When I scoured my Bible for verses showing people who rejected the gospel of the grace of God in the Church Age, getting saved after the Rapture, unlike the Left Behind series I could not find it.
"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 Thessalonians 2:11,12 (KJV)
Like most of Christian America, I was thrilled when the
Left Behind book series came out back in December of 1995. It accurately showed that the Rapture of the Church must take place prior to the start of the time of Jacob's trouble, commonly referred to as the Great Tribulation. It showed characters acting out Bible prophecy in a realistic and exciting fashion, and we rejoiced with them as one by one they came to get right with the Lord and become born again.
What I did find, however, shook me to my core.
God sends a strong delusion on the heels of the rapture of the Church
The apostle Paul tells us that the two things that must take place in order for the Rapture of the Church to start are 1). the great falling away from gospel truth, and 2). the revealing of the Antichrist.
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4 (KJV)
Now anyone with eyes and ears who is even mildly awake can tell you that the falling away has been in full swing for quite some time now. Nearly 100% of the preachers on television and radio are preaching lies to get money from people. Fakers like
Rod Parsley,
Paula White,
Todd Bentley,
Hillsong,
Joel Osteen and all the others are nothing more than end times charlatans who make up the Laodicean Church from Revelation 3.
As far as when the Antichrist is revealed, it looks like that and the Rapture happen at very close to the same time. The rapture of the Church is shown in Revelation 4:1,2 (KJV), and the releasing of Antichrist by the Lord Jesus Christ happens in Revelation 6:
"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer." Revelation 6:1,2 (KJV)
John, a type of the Church, watches Antichrist let loose almost as soon as he arrives in Heaven. This shows you that very little time passes between the Rapture and the Antichrist. When we go back to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 to pick up the action, we see something quite startling. We see that what accompanies the releasing of Antichrist on the Earth is a strong delusion, given to people who had rejected the preaching of the gospel before the Rapture.
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 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 Thessalonians 2:8-12 (KJV)
You will note the following regarding the context of these verses:
- Antichrist is revealed on the heels of the Rapture of the Church.
- Antichrist comes with "signs and lying wonders".
- The people who rejected the gospel of the grace of God while the Church was still on the earth are rebuked.
- Those same people are given a "strong delusion".
- Those same people are all damned.
What you don't see anywhere is people being given a second chance like in the Left Behind series
All the seals that are opened in Revelation 6
match exactly with the action happening in Matthew 24, but we don't see a whole lot of gentiles. What do we see? We see the Jews back in the spotlight now. And instead of an "end times revival" of the people who missed the Rapture of the Church, we see unsaved gentiles cowering in rocks and caves, begging for death rather than face King Jesus.
"And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Revelation 6:14-17 (KJV)
THE BIBLE BELIEVERS GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE RAPTURE AND THE SECOND COMING
In chapter 7 of Revelation we see the marking and
commissioning of the 144,000 servants of God, but not a gentile in the bunch. God's entire focus has now shifted from dealing with the Church of Jesus Christ made up of Jews and gentiles, to once again dealing with His chosen people the Jews. But what about the unsaved gentiles who missed the Rapture? Sadly, it appears that the vast majority of these people wind up taking the Mark of the Beast and worshipping Antichrist. And just so you know, in the time of Jacob's trouble, the unpardonable sin is taking the Mark. God offers zero forgiveness for those who accept it
"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Revelation 14:9-11 (KJV)
MORE EVIDENCE FROM SCRIPTURE THAT CHRISTIANS WILL NOT GO THROUGH THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE
As you march through chapter after chapter in Revelation, you see many amazing and terrible sights, but one thing you don't see anywhere is the much ballyhooed "end times revival" of gentiles who missed the Rapture of the Church. No matter how much heat God applies to them, they refuse to repent.
"And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory."Revelation 16:8,9 (KJV)
Even when the Lord Jesus Christ finally makes his spectacular grand entrance, no one on the Earth seems overly happy. Why not?
"Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." Revelation 1:7 (KJV)
For one reason, the Church who is very excited to see Jesus is not on the Earth, and we were very excited when we saw Him at the Rapture. Now we are on horseback with the Lord at His return as seen in Revelation 19. Secondly, the people who made it through the Tribulation realize the great price they paid by their refusal to get saved while they had the chance. The vast majority of the unsaved gentiles appear to have taken the Mark during the strong delusion, and have joined Antichrist in his satanic army to fight with Jesus at His return.
"And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." Revelation 19:19,20 (KJV)
The gentiles who do get saved and refuse to take the Mark of the Beast pay for those decisions with their life. Hopefully there will a lot of those people, but in order to do it they must overcome God's strong delusion, the revelation of Antichrist, the Mark of the Beast, and a never-ending barrage of supernatural and physical judgements falling down on them from above. Tribulation saints are not the same as Christians in the Church age. And because they're not in the Church Age like we are now, they won't have eternal security.
Whew...tall order that one.
Better to get saved now and not have to wonder if you would "make it through the Tribulation" because billions will not.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16 (KJV)
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