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Don't be duped by fake Christianity and false prophets!
Fred R. Coulter—August 17, 2024
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The Protestant world is waiting for the secret rapture. Will there be a secret rapture?
Well, I got the whole book by David Jeremiah, The Great Disappearance. We will examine some parts of it, but we will look at the Scriptures and see that there will be no such thing as a secret rapture with millions of people just disappearing like the ad that you see on television for this book.
Of course, the way that you know what the enemy is doing, you read their books, then you find out what they're saying. It's just like it always is, as we said how many times, if you don't keep the commandments of God and the Sabbath and the Holy Days, you will not properly understand prophecy, because the Holy Days lay out the framework for all the events that are going to take place from the time of Daniel, clear to the time of the end.
Think of it this way. They're just like a skeleton. And a skeleton is the main thing that keeps you as a person. If you take away all your bones, what do you have? You've got a glob of flesh, right? Nothing left! Well, when you take some of the bones and some of the flesh and leave it off, then you have a modified body.
This is what they do with the Bible. They come into the Bible and they look at it and they read certain Scriptures, and from there they make doctrines that may appear to be true, but are not! So, we'll look at those.
Here's one of the verses and we've heard this. There are a lot of us like Russell and I and many of the others, who have been in a church a long time. One of the first books that we read was a little pamphlet: 1975 in Prophecy, Christ Will Return. How many remember that? Nobody here because you came after that!
Well, it didn't happen. And part of it was that before the Tribulation, there are going to be some taken to a place of safety; kind of like a rapture, but not exactly.
So, there were people in those days that they would come to Church and they would have their 'Petra box' in the trunk of their car in case they had to leave to go to a place of safety. That's all based on this Scripture:
Luke 21:36: "Watch, therefore, and pray at all times that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
That's what we heard; you be prepared. Well, guess what happened? In 1972 when we were supposed to flee to a place of safety the first week in January, didn't happen.
Then later on, there were those who said it's going to be in 1987-88, and then we heard in 2007, 2009. All of those were 'Christ is coming' and it never happened. So, here we have a whole book devoted to The Great Disappearance where supposedly millions of believers will all of a sudden just POOF!—disappear!
Well, we're going to look at what's going to happen and we're going to see that there will be a few taken to a place of safety on the earth! But the rapture is that they will ascend to heaven and be with Jesus.
Let me read from this section of
The Great Disappearance by David Jeremiah
The rapture and the second coming of Christ are two distinct events…
No, there are several parts to the return of Christ.
…that will occur in different settings…
During the rapture, only those who have accepted the salvation of Jesus Christ will be aware of His presence.
Now, what does it say in the words of Jesus Christ Himself? Let's look at it in Rev. 1.
In other words, this 'rapture' would be a secret taking away. Then he says, of course, the world will see the results of it:
They will notice that huge numbers of people literally disappear in an instant and they won't understand the cause.
Will it happen that way? He says here of the rapture:
The Lord will meet believers in the air. Only believers will see the Lord.
Revelation 1:7: "Behold, He is coming with the clouds… [and no one is going to see him but the saints; what does it say?]: …and every eye shall see Him." Everyone!
We will see that that starts out with the sign of the Son of Man.
"…And those who pierced Him…" (v 7).
The ones who pierced Him were at the time when Jesus was crucified. They won't be living at that time, but there will be a time when they are resurrected, when they will see Christ. So, there's a whole different time period involved in it there.
"…and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen" (v 7). So every eye is going to see Him!
- How can it be that there is a rapture only for those who believe in Christ?
- What does it mean to believe in Christ?
The way they have it today, you say, 'Do you believe in Christ? Oh, yes, I believe in Jesus!
- to believe in Him is quite a different thing than professing
- to be a Christian is a far different thing than saying, 'Lord, come into my heart'
which is a deception in itself, because God gives the calling and we come to God! We don't ask Christ to come in to us, because IF we did that and God would do it, THEN we would be commanding God!
IF you command God, are you not then greater than God?
So that prayer that all of these Protestants have, you can see it even on newscasts, that if you believe… What they want, they want people to come to church so they can get money. If you don't believe that, just look at all the preachers that you see on television. God wants the Truth and nothing but the Truth taught!
Let's see what else it will be. Then David Jeremiah says here:
…those raptured will be taken to heaven.
Really?
