J.D. Farag: Bible Prophecy Update, What if the Pre-Trib Rapture is About to Happen?

In this Bible Prophecy Update titled “What if the Pre-Trib Rapture is About to Happen?”, Pastor J.D. Farag poses a powerful question: What would you do if you knew the rapture could take place at any moment? Drawing from Scripture, he offers a timely and thought-provoking perspective on how to live in readiness, urgency, and hope as we await the imminent return of Jesus Christ.

Bible Prophecy Update, What if the Pre-Trib Rapture is About to Happen?

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Would you join me in a word of prayer?

O God, You are so good. Lord, You are so good. We lift our voices in worship to You this morning. We lift our hearts and our song up to You, Lord.

Holy Spirit, would You guide us this morning? Lord, would You speak to our hearts? Lord, calm our spirits that we may hear what it is that You have for us. Lord, You are so faithful to speak to us, and we’re just so busy sometimes—we’re just not listening. Lord, may that not be the case today. May we hear You loud and clear.

Thank You for Your Word and for our pastor, Pastor JD. Lord, continue to give him strength—strength that he might stand and preach Your Word until the day we are all together in heaven.

In Jesus’ name, amen. Amen and amen.

Welcome

Good morning. Welcome. You can be seated. So glad you’re here.

For those of you visiting, I trust that you’ll be blessed. Those of you online, we’re also very glad that you’re joining us.

Before we get started, I want to provide an update on our ongoing relief efforts for our Maui ‘ohana.

Maui Relief Update

Financial Gifts

First—and this is really important—thank you to those who gave financially and very generously, though we haven’t asked for money, nor do we ever ask for money. Please know that 100% of any and all monies sent are getting directly into the hands of those who have the greatest immediate financial needs. I’ll explain why and how.

This last week I spent time with Pastor Steve Santos of Calvary Chapel Westside, whose church was in Lahaina. The building they rented is still there—hallelujah—though everything else around it is gone. It’s still there, but they can’t get to it or use it.

We talked on the phone for quite a while, and we’ve already sent a significant amount of money to them to be distributed to people by way of gift cards (Costco, etc.), which is logistically more practical initially.

Lodging & Tourism

As of right now—and this is a common question—hotels are housing people who lost their homes. This is temporary and at no cost to them for the time being, but that will end, and when it does, the monies will be used to help pay for lodging as needed.

Steve asked me to mention specifically that Maui tourism has virtually stopped, and this is costing locals their jobs and livelihoods. It doesn’t help when government officials say, “Don’t come to Maui.” He wanted me to get the word out that people should still come to Maui. This will help the locals—the same people helping those who were in Lahaina. That tourism revenue is desperately needed right now.

Replacing Cars

I’m in contact with a brother in Christ—connected through Steve—who oversees new car dealerships locally. We’re working on a plan to replace cars that were lost.

For those who don’t know me, I used to be a car dealer. (You still love me, right?) There’s a saying: you can take the guy out of the car business, but you can’t take the car business out of the guy. I was in it for over 30 years. When we moved here, I brought trucks from the mainland, took them to auction—that was my tent-making ministry to help start the church.

So when Steve mentioned the car need, that piqued my interest. They don’t have cars. We’re working on a plan to get cars to people somehow, some way. The locals are coming together—this is what Hawai‘i is all about. (Don’t get me started on manufacturers and franchise issues.) We covet your prayers. Some monies will go to coordinate that effort. When the time comes, we’ll revisit getting boots on the ground. Right now it’s still too premature.

Supplies to Maui

Regarding the supplies we shipped to Maui, brother Mike Lao has kept me updated and assures me that all supplies are getting directly to those who need them. Praise the Lord.

As of last week (and more now), more than 16 containers have been offloaded. We had to use alternative measures at undisclosed locations (I practiced that sentence all week!). One measure: offload containers at an undisclosed location, rent box trucks (e.g., U-Hauls), move supplies to churches, hotels, and community centers where locals had been apprised to pick up—again, undisclosed locations. Supplies are getting there, despite literal roadblocks. We praise the Lord for that. Please continue to pray. It is horrific, unimaginable, and heartbreaking.

