Tuesday, December 09, 2008

The rapture happened and I was left behind! Now what?!

The Rapture of the church is coming. I don’t know when, no one does, except God. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Matthew 24:36. However, Jesus gave signs to watch for, and commanded us to watch, (Matthew 24, 25, Mark 13) It is generally understood among those who watch that this is the final generation.

What do you do when it happens and you are left behind?

Todd Strandberg of Raptureready.com wrote “Oops! I guess I Wasn’t Ready” and much of this essay is from his good work. Please take the time to read it in full:
[http://www.raptureready.com/rap49.html]

So what IS the Rapture?

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words"(1 Thes 4:16-18).

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

What will it be like immediately afterwards?

Imagine the utter shock of a world who at one moment are rubbing elbows with people like your bus driver, cab driver, airplane pilot, wife, co-worker, and the next second they are gone. Poof! Vanish. The economy supported by those millions will collapse. The plane crashes. The bus plunges. The train derails. The boiling dinner on the stove burns up, taking the house with it. The doctors operating on you, gone.

In the moments and days after the most shocking experience the world will ever see, churches will fill up. For those who have heard the Word, for those who are unequally yoked with believer spouses, for those who may have been wondering or dabbling: these will know what happened and they will seek Jesus.

But do not delay seeking Him! For He said that He will send a strong delusion. Immediately after the rapture, the antichrist will ascend, rising to power and the people will fall prey to his delusion of power and peace and prosperity. Paul said that people will still love unholy living, and they will soon sink back into their iniquitous ways. Strandberg writes:

“The people who failed to fully dedicate their lives to Christ will be totally ensnared by the demonic delusion that will sweep over the world.”

"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness"
(2 Thes 2:10-12).

Also, people will be deluded into complacency because many Christian pastors and favorite famous people will be left behind, too. Jesus said the way is broad and the gate is narrow and few find the way, so even those who outwardly professed were not spirit-filled and will be left behind. Matthew 7:13 This will surprise people. These are the ones who are all outward appearance but never had the Holy Spirit inside them and their heart was evil. “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?” They will be as strangers to Jesus, who will reply: “I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness.”—Matt. 7:22, 23

So DO NOT WAIT! It is best of all not to be left behind. Accept Jesus now. But if you are still here after the Rapture, say the saving prayer. Sincerely! Do you believe you are a sinner? Do you believe those sins will forever separate you from a Holy God who cannot be near sin? If so then you need help. Jesus is that help. If you pray to Him, admitting your sins and asking Him to forgive them, then ask Him to become the guiding Lord of your life, and you are saved. Follow up with a public declaration that He is now your Savior and Lord of your life and get baptized (the first act of obedience).

These are the facts:
The Rapture will happen soon!
Jesus is Savior & Lord!
He Loves You!

FMI on the Rapture and Jesus and His saving Grace, and what is to come, go to
Raptureready.com
Rapturelalert.com
Gracethrufaith.com
Watchmanbiblestudy.com

I am praying for you!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of a bumper sticker I was: Jesus is Coming. Look busy.

Chuck

Anonymous said...

Keep praying for me... Clearly I'm a lost soul. I choose to be lost in the mire of oh-so-woeful ignorance rather than claim misguidedly that mine -- and mine only -- is The Truth. Such knowledge is given to no man, or woman, much as we would all like to think we can claim it.

Elizabeth Prata said...

not my truth, HIS truth.

You recoil from absolutes and do not want to condede any truths are self-evident. Instead, if you acknowledge truth at all, it becomes something infinitely pliable and ultimately unknowable in any objective sense.

So you propose uncertainty as the new truth. You canonize doubt and skepticism as a form of humility (opposite of arrogance, as those who proclaim one perfect, objective truth are often charged). You redefine right and wrong in terms of your subjective feelings and personal perspective.
(John MacArthur)

Unfortunately, your willingness to remain ignorant and rejecting of a self-evident truth: that there is only ONE truth, God- means you will be having a long time to ponder your mistake. Instead I invite you to shed man-made constructs that there is no truth, and explore Jesus. He loves you, you know.