- IF you're taken to heaven, what is the need of the resurrection?
- IF, when you die, your soul goes to heaven, why do you need a resurrection?
A lot of these things are pleasant words to draw people to themselves. Everyone who teaches from the Word of God is to teach everyone to turn to God, NOT to the preacher!
Look at what happens whenever everybody gets all wrapped up in a man. When we had to stand for the Truth, and stand for the Truth because the Church we were in was becoming very corrupt, and we have to stand for the Truth regardless of what the circumstances are! Without standing for the Truth, do you think there's going to be any salvation? No, because Jesus is 'the Way, the Truth, and the Life,' and we are to live by every Word of God, which is the Truth of God!
So, when we had to stand for the Truth, the word came out that if there's any doctrine that's going to be, it's only going to come through the church leader. There are still people today in the Churches of God hypnotized and believing that statement. Now, if you say it could only come from this man, and then he dies—which he did—how are you going to grow in grace and knowledge? Not possible!
…The rapture could happen at any moment….
No! Now, you see what you have in here! IF you don't believe what they tell you, THEN you won't be in the rapture.
…It is not mentioned in the Old Testament. It will be a time of joy for believers. A time of joy for believers. The Lord will come as a bridegroom. The tribulation period will follow it.
That's about the best summary of the whole book. You get books like this. There's some truth here and then a lot of the speculation and some truth over here and a whole lot more speculation. So, it draws people in.
We're going to see there is a reason why some people flee to the mountains. Is that a rapture?
Matt. 24—here is the key in understanding when the Tribulation is going to begin. There's even one minister who's a Protestant minister saying that the sixth trumpet has sounded, because the River Euphrates is very low. Well, that's because of drought and too many dams.
But he (the book author) doesn't read the rest of Rev. 6 because it prepares the way for the armies of 200 million.
- Are there armies of 200 million waiting to come to the Holy Land right now? No!
- Will there be in the future? Yes!
So keep your eyes on this one event right here:
Matthew 24:15—Jesus speaking: "Therefore, when you see…" Remember, all of these prophecies you will see, not like it says here (in the book) that only the believer will see.
"…the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, standing in the Holy place.' (The one who reads, let him understand.)" (v 15).
That temple was destroyed in 70A.D. So, Jesus is talking about another temple here that's shown there in Rev. 11; that there will be a temple. The Holy Place has to be in the temple. It can't be a place where they make an altar of whole rocks and offer offerings on it.
"…(The one who reads, let him understand.)" was put there because John in canonizing the New Testament did not understand what Jesus was saying, because he knew that the temple was already destroyed in 70A.D.
Now we've covered that already, but there will be a temple built. That is the key! The war right now that's going on in the Middle East is the heart and core of why that war is. The Jews want to put the temple where the Mosque of Omar is, but that's not where the temple used to be!
The Jews want to destroy the Mosque of Omar and the Muslims will destroy the world if they attempt to do it. So, that's the source of the conflict that's going on there, and eventually it will lead to the building of the temple. How long that will be, we don't know.
Then He says, v 16, 'then let the ones who are in Judea fly into the air in the rapture.' No!
Verse 16: "Then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains."
- Where are the mountains? That's on the earth!
- Where are the mountains? That's east of Jerusalem!
- What is this?
This is an escape—physical—going from one physical place to another physical place. Nothing about going to heaven.
Verse 17: "Let the one who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house; and let the one who is in the field not go back to take his garments. But woe to those women who are expecting a child, and to those who are nursing infants in those days! And pray that your flight be not in the winter, nor on the Sabbath… [the Sabbath is binding in the end-time] …for then…" (vs 17-20).
When that 'abomination of desolation' goes into the Holy Place, those in Judea and Jerusalem need to flee.
Now before we proceed any further, let's answer the question of this.
- Why would God want to spare some people in the flesh from the Great Tribulation and the great martyrdom that's going to happen during the Tribulation?
- Why would He do that? Because the great martyrdom, as we find in Rev. 6, is going to be vast!
We'll see what He says concerning the Church:
Matt. 16—and this is when Peter had revealed to him that Christ was the Christ, and Jesus said it was by the Father. Okay, so let's read it here.
Matthew 16:16: "Then Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona… [son of] …for flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but My Father, Who is in heaven'" (vs 16-17).
