For Those Who Will Miss the Rapture

As some of you know from my blog posts, I think there's a strong chance that God may do something dramatic on the Feast of Trumpets this year (possibly the rapture of the church). While I can't know the future for certain, studying these things has made me think about the people who will be left behind. So, this post is for them. This is for those who will be left behind, whenever the Lord chooses to come back.

Being left behind will be completely unexpected for everybody. Generally, everyone who will be left behind will fall into two categories: one will be unbelievers (people who never believed that Jesus is the son of God or made Him King over their lives) and one will be people who thought that they were Christians (because they know a lot about the Bible, went to church regularly, etc.), but never had a true relationship with Jesus. I want you to know that there is still hope for you. God hasn't utterly abandoned you! You can still be saved.

I don't know what people will be saying when the church of Christ is suddenly taken away, but I'm sure that they won't be saying it was the rapture. Don't believe them. Christians have seen this event coming for 2000+ years. When we disappear, it won't be because of aliens, or an enemy force of some kind, or terrorism. God took us! The God of the Bible took us to be with Him in heaven, and I can assure you that we are very happy to be there.

The rapture will be your final wake up call to believe and to call on Jesus to save you. You need to understand that, whenever it happens, the rapture is definitive proof that God (specifically the God of the Bible) is real. Who else could have taken only Christians out of our world? If the God of the Bible is real, then His promises are real and He is faithful to keep His promises. The rapture itself is a fulfilled promise to the church to be rescued from the earth! If God's promises are true, then the Bible is true, Jesus is who He said he was, heaven is real, hell is real, sin is real, and God's deep love for you is also real. You have very great, good things planned for you by God, if you will trust Him with your life to the very end.

If you find yourself among those who are left, you will be living in a terrible seven year long period of time, when God will begin to judge the entire world for sin. The Bible calls it the Great Tribulation. Pick up a Bible, if possible, and flip to the last book (called the Revelation) for detailed insight into the things that will start to happen. I won't sugarcoat it for you, it's going to be absolutely devastating to the earth and humanity as a whole. The world will be doomed, but your soul will be saved from eternal devastation if you cling to Jesus until the end! You can live with all of us who were taken, in the awesome presence of the great and glorious God who made you and loves you, so much that he came to earth to die for you.

There are some absolutely essential things that you have to know:

After the rapture, you'll begin to hear about a man. That man will seem wonderful and will be looked to as a savior. He will confirm a covenant (make stronger a previously established deal) with many nations and will likely give Israel permission to build their holy Temple. He will start to perform miracles and do things that no ordinary man can do. People will begin to think that he's God or Jesus. He's not. After 3 1/2 years into the Tribulation (the halfway point), he will sit in the Temple of God and call himself God (with a capital 'G'). He will demand that everyone worship him, and anyone who resists him will be killed.

That man is the Antichrist. Just as God has a son, Jesus, Satan will have a son as well. The Antichrist will be Satan in the flesh. Don't expect him to have horns and a forked tongue, or a tail. He's going to be charming, have a powerful presence, and be a very attractive leader for anyone who doesn't belong to Jesus. In fact, in all the chaos that will ensue after the rapture, he will become the leader of a one world government system (which will probably be deemed necessary because of the global catastrophes taking place on the earth).

The Bible warns about something called “the mark of the beast.” This is something that is either worn or branded (injected?) on the forehead or the arm/hand. It's unclear what it will be exactly, but the mark will be something that identifies you as belonging to the world government system under the Antichrist. Personally, I expect it to be like the swastikas that the Nazis wore, because the mark will be closely associated with the one leading the movement. Swastikas made everyone instantly think of Adolf Hitler, and the mark of the beast will make everyone instantly think of the Antichrist. The mark will allow you to buy and sell food and goods, and anyone found without it will be killed. You MUST NOT take the mark of the Antichrist! Doing so will be the same as swearing your allegiance to the enemy of God, Satan, and you will be judged with him for it.

A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name." This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." “Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” ~Revelation 14:9-13

My heart goes out to all of you who read this after the rapture, it really does! Some people may survive all that will happen during the Tribulation, but most of humanity will be wiped out for sin (Isaiah 13:9-12), and Christians will be hated like never before. Christians who come to faith during the tribulation will most likely be beheaded, or killed in some other way, for their faith (Revelation 20:4).

Everyone dies at some point. Good men, evil men, great men and poor men. They all die. The Bible says that it is much better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil, and God is able to reward all people after they have died:

For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. ~1 Peter 2:20-25

One of the rewards of God is being resurrected to a good future, just like in the rapture! You see, the ones who had died (in the past) while believing and trusting in God were resurrected around the time the living servants of God were taken away. You'll be resurrected too, just like us, if you hold on to your faith in Jesus, and do not deny Him or take the mark of the Antichrist, even until you die.

The apostle John, writes in Revelation:

Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands...

(He's talking about YOU! John is writing about people who worship Jesus Christ alone during the Tribulation period! What happens to them after their struggle on earth is ended?)

...They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. ~Revelation 20:4-6

The truth is that we all deserve death for sin, but God, out of the abundance of His generous spirit of grace, not only offers complete forgiveness, but also amazing gifts and rewards to those who trust in Him. He's a good God, you guys. He's so good to us! Here are just a few of His promises to believers, just in the book of Revelation alone:

Jesus says,

“To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” ~Revelation 2:7

“Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” ~Revelation 2:10

“The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” (The second death is hell, the place of eternal punishment) ~Revelation 2:11

“To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” ~Revelation 2:17

“The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star.” ~Revelation 2:26-28

“The one who conquers will be clothed...in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” ~Revelation 3:5

“Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.” ~Revelation 3:11-12

“The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ~Revelation 3:21-22

And John writes,

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” ~Revelation 21:1-4

There will no longer be any curse (of sin); and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. ~Revelation 22:3-5

That's my God, and our God. He has good plans for you, if you will turn your life over to Him. He will give you a great future hope, if you trust him now (Jeremiah 29:11). Remember, you have not been utterly abandoned by God if you hear him calling you, so don't run from Him! You'll know if He's calling you when you have a strong desire to do what He says.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. ~John 3:16-21

I love you all, but Jesus loves you more. The life that is found in Him is infinitely greater than the destruction of this present darkness. The attached document guides you through how to be saved through Jesus, and I hope it helps you. I sincerely hope to see you soon. :)

Spark-Notes Gospel - How to be saved