Left Behind

When the rapture of the church occurs, many will be left behind to
endure the tribulation period. It is very easy to be caught up in this
world and let our daily life separate us from God. I cannot tell you
how many times people have said they were too busy to study their
Bible. It is a worldwide epidemic and it leaves us starved for the light
of His glorious Word. It will be a terrifying experience. If we cling to
the faith we have, we will not be able to go to the grocery store and
buy food. We will not be able to work or have money to pay our bills.
We will be hunted down and butchered because of our beliefs. If we
cave in and accept the mark of the beast, we will be destined for
eternal hell and damnation. “We shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His
power.”1 Our soul and spirit will live on into eternity suffering a total
separation from God.

It is remarkable to me that many will be saved during the
tribulation period. It will be a difficult time for Christians. The Holy
Spirit pulls back from earth, and the true nature of evil will be
personified. I haven’t seen the movie series called The Purge;
however, I have seen the previews. I can imagine a similar world,
only Christians will be the ones hunted and killed. If you think it is
bad now, wait until you see how mankind reacts when the Holy Spirit
of God is not holding their evil desires in check.

The only way we are going to survive this period is to study,
study, and study some more. Bibles are plentiful now, but during the
tribulation period you will be put to death if you are caught with one.
It is very important that we memorize all the scripture that we can
because we will not have our Bible when it comes time for us to share
the Word of God. Here lies the greatest truth of all mankind. When
we accept the fact that the Bible is the Word of God, we become
saved from our sins. Salvation becomes ours through faith. This
enables the Holy Spirit to teach us the things of God so we can grow
further in faith. When I first accepted Christ as my Savior I was like a
little mouse. I was afraid to speak of my new faith, but as I studied the
Word of God, I became stronger and bolder in my beliefs. The Holy
Spirit guided me to the point where I now share these words with you.
As we grow in the Spirit we no longer need to rely on our own
memory. All we need to do is start the conversation, and He will
guide us the rest of the way. Many thousands will die in the name of
the Lord during the tribulation period. None of us will be afraid
because the Holy Spirit removes all fear from our soul. We will
boldly go before the executioner and accept our fate because the
power of God resides within us.

The times and seasons of the day of the Lord we do not know.
What we do know is it will come upon us like a thief in the night. For
when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes
upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not
escape.2 Because we have surrendered our life to Christ we will not be
in the dark when these things happen. We are children of the light.
The time will be as in the days of Noah. The world will be eating,
drinking, partying, marrying, and divorcing just as if nothing is
happening. It has been amazing to me the rise in popularity of
homosexuality. God is against this and if you are involved in this
behavior, I urge you to stop immediately. There will be no
homosexuals in heaven. “Therefore, let us not sleep, as do others; but
let us watch and be sober.”3 We are to be prepared for this day and to
keep watch taking shifts through the night. We are to put on the
breastplate of faith and love. A helmet for the hope of salvation. We
are the army of the Lord and we should be good soldiers. If you are a
Christian prior to the rapture of the church, you will be taken out of
this world before the tribulation period begins. We will be gone
before the Antichrist is revealed. If we have not escaped this terrible
period after the rapture, we are to heed the words of 1 Thessalonians 5.

We are to look for others like ourselves and give each other
comfort. After the rapture people will be given over to strong
delusion. The government will try every way they can to convince
people the rapture didn’t happen. Look for other Christians and try to
form groups. The church is the best place to start. There are many
people who attend church today who feel they are too busy to read
their Bible. These people may still be here.

We are to share with one another the lessons we have learned from
our personal Bible study. What Bible study we did prior to the rapture
should now intensify greatly. We should spend all the waking hours
we can with the Lord to build up the strength necessary to combat
evil. We may be called upon to be martyrs for the Lord.

We are to respect those who lead us in our studies. There will be
pastors who are left behind. They will realize they were living a
double life, and most will completely surrender themselves to the
Gospel. Do not criticize them, but rather uphold them with prayer,
respect, and love. We are all here for one reason or another. Let’s
make the best of it.

We are not to render evil for evil to any man. We are going to be
persecuted. We are going to be hunted down, beaten, raped, and
killed. We will need to echo Stephen’s words when he was being
stoned to death, “Father, forgive them.” When Jesus was hanging
from the cross, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know
what they do.”4 We are to rejoice always, regardless of our future
fate. If we are in prison, we sing hymns. If we have been beaten and
robbed of our last piece of bread, we rejoice in the Lord. Should we
have the hangman’s noose around our neck, we will rejoice in our
heart because soon we will be with the Lord.

We are to pray without ceasing. There is power in prayer. There is
comfort knowing that you are not alone. The Holy Spirit is always
there with you. Call upon Him during life’s struggles. He will give
you the confidence you need to survive.
In everything we should give thanks. This publication will be read
by people all over the world. Some are very well off. Many others
have very little, but all of us have something to be thankful for. This
is going to be a time of great anxiety. For whatever you have, give
thanks.

We are not to extinguish the flame of the Holy Spirit. The flame of
the Holy Spirit is fueled by daily Bible study and prayer. They
provide the wood for the fire. Without fuel for the fire, the fire goes
out. If you are a backslider, it is because you stopped praying and
stopped reading your Bible.

We are to listen to prophecy, testing all things to make sure the
prophecy is sure. We are to test everyone’s words with the Bible. If
the Bible doesn’t say it is so, we don’t let it enter our mind. We are to
abstain from all appearances of evil. Whether we like it or not, every
action we take influences others around us. Kids and adults are
forming opinions about us and themselves based on everything we
say or do. We are a walking, talking influence. Everything we watch,
everything we read and everything we hear influences us. Generally,
what goes into the eyes and the ears will eventually come out of the
mouth. Filth goes in—filth comes out. Goodness goes in—goodness
comes out.

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we receive a new nature.
That nature is perfect before God because Christ has already paid a
very high price for our sins. If this were our only nature, life would be
so easy. Unfortunately, we still possess our old nature as well. All the
things we did in the past are still locked in our memory. That’s why
many times we are torn between two behaviors.

I promise if you spend time with the Lord every day, you can
control, even defeat, your old nature. The process is called
regeneration. The Holy Spirit does away with bad thoughts and
replaces them with good. He will do all the work for you if you ask
Him. “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in
righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of
regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”5

We are living in the most exciting times since the dawn of
mankind. In our lifetime we are looking for that blessed hope, and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.6 For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet 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.7 “Beloved, now are we the
sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see
Him as He is.”8 These are just a few of the great promises we can
look forward to when Jesus Christ returns to gather His faithful and
take us to heaven where He has prepared a place for you and me. We
will have the greatest celebration ever at the marriage supper of the
Lamb. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there
shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there
be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.”9 The curse
that has been upon us since Adam will be lifted and sin will no longer
have any place in our lives. Satan and his evil will be destroyed
forever. “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to
give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”10 Please do
not waste another minute. Ask Jesus to come into your heart.

1.) 2 Thessalonians 1:9
2.) 1 Thessalonians 5:3
3.) 1 Thessalonians 5:6
4.) Luke 23:34
5.) Titus 3:5 NASB
6.) Titus 2:13
7.) 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
8.) 1 John 3:2
9.) Revelation 21:4
10.) Revelation 22:13