THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH | PASTOR JIMMY EVANS

Good morning, everybody. It is great to have you here today. It's great to see you and I'm excited about this series, uh, on prophecy. Uh, Pastor Mark is my good friend. I just love him and Pastor Lisa, their family. This is a wonderful church. Did you know that? Packed on Sunday morning. All the football players, great to have you guys here today, and uh, hope you're blessed this morning through the service.

Um, this series on prophecy, uh, this is something I heard, you know, I guess beginning at 19 years old, that Jesus was going to return. And I want to talk this morning about the rapture of the church. Now, the rapture of the church, if you're a believer, you may have heard about this before. If you're not a believer, this may sound like something, you know, out of science fiction or something like that, but it's something that the Bible clearly prophesies.

Now, when I talk about the end times, I make this statement. I don't believe we're living in the end times. I believe we're living in the end of the end times. I believe we're the generation alive just before the return of Jesus Christ. And the Bible talks about, you know, different signs of the times. The greatest sign of the end times right now is anti-semitism in the world. Jesus predicted in Matthew 24, he told a group of Jewish men, the disciples, "You will be hated by all nations for my name's sake." And the Bible goes into great detail about Armageddon and how the world at the end of the end times will be in a situation where the entire world will hate the Jewish people. There are only 16 million Jews in the entire world. There are 8 billion people around the globe in population. 16 million people. They capture the intention of the entire world, and they're hated just exactly the way that Jesus said they would be in the end times. There are many other signs of the end times like that.

But I want to talk about the rapture of the church. The rapture of the church, uh, is prophesied in many different places in the New Testament. But here's the clearest place where the rapture of the church is prophesied. This is the Apostle Paul, 1 Thessalonians 4, beginning in verse 13. "I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep." It means those who have passed away in Christ. "Lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. And we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words."

Well, the words "caught up," it says we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the clouds, in the air. The two words "caught up," that's one Greek word, and that's the word *harpazo*. And so when the Greek, uh, Bible, the Greek New Testament was translated into Latin, it's the Latin word *rapuro* or *rapio*. That's where we get our word rapture. It's a biblical word. And so the Apostle Paul says, "The dead in Christ, there's coming a time that there's going to be the Lord will shout. There's going to be the voice of an archangel and trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first."

Well, my mom and dad are both believers, very strong believers. They both passed away. Their bodies are in graves over in Dallas, Texas. When it says "those who sleep in Jesus," when it doesn't mean they're asleep, it means their bodies are laying down somewhere in a grave or something. Anyone who passes away in Jesus, they're in the presence of Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5 says, "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." And so, they're not in the ground somewhere. They're present with the Lord. But when the rapture happens, what happens is the people who have Christians who have passed away, their spirits who are in heaven are reunited with their bodies, but their bodies are resurrected a glorious immortal body. It's not the same old body that we knew. It's a glorious body. But as soon as they're resurrected from the ground, we are raptured, which means we're changed in a moment. And we're going to read the scripture here in just a minute. We, we are then changed. We are raptured and taken away.

So here's what it says: "Those who are alive and remain will be caught up with them in the clouds in the air to meet the Lord." Did you realize now there's going to be a generation of people who never die? Do you want to be a part of that generation? I want to go to heaven. And when people were talking about how they died, they said, "How did you die?" "Well, I was murdered." "How'd you die?" "I fell off a cliff." "How'd you die?" "I was eaten by a lion." "How did you die?" "I didn't." I want to be one of those people.

And so, according to the Bible, there, there is going, the rapture is a catching. The word rapture means to catch away. It means to snatch away. There's going to be a moment in time when Jesus shouts. There's a voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God, and all the believers of the world disappear. The dead in Christ rise first. And so all the believers in the world disappear. There's 8 billion people in the world. Two billion say they're Christians. If half of those are telling the truth, that means about a billion people are going to instantly vanish from the earth.

Here's another scripture that describes the rapture. Again, this is the Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:50. "This I say, brethren, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. I'll tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, 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, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." He says, "This corruption cannot inherit incorruption. This mortality can inherit immortality." So we're going to be changed. It means we're going to be transformed in a moment. The word "moment" there is the word *atamos*, where we get our word atom. It means an indivisible amount of time. The shortest amount of time that you can record. What it means is when the rapture happens, it happens so quickly, in the twinkling of an eye. The twinkling of the eye is 1/40th of a second. And so, so quickly, there's not enough time to repent. There's not enough time to be saved. There's not enough time to change. There's not enough time to make wrong things right. It happens instantly. And so the Apostle Paul tells us at the last trump, that there's going to be this cataclysmic event that we're all going to be raptured, and we're going to be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.

