Matthew-103

 

Today, we are coming to two passages, one in Matthew 24 and this one in Luke 21:25-27.

 

“Signs”: God will convey a message to man by activities in the sky

As we have been studying the teaching of the Lord Jesus, we saw the signs and things which will happen before his Coming. The Lord Jesus prepares his disciples in this way so that when the persecu­tions, the sufferings, the trials happen, they are ready to face it. Then he goes on to tell us what activities will happen immediately before his Coming. So there were general signs and there were specific signs. Here we also find general signs, but these signs are very close to the end. There will be signs, the Lord says, in the sun and moon and stars, and he is referring to actual occurrences that will happen in the heavens. We should not take these in some spiritualized sense in this particular passage.

Concerning these signs, we have talked about what a couple of Cambridge scientists described as “the Jupiter effect” that will take place next year in 1982, when the planets in the solar system will line up more or less in a straight line on one side of the sun. Of the nine planets, nearest the sun is Mercury; the Earth is the third away from the sun; Jupiter is the largest, it is the one right in the middle; next is Saturn; and Pluto is the furthest away from the sun. Scientists say that “the Jupiter effect” is a rare occurrence, which will take place again next year in 1982. They suggest that this strong gravitational pull on the sun’s surface effect is due to increased sunspot activity on the face of the sun, and will cause all kinds of effects upon the earth. There will be disturbance of radio communications, shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere, and also a certain breaking effect upon the spinning motion of the earth, which may trigger earthquakes. So there may be an increased number of earthquakes by next year, increased storm patterns, and other kinds of effects on the earth will increase.

The Lord Jesus says, “signs in the sun and moon and stars.” The Greek word “stars” can refer to the planets of the solar system as well as stars outside the solar system. In Genesis 1:14, God actually created the stars, the sun and the moon “for signs” upon the earth. There the signs are more of a natural sort. For example, the seasons are a certain form of signs – signs of the seasons. As you know, the Chinese people especially, from ancient times even to this day, use the moon to determine the dates, the months, and we have a lunar calendar. So these are important for giving us certain indications or signs of time.

 

God wrought a sign when Jesus died: the sun was darkened at noon day

However, we cannot stop there because “signs” in the Scripture does not merely mean natural occurrences, although it can refer to those. A “sign” is used in Scripture of natural events but also particularly of supernatural events. This means “signs” are God’s activity in the world by which he conveys a message to mankind. So you can say, in the Bible, a sign is a message from God, conveyed by action or deed that you can see, as compared to the preaching of God’s message in God’s Word which is received through the ear. And the Lord Jesus is saying that in these last days, there will be visible signs to the human eye in the heavens—not merely natural occurrences but—occurrences of God doing things in the heavens.

For those of us who have lived in England for a long time, we discovered that the weather is totally unpredictable there. It is predictable only to the extent that it is usually rainy, or usually foggy, or usually there is no sun. Apart from that, the English people have become famous for walking around with an umbrella over their arm simply because they don’t know when it’s going to rain. It looks as though it will rain all the time or at any given time, so you might as well play safe and bring an umbrella. The English gentleman with his bowler hat and the umbrella has become a standard picture. He walks around everywhere in his nice bowler hat with his umbrella, in order not to get caught in the rain.

In the Middle East, and particularly in Israel, there is a certain predictable character about the weather, rather like the weather in China. In China, the lunar calendar can often predict the weather with certain great regularity. At the Passover time, when the Lord Jesus was crucified, the skies are generally clear, and yet God wrought a sign when the Lord Jesus died. We are told in Luke 23:44 that it became dark at mid-day for several hours. God expressed his displeasure to those responsible for crucifying the Lord Jesus, warning them through this sign they could see and experience that their actions were not against man but against God himself.

 

God will turn the sun dark to let man see his judgment is close

This is exactly the point, that God will again show this kind of signs in the end time, to indicate that judgment is about to take place. In a previous study, we saw that God will allow evil to go so far and no further. And in the Old Testament, we find that when evil has reached a certain stage, God actually gives signs in the heavens to indicate that his judgment is about to take place. We see that particularly in the book of Joel where signs in the sun and the stars occur quite a number of times. Let us read Joel 2:10-11 [NJB]:

You will notice the same thing here in Joel 2:10, that immediately before the day of God’s judgment, the sun and the moon and the stars are darkened, they do not shine forth. There you have the warning sign. I think we find it hard to comprehend that God so loves man. He doesn’t do this to frighten you but he does this to cause mankind to understand, if they still have eyes to see, that their time is up. If they don’t want to listen with their ears, then will they see with their eyes what is happening. Unfortunately, man forever refuses both to listen and to see what God is saying. As you read in John 12:37, that even though the people saw the signs that Jesus did, that is, the miracles he performed, visually seeing his message, they did not repent.

