Interesting to note, there’s an anticipation on the earth right now among God’s people that Jesus is coming soon.
I think about when a family is anticipating the entrance of a new soul into their home, the form of a baby, the excitement rises and rises and rises and a crib is purchased and showers are thrown for the expectant mother, the excitement gets quite incredible. And then that moment I remember when April bore our first child, I went berserk, I was there with her when she was going through the labor pains, I jumped in my car, I raced to the college, these are college days, I raced into the third year class, interrupted Dr. G.F. Adder. That was not a good move.
His name is on this pulpit down here, this pulpit was built by Tom Johnstone and then an addition was made on top for Brother Adder, it says so right there. I ran into this class and said, stop! You got to go into prayer, my wife is dying. Well, she’s crying and doing what ladies do and I’m not making fun of you, I’ve had a couple of kidney stones myself. But what about the anticipation in heaven? What if my grandmother, my grandfather, what if my parents are aware? Wow. What if, like I’m so excited for so many reasons about heaven, some of my excitement is to see my folks, to see the people who made an impression upon my life. They must be anticipating as well.
I want to speak this morning about this very topic. So I want to read something, I think it should come up now. Professor and theologian Jay Parton Payne wrote a book and he has listed in his book 1817 prophecies in the Bible, the Bible consistent relation of prophecy in the Bible is staggering. On top of that, it is the most amazing accuracy of those detailed prophecies. At least half of all biblical predictions have already been fulfilled, precisely as God had declared, because of God’s faithfulness in fulfilling these prophecies, we can be assured that he will fulfill the rest of those prophecies in Scripture without fault. You could check out Numbers 23. Prophecy in the Bible can be divided then into two groups, prophecies that have been fulfilled in prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled.
So study in the end times is called eschatology. Eschatology is a Greek, it comes from a Greek form and it means the end times, the study of the end times. It’s called eschatology. It’s literally a function whereby you would look at the scriptures and determine what’s going to happen next. And so there’s a couple of things that I want to bring to your attention and that is that I’ve perceived that there is confusion as to when and what is happening. We have the terminology, the second coming and then we also have the idea, the Scripture, about the Rapture and there tends to be confusion by times among God’s people. Do you know the difference between the Rapture and the second coming? So many people think of them both as the same thing, but they’re not and we want to show you a couple of things.
There’s the Rapture and the second coming. So in Matthew 24 we read these words. Every eye will see Him. Every eye will see Him when He comes. And it also says in Matthew 24, for as the lightning that comes from the east is visible even to that in the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Well when lightning strikes, you’ve all watched lightning storms. That’s kind of interesting. And it’ll shine way off in that direction and then way off in this direction. And everybody in that circuit where that lightning hit, everybody if they chose to, would be able to see it. When Jesus comes at the second coming, every eye will see Him. But then we know another passage of Scripture, 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 2 says, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night.
Well that’s not like a lightning storm. A thief in the night, thief doesn’t announce that he’s coming. You can tell when a storm is coming. You can hear thunder in the distance. If it’s daytime you can see the clouds. We seldom get caught unawares by a major storm. And but a thief, he doesn’t announce that he’s coming. He comes in the night. He comes as a surprise. So now we have two concepts. Everybody will see him, but he comes as a thief in the night. So the apostle in 1 Thessalonians teaches us from verse 13, brothers and sisters, we don’t want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death. So that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again. And so we believe that God will bring Jesus with those who have fallen asleep with Him.
According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive at that moment who are left until the coming of the Lord will certainly not go ahead of. We won’t precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord will come from heaven down with a loud command, a great shout. The voice of the archangel and trumpets the call of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. After that we who are still alive or left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so well we will be with the Lord forever and therefore we’re to encourage each other with these words. Why does the Lord come with a shout? I guess he’s excited. When Jesus is standing outside the tomb of Lazareth, it says he shouted, Lazarus, come forth. I get excited just about this whole idea and pretty well every time. I can’t say a hundred percent but pretty well every time if it’s a Christian burial, if it’s somebody from my church or somebody that I know and they know Jesus, I will invariably say in part of my conclusion, for those of you who have never witnessed a miracle, just know you’re standing right now on miracle ground. This ground right here will be the very focal point of a great miracle when Jesus shouts and says, come on, hold.