Jesus talks about the rapture in Luke 17. So, and I'm going to kind of annotate this as we go through it. Jesus said, "As the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in his day." So remember, the Apostle Paul said, "We're going to meet the Lord in the clouds in the air." Jesus said, "Now when I come, it's going to be like lightning flashing through the sky from one end to the other." Okay? "But he must first suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will also be in the days of the Son of Man." Now, he's talking about his return when he comes and raptures us, because he's going to describe the rapture here in just a minute. "As it was in the days of Noah, so will also be in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage." Now, this is business as usual. What Jesus is describing in Genesis chapter 6, we're told that the entire world had been corrupted with violence and immorality in the days of Noah. And the flood came and destroyed the entire world, and only eight people were saved, Noah and his family. The rest of the world was violent and immoral. Does that sound like the world we're living in today? And right before they were all judged, it says they were marrying, drinking, given in marriage, all those kinds of things, business as usual. But listen, "They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day, not a day, the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all." But Jesus is talking about the rapture. He's talking about his coming. He says there was one day in human history, it's just like when I return, and that one day, as there's going to be all this partying, all this business as usual. The world is violent and immoral. It's about to be judged. But in one day, I took the righteous out, and I judged the rest of everybody.

Then he gives another example. "Likewise as it was in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, and they built. But on the day, not a day, on the day, one day in human history that Jesus is comparing with the rapture, on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." So remember Sodom and Gomorrah, this was complete and total immorality and godlessness. And Lot and his family lived there, and Lot was righteous. And the angels came to get Lot and his family out. And the angels came to Lot and his family. Now, Lot's wife became a pillar of salt. She looked back. She didn't want to leave. She was in love with the world. But Lot and his daughters ended up leaving. And the angels that came to take them out said, "We can't judge this place until you're gone." God is not going to judge the earth until believers are gone. I'll talk about that more in just a minute.

So Jesus said, "It's going to be like, I want, I want to tell you what it's going to be like when I come. The world will be immoral, godless, violent, but business as usual. People are partying, buying, selling, marrying, giving in marriage. But there's going to come a day, a singular day when I'm going to take the righteous out. Everybody else will go through judgment." There's seven years of tribulation coming on the earth. And this begins in Daniel chapter nine. But there's seven years of tribulation is described in the Old Testament, New Testament. And Jesus said, "This time is so bad, unless those days have been cut short, no flesh would have survived." No, no human being will survive those seven years unless God cuts them short. It's going to be the worst seven years in human history. It's called the, the time of Jacob's trouble. And so the rapture happens here, and then the tribulation begins, just like Jesus said Noah and Lot were taken out, and then cataclysmic judgment came on the rest of the world.

Let's continue to reading. "Now Jesus is talking about Noah and Lot. In that day he was on the housetop and his goods are in the house. Let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field. Let him not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it. Whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, in that night, two people will be in one bed. The one will be taken." This is the rapture. He's describing the rapture here. "In that night, two people will be in one bed. The one will be taken. The other left. Two women will be grinding together. They'll be at the microwave or something. They're not grinding actually these these days. The one will be taken, the other left. Two men will be in the field, the one taken, the other left." And they answered and said to him, "Where, Lord?" And he said to them, "Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered up in the sky." Just like the Apostle Paul said, they're, they're going to be up in the air. Okay?

So Jesus says, "Two people will be in one bed, one taken, one left." Now, the rapture is a selective event. The only people who go are Christians. It doesn't matter if you're laying next next to someone in bed and they're a Christian. If you're not a Christian, you don't go. It's all based on your relationship with Jesus. If you know Jesus, you're going to go on the rapture. If you don't know Jesus, it doesn't matter who else you know. It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So the rapture is selective. But Jesus uses the word "taken." One taken, one left. The word "taken" is the Greek word *paralambano*. Okay? Why does that matter? John 14. This is Jesus speaking to the disciples. "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be also."

