All of A Sudden Pt. 1

[Music] reality open your bibles with me to first thessalonians in chapter number four and i want to commence reading in verse number 13. first thessalonians in chapter number four commencing in verse 13. that would be right before second thessalonians first thessalonians chapter 4 but i would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope for if we believe that jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in jesus will god bring with him for this we say unto you by the word of the lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the lord shall not prevent them which are asleep for the lord himself for the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of god and the dead in christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the lord wherefore comfort one another with these words thank you you may be seated the grass withers and the flower fades but the word of our god shall stand forever i want you to see something in the text that will happen all of a sudden we will be caught up to meet the lord in the air all of a sudden december 7th 1941 in the words of president franklin d roosevelt is a day that will live in infamy on a warm sunday morning the imperial japanese navy air service launched a surprise preemptive military strike against the naval base at pearl harbor in honolulu hawaii the attack led to the united states formal entry into world war ii on the next day the attack crippled or destroyed nearly 20 american ships and more than 300 airplanes most importantly 2335 soldiers were killed along with 68 civilians and over 1100 people wounded the united states never saw it coming because it happened all of a sudden on a tuesday morning september 11 2001 a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the islamic terrorist group al-qaeda was launched against the united states american airlines flight 11 and united airlines flight 175 slammed into the world trade center in manhattan american airlines flight 77 destroyed a section of the pentagon in arlington county virginia and united airlines flight 93 intended to target the white house or the u.s capitol but was taken down by passengers aboard the flight in stoney creek township near shanksville pennsylvania between 8 46 and 10 28 a.m eastern standard time september 11 2001 [Music] 2996 people were killed with over 6 000 injured with additional people dying from respiratory diseases even to this day at the cost of over 10 billion dollars to infrastructure and property damage in new york washington and pennsylvania and the united states never saw it coming because it happened all of a sudden the first coming of the lord jesus christ was announced by the angel gabriel not only to his parents but to shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night his coming his first coming was announced but his second coming will be all of a sudden when he came the first time he was born in a manger but when he comes the second time he will sit on the throne when he came the first time pilate judged him but when he comes the second time he will judge pilate when he came the first time they saw him in a manger but when he comes the second time every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that jesus christ is lord to the glory of god the father the first coming of the lord jesus christ into the world was a time of amazing grace a time of wonderful miracles a time of the outpouring of god's love and care for his children thank god for all that jesus accomplished when he came the first time but in acts chapter 1 uh the bible says he went away to heaven and he's coming back for his church and while he is gone we have a responsibility to preach the gospel brothers and sisters he left us and he left us with a promise that he's coming back again in john chapter 14 when they were despondent over his leaving them he said let not your hearts be troubled you believe in god believe also in me for in my father's house of many mansions and if it were not so i would have told you i go to prepare a place for you and if i go not meaning i may or may not go but since i'm going i will come again and receive you unto myself that where i am there you will be also regardless of what the world says regardless of what unbelievers have determined to be a lie the lord jesus is coming back the passage under consideration this morning shares with us some events that will take place when jesus comes back for his people brothers and sisters these events give us believers hope these events cause us to rejoice and reminds us that our lord is coming back for us and we need to be ready for no man knows the day nor the hour when the son of man shall come for like paul pearl harbor and like september 11th the bible says through the apostle paul when he comes again it will be all of a sudden there will be brothers and sisters according to the scripture in first thessalonians 4 there will be a resurrection the thessalonicans knew that jesus was coming back but they were confused about the perusia or the second coming of the lord jesus christ that that doctrine had confused them they thought that believers had to be alive at the coming of the lord jesus or somehow they would miss the resurrection or the rapture they also believed that their departed loved ones were were gone forever they had died and that was just the end of them but paul writes to them to set the record straight and to get us to understand that because of christ's resurrection we are guaranteed our own resurrection because he rose from the dead you and i also one day will rise from the dead and if we are still alive when he comes because it could be tonight we will be caught up together to meet the lord in the air paul paul uses a phrase or a word here that is that is difficult to translate in english from the greek but paul says i would not have you to be ignorant uh concerning them which are asleep uh he uses what is called in the english are lighter teams it's a difficult word to translate from the greek but but it it means something like an ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary