Hey everyone. I have been feeling that the Lord has been pressing on me to create a "left behind" post. As a Christian, I do believe that someday, Jesus will be returning for his church and soon after that, the 7 year tribulation will begin, culumulating with Christ's return at Armageddon. Now personally, I have no idea on the exact timing of the rapture of the church or other end time events. However, it does seem evident that God might already be setting up the world stage for end time events and plus it definitely feels like we have been a completely different world since 2020. Prior to 2020, everything seemed to be relatively status quo. However after covid 19 hit and the pandemic began, alot of things have changed. Now days one has to wear masks in public, socially distance, churches were closed down for a while due to health risks (even the church I attend went online only for a while there, especially last year). The 2020 presidential elections was messy. Yeah our nation was very polarized and it was hard to take a side in the election without having to worry about offending the other side. I suppose things could have gone worse than it did, but at least things have seemed to have been relatively peaceful since Biden took office. Another thing I have noticed from a spiritual stand point, it does seem evident that the end times might be drawing closer than we think. I can't predict the future but there do seem to be a growing number of pastors, bible study leaders, and others that seem to think that the day of the rapture and other end time events are drawing near. Even seen videos on youtube of people claiming that they have recieved a dream or vision from the Lord of the rapture of the church, along with "left behind dreams" and other dreams or visions on end time events. Also seen the Dana Coverstone dreams too. I personally haven't recieved a vision or dream from the Lord concerning the end times (I guess not everyone has that spiritual gift). Anyways, I know one can't believe everything they see on the internet, but sometimes I have to wonder if there is something to those. Almost like the Holy Spirit is letting the world and the church know that time is almost up. Anyways, I have already made Jesus the Lord of my life and I do anticipate getting "taken" should the rapture happen sooner than expected (say within the next year or so). Obviously, I too can't set the exact date of the rapture as even I don't know when it will be, but I too am getting the sense that it could be drawing near.
Anyways, I realize that I am talking to 2 different audiences: those of you living before the rapture of the church and possibly those of you living after the ratpure of the church when millions of people have vanished all around the world. Not really sure how it is going to work, but if you read 1 corinthians 15 and 1 Thessolonians, it says these:
" Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 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. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[h]
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”[i] (1 Corinthians 15:51-54)
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, 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. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessolonians 4:13-18)
So the bible does give some clues on what will happen on that day. Sounds like something is going to happen (not sure what the "last trumpet" is referring unless if it is pointing to a jewish feast like the feast of trumpets or a similar jewish feast (though I am sure that Jesus is not bound by the jewish feasts concerning the rapture, so it can happen any time) and then Jesus will appear in the clouds and there will be some sort of shout and trumpet sound (or a shofar sound) from heaven. And then soon after that, those who are dead in Christ will rise and be taken to heaven and soon after that those who are saved (along with most likely babies and young children) will get "raptured" out or (vanish and taken to heaven).
I realize this post is too long to do in one post, so I will be breaking it up into 2 posts.
If you are alive and the rapture has not occured yet:
As of today's post, October 5, 2021, the rapture hasn't happened yet. I am still here along with most other Christians. Anyways, since the rapture hasn't happened yet, it means that there is still time to turn to Jesus and get saved and then whenever the rapture happens, you too will be taken.
To get saved, you must put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Repent and trust the Jesus Christ died for you on the cross at Calvery for your Sins, was Buried and rose again on the 3rd day. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 reads:
"Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures... (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
also John 3:16 reads: "16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
There are plenty of other scriptures pertaining to how you can get saved, but it is rather simple as you must realize that you are a sinner and put your trust in to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. We are all sinners one way or another (myself included) and sin can take on many forms too. Can be something we did, something we thought (for example, lust, envy, anger, pride, greed, jealosy, dirty thoughts, and the like are all considered sins as far as God is concerned). Even things you didn't do and you know you should have done them can be sins too (a classic example of this is sloth and laziness). List can go on, but like it says in Romans, we are all sinners and fall short of God's glory and that the wages of sin eventually leads to death (both physical death and spirtiual death). However, it is by God's grace that He sent the Son Jesus Christ who lived a perfect sinless life to this world and died on the cross for all of our sins: past, present and future, that all who believe on him get saved. If you are confused, there are plenty of youtube videos and churches that can teach you more on that one. Once you put your trust in Jesus Christ and get saved, the bible teaches that you become sealed by the Holy Spirit (3rd person of the trinity) and he will dwell inside you and you will start experience changes to your life. Some changes can happen right away, while others might come about over time.
