referencing the second coming. Second coming of Jesus Christ is not the rapture. No, the second coming is for judgment. Yes. Upon the earth. And so, uh, it is a distinction made, the rapture, and then dealing with the Jews as a nation, and then dealing with the judgment of the world for those who rejected uh, Jesus Christ at large.

I just want to say this, Bishop, one other thing um, that's supporting what uh, District Elder Davis is saying. Verse 16 of that same chapter 24 says, "Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains." And He's referring to the nation of Israel that um, when the Antichrist is wanting to wage war against them, um, that's when the judgment is going to begin uh, against the nation of Israel. And uh, the Lord is going to be dealing with them, but He has a hiding place for them, though.

All right. Next question. How long is the tribulation period? And what are some of the events that will take place during the tribulation period?

Period of seven years, but there will be intervals, uh, from. There will be first the first three and a half years, and then there will be a divine intervention, and then the last three and a half years, but the total period of tribulation is seven years. What are some of the events that will take place during the tribulation period? Some of those events will be, amen, uh, God judging Israel as a nation, and then the, when we read it in Revelation, that the bows will be, amen, and there will be some penalties in terms of woes that God has declared upon those who are judgment that will be administered to those that are left on this earth. Then we find that uh, also the Bible lets us know that there will be the, um, uh, Antichrist. Amen. And then there will be attack upon Israel. Uh, and then the Lord will allow Satan and his angels to be cast into the lake of fire for the final demise of Satan and his angels. All of that will be part of that conglomeration of the seven, uh, years period. But the first three and a half years, uh, there will be peace. In the midst of that seven years, then we will have made known the uh, evident will be the false prophet, that will come upon, they will come again to rise upon Israel and Jerusalem as a nation, and that's when God will divinely intervene and put an end to matters. For during the last three and a half years, I had put

On here, there they're going to great plagues will be seen like never before. Uh, wars, civil uprising, riots, famines like never before. Death that has never been seen before will be on this land, up upon the earth.

And what was interesting, even how plagues, man, you think the children of Israel went, Egypt went through plagues coming out of the, Israel went out of, uh, went through the plagues coming out of Egypt, man. They ain't seen nothing of what they're going to see in this tribulation and the death that has to come upon them. You think about this. Six million Jews died in the Holocaust. That wasn't even, that was a tip of the iceberg of what's going to happen in the tribulation because they rejected the Lord from glory. And all he wanted to do was love him. He said, "I want, I, I would have gathered you. I, I wanted to love you, but aren't you glad he turned to us?" If I can just say that for a minute. Aren't you glad he looked our way? He wanted to love them, but they wouldn't. And now they got to go through what they, the tribulation called that Jacob's trouble. That's that, that, that last they owe them one week. So, we, man, they're gonna go through some things. But as Pastor Harris was saying, he's making a place where they can run to that rock called Petra. That rock where some safety going to be. Go. Ain't God good?

Any other comments? There's going to be a one-world, um, government, a one-world religion. Um, there's going to be a requirement that you are have the, a mark of the Antichrist, 666, which is the number of a man. And they're doing that now. They're, they're developing things now where, uh, you can get these tattoos or, I don't, I don't really know how to explain the technology, but I did read about it. I have been reading on it and read about it where you, it's like you can just, um, you don't need anything, but they have this embedded where it can be sensed, you know. I can't remember what it's called now, but anyway, they're developing technology now where you can have, um, brands. So, you'll be required to have this mark in order to purchase anything, to do anything. There will be great persecution during, uh, the tribulation period that if you do, Revelation 7, I believe, speaks to that, that if you do not take the mark, you will be killed. You will be, beheaded. You will suffer. There is, you know, it will be such horrendous, um, pressure to conform and worship this Antichrist. And if you don't do it, the, um, the alternative is to be killed and martyred. So, those are some additional events, but the, the moon's going to turn to blood. It's just going to be signs in the heavens and signs on the earth. Uh, the sea's going to be turned into blood. So many events. Demons are going to be loosed and attack people, flying, attacking people. You can't die. It's just, it's going to be a great judgment and difficult times during the tribulation. That's why I'm not going to be here.

You have a hand, Bishop. All right. I just wanted to say there's no, Can I say something else too? Uh, Bishop also, he, he tells us too at the church, he said, "If, if you miss the rapture and you got to, uh, and it happens on Friday, you got to go work on Monday. Don't even worry about it. You'll be going to work on Monday. Things are going to continue as usual, but you got to trust and believe and know you missed the rapture." Can you imagine going to work knowing you missed the rapture? Lord have mercy.