So Jesus said, "I'm going to go. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions." Now, this is wedding language. And for the western mind, for our minds, this doesn't mean anything. To the eastern mind, to the Jewish mind, they understood he was talking about marrying them. I want to say something to you. You may be a plumber, a teacher, a student, an athlete, whoever you are in this world, that's not who you are. You are the bride of Jesus Christ. That's who you really are. You're eternal. See, sometimes we just kind of get so trapped in who we are here, we forget the program that's going on. The program that's going on is our Savior left 2,000 years ago to go to his Father's house, and he's been there for 2,000 years preparing a place for us, and he's going to come back and get us. That's what's happening. And so Jesus said, "My, in my Father's house are many mansions. I'm, I'm going to go and prepare a place for you. And as surely as I go away, I'm going to come back and I'm going to receive you to myself." Remember I said the word "taken" is the word *paralambano*. The word "receive" is the word *paralambano*. "As surely as I go away, I'm going to come back and I'm going to *paralambano* you." One taken, one left. *Paralambano*. The word *paralambano* means to come back and take somebody to be with you. And that's what the rapture is. The rapture is Jesus coming for us to take him to heaven, to take us to heaven to be his eternal bride.

Why is there a rapture of the church? Two reasons. One is to unite us with Jesus, to be married to him forever. The second is to deliver us, to deliver us from the wrath of the tribulation. Now, I mentioned the tribulation just a minute ago. Let me read about the tribulation here just a second. Revelation 6. "Now, the tribulation chapters of the book of Revelation are chapters 6 through chapters 18. The tribulation begins in chapter 6. This is chapter 6, verse 15. The kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'"

So, in the first three chapters of the book of Revelation, it's the letter to the seven churches, and the church is mentioned 19 times in those verses. It's never mentioned again in the book of Revelation until chapter 22. In the tribulation chapters of Revelation, there's never a mention of the church because we're not here. We're with Jesus. And so it says here, the tribulation begins in Revelation 6 with the breaking of the seals. And it says all the kings, the mighty men hid themselves. And they said, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb." Isn't that a crazy thing to say? Is anybody here afraid of lambs? And can I just tell you to your face, if you're afraid of lambs, you're a, you are a total. Who in the world has ever been afraid of the lamb? But you better be afraid of that lamb. They've spit in his face. They've rejected him. They crucified him. His name is the favorite curse word around the world today. He has been rejected more than any other person in human history. And he's taken it and taken it and loved and forgiven and loved and forgiven and given grace and mercy and grace and mercy. But the day is coming that he's going to come and remove us because he's not mad at us. We're his bride. But he's mad at a world that's rejected him and spit in his face. And he's going to come and he's going to take us away. And the wrath of Almighty God is going to hit the earth.

Now, let me tell you, the good news is, the good news is people can still be saved during the tribulation, but most of them are going to be killed because of the severity of the tribulation. They can still be saved. Let me say this. If you want to receive Jesus, now is the time to receive Jesus before the tribulation. This is 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. "They themselves declare to us concerning what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." Revelation 6 tells us that the tribulation is the wrath of the Lamb. And then 1 Thessalonians 1 tells us Jesus is going to come and deliver the church out of it, not through it, out of it.

This is 1 Thessalonians 5. "Concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night or darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night. Those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together. Therefore, comfort each other and edify one another, just as you are also doing."

See, when the Bible says Jesus comes as a thief in the night, that's the unbelievers. That's not the believers. Paul says here, "You're not of the night. You're not, you're not of the darkness that that they should overcome you, overtake you as a thief." We should be ready. We don't know the day or the hour, but we know the season. We know the signs of the times.

This is Luke 21. This is Jesus. "Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all of those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man." Don't get weighed down with carousing and the things of this world because the rapture of the church will come as a snare. That's an animal trap. It will come as a snare on all of those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. That is a 100% inclusive statement. Every square inch of the globe will be affected by the rapture of the church. They will, they will be trapped by this event. But you, Jesus said, "You pray that you will be counted worthy to escape, not endure, to escape all these things and to stand before the Son of Man."

Some people say, "Jimmy, you're an escapist." Yes, I am. I'm an obedient escapist. Jesus told me to pray that I could escape. Why would he tell us to pray that we could escape if we couldn't escape? Pray that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that are going to be happening in the tribulation and to stand before the Son of Man in the rapture.