You will find the same thing again in Joel 2:30-32 [NJB]:

“The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood.” “Blood” is certainly not meant literally. As I said before, many of us with a science education are very literalistic in our minds. This is poetic language of the color of the moon at that time. When the sun is darkened, the moon takes on a dark red color. I wonder if some of you have seen it before. I once saw the moon at night actually looking like blood; it was a strange dark red color. For some reason, the sun’s light was passing through some kind of filter which seemed to darken its light with the result that the moon had this strange, red color. So this is an effect of the darkening of the sun.

Again, the same thing is mentioned about the Day of Yahweh a little further on in Joel 3:14-15 [NJB].

In each case we have this relation to the Day of Yahweh, the Day of Judgment, and the Day of Judgment is a day of decision, a day of verdict. We have to make a decision, and one dangerous thing that you do is that you fail to decide; you fail to make a commitment. What is essential is that we must make up our minds where we stand with God in these days. The Lord Jesus’ teaching is to warn us that we don’t have that much time. We keep postponing the day of decision, and one day, Yahweh God’s Day of Judgment will be upon us and it is too late to make any decisions, as we shall see in Matthew 25. The door will be shut and you will bang on the door, but it will be too late. The day of opportunity is past; the Day of Judgment has arrived.

So as we return to Luke 21:25, it is important for us to understand that the signs in the heavens are not to be limited to signs of natural occurrences like “the Jupiter Effect,” as it is called, but divinely created signs that God will do in the heavens which have no natural explanation at all, just like the darkening of the sun at the time of the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion. There is no reason naturally speaking why the sun should turn dark at noon day. But these are the things that God will do prior to the Coming of Christ.

In Revelation 8:12, we find these same signs in the heavens taking place:

Also in Revelation 9:2,

 

The earth and seas quake!

The next thing we need to notice is to see that these events will have a remarkable effect on mankind. Let us return to Luke 21:25b and see what is happening in the world at the same time:

What is this perplexity? What does this “roaring of the sea and the waves” mean? This can be taken in one of two ways, and probably both ways are intended.

 

1. Activities in the solar system bring storms and enormous tidal waves

We just saw that what happens in the solar system, in the heavens, affects what happens on earth. For example, we said that when the planets line up on one side of the sun, it has definite effects upon the earth, causing all kinds of things to happen upon the earth. Earth­quakes do not just happen. Earthquakes happen because of activities in the solar system as well as pressure building up within the earth. The gravitational pull of the moon results in tidal activity upon the earth. So one thing in the solar system tends to affect something else in the world. Therefore, this roaring of the sea and these waves may well be related to the happenings in the sun, the moon and the stars. There may be storms on the seas and tidal waves of enormous magnitude.

 

2. Great social unrest in the world: Man feels there’s no way out

But as we study the Scriptural teaching, it appears that this is not all that is intended. It may be a picturesque way of describing the tumult of the nations, that is, a great unrest within the world. The reason for this picture language may be traced back to the Psalms. Let us read Psalm 65:6-8.

So here “the waves of the sea” are not understood literally but describe “the tumult of the peoples,” this being a normal way in the Old Testament, the result of parallelism. That is, when you have two statements made parallel to each other, one explains the other, so that “the tumult of the peoples” explains what is meant by “the roaring of the waves” that God stills. God stilled the storm literally and he will also still the tumult of the nations used in this figurative manner.

This is also found in Isaiah 17:12-13

Notice that the sea and the peoples are compared to each other. And this comparison of sea and peoples is very important for under­standing the Revelation. When you hear about a monster rising from the sea, the sea is referring to the nations, not literally talking about the ocean. This passage shows us that the roaring of the seas pictures the tumult of the nations. Therefore, it means that there will indeed be natural phenomena occurring upon the earth, but more importantly, there will be great unrest among the nations in these last times immediately preceding the coming of the Lord Jesus.