Bishop, there will also be the preaching of the two witnesses that we find in the book of Revelation. And this will be part of the finality that we see. Um, amen. As they, they, I think it's, uh, Revelation 11, verse three. "And I will give power unto my two witnesses. They shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth." And these are those two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before God of the earth. "And if any man shall hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies. And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. They have power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophecy and have power over waters to turn them to blood and to smite the earth with all plagues, and often as they will."

All right. Next question. Relative to the tribulation period. If you are, uh, baptized in Jesus' name, filled with the Holy Ghost prior to, and you missed the catching away, uh, will you be able to be saved during the tribulation period? Salvation only comes, uh, through death. That's your salvation. If you don't take that mark, you'll be killed, um, martyred in some way. Um, but it won't be salvation as we know it and live it and experience it today. Um, the only way out is, is death, natural death. Bishop, that's not a chance I think anyone, one of us would want to take because we're living in the dispensation of grace, unmerited favor is over our lives. Now, grace would be removed and, as, uh, Dr. Harris said, uh, you would have to reject the mark of the beast. That's going to be a troubling period. It's less likely that if a man or woman did not accept Christ on the dispensation of grace, what makes one think that they would take it during the time of the tribulation? That, that's unreal thinking. Uh, illogical thinking. So, um, uh, I think the scriptures bear witness in and of itself. The time for the Gentiles is now under the dispensation of grace. After grace, God is dealing with Israel. Uh, and it's less likely, uh, that anyone would be able to withstand the judgment of God at, during that period of time.

Uh, I have to respectfully disagree. Uh, I mean, I, uh, but Pastor Harris, I have to, if you, if you miss the rapture, you're lost. If you, if you've been saved in the church and you fool around and miss the rapture, there's no, there's no making it in the tribulation. You had your chance. Because if you, if you, uh, if you can't make it over here under grace, uh, there's no going and, uh, or even saying, "I'm going to, uh, wait on to the very end and just run in here real quick." That ain't happening either. You got to come while the spirit's moving. Because we hear it all the time. Harden, uh, you know, "In the day you hear my voice, harden not your heart." Come when the spirit's moving. And I don't believe there's no way in the world that you going to, uh, uh, we, they used to sing that song talking about, "I'm going sweeping through the gate." Ain't nobody, I don't believe we, we ain't sweeping nowhere. If the righteous scarcely be saved, the, you know, we, we barely going to make it. It's going to, it's going to be God that presents us faultless. It's going to be him that, that, uh, uh, that allows us to make it. It's going to be him that, that gives us the right to make it in. And so, I don't believe that, uh, you know, if, if, if, if we miss the rapture, there's no making it in the tribulation. None.

Do we have a question or comment? Fact, you gave you a chance to be saved. You don't reject him, he don't reject you. Now, what makes you think he's going to change his mind? Because he would, he knows all things. And a spirit of delusion is going to come upon you that you believe that mind. God reject you, you reject. Yes. That's why our prayers constantly, "Lord, save me." Yes. Because the very fact he rejected you, he don't want you. My Lord. Yes, Lord.

All right. Relative to the same area of thought. Uh, we, we see now there's a, a shift in the culture. Uh, technology, as Dr. Harris made reference to, Real ID. Uh, people are able to pay for their food with a chip that's put in their hand right now. You can go to Whole Foods and scan with your hand. All right. Technology that is coming. What, what, how should the saints approach these things that are coming now? Run. We, we should approach it in a sense of realism. Said we're people of scripture and, and the scripture says these things would come to pass. So, we shouldn't be surprised because he has given us an awareness of what is to come in holy writ. And so, for us, it should be motivation for preparation and readiness for the coming of Jesus Christ, knowing that these scriptures say, the scripture says it must be fulfilled. Uh, it must be fulfilled. So, for us, it shouldn't be a surprise. Uh, it should be motivation for readiness for the coming of Jesus Christ. It also should be motivation for us to make an appeal for those that know not Jesus, so that their souls also. We never give up on souls until Jesus actually comes. We have a, a responsibility for harvesting of souls. Uh, I, I like to make this statement. I went to travel to Texas, uh, just a couple of weeks ago, and they have an, uh, when you go in to check in, they have a, a facial recognition scan, one station called Clear, where they do it by your eyes. Yeah. And so technology is rapidly changing. So now your ID, I mean, literally, I did not have to take out my ID. Your ID is really not going to mean anything very shortly. And so, something to consider.

