<TITLE>23. Par 172-180</TITLE>L-172   David said, over there, "Lift up, ye everlasting gates, and be ye lifted up." "He led captive captive, give gifts unto men," and the Old Testament saints went in with Him.

L-173 They said, "Who is this King of righteousness?"

L-174 "The Lord of Glory, mighty in host." Mighty host, here they come in, marching. "Jesus led captivity captive," and here He comes, with the Old Testament saints. And went in the new gates up There, and said, "Lift up, ye everlasting gates, and be ye lifted up. And let the King of Glory come in."
The voice come from the inside, said, "Who is the King of Glory?"

L-175 "The Lord mighty in battle." The gates flew open. "And Jesus, a Conqueror, led captive captive," them that had believed on Him, and the Word had come to them. There, the Old Testament saints laying in there, waiting, "He led captive captive; ascended on High," took the Old Testament saints and went in. There is one Rapture, already passed.

L-176 The next Rapture takes place is (Second Thessalonians) for the Church, the Bride to be resurrected, to be raptured into Glory. "We which are alive and remain," that's the bodies left on earth, "will not prevent or hinder them which are asleep. For the trumpet of God shall sound first, and the dead in Christ shall rise." See? "And we which alive and remain shall caught up together with them."

L-177   Other day, I was standing on the street corner. And I--I was standing on... I was standing on the street corner and watching the Armistice Day parade, and when it went up, going up the street. I stood there with my little son, Joseph. There come, the first, was the old first war tanks come by, little old tanks. After that come the great Sherman tanks of the new war, and a great cannons with their muzzle blast, a--a muzzle break on them, so forth.
After there, come the soldiers; the--the--the Gold Star mothers. And then there come a float with the... on down... Well, down there come a float, and on the front of it was a grave, "to the unknown soldier." And there stood a--a soldier standing there, guard at the grave. There stood a marine on the other side, and a sailor on the other side. And there was a partition drawed. And on the other side set a Gold Star mother. She had lost her boy. There stood a young wife, with her head over on a table, crying. A little ragged boy setting sideways; and the tears running out of his face. He had lost his daddy.
I thought, "What sadness! I stand here and look, see them, old, just a few of the soldiers left; marching down there, crippled and old, like that, with their uniforms, but proudly displaying them because they were Americans."
I thought, "Oh, my God!"

L-178   One day, there will come a blast from Heaven, "And the dead in Christ shall rise first." Them Old Testament saints back yonder, who are waiting, will blast forth and come out of there first, and go into the resurrection. We'll drop right in line, going into the sky; these old mortal bodies changed and made like unto His Own glorious body. What a--what a parade that'll be when it starts heavenward, some of these days, in that rapturing time that lays ahead, oh, proudly displaying the Blood of Jesus Christ upon their chests, the Message of God in the hour that they lived in. That's the hour that we're looking forward to, brother.

L-179 Looky, just in closing now. The second resurrection, all... First one is past. The second one is at hand, right now, will come to hand now.

L-180 Now, the third one is the two witnesses of Revelations 11:11 and 12. Which, these are the ones that turns back, with the Spirit of Christ, to witness to the Jews, like Joseph did to his brethren. And remember, "Their dead bodies laid in the street, for three days and a half. Then the spirit of life came into them, and they were raptured, taken up into Heaven."
There is your three raptures of the New Testament.
Three raptures of the Old Testament; all of them past.


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