Jesus Came, What's
Next?
If
you are reading this because millions of people have suddenly and mysteriously
disappeared, then you are looking for answers to what has happened, why it has
happened, and what will be happening next.What Has Happened
First,
as to what has happened — Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has returned.
For
2000 years the Bible has been proclaiming to the world that Jesus would be
coming back. Jesus stated in John 14:3, "I will
come again."
Because
Jesus has returned, millions of people who have put their faith and trust in
Jesus as Savior, accepting His free gift of salvation, have disappeared in an
event called the Rapture.
You
might be thinking that there was something mysterious in the sudden
disappearance of millions of people, but the Bible has already explained this
so-called mystery. Jesus said that when He came again, He would come for those
who are saved. He said, "I will receive you to Myself;
that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:1-4). The
Apostle Paul put it this way: "Behold, I tell you a
mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet" (1 Corinthians
15:51-52).
The
Rapture happened to those of us who accepted Jesus as Savior, both those alive
and those who had died since Jesus was resurrected. Both groups — living and
resurrected believers — were caught up to be with Him in the air (1
Thessalonians 4:13-18).
This
all happened very quickly, like a flash of lightning. Jesus left as suddenly as
He came, taking those who have accepted Him and His salvation, and leaving
behind those who have rejected Him. And you, sadly, have been left behind.
Well,
maybe you know a loved one who has disappeared — a wife, a husband, a child, a parent, a
friend — and are wondering what has become of them. In that flash, as those who
had accepted Jesus as their Savior were caught up to meet Jesus in the air,
they traded their earthly bodies for bodies that are perfect, imperishable and
immortal (1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 50-55).
They
sit with Jesus now in Heaven at a great banquet called the "Marriage
Supper of the Lamb" (Revelation 19). They will live in great joy
and know no sorrow. They will be with their King and live in love forever. They
are well taken care of, and you don't have to worry about them.
Why It Has Happened
But,
it is the why of the disappearances that is your cause to worry. For believers
in Jesus were taken out of this world to spare them from the great wrath that
has just begun to befall the planet (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9).
Jesus'
return for all His true believers was just a prelude to His final Second
Coming. The second phase of Jesus' return is to set up His Kingdom on earth.
Jesus' Kingdom is why this whole thing is happening.
You
see, we have come to the end of one age and will soon be beginning the age of
Jesus' glorious reign right here on earth. But first, God has to deal with
rebellion — sin — before setting up His Kingdom. God's going to use this
intermediate time period you now live in to pour out His wrath on mankind for
its continued refusal to accept His Lordship. The time you live in is called
the Tribulation.
What It's About
What
is the Tribulation all about? The unparalleled horror of the Tribulation is
spelled out in detail in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament.
Isaiah wrote that it will be a day of "the terror of the
Lord" when "the pride of men will be
abased" (Isaiah 2:10,17,19). Zephaniah proclaimed that it
will be a "day of wrath," "a
day of trouble and distress," and "a day of
destruction and desolation." Men will stumble around like they are
blind and "their blood will be poured out like
dust" (Zephaniah 1:15,17).
This
dreary picture is echoed in the New Testament. Jesus said it will be a time of
tribulation "such as has not occurred since the
beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall." In fact, Jesus
said it will be so terrible that if it were not stopped at the end of seven
years, it would result in the destruction of all life (Matthew 24:21-22).
The
Apostle John states that the chaos will be so great that the leaders of the
world will crawl into caves and cry out for the rocks of the mountains to fall
upon them (Revelation 6:15-16).
Why
is there going to be such carnage? How could a God of grace, mercy, and love
allow such an outbreak of unbridled terror and bloodshed?
One
reason is to satisfy the justice of God. Yes, God is characterized by grace,
mercy, and love. God is a God of love. Jesus says so in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
But,
God is also a God of justice. The Bible also says in John 3:36, "He that believes on the
Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not
see life; but the wrath of God abides on him."
It is God's very nature to love, but also in love to see justice done for evil.
What Comes Next
So,
what comes next? For starters, people are going to try to explain away the
Rapture with all sorts of wild theories, like possibly Global Warming or UFOs.
So-called "Christian" leaders are going to come out and say the
Church is still around because they didn't disappear.
Jesus
said in Matthew 24:24 that they cannot be believed, for the times will
be filled with false religious teachers. The greatest of these false teachers
the Bible calls the False Prophet, and he will seemingly be able to do many
miracles and will promote a one-world religion and leader (Revelation 13:11).
Amid
all the chaos from the Rapture, the Bible teaches that the world will turn to a
dynamic leader to bring order and peace (Revelation 6:1-2). He will
succeed where no other person has been able in establishing a peace treaty for
Israel (Daniel 9:27). That treaty marks the official beginning of the 7
years that the Tribulation will last.
But,
the world leader, known to believers in Jesus as the Antichrist, is anything
but peaceful. He will plunge the planet into nuclear world war, resulting in
terrible famines, pestilence and mass death. Violence, disease and starvation
will be a way of life. A quarter of the world population — almost 2 billion
people — will die from this war (Revelation 6).
In
Jerusalem, 2 men will appear and preach there for 3 1/2 years that Jesus is the
Messiah the Jews have been looking for (Revelation 11:3). 144,000 Jews
will call Jesus their Messiah and also preach about Him throughout the whole
world. Millions will accept Jesus as their Savior — hopefully you will be one
of them. But, many of those millions of believers will be killed by the
Antichrist for not pledging their loyalty to him by receiving his mark on
either their right hand or forehead. The persecution of believers in Jesus will
be awful in the Tribulation (Daniel 7:22; Revelation 7).