Some people say, "Well, Jimmy, I hate to disappoint you, but Christians are going to go through the tribulation and God's going to give us supernatural protection." Revelation 13. This is the Antichrist. "He was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And he was given authority to continue for 42 months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them." But that doesn't sound like protection to me. Revelation 20. "I saw thrones and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, who had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."

See, during the tribulation, during the middle of the tribulation, Revelation 13 is the middle of tribulation. This Antichrist, the beast, he's the worst human being in human history. He's literally Satan incarnate. He's going to come, and you're going to have to have a mark. You're not going to be here. People during that time are going to have to have a mark in their right hand or on their foreheads, or they can't buy and sell. And so, and it's not just a financial instrument. It means you worship him. You're making, you're making a vow of fidelity to the Antichrist, and you're rejecting Jesus Christ. This is what the mark of the beast means. If you do it, you take the mark and you're able to buy and sell, but you're cursed of God. If you don't take it, he's going to chop your head off. Think about the choices. And if you don't take it, you don't get caught. You starve to death because you can't buy or sell.

The time to know Jesus is now. That's what I'm trying to say. For people who wait, they can get saved, but they, they just, through the judgments of the tribulation alone, over half of humanity dies. That's besides all the martyrdom that happens. It's going to be just incredible, incredible death during the tribulation. I'm, what I'm saying is if, if someone says to you, "Yeah, you know, you're going to go through the tribulation, you're going to be spared." Does it sound like you're going to be spared? The Antichrist was given power over the saints. He beheads people because they won't take the mark. You're not going to be spared. But let me say, if you get saved now, you'll be spared because when the rapture happens, God knows who belongs to him. And everyone who knows Jesus is going in the rapture. And if you don't, you're saying whoever doesn't, they're going into a period of time that's the worst period of time in human history.

Now, so let me answer this question real quickly. Will children go in the rapture? Because if I said, if I came to a Christian parent and I said to you, I've got some good news for you. 6:13 a.m. tomorrow morning, the rapture is going to happen. You're going to get raptured, and you're one of them. God told me you're going in the rapture. You say, "What about my kids? They're not going." You don't want to go. I don't know of a Christian parent who would want to be raptured and leave their children behind for the world of the Antichrist. Let me give you the good news. When the rapture happens, all Christians go, and your children go. Babies, little kids, and most theologians believe that that children will all go up until the age of accountability. You say, "What's the age of accountability?" Most theologians believe around the age of 13. Jesus was bar mitzvah. Jewish boys are bar mitzvah. Jewish girls are bat mitzvah around the age of 13, and they become adults, which they, they become responsible for their own decisions. And so I don't know the exact age. I think that's about right. But let me say this, mom and dad, little children are most open to Jesus. That our job as parents is as early as we can to help our children understand and accept Jesus and to invite him into their hearts. And it's the importance of having your kids in church where that can be reinforced in this environment. And so, but, but regardless, your little kids are going to go in the rapture regardless, they know Jesus or not. But at 13, around then and beyond, I don't know. But there does come a point in time that kids are responsible for their own behavior. But it's not little bitty kids. So they're going to go.

Some people say, "Well, will pets go in the rapture? Will pets be in heaven?" Well, I, I think it's, I think it's like God that there will be pets in heaven. Good, good pets. If you have a pet rat, it's going to burn in hell. I'm just, I want to give you the bad news right up front here. You have a pet snake, it's going to fry. But I think, you know, dogs and cats and good pets, they're, I think they'll be in heaven. Uh, my, my neighbor's dogs are definitely going to hell, but they're lost. They got barking demons. But, but children, just, I'm just saying this just to comfort you. Your kids are going to go. And if you have kids beyond the age of accountability, you know, pray for them and do what you can just to make sure that they know Jesus.

When will the rapture occur? One last question. When will the rapture occur? Well, it can come. It's imminent, which means it can happen at any time. But there, the scripture says something important about when I believe the rapture will occur. And I want to say very carefully, I'm not dogmatic about this. Now, when I teach on this, it can sound like I'm dogmatic only because there's so much evidence that I see in the Bible that it's going to happen a certain way. Okay?

