So he said to him, “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:12-14).
It is scary to think of the multitude in the church world that will either be saved after the Rapture or worship the Antichrist.
Not for a moment can you think it will be easy to resist the dark deception once the Bride of Christ is gone. The Antichrist will take on the persona of Jesus Christ. There is a great company that rejects the Pre-Tribulation Rapture that will be subject to great deception because of this false teaching. This crowd sees themselves as over comers and like an army defeating Satan’s Antichrist. The effort of the Antichrist to enlist them for his plan is awesome.
We already see a multitude dying in chapter six. When the people who know they have missed the Rapture realize it’s now or never, a multitude will fall on their faces to repent. Think of the whole world being aware of the departure of millions and open graves everywhere. Arabs will now know that Allah was not God. The false religions all over the world will not have a chance to repent and be converted. The Bible says that when His judgments are in the earth men will “learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:9).
Let’s look at the picture that the angels created for John to see. A marvelous number of Jews are saved and sealed. But the great number is citizens of the world. Many dark religions have blended great cultures of people. Religions like Islam have blended entire nations of people and taught them anger against the Jews and Christians. All of this must come to a conclusion and the God of the Bible will be vindicated. The hated Christians will now be prepared to rule the world under the sovereign hands of Jesus Christ.
“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21: 34-36).
The book of Revelation is a breathtaking drama. From chapter one to chapter twenty-two, except chapters two and three, are in every case a living theatrical production. John saw the book come alive before his face. The book of Revelation a living picture and simple for you to teach others and to awake lost souls. The word “saw” or synonyms of that word are used over sixty times in twenty chapters of the Book Of Revelation.
No picture in this revelation is more graphic than the multitude of dying or dead saints, martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ. This vast number are clearly the multitudes that missed the Rapture but repented and became willing sacrifices for Christ. This scene shows up first in chapters six almost as soon as the seven-year Tribulation begins.
When the Lamb of God had opened the fifth seal, the text tells us what John saw.
“I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held…” (Revelation 6:9b).
They were physically dead but yet alive. They had been martyred but were now awaiting their resurrection. Their death had been so gruesome that even in this glorious place and clearly beyond the instrument of their death they were pained to remember how they died. John saw and heard as they cried aloud.
“And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:10).
I know of no place in Scripture where death did not hide the suffering that preceded the death. But this is the Great Tribulation of which Jesus said, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matthew 24:21-22).
You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright” (Hebrews 12:4-16).
John saw them given “white robes” and told to rest and await as the carnage continued on the earth. These were the first to turn to Jesus Christ and die by the one world religious system and the government powers of the one world order. Those souls already put to death or martyred for their new found faith could rejoice that death has spared them from the ongoing calamity on earth. John wrote what he saw happen to them.
“And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled” (Revelation 6:11).
This drama gives us a picturesque view of the hellish treatment awaiting anyone that misses the Rapture and even thinks to be saved. The cost of discipleship today does not touch the cost of discipleship after the Rapture. The devil will have lost the prize of the bride of Christ which he was so determined to destroy. The remnant repenting will be seen as the last vestige of our present effort to warn the world. He will shake his fist at us in heaven while he slaughters our sons and daughters left behind.
“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17).
John does not just view their death and the sorrows of such horrible suffering. He sees the triumph also. We move to chapter seven and this great multitude that have died are no longer under the altar but caught up to be guest at the wedding supper. They can no longer count on being in the Bride but can be part of the great banquet celebration. They are a multitude from all over the earth. There is no longer a heathen world that has never heard the name of Jesus. Both the lie of Lucifer and the truth of Jesus Christ is known by all the earth’s population.
All nations will know and will be a part of these scenes:
“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9-10).
There will certainly be an incredible number of those that know enough of the gospel and truth to quickly repent of their unprepared spiritual condition. I believe the vast population of heathens, false religions and post-Christian churches will now learn the truth and have the privilege for the price of martyrdom for Christ. Do not miss a later scene that John the Revelator saw that we will call: The guest at the wedding supper.
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world.And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-16).