Matthew 26:40

"SOUL CALL"

The Lord asked His disciples, "What, could ye not watch with me one hour?"  The Lord was about to die for the sins of the world, and the disciples were asleep!  How does anyone sleep when it's "Midnight?"  Thousands of years have ticked away and now we are but moments away from Midnight  ...  the Lord will come as a thief in the night  ...  the trumpet will sound for those who are ready  ...  it will be a "Soul Call!"

"Watch and pray so that you will not 

fall into temptation.  The spirit is 

willing but the body is weak." 

(Matthew 26:41)

The key word is "Watch!"  The "soul call" is beckoning the angel with the golden trumpet and the Word is on the lips of heaven's participants: "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the 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 in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."  (I Thessalonians 4:16-17)  This is referred to as the Rapture of the Church; "rapture" meaning 'caught away' in the air to be with the Lord forevermore. 

"In 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."

(I Corinthians 15:52)

The Rapture of the Church will spare the Lord's own from the terrible judgments coming upon the earth and upon those who did not receive Him as their Savior.  The judgments will last seven years and this period is called the tribulation period.  This is documented in the Book of Revelation and occurs after Revelation 4:1.  In Matthew, the Lord said that as it was in the days of Noah and before the flood, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Lord.  People will be eating and drinking, marrying and given in marriage, and the Lord will come as a thief in the night.  A thief comes for something valuable; the Lord is coming for those vessels of honor who have obeyed Him; they have received Him as their Savior; they have been filled with His Spirit and spoken with other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance; and they have been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.  All of these will be counted worthy to escape the horror that will come upon the earth  ...  and we know the time is near, for the Lord said there would be mockers saying, "Where is the sign of His coming?"  These comments were made just this week by television personalities, and they are even doing skits to mock the Lord's coming  ...  the time is near  ...

The scripture in I Thessalonians 3:13 states, "May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones."  This is the "hope" for the Christian; there "WILL" be a Rapture of the Church; there WILL be a day when the News commentators will break into programming to announce that millions all over the world are missing and unaccounted for.  People standing together will realize their mate, father, daughter or mother just disappeared before their very eyes; planes will crash with no pilots; cars will be wrecked, littering the freeways by the thousands with no drivers; and all manner of transportation will have people missing with huge pile-ups and unthinkable accidents  ... because drivers are gone, Engineers have suddenly disappeared, pilots have vanished from their cockpits.  People will be wandering the streets looking for their loved ones, their neighbors, and their friends.  There will be no so-called mocking hilarious skits of the coming of the Lord  ... then ...

Look up; your redemption draweth nigh!  Lord, please forgive me of all of my sins; wash me in Your blood, cleanse me of all evil and unrighteousness; give me a pure heart.  Fill me with Your Spirit; I'm going to stay right here praying until You fill me and I speak with other tongues.  I must be ready!  I will be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and I will live for You all of my days.  Protect me from all harm and evil; lead me in the paths of righteousness for Your name's sake.  Amen!

I heed the "Soul Call!"  It's almost Midnight ....

                                                                                                                      By Sheryl Fowler

                                                      (Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

                                                 PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)