That's an interesting thing to look at or look at. Can God give you a thought, and you not even know that God gave that thought to you? Yes indeed, but it has to be Truth!
Verse 18: "And I say also to you that you are Peter…"—little stone!
Sidebar: Christ did not build Himself on Peter to start the Roman Catholic Church. The Simon that the Roman Catholic Church was started on was Simon Magus (Acts 8) who went to Rome in 42A.D. Peter (the apostle) never went to Rome!
"…but upon this Rock [Himself] I will build My Church, and the gates of the grave shall not prevail against it" (v 18).
Now the King James says 'hell' instead of grave, but it's grave, which means that there's coming a time that there will be such a martyrdom that there has to be some fleshly Christians who have the Spirit of God who will not suffer the consequences of the Tribulation.
Now we saw it with what we read already about fleeing to the mountains. Now let's see the prophecy of this very thing as I have explained.
- it's not going to heaven
- it is not a secret rapture
but it's going to be some place on the earth! It's not going to be all Christians. True Christians are those who have the Spirit of God and keep the commandments of God.
Let's see Rev. 12 where the Great Tribulation begins, and the Great Tribulation begins with Satan the devil who was cast down.
Revelation 12:13: "And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who had brought forth the man-Child."
It starts out as persecution. This is just right at/just before the Tribulation begins. Remember: the Tribulation does not begin until the temple has been built and 'the man of sin, the son of perdition, goes into the temple, (2-Thess. 2) and declares himself to be God.' So, this right here that we're reading is a prelude to his going into the temple.
Verse 14: "And two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman, so that she might fly to her place in the wilderness…"
Never is heaven ever called a wilderness! That's on the earth! We'll see that in a minute in Luke 17.
"…where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent" (v 14).
That means three and a half years, and that's the length of the Great Tribulation, three and a half years.
Verse 15: "And the serpent cast water out of his mouth as a river, so that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood…. [nothing like that going on in heaven] …and the earth… [not heaven] …But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed up the river that the dragon had cast out of his mouth. Then the dragon was furious with the woman and went to make war with the rest of her seed…" (vs 15-17).
This is the correct translation, because the King James says the remnant, which in English means the few left over parts, like a bolt of cloth. A remnant is when all of the cloth is used but there is just a little bit left that you could use for some small items, and that's called the remnant.
So, it is "…the rest of her seed." Here's the identification of what they do:
"…who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (v 17).
There is going to be the martyrdom. Let's see where we find that Jesus explained this in Luke 17. Remember we are talking about physical people who are Christians who are taken to a place and protected (Rev. 12).
Luke 17:20: "Now, when the Pharisees demanded of Him when the Kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, 'The Kingdom of God does not come with observation'"
It's not going to be something you just look for and look for and it's going to come.
Verse 21: "Neither shall they say, 'Behold, it is here!' Or, 'Behold, it is there!' For behold, the Kingdom of God is standing in the midst of you."
Jesus is referring to Himself, because He represents everything concerning the Kingdom of God, and He was to become the King of the Kingdom of God. He's standing in the midst or the middle of you. In other words, they were gathered in a circle around Him and He was standing there and He was saying that He Himself was the Kingdom of God, which at that point was absolutely true as a human being, as God in the flesh.
Verse 22: "Then He said to the disciples, 'The days will come when you shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and shall not see it. And they shall say to you, "Look here," or, "Look there." Do not go, neither follow them. For as the light of day, whose light shines from one end under heaven to the other end under heaven, so also shall the Son of man be in His day'" (vs 22-24).
That goes back to Matt. 24, that the sign of the Son of Man was like a second sun, which then we'll talk about that later.
That will be up there for just about a year and the whole world will see it.
Verse 25: "But first it is necessary for Him to suffer many things and to be rejected by this generation. Now, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of man. They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah went into the ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all. And it was the same way in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building" (vs 25-28). Everything is normal!
Verse 29: "But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed them all. This is how it shall be in the day that the Son of man is revealed. In that day…" (vs 29-31).
Notice this. It ties right in with what we read in Matt. 24.
Verse 31: "In that day, let not the one who is on the housetop, and his goods in the house, come down to take them away; and likewise, let not the one who is in the field return to the things behind. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it…" (vs 31-33).
What are they doing with this? It says:
31 Ways to be Rapture-Ready
Everyone who believes in the rapture is 'seeking to save his/her life.'
