WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THOSE PEOPLE?

One of these days, and I believe very soon, millions upon millions of people will suddenly disappear from the face of the earth. I know this sounds like something out of a Sci-Fi movie script but it actually will occur. I am referring to what is commonly known as the “Rapture (snatching away) of the Church.” By church, I mean all those people who have genuinely placed their faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross to pay the penalty for all sin. This does not refer to any particular church denomination/s nor does it refer to any group in any particular geographic area of the world. There are many people who attend churches everywhere who are there for their own agendas and not genuine believers in Jesus. I cannot pretend to know who they all are because I cannot know the true heart of anyone. But God does know and He will make the determination of who is raptured and who is not.
Let’s back up a little and look at why and when the rapture will occur. The Bible is replete with prophecies about the “End Times.” Two of the most vivid explanations of the horror of the “last days” are found in the words of Jesus in Matthew 24 and the Book of the Revelation. Jesus describes the final days this way; “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.”(Matt 24:21-22) The Book of Revelation describes these last days as a time of the pouring out of God’s wrath against a disbelieving and evil world. People during this time will have decided to worship the Anti-Christ as God and received the “mark of the beast” on their hand or forehead. All the nations of the earth will come against the people of Israel to destroy them and the earth in the “Battle of Armageddon.” This is when Jesus Christ will return to the earth and “cut short” those days and do away with the Anti-Christ, the False Prophet and all those who made war against Israel.
You may be asking “what does this have to do with the rapture of the church?” As I mentioned, Revelation clearly describes this time as the pouring out of God’s wrath on the earth. There are some interesting observations we can make about what happens to people who are in right standing with God when He pours out his wrath. Going back to Matthew 24, Jesus said that the last days would be like the days of the flood. The account of the flood is recorded in Genesis chapters 6-8. Jesus said this; “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man (Jesus). For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:37-39) The Genesis account of the flood also describes those as times of incredible wickedness and evil on the earth. The flood was a time of God’s wrath against an evil and unrepentant people, except for Noah and his family who were in right standing with God. Noah and his family along with the critters he gathered were kept safe from the wrath of God. Like Noah, those of us who have believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are in a place of safety from God’s wrath. Romans 8:1-2 states; “Therefore, there is now no condemnation (wrath) for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” Other Biblical passages that reinforce this idea of protection from God’s wrath include; (Jude 24) “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy”; (1 Thessalonians 1:10) “and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us form the coming wrath.”; (Revelation 3:10) “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.”; (1 Thessalonians 5:9) “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” With these and many other assurances from the Bible we can have absolute certainty that God will not subject those who are in right standing with Him to His wrath. This does not mean that those who are His will not suffer.
OK, when will the rapture happen and what exactly is it? As to when it will happen we do not know the day or the hour but we can be confident that it will occur before the wrath of God is poured out on the earth. If it occurred after, then the promises of God would be untrue. And if we have learned anything about God it is that He cannot lie. So the snatching away of all true believers will be before the 7years of “Great Tribulation” and pouring out of God’s wrath.
The rapture of the church is described in some detail in two places in the Bible. One is 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and the other, 1Corinthians chapter 15. (1Cor. 15:50-53) “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will be all changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” (1 Thes. 4:16-18) “For the Lord himself will come down from haven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that we who are still alive and are left will be caught up (raptured) with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.”
So there you have vivid descriptions of the event and a good idea of the timing. Some of you will snicker and scoff, but do so at your own peril. Look at Psalm 1. I am not interested in whether you believe me or not, so I encourage you to look these things up for yourselves. If you find that I have misquoted to misused Scripture then disregard me. In fact I encourage you to never take any teaching as true without checking it out for yourself. The Word of God is true and can stand up under your scrutiny. You are responsible to God on your own. No one else can do that for you. I hope to see you at the Rapture!