First Corinthians 15, I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed. Sleep means we’ll not all be dead. In one of our churches they had to sign up over the nursery. We shall not all, we shall not all sleep but we all shall be changed. Verse 52 in a moment, in a moment, how long does it take an eye to twinkle in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump? For the trumpet will sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible will put on incorruption, this mortal will put on immortality. I’ll be talking more about this in days to come along.
What happens to our soul? What happens to our spirit at our departure from this old life? I was not present for my dad’s departure, not present for my grandmother’s departure, but my family members were there and each time my grandmother knew that Jesus was coming for her, my father knew that Jesus was beckoning him and asked my mother’s permission and she said, you want to go? And weepingly he said, I want to go. She actually bent over a kiss to him, goodbye, and he was gone. Same thing happened to my mother who asked my son. I was away and I don’t know where I was. My son was there and she said, Dave, how do we do this? How do we do this? What do you want to know, grandma? It’s time. It’s time for me to go.
Isn’t that incredible? The Lord clues you in. And so my son said, well, you know how grandpa went and thus and so my son prayed a little prayer. He said, I better go down to the front desk and get something for you. Came back, she was gone. The corruptible on that day will take on incorruption. The mortal will take on immortality and then shall be brought to pass the saying, as it is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your sting? Grave where is your victory? The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord. And therefore beloved, comfort one another with these words.
I want to go on to 2 Timothy chapter 4, for I am already being poured out like a drink offering and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, and finished the race. I’ve kept the faith and finally there’s laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge will give to me on that day, a crown of righteousness. And he goes on to say, but not just me, the crown of righteousness, to you also who have loved his appearing. Do you love his appearing?
The king is indeed coming. I want to read a passage of Scripture. And I am going to depend upon the people upstairs because mine has frozen for some reason. So I’m really going to depend upon you, Luke. And I’m not going to know what’s coming next. So in Matthew’s Gospel 24, Matthew’s Gospel 24, I’m not going to read it all to you. But I just want to let you know, give you a capsule of it. In verse 2, Jesus is with his disciples and they’re passing by the temple. And he points at the temple and he says, you see this place? It’s going to be torn down. Why would Jesus take the time to tell his disciples the temple’s coming down? I believe it was to kind of get them ready. Remember, all Israel was looking for the reestablishment of the kingdom. And they believed that Jesus was going to be the one to do so. Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna. Then their hearts sank. Those who were excited about him, their hearts sank when he was on the cross.
They were constantly looking for the restoration of Israel. And Jesus is saying, let not your hearts be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me in my father’s house or many, many rooms. I’m going there to prepare one for you. And then he leaves and he’s expecting the Jewish believers now to go forth and do his bidding. And in 70 AD, the temple was destroyed. Where is the kingdom? Where is all this coming together? And so there was some trouble among the people as they would get disturbed and confused by all of it. So Jesus is giving a warning already in verse 2 of chapter 24. He says, this temple’s going to come down. Then they go to the Mount of Olives, verse 3. And as they’re on the Mount of Olives, the disciples start asking the questions. These things you’re talking about, the temple’s going to be torn down. When’s that going to happen? We’re confused, Lord. Jesus goes on to talk about war and famine and pestilence. He talks about a tribulation that now when we study it from Daniel, Ezekiel, in the book of Revelation, we know that not only is the temple going to be destroyed, it’s already been destroyed. But he goes on to say there’s more, there’s going to be war, rumor of war, there’s going to be pestilence, there’s going to be famine, there’s going to be trouble.
