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There is a growing
hatred for anything that centers on Jesus Christ. Its like
the world wants to promote a “god” idea that can fit all
belief systems, but trashes the God of Christianity and the
idea of the Son of God as a Savior of all men. There is an
even greater hatred for the idea of a Rapture, where a large
number of people are going to be caught up and
supernaturally removed. More and more of the leading
ministers in Biblical circles are denying the Rapture and
turning to theological ideas that suggest a Christian
dominion of the earth rather than escape from the earth.
Much of the Evangelical world and all of the Catholic
leadership are dead set against a sudden exodus of the
chosen saints of God.
When you understand the multitude of
different ideas relating to End Times events, it is
challenging to describe the many different reactions that
may well follow the great escape of the saints. The Rapture
may well serve to unite the religious world and force them
to forge a united reaction. There are not many religious
leaders left that do not have a growing distaste for
Bible-believing fundamentalism. Every major religious trend
has served to build a consensus against what is being called
“narrow-minded fundamentalism.” Building a broad-based
movement to bring the Catholic, the Evangelical, and the
Pentecostals together demands that no theology is important
enough to divide the church world.
We now have a religious atmosphere that
drives the fundamental truths to the back room. That is the
crowd that is going to be the Raptured saints. It would be a
great relief to many religious personalities if we would
just disappear. We will! Holiness of lifestyle is hated.
Ministers that still preach and teach separation from the
trashy and carnal world are considered cultic and
bothersome. The music of the average church in the
acceptable church growth world is unclean and repulsive. The
atmosphere in the Jewish synagogues when Jesus came the
first time is a fair example of today’s church atmosphere.
Genuine truth has fallen in the streets. Most ministers that
still continue to preach the Rapture also trash solid
Biblical holiness living.
“The Passion of the Christ” did not
change anything, but it did reveal some things that had
already changed. Suddenly, the last holdouts of the church
world could join the Catholic Church world and start uniting
with them without question. The main two church
denominational holdouts to wild ecumenicalism were the
Baptist and the Pentecostals. They are now beginning to lead
the way into the greatest unity of the “Christian” church
world in all of two thousand years. How are all of them
going to explain that the Rapture has taken place and they
are still here?
Immediately After the Rapture
The Rapture is going to make an incredible stir throughout
the world. This is one of the greatest moments in human
history and the result will be an incredible crisis. The
media will explore every detail. Interviews will be granted
to all sides and many different explanations will be given.
The paranormal world will have a field day with many bizarre
stories. Somehow the majority of the world will be convinced
to carry on and to join the new day of liberty and license.
The Catholic Church Will Move to the Forefront
The best way to deal with a crisis is to celebrate it and
the celebration will begin. The One World Church will
quickly develop a speakers’ bureau to appear on all news
channels. Let’s consider what may be their explanation. I
believe they will proclaim that a supernatural miracle has
occurred. Religious fanatics and rebellious fundamentalists
have been removed by an act of God so that the world can
finally experience peace. They will say that these people
were no different than the terrorists within the Muslim
world. They were like the Taliban of Afghanistan and we have
been spared their hindrance to our planned wonderful world
by this miracle of their removal.
Forerunners of the Antichrist will see
this as their golden opportunity and they will join in with
the religious One World Church. They will herald the coming
revelation of their “Christ” and great paranormal events
will become commonplace. As the idea that this “Christ” is
waiting to be manifest begins to grip the world, great
excitement to His coming will develop. Great speakers with
demonic appeal will conduct rallies all over the world. They
will build excitement to the point of hysteria. Incredible
miracles of healing (i.e., blinded eyes opened) and mass
healing events will occur. This new church world of the
inclusive church will explode. It will be religious mania.
This new religion will be as emotionally
real as the true Pentecost of the past. The only thing
missing will be the restrictions of commandments and
standards. It will be the greatest day of mass religious
events in history. The music is already written, the singers
have already trained, and these campaigns will feature the
best. The present contemporary, rap, rock, funk, and other
ungodly music are all the music of the Antichrist and are
ready to inoculate the world. The multitudes will line up to
be baptized and marked as the worshippers of this new
“Christ.” They will actually believe that he is the true
appearing of the real Christ.
While the One World Church is Worshipping
As hid from public view as possible, a genuine surrender to
Jesus Christ will grip the world. Millions of people that
knew very little about the faith of Jesus Christ will
believe that the Rapture, which has just occurred, was the
real thing. This great company will find private places to
pray and devour the Holy Bible. They will help each other
find food and survive as long as possible. Little children
will be led to a living faith as moms and dads, sometimes
only mothers and sometimes only dads, help their families
prepare for the worst. Every person, who makes a complete
surrender to Jesus Christ, will be signing his or her own
death warrant by the worst possible form of death.
The great multitude that wash their
garments in the Blood of the Son of man/Son of God will be
hated by the liberal media, the Antichrist and his army of
savages, and the New World Religion followers. The
persecution of Christians will be worldwide and brutal.
Human rights will not exist. There will be no “911” phone
number for those that are being brutally hunted and
slaughtered.