Uh, we, we're gonna backtrack a little bit. Uh, second coming versus the rapture. What, what are the distinctives relative to the second coming versus the catching away? Quickly. I'm gone. That's, that's what it means to me. Uh, I'm gone. Uh, I said, we know that's that second coming, eagle's judgment. My endeavor is to see Jesus. So, my motivation, everything after that, I have an awareness of it, but I'm less concerned about it because I'm gone. Anyone else? The rapture, um, as we defined earlier, is the gathering of the saints prior to the great tribulation. And the second coming occurs at the end of the tribulation. Um, so when Christ comes back, um, Enoch preached about it according to Jude, um, he's going to be coming with tens and tens of thousands. Christ is going to come back and bring judgment on the inhabitants of the earth. Throughout the scriptures, it's often referred to as the Day of the Lord. And that Day of the Lord is referring to judgment and punishment on those that have rejected Christ. He's going to war against the Antichrist. And, uh, we know who's going to win, but, uh, like District Elder, I'm not going to be in that. I'm not going to be there in that judgment part. I'm going to be with him and not against him. I'm going to be caught up. So, they are two distinct events. The rapture, the tribulation period of seven years, and then the second coming when Christ is going to bring great judgment on the inhabitants of the earth.

All right. Uh, okay. We, we have some preaching points, uh, that we just talked about a little bit. We talked about the end times, then we talked about the rapture, then we talked about the, uh, seven-year tribulation period. But between that seven-year tribulation period and the second coming of the Lord, there's another event called the millennial reign. All right. Can you discuss a little bit about the millennial reign? Well, okay. The millennium reign is when, um, Christ is going for a thousand years, is going to rule the world. He, he's going to come, um, he's going to, uh, be in Jerusalem where the Antichrist tried to, um, establish his kingdom and rulership. And it is for millennium, referring to 1,000 years of peace and prosperity on the earth. Revelation 20 speaks of that. Isaiah 60-62, um, the temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Ezekiel 40 and 48. So, it will be a time when Christ himself will come, um, and is will be the king and the ruler for 1,000 years.

I concur with Dr. Harris and then just add a statement to it that during that period, at 1,000 years, the scripture says that the Satan and his angels will come up against the camp of the saints, um, on Jerusalem, and that's when the Lord is going to bring about finality. Satan and his angels. That's when they will be, uh, taken over by God himself, and they'll be cast into the lake of fire. Uh, and God will establish finality of what we know to be Satan and, and the devil. He will be finally destroyed. That would be inclusive of all false preachers, false angels, all of that. That conglomeration will be finally ended by God himself in that period, that period of the millennium, that thousand, uh, year period.

All right. Are there any questions? We're going to open the floor for some more questions if there are any more questions relative to this topic. All right. Talk about any minute. To occupy this building. Tell me what I believe. This isn't that Elder Aaron Dantley had an expression. He said, "We should work as though the Lord's coming is way off, but live as though it's immediate." Amen. And Mother, I would like, I'd like to add as well, uh, that responsibility until Jesus comes, we still remain, uh, in our responsibility for kingdom building. I see we've been, um, victimized in some sense with church work as opposed to kingdom building. Uh, our responsibility is lost souls until Jesus actually comes. Uh, we're his representatives. We're the ambassadors of Christ. So, uh, there remains a responsibility until Jesus comes that we seek, uh, to go after those souls that know not Jesus Christ and Lord. So, there should be divine fervor, even the more, the closer we see the coming of the Lord. Hold, hold, let him, let him finish. I just want to say too, they were looking for the rapture when Jesus ascended. They were looking for him to come back then, 2,000 years ago. So, all this time, we've still been occupying. So, you, we're supposed to occupy till he comes. Be ever working. "I must work while it's day, because night cometh, and no man can work." All right. He was expecting. He continued. All right. Any more questions from the floor? Yes, sir. 1200. I've been in this all of my life, um, church that preaches some truth, but not the fullness of truth. And I had a recent cutting people because of this limited truth that we have. That's their rab. And this is the sign of the age in which we live, that the fullness of truth will be perceived as error. Um, so we can't change the fullness of truth. It will always be misinterpreted. That we think that we're the only ones, right? This is nothing new. They did so, uh, when you look at Acts, I think it's chapter 4, they would have been forbidden to preach or teach in that name. So, there's always been fear of the enemy because of the results that we get through the power of the name of Jesus. So, we can't change to appease people's whose perception of us is that we're not inclusive. The gospel itself is an inclusive gospel, but is subject to obedience to the plan of salvation that cannot be altered for any reason for anybody. So, I hope that I was able to to give an answer, uh, but that this is a sign of the times in which we live, that the fullness of truth will be perceived in the minds of many as error, uh, that we're not inclusive. But they also, uh, perceive that Jesus and the disciples were not inclusive. They do the same thing that they did. Large Christians now is a religious term. Scripturally speaking, it was the true Christian whose pattern of life was to follow strictly after Christ. So, what we have now, interpretation of Christian today is anybody that embraced the supernatural. That's not biblical Christian. If you, you are following hard after Jesus biblically, you're Christian through obedience. Um, when I look in the scripture, I only see one way to be saved. Everybody in the New Testament that experienced salvation had the same experience. What a baptism in Jesus' name. Being filled with the Holy Ghost. When Peter went to the house of Cornelius, and while he was preaching, the Holy Ghost fell on them. So, they received the Holy Ghost before they were baptized. The next thing was, we need to baptize them, seeing they have received the Holy Ghost just as we have. So, if your salvation is not biblically based, there is no salvation. And if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. There must be a change. Going to a religious gathering on Sunday will not make you saved. Coming to this church on Sunday doesn't make you saved. If it did, when I go in my garage, I turn into a car. The only way I'm gonna be a car is there got to be a change. That's all I can see in here. That's why I keep pointing you back to this.