PROPHECY ABOUT JUDGMENT DAY

Have you ever given any real thought about what it will be like to stand before God on “Judgment Day?” If you are like me, I used to just not think about it too much. When I did, I thought I’d be able to somehow pull the wool over God’s eyes and sneak into Heaven by my own amazing wit and cunning. What an ego! Some people choose to refuse to believe that there is a God let alone a God who will hold them accountable. I can see that someone could find some sort of refuge in believing that once you’re dead that that is the end of everything. That if there is no God and no after-life, that a lack of any kind of existence at all would be preferable to an eternal Hell. Others will acknowledge the existence of a “creative force” (ala Star Wars) but deny that the “Force” is a person to whom we might be accountable. It has been my experience that what most people know about judgment and Hell is what others (who really don’t know any more than they do) tell them. They don’t go to the Bible and read what the Apostles, Prophets and Jesus have to say about it. What I intend to do is to point out in the Bible where you can find the information you need and let you make up your mind for yourself. Now, if you are absolutely bent on not believing in God, Jesus, judgment or Hell then you need read no further. I am not going to try to convince you or argue for the existence of God with you. Not because I can’t but that isn’t the purpose of this article and I won’t waste time and space doing so.
Now, for the rest of you who would like to know for sure what the Bible has to say on the matter of judgment and Hell, welcome. First, I’d like to make you a challenge. If you don’t know much about the Bible, I challenge you to take a moment and ask God to help you understand what you are reading. You don’t first have to become some spiritual giant to ask this of God, He will meet you where you are. If you ask Him and genuinely want to know the truth of what He is telling you, He will help you. I promise.
The most vivid description of the final “Judgment Day” is found in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 20 verses 11-15. In the unlikely event that you don’t have a Bible available to you it states; “11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” NIV
The Book of Revelation, written by the Apostle John, is so named because it was a Revelation by Jesus Christ to John as to what was going to happen in the future. Revelation is pure prophecy. The first thing we notice is the “Great White Throne” and him (God) who was seated upon it. Obviously this is going to be a frightful sight as the Earth and the sky flee from his presence. The next notable sight is all the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. If dead people are standing before the throne of God then there must be a life after the death of this body. But how did they get there? One of the standards we must use in examining Biblical passages is to ask, ‘does this theme appear anywhere else in the Bible?’ Yes, it does. To name one look at Daniel, Ch 12, v 2: “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.” The prophet, Daniel, is describing the same scenario.
The next interesting thing is that “The Books” and the “Book of Life” were opened. God judged everyone according to what they had done as recorded in “the books.” The “Book of Life” was also examined and anyone whose name was not written in it was thrown into the Lake of Fire (eternal damnation).
Jesus Christ made reference to this same book as recorded in Luke 10:20 when he said “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Here, Jesus was speaking to his followers and disciples. These were people who believed he is the Savior and Ruler of the universe. Elsewhere in the Revelation 3:5 this book is referred to by Jesus; “He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never erase his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angles.” Again, Jesus was speaking to his churches, to those who believed in him.
The question for each and every one of us are; “Is my name written in the book of life?” “If I don’t know, how can I know?” “If I don’t know, should I assume it is not?” and “If my name is not written in the book of life, how do I get it there?” If you are asking these questions, good for you! You are standing at the doorway to the Kingdom of God!
Let me give you a few verses of Scripture to help you find your way to getting your name written in the Book of Life. First Jesus said, as recorded in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus makes it pretty clear that no one makes it to heaven but must come through him. Romans 3:23 states; “for all have sinned (rebelled against God) and fall short of the glory of God”; Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”; Romans 19:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ (God) and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”; and finally, John 1:12 “Yet to all who received him, (Jesus) to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
How about it? What is God saying to you right now? Ask Jesus Christ in to change your life to a new direction, his direction, which leads to eternal life. Not the lake of fire.
And how is it that we can rely on the Bible to tell us the truth of these things? Well, for one thing, the Bible is the only book written in the history of mankind that is 100% accurate in its prophecies that have been fulfilled. It can be relied upon to be 100% accurate in those prophecies yet to be fulfilled as well. God doesn't want anyone to go to hell. But if they do, it is their choice. God has made a way out! Jesus Christ