Brother Barnaby got to them.
(And, I must confess, I never did. That"s why I wound up as an organizer and money-raiser.)
"Yes, it"s in the Book. The Bible is the Word of G.o.d, not just here and there, but every word. Not as allegory, but as literal truth. You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free. I read to you now from the Book: "For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with-a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the Trump of G.o.d: and the dead in Christ shall rise first."
"That last line is great news, my brothers and sisters:
"- the dead in Christ shall rise first." What does that say? It does not say that the dead shall rise first; it says that the dead in Christ shall rise first. Those who were washed in the blood of the Lamb, born again in Jesus, and then have died in a state of grace before His second coming, they will not be forgotten, they will be first. Their graves will open, they will be miraculously restored to life and health and physical perfection and will lead the parade to Heaven, there to dwell in happiness by the great white throne forevermore!"
Someone shouted, "Hallelujah!"
"Bless you, sister. Ah, the good news! All the dead in Christ, every one! Sister Ellen, taken from her family by the cruel hand of cancer, but who died with the name of Jesus on her lips, she will help lead the procession. Asa"s beloved wife, who died giving birth but in a state of grace, she will be there! All your dear ones who died in Christ will be gathered up and you will see them in Heaven. Brother Ben, who lived a sinful life, but found G.o.d in a foxhole before an enemy bullet cut him down, he will be there... and his case is specially good news, witnessing that G.o.d can be found anywhere. Jesus is present not only in churches - in fact there are fancy-Dan churches where His Name is rarely heard -"
"You- can say that again!"
"And I will. G.o.d is everywhere; He can hear you when you speak. He can hear you more easily when you are ploughing a field, or down on your knees by your bed, than He can in some ornate cathedral, surrounded by the painted and perfumed. He is here now, and He promises you, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you. I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me." That"s His promise, dearly beloved, in plain words. No obscurities, no highfalutin "interpretation", no so-called "allegorical meanings". Christ Himself is waiting for you, if only you will ask.
"And if you do ask, if you are born again in Jesus, if He washes away your sins and you reach that state of grace... what then? I read you the first half of G.o.d"s promise to the faithful. You will hear the Shout, you will hear the great Trumpet sounding His advent, as He promised, and t he dead in Christ shall rise again. Those dry bones will rise again and be covered with living, healthy flesh.
"Then what?
"Hear the words of the Lord: "Then we which are alive" - That"s you and me, brothers and sisters; G.o.d is talking about us. "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"!
"So shall we ever be! So shall we ever be! With the Lord in Heaven!"
,Hallelujah!"
"Bless His Name!"
"Amen! Amen!"
(I found that I was one of those saying "Amen!")
"But there"s a price. There are no free tickets to Heaven. What happens if you don"t ask Jesus to help you? What if you ignore. His offer to be washed free of sin and reborn in the blood of the Lamb? What then? Well? Answer me!"
The congregation was still save for heavy breathing, then a voice from the back said, not loudly, "h.e.l.lfire."
"h.e.l.lfire and d.a.m.nation! Not for just a little while but through all eternity! Not some mystical, allegorical fire that singes only your peace of mind and burns no more than a Fourth of July sparkler. This is the real thing, a raging fire, as real as this." Brother Barnaby slapped the pulpit with a crack that could be heard throughout the tent. "The sort of fire that makes a baseburner glow cherry red, then white. And you are in that fire, Sinner, and the ghastly pain goes on and on, it never stops. Never! There"s no hope for you. No use asking for a second chance. You"ve had your second chance... and your millionth chance. And more. For two thousand years sweet Jesus has been begging you, pleading with you, to accept from Him that for which He died in agony on the Cross to give you. So, once you are burning in that fiery Pit and trying to cough up the brimstone - that"s sulfur, plain ordinary sulfur, burning and stinking, and it will burn your lungs and blister your sinful hide! - when you"re roasting deep in the Pit for your sins, don"t go whining about how dreadful it hurts and how you didn"t know it would be like that. Jesus knows all about pain; He died on the Cross. He died for you. But you wouldn"t listen and now you"re down in the Pit and whining.
"And there you"ll stay, suffering burning agony throughout eternity! Your whines can"t be heard from down in the Pit; they are drowned out by the screams of billions of other sinners!"
Brother Barnaby lowered his voice to conversational level. "Do you want " to burn in the Pit?"
"No!" - "Never!" - "Jesus save us!"
"Jesus will save you, if you ask Him to. Those who died in Christ are saved, we read about them. Those alive when He returns will be saved if they are born again and remain in that state of grace. He promised us that He would return, and that Satan would be chained for- a thousand years while He rules in peace and justice here on earth. That"s the Millennium, folks, that"s the great day at hand. After that thousand years Satan will be loosed for a little while and the final battle will be fought. There"ll be war in Heaven. The Archangel Michael will be the general for our side, leading G.o.d"s angels against the Dragon - that"s Satan again - and his host of fallen angels. And Satan lost - will lose, that is, a thousand years, from now. And nevermore will he be seen in Heaven.