All right. Please stand when you give your question. We can't hear you. You got to use your preaching voice. For the iniquity already who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. I use that scripture because, you know, before a pot boils over, it gets warm. And right now, we're in the warm days, if you please. We're seeing things that the Bible is talking about that's going to happen come the rapture. And I have unsaved people asking me, "What's going on?" And I'm like, "If they can recognize something's going on, how much more so the child of God supposed to know what time it is?" When the, uh, COVID first broke out in 2020, I was, you know, looking at different things because everything was shut down on online, and I found this pastor in Jerusalem. You don't have a church in Jerusalem. You're undercover. And he said he had a meeting and he looked at his watch, and his watch had stopped. He called his wife, who was going to the meeting, to ask where time it was and be sure she was on time. And she said, "My watch has stopped." And he said, "What time your watch stopped?" And she told him it was the same time his stopped. He was like, "Okay, that's crazy. Let's get to the meeting." And after he hung up, he said his second hand of his watch started flying around his watch. The second hand just started flying. He said, "The Lord spoke to him and said, 'I'm fast-forwarding the time.'" And when he said it, something just clicked in my spirit. I just received it. And from that point on, it's like I'm seeing this, you know, it's like Monday, Friday, December, June, you know, it's time is like moving because it's high time that we wake up out of our sleep and realize what time it truly is. That's on my comment. Amen.

All right. We're getting close to the end, but we want to do a little test for you now. Uh, you've posed all your questions and, and they've given great answers. Amen. Let's thank God for our panelists first of all. So, I want to give you a little, little test, and this is for you. This is a personal test for you. You, you know the answer to it already, even before I even ask you. And so, how many of you believe the Lord is soon to come? Would you signify by raising your hand if you believe the Lord is soon to come? All right. Now, we, we have established that we believe the Lord is soon to come. Amen. Now, uh, District Davis made reference, uh, to something in particular, and Mother Wylie said something in particular, in terms of occupying until he comes. Amen. We all heard that, didn't we? And, uh, she posed the question, he gave in part the answer, along with others, our responsibility is to further the kingdom of God. Amen. All right. And District Davis made a distinction. He said, many times we confuse furthering the kingdom of God with church work. That's what you said, right, sir? All right. So, now I want to see the hands of everyone that serves in their church. You put your hand up if you serve in your church in some capacity. Regardless, you serve in your church. All right. So, we have already established two things. Now, the first thing we established was that we all believe these are the last of the last days. Jesus is soon to come, and we all serve in our local congregations. Amen. Okay. That's wonderful. But then the second part of it was, uh, when it comes to souls, because the purpose of the church is here to bring the lost to the Lord. Amen. All right. So, now I don't want you to raise your hand because I don't want to embarrass you, but I want you to hear what I'm saying. Okay? And don't raise your hand. All right? How many of us who believe the Lord is soon to come, that we're going to be raptured, believe this is the last day, believe we should occupy until he comes, are diligently working in our local assemblies, have actually warned anybody in the last year? I don't want you to raise your hand. I just want you to think about it because you may be doing one part, but not the other part. And if you're doing one part, that may make you feel good. Uh, that may make you feel real safe, but your impact for the kingdom is limited because, like Mary and Martha, you're doing the housework, but you're losing out on the good part. And so, in being ready, and we're, we're at the end of this right now, but I want to state this. We're going to get to you, Deacon. Uh, when I got saved in 1987, I'm going to tell you what happened. Um, I was absolutely positively shocked that this existed. I was born and raised in New York. I was born in Harlem Hospital. You can't get no more New York than that. All right. So, I'm in 8 million people, a church on every corner, multiple churches on each side of the street. And I never heard the apostolic doctrine. No one ever shared it with me. So, if you believe that these are the last days, the signs are in place, Jesus is soon to come, the tribulation is going to be terrible, you believe it enough to serve the house that you're, you're at, the church, and be faithful under your pastor. Then you should also believe that your responsibility is to impact somebody else so they can have the same hope that you have. Somebody say amen to that.