We now know that it’s going to last for exactly three and a half years. Because what’s happening after the rapture, the rapture of the church, the tribulation begins. It lasts a total of seven years. The first half of the tribulation is a very, very difficult time. But then from the second, in the second half of the tribulation, it’s not called the tribulation, it’s called the great tribulation. So Jesus is indicating what this is all about when you go through Matthew chapter 24. Then he gets down to verse, I’m going to get down to verse 29 as the great tribulation is taking place. And Jesus said immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, the moon shall not give her light. The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of earth, powers of the heavens will be shaken. Atomic warfare, what do we know? And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven and then shall the tribes of the earth mourn.
So this is the second coming. They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they’ll gather together his elect to Jewish people from wherever they still are. There’s a lot of them in New Jersey. He’s going to call them home. He’s already, 300,000 have just gone home to get involved in this battle in Isreal. There is a magnetism going on. The Newfoundlanders would understand this. They all head for the rock every once in a while. But this is going to be a powerful thing when the Lord starts to beckon his children home. There’s not another country in the world where the people love their land. There are people born in Canada, US, raised here and they’re attached to that strip of land called Israel. They’re willing to die for it. And the patriotism that I always admonished, just so I was so startled with the patriotism of the United States of America.
But now I watch hundreds of thousands in the streets saying, death to America, death to America, the Jews of the very opposite. Long live Israel, pray for the peace of Jerusalem and they’re all running home to take care of their country. It’s an amazing thing. Now, there’s a change comes in verse 32. And you can be confused if you don’t understand Bible prophecy and so on. And that’s, I’m here to try and help you with this. Matthew’s Gospel chapter 24 does not outlay in its chronology. So we’ve just been hearing about the trip. First of all, the temple was knocked down in 70 AD. Now we’ve had some other things happen with Israel in the land. All kinds of things are happening and now the tribulation will start to happen. And then in verse 32, Jesus goes into a side note, he starts talking about something totally different. He says, now learn a parable of the fig tree. I can see him standing under a fig tree and pointing out a branch. He said, when his branch is yet tender and puts forth leaves, you’ll know that the summer is near. So likewise, when you see all these things, know that it is near.
So he’s changed the topic, you see, even at the doors. It’s there. Verily, I say unto you, this generation will not pass till all these things are fulfilled. That threw me off for years. I’m thinking, he’s talking to them and he’s saying when the fig tree starts to bloom, they’re not understanding how that’s going to happen in real space time. When’s the fig tree going to bloom? He says, this generation will not pass till all these things are fulfilled. That threw me off. Paul talked and lived like Jesus was coming tomorrow.
Peter talked and lived like he’s coming at any moment. Get ready, get ready, get ready. Where do they get the idea? Because he said, this generation will not pass until these things are fulfilled. But now I’m realizing that when he said this generation, he was talking about the generation that would be alive when the fig tree started to bloom. When the fig tree was coming back to life, because the summer was approaching. And he was saying when the fig tree begins to revive and come back to life, no, no that things are going to happen. This generation won’t pass until these things are fulfilled. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. But all that day and hour knows, no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my father only. He’s talking about the second coming. He says when the fig tree begins to flower, somebody reminds us, I’m watching all kinds of teaching and so on. So there’s a preacher who talked about how the guy who wrote Tom Sawyer, Charles Dickens, you know that famous writer, he went over to Israel, he walked through Israel and he wrote it down. He said, this is the most God forsaken desert dry. Nothing could ever flourish here. What a mess.
You go to that place now. It’s like a fig tree. It’s unbelievable. It’s like the Garden of Eden. They’re supplying all of Europe with fruit. Like Israel has come back alive. It’s energy. It’s economy. Some of the smartest scientists in the world live somewhere around Jerusalem. They’ve been responsible for developing many of the incredible medicinal apparatuses that are saving people’s lives. Israel has blossomed beautifully, wonderfully. And Jesus said when that happens, you know things are about to fly. So when was that time? Is now the time when the tree is blossoming? Is this the time? Well, it’s interesting. Back in 19, when did the First World War end? I forget about 1917-ish? And the big empire of that day, my brain isn’t working right now history, the big empire from Constantine, whatever, it had been crushed. And they had conquered the world, but it had been crushed. And that was all part of the First World War.