By the way, I realize that there are people, who think that they want to wait until after the rapture happens before getting saved. Howevever, I would caution against that. A few reasons:
1. One is not guaranteed to live to see the day of the rapture. One or 2 things can happen in any particular day: rapture can happen and people can die. If you die and are saved, your soul goes to heaven and when the rapture happens you will get your resurrection body. However, if you die and you are not saved, bible teaches that you will end up in hell (or hades) and will be in torment for all eternity. One can die at any time (myself included), so I know I wouldn't want to take that chance. Better to turn to Jesus sooner rather than later. It is also said that you are not promisied tomorrow either. You could literally wake up one day and the next day you might breath your last. I actually know of at least one person who died in his sleep here in Washington (for sake of privacy and anomity, I won't reveal his name, but he played for the Washington Husky football team at one time and was a football player in high school too and was good friends with one of my brothers, apparently one night he overdosed). I don't know the full details surrounding his death, but it it sounded like he may have overdosed on some pain killer medicine one night (probably accidently) and then by the next day, he was already dead and gone. I belive he was saved and is in heaven, but what if someone was not saved and they died in their sleep. Plenty of other ways one can die too (such as car accidents, murder, natural disasters, careless mistakes, terrorist attacks, or whatever). Better to get saved sooner rather than later in my opinion.
2. There will be a strong delusion after the rapture of the church that will affect unbelievers. After the rapture of the church, it does seem like not everyone will get a second chance to turn to Jesus and get saved. Check and see what it says in 2 Thessolonians 2:
"He (referring to the future Antichrist, who hasn't been revealed yet, but will someday after the rapture happens and the "restrainer" is taken out of the way) will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. (2 Corinthians 2: 9-12). Not sure if the strong delusion will affect everyone that get left behind or if it will affect some people. However, it is evident that God will start hardening people's hearts after the rapture of the Church (especially those who have been resistant to the gospel before the rapture of the church) and if you are one one of those people who get affected, you will be in trouble as you will be more likely to buy into the antichrist's lies and most likely even take his mark whenever it gets enacted (and no you do not want to take it whatever it turns out to be). BTW for the record, I don't believe that the covid 19 vaccines are really the "mark of the beast" like some people want you to believe. For one, the tribulation hasn't even started yet (book of Revelation seems to imply the mark of the beast system won't officially get inacted until sometime during the tribulation, most likely around the mid point of those 7 years). Plus the antichrist hasn't even been revealed yet nor has he committed the abomination of desolation yet (Jewish temple still has to be rebuilt, which can be easier said than done at this time as the dome of the rock is still there in Jerusalem). Another thing is that the bible teaches that the real mark of the beast will be something that goes on the right hand or the forehead (more likely some kind of implant, chip, quantum tattoo, or something like that). The vaccines on the other hand go on the arms, so I don't see why one can't take the vaccine (comes down to personal conviction I guess). However, someday the real mark of the beast system will go into effect and it will be around that time one has to pay attention to what the government is trying to force everyone to take. Also, my understanding is that government will likely try to explain away the rapture too (like blaming it on ufos or aliens, ghosts, behing halloween season, or something like that). If you go up in the rapture instead, you won't have to worrry about any of that.