And so great will be the disturbances of natural phenomena as well as of the social phenomena that people will be in great “perplexity.” (Lk. 21:25) This word translated “perplexity” is very strong. The picture of the Greek word literally means to be at your wits’ end. The word “perplexity” translates the Greek word aporia, which is made up of two parts: a is a privative, that is, negating what follows; and poria comes from poros which means a crossing, somewhere that you cross a river. Aporos then, means no crossing, no throughway, no passage. The word “perplexity” means simply that you are at a dead end (沒有出路 mei you chu lu). Mankind is at his wits’ end. Now you can see how strong is the expression that is brought out here. In the last days, mankind will come to the point where he is in total desperation because there is no way out whatsoever.

 

Mankind dying of fear of premonition

Luke 21:26 says, “people fainting with fear and with foreboding.” The word apopsuchō translated as “fainting” is also a very strong word. It literally means to stop breathing, to literally have no more air; to pass out, to faint. That is why it is translated here “to faint.” If someone is deprived of air for some reason, he would faint; he lacks oxygen. But if he is deprived of oxygen long enough, he will die. Actually, the word can literally mean to pass out in the sense of to die. So “men dying of fear” could be quite a literal translation of this passage. Fear of what? It says here, fear of what is about to happen. There is a deep sense of foreboding that something terrible is about to happen, and so great is the fear of what is about to happen that people literally die of fear. It has happened. People die of a cardiac arrest because of fear, because of the foreboding. When they look at what is happening in the heavens, and also when they look at what is happening in the world at that time, they realize that something terrible is about to happen. Man is capable of premonition. It is a very strange thing. I wonder if you have had that experience. I have had that kind of experience, of what is translated here, as “foreboding,” premonition.

Before I became a Christian, I once had a strange foreboding that something was going to go wrong. I wonder if you have ever had that experience. Many people have that experience. And I remember how vividly I had that experience, and later in that same year, I came to the Lord. But before that, I had a foreboding. Something bad was about to happen, and yet I did not know what it was. There was a sense of nervousness, a sense of tension because somehow I knew, although I did not know why. Some people call it ESP (Extra Sensory Perception), that somehow you perceive something is about to happen. It has happened to many people. In fact, when I read the Chinese history historical novels like San Guo Yian Yi, (三國演義), you will see there that many times, a person had a premonition, a foreboding that something was going to go wrong and indeed it would go wrong.

I remember so distinctly at that time, I had the foreboding through the night. I knew I was going to be in big trouble and sure I was, because the next day, I was arrested and interned and got into serious problems with the Communists because of my desire and intention to leave China at the time. I was arrested and taken away. Of course, that was a great turning point in my life where I experienced God in a way I had never experienced before. But being arrested is always a very frightening experience. When you are marched off at gun point by several soldiers, it’s no joke, especially when you don’t know what they are going to do with you. In those days when people were freely being shot, all of us thought that we would soon join the number of the dead. So my foreboding that previous night was fully justified. I knew something was going to go wrong, and it happened as sure as I expected.

This is exactly the point here. At that time, there will be a general feeling among mankind, something terrible is about to happen to us and of course, they will be right. God’s judgment is about to descend upon the world.

 

Remind again: Mighty activities will happen in the solar system

Then Luke 21:26b goes on to repeat, “for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” Mighty activities will be happening in the solar system and all kinds of signs will be granted to mankind. The only problem is that when those signs happen, it is rather too late. Very few people repent. When they have resisted the gospel for so long, and they hope that they will change at the last moment, usually they never change. If you don’t change now, it’s not too likely you will change then in spite of all the signs that will be given. Those signs strike terror rather than hope into the hearts of the people.

 

“It’s true! The Lord Jesus is coming in the clouds!”

Verse 27 says,

The very thing they fear is happening! Things are happening in the heaven, and suddenly what will they see? “They will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Now the one they had never expected to see will be the one they will see. Jesus was crucified and gone! And what was all that nonsense about him rising from the dead? And there they see him! Most probably, they would be thinking, “There was that preacher we heard at church talking about Jesus coming one day and there will be signs. But we never believed him! After all, he is a religious maniac! What do you expect but that religious nuts talk like that? See! There he is! Jesus coming in the clouds!”