Notice what Jesus says here, and this ties right in with those fleeing from Jerusalem. What about those in other areas of the world that are true and faithful and that God is going to count worthy that in the flesh that they will be able to go to a place of safety as we read in Rev. 12.
Verse 34: "I tell you, in that night there shall be two in one bed; one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two men shall be in the field; one shall be taken, and the other shall be left" (vs 34-36).
If you picture the world, part of the world is in nighttime and part of the world is in daytime. So, we have at nighttime, it's going to occur in one area, then it's in the daytime, two women will be grinding, one will be taken, the other left. Two men will be in the field, one will be taken, the other left.
Verse 37: "And they answered, saying to Him, 'Where, Lord?'…."
Where's it going to be? The truth is, we don't know! Many have speculated that it would be in Petra, in the eastern part of Jordan. Possible, but we don't know!
"And He said to them, 'Where the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together'" (v 37).
- Why did He not say where it's going to be?
- What do you suppose would happen if he said where it's going to be?
That would be the greatest real estate in the world!
There was a minister who still is a minister in one of the Churches of God, thought that he could go over to Jordan and buy Petra. Now, is that not seeking to save your own life? Of course, he couldn't buy it. But think what it would be if Jesus would have said, 'It's going to be here.' That would have been the most prized piece of real estate on the face of the earth.
He didn't say! Rev. 12 shows that it's somewhere in the wilderness. Those are the only ones physically—they won't go to heaven—but they will either walk there out of out of Judea or they will be taken by the angels there, like it says in Rev. 12 that the wings of a great eagle—that's likened unto angels—will take them to the place in the wilderness on the earth, not to heaven!
They misconstrue a lot of things concerning the resurrection and the so-called 'rapture.' So, let's come to 1-Thess. 4 and let's unwind that and see it the way that it is.
When you read 1st & 2nd Thess., at that time they were thinking that Jesus was coming in their lifetime. Clear back before the destruction of Jerusalem.
1-Thessalonians 4:14: "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in exactly the same way also, those who have fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with Him."
How's He going to bring them with Him when no one goes to heaven?
Verse 15: "For this we say to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall in no wise precede those who have fallen asleep."
Now, fallen asleep is a term and definition for those who have died into faith.
Verse 16: "Because the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven… [visible] …with a shout of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first." That is a resurrection!
That's not a rapture. Now, here's where they get all mixed up:
Verse 17: "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds for the meeting with the Lord in the air; and so shall we always be with the Lord."
That sounds a little bit like a rapture, but it's not, because it's talking about the resurrection! Not all the saints will be dead at the time of the resurrection. What's going to happen to them?
He answered it: "…the dead in Christ shall rise first" (v 16)—talking about the resurrection!
Those who are "…caught up…" (v 17) will be changed instantaneously from flesh to spirit, and caught up because the angels will take them to the Sea of Glass!
We'll see that. We've covered that many times, but we'll see that again.
- this has nothing to do with a 'secret rapture'
- it has nothing to do with only those who believe in Christ will see Him coming with 'the rapture'
- it has nothing to do with the trumpet that is sounded is a 'rapture trumpet'
That's what he says in the book The Great Disappearance! Nowhere do we have a rapture trumpet, which only the believers will hear!
What if there was 'a rapture trumpet,' and you're old, and you didn't have your hearing aids in, and you didn't hear it, and you didn't go?
Now, the key in understanding Scripture is you have to get all the Scriptures on the topic and rightly divide the Word of God!
There is not a single man on earth today that has more knowledge than what the Bible tells us, or more knowledge than what Christ has told us, so that they can bring something new that's not in the Bible, and it becomes true because they thought of it! It has to be the Truth and the Word of God.
1-Cor. 15 is a very important chapter concerning the resurrection!
Remember, the word 'rapture' is not in the Bible! The words 'caught up,' where it says those who are 'caught up' to meet Him in the clouds does not mean rapture. We find in Matt. 24 that the angels will take all, as we will see, to the great Sea of Glass (Rev. 15). That's when all will be with Him!
When we all come off the Sea of Glass and come down to take over the world, Christ returns to the earth and 'all the saints with Him.' That's when that will take place.
Remember, all of the Greek pagan religions had: when you die you go to heaven or you go to hell. Those doctrines were starting to come into the Church.