Sunday Services

We have two services on Sunday. The first is the weekly Bible Prophecy Update. The second service (live-streamed at 11:15 a.m. Hawai‘i time) is our verse-by-verse study through the Bible. We’re currently in 1 John. Today we’ll start chapter 4, verses 1–6, and look at three questions concerning the exhortation to test the spirits to see whether they are from God.

If you’re watching on YouTube or Facebook, we encourage you to go directly to jdfarag.org for the uncensored and uninterrupted entirety of today’s update.

Message: What Would I Do?

I’d like to ask and answer the question: What would I do if I knew the pre-trib rapture was about to happen?

Perhaps better asked: What would I do that I’m not doing now if I knew the rapture was about to happen at the appointed time?

The obvious part of the answer: I’d want to be found faithful, doing whatever I could while there’s still time. But this can be misunderstood, so let me say: I’m not suggesting you quit your job and wait for the rapture. In many cases, it’s the opposite—the Lord may have you in that job, building that house, planning that wedding for such a time as this.

The question is less “What would I do differently?” and more “What will I do now as we see the day fast approaching?”

Is there someone I would call right now instead of waiting? Are there preparations I would make in anticipation of what I believe is about to happen—namely, the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church?

Why am I going this direction? Several reasons. Chief among them: I’d rather do it now and the rapture not happen, than have it happen and not have done it.

What do you have to lose by doing it? Conversely, what would you lose by not doing it? You could lose that opportunity—those divine appointments you could never schedule. Sometimes you “just happen” to be in the right place at the right time—delays reroute you—and now you see why. That’s an opportunity: to reach the lost while there’s still time, and to encourage the saved at the end of time.

Many are battle-weary in this last hour of human history. Talking about the rapture should settle your heart and encourage you. That’s what Jesus did.

Jesus Spoke of the Rapture

John 14:1–4—please note the first part of verse 1:

“Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

Why say, “Let not your heart be troubled”? Because their hearts were troubled—Jesus had just told them He would be crucified, buried, and rise again, and that He would go away. He encourages them with bridal language they understood: the Bridegroom (Christ) goes to prepare the bridal chamber in His Father’s house, then comes to receive His bride (the Church), to be with Him. That’s rapture language—our going to Him, not His coming to earth (the Second Coming is later).

Scripture Interprets Scripture

1 Thessalonians 4:15–18—note the phrase “according to the Lord’s own word.”

Paul writes that the Lord Himself will descend, the trumpet of God will sound, the dead in Christ will rise first, and we who are alive will be caught up (harpazō; Latin raptus → “rapture”) to meet the Lord in the air. “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

If the rapture were not before the seven-year Tribulation, “encourage one another” wouldn’t make sense, given the horrors Scripture details. But this is encouraging: we’ll be reunited with loved ones in Christ, meet the Lord, and go to the place He prepared for us.

1 Corinthians 15:51–52 adds: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye; the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed—new, immortal bodies.

“Don’t Get People’s Hopes Up”?

Some say: “Don’t get people’s hopes up; if it doesn’t happen, they’ll fall away.” If that happens, it speaks more to spiritual immaturity than to the message. Those who long for His appearing (2 Tim. 4:6–8) are crowned, not disappointed. The mature believer says, “We’re one day closer.”

No one post-rapture will regret having been ready pre-rapture. Conversely, many left behind will wish someone had readied them.

So we should always be ready to give an answer (1 Pet. 3:15) to everyone who asks about the hope we have—doing so with gentleness and respect.

Why This Emphasis Now?

If you’re asking whether I believe the pre-trib rapture is about to happen, my answer is a resounding yes.

If you’re asking, “What if it doesn’t happen as soon as you think?”—my answer is still yes: it’s sooner than we might think and closer now.

I’d rather be ready and encourage others to be ready and have it not happen, than not be ready and have it happen. What do you have to lose—except an opportunity? You have everything to gain.

As for why I’m so convinced it’s near—there are many reasons. If you’ll allow me, we’ll take the remainder of our time to explain some of them. With that, we’re going to go ahead at this time and end.