Can you picture that in your mind? Or does it all sound like so much a dream or fairy tale, or mythology? That dream has a strange way of coming true. Even as the prophets said, Jesus will come the second time as surely as he came the first time.

 

“The sign of the Son of man in heaven”: The rapture visible in the sky!

Now let us turn to Matthew 24:30 as we come to study the second part in the Lord Jesus’ teaching today. Here is exactly the parallel to Luke 21, but Matthew goes on to say something that Luke has not included in his Gospel. This is why we have four Gospels so that we can compare one Gospel with the other Gospel to see what things are happening, because we want to study another sign.

Today’s message could simply be described, if you like, as “Signs in the heavens.” Here we look at another sign. Let us read Matthew 24:29-31 so that we get the whole picture:

As we have already expounded verse 29, we come to verse 30. Notice that “the sign of the Son of man” brings the reaction of mourning upon the face of the earth and it precedes his Coming. So another sign comes before his actual Coming. But as we study Matthew, it is important to see that “the sign of the Son of man” is not a distinct event separate from the Coming of the Son of man but is an integral part of it.

What is this “sign of the Son of man” at the Coming of the Lord Jesus? If you look at the commentaries, the commentators are quite uncertain and quite confused. They don’t know what this sign might be. Some suggest that it may be some kind of special clouds, because it says he will be coming on the clouds. Therefore, first, you might see a great, radiant cloud or something of the kind. That will be the sign of his Coming.

I put it to you that as we study the Scripture, the sign of his Coming is by no means as vague as that. As we study the teaching of the Lord Jesus, he has not left us in uncertainty as to what it is because we are told here “the sign of the Son of man” is specific. There is only one “sign of the Son of man.” I wonder if you know what it is. The Lord Jesus has expounded “the sign of the Son of man” and I have also expounded it in an earlier message. Let us read Matthew 12:38-39:

Matthew 16:4 mentions this again:

So “the sign of Jonah” is the one and only “sign of the Son of man.” No other sign will be given as “the sign of the Son of man.” What is that sign? “The sign of the Son of man” in Scripture, is the sign of the resurrection. Now that is very important!

The Lord Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:27 there will be the shaking of the powers of the heavens, and then there will appear “the sign of the Son of man.” But this time it is in heaven, not on earth. That is the big distinction. The first time, the Son of man was on earth. This time, “the sign of the Son of man” is in heaven. What does it mean? If the resurrection sign is in heaven to be visible to all, it can only be one thing. It is the Rapture!

 

First, the Rapture: The dead are resurrected and caught up to the sky

What does the rapture mean? The rapture is where God’s people will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. That is a very remarkable teaching which we find Paul expounding in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. And if we wonder where Paul gets his teaching on the rapture, here it is in the Lord Jesus’ teaching once you begin to realize what is “the sign of the Son of man in heaven.” Not only is this the foundation of the Lord Jesus’ teaching, but it is also where you will find that Paul’s exposition of the Rapture is based on, exactly in that same order.

Notice carefully, the sign as I have mentioned earlier is something that is visible and in this case, it is in heaven. The important thing to notice about this passage from Matthew 24:29-31 is that “heaven” occurs in each of the three verses. It is God’s work in heaven. It is very important to observe that here, “heaven” does not mean paradise in some place else but it is the “sky.” In the Greek, “sky” and “heaven” share the same word. Therefore, the word “heaven” here, as “the heavens” in the Old Testament, refers to the sky. And in this passage, every one of these references refers to events that will be visible in the sky from earth.

When you look up into the heaven, the firmament, the skies, you will see these things happening. There you will see “the sign of the Son of man.” Hopefully, you will be part of the sign. If you are not part of the sign, that is too bad for you. You will only be a spectator, and that means you are left behind. Then you are in trouble!

So what is the Rapture? The Rapture is first and foremost a resur­rection event. At the Rapture, what will happen is that the dead in Christ will rise first. The dead will be raised, and they will be caught up to meet the Lord Jesus in the sky. What will happen to all the true Christians who have died over the last 2,000 years, but not the many nominal Christians who just go to church? They will be raised from their graves! No wonder the world is shaking!

Imagine the conversation that is going on! “Hey! Do you know what happened? I took a walk in the cemetery this morning and the graves opened up! One fellow went up into the sky! And this other one went up! Wow!” Do you all know there are those empty graves out there?”

“What happened out there?! Strange things are happening in these days!”