And so now the League of Nations had to decide, well, what are we going to do? Because the empire was destroyed, what those guys held together and what they claimed was their empire, now smashed. And so what they were looking at was the Middle East. So you had what we now know was Jordan and Egypt and Saudi Arabia, etc., Lebanon, whatever. And so what they did is they sat down at the time and they said, look, we’ll divide it all up. And so you get this part, you get, so the British got their part of it. And so it was all divided up. But nobody was really happy about it, but they were the guys that won the war, they got to do so. So the consequences then, of the end of the First World War started something that you’re seeing erupting happen even right now in what we know of as Israel. So at that time, the British, the League of Nations, mandated or handed over what was then Palestine to British rule. So the British ended up with what people called Palestine. They called it Palestine at that time. And so the rule that was given at that time called the Balfour Proclamation, that lasted until this May the 14th, 1948.
During 47, the British said they had over 100,000 troops there. And they said, we’re done here, we’re going to back off. They sat down with the Arabs and the Jewish people and they said, look, let’s set up a nice state where you guys can live together and work together. And so they said, look, we’re not going to take a vote on this. Here’s how it’s going to go. The Jews, people, you get this part and the Arab people get that part. The Arab people were ticked … No, we want all of that. We’re not putting up with this. And they boycotted the meeting and walked out. Well, the British just went ahead and said to the Jewish people, you’ve got that part and the Arabs have this part.
So then on May 14th, 1948, the Jewish people, David Ben-Gurion was the leader, declared to the whole world, Israel is born today and the following day the Arabs attacked them. And that war has been going on until today. That is what’s happening on that side of the world. But the interesting thing is that Jesus said, when the fig tree comes into new life, that generation will not pass away until all the prophecies are fulfilled. Which generation were you born on May the 14th, 1948? You’re the generation that are going to see the second coming. The generation that at least are going to experience the rapture.
I was born in 45. I’ve been taken off the list. This is the generation Jesus said that will not pass away. We’re living literally in the last days. There’s hardly anything yet to be fulfilled of the prophecies of the last days. It’s a glorious time. You better go on. You’ve got to help me because my thing froze. Can I get it going again? It would be nice if it would. I’m going to try. It took me right back to the beginning. No, it’s dead. Okay, take me. Yeah, the king is coming. The next one, please. I’m going to have to follow your notes. Once Christ was sacrificed to take away the sins of many and He will appear a second time not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him. I’m going to abandon this because this is a game I don’t want to play, of trying to …can we get this going? [His computer freezes] So let me tell you another part of this.
Remember when Joseph was betrothed to Mary? This is all part of it. It’s okay. What was I going to share today? What was I going to share next week? Remember when Joseph was betrothed to Mary and she announced to Him, I’m with child. He was beside Himself and determined that maybe He was going to have to file for a divorce. He had every right to have her stoned because she’d had a child and it wasn’t his. He was betrothed to Him and He was committed to her. What had happened is that Joseph had made a journey to her house and had spoken to Mary’s mother and father and said, I would like to marry your daughter. They would have sat and talked maybe for a couple of days talking this thing all out, maybe a shorter time than that. And they would have come to a conclusion that he would put up what they call over in Africa. They called the dowry. He had to buy her and that’s a little strange to us. But it was called the purchase price at that time, the purchase price. So that was agreed upon. Everybody agreed. There was no dating. It was not allowed. Joseph was there to ask for Mary. We know from digging deeper and deeper into rabbis, teachings and history, whatever. Here’s what I found that at the conclusion of that meeting, there would have been two visitors that were not relatives who would be a part of that meeting.