"But that"s a thousand years from now, dear friends. You will live to see it... if you accept Jesus and are born again before that Trumpet blast that signals His return. When will that be? Soon, soon! What does the Book say? In the Bible G.o.d tells you not once but many times, in Isaiah, in Daniel, in Ezekiel, and in. all four of the Gospels, that you will not be told the exact hour of. His return. Why? So you can"t sweep the dirt under the rug, that"s why! If He told you that He would arrive New Year"s Day the year two thousand, there are those who would spend the next five and a half years consorting with lewd women, worshiping strange G.o.ds, breaking every one of the Ten Commandments... then, sometime Christmas Week nineteen ninety-nine you would find them in church, crying repentance, trying to make a deal.
"No siree Bob! No cheap deals. It"s the same price to everyone. The Shout and the Trump may be months away... or you may hear it before I can finish this sentence. It"s up to you to be ready when it comes.
"But we know that it is coming soon. How? Again it"s in the Book. Signs and portents. The first, without which the rest cannot happen, is the return of the Children of Israel to the Promised Land - see Ezekiel, see Matthew, see today"s newspapers. They rebuild the Temple... and sure enough they have; it"s in the Kansas City Star. There be other signs and portents, wonders of all sorts - but the greatest are tribulations, trials to test the souls of men the way Job was tested. Can there be a better word to describe the twentieth century than "tribulations"?
"Wars and terrorists and a.s.sa.s.sinations and fires and plagues. And more wars. Never in history has mankind been tried so bitterly. But endure as Job endured and the end is happiness and eternal peace - the peace of G.o.d, which pa.s.seth all understanding. He offers you His hand, He loves you, He will save you."
Brother Barnaby stopped and wiped his forehead with a large handkerchief that was already soggy from such use.
The choir (perhaps at a signal. from him) started singing softly, "We shall gather at the river, the beautiful, beautiful river, that flows by the throne of G.o.d and presently segued into:
"Just as I am, without one plea -"
Brother Barnaby got down on one knee and held out his arms to us. "Please! Won"t you answer Him? Come, accept Jesus, let Him gather you in His arms -"
The choir continued softly with:
"But that Thy blood was shed for me, "And Thou bidd"st me come to Thee, "0 Lamb of G.o.d, I come, I come!"
And the Holy Ghost descended.
I felt Him overpower me and the joy of Jesus filled my heart. I stood up and stepped out into the aisle. Only then did I remember that I had Margrethe with me. I turned and saw her staring back at me, her face filled with a sweet and deeply serious look. "Come, darling," I whispered, and led her into the aisle. Together we went down the sawdust trail to G.o.d.
There were others ahead of us at the chancel rail. I found us a place, pushed some crutches and a truss aside, and knelt down. I placed my right hand on the rail, rested my forehead on it, while I continued to hold Marga"s hand with my left. I prayed Jesus to wash away our sins and receive us into His arms.
One of Brother Barnaby"s helpers was whispering inter my ear. "How is it with you, brother?"
"I"m fine," I said happily, "and so is my wife. Help someone who needs it."
"Bless you, brother." He moved on. A sister farther down was writhing and speaking in tongues; he stopped lo comfort her.
I bowed my head again, then became aware of neighing And loud squeals of frightened horses and a great-flapping and shaking of the canvas roof above us. I looked up and saw a split start and widen, then the canvas blew away. The ground trembled, the sky was dark.
The Trump shook my bones, the Shout was the loudest ever heard, joyous and triumphant. I helped Margrethe to her feet smiled at her. "It"s now, darling!"
We were swept up.
We were tumbled head over heels and tossed about by a funnel cloud, a Kansas twister. I was wrenched away from Marga and tried to twist back, but could not. You can"t swim in a twister; you go where it takes you. But I knew she was safe.
The storm turned me upside down and held me there for a long moment, about two hundred feet up. The horses had broken out of the corral, and some of the people, not caught up, were milling about. The force of the twister turned me again and I stared down at the cemetery.
The graves were opening.
Chapter 22.
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of G.o.d shouted for joy.
Job 38:7
THE WIND whipped me around, and I saw no more of the graves. By the time I was faced down again the ground was no longer in sight - just a boiling cloud glowing inside with a great light, amber and saffron and powder blue and green gold. I continued to search for Margrethe, but few people drifted near me and none was she. Never mind, the Lord would protect her. Her temporary absence could not dismay me; we had taken the only important hurdle together.