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| Photo by B Smith for the Kitchen Door |
182-4 THE LAST TRUMP #4
July 3, 1962
Pastor Henry F. Kulp
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.
This is a glorious event that will take place soon. Last week and the weeks preceding this, we have been showing you this is for the Church the Body of Christ.
1/ Let us continue looking at this portion of Scripture that is for us, the Body of Christ. With the Scripture we are studying, there is one word, IMMINENT. That means this event can happen at any time.
2/ We told you this event was not prophesied. It is an unprophesied portion of Scripture. It is an unprophesied event. The Old Testament prophets, the Twelve Apostles, Jesus Christ, never talked or taught of this event. Nothing need happen, no event needs to take place before this Rapture can happen. But that which Jesus Christ talked about was a prophesied event, and was not imminent.
Let us take, for instance, Matthew 24: 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Matthew 24: 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Before you can get to Matthew 24: 27 you must see that the AntiChrist of the 11th verse must come upon the scene. Paul tells us that the man of sin cannot be revealed until after the Rapture takes place.
II Thessalonians 2: 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
For that day cannot come except there come a falling away first, and that means the catching away—a departure, and then the man of sin can be revealed. So you can see the order of what Christ talked about is reversed by Paul. So they are not talking of the same thing, the same event.
3/ But now let us look at Matthew 24: 32 - 36 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Here, I think we are agreed that the fig tree is Israel. So when you see all these things, know it is near, even at the door. Notice the word KNOW. Not merely surmise, or imagine, or think, but they are to know. Know that His coming is near—so near it is even at the doors. Paul never talks like this. See if you can find any time that Paul talks about the Appearing of Christ in this manner.
4/ Then He tells them, this generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled. Again, Paul never mentions anything like this at all. But Jesus Christ is saying that the Jews living in the Tribulation (after we are Raptured) shall see all these things and know that their Messiah’s coming is close at hand.
5/ What does it mean by generation? For it is clearly stated a generation of people are not to pass before all these events are fulfilled. What is a generation? Scofield says a generation means the Jewish Nation, and this means the Jewish Nation will continue on and not be wiped out. This is not the interpretation of this Scripture. With all due respect to Scofield, I must disagree. For our Lord is not talking of the continuance of Israel, for notice in verse 34, If the Jews are not to pass away until all these things be fulfilled, then by implication, they, the Jews, will pass away when all these things are fulfilled. The word, until, would limit the time of Jewish continuance.
6/ But let’s see how the word, generation is used in other portions of the Gospel of Matthew.
Matthew 23: 35, 36 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
Here we have a key that will help us with the word generation. For our Lord pronounces judgment upon one generation. For He says the judgment will come upon this generation—the one that was living at that time that He was upon earth. It could not possibly mean the continuance of the Nation Israel. One must be very careful how he interprets the Word. So we must be careful to recognize what the word, generation, means. So Christ is teaching that one generation living at the time that all these signs come to pass will not pass away until all these things be fulfilled and Christ returns to set up His Kingdom.
7/ All this was literally fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 71 AD. Paul does not tell us that one generation can know by certain signs that the Lord will Appear in the Heavens. In the Age of Grace there are no signs and/or wonders because we have the complete Word of God today.)
8/ Matthew 12: 41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
This verse tells us of a generation, and it cannot refer to the whole Jewish Nation, but the Jews during that time when Christ was speaking, for they had had a special privilege of seeing and hearing God’s Christ, and for this reason, God would send special judgment upon them.
Then notice Matthew 12: 42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
The Queen of Sheba will condemn, not all Jews, but the particular generation which rejected Christ.
9/ How long is a generation? Some say 20, some say 33 years.
Psalms 95: 10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
The Psalmist says, Forty years long was I grieved with this generation. The fact is a generation is no definite period of time. My generation is my life-time—but since no one knows how long I will live, we cannot say how long a generation really is. But here it is seven years.
10/ Matthew 25: 31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Here it tells us of Jesus Christ sitting upon a throne on earth. Paul never talks about this. He never tells us that Christ is going to sit upon a throne on this earth. So Paul and Christ have to be speaking about entirely different events.
11/ Let us notice the order of the events that Paul describes.
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.
Here are six things I want you to see from this passage.
- The Lord, Himself shall descend from Heaven.
- The Lord will shout—the voice of the arch-angel, the trump of God.
- Dead in Christ shall rise first.
- Those who are alive and remain and are saved shall be caught up.
- To meet the Lord in the air.
- So shall we ever be with the Lord.
12/ First of all, the Lord will come for us personally. He does not send Michael or Gabriel for us.
13/ The shout will be by the Lord Jesus Christ. The word, shout, is a word that is a military word. It is a command. Such as the shout of a military officer giving a command—forward march!
14/ Then the voice of the arch-angel. The word, arch, means first and chief. So Michael is the chief angel—and there is only one chief angel. Gabriel is not an arch-angel or a chief angel. Michael is a soldier, and his voice speaks of a call to arms.
15/ The trump of God. This is not the trump that is mentioned in
Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
This is a trumpet sounded by an angel, and it is not the trump of God, so it is not one and the same. 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 was ready to march on its journey to the Promised Land. The other trumpet was used as a call to arms, the battle was ready to start, and as we are caught up to be with the Lord, this is the last trump, because it signals our journey to be with the Lord, that the battle on earth is ready to start.
Do you know the Lord as your very own personal Saviour? Are you watching for His Appearing in the Heavens? Are you listening for His shout and sound of His trumpet?
There is a crown, a reward for all those that love Him and look for His Appearing in the Heavens to catch us away before the terrible Tribulation that will immediately begin once all His Beloved are safely away.
II Timothy 4: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Are you ready to receive your CROWN OF HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS?
AMEN
Ref: 07/03/1962 / 182-4 THE LAST TRUMP / 07/24/2022
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