So they would be outside in the middle type of people, not favoring one side or the other, if a problem came and a problem came. Right? I’m with child. So there would be two visitors from the town, maybe elders of the city, whatever, whatever. They would be there. There would be Joseph. No mention of Mary whether she would be there or not. That’s inconsequential. She’s being bought. And so how they would conclude this meeting would be that they would drink wine together. And the drinking of wine was their way of sealing the deal so they could come back and say if there was ever a problem, hey, I was there and I drank the wine with you. The drinking of the wine was the end of the deal. There was no more deal, no more negotiation. Nothing else was to take place. So the sipping of the wine was the conclusion. At that time, Joseph would have gone home because he was now at the first stage of being married to Mary. He would go home and he would stay at his father’s house for the next 12 months. And during that time, things are going to start to resonate. During that time, he and his father would plan where he and Mary would abide as husband and wife. And during that time, he would get out his carpenter tools. He would see his dad. He would help him. Maybe the servants. It doesn’t matter, but it would take a whole 12 months. What if he was done in 11 months? He dare not come back and say to Mary’s father, hey, I got it done in a hurry. And the father could have said, that’s cheap. What corner stood you cut? No, it was an agreeable thing, a full 12 months. And then you can come say, it took me a whole year, but sir, it’s all set.
Interesting. I’m getting bubbles thinking about this. Interesting. It was not Joseph’s privilege to decide the house was ready. It was not his privilege. It was the privilege of the father because the father of Joseph, it was all about his reputation. I saw the house that you prepared for Joseph and Mary. Looks like a cardboard box with a cigar burning out the top. What kind of a mess? No, you see, it was going to be a matter of pride with the dad. He would go through and check if the plumbing is up to code. Make sure that all the light switches work. Make sure that the refrigerator has a double French door. And there was a place for Diet Coke on this side. He’d make sure it was all set. And finally, the daddy would say to Joseph, go and get your bride. What was Mary doing all this time? Well, she’s all excited. She’s talking to her girlfriends. They’re throwing parties. She’s her mother showing how to knit the holes in Joseph’s socks, how to put a band-aid on his finger when he cut his finger off with a plane. Teach her how to make Polish borscht. Show her how to make Italian spaghetti. Yes. Well, she’d be learning all the wonderful things of being a bride, of being the wife of Joseph.
This was an encouraging time. This was a preparation by her to be married to him. This was a preparation time for him to get a house ready for her. Are you catching on? Son, go get your bride. He would call his buddies. And he’d say, tonight’s the night. Why would he go at night? Because he wants it to be a surprise. No groom ever came in the daytime. It was established. He would come almost like a thief in the night. To do what? The rapture when you check out all those verses, the word take is there. I looked it up in the original Greek. Now I’m a Greek scholar. Two will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken. One will be snatched away. The other will be left. Which one will be snatched away? The Mary’s, the ones who were from the house, from the family, when the deal was made, and when it was consummated with drink this cup, it’s a seal of this covenant. It wasn’t just a, it wasn’t a prenuptial thing. Beloved, you know what they called it? They called it a covenant of marriage.
Jesus said in the night with which He’s betrayed. This is a symbol of my covenant, my promise to you. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father’s house, there are many rooms. I’m going to go there and I’m going to check them all out. I’m going to choose the choicest room just for you. Which one of you, every one of you, when he was on the cross? You were on his heart. He was worried about you. He’s there now preparing a room just for you. But his father will determine when he can come. The disciple said, when will you, when will you be coming back? Jesus. He said, no man knoweth, not even the son. There it is. When you come to Jesus, he indicates when the father says so. And the father says so. I’m coming for those who might have been purchased. We don’t like that idea. You get to purchase a wife.
