Transcript of a published Bible study by Rev. Dennis Carden, transcribed from YouTube. An attributed primary source — not Acts 2:38 Life doctrine text.
Summary
Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.
Wednesday Night Apostolic Style: Get Up One More Time
- He welcomes the church to 'Wednesday night apostolic style': if everything were predictable you might as well stay home — the beauty of coming to the house of God is that you never know what God wants to do or is going to do, only that it is going to be great things.
- A man loudly protesting a roadside sobriety test — 'what about if I just get up one more time, then I fall down?' — becomes the picture for the hour: when the enemy says you are going down for the last time, just get up one more time and you will make it.
- These are troubled times, but Jesus said, 'Let not your hearts be troubled'; in the chaos and the confusion he wants to teach things they have heard many times, and he asks them to receive them with an open mind, since some may not have heard them in exactly this way.
- All the preparation and studying is meaningless without the little ingredient called the anointing: he does not just need God to help him — God is his total life support, and he depends on him for everything.
The Topic Is 'Next': The Blessed Hope of Titus 2
- He recalls the prophecy conferences of the 1980s — the unforgettable van trips to Memphis, and a conference in Little Rock that opened with the song 'I care not today what tomorrow will bring,' which Brother Wilkins leaned over and called ironic at a gathering studying prophecy.
- His topic is 'Next': everybody wants to know what's happening next, what is going to happen next, and he means to teach a little on prophecy without going down too many rabbit holes.
- His text is Titus 2:11: the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.
- Living that way is the key to the peace of God that passes all understanding — looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Scriptures: Titus 2; Titus 2:11
The Rapture: A Reality, Not a Myth
- We are living in the bottleneck of prophecy: the things Paul wrote about in the mid first century were not about to be fulfilled when he wrote them, but in our day they are very pressing matters, filling up very quickly.
- The rapture of the church has been debated for years and some say it is just a myth; to be real, the word 'rapture' is not in the Bible, but the Greek word harpazo means to be caught up, to be caught away suddenly — there is a catching away of the church.
- For those who believe, it is not a matter of if there is going to be a rapture but when; he states his own conviction plainly: it is a reality, not a myth.
Daniel Pinpointed the Years — and Israel Missed Him
- Ancient Israel had all the prophecies about a coming Messiah — some believed in two messiahs, a political leader and a religious leader — and Daniel even pinpointed the number of years until this prince would show up on the scene.
- The chronology of the 70 weeks of Daniel, 490 years: from the going forth of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem by Artaxerxes in 445 BC to the time Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on Nissan 10 was exactly 483 years, leaving one week — seven years — yet to be fulfilled.
- They had all the prophecies, and yet they missed him; there were only some wise men in the east who followed a star in anticipation of finding a king.
Scriptures: Daniel (book-only, as spoken)
Expecting or Anticipating His Coming
- There is a great, vast difference between Israel expecting a Messiah and the magi anticipating one: if you only expect him to come, you are pushing it out as some future date, and we put the coming of the Lord out of our minds.
- When you anticipate something, you make preparations for it — you act as though it is going to happen.
- The capture ends mid-anecdote, as he tells how he woke one morning and startled himself awake with the thought, and asked his wife Vic: who do we leave a key to in the event of the rapture?
Scripture index: Titus 2; Titus 2:11; Daniel (book-only, as spoken).
