Welcome to Yankee Arnold Ministries. Dr. Arnold will be with you in just a moment. But first, we want you to know how much we appreciate your prayers and financial support.
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Now, here is Dr. Arnold with today’s message.
Well, it’s good to see y’all this morning. Anybody been watching the news? Anything going on in the world?
The Bible says in the last days, it’s going to get better and better, right? Now, if you’ll notice, this is where we are right now. Everything has happened just like God said it would take place.
Prophecy about Christ coming into the world, he’s done that, just like he said he would. He was taken up into heaven, and the Bible says that we are now in this period of time called the church age, the grace age, the body age. But then right after us, after we are taken out of this world, the rapture, the worst period of time upon the earth is right ahead of us.
So, if this is true, and the rapture is close, then the world has got to be sitting on a powder cake. Isn’t it true that there’s people in the… How in the world are you going to have peace?
You won’t have peace in the world unless you have peace in the Muslim world. And I don’t see peace coming to the Muslim world. They are looking for their 12th man, their Iman.
You know, they are going to come on the scene, and they are going to conquer the world. Did you know the Bible talks about somebody coming on the scene in the last days, and he will claim that he is God and demand that everybody worship him. So anyway, this is where we are headed.
I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of 1 Corinthians and chapter 15. 1 Corinthians and chapter 15.
There’s many miracles in the Bible. I would love to have been there and seen some of these miracles. But if I live long enough, I’m just liable to see a great miracle.
The miracle of the rapture, not rupture, rapture. I believe everyone who’s trusted Christ as Savior will be changed in a moment, the twinkling of an eye, and caught up to meet the Lord in the air. That’s those that are believers in Jesus Christ, regardless of where they are on the face of the earth.
And so, there’s an interesting statement made here in verse 51. Behold, I show you a mystery. This is a truth that’s been hidden in times past, but now revealed for the first time.
A mystery. We shall not all sleep. I wonder what that means.
It means that we will not all physically die. There is a time coming which I believe is right ahead of us. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
So those that are alive and live in a mortal body will put on immortality. Bodies that have already died and placed into the grave, and they have been absent from the body present with the Lord, then corruptible will put on incorruption. And the Bible says, when this happens, then shall be brought to pass the saying that death, where is thy sting, grave, where is thy victory, because we escape the grave, those of our death, and we escape the sting of death.
We won’t die. So those two things is something that we ought to be thankful for. The rapture will take place and we will not see death.
I believe that that time is coming very, very soon. Look at what he says in verse 52. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
Here we are, sitting here at Calvary Community Church, minding our own business, doing our thing, and all of a sudden the rapture takes place. And when it takes place, we’re out of here. Change in a moment in the twinkling of an eye.
Look at what he says. For the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. Now, we know that, you know, we can talk about the seven feast in the Book of Leviticus chapter 23.
Three of them is in the spring feast and it happens in the spring. So you have Christ, who is the, you know, came into the world and was a Passover lamb. And then he came back from the dead.
And then the Pentecost fifty days later. So those three feasts have already taken place. Now there’s a few more coming.
They call them the fall feast. And in the fall, well, lo and behold, we’re heading to the fall, aren’t we? So there’s some feast that’s going to take place.
And one is going to be when you hear the trumpet, because the trumpet not only will we be taken out of here, but it’s also like a gathering for the children of Israel. It’s going to be because there’s going to be war, or something important going to take place. And then the Jews usually have a time of repentance, sorrow, looking at those things that they’ve done and how to correct it and get things better.
And so God is really going to give them something to think about, because there’s going to be a move to annihilate the Jews, annihilate the nation of Israel. So it’s going to be a very terrible time upon the earth during this period of time. And then you talk about the feast of Tabernacles, where in the Old Testament, they would do this, but it was to remember that you used to be in the wilderness, and God took you and brought you out, and you lived in tents, so that when you get into the land, you’ll remember where you were, so that you’ll appreciate where you are.
And then there’s going to be when Christ comes back and he tabernacles among them here. Now, he tabernacled here when he came in the flesh. And it says, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Dwelt among us means he tabernacled among us. Here he’s going to come and he’s going to be here during the millennial reign, 1,000 years upon the earth. So God has broken down various periods of time, we call them dispensations, and how God deals with a particular person and a group of people regarding a responsibility and consequences if we fail.
