“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” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
What then? What happens after the first initial shock of a catastrophic event and just before the search and rescue begins? The demonic thugs begin to loot, ravage, destroy, and terrorize the remaining victims. News coverage of past events have shown us this greed of truth.
What would make the Rapture of the Church any different? In a world where we hear so much about the quest for equality, five minutes after the Rapture will definitely bring equality for all those left behind.
The evil ones who are not rummaging through unmanned houses and vehicles will be scavenging through open graves, with no second thought as to why the graves are suddenly opened and the dead gone.
Equality would begin with “every man for himself.” No more enemies or friends, both so-called friends and your enemies will be equally willing to betray you or kill you for anything that you may have – that would be of some value to them.
I often think about those who are in desperate preparation for the end (yet never mention the Rapture as the only absolutely sure way of escape); those who say they are preparing so much as to be able to help others in their community. Five minutes after the Rapture, they will not remember your name, let alone offer you canned food and water. Evil will overtake every good intention.
If you happen upon a church, don’t expect to find a crucifix on any other holy element that once would have tugged at your soul. Most likely those things will have been stolen and sold for something as small as a loaf of bread. Ironically, just minutes or a day earlier with a simple, “I accept your gift of salvation, here I am, Lord,” you would be sharing eternity with the Bread of Life.
Five minutes before the Rapture and five minutes after the Rapture are unmistakably the difference between eternal life and death – it is just a matter of win or lose. And, since no man knows the day or the hour; is a five minute gamble worth it?
Jesus spent approximately thirty-three years teaching His love on earth; roughly six-seven hours on an Old Rugged Cross to prove that love; three days in a tomb to give us a hope of resurrection.
He did rise from the dead and ascend into heaven; and almost two thousand years later, His offer of amazing grace still stands. His love is so simple and it can be obtained by whosoever will come – all in less than five minutes. Equally as simple as one of the most repeated and so often ignored verses in the Holy Bible…
“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).