THE LAST TRUMP #3

Photo by B Smith from the patio

 

 

182-3 - THE LAST TRUMP #3

June 20, 1962

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

I Corinthians 15: 51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

Last week we showed you the folly of those who have no dispensational beliefs, or a faulty belief. They fail to see that the Rapture of the Church, which is His Body, is a Pauline truth, revealed only by Paul.

1/ But the extremists claim that I Corinthians 15 is Jewish because it was written before Acts 28: 28 and the Church did not start until after Acts 28: 28. This view is no better than the other one—it is just as faulty.

2/ To begin with, we must see the difference between Jesus Christ Rapturing His Church, and Jesus Christ coming back to set up His Kingdom. Let us look at His Second Coming which is not the Rapture.

Jeremiah 23: 5, 6  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness.

So you can see when Christ comes back to sit upon His Throne it is for the Twelve Tribes of Israel, it is Jewish.

3/ But before this event can take place certain things must come to pass.

Luke 21: 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

But before this can happen…

Luke 21: 11, 12 must come to pass.  And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.

There must be signs and wonders—earthquakes—famines—pestilence and fearful sights in Heaven. These are not the ordinary happenings of today. These are supernatural happenings.

Luke 21: 28 - 32 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

Here is another thing to notice about the Second Coming of Christ. When they see these things begin to happen, the Jews should look up—they are to lift up their heads for their redemption draweth nigh. And then He gives them an illustration—a parable of the fig tree. When you see the shoots come forth, you know that summer is nigh at hand. So when you see these things start to happen—all these supernatural things, you know that the kingdom of God is near at hand. Then in Verse 32 this generation shall not pass away until all these things be fulfilled. They will not know the day nor the hour, but they know that all these things shall take place, and be climaxed with the Return of Jesus Christ.

Then we notice that Luke tells us that all these things will happen in one generation. This is God’s promise.

You know nothing about this in I Corinthians 15: 51 - 53 Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

I Thessalonians 4: 16 - 18  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.

There is one word that describes I Corinthians 15, that is the word, IMMINENT. In other words, it can happen at any time, without any other event preceding it. So how can I Corinthians 15 be the same as Luke 21.

5/  Matthew 24: 15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Here we are told that the Anti-Christ must appear before the Lord returns. This is another stipulation that is a roadblock before Christ sets up His Kingdom.

6/  Then it tells us the Trumpet will sound, and it is called the Last Trumpet. The unsaved world, or society, will not hear the trumpet. They will just be amazed because their loved ones who are saved have turned up missing. But they will try to rationalize and explain away their disappearance.

7/ I Thessalonians 5: 1- 3 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

To prove that the world will know nothing about the blowing of the Last Trumpet and they will not hear it…in this Scripture, the Rapture has already taken place in Chapter 4, and The Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. A thief comes in silently and takes away precious things. And there are no signs pertaining to a thief coming. If he has signs, he is not a thief—he will get caught. A thief comes unexpectedly with no warning. This is important for us to see. The Tribulation and the Rapture will start simultaneously without any warning, without any signs. So this must be different from what Paul is talking about in I Corinthians 15. And the world will know nothing about it. It will come upon them when they talk about peace and safety. Does this not sound like our day?

A businessman said to me the other night, that he had read in the New York Times, the only hope for our civilization is that mankind will become so involved in space, and the exploration of space, that he would forget about his earthly troubles and stop fighting and squabbling. Sounds good, but it will never happen.

8/ It will be like Lot and his family. They were hurried out of Sodom very early in the morning, before the inhabitants were up and going about their daily affairs or business ventures. The inhabitants of Sodom knew nothing about the departure of Lot and his family.

Genisis 19: 15  And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

9/ I Corinthians 15: 51 - 54 Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

At this time, when this last trumpet sounds, to the Church which is His Body, death is still an enemy. Death still has a sting—the grave is still the victor. Go to the mortuary—go to the funeral service—go to the graveside—you’ll see this victory—you’ll see the sting of death.

I Thessalonians 4: 13  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.

We sorrow not even as the rest that have no hope. We sorrow but there is hope in our sorrow. Yes, death is still a dreaded enemy. You may hear it said that death is a natural thing—but there is nothing natural about death—death is unnatural. God did not create man to die, He created him to live. But sin has caused all of this.

10/ I Corinthians 15: 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

Death is swallowed up because of this experience that is a mystery. When those who are dead in Christ, and those who are living in Christ shall have their bodies changed like the Lord Jesus Christ—IT IS A COMPLETE VICTORY. The words, Death is swallowed up in victory, and the words, swallowed up, mean a complete end. Now let us look at the order of the events.

I Thessalonians 4: 16 - 18 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.

The Lord Himself shall descend—He will not leave it up to anyone else, but He will come for us. Then the Lord will shout. The word, shout, is a peculiar word—it is a command. It is the shout of a military officer—shouting, forward march.

John 11: 43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

Here, Jesus Christ shouted—spoke with a loud voice, and the dead man’s body came forth. The Lord will shout to the dead, and their bodies will come forth from the grave, and then death will not be victor—no more sting in death.

11/  Next will be the Voice of the Archangel. The word, arch, means first or chief. So Michael is the first or chief angel. There is only one archangel. Gabriel is not an archangel, so it is important for us to understand why Michael the archangel, the chief angel will speak.

12/  Michael is a soldier and his voice is a CALL TO ARMS, and Gabriel is God’s Ambassador. 

Revelations 12: 7 - 9 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Here we are told that Michael and his angels fought against the devil and his dragons. And since the Tribulation will start and it will be a terrible day of slaughter, it will be a call to arms.

Joel 2: 1, 2 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

13/ Now, let us look at the Trump of God. Trumpets are spoken of over and over again in the Bible. In the history of Israel, in the book of Numbers, two silver trumpets are mentioned. One trumpet was used when the Nation Israel was ready to march on the journey to the Promised Land. The other trumpet was used as a call to arms, a battle that is ready to start.

14/  Then the Romans would understand, the word, last trumpet. When a Roman camp was to be broken up, whether in the middle of the night or in the day, a trumpet was sounded. The first blast meant strike tents and prepare to depart. The second meant fall in line, and then the last trump was sounded which means march away.

15/  Then notice, it is the TRUMP of God—not an angel’s trump—this is important.

AMEN

Ref: 06/20/1962 / 182-3 THE LAST TRUMP #3 / 07/24/2022