This will be the conversation. No wonder people are perplexed. What’s going on? What happened to these people? They never believed the gospel but now they are beginning to see the strange “sign of the Son of man,” the sign of the resurrection. What is more, they will not just be caught up and disappear into the sky invisibly. See! Where will these resurrected saints be? They will be in full view of the earth for you to see because they will meet the Lord Jesus in the air!

 

Then the Lord Jesus in the sky will gather all the living elect to himself

Notice again very carefully in the Lord Jesus’ teaching, how wonder­fully it is stated. First, there is “the sign of the Son of man in heaven,” and then the Coming of the Lord is mentioned in verses 30 and 31. And verse 31 mentions the next thing: he gathers the elect.

How does the sign of the Son of man relate to the gathering of the elect? That is exactly what Paul has explained for us in 1 Thessalonians 4. The first one, “the sign of the Son of man” has to do with the resurrection. The second is the gathering of those who are still alive on the earth. Then we, who are alive, will be gathered together to meet the Lord in the air. So the dead go first and those who are still alive will then be gathered together.

Notice this truly amazing verse 31:

He has still not come back to earth. He is still in the clouds in the sky. In Scripture, the “four winds” referred to in Scripture is descriptive of all the different directions. In Zechariah 2:6, we see that “the four winds” means all directions. So in Matthew 24:31, “And they will gather his elect from the four winds” means the Lord Jesus will gather together by his angels the true Christians who are alive from all directions, from wherever the wind blows upon the earth.

 

“From one end of heaven to the other”: No matter how far away

And the next phrase speaks of, “from one end of heaven to the other” – we are surprised by that term, “one end of heaven.” We would have expected “one end of the earth to the other.” But instead, we read “one end of heaven to the other.” This again, is using an Old Testament imagery and the “one end of heaven” refers to no matter how far away his people may be at that particular time, maybe quite literally, “one end of heaven.” Maybe you are flying in an airplane at that time, you are literally up in some end of the heaven somewhere. Perhaps you are on the space shuttle, for all you know. And the angels will gather God’s elect.

You will read “one end of heaven” in Deuteronomy 30:4 [NJB]. You will find the same thing, where God says he will gather his people from one end of heaven to the other:

The Lord Jesus is reflecting the same language there.

 

Paul’s exposition of Matthew 24:30-31 is in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

Let us turn to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, to Paul’s exposition of this whole passage. And you will find that it is a direct parallel to this verse, and is an exposition of the Lord Jesus’ teaching here. I have many times pointed out to you that Paul himself was the commenta­tor par excellence of the Lord’s teaching. And we read these words in 1Thessalonians 4:16-18:

 

Five points of parallel between the teaching of the Lord and Paul

Here you have a point by point parallel of what the Lord has been saying. I would like you to notice just five points of parallel here to our passage in Matthew 24:30-31.

1) The first point is, in Thessalonians it says the Lord Jesus himself is descending from heaven, that is, he is coming, but notice carefully, he has not come to the earth. He is descending from heaven but he stops right there in the air where he will meet his saints. He does not yet descend upon the earth. You will see him coming “in the clouds,” in the air, in the sky, as the Lord says in Matthew.

2) The second point is the same reference to the sound of the trumpet call, exactly as “a loud trumpet call” in Matthew 24:31.

3) The third point is the cry of command.

In the previous message, I spoke to you about spiritual authority. I pointed out to you that in this generation, at this present time, spiritual authority does not take the form of an irrevocable com­mand. God’s authority is subject to your acceptance or rejection. That is the remarkable thing in this age! But it will not be so when the Lord comes again. It is not an invitation but a loud cry of command.

The gospel is an invitation at the present time. You can take it or leave it. They could even take Jesus, the Lord of lords, sent by Yahweh God, and put him on a cross. They could reject him as finally as that. We can do that but not when he comes again. When the Lord comes again, it will be a cry of command, not of invitation, as it says in Matthew 24:30, “with power and great glory”! Power is reflected in command at that time.

4) The fourth is the reference to clouds, which is in both passages.

5) The fifth is the gathering. The gathering of the elect is in both passages.

And there you can see how Paul is following the Lord’s teaching, point by point, expounding it and clarifying it for the Thessalonians to understand. He is telling us explicitly the sign of the Son of man in the heavens is the sign of the Rapture, the resurrection of his saints. Not everyone will be resurrected; only the true disciples will be resurrected at this time. What a joy! What an excitement this is!

