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I am going to do my best to frighten you this evening. I hope this sermon causes you to be filled with terror. I hope it keeps you from having a good sleep tonight. The Bible says,

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7).

Turn with me to I Corinthians 15:51-52. Christ’s coming for the quick and the dead has been spoken of throughout Christian history.

1. Mystery (“musterion”), a previously hidden truth which is revealed in the New Testament. There are 11 mysteries revealed in the New Testament. The rapture is one of them.

2. Though all do not die, all are changed (I Corinthians 15:51).

3. This change takes place in a moment (I Corinthians 15:52).

4. The dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed (I Corinthians 15:52).

"It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2).

Now turn to I Thessalonians 4:16-17.

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17).

1. Christ will descend from Heaven (I Thessalonians 4:16).

2. He will not come all the way down to earth, “to meet the Lord in the air” (I Thessalonians 4:17).

3. There will be a “shout” and a trumpet will blow as Christ comes in the air (4:16).

4. The Christians who have already died will be resurrected and raptured – caught up (4:17a).

5. Then living people who are true converts will be raptured to meet Jesus in the air (4:17b).

Mr. Griffith will come to sing for us before the sermon. (Mr. Griffith sings, "I Wish We’d All Been Ready").

Let us stand together. Now I want you to turn with me to Matthew 25, the parable of the wise and foolish virgins.

Verse 13 gives the meaning and purpose of this parable.

Therefore, verse 10 is the rapture. Then, notice verses 11-12.

“And the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).

I will bring out three points tonight.

1. If you are unconverted, you will be shut out – left behind at the rapture.

2. The signs are all in place for the rapture to come at any time.

3. You will wish that you were dead when you miss the rapture.

I. If you are unconverted, you will be shut out – left behind at the rapture.

Look at Matthew 25:10:

“And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came (Christ came); and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage (into Heaven); and the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).

What happened in the days of Noah is a great illustration of this:

“And they went in (to the ark), as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in” (Genesis 7:16).

And God said:

“For yet seven days and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights” (Genesis 7:4).

God shut the door to the ark 7 days before the flood began. I believe that this is a type of God shutting the door at the Rapture, seven years before the Bowl judgments.

“And the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).

If you are unconverted, you will be shut out – left behind at the rapture. That’s why you need to examine yourself now!  Jesus said:

“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not…done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23).

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith”

(II Corinthians 13:5).

I say that your so-called “conversion” was a fake. I say that you are not ready for the rapture. I say you will be left behind!

“And the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).

II. You should realize that all the signs are in place. There is nothing else that has to happen. You could be shut out tonight.

1. The reestablishing of Israel in 1948, with the Jewish people returning to their homeland. (Luke 21:24; Matthew 24:32-34; Ezekiel 37:21; 38:8).

2. The increase of world-wide persecution against Christians and Jews (Matthew 24:9-10; Jeremiah 30:7; Daniel 12:1).

3. The increase of world-wide famines, imbalanced ecology, pestilences like the AIDS epidemic, and an increasing number of earthquakes (Matthew 24:7).

4. The rise of apostasy in Christianity (II Thessalonians 2:3; Matthew 24:11-12).

5. The return of mankind to conditions like those that prevailed in the days of Noah, before the great Flood (Matthew 24:37-40).

Turn to Matthew 24:37-42.

1. They were unconcerned about salvation. They were unawakened. They were just like you – no fear and no guilt.

2. Look at verses 40-42. The sign of the days of Noah is here. And you are going to be left behind!

She hears a noise and turns her head – he’s gone.

I wish we’d all been ready.

Two boys walking up a hill,

One disappears and one’s left standing still,

I wish we’d all been ready…

There’s no time to change your mind.

The Son has come, and you’ve been left behind.

(Larry Norman, 1969)

“And the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).

III. You will wish you were dead when you miss the rapture – and the door is shut.

You may think this is all a joke now. You may let your mind drift to something else now. But when you miss the rapture you will wish you were dead. The Bible plainly tells us that:

“And in those days shall men see death…and shall desire to die…” (Revelation 9:6).

