In The Twinkling of an Eye: The Rapture Part 3 Kathryn Kuhlman

There has never been a time in my ministry when I have received more questions regarding the rapture of the church. We call it the rapture of the church. That's the scriptural term for it, or the great catching up, the time when the church of the Lord Jesus Christ will be caught up, will be raptured. And that event can take place any day, any hour, any moment, without violating one portion of the Word of God. We're that near that great event. And so for a few minutes today, you and I are going to have a heart -to -heart talk regarding the rapture. And I do hope... that all of you folk who have questions regarding the rapture of the church will be there listening. Remember one thing. The rapture will be a surprise. Let me read a portion of the Word of God. That's our absolute authority. And again, may I remind you, if... You have been taught one thing, and the Bible teaches another. The Bible is right. If you belong to some church, and that denomination does not believe in the rapture, the great catching up, Bible is the very word of God. And you and I dare not close our eyes. We dare not close our ears to the word of God. Let him who has ears listen. I give you the word as recorded in the 24th chapter of Matthew. Jesus himself is speaking. Of that day and hour, and he's referring to the rapture of the church. Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. We can know the times. We can know the seasons. But the exact day. I would speak in error if I would say to you, tomorrow we're going to have a great catching up. I would speak in error if I would say so many days hence. We're going to have the rapture of the church. The Bible clearly teaches that the day, the exact day, the exact hour, no man knoweth. Not even the angels of heaven. It is such a closely guarded secret that even the angels do not know. They do not have this information. But my father only. God the Father alone has this highly secretive information. The times and the seasons, the stop, look, and listen signs are out. And he continues, But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark. and knew not until the flood came and took them all away. So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Then shall two be in the field, one shall be taken, the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, one shall be taken, the other left. Watch therefore. In other words, the exact... hour, the exact day, you and I cannot know. He has given us the times, the seasons. Therefore watch, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched. and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour, as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. Again I repeat, the rapture would be a surprise. He will come as a thief. Now a thief does not announce his coming. He comes for a certain purpose. And he does not take everything there is in the house. He takes only the precious things. That's what he's looking for. The precious things. The jewels, the gold, the silver, the fine wearing apparel, the furs. He's looking for diamonds. valuable things, precious things. He does not come to stay. As soon as he secures what he's after, he leaves, he departs. And so Jesus, at the rapture, will come. He'll take away the jewels, the precious things, the saints of God. And at the time of the rapture, only those who have been born into the body of Christ will be taken. The thief leaves much more than he takes. He leaves the house. He leaves the furniture. He leaves the household utensils. And so the Lord at the time of the rapture will leave the wicked and the great mass. of civilization will be left behind. It is my firm conviction that so far as numbers are concerned, there will be comparatively few who will be taken. Just pause a minute. Think of civilization. There are comparatively few who are among the blood -washed strong, whose sins have been covered with blood. There are millions of church members. You know, we've gotten to the place where we almost feel that even here in the United States, one is almost a heathen if he doesn't belong to church. Practically everybody is a church member. If there's somebody in your block, who isn't a member of some church. You almost consider him a heathen, an atheist. Everybody belongs to some church. Oh, he may never go. He may turn out Easter Sunday and get all dressed up. Or he may go when there is some special occasion. Or when the baby is to be dedicated. Or there's a funeral. And sometimes the funeral is his own, you know, but it's just like that. But you cannot find any place in the Bible where God says those who belong to some church will be taken. He does not put a premium on just church membership. Just to join a church doesn't mean... any more than to join some club. And the only reason that you haven't joined the club is because membership costs you something and there's many a person who has joined the church and they've gotten in for two bits a Sunday. Kind of like that, you know? Sure. Watch something and we need to look the thing directly in the face. Church membership has nothing to do with the great catching up. Has nothing to do with securing you that safety in being a part of the rapture of the church. You must be born again. Born into this glorious body of Christ. The bride of Christ. You're born into the bride of Christ. You're born into his church. That's the reason I still contend that when it comes to the time of the rapture of the church and the wicked, the great masses of... Those living will be left behind, and those taken