And what is more, in 1 John 3:2, we are told that “we shall become like him for we shall see him as he is.” When will we see him as he is? When we meet him in the air! There we will be transformed. Resurrection is fundamentally a transformation. We will put on the new, incorruptible body so often spoken about by Paul in his letters. How he longed for that redemption which was yet to come, when we will put on incorruption, when death will be no more, when the corruptible will be swallowed up in incorruption! That is the Rapture when the saints will be caught up. Notice the word “first” in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, that the saints who are dead will be resur­rected from their tombs first. Then those who are alive on the earth will be caught up.

 

The Rapture is an inseparable part of Christ’s Second Coming

It is also very important to understand, as I emphasized, in the Lord’s teaching: The Rapture is an inseparable part of his Second Coming. It’s not something that will happen two or three years before his Coming, but as you study the Lord Jesus’ teaching, the Rapture immediately precedes his Coming, because we are going to meet him in the air. He descends, and we ascend to meet him in the air. Hopefully, you and I will be there! What a glorious day! What a day of triumph!

 

The mark of the true Christian: Joy in the midst of breakdown in the world

Here is the point: The joy of the Christians is the distress of the world. The world is in a state of nervous breakdown, and the Christians are full of joy and hallelujahs! What a contrast it is going to be! The contrast between the Christian and the non-Christian will become ever clearer as the end approaches. And I hope it will be evident in your life, that when the world is getting more nervous, the Christians are getting more joyful. When they are coming to the point of breakdown, the Christians are full of praise and adoration. That is the mark of the true Christian.

 

The Lord encourages: Endure suffering, persecution to the end, for he is coming to redeem us!

Why is the Lord Jesus teaching us all this? He says Luke 21:28,

All these terrible things happening in the world is “the sign of our redemption,” but it is the sign of the world’s judgment. The sign of condemnation of the one is also the sign of salvation of the other. Isn’t that wonderful? The condemnation of the world comes near to hand, but it is the sign of the redemption of God’s people. I wonder how many true Christians there are!

As we conclude our passage, we begin to see what things are about to take place. The Lord Jesus encourages us by telling us that he is coming soon, and what will happen at his Coming. Our redemption will be complete by that time, and we will study about the comple­tion of our redemption in the next message. We will see that the Lord Jesus is giving this teaching to encourage all his disciples to endure to the end when we will suffer persecution and be put to death.

As I have reminded you time and again, our persecutors will not necessarily be non-Christians, they will be the false Christians, the misguided Christians. As always in Scripture, the worst persecu­tors—both in church history as in the Bible—are always the so-called “Christians.” They are the “Christians” whose lives have not been totally yielded to God; the “Christians” who are more interested in dogma than living a life of holiness and commitment. They are prepared to cut each other’s throats over different kinds of doc­trines: “It must be like this or like that,” instead of learning to live in love as Christians ought to live in this generation. They reject the teaching of holiness as being non-essential, and claim that so long as you believe in some sort of way, you will be saved.

Unfortunately, there are true Christians and there are false Chris­tians as we will see in the next chapter. There are sheep and there are goats. Sheep and goats belong to the same family, but they are different in nature. Or as we studied last time, eagles and vultures belong to the same family, but are very different in character. It is the eagles that will gather where the body of Christ is.

 

Where will you stand on that Day when the Lord Jesus comes?

Therefore, let us ask ourselves this question: How do we stand in relation to the Lord’s coming? Do you think it is just so much nonsense? So much fairy tale? So much mythology? You might think so if you don’t realize what the Lord Jesus says in Matthew 24:35,

The Lord Jesus is saying, “You may just think that I’m telling some fairy tales. Perhaps you think these things will never come to pass; let me tell you that the heaven and earth that you see will pass away, but my words will certainly come to pass.” And all of us who have followed the Lord Jesus for any number of years will know from our own experience, that not once has his words ever failed in whatever he has said.

I have followed the Lord Jesus for over 25 years and I can testify that whenever I have put his teaching to the test in everyday life, there has not been a single instance that it has ever failed. Not once! To some, the Rapture, “the sign of the Son of man in heaven” will come as a shock. To others, it will come as a fulfillment of what they have long waited for!

Let us be quiet before God in prayer.