All right, Deacon Height. You have to use your preaching voice, even as a deacon. Yeah, when the question was asked about what we should be doing of, uh, uh, occupying until he come, and, and we did get an answer, um, because we was called to be witnesses. And what, uh, Bishop Marcus was saying about, uh, being a witness, it's, it's not that hard to do. And I was, I was from my own observation, um, doing the conventions. I only been in two organizations, and I've seen the same thing. Um, when outreach time comes, that's when we can fulfill that question that was asked, what we should be doing. And very few people go out to be witnesses at a time when the harvests are out there. I mean, I, uh, follow the outreach team, and there's a need for saints to be out there on the street with the outreach team, but very few go. I mean, we have several churches in the organizations, and most of them find things to do inside the hotel rather than out, and that's where the souls are outside. And, uh, I have covered the events on the outreach team for since we started, and I can see and the opportunity for churches to grow. I mean, you can go out there and you can learn the techniques of how to win souls. Uh, Bishop Marcus teaches a class on how to, uh, be effective in, in winning of souls. But those are the things that people draw back from for whatever reason. And, and, and I don't understand it because I've seen it working in action. You think about the report that we get from the outreach team, how many was baptized and how many was filled with the Holy Ghost. You think about how much more effective it would be if more of the churches come out and witness to those people. And see what the numbers would be at the end of the day. You would be amazed because people are standing around, not enough people to talk to them when they, they're listening to whoever speak. People are just standing around. And, and I'm thinking, what it would be like if more of the pastors sent their saints out to talk to these people. And, and it's done on the national level and also on the local level because I, I think all of the churches have outreach in their local churches. And, and I've seen, I've saw some of your saints, Bishop Marcus, at a shopping center. I was out there shopping, and they was out there outreaching. So, it do happen on the local level. So, I think that we should all take advantage of the, the time that we here occupying in witnessing. Amen. Amen.

[Applause] Praise the Lord, everyone. Praise the Lord. Uh, I just want to say how this is really, um, this was so powerful today. I often think about why we as apostolic, often times in our services, in our seminars, don't really address end times that we're sitting in. And I think that we should have more where we can drill down even further on the discussion of the tribulation, even further on the discussion of the book of Jude, first, second Timothy, many of the, the examples that we need to keep before us that are examples of the false prophecy, false teaching, the trends that are happening now that they have scans for some of these companies. That means we need to focus on developing even a closer personal, intimate relationship with Christ so that we're so standing on holiness that even though we may not understand the detail of every scripture, we will know the key things not to take a mark, not to take a scanning. And I hope that as we have council meetings and our conventions, we continue to explore different aspects of eschatology and all of the many points that were brought today.