Well, in every dispensation, man always seems to fail. And so we got one more ahead of us. Now, some people say that this year belongs back there under the law, but it is a period of time.
It’s a seven-year period of time, and it is in the future, but not too far in the future, I don’t believe. I believe it’s going to happen very soon. Now, if you’ll notice in verse 54, so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.
Oh, death, where is thy stink, grave, where is thy victory? Because we’re going to escape. The bodies that are in the grave are going to be made incorruptible.
Right now, they’re corrupted. We that are alive, mortal means subject to death, but we won’t die. We shall not all sleep.
And we’ll be changed in a moment, the twinkling of an eye, and caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So that’s why he says in verse 15, thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We often ask the Lord, you know, deliver me from this problem, this problem, this health problem, this financial problem, you know, these people problems, and all these problems.
Well, lo and behold, one day, God is going to literally give you the total victory. He’s going to take you out of here. When He takes us out of here, we win.
Because you have just received the total victory of sin, you don’t have to worry about that no more. The great, you don’t have to worry about that no more. Because you see, His victory is put to your account.
But we’re waiting for the day when He comes back and literally takes us out of here. A great victory. That’s why He says in verse 58, since this hasn’t happened yet, but it’s going to.
So, 1 Corinthians is a chapter on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And He says, because we preached unto you the gospel unless you have believed in vain. And the only way you can believe in vain or trust Christ in vain is that He didn’t come back from the dead.
But did He come back from the dead? Yes. Because He came back from the dead, our preaching is not in vain, our faith is not in vain, our hope is not in vain.
Therefore, because He left, He’s coming back. But before He get back, and we’re out of here, He says in verse 58, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. It is not in vain in this period of time to continue keep serving the Lord.
See them right here. Because this day, the rapture is fast approaching. And if you look at the things that are happening right now in the world, you can see that.
Now turn in your Bible to the book of 1 Peter. 1 Peter and chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1.
1 Peter chapter 1, and notice here something in verse 11. In verse 11, it makes the statement concerning the Old Testament prophets. And let’s just start there in verse 10.
He said, Of which salvation the prophets, Old Testament, have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. The sufferings of Christ, look up here, the sufferings of Christ is the cross, Mount Calvary. The glory that should follow is over here, when Christ comes back in power and great glory.
This is when every eye will see him. The rapture is not the same. Matthew knew nothing about the rapture.
A lot of people read in the book of Matthew, and one was taken and one was left. One taken, one left. Well, they usually never read the rest of it, or Luke chapter 17.
They don’t see that the ones that are taken in those scriptures are taken to judgment. They’re not taken up in a rapture. And they are destroyed, and these are not destroyed.
The rapture, you’re caught up to meet the Lord in the air. In Matthew, they’re taken to be destroyed, and it uses several illustrations, like the flood, they were destroyed. And like Lot, they were destroyed.
And so, Christ is coming back in power and great glory. Always keep these two things separate. One is revelation, when he’s revealed in power and great glory, every eye shall see him.
This is when he comes back here at the end of the tribulation period. When he comes for us, it’s in a moment, the twinkling of an eye, and we’re caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. So we’ll always be with the Lord after this.
So here it makes the statement in verse 11. They had problems trying to distinguish between the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, because they saw these two things mentioned in the Old Testament. They could not see all this that took place in between.
And so they did not see the rapture. It’s not in the Old Testament, but there’s types in the Old Testament. There’s a lot of types in the Old Testament.
Look there in the book of Hebrews and chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11.
And you’ll notice there’s a verse here that talks about a man by the name of Enoch. See there in verse 5, by faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death. Now that is, some people say, a type of the rapture before the judgment upon the earth.
It is a good possibility that it is a good type, because in the Old Testament, there were a lot of types of things that are stories, but in the New Testament, we have the doctrine. As we said before, he says in the Psalms 19, the testimonies of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple. The testimonies.
It means all those stories in the Old Testament is to make us wise, gives us illustration. The New Testament gives us doctrine. They both say the same thing, but one is told in stories, and the other one is told in the doctrinal truth.
So when you want to understand sometimes the doctrine, there’s a story in the Old Testament that is a type of that doctrine. So you take the nation of Israel. Israel was a real person.
Israel, Jacob, had some sons, and they became the twelve tribes, and lo and behold, you got the nation, and God dealt with Israel as though Israel was a person. Talks about Israel as an individual, even though it was a whole nation. And the promises that God made to the miracle child that was born, the Abraham and Sarah, that is like a picture of a man in the New Testament who trusts Christ as Savior.