Did I tell you the story? I probably did. There’s got to be somebody here who has not heard my story. So I relish telling my story. I have been going to Kenya for quite a few years by this time. Like I was in Kenya or Tanzania or somewhere over there more than I was in Canada. And my wife and I lived by long distance. And so I was learning the culture now. I was really getting into the culture. You’ve got to know the culture or you’re going to step on toes. You’re going to make your audience upset. You’ve got to know the culture. So I learned this culture that when a fellow wanted to take a bride, he would go and sit down with the father of the young lady. And he would come to an agreement with him. And you’ve got to know. I’ve heard this, the dads are always tough business men. You don’t get my daughter for five cows. Look at the size of her. She can plow a field with a couple of oxen faster than any of those little skinny women in the rest of the village. She’s strong like a bull and eats like a horse. You’re going to pay for her. The larger the person, the more cows she’s worth.
So here I am in the Valley Road Church. There’s about 4,000 people sitting before me. And now they always look forward to me coming. They call me the storyteller. The storyteller. They never had to mention my name. The storyteller is coming. You wonder why. So I stood in that pulpit and it’s my opportunity to preach to them. But I said, ladies and gentlemen, before I add venture into this message that I feel is on my heart for you today. I’ve got to let you know something. It takes me a long time to learn something. I’m not a quick study. I said, I have learned about your culture now. And I said, I feel so foolish. I said, my beautiful daughter. I said, a young man came and said, I want your daughter from my wife. And I said, hesitantly, very hesitantly, yes. And I stood there looking at them. And I said, from that day on, it cost me a fortune. And 4,000 people start to get restless to think in what kind of a wild culture are you from. I said, I had to pay for the whole wedding. I had to pay for the honeymoon. I had to pay for her drafts. It just went on forever and ever and ever.
And the people now start to laugh at me like I was like David Letterman when a joke goes bad. And so I’m standing there looking at them. I said, but I have a redemptive thought. I have one more daughter. And the place breaks into applause. I said, I’ve learned how to do it. I said, she’s a beautiful young lady. And I said, I’m not going to show you a picture of our daughter as a powerful woman to go out there and dig and prepare, you know, work with the cows and the chickens. But I said, her beauty, her beauty is something to be amazed at. And I said, I’ll tell you what, the first young man who comes along and offers one, this is ridiculous, 100 cows, she’s yours. The place went into hysterics. Some are laughing. Some are going like this. Nobody ever pays 100 cows. You know, like that’s silly. Six, eight cows is good.
So I don’t know what kind of time goes on. And now April and I are in the town of Mombasa. It’s on the coast. And we’re getting ready to do a drama, we’re getting ready to do heaven’s gates. Okay, we’re going to do the thing for them. So we’re in the auditorium and we’re putting up this tin foil, you know, all kinds of aluminum foil, whatever, we’re doing all this stuff. And all of a sudden a young man comes in like he’s dressed in a beautiful suit and he’s carrying a briefcase. If you’re important in East Africa, you carry a briefcase. How do you know? Because all of them know the who’s who, that came from Canada and US and Europe, the powerful, the smart people, especially the missionaries, they always wore a dark suit. They always wore a black tie and they always carried a briefcase.
And this guy walks in looking like he’s, he’s set for business. He came down, sat down his briefcase and he said, I believe that you’re a Reverend Forrest. I said, yes, I am. He wanted to shake my hand. He said, well, sir, I’ve come to do business with you today. This is exactly how they would talk. I’ve come to do business with you. I said, oh, well, I think business like I’m here to do drama. I’m where I’ve got to be, I say, well, what’s on your mind? He said, one beautiful second daughter’s on my mind, sir. And he said, the Lord has blessed me richly. One hundred cows is no problem, sir. I want to strike a deal for your wife. My mouth went dry. I stood there and I thought, oh, you are so culturally inclined. You are a genius Forrest. You’re going to go home in a body bag. This is not like, how do you tell this guy? Oh, I didn’t mean that. And I’m saying, oh, yeah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I’m thinking I could tell him. I probably had too many aspirins that morning. No, that’s not good. I was a little cuckoo at that time. No, I’m always cuckoo. No, it’s going to work. What’s going to work? And all of a sudden, he cracks a smile. And I realize he’s not looking at me in the eye. He’s looking past me. And now his smile goes into kind of a gentle giggle. I turn. Now, you’ve got to know something. Our humor and theirs is diametrically opposite. They don’t get our humor. They don’t get it. This guy is giggling. I turn to see what’s caught. And there she is, my wife. And she’s almost in tears. You got him, you got him. And he says, sir, I did it, didn’t I? I fooled and I’m Zungu. I fooled you. Sir, I’m still a peasant. I don’t have one cow. I’d love to bring you 100 cows. I escaped.