So, in the Old Testament, God told the Jewish people to have seven feasts. This is Leviticus 23. "The Lord spoke to Moses saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim holy convocations, these are my feasts.'" Okay, so God declared to the children of Israel there's going to be seven feasts that every year they had to observe these feasts. Okay, well, the word "feast" is the Hebrew word *moed*, and it just means a festival, an appointed festival. But a convocation, God says a holy convocation, that means dress rehearsal. I want you to have these feasts every year, but they're dress rehearsals of the future. Okay? So there are seven feasts of Israel. There were four in the spring and three in the fall. And so they are a, they, they're telling us the future in advance. They're a prophetic grid of the future. And we absolutely know that for an absolute fact. How do we know that? Because Jesus was crucified during the feast of Passover. In the Old Testament, they had a feast of Passover, and they took a lamb and they killed it. Remember when they came out of Egypt, they took the lamb and killed it and put the door, the blood on the doorpost of the house. And that was a picture of Jesus when his blood covers our sins. Death passes over us. Jesus was crucified during the feast of Passover. In John 1:29, John said, "The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.'" Unleavened bread. The second feast was unleavened bread. There was the feast of Passover. The next day was the feast of unleavened bread that lasted for seven days. Jesus was buried during the feast of unleavened bread. After he paid for the sins of the world, he was buried during the feast of unleavened bread. For seven days, they celebrated that feast. What's the significance of leaven in seven days? Leaven means sin. In the Bible, leaven means sin. Jesus took away, it was unleavened bread. Jesus took away the sins of the world. He just didn't take away the sins of the world. He perfectly took away the sins of the world once for all. He paid for all of our sins. The sin of the, the feast of unleavened bread. On the third day, there was the feast of first fruits, where the priest would take the barley harvest and wave it, the first of the barley harvest and wave it before the Lord. Jesus was resurrected during the feast of first fruits. 1 Corinthians 15:20. "Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." Jesus came out of the grave and was resurrected. And we are also going to be resurrected in a like manner when the rapture happens. The fourth feast in the spring was Pentecost. 50 days after first fruits was Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost, on exactly the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fell on the upper room, and the church was birthed. And on that day, the priest would take two loaves of bread and wave them. 50 is the, the number of Jubilee for the Jews. It's freedom. All debt was remitted. All slaves went free. It was this fantastic year for the Jews. But the priest would go up during the feast of Pentecost and he would wave two loaves of bread. Jew and Gentile was what this represented. The fullness of God has come to the Jews and the Gentiles. Okay? So Jesus was crucified on Passover. He was buried on unleavened bread. He was resurrected on first fruits. And Pentecost happened exactly during the feast of Pentecost. So the first four feasts were were fulfilled to the day in order.

Well, there's three more feasts. So the next three feasts are the fall feasts. There were four feasts in the spring. Then there was an interval, and then there was three more feasts in the fall. These are unfulfilled. The first four feasts were fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus. The second three feasts will be be fulfilled in the return of Jesus. Okay. What are the next three feasts? The next is the feast of trumpets. And I believe it will be fulfilled by the rapture of the church. Again, I'm not dogmatic about this. Jesus can come at any time. It's a two-day feast. This year, it'll happen on September, Monday from the 22nd to Wednesday the 24th. Now, in a Jewish day, it's sunset to sunset. The Jewish day is not from sunrise to sunrise. It's from sunset to sunset. Their days begin at dusk. And so this year on Monday the 22nd of September for two days, they'll celebrate the feast of trumpets. Then 10 days later is the feast of atonement. This is when their sins were paid for. This was a day of fasting. It was a day of introspection. It was a very serious day. I believe that'll be fulfilled by the second coming. That's not the rapture. That's seven years after the rapture. That is the physical return of Jesus. The first time Jesus comes, he comes for the church in the air as a private event. Seven years later, after the tribulation, he returns with the church, and every eye will see him. That's the day of atonement. Then the feast of tabernacles, five days after atonement, for seven days was the feast of tabernacles. That represents eternity. The Jews had to live in little huts, palm branches and stuff, remembering when God took them out of Egypt. This represents we'll spend all of eternity with God. It was the seventh feast, and it lasted for seven days, and seven is the number of perfection. The feast of trumpets, the feast of atonement, and the feast of tabernacles are three feasts that are unfulfilled. The next one to be fulfilled is the feast of trumpets.