welcome to wednesday night apostolic style amen i'm glad that when when everything gets predictable you might as well stay home if i already know what the outcome's going to be i can just stay home but the the beauty of coming to the house of god is you never know you never know what god wants to do or is going to do you just know that it's going to be great things praise god oh it feels good in the holy ghost
the man was standing on the side of the road protesting loudly what about if i just get up one more time then i fall down whatever happened to that and the officer said sir this is a sobriety test doesn't apply here i'm glad that it applies here that if you just get up one more time then you get knocked down you'll be a success just one more time that's all you got to do one more time just get up again when the when the enemy says you're going down for the last time just get up one more time you'll make it if you just get up one more time praise god hallelujah
i need the lord tonight i need him you don't understand i i mean we can do all the preparation and and studying but it's meaningless without that little ingredient called the anointing the anointing i don't need god to help me he's my total life support i depend on him for everything and these are troubled times in which we live i don't have to tell you that but just remind us of that it's a it's a troubled time but at the same time jesus said let not your hearts be troubled and so in the in the chaos and the confusion i i want to i want to teach some things tonight that that you've heard many times but i just pray that you'll receive them into your heart and maybe just keep an open mind because some of these things may maybe things that you have not heard exactly in this way
i reminded brother williford we used to go to prophecy conferences they used to have them back in the 80s bill phil used to sometimes drive the van and uh scare us to death remember a trip to memphis right and we got down to memphis terry black's church and terry terry said um what time did you guys leave we told him he said man you guys you guys made record time he said you must have been seven doing seven now this was a driving rain i remember frank lore climbed in the back seat because he said he was afraid we were all gonna die terry said you guys man you may you must have been doing 70 all the way i said on the exits and the entrances we were that's about it the rest of the time i don't even know what the speed speedometer was saying but we had these prophecy conferences and in this prophecy conference in little rock they opened the service with this song i care not today what tomorrow will bring brother wilkins leaned over to me and said that's kind of ironic isn't it for us a prophecy conference i care not today what tomorrow will bring we're going to study prophecy here and so i've i'm going to attempt to without going down too many rabbit holes tonight to teach a little bit on prophecy on on and my my subject is
my topic is next next everybody wants to know what's happening next what's going to happen next so as a text from titus ii chapter verse 11 for the grace of god that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world that's a key folks if you want the peace of god the one that passes all understanding live that way looking for that and everybody say it with me blessed hope looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great god and our savior jesus christ amen god bless you you may be seated in jesus name
what happens next we're living in the bottleneck of prophecy in our day the things that we're going to talk about tonight that paul wrote about in mid first century are now very pressing matters we live in the time when when paul wrote them they were not about to be fulfilled but we live in the time in which these things are filling up and i dare say very quickly amen this is for us a blessed hope there's been a debate about the rap rapture of the church for years and years and years so some say it's just a myth there is no such thing as a rapture and to be real with you there is no rapture word in the bible but there is a word that that was translated into the latin it it's a greek word harpazzo or harpaz zain if you want the infinitive form it means to be caught up to be caught away suddenly and so so there is a catching away a suddenly catching away of the church for those who don't believe it just stay with me for a little while but because to those who believe in this it's not a matter of if there's going to be a rapture but when there's going to be a rapture of the church i believe that it's a reality not a myth
and so as ancient israel they had all the prophecies about a coming messiah they believed in a messiah as a matter of fact some of them believed in two messiahs they believed in a political leader and some of them believed in a religious leader that they would both occupy the office of messiah but they had all the prophecies pointing to the fact daniel even pinpointed the number of years until this prince would show up on the scene and you can do the chronology if you want to get that involved with it sister amber can help us here with the book of daniel and the 70 weeks of daniel 490 years but from the going forth of the decree to rebuild jerusalem by artaxerxes in 445 bc to the time that jesus christ rode into jerusalem on nissan 10 it was exactly 483 years leaving one week or 70 years or seven years to be yet fulfilled everybody stay with me they had all the prophecies and yet what happened they missed him they missed him there were some wise men in the east that followed a star in anticipation of finding a king
now the difference between israel expecting a messiah and the magi anticipating a messiah is a great vast difference and my question to us tonight is do we expect him to come or do we anticipate his coming because if you only expect him to come you're pushing it out as some uh future date if you how many of you thought about the coming of the lord today don't raise your hand i don't want to put you on the spot but we put it out of our minds when you anticipate something you make preparations for it you act as though it's going to happen
i i woke up one morning and i i i was startled myself awake with this thought and i i asked my wife i said vic who do we leave a key to in the event of the rapture
Scripture references as spoken: Titus 2; Titus 2:11; Daniel (book-only, as spoken).