The death of these repentant and
blood-washed souls is going to be so massive and vicious
that the Great Creator and His divine Son set one of the
seven seals to draw attention to this fact. These people
will be champions. They will bear their testimony bravely
before the world, while being hated and threatened by the
entire One World system. These new saints do not have any
weapons and no one is available to plead their call before
the powers that be, but they are brave unto death. Listen to
the Lord Jesus Christ in His Revelation to John describe
them. “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under
the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of
God, and for the testimony which they held: 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? 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 fellowservants also and
their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should
be fulfilled.” (Revelation 6:9-11)
The Gospel will certainly be heard
worldwide during the Seven Years of the Great Tribulation.
The souls we just witnessed were condemned and killed for
the Word of God and their testimonies. There will be two
incredible prophets that proclaim God’s Word to the world
and cannot be killed until their witness is complete. They
will perform many genuine miracles and even shut the heavens
so that it does not rain. Their testimony will be so
effective that the Beast, the Leader of the One World
Religion will make war with them. After three and one-half
years of ministry, they will be killed and their death will
cause a worldwide celebration by the wicked multitudes.
Look at a few descriptions of their
ministry and effectiveness. “And I will give power unto my
two witnesses … And if any man will hurt them, fire
proceedeth out of their mouth … These have power to shut
heaven … And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of
the great city … where also our Lord was crucified … And
after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God
entered into them … and great fear fell upon them which saw
them … the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the
God of heaven.” (Revelation 11:3-13)
Even angels will fly through the Heavens
proclaiming the everlasting gospel. No one that takes the
Mark of the Beast or worships Satan, the Antichrist, or the
Beast will have an excuse. The absolute proof that the God
of Heaven is the source of these days of great judgment will
be undeniable. The glory of God vs. the hideous nature of
Satan and his entire deceived host will be evident for men
to see.
The Wicked Will Be Wicked Still
The spirit of prophecy used Prophet Daniel to give us
incredible information about the Seven Years of the Great
Tribulation. The last chapter of his book speaks of the
rapture and resurrection of the righteous, as well as the
resurrection of the wicked. He described the first three and
one-half years, placed the abomination of desolation in the
middle, and then described the last three and one-half
years. It’s a remarkable description. Along with placing the
abomination in the middle, he also described a revival of
righteousness. With that he also spoke of the company of the
wicked that, in spite of judgment and the undercurrent of
genuine revival, they would continue to be wicked and even
grow into a level of wickedness never experienced. Look at
Daniel’s anointed description of this coming hour after the
Rapture. “And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are
closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be
purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do
wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the
wise shall understand.
And from the time that the daily
sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that
maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two
hundred and ninety days (the last three and one-half years
of the seven).” (Daniel 12:9-11) The wickedness of the
wicked will reach a level of vileness that we do not yet
understand. A human being can become a devil in nature just
like Satan and his angels became devils. This is already
happening, but will reach a new level during the Great
Tribulation.
At the very beginning of the seven years,
the sixth seal reveals something of men’s response to the
judgments of God that are evident. Look at these words, “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)
There is no evidence of repentance, just
a stark reflection of their understanding that this is a
judgment from the God of Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ.
By the time of the sixth trumpet, the hearts of men will
have grown arrogant and obstinate. “And the rest of the men
which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of
the works of their hands, that they should not worship
devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone,
and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their
sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”
(Revelation 9:20-21)
In the face of judgments that they dare
not deny, the wickedness of those men left after the Rapture
only grows more and more wicked. By the time the two
prophets that had performed many miracles and proven
themselves to be prophets from God have been killed, the
multitudes of the wicked have the audacity to rejoice and
send gifts celebrating the Beast’s victory over those men of
God.
Now, as the Seven Years draw to a close,
the time comes that Jesus Christ will appear in the Heavens
on a great white stallion, along with a multitude of His
saints with Him. The sight will be too awesome to describe.
The wicked, who have arrogantly rejected every expression of
truth or mercy, join themselves to the Antichrist as his
army and gather to Armageddon to fight against the
descending Christ and His army of the glorified saints. The
devil, the Antichrist, the Beast, fallen angels, and the
host of wicked men and women become as one to fight the Lamb
of God and His host. But, the end of this rebellion has
come. “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried
with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the
midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto
the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of
kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty
men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them,
and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and
great.” (Revelation 19:17-18)
The Deluded That Knew But Rejected the Truth
I cannot end this article without remembering the multitude
that were “Left Behind” but could not repent. They were
turned to a reprobate mind to believe a lie and be damned.
That lie of a false religion, a false Christ, and miracles
to deceive will conclude by actually fighting against the
returning Son of God. Imagine the men and women that once
heard and knew the truth, but loved the world more. There
will be multitudes of them that were raised in
Bible-believing churches, heard the preaching about the
Rapture, and were loved by the saints of God, but are now
the companion of Satan to fight the Battle of Armageddon.
The worse degree of the Lake of fire is reserved for those
that knew but rejected the great Savior that came down to
die.
Left Behind, Seven Years of Hell
This world will soon be Satan’s last stand. He is a master
at deceit. With thousands of years of experience in fighting
against God, he will certainly use his acquired skills to
lead this world to war. With the restraining presence of the
Holy Ghost removed, there will be nothing to hinder but the
limits of prophesied truth. He and his host will fight to
the finish. There will be schemes of deception unknown. Only
those that wash themselves in the Blood of the Lamb and
choose death over the mark will survive.
It’s foolish to wait and follow the love
of self and sin. Turn wholly to Jesus Christ today. Tomorrow
may be the sad day of the “Left Behind.”
Joseph R. Chambers
jrc@pawcreek.org
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