1-Corintians 15:12: ""But if Christ is being preached, that He rose from the dead, how is it that some among you are saying that there is no resurrection of the dead?"
When that's the whole point! So, even in Paul's day, there were false doctrines coming around refuting Truth.
Verse 13: "For if there is no resurrection from the dead, neither has Christ been raised."
And what is Christ called? He is the Firstfruit, the First of the firstfruits, and He's the Firstborn from the dead.
Verse 14: "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain. And we are also found to be false witnesses of God…" (vs 14-15).
What does this tell us here? Anytime you bring a doctrine that is not correct, and you say that this is of God, you are a false witness pretending to bring about God, that's what Paul is saying here.
"…because we have testified of God that He raised Christ, Whom He did not raise, if indeed the dead are not raised" (v 15).
So you see, it's not either or; it is this is the way!
Verse 16: "For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. But if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins, and those who have fallen asleep in Christ have then perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most miserable…. [if we are the only ones] …But now Christ has been raised from the dead; He has become the Firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive… [here is the key, right here]: …But each in his own order…"" (vs 16-23).
Now, remember Rev. 20 talks about the first resurrection when it says: but the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years are finished! There's a time of resurrection.
Verse 23: "But each in his own order: Christ the Firstfruit; then those who are Christ's at His coming."
When at His coming? There's a specific time!
Verse 24: "Afterwards the end comes, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to Him Who is God and Father, when He shall have put an end to all rule and all authority and power. For it is ordained that He reign until He has put all enemies under His feet" (vs 24-25). Then Paul talks about continuing on to resurrection.
Verse 35: "Nevertheless, someone will say, 'How are the dead raised? And with what body do they come?' Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that shall be; rather, it is bare grain—it may be of wheat, or one of the other grains" (vs 35-37).
Then it goes on showing all flesh and everything, heavenly bodies, glory of one, glory of the other.
Verse 42: "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body" (vs 42-44).
That's why we're made in the image and likeness of God, but in the flesh.
Verse 45: "Accordingly, it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living soul; the last Adam became an ever-living Spirit.' However, the spiritual was not first, but the natural—then the spiritual" (vs 45-46). Then he explains a little bit more about that!
Verse 50: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all fall asleep… [some will be alive as we saw in 1-Thess. 4] …but we shall all be changed, in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet…" (vs 50-52).
The supposed 'rapture trumpet' is the first, which nobody hears but those who believe in Christ! Doesn't say that!
Verse 52: "In an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
Now mark that "…the last trumpet…" because that becomes very important to understand. And there's only one place in all the Bible where there is a sequence of trumpets. Those are the seven trumpets, as we find, in Rev. 8 & 9, and then the seventh trump in Rev. 11.
Verse 53: "For this corruptible must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal must put on immortality. Now, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory'" (vs 53-54).
We'll finish off the chapter here, and then we'll see when is the last trumpet!
Verse 55: "O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law. But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (vs 55-58).
Now, there are many Churches of God who believe that the resurrection is on the Feast of Trumpets, and that is not true. The Feast of Trumpets is a war Feast where the trumpets are blown all day long! If they're blown all day long, that means they start out in the morning, and they end in the evening.
When does the day end? At sunset! That would end what day! The Day of Trumpets! IF the last trumpet was blown at the end of Trumpets, THEN the whole day of the Feast of Trumpets could not be the day of the resurrection, because it will already have passed!
But because those Churches of God still have idols in their mind about Herbert Armstrong as being the Apostle of God, and that he understood all the doctrines in the Bible. He did not!
So let's read it; let's come back here Rev. 6 and we will see the sequence of events, because they follow in order all the way up to the resurrection.
Rev. 4 & 5 tells us that all the events that follow in the book of Revelation after this are orchestrated and planned and carried out by God the Father in heaven above, and Jesus executes the plan. He is the Lamb who opens the seals. No man opens the seals.
We can look and see if the seal has been opened, but we don't know when it's going to be opened. We know by the event. So, prophecy is not speeding up or he's not cutting short the time. It's all laid out in sequence here.
Revelation 6:1: "And I looked when the Lamb opened one of the seals… [that's the first seal] …and I heard one of the four living creatures say, like the sound of thunder, 'Come and see.' And I looked, and behold, there was a white horse…" (vs 1-2).
A white horse symbolizes righteousness. This is a fake righteousness. As far as the seals being opened, the only one that we know could possibly be opened is the first seal, because that pictures the amalgamating of all the religions in the world into a one-world religion.