Next,
the greatest earthquake the world has yet experienced will devastate the planet
(Revelation 6:12-14). Something falling from space will then burn up a
third of all the world's vegetation. A second item from space, probably a
meteor, will crash into the ocean and annihilate a third of the world's marine
life and ships. A third object from space will taint the world's water supply,
poisoning millions (Revelation 8:7-11).
The
devastation to the atmosphere will block out most of the sun and moonlight so
that the days appear shorter (Revelation 8:12).
Next,
some supernatural "woes" will befall mankind.
First, the holding place for a demonic hoard is opened and millions of
locust-looking demons pour out and sting people like scorpions. The pain will
last 5 whole months. Second, 200 million riders on horse-creatures will burn
and impale, wiping out a remaining third of the people (Revelation 9:1-19).
Three
and a half years into the Tribulation will see the 2 men witnessing in
Jerusalem killed, but 3 1/2 days later come back to life (Revelation 11:7-12).
It will also see the Antichrist supposedly killed and appear to come back to
life as well (Revelation 13:3).
And
that's just the first half of the Tribulation. As bad as the first half of the
seven years is, the next half is even worse (Revelation 16).
Those
who take the Antichrist's loyalty mark on their hand or forehead will suffer
from painful boils. Those who don't take the mark will be cut off from commerce
and hunted down, but the Bible assures (Revelation 20:4-6) that those
who take the mark have made a decision that will last forever — eternal
damnation — so don't take it!
The
oceans and everything in them are totally destroyed, as well as all the fresh
water. The heat from the sun will become scorching. The Antichrist's kingdom
will fall into pitch darkness.
An
even greater earthquake than the one 7 years earlier will flatten the earth and
100 pound hailstones will crush the inhabitants.
The
Euphrates River in Iraq will dry up and a massive army from the East will cross
and enter the Valley of Armageddon in Israel to fight the Antichrist's army.
This is what the Book of Revelation calls the battle of Armageddon.
It
is the moment that Jesus will gloriously return with all those who disappeared
in the Rapture. Jesus Himself by just speaking will destroy the armies at
Armageddon. Jesus will throw the Antichrist and the False Prophet into Hell,
and Satan into a deep pit. Jesus will be victorious and all who continued to
rebel will be put to death — all of them (Revelation 19:11-21; 20:1-3).
This is the Tribulation — the wrath of God.
What You Can Do
Now,
you may be asking "God,
why didn't you tell us all this before the Rapture so we could get ready."
Well, He did. The Bible clearly teaches that God never pours out His wrath
without warning for He is a just and loving God who does not wish that any
should perish. That is why God provided the Bible, the Good News about Jesus
spreading across the planet, and the many signs alerting us to the fact that we
were living on the threshold of the Tribulation and soon return of Jesus
Christ. God gave the world every possible chance for 2000 years to repent of
its rebellion and return to Him.
But,
it's not too late for you to be with Jesus unless you've taken the mark. You
see, this story has a happy ending. Jesus' return at the end of the Tribulation
means great joy to those who love him. Jesus will cleanse the world of evil and
the damages from His wrath and restore the planet to pristine condition. Jesus
will rule from Jerusalem over those who throughout human history have put their
faith and trust in Him (Revelation 20:4-6,9).
You
can be one of those people. Whether you die in the Tribulation or not, it is
where you end up eternally that truly matters. Everybody who does not accept
Jesus as Savior during the Tribulation will go to Hell for their rebellion.
Anyone who accepts Jesus as Savior, though their earthly bodies may die during
the Tribulation, will then live forever in glorified bodies with Jesus in His
love and glory.
Remember
Jesus' promise in John 3:16, "For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life." Pray now for
forgiveness for your sins and ask Jesus to be the Savior and Lord of your life.
Don't delay!
In
what little time you have in this life, get a Bible or download one from Bible.org,
so you know God's will for your life. Download this and everything you can from
our website at lamblion.com or
others like raptureready.com
so you can know more about Jesus and what is in store for you in the
Tribulation and the glorious return of Jesus. Gather quickly with others who
have accepted Jesus as Savior for support and to worship together.
If
you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, we will be waiting for you on the other
side of this. May God bless you and keep you. Maranatha!
"The
LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in
him." (Nahum
1:7)
Insert by the Princess Warrior: Dear Precious Friend, once a person has heard the gospel message and refused there will be no second
chance for that person after the rapture because today is the accepted time to
be saved. Those who will be saved will be those who have never heard the gospel
message. (For He (Christ) saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in
the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation. ~2 Corinthians 6:2) If you deny Christ now, in this accepted time, God will bring strong delusion on you
and you WILL believe the lies of the anti-christ according to the following scriptures:
2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 -- Now we beseech you,
brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together
unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by
spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at
hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except
there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or
that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing
himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told
you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in
his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now
letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked
be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and
shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is
after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with
all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this
cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That
they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto
he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have
been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. Now our Lord Jesus Christ
himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us
everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and
stablish you in every good word and work.
Do NOT delay, my friend! Accept Jesus as your Savior NOW! Please consider what is at stake! I warn you because of the supernatural love God has given me for your soul! ~TPW
