One thing’s for sure, we are living in the end times or the last days. The Rapture could happen any day now. That’s when Jesus calls up His born-again believers to be with Him in Heaven. That’s not the second coming. That happens after the Great Tribulation when Jesus will come down to reign for 1000 years with no devil around. You DO NOT want to be Left Behind!
There are many ways to sell something to someone. The most popular — and which usually works– are selling the benefits. And I’ve done that with regards to the true salvation of Jesus Christ. Another way is to scare people into buying. That’s what happens when preachers start warning about the end of the world as we know it. This is the start of a series on the end times and the Book of Revelation. Now, it won’t be a true, in-depth study on Revelation. For that, I recommend Through the Word — a free Bible study app available in your app store. Pastor Kris Langham presents one of the most easy-to-understand explanations on the last book of the Bible.
What I plan to do is explain the basics on the last days timeline — enough to pique your curiosity so you’ll go and study it for yourself. My hope is that you’ll have the same question I did once…
Will I be Left Behind?
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NLT
Then a lot of folks will wonder what happened. Where’d everybody go?
Imagine this…
You’re driving down the highway singing along with the radio when all of a sudden you notice the car in front of you swerve to the right, crash into the concrete wall, bounce off and flip over. You stop to see if the driver is OK and run to the crashed car. You look for the driver. Not there. Could he or she have been thrown clear? You look around and notice more cars swerving out of control and crashing. What’s going on?!
It’s the Rapture. The drivers in those cars were Christian believers whom Jesus called up to Heaven. It’s everywhere. All over the world people just disappeared. No notice. No trumpet. Well, maybe the Christians heard the trumpet call then in the blink of an eye, they were on earth and now they are in Heaven with Jesus.
The shock will be when the people left behind figure out what happened. They’ll think, “Oh, my God, they were right!” Yes, “they” — a loving family member or friend, an evangelist, a coworker — were right. They’ve gone to Heaven and you’re left on earth. Now what?
Think about this.
When will the Rapture happen?
God only knows. Literally — only God the Father knows. However, Jesus did give us signs of the end times in the Gospels. That’s where we are right now. Earthquakes, plagues, the spirit of lawlessness running rampant — these are signs of the end times. Jesus told us to be ready because He’s coming soon. Paul wrote to the church in Thessaloniki…
Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.
Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-7
The “man of lawlessness” is the antichrist — he’s a bad dude. The “one who is holding it back” is the Holy Spirit living inside the hearts of the true Christian believers. The antichrist cannot be revealed until after the Rapture — after the Christians are gone.
I’ll let Pastor Greg Laurie explain all this further…
Those Left Behind will be in one of two categories…
Unbelievers
These people don’t get it and they never will — atheists, agnostics, Muslims, Hindus, and folks who believe in other religions. They are ruled by Satan and his evil forces. They will be taking over the world and causing trouble. They’ll support the antichrist.
They take the mark of the beast.
They are also stuck going through the tribulation.
They eventually will be judged by Jesus and end up in the lake of fire.
New Christians
These folks will become believers right away because they understand what happened and that they missed out on the Rapture because they thought they were “good enough” and didn’t need “saving”. Or the church they attended never preached on the Rapture.
They decline the mark of the beast.
The Tribulation Christians will have to survive the tribulation.
They’ll be martyred and they will get their white robes in Heaven.
Note: the mark of the beast doesn’t come until after the Rapture. The COVID-19 vaccine and any chip that they embed in a person now is NOT the mark of the beast. However, the technology exists for it to be easily created.
You have a chance NOW!
Get saved now or after the Rapture. The choice is yours. Later will be worse. As Greg Laurie puts it….
“You’re either right or left — you can be right with God or left behind.”
Greg Laurie
This is the first of many more posts on Bible Prophecy or eschatology that I’ll be doing. Think of it as a warning. Better safe than sorry!
If you want the assurance of salvation and a 1-way, non-stop ticket to paradise — to Heaven and that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture — which could happen any day now — this is what you have to do…
Believe. Repent. Be Baptized. Receive the Holy Spirit.
- Believe — have Faith — that Jesus is the Christ and He died taking your sins away forever and that He rose from the dead 3 days later.
- Repent of your sins — stop sinning! Do a complete 180-degree turn in your life and surrender your life to Him. When you ask Jesus to forgive you He will. ALL your sins will be wiped clean — past, present, and future! And All means ALL!
- Be Baptized by water baptism — show the world and yourself that you have died to your old life and are born again in Christ.
- Receive the gift of Holy Spirit in your heart.
Invite Jesus into Your Heart and Receive the Gift of Grace, Joy, Peace, and the Confident Hope of Eternal Life…
Pray this prayer humbly and wholeheartedly…
“Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins. Please forgive me. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and my life to you. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. I will follow you for the rest of my life. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Next Steps in Your New Walk with Jesus…
- Start reading the Bible daily to get to know God. If you don’t have one, I recommend the YouVersion, Bible.app and Through the Word app — both are free and have a lot of great Bible studies.
- Pray every day. Talk to God. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you daily.
- Find and join a Bible-believing church — preferably a non-denominational one and be baptized!
Soli Deo Gloria — to God Alone be the Glory!