will be comparatively few. The rapture will be elective. It will not only separate the saints from the unbelievers. It will separate husbands from wives, brothers from sisters, friends from friends. It will separate... Church members from those in that church who were really born again. Oh, the churches won't be empty by a long shot. No. After the rapture of the church, there'll still be a service the next Sunday morning. And I hate to tell you, but there's many a church who'll still have the pastor in the pulpit. the next Sunday morning at the rapture. I'm sorry to tell you, but there'll still be some of the deacons still deaconing after the rapture of the church. I might be sorry to tell you, but there'll still be choir members in their usual places after the rapture of the church. Mm -hmm. It'll not only separate husbands and wives. It'll separate church members from those in that church who were really born again. I give the scripture again. And it's Jesus speaking. He says, I tell you, in that night, there shall be two men in one bed. The one shall be taken, the other left. Two women shall be grinding together. The one shall be taken the other left. Two men in the field. One shall be taken the other left. It's there, the 17th chapter of Luke, beginning with the 34th verse. Mm -hmm. Two in bed. Two grinding at the mill. We know immediately that this morning someplace in the world is... Evening, another place. Two in the field. It's midnoon someplace. This shows that the rapture will happen all over the earth at the same time, or as the apostle describes it, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, as the lightning cometh out of the east. and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. That's the way Jesus puts it. The rapture be the most startling event of this age, and believe me, we've had some mighty startling things happening recently. Some mighty startling things. How often? During the past several weeks, I've heard folks say, I never dreamed I'd live to see this. I never dreamed this would happen in my day. I never imagined that it would happen in my generation. They talk about startling things that have happened in this dispensation, in this generation. I'm going to tell you that the rapture would be the most startling event of this dispensation, of this generation. It's going to happen in the twinkling of an eye all over the earth at the same time. As to the shout of the Lord and the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, we do not know whether... their sound will be heard and distinguished by others than the dead in Christ and the living saints, I've often wondered. There will be a shout. There will be the trump of the Lord. But I cannot tell you definitely that the whole world will hear the trump of God. I cannot assure you that the whole world will hear the voice of the archangel. If I were to make the decision, I'd say, oh, go it loud enough for everybody to hear it. Uh -huh. I would like to say, oh, please, when the archangel speaks, please speak with a voice that the whole world Every man and every woman would hear that voice. But I'm not sure. I do know one thing. The dead in Christ and the living saints will hear the trump of God and the voice of the archangel. I'm dead sure of one thing. I'm going to hear it. And I pray to God you will hear it. We know that one day the Father spoke to Christ in a voice that he understood. Jesus heard the Father speak when he said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. But the people who stood by mistook it for thunder. They thought it was thunder. Read it in the 12th chapter of John. They did not recognize it as being the voice of God. Sometimes I wonder when that great event takes place, the event that will be the greatest of this generation, this dispensation. I'm wondering if when the trump of the Lord sounds to the masses, to the millions who will be left, they will hear the sound, but to them it may too only be the sound of mighty thunder. the loudest, the most startling thunder they've ever heard. I don't know. I don't know. When the Lord appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus and spoke to him, the men that journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no man. and not understanding what was said. That's scripture. They heard a voice, but seeing no man, and not understanding what was said. We know, however, that the dead in Christ will hear the sound. We'll know it's his voice. The trump of God. The voice of the archangel. We'll understand. That's one thing I can be positive of when I give you that truth. And in that moment, there'll be no graves so deep. No mausoleums so thick. but what the sound shall reach their depths, and the dead in Christ shall hear the cry. Awake ye sleeping saints and arise from the dead. It is morning, that glorious morning of the resurrection, that glorious morning that you've been waiting for. Oh, what a day that's going to be. What an... hour that's going to be, what a moment that's going to be, but it's only going to take a moment. It will only take the time of the twinkling of an eye. In other words, sitting there right now, just blink your eye. It only takes a split second. That's what it means, the twinkling of an eye. The batting of an eyelash. Right now. Even as I am doing it. Just close your eye. Open it very quickly. That's all the longer it's going to take for the saints of God to go all the way from earth to glory. You'll not have time to prepare. You'll not have time to make things right. No. Now is the time to get ready. There'll not be time. Then.