He’s born of God, and he is always a child of God. He cannot be annihilated. Israel cannot be annihilated.
Though they can chase him to whip him, but there’s always a remnant. So you have a story in the Old Testament that teaches the eternal security of every believer. You also have a lot of things.
You can go to Joseph, and you can go to Daniel, and you can go to so many things, and it talks about stories and illustrations that will teach you some good Bible truths in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, you have the teaching of a guy named Amalek. Anybody ever heard of Amalek?
Amalek is a type of the flesh. As a type of the flesh, the Bible says that God wanted them wiped out. This is how come Saul got into trouble because he wouldn’t do it.
And Samuel comes along, takes a sword, and he’d away, gag into pieces. That’s how you’re supposed to deal with the flesh. In the New Testament, we have the flesh.
It’s that old sinful nature that you have. It’s supposed to be crucified. But there’s an Old Testament story.
The Bible tells us that even Moses, when he built the tabernacle in the wilderness, he says that’s after the pattern of what he saw in heaven. And so, in the Book of Hebrews, in chapter 9, it says that there is a real temple, a real ark, mercy seat, in heaven, of which Moses built the one up on the earth as a pattern after it. There’s a real one up there.
And so, there’s a shadow. And as I said before, if the light was over there shining real bright, and it was dark over here, you could see my shadow, my shadow. Well, in the Old Testament, there’s the shadow, but they couldn’t really distinguish everything because, you see, all they had was the shadow.
And the shadow talked about the sufferings of Christ. The shadow pointed about the glory that should follow. But you see, when Christ came, you don’t need the shadow.
You’ve got the real person. So we have Christ, which is better than the law of the Old Testament. God has given us something better, so you find that in the book of Hebrews in chapter 7.
So there’s a lot of good things that God gives to us, but there’s stories in the Old Testament, and some of these things help us to see this. Look in verse 5. By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not seek death, and was not found because God had translated him, for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God.
Wouldn’t it be neat if everybody would please God so well he’d just take us home? Well, then there wouldn’t be nobody left, except the worst of the crop. And then who’s going to win all these other people to the Lord?
God is picking flowers here and there, and he’s taking people out of here. But one day he’s going to take them and come and get a harvest. And so he says, he had this testimony, he pleased God.
But without faith, it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him, or seek to please him. So Hebrews chapter 11 is to teach us how to live by faith. So in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 58, therefore be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Your labor is not in vain, but your labor is according to your faith. And your faith is because you believe what God’s word says, and your faith means you must believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek to please him. So you study the word of God so that you can learn how to please the Lord.
So in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 35, when he makes this statement, casting not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. So you labor, and God’s going to reward you. But your labor is because of your work, and your work is because of your confidence.
Your confidence is because of your faith. Do you believe what God says? So until this day happens, we should be found faithful, serving the Lord with all our heart, because we’re running out of time.
And because we believe that, that’s what we do. Now in 2 Peter chapter 2, let’s look at it real quick. 2 Peter chapter 2.
2 Peter chapter 2, there’s an interesting little tidbit here for you. And he talks here about a problem that somebody had in the Old Testament. You see there in verse 7, and delivered just Lot.
Doesn’t mean he was the only one delivered. It means that Lot was justified. It means he was a believer in Jehovah, and he had trusted in Jehovah.
Just like Abraham believed God, and it was counted on him for righteousness. I don’t believe Abraham was the only one. But the Bible talks about how that God, God got him out of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah, and then God rained down fire and brimstone and destroyed those places, burned them up, ignited a fire, big explosion, nuclear war, you name it, it happened.
And people died. But it didn’t happen until God got his man out of there. Now you know what happened to his wife.
She was told not to look back. But did she do it? You know, a lot of times, it’s hard to get a woman to just listen, just do what you’re told.
They just got to do it. They just got to do it. Don’t eat this fruit.
And she just had to do it. Just had to do it. And so, curiosity killed the cat and the wife.
She turned into a pillar of stone. This one woman, she looked back and turned into a telephone pole. So you really got to be careful.
And you’ll notice here in verse 7, and delivered just like vexed with the filthy behavior of the wicked, for that righteous man dwelling among them. Who was he dwelling among? The people in Sodom and Gomorrah.