"…and the one who was sitting on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer" (v 2).
Now then, the second seal has not been opened, because the second seal begins the Great Tribulation. When does the Great Tribulation begin? WHEN the man of sin, the son of perdition, goes into the Holy Place, THEN shall be Great Tribulation!
Now, there will be a buildup of that leading up to the man of sin to when he goes into the temple. But the second seal is the Beast Power, and it's rising right now.
Verse 3: "And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, 'Come and see.' And another horse went out that was red; and power was given to the one sitting on it to take peace from the earth…" (vs 3-4).
That fits exactly right in with Dan. 9.27. For the last seven year period, half of it will be peace, and the other half of it will be the Great Tribulation ending in the return of Christ.
When that second seal is opened, it cuts loose the wars at the end. Then we have the third seal, death; the fourth seal, the pale horse that's death and grave, and authority over one-fourth of the whole earth.
When he opened the fifth seal, now here's the key, here's why there are the few physical people in a physical place of safety during the Millennium.
There are not going to be very many people there, but it has to fulfill that the gates of the grave will never prevail against the Church of God. Never!
So, here we have fifth seal, this is the martyrdom of the saints, the greatest martyrdom that's going to happen.
Verse 9: "And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony that they held; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'How long, O Lord, Holy and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?' And white robes were given to each of them; and they were told that they should rest a short time…" (vs 9-11).
Here's the sixth seal; this comes right at the Day of Pentecost in the last year and a half. How do we know? Well, like Russell mentioned in his message on Hosea—A Call to Repentance—Hosea 6 says that Israel is going to be afflicted for two years. Then after two years, the affliction is going to be lifted.
When that takes place, why is it going to be lifted at that time? Because the sixth seal will take place right at that time! That is on the Pentecost before the resurrection. The resurrection will occur on the next Pentecost. So, we have Pentecost to Pentecost right here.
Now, Pentecost occurs in the late spring. And between Pentecost and Trumpets is four and a half months. But let's look at what happens here in the rest of Rev. 6 and 7.
Verse 12: "And when He opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake…"
Go back and read in Matt. 24 about when the sign of the Son of man appears, and that will appear as a great sun because it shines from east to west! This is what's going to happen, and this is how it's going to occur: and every eye will see it!
So far, no rapture! There is only a few taken to a physical place of safety to fulfill the Word of God that the Church would never die out.
Verse 12: "And when He opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as the hair of sackcloth, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its untimely figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the heaven departed like a scroll…" (vs 12-14).
That is going to be an amazing thing when that takes place. Roll back, and then all of a sudden they're going to see the sign of the Son of Man. {note Mal. 4:1-2. He is called the Sun—S-U-N—of Righteousness.
Now that sun will appear up there, and at that time the martyrdom of the saints will come to an end. The whole world will be absolutely amazed. There will be so much destruction.
Verse 14: "Then the heaven departed like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place."
Now you talk about shaking up the whole earth! That really does it! Does that sound like a secret? No! Everyone knows!
Verse 15: "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the powerful men, and every bondman, and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to 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, because the great day of His wrath has come, and who has the power to stand?'" (vs 15-17).
Right at first, they will all believe that this is the return of Christ. But that SUN stays up there in the sky and shines from east to west, from Pentecost to Pentecost, one whole year. So, here's what happens.
Immediately, we have Rev. 7. What is God interested in more than anything else concerning human beings when affliction comes? He's interested in repentance!
Here we have the greatest repentance ever in the history of the whole world. It's fitting that it took place after the sign of the Son of man in heaven appeared: 144,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.
- What does this tell us?
- Is this not the end-time? Yes, it is!
If there are going to be 144,000 from all the tribes of the 12 tribes of Israel, 12,000 apiece, it tells you what physical Israelites are alive today.
Otherwise, you couldn't have Rev. 7, and then a great innumerable multitude. None of them ascend to heaven until the resurrection, even though it shows that they will be before the Throne of God.
Now we come to Rev. 8 and we have a period from Pentecost to Trumpets, four and a half months. After all the shaking and everything and all the land, everything has to be cleaned up and be ready for the next battles. That's what they do in that four and a half months.
Revelation 8:1: "Now, when He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about a half hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them" (vs 1-2).