Well, first of all, so why do you believe? Why do I believe that the rapture is associated with the feast of trumpets? Well, first of all, 1 Thessalonians 4:16. "The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first." 1 Corinthians 15. "Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. 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, will all be changed." During the feast of trumpets, there's a 100 trumpet blast. Nine times they blow the trumpet 11 times in a row. That's 99 times. And then there's the 100th blast. It's the longest, loudest blast. It's called the last trumpet. And Paul says here, "At the last trumpet, that's when the rapture is going to happen."

The Jews have celebrated the feast for 3,500 years. And they have the written record of the Torah and the prophets and the law and those things. But they also have the Mishna. The Mishna is very sacred to the Jews. It's their oral tradition. It is where they pass down the oral tradition that they write down many things that are very sacred to them. And so what they have written in the Mishna, I'm going to give you some names that the Jewish people call the feast of trumpets because we call it Rosh Hashanah. We call it the feast of trumpets or whatever. They have many names that they give the feast of trumpets that are very significant. Rosh Hashanah is one of the names is called the head of the year. This Rosh Hashanah is their, their civil new year. Uh, by the way, it's the day that the Jews believe that God created Adam. And so it's, it's a, it's a reset. It's a new year. When Jesus comes, the rapture comes, all things become new to us. They call it *Yom Teruah*, which means the day of blowing. It means the day of the awakening blast. The when the last trumpet sounds and the feast of trumpets begins, the Jews say that's the day of the awakening blast. "The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first." When the trumpet comes, all the dead in Christ rise. It's the day of the awakening blast. They call it in the Mishna, the Jews also refer to the feast of trumpets as *Yom Hadin*, which means the day of judgment. Revelation 22:12. Jesus said, "Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. I am the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning, the end, the first, and the last." And so when Jesus comes, he said, "My reward is with me." See, when, when Jesus returns in the rapture, we're judged. It's called the judgment seat of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5 and Romans 14 both call it the judgment seat of Christ. Well, no one goes to hell from the judgment seat of Christ. It's not a heaven or hell judgment. It's a rewards judgment. And so when Jesus returns, our sins are forgiven. The judgment seat of Christ is we appear before him and we're rewarded.

Now, some people may not have a lot of reward. Now, listen, listen what I'm about to say. We're saved by grace. And grace means you can't deserve it. You can't earn it. We've all done a lot of dumb stuff, and none of us deserve eternal life. None of us deserve to be saved. We can only be saved as a gift that we receive from God. But we're judged based on our works. Second Corinthians chapter 5 tells us we're going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And Jesus says here, "I'm coming quickly to give to every man according to his works." We're saved by grace. We're forgiven for all the things that we've done, but we're judged according to our works. And Jesus said, "If you give a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, you will not lose your reward." God rewards everything. God, God doesn't miss anything. And I'm not saying that to make you fearful because you shouldn't be fearful. If you're a believer, you're going to go to heaven and you're going to be rewarded. But I'm saying that to say every single thing we do matters. And we just need to remember between now and the time that Jesus comes, the way we treat people, the way we talk to people, the way that our life reflects upon Christ, all of those things, they matter. Don't, don't be paranoid. None of us are perfect. But I'm just saying one day when Jesus comes, we're going to stand before him in judgment. And it doesn't matter what social media says at that point. Our friends aren't going to be there. There's, there's no peer pressure at that point. It's just us and Jesus. And I've got to look at him in the face. And there's not going to be any fear. There's not going to be any punishment, but I'm going to be judged based on my works. And heaven is not a socialist republic. There's going to be a lot of people in heaven richer than others. Now, everybody in heaven is going to be blessed because they're going to be in the presence of Jesus. There's no losers in heaven. Everybody there is going to be blessed. But there's going to be some people in heaven that are fabulously wealthy. They may not have been wealthy in this life, but they did good works all their life for Jesus. And Jesus said, "I'm coming quickly to re, and my reward is with me to give to every man according to his works."