let me run that by you one more time it's an ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary but i would not have you to be ignorant paul is saying we do not wish for you to be uninformed because if you are uninformed you are easily influenced i wish i had my 7 30 cry if you are uninformed if you are ignorant it's easy for you to be influenced do not be guilty paul says of being ignorant do not be guilty of credulity credulity is believing without examination and many of us this morning shout on an unexamined face because worship must be preceded by word i wish i had one or two more witnesses you can't shout in worship if you're uninformed in the word because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of god and if you don't know the word it's hard to have a good time in the worship [Music] i would not have you to be ignorant be careful of credulity be careful of believing without examination be careful of shouting on an unexamined faith you can't inherit religion from your parents you can't borrow christ from your friends you must know the word for yourself or else worship becomes a routine jim jones was able to capture hundreds of people and led them astray to their own deaths because they believed without examination paul says i would not have you to be ignorant i would not have you uninformed let me fill you in on some information that you're lacking hear me brothers and sisters hope is rooted in doctrine worship is inextricably bound to word says i don't want you to be ignorant concerning a certain situation the situation is concerning them which are asleep asleep he's talking about the dead asleep is a euphemism for death but it's a euphemism for death only for believers because when unbelievers die they're just dead but when christians die we fall asleep fall asleep in terms of only christ can wake us up let me let me let me help you to shout the next time you go to the funeral let me help you to give god praise the next time you go to somebody's funeral a cemetery the word cemetery means sleeping place when you go to bury somebody who loves god and lay them in the ground you are laying them in a sleeping place they're not dead they're just sleeping because our physical body and our soul goes to decay but our spirit goes to be with god because to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord we know that if this earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved we have another building a house not i wish i had a bible reader not made with hands but eternal in the heavens when a christian dies we just fall asleep paul said i would not have you to be ignorant concerning them which are asleep that's your sorrow not like those who have no hope because verse 14 tells us that god will bring the dead with christ with him when he comes again for we shall not prevent them who are asleep the dead in christ shall rise first i think i told you about my mother my mother said all kinds of things that i think about now that she's gone and it just rings in my heart and in my ears my mother said she had a saying for everything and she she always had a funny way of looking at life and my mother before she passed about two or three months before she passed she said don't bury your daddy on top of me they're in the same cemetery but she said don't bury him on top of me matter of fact i don't want nobody on top of me she said because when the trumpet sounds your daddy might not be going where i'm going she said i want to get up and i don't want that negro on top of me no this this this matter of sleeping and and this sleeping place is temporary for the believer we go to rest when we die and we fall asleep when we die just like um uh lazarus fell asleep you remember that jesus was was away from bethany and mary and martha sent word to him that the one that he loved was sick and jesus delayed coming and and when he finally got there mary and martha said lord if you had been here my brother would not have died jesus said you're going to see him again martha martha said i know i'ma see him at the resurrection at the last day jesus said i am the resurrection and the life he that believes in me though he be dead yet shall he live and he that lives and believes in me shall never die but but i want you to see what happened when he went to lazarus grave he called lazarus by his name and said lazarus come forth somebody ought to help me preach it jesus went to the grave he went to the sleeping place and he did not just say come forth because had he just said come forth adam would have got up moses would have gotten up david and jeremiah ezekiel and daniel jose lazarus come for and listen when he calls me by my name i will answer because i'll be somewhere listening for my name i'm i'm trying to hurry right here but but but but when when when christians die their name is called when sinners die their number is up because satan has numbered everything in the world system at t doesn't know your name they know your telephone number your mailman don't care nothing about your name he knows your address and your zip code number oh the the social security people don't know your name there are thousands of people in this country with your name they know you by your social security number the department of motor vehicles don't know you by your name there are thousands of people in texas with your name they know you by your driver's license number because everything that belongs to the devil is numbered but everything or everybody who belongs to god is named and when he calls me i'll be somewhere not listening for my number but for my name [Music] job says hide me in the grave keep me a secret until your ass be passed and then when your wrath is passed call me and i will answer job says because i'll be listening for my name he gets them straight about this situation he gets them straight about this location and then he works with him on this affirmation that that christian hope listen to me christian hope is not merely wishful thinking but hope is a confident expectation we do not grieve in the unmitigated