These are all blown in succession. They are not blown all at once.
Verse 3: "And another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar; and much incense was given to him, so that he might offer it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that was before the Throne."
All the saints are those who were just sealed, the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude and a few physical people as well in a place of safety. They're praying and their prayers are being answered.
Verse 6: "Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound their trumpets."
Then just like with the first four of the seals, they came quickly. The first four of the trumpets are blown in the rest of Rev. 8. We won't go into all the detail of that because of the lack of time.
Revelation 9:1: "And the fifth angel sounded his trumpet…"
After all the things that take place and all the difficulties and plagues that come on them from the first four seals. The last three are called:
Revelation 8:13: "'Woe, woe, woe…'"
Revelation 9:2: And he opened the bottomless abyss…"—the prison where all the demons are locked up!
All the demons come out and it explains it "…like the smoke of a great furnace…" (v 2)
Verse 3: "Then locusts came onto the earth from the smoke; and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power." That's the fifth trumpet!
Notice the trumpets are in sequence.
Verse 13: "And the sixth angel sounded his trumpet; and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God; and it said to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet, 'Loose the four angels who are bound in the great River Euphrates'" (vs 13-14).
Here's what's going to happen when that sixth trumpet is blown. Notice this couldn't have been blown already! There are some who say it's already been blown. Nonsense!
Remember, Jesus said that at the end-time there would be many false prophets! That's one of their false things; the rapture is another false thing.
Verse 14: "And it said to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet, 'Loose the four angels who are bound in the great River Euphrates.'" So they are loosed! That prepared the way for the kings of the east.
Verse 15: "Then the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year…"
- right on time
- no speeding up
- no slowing down
- right exactly on the schedule of God
"…were loosed, so that they might kill a third of men; and the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred thousand thousand; and I heard the number of them" (vs 15-16)
Armies consisting of 200-million soldiers from the east! What do you think China is being developed into right now? For this right here!
- China
- India
- Southeast Asia
They have to come from the east! So, that's the sixth trumpet.
Now then, let's come over here to Rev. 11 and the two witnesses! That's another thing to watch in addition to the temple. The temple has to be built and the two witnesses have to come on the scene, and they have to be clothed in sackcloth.
- we know there's no temple now
- there are no two witnesses now
Any man who says he's one of the two witnesses is wrong. There's one man said he was the witness and later he would tell who the second one was. When he said who it was, it was his wife. No!
Zech. 3 & 4 shows us that they are chosen by God as the olive trees would stand before the God of the whole earth!
The two witnesses are going to be against the beast and a false prophet—two men—with great power! Any plague they want, any time, anywhere cut off the rain; whatever.
Can you imagine how frustrated the whole world is going to be? They're going to try and kill them, try and kill them, try and kill them, and for three and a half years they won't be able to do it! Then finally they kill them! They get all happy and rejoice and the whole world knows; they exchange gifts with each other right in the middle of it.
Revelation 11:10: "And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, and will make merry, and will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets had tormented those who dwell on the earth. Then after the three and a half days, the spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, say, 'Come up here!'…." (vs 10-12).
Imagine that! So, they're the first two resurrected! The last two martyred!
"…And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them rise. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand men were killed in the earthquake…." (vs 12-13).
Verse 14: "The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming immediately. Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet… [the last trumpet] …and there were great voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign into the ages of eternity'" (vs 14-15)
Verse 16: "And the twenty-four elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, 'We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come; for You have taken to Yourself Your great power, and have reigned. For the nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and to give reward to Your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to all those who fear Your name, the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth'" (vs 16-18)
That is the first resurrection right there, at the seventh trump!
Sidebar: Here's a very interesting Scripture that you need to always keep in mind when you talk to someone concerning faith or works. God tells us all the way through the New Testament that we're going to be judged by our works.
- IF we have faith, we will have good works
- IF we do not have faith, we will not keep the commandments
Rev. 14—here's the patient of the saints. Here are the ones who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus! Commandment keeping and faith go together! You can't keep the commandments of God without faith!
Revelation 14:18: "And out from the altar came another angel…'Thrust in your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the earth, because her grapes are fully ripe.' And the angel thrust his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth…" (vs 18-19)—another picture of the first resurrection.
Rev. 15—we will see where we will go and where this is. What will happen is that great SUN, which is the sign of the Son of man, which we saw on that Pentecost when the 144,000 greater number of multitudes are saved, then we're taken up to a Sea of Glass.
