A Preacher That Disappeared

By Harold Smith

I have a story today about a very famous preacher. What probably made him famous more than anything was that one day he disappeared and was never found again. He didn't just die, he disappeared - many, many years ago, and he's never been found since. He lived in a day when people were terribly wicked. He had a son and when his son was born, he got a message from God. The message was, "When that son dies, a terrible time of judgment is coming upon the earth". But many, many years before that son died, this preacher was preaching about that coming judgment. He was telling the people that they needed to turn to God, because God was coming down to judge the world because of their wickedness. Then all of a sudden, he just disappeared. They went out looking for him but they didn't find him. The Bible says that God took him - he was translated - transported up in the air and taken out of this world. His name was Enoch, and he lived way back in the seventh generation from Adam. He had a son, Methuselah, and Methuselah lived to be 969 years old - the oldest man recorded in the Bible. In the exact year that Methuselah died, the terrible, terrible flood came upon the earth. It rained forty days and forty nights and it flooded all the earth. And boys and girls, every time you see a rainbow, you should know that it's God's promise - God's covenant with man that He will never destroy the earth again with a flood of water. Now when Enoch disappeared, he was a good man. The Bible says he walked with God and he talked with God, and God took him out of the world prior to the awful time of judgment, which came after he left and after his son died. Boys and girls, that was an amazing thing, but you know, one day the Lord Jesus was caught up in the sky, too. In Acts chapter 1, verses 10 and 11, they saw Him go up in the air, and the angel said, "... why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" - Acts 1:11. The Lord Jesus is coming back again. This time He's coming back near the earth and many, many people like Enoch, the famous preacher, are going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air - they're going to suddenly disappear. In fact, every born-again Christian is going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air! Then there's going to be a terrible judgment that's going to fall on this earth. Boys and girls, where would you be if the Lord Jesus came and caught His people up tonight? Are you sure that you belong to Him? Do you believe about the Lord Jesus? You probably believe all about the Bible, but do you really trust in Him? Are you really ready for the coming of the Lord? Do you really know Him as your personal Savior? That's the all-important thing. If you're not saved, I hope you'll put your trust in the Lord Jesus, and that you'll be saved before He comes.