manner of the hopeless for the hopeless death is a blind alley which leads to a state of nothingness but for the christian death is an open door which leads into everlasting life for the unbeliever death is a question mark but for the child of god death is an exclamation point for the unbeliever death is terrible but for the child of god death is a welcome friend for the unbeliever death terrifies and frightens but for the christian we are waiting on the day when the lord himself shall come to get us and bring us back to himself there will be a resurrection but not only will there be a resurrection there will be secondly a rescue paul says we will be caught up that will happen brothers and sisters all of a sudden caught up another word here that was used in the latin vulgate and we use that word now but it's not in the king james or any of our english translations of the bible the word caught up in the latin vulgate which is a roman catholic translation of the bible and that's where we get that word from because it's the word rapio from which we get our english word rapture when we are caught up we will be raptured or to be caught up means to snatch away or to seize by force when jesus comes again it will be a sudden event the scripture says two people will be working in a field one of them will disappear and the other will remain two people will be sleeping in the bed one will disappear and the other will remain that's how quickly we will be caught up and caught up gives us an idea that he would catch us up and bring us up in the clouds and we'll be in the air and the scripture says we will be forever in the air with the lord but caught up does not mean necessarily in the air it means to be transposed to another place to be taken from this world and be brought instantly to another world it will happen in the brink of an eye that one minute you're leading a normal life here on earth and the next minute you're in the presence of god one second you just washing dishes at the sink and the next second you're in the face of the living god one second you just watching television and then and the next second you're in heaven with god and all of his saints oh brothers and sisters you've got to be ready because you don't know the day nor the hour when the sadderness of this rescue will occur but unless i hold you too long this morning not only will it be sudden it'll be selected let me see if i can get it over to you like this jesus ain't coming for everybody we will be caught up that we are believers i wish i had a witness here um everybody at the airport is not taking a flight everybody who is that who is that bush intercontinental or hobby is not there to board a flight some people just work at the airport some people are dropping somebody off at the airport or somebody's picking somebody up at the airport but everybody just because you're at the airport don't mean you're getting on the flight just because you're at church don't mean you going back with him when he comes again have i got a witness here you got to belong to him for when he comes back he's not coming back for anybody who's not a part of the family he's coming back to the church without a spot or wrinkle and he will be selective in the people who is going back with him you must be born again it's sudden it's selective but i want you to see how sensational this rescue is going to be the very language of first thessalonians 4 rings with excitement and expectation listen to the text the word says the lord himself shall descend with a shout and the voice of an archangel there are seven archangels that attend the throne of god only two of them are named michael and gabriel gabriel is the announcing angel when god got ready to announce the birth of christ he sent gabriel to make that announcement but when michael shows up michael is always there to tear stuff up but when christ comes again he won't send gabriel he won't send michael he is going to come himself i wish i had one or two more believers here in order for you to shout about this you got to you got to know a little bit about what jewish weddings consisted of a jewish wedding had something to do with first of all a betrothal the the groom was a bride was selected for the groom the father chose a bride for the groom that was a betrothal the father chose the bride for his son the bride was selected by the father for the son abraham sent for a wife for isaac the father chose a bride for his son and then once the arrangement was made there was a period between the betrothal and the marriage and in that betrothal period which was usually a year or so the groom was getting everything ready for the bride he had gone away to prepare everything for his bride making sure that everything was in place that that a house was bought that land was secured that everything needed to take care of a bride was already provided for he went away for a while to prepare for his bride and then when the groom was coming yeah the bride's maids played a little game where they filled their lamps with oil because they did not know when the bridegroom was coming because it was their responsibility as bride's mage to make the bride aware that the groom was coming but to make sure that the wave was lighted they had to keep their lamps full of oil [Music] somebody ought to help me preach right here one day the bridegroom is coming god has already selected a bride for his son and his bride is the church and one day the bridegroom is coming back in the meantime he is somewhere preparing a place for his bride the church but it's our responsibility to keep oil in our lamps because we don't know when the bridegroom will arrive and so i want to keep my lamp trimmed and burning the oil that's supposed to be in my lamp is not the oil that the bridesmaids had in matthew's gospel the oil that he's talking about for us is the holy spirit of god that keeps us on fire that keeps us alive keeps us active and dynamic and connected to the word so that when we come to worship all we're saying is i'm waiting on the bridegroom i'm waiting on the bridegroom there will