Joseph would have got the word from his dad, go get Mary. He would assemble all his friends. He knew it was coming close. Like they had to be having meetings on a regular basis with pizza from Caesars. And they would have been sitting around planning, planning, planning. And they all had their torches ready. And he sent the word. He says, my dad says, yes. All these young guys show up. It’s after dark, probably 10 o’clock at night. I don’t know what. And so they all light their torches. And now they start marching toward the house of Mary. What’s this? Why did Jesus shout at Lazarus’ tomb? Why is Jesus coming with a shout? The voice of the archangel and Trump it’s blaring because as Joseph is leading his buddies down to Mary’s house, someone in the lead of the pack gives a shout. Joseph is here for Mary. And the young man with her, and the celebration, they go wild. And she quickly calls her dear friends who are also getting in the ready. And there’s a warning in the gospel that says, let the virgins trim their oil lamps.
Make sure you’re walking in the spirit. Make sure you’re ready, young ladies. There were five wise and five foolish, don’t be among the foolish ones who are ready for the shell. He’s coming for his pride. Get ready. Get ready. Get ready. Get ready. Because the king is coming. Those of you who are watching by the internet, I just got two applause. It’s one from this side and one from that. The age that we’re at, that’s one more than I was counting on. I’m sorry. Turn up your hearing aid. I’m talking to you. So as they’re coming along and they’re shouting and they’re dancing, she makes herself ready. And she walks with these young damsels that are with her. Obviously, from what Jesus’ words were, none of her friends are married. They’re all virgins. And as they come out, she’s in a beautiful garment. And her face is covered. No one is allowed to see the bride. And so they meet somewhere out there. The family’s going bananas. We don’t know all that stuff. Edge, every family would respond their way. And then Joseph would take Mary on his arm and they’d head to the house and the room that he’s prepared. Upon arriving at the house, Joseph’s mom and dad would have been all excited. It would have been such a wonderful thing. And here’s this young lady, her face still veiled. They’re not allowed to see her. Why? Because she now belongs to Joseph. No one else gets to even see her. And he takes her to a private room. And he’s already selected a fellow on his side. She probably has selected a young woman from her tribe, from her group, from her home. And they would stand outside the marriage honeymoon suite. And they would just wait. And eventually, Joseph would emerge. And he would say, our marriage has been consummated. These two people would go ballistic, wearing party hats, blowing whistles, running down the hall, shouting, pour the wine. It’s consummated Joseph and Mary husband and wife. What happens next? Joseph and Mary were together for the next seven days. They did not come out. Still, on the man’s side, they probably don’t even know what she looks like. Joseph and Mary would have had seven days in the suite. They would have been food delivered and left at the door, whatever. And at the end of seven days, they would have emerged. And Joseph would have lifted the veil and said, behold my bride.