And by being there and seeing and hearing, it vexed his soul. You’re not like put a curse upon you. You’re not a blessed man.
And therefore, because of what he saw and because of what he heard, he was not the testimony that he should have been. I don’t believe he probably should have been there. But remember, he made his decision because of the watered plains, and he gave the leftovers to Abraham.
You see, it’s not always best to try to choose the best in this world, as far as the world goes, but what God wants you to have. He would have been better off doing it the other way, but he didn’t do it. But look what he says.
It says, And from day to day, with their unlawful deeds, the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. All right, look up here. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out before the day of punishment up on the earth.
Now take your Bible and turn to the book of 1st Thessalonians in chapter 4. 1st Thessalonians in chapter 4. 1st Thessalonians chapter 4.
And you know from verse 13 down to verse 18 talks about the rapture and why we should not sorrow as those who have no hope. Now we have sorrow, but we know we will see those people again. And remember whenever it talks about in the Old Testament that so-and-so died and he was gathered unto his fathers, gathered unto his fathers, gathered unto his fathers.
Well, that means that if they left here and they gathered unto their fathers, then their fathers must be somebody they know. Because if they’re not the same one, then what’s the value of saying that? So, and it’s another place, and so therefore they’re not just dead and in the grave and there’s no more to it.
No, that means that they’re still alive. God is not the God of the dead, he is the God of the living. And he had mentioned this to the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
But in 1 Thessalonians, he talks about down here in verse 16, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, the voice of the archangel with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive shall remain 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. And some people think that during the kingdom, God’s people may not be in there if they are not faithful.
Well, then if Christ is going to be here, so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherever he is, is where I am going to be. We will all be together.
When he comes back in the rapture, it doesn’t say he is coming back just to get the faithful. He is coming back to get his church, his body, his bride. And he says in heaven, the whole church is named, both in heaven and earth.
So we have Christ, who is the head, and the body, which is the believers. And what he is going to do is join the body with the head. And I don’t think that the body is ever going to be severed from the head ever again.
But he makes this statement here in chapter 5. Look in chapter 5. In verse 3, For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction come up upon them, and travail upon a woman with child, they shall not escape.
But ye brethren are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. You’re all the children of light, and the children of the day, and we are not of the night, nor of darkness. You know, you can get a little confused with all this.
But let me just kind of simplify for you. This is a day. This is a day.
So what separates two days is a night. This is a night. And so we are of the day, we and us.
They and them are of the night. So whenever this period of time comes, they are the one that will be here when the thief in the night comes. This is not so much the thief in the night.
The thief in the night is over here. But regardless, there is two days separated by a night. This will be the worst period of time upon the face of the earth, and it’s coming.
But look what he says in verse 9. For God hath not appointed us unto wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. That word salvation there is means in reference to deliverance, because you see, God has not appointed us to this period of time, the wrath upon the earth.
But we are going to be delivered. You see, he’s already talking to believers, but we’re not talking about how to be saved from heaven and hell. This is talking about a period of time that’s coming, the wrath that’s coming upon this earth.
And you and I are living at a very, very interesting, exciting period of time, because there’s going to be such spiritual darkness upon this earth. The Antichrist is coming. And buddy, are we ready for an Antichrist right now?
All right, let’s pray, shall we? Our Father, thank you so much for all you’ve done for us. We’re thankful for the time in which we live.
It does get exciting. But Lord, we know that you’re coming soon. We believe that.
Help us to live accordingly. Bless our church. Bless each person here.
And give us a good service for following Christ in your faith.
Is it possible to trust Christ as my Savior without making him Lord of my life? Is it true that if Christ is not Lord of all, he is not Lord at all? Pastor Yankee Arnold has prepared just the right book with answers straight from the Bible.
The book is called Gospel Driven Man, and Pastor Yankee wants to send it to you free of charge. Simply write to PastorYankee at Yankee Arnold Ministries, 7028 West Waters Avenue, Suite 316 Tampa, Florida, 33634, and request the book. Or write by email at yankee at yankeearnold.com.
That’s yankee at yankeearnold.com. Jesus is coming, so keep looking up.
Thanks for listening to today’s broadcast. We pray that today’s message was a blessing to you and your family. You may help support this radio ministry by donating online at yankeearnold.com, or by mail at Yankee Arnold Ministries, 7028 West Waters Avenue, Suite 316 Tampa, Florida, 33634.
Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound, and we will be changed, caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.