be a resurrection there will be a rescue we will be caught up to meet the lord in the air but brothers and sisters thank god not only will there be a resurrection and a rescue there will be a family reunion [Music] they were confused about those who had died in the faith and they didn't know what was going to happen to believers after death so paul got their hope secured that we will not prevent them who are asleep can you imagine that one of these days graves are going to open up and people who have died in christ their bodies will be reconstituted their souls and their spirits knit again with their bodies no matter if they drowned they gonna come back together no matter if they were cremated every atom every particle every chromosome every piece of them no matter if they never found out where they were buried or where their bodies are they will come back together if they love god because we will be caught up to meet the lord in the air our brothers and sisters the dead in christ are gonna rise first and then we who are alive we are still here and remain we will be changed you're going to help me close this won't you paul says in first corinthians brethren i i show you a mystery i wish i had two or three bible reading we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye that's why you ought not fear death because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god neither does corruption inherit incorruption i show you paul says a mystery and listen to me lily grove mr a mystery is not that about which we cannot know anything a mystery is that about which we cannot know everything god has kept some secret things for himself but there are some things god has told us about the resurrection i wish i had one or two more witnesses he says we ought to be looking for him we ought to be living for him and then we ought to be loving the lost to help them to come to a saving knowledge of jesus christ because one day this model must put on immortality this corruptable must put on incorruption then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written death shall be swallowed up in victory oh death where is your sting oh grave where is your victory the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law but thanks be to god who gives us the victory through our lord jesus christ therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the lord he's coming back again i said he's coming back again to those of us who love god ought to be excited that he's coming back again one of these days jesus the warrior king christ will stand up at the right hand of god with power and wave his hand and swear the time that has been shall be no more i wish i had one or two more witnesses and the bible says the dead in christ shall rise first and we who are alive shall be caught up together to meet the lord in the air somebody here like myself got some missing seats at your family table somebody's missing at your thanksgiving table somebody's missing at the recliner in your den somebody's missing in your family reunion time but one of these days we will meet them again not at houston memorial gardens not at paradise north or south but at a sea of glass mingled with fire is there anybody here waiting on that great getting up morning the late dr caesar clark used to say that revolving planets will leap up on the funeral appears of a smoky judgment day and then gabriel will sound the judgment alarm and it'll sound so loud it'll wake up the children sleeping it'll wake up my old grandmother it'll wake up my mother and father it'll wake up my brothers and my sisters but i'm gonna wake up one of these days because jesus right now is getting us ready for that great day is there anybody here getting ready for that great day is there anybody here got some oil in your lamps is there anybody here ready for that great day well if you're not ready let me tell you how to get ready because worship and word always go together and if you know the word you can shout in the worship and if you don't know how to shout here i don't know how you're gonna shout over there i don't understand people god's been good to you and you can't open your mouth god has put food on your table and you can't tell god thank you god open doors that will close in your face and you can't shout hallelujah if you can't shout right here i don't know how you gonna shout over there because over there every day is sunday and the sabbath has no end over there no goodbyes are said over there no house wheels roll over there there's no doctor's appointments over there there's no hospitals and nursing homes over there jesus is waiting on us are you ready i said are you ready if god has saved you and you're ready to meet the bridegroom why don't you get in practice right now why don't you start practicing right now tell him thank you he found him glory shout hallelujah why don't you get ready right now praise god right now give him worship right now why don't you hug somebody why don't you grab your neighbor tell them i'm ready for the bridegroom i'm ready i'm ready [Music] [Music] hallelujah don't be don't don't be misled by the jehovah's witnesses i would not have you to be ignorant concerning them which are asleep jehovah's witnesses say only 144 000 are going to be in heaven that's half truth but half the truth is all of a lie 144 000 of the 12 tribes of israel times 12 000 from every tribe twelve times twelve thousand from every tribe of israel is one hundred and forty four thousand and they will be in heaven but john said i saw another number [Music] that that no man could number coming from the north and the south from the east and the west and they had on white robes and his name was written in their forehead and he said i asked the elder who are they and the elder said these are they who have come through the tribulation and they have washed their robes white in the blood of the lamb they have been redeemed

Channel: lillygrovembc

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Id: ty1dok6fCFg

Length: 43min 3sec (2583 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 03 2020