All right. Minister Daniel has a microphone. Praise the Lord. So, I wanted to know when Bishop Marcus's witnessing class is or can. That's at 5:30 on today. Okay. Thank you. Um, and if you can, um, we preached a quote from Aaron Dantley, so I can write it down. Okay. Thank you. And, um, my third question. So, um, the rapture, do we know? We know, I don't, we don't know the, the day or the time, but do we have a general idea? General idea. We have the signs of the scripture, and all things are there. Okay. And, uh, my last comment is, I don't want to be out of order, but I really feel like shouting. All right. We received a question if, Okay. If the government requires us to take a chip in our bodies for purchasing, do we as saints fight it or accept a chip? Now, remember, Real ID just hit in May in your license, and it, it comes with a restriction on where you can travel. Amen. So, if you don't have the Real ID, That's right. You can't fly domestic. That's not international. That's domestic. That's in the country. That's right. So, that's, that's a legitimate question. Any of you guys want to address that very quickly? That I endeavor should stick with scripture. The scripture says that we should reject the mark of the beast, 666. He told us what it was. Uh, other avenues of technology, in terms of where, uh, the economic system may go, we may have to embrace. But the scripture specifically told us the number 666, and that technology that we should reject. Um, and then it, uh, by then, we won't even be here. So, we won't even be here to even, uh, have to worry about addressing that because that's after the rapture of the church. But they are, they are already placing medical chips in people's hands and arms. And so, we want to, you, you have to be wise because you think you're getting your medical records and you're doing something you ain't supposed to be doing. I mean, I don't. And let me say this, too. I don't think the Lord's going to let that slip up on the, uh, a true saint of God either. Let me say that, too. But he'll give you an unction from the Holy One. But you got to be wise. Ain't nobody going to put nothing in my hand except for some money, you know. Excuse me. Thank you. I, I know we have a lot of questions, but we are running out of time, and we got to make sure we take care of the business. So, Deacon Hike, I saw you. Uh, this is, you're the last one. No more after you. It's not kind. Amen. Elder Mr. Davis said it, but I think it needs to be said. You're not going to be able to take the mark of the beast by accident. It's, and we're not, the rapture of the church is prior to any solicitation of a mark of the beast associated with the Antichrist, which is associated with denying Christ. It's a very, uh, uh, intentional decision that a person, because the saints are going to be gone, a person will have to intentionally say, "Deny Christ. I want the benefits of being able to buy, sell. I don't want to, I don't want to be persecuted or or killed." It's an intent. You can't take it by mistake. And the saints will be gone. Just scripture will be gone. Uh, so the, the mark of the beast is applicable for after the rapture. Uh, so, you know, that's, to me, it's less of a concern for the church. The church is gone. Uh, and then for the most part, many are not going to be able to refuse if they want to do that. But again, that's not relative to the, we're talking about what affects the church, and the church is gone. To support that, to support that, real quickly, it's going to be a one-world government, one-world economical system, one-world religious system. We don't have that now. When that occurs, the church will be out of here. Like Evangelist Daniels read the scripture about, "He that will let," the Holy, that's the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is going to be removed from this earth, and then the, um, Antichrist, and he's going to be the one to, uh, introduce all of this, um, in terms of the mark and so forth and so on. And whether or not you want to know when you need to know it, you will need to know it through your attention. You can't get this if you're not.

[Applause] Very serious for young people as well as older people. I mean, Jesus is coming. [Music] And you know, they preach Jesus. That's right. But you don't talk to him. He's not going to talk to you. [Music] Come on, clap your hands for the Lord. We, we have to stop. We have to stop. Time. Time. Come on. I know you're, you're going to have to get the next panel session. Come on. Come on, Minister Danny. Can we give the panelists and our moderator a hand? What a thought-provoking discussion. And even in that discussion, some of the comments, we have to be honest. Some of us got rebuked this morning. We want to be rapture-ready, but we ain't really concerned about nobody else. We need to ask the Lord to help us to do our part. Help us to do all that we can do. Because don't you know when you do your part, not only are you going to be rapture-ready, but don't you know our crown comes with this? Don't you want the rewards that God has in place for us? But we got to do what we're supposed to do. We got to put in the work. At this time, we're going to have our finance team come and lift up our offering in the hands of our ushers. We have Sister Elise Palmer to my left, who will take credit card. We also have giving via Zelle in the hands of our ushers. [Music] Boy. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Praise the Lord again. I'm here to give you the announcement for the rest of the. Praise the Lord. We pray this message and this service has been a blessing to you. Now is the time of decision, a time when you can decide, what do I do about it? In biblical terms, that means what must I do to be saved? Well, the Bible tells us what we need to do. First of all, we need to believe. We need to believe the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ. And then we have to repent. Repent means turn. It means change your actions. It means decide you don't want to do those things anymore. And then the Bible says, "Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." This is a wonderful opportunity for you today. If this message has blessed you and you want prayer, you want to talk to somebody, you want counseling, the information is here. It's right on the screen. Just make that step of faith and decide, I want to be a part of the kingdom of God. I need somebody that'll help me and show me the right way. Listen, God is here for you, and we are going to be here for you, too. So, if you have enjoyed AFI District 1, reach into the comment chat, tell somebody, "Hey, I was blessed by this service." If you want to be saved, reach out and tell somebody on this chat, "I want to be saved. How do I get in contact?" We have water. We have change of clothes. We have a great God who's ready to fill you with his spirit. Why don't you make the decision today? Make it today. God bless you.