3. I do anticipate that the persecution of the Church (or what is left of the church after the rapture) will get alot worse than it is now. Sure persecution is already bad in some parts of the world (especially like in communist countries, muslim countries (think like places like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, especially with the Taliban taking over, and many other places). However here in western countries (like the United States), persecution of christians is alot more subtle and mild and we can still enjoy our religious freedoms for the most part. Even when churches were getting shut down back in 2020, many actually were able to stream online and one can watch services from home. However, even Jesus once predicted that a time is coming when "...you will be hated by all nations because of me." (Matthew 24) and that list of nations will most likely include the United States and Western Europe (I understand that the situation for Christians is already changing in Canada to as some pastors have been arrested for holding church services despite the covid lockdown restrictions). Of course, we americans don't really know what it is like living under say a dictatorship or where the government is much more antagonistic of the church (as seems to be the case in countries like China and North Korea for example) where police can bust into churches and haul everyone off to prison. In this day and age here in America, one can't be arrested, let alone get sentenced to death solely for being a christian (in fact in this day and age, usually you have to kill someone to be at risk of getting sentenced to death). However, it is a fair assumption that our freedoms will not last forever and things will change eventually, especially by the mid point of the tribulation years. Does seem like things are already slowly changing in america and I have heard about our nation having the highest incarceration rate of any nation, which doesn't look good for a democracy like ours (makes you wonder why everyone is getting locked up in the first place besides the obvious criminals). I suppose bad laws (think of overcriminalization), overzealous police officers, racism, frame ups, and the like are also contributing factors. However, I am sure that the incarceration rate is mild now compared how it will become during the tribulation years. Also I do hear about big tech companies censoring post from promninent conservatives and christians and it will likely get alot worse during the tribulation years. When and how full scale persecution comes to America and other western nations remains to be seen, but I do believe a time is coming when religious freedoms will be taken away even here in America. I am sure there are ways it can come about, such as people choosing poorly on its leaders, giving the government leaders too much power (hey even the Antichrist himself will be come drunk with power over time especially by the mid point of those 7 years when he starts showing his true colors). In fact, the 5th seal judgment in revelation seems to imply a global outbreak of persecution of what is left of the church (probably mostly people who were left behind and realize that they need to turn to Jesus and get saved). Also, a time is coming when the mark of the beast system will get enacted (which hasn't happened yet) and people won't be able to buy or sell without taking that mark and the Antichrist will likely prescribe the death penalty for those who refuse the mark, which means that if you are alive during those years and they are telling you to take a certain mark in you right hand or forehead, you will have to refuse it and that will likely mean that you will have to die as a martyer. Nice thing about getting saved now and going up in the rapture is that you won't have to worry about going through all of that like you would if you are left behind.
4. Bible talks about a spiritual famine that is coming after the rapture of the church where it will get alot harder to access the bible or other bible teachings. When and how that comes about remains to be seen, but even in this day and age, prominent Christian speakers and conservaives are already getting censored sometimes by big tech (i.e. facebook, youtube, twitter, etc). However, it will likely get alot worse after the rapture of the church, especially as the governments of the world become more antagonistic towards what is left of the church. Also, even over the last year or so, I have heard about the "cancel culture" crowd, or people (mostly leftists I believe) that seem to like "canceling" people and ideas that people don't like and sometimes you do hear about mobs forming on social media (especially twitter) that are aimed at destroying peoples' careers, destroying statues in various cities (like the General Lee Statue in Virginia, getting people fired, having books and movies censored and banned over some politically incorrect things that people take offense too (hey I am sure that most people that made the old cartoons probably didn't have the politically correct or cancel culture crowd in mind when they first made their works). However the cancel culture (along with political correctness) will very likely lead to a very slippery slope and people do think that they will eventually set their sights on Christianity as a while long with the bible. Not sure what it will look like when the bible gets "cancelled", but I know I wouldn't part ways with my bible willingly (I'd love to see them come take it from me by force) or what it will look like when they start going after the average joes like you and me as opposed to famous people and celebrities. And the bible teaches that you will have to stand firm in your faith and know when to speak up when you have to. Not sure what it will look like when the cancel culture starts targeting the church as a whole or when they decide to "cancel" the bible, but one thing you could do is to start downloading youtube videos and bible verses so that when there are people left behind after the rapture, they will be able to get access to them (bootleg style). I guess a little piracy (downloading sermons that might otherwise get flagged and taken down) might not be a bad thing after the rapture of the church. Not sure how soon the cancel culture will be coming for the church as a whole or when say youtube or facebook will start purging content realting to christianity (like taking down sermons from various preachers), but I imagine that by the 7 year tribulation is on full swing, that will likely happen if it doesn't do so before then. At least in this day and age that is not really a thing yet. Probably has to do with the restraining power of the Holy Spirit as he is still restraining the antichrist at this time. However, someday the bible teaches that the restrainer will be taken out of the way and then just about anything can happen at that pont.
Anyways that is all for now. Will do another post for the post rapture survival guide. By the way, I am not an expert on end time events. There are plenty of resources you can check out that offer more information than i do, including:'
1. www.raptureready.com - this site has news articles and alot more info on end times stuff. They also report on things not covered by mainstream media.
2. Infowars. Yeah technically they are conspiracy theorists, but they do report on things not covered by mainstream media as well. After the rapture of the church and the tribulation is on full swing, sites like infowars might be better.
3. Youtube (plenty of preachers to look up, including Robert Breaker, Watchman on the wall 88, DTBM guy and others). I like the watchman on the wall guy (chad) as people like him do seem to have the gift of discernment and can seem to sense what is going on, even things not covered by mainsteam media. I am sure that people like him can probably detect the rapture of the church "a mile away" (can probably see it coming better than most of us can).
(list can go on).
Coming soon, if you are left behind.
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