You will think about suicide constantly after you miss the rapture. I repeat – you’re going to think about killing yourself night and day! Why?

Here are the three reasons:

1. You will be tormented by demons unleashed from the bottomless pit, according to Revelation 9:1-2. Listen to the description of these demons given by Dr. John R. Rice:

We do not doubt that the locusts are here demons…come to torture “those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.” Tortured and tormented by these “locusts,” these demons from Hell, “in those days shall men seek death…”
       I think the torment mentioned here is spiritual torment, with a troubled, agonizing mind. The picture of these locusts is fantastic, like a terrible dream, like a summing up of all the fears and troubles and heartbreaks of men…They torment the soul (the mind)…Can you imagine the awful ruin of soul when men are turned over to the evil spirits? “(John R. Rice, Behold, He Cometh! A Commentary on Revelation, Sword of the Lord, 1977, pp. 169-171).

You will be tormented mentally day and night by demons. There will be no one to help you, no Prozac or other drugs to quiet you. We will be in the Tribulation and those things won’t be available to you, since millions of others will also be driven wild by demons. You will be driven nearly insane. You will wish you were dead. You will think constantly about suicide. There will be no one to help you! You waited too long. You were left behind at the Rapture.

“And the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).

2. You will be executed if you try to become a Christian in those days. The Bible speaks of “them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark in their foreheads or in their hands” (Revelation 20:4).

You will realize that you are in the tribulation. They will want to put a microchip, or something similar, in the skin of your hand or forehead. You’ll remember that this will damn you as a worshipper of the Antichrist. You’ll say, “No, I’m not going to have that put into my body.” But you won’t be able to buy anything without it. Your hand will have to be “scanned” to buy anything. You’ll be starving. You can’t buy food at the store! Someone will turn you in. They will cut your head off for being, a Christian. They will! They will! They will! You’re going to have your head cut off because you missed the rapture!

“And the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).

3. You will have to go through the bowl judgments. Someone says, “Well, I’ll just let them put that microchip under the skin of my hand. I'll be O.K.  They won’t cut my head off.” Ah, you poor fool! If you escape having your head cut off, you’ll still have to go through the Bowl judgments! Here they are. Here’s what you will experience.

(1) A terrible sore will appear on your body that will cause you to experience gnawing pain night and day (Revelation 15:6).

(2 & 3) All of the water will be poisoned in the ocean and the fresh water as well. All water will be poisoned. You won’t have anything to drink. (Revelation 16:3-4).

(4) You will be scorched with heat. A meteorite or something similar will fall and scorch you. Your body will be burned horribly. There will be no medicine by then. You will walk around with pus running out of the sores on your burned body (Revelation 16:8-9).

(5) The electricity will all go out. You will be in total darkness at night, gnawing on your tongue for pain (Revelation 16:10-11).

(6) The armies of the world will mobilize. This will cause you even more discomfort and confusion – as war always does. Many of you – men and women – will be forced into military service against your will. (Revelation 16:12-16).

(7) There will be a great earthquake, greater than any earthquake ever recorded. Need I say more? Then meteorites will fall like hail on the earth. Where will you hide? Buildings will be in ruins from the earthquake. Where will you hide from the burning hot meteors? (Revelation 16:17-21).

And remember all of this happened to you because you put off your conversion. You knew that Jesus Christ died on the Cross to pay for your sins. You knew that He rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven, to the right side of God Almighty. You knew that you needed the Son of God to forgive your sins and wash them away by His Blood. You knew these things – but you fooled around. You played and laughed, and made excuses. YOU MISSED THE RAPTURE!

“And the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).

There’s no time to change your mind,
How could you have been so blind?

The Father spoke, the demons dined;

The Son has come, and you’ve been left behind.
You’ve been left behind.

You’ve been left behind.
      ("I Wish We’d All Been Ready" by Larry Norman, 1969)

“And the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).

For a fuller treatment of this subject, order Dr. Hymers' new book, The Church That Will Be Left Behind, by phoning (888) 891-3300.

Solo by Benjamin Kincaid Griffith: “I Wish We’d All Been Ready”

by Larry Norman (1969).