That SUN is going to come streaking to the earth and it's going to look like it's going to hit the earth and everything's going to be destroyed. But when it reaches the atmosphere, it will go, WHOOM, into a tremendous Sea of Glass, which is going to be seen by everybody in the world.
All the saints will be resurrected and put on the Sea of Glass. Right up at the head of the Sea of Glass will be the Throne of God. God the Father will be there because He wants to see His children. Then we see that the seven last plagues are poured out!
Revelation 15:1: "Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and awesome: seven angels having the seven last plagues…"
None of those have come before the resurrection; they come after the resurrection!
- Why? Because this is the vengeance of God!
- What did God tell all the faithful? Even if you lose your life, you will see the vengeance of God!
We'll all be on the Sea of Glass and we will see the vengeance of God! Amazing!
- What's that going to be?
- How do we know there's going to be a Sea of Glass?
Well, let's look at it:
Verse 2: "And I [John] saw a Sea of Glass…"
How can they say there won't be a Sea of Glass when it says there is a Sea of Glass?
Verse 2: "And I saw a Sea of Glass mingled with fire, and those who had gotten the victory over the beast…"
That Satan system, all the way from the time of Abel down to the last two witnesses.
"…and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the Sea of Glass, having the lyres of God. And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, 'Great and awesome are Your works, Lord God Almighty; righteous and true are Your ways, King of the saints'" (vs 2-3).
What's going to happen then? You can read it in the books:
- Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days—Which?
- God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days
We cover it all! There will be:
- the marriage supper of the Lamb
- receive our reward
- a new language given to us right at the resurrection
Remember, all the saints come from different countries, different tribes, down through history. So, when we're resurrected, we have to have in the power of God by the resurrection in our spirit minds the same language so we can understand what God is doing.
- How are we going to know what to do?
- How are we going to know where to go?
Unless we understand what God is telling us!
This is NOT a secret rapture!
This is a completely visible thing for the whole world to see. that Sea of Glass will be there from Pentecost unto Trumpets. That's how all those armies are going to come and gather to Armageddon. That four and a half months, the world is going to go crazy. They're going to think that this is an invasion by ancient aliens from outer space. Almost true!
- God is an alien to them and He's ancient
- Christ is an alien to them and He's ancient
- all the saints are resurrected and they go back in time and we're spirit beings
They're going to look up and see this Sea of Glass and they're going to call all the armies of the world (Rev. 16).
After four plagues are sent out, then a message comes out with the sixth one: 'Go and gather all the armies so they will come.' They will be fighting Christ.
Then you come to Rev. 19. We come down off the Sea of Glass with Christ and take over the world!
All of this is quite visible; no secret rapture! There is no such thing as the 'rapture trumpet that only those who have belief in Jesus will hear.'
So this book—The Great Disappearance—is:
- a fake salvation
- a twisting of Scripture
- false pretense in trying to show that they know what God is going to do
They have some of it partially correct, but there is NO rapture!
There will be a resurrection and the whole world will know it!
So, the events that are ahead of us are going to be absolutely the most colossal events in the history of the world.
When we come to the Feast of Trumpets in October, then we will again repeat some of this. and I'll try and approach it from a little different point of view, but to cover all the points that we have there.
Remember that when Christ returns, this is going to be the greatest and most awesome time in the history of the world up to that point!
Scriptural References:
- Luke 21:36
- Revelation 1:7
- Matthew 24:15-21
- Matthew 16:16-18
- Revelation 12:13-17
- Luke 17:20-37
- 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17
- 1 Corinthians 15:12-25, 35-58
- Revelation 6:1-4, 9-17
- Revelation 8:1-3, 6
- Revelation 9:1
- Revelation 8:13
- Revelation 9:2-3, 13-16
- Revelation 11:10-18
- Revelation 14:18-19
- Revelation 15:1-3
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Acts 8
- 2-Thessalonians 2
- Revelation 20; 4-5
- Daniel 9:27
- Malachi 4:1-2
- Revelation 7
- Zechariah 3-4
- Revelation 16;19
Also referenced:
Book: The Great Disappearance by David Jeremiah
Books from truthofgod.org:
- Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days—Which?
- God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days
Message: A Call to Repentance by Russell Kemp
FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 8/21/24
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