Editor's Note: Anne Graham Lotz is the daughter of Evangelist Billy Graham. The ANVIL Newsletter took a close look at this topic in March 2014. Here is the link: An Unprecedented Event is about to Occur - Rapture of the Church!
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. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. - 1 Cor 15:51-52
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13Brothers and sisters, we do not 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. 14For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words. - 1 Thess 4:13-18
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...This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. Acts 1:11
Several months ago, I posted a blog entitled, "Starting a Conversation: A Message for Those Left Behind." In it I said that I could almost hear the Last Trumpet being tuned for the one blast that will announce the beginning of the end.
Click Here - The Mystery of the Trumpet Call (video)
Click Here - The Mystery of the Trumpet Call (video)
I asked readers in that blog, when that moment comes, and they are caught up to meet the Lord, what they would wish they could say to those who are left behind. I want to answer my own question now in a series of four messages in these days leading up to Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish Feast of Trumpets.
First Message: What is the Mystery of the Trumpet Call?
The Apostle Paul, in 1 Cor. 15:51-52, refers to a mystery when the trumpet sounds. He gives a little more detail in 1 Thess. 4:13-18, but once again refers to the "trumpet call of God" that announces the return of Jesus Christ for those who have placed their faith in Him.
Because of the reference to the "trumpet," many believe when Jesus returns for those who belong to Him, He will do so on the Feast of Trumpets. It seems reasonable to assume that if He was crucified on the Feast of Passover, buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, raised on the Feast of the Firstfruits, that the pattern would continue, and He would return on the Feast of Trumpets.
Interestingly, the Feast of Trumpets is also called the "Hidden Day," because no one knows the exact day or hour of Rosh Hashanah. The only certainty is that it is one of the designated days. This year those days are Sept. 24, 25 and 26.
Whether or not Jesus returns on this year's Feast of Trumpets, we do know without doubt that there is coming a day when all people in the world who have put their trust in Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord are going to be suddenly removed. Caught up in the air to be with Jesus forever.
While His followers will be experiencing the joy of His visible presence, those left behind are going to be plunged into worldwide grief and fear, chaos and confusion.
In light of this, God has placed on my heart several messages I want to give to those who would be left behind if the rapture occurred today. In addition to this message, I will post three more on the next three days.
Anne Graham Lotz is the founder of AnGeL Ministries. She also is the author of several books.
Part 3 of 4 : The Mystery of the Trumpet Call
Part 4 of 4 : The Mystery of the Trumpet Call
[Saw this piece on the web and would love to see reactions to it. Lord bless.]
ReplyDeleteFranklin Graham's warning of coming persecution of Christians echoes what his mother Ruth and father Billy have clearly stated.
In a Google article titled "Letter from Mrs. Billy Graham," Ruth stated that "I would rather prepare myself to go through the tribulation and be happily surprised by an unexpected rapture, than expect to be raptured only to find myself going through tribulation."
Her husband, Billy, had this to say: "Perhaps the Holy Spirit is getting His Church ready for a trial and tribulation such as the world has never known." He stated this on p. 72 in Sam Shoemaker's book "Under New Management," and the same quote is also found in a Google piece entitled "Famous Rapture Watchers - Addendum."
To see the rest of Franklin's message which can no longer be ignored or censored (!), Google "Franklin Graham's Warning" which can be found on Joe Ortiz's "End Times Passover" blog.