Well, they call it, the Jews call it the day of judgment. Here's another name they have for the, for trumpets. It's the day of remembrance, *Yom Zichron*. The day of remembrance. The rapture is a selective event. It's a day that God remembers who is his. So when Jesus comes and the rapture happens, he's going to remember that day that we invited him into our hearts and that day that we accepted him as Lord of our lives. Listen to this one. It's called the wedding day of the Messiah. Remember I told you we're the bride of Christ. Jesus said, you know, "I'm going to my Father's house to prepare a place for you. As soon surely as I go away, I'm going to return and receive you into myself." Okay? They call it the, one more and I'm done. It's called the day which no one knows. Uh, Matthew, Mark 13. Jesus said, "Of that day and hour no one knows, but even not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Jesus said, the, the day that he returns, the day and the hour no one knows. If I told you that Jesus was coming this feast of trumpets, it's a two-day feast. You still don't know the day or the hour. The Jews call it the day that no one knows, the hidden day. And so I believe there, the Passover was literally fulfilled. Unleavened bread, the first fruits, and Pentecost were all literally fulfilled in order to the day. If the first four feasts were fulfilled, you think the next three feasts are going to be fulfilled? Absolutely. In order to the day. The next feast is the feast of trumpets. To me, all of the symbolism here represents the rapture. Now, I may be wrong, is that, you know, Jesus could come anytime he wants to come. I don't want to engender this belief that you only need to be careful two days of the year and after Trump is over, you go, "Okay, let's go party again. You know, Jesus didn't come. Let's go." Jimmy Evans, he's not. No, here's what I'm saying. He can come anytime he wants to. We need to be ready at all times. But when the feast of trumpets comes, I, I mean, I'm ready. I pay attention. I focus because I know there's going to be a fulfillment to that feast. Maybe I'm wrong on exactly how it is going to come about, but when I look at all the Jewish names for it, it sure makes sense to me.

So, the main thing is this. Whether you're a believer, you're not a believer, are you ready? It's going to happen. Jesus came the first time, and the first four feasts were fulfilled. He's going to return. He promised us he was going to return, and the next three feasts are going to be fulfilled. I want you to stand with me if you would, and thank you for being so patient. And I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes if you would. I'm going to pray a prayer. And at the end of this prayer, our altar ministers are going to be here at the front. Our altar team is going to be here at the front. And if you need prayer for anything in your life, they're going to be here to pray for you. Okay? So, I don't want you to leave if you need somebody to pray for you. And they'll be here as long as anyone is needing prayer. If you have hurt, if you're hurt physically, you need healing in your body, you have a sickness, an illness, maybe you're going through a marriage difficulty or difficulty with your kids, financial problems, maybe you have a problem at work, or maybe you lost your job, or just, listen, anything that is hurting you or bothering you, we care about. And we want to share our faith with you and just saying we're believing God for a miracle for you. So, at the end of my prayer, if there's anything at all that you need prayer for, I want you to step out immediately and walk down, and one of our altar team, they're going to be down here to pray with you.

But I want, as you have your head bowed there, I want to pray for everyone who isn't saved. That if Jesus came now, you would not be raptured. You do not know him. You're not ready. And I want to say a prayer for you. But in this response, at the end of my prayer, I'm inviting you. Some of you are here, you know if Jesus came, you're ready. Some of you are here, you don't know. Or you know that you're not. You must know. If there's anything in this life, you must know. You must know that you're right with Jesus. And it's all by grace. You can't deserve it. You can't earn it. It doesn't matter how many bad things you've done. He will give you the free gift of eternal life if you just ask him. So, I'm going to pray for everyone here that doesn't know Jesus. And at the end of this prayer, as soon as I'm finished, anyone that needs prayer, I want you to come down.

Lord Jesus, I'm praying for every man, woman, and child in this room that if you came right now, they would not be raptured. They don't know you. They don't know you personally. They've never received the gift of salvation. And Jesus, you said in Revelation 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I'll come in and dine with him, and he with me." You're talking about the door of our hearts. And you're saying you're knocking on that door, and all we have to do is open it. We don't have to be good. We don't have to know any of the Bible. We don't have to do anything. We don't have to do anything other than just open that door. And your promise is if we'll open the door of our hearts, you'll come in. I pray, Lord, right now that anyone who doesn't know you personally will hear that door knock. That something will happen in their hearts right now that will let them know this is their day of salvation. You love them so much. Your, your will for their lives and your plan for their, their lives is so great. But it begins the moment they open that door. And I pray that you'll give them the grace to step out and walk down and let someone pray with them the prayer of salvation. Bless everyone here. Let your healing power flow. Let your saving power flow. Let your delivering power flow. And do miracles in this place in Jesus name. Amen. Come now if you need prayer.