In the New Testament, especially with the epistles, we come to understand that Jesus is the groom. We are the bride. We are the chosen ones. He chose every one of us, one by one, when he was on the cross. You were on his mind. What was he doing on the cross? He was paying the dowry. He was paying the price. He was paying the price. The price was his own blood. He gave all for his bride. He’s now in a heavenly place, preparing just for us. And the Father and He are going to come to the conclusion. It is time. It is time. Go get your bride. My mom and dad are there already. They’re part of the bride. And this is all part of the exciting part of it. Like when Jesus comes for his bride, he’ll shout. Some of us are in the grave. What part of us is in the grave? Just your body. Your spirit soul has gone to be with the Lord. Abson from the body, present with the Lord. But then we have these words from the Apostle Paul. When Jesus comes and takes away his bride, the bodies of those in the grave will be reunited with their soul spirit. And so shall they ever be with the Lord. So what we have in heaven right now, those who’ve gone on before us, they are bodiless spirits. They’re not little candles glowing in the dark. Don’t try and imagine. Just leave it there. They’re bodiless soul spirits.
But when the rapture happens, every grave will yield its Lazarus. Lazarus, come forth. His spirit was revived, and he came out. Now, one Bible teacher added a little piece to this that I like so much. Last week I said, how did Lazarus ever get out of the tomb? Because I saw an archaeologically inclined person take cameras and everything. And they said, now, this is where they were at Bethany. And they said, this is just like the tomb. They went down this cut out of the rock, this narrow stairway. And then they were almost crawling on their bellies to get in. And here was this little, I’m going to call it a coffin shaped space where they would have fed the body in. I’m thinking, how do you ever get out of there? Because Jesus had to say, well, untie him. Get the windings off him. But I was reminded by a preacher recently who said, we shall have bodies like his. We shall have bodies like his when we rise at the rapture, at the rapture. What was Jesus’ body like with his resurrection? He walked through walls. He walked through doors. He was not limited by his body. His body was complete. They recognized him? Go ahead, Thomas, touch me. He fed them. He ate with them. He dined with them. He laughed with them. I see him hugging them. He was in real body form. But he could appear. He sat with the two on the road to Emmaus. Suddenly, suddenly appeared and walked along with them. Got to their house. And as they sat down and started to break bread, he vanished. He vanished.
How did Lazarus get out of the tomb? He was not confined to the limitations of his humanity. What will it be like in heaven? You can play a little game. I’m going to go to Mars for a moment. You’re there. I don’t know. That’s silliness. But we’ll be known as we are known now. I’m going to get some hair implants before I go, because I’d like to have hair in heaven. We shall be known as we are known. And we get to eat. We get to dine. Oh, oh. Last one. When they emerge from the wedding suite after the seventh day, there’s a big banquet. And that is the wedding banquet. This is a year, at least a year, and seven days since the sipping of the wine. And so this marriage is a process. And it’s gone on for a year and seven days. And when they emerge, they sit down. And there’s a grand banquet. It’s the marriage. It’s the marriage supper. And who’s the guest of honor? Mary is the guest of honor. This is Joseph’s house. This is where Mary is being welcomed. All the speeches about how we welcome Mary into our family. Mary is the focal point. And the Word of God, I’ve never seen this before I’m getting deeper into eschatology, the study of end time. I never recognized, I never saw this.
Do you know when the marriage supper of the lamb takes place after the tribulation? After the second coming of Christ, we’re with Him, all through the tribulation. For seven years, Joseph and Mary hid themselves for seven days. But we will be hidden with Jesus in the bridal suite for seven years. And then comes the end when it’s the consummation of all things, the second coming of Christ. Where are we? We’re with Him. And I heard Stuart Mulligan preach in agent court years ago. And he found it where we all ride horses. And he called out to somebody in the service. A little, a little, I believe she was the dark skin, a little, lovely little lady. And he called out to her, let’s say her name is mine. He says, Minerva, have you ever ridden a horse? You’re gonna ride a horse that day. We’re all gonna be riding great deeds. We’re gonna become it. No wonder the world is gonna mourn. No wonder they’re gonna be afraid. Never mind about Allah, Baka, or whatever it is. This is Jesus, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. He’s coming again. That King is coming. Hallelujah. I’d like you to stand with me.
