If you’ve read my opening message explaining why millions vanished then you know Jesus Christ has raptured his Church. For some of you, it may be obvious why you were left behind. For others, you might be struggling to understand why millions of people around the world were taken to be with Christ but your name was missing from the Lamb’s Book of Life.
You might be of the opinion that you are a good person who mostly does good things and therefore, you deserved to go to Heaven. Or perhaps you are a regular church-goer, someone who attends services on a regular basis and is considered by others to be a religious person.
What you need to understand is that no one can earn Salvation by being good enough or religious enough. Being good is relative; no matter who you are or how hard you try, you can never do enough good to earn your way into Heaven. Likewise, no matter who you are or how many awful things you have done, you can never fall so far away from God that He would reject you if you genuinely repented of your sins and asked Him to forgive you.
We get into Heaven not because of how good we are, but because of how great God is.
Every person on the face of the planet is born a slave to sin. Whether we like it or not, we live in a fallen world tainted by the curse of Man’s original sin in the Garden of Eden. However, those who choose to place their trust in Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, are freed from the bondage of their sinful nature because of what He did for us by dying on the cross as a perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world. Not only did Christ die for us, but three days after He died He rose again. By overcoming death, Jesus unlocked the key to eternal life that is offered to all those who believe in Him and call upon His holy and precious name.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
Suggestion: Don’t waste too much time feeling angry over being left behind or feeling bad about missing the boat. Although millions were raptured, BILLIONS were left behind. It is okay to mourn, but you do not have to mourn like those who have no hope. Though you have been left behind, Jesus still wants you to accept Him as your Lord and Savior. He did the hard part in sacrificing himself for you; now He wants you to accept Him so that you will not perish but enjoy the gift of everlasting life.
Warning: Procrastinate at your peril! I highly advise you not to put off making your decision to follow Jesus. As we will discuss in Part 3 of the Post-Rapture Survival Guide, bible prophecy tells us the next 7 years will be a time of unprecedented tribulation. Billions will perish during the 21 judgments of the Tribulation period and if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Savior, you will not be allowed to enter the kingdom of God.
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:13
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
What about Infants and Children? If you’re wondering why millions (possibly billions) of infants and young children have vanished even though they did not know Jesus as Lord and Savior, many biblical scholars speculate that infants and young children are considered innocent in God’s eyes until they reach an age of accountability where they are old enough to decide for themselves whether they wish to accept or reject Christ. If the world is suddenly missing millions or billions of infants and children, it is a safe bet to assume they too have been raptured.
Skeptical? In the bestselling book “More than a Carpenter” by Josh McDowell, a former skeptic turned believer explains how his academic quest to discredit Christianity led him to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. Specifically, Josh explains how Jesus Christ must be either Lord, Liar, or Lunatic and why the overwhelming historical evidence clearly points to Jesus as Lord. Josh also explains that Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship. This is a short book but well worth your time if you remain skeptical or just want to better understand the authenticity of Jesus. If you are a skeptic or a new believer, I highly recommend checking it out.
If you are ready to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Savior, all you need to do is open your heart and ask Him to enter it. In the book of Romans, the Holy Bible tells us exactly what we need to do in order to be saved.
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Romans 10:9-10
The specific words you use to ask Jesus into your heart are not important… God knows your heart. Simply acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of salvation, recognize that Jesus is the one and only Son of God who died on the cross for your sins and rose again three days later, and ask Him to become your Lord and personal Savior. That’s it. It really is that simple.
Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and personal Savior? If so, Hallelujah! The Bible tells us there is a celebration going on in heaven right now over your salvation. No matter what happens from here, even if you do not survive the Tribulation and the 21 judgments prophesied to take place before the Second Coming of Christ, you can rest assured knowing that your name is now permanently written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
What’s next? The first thing you need to do after you accept Jesus as your Lord and Personal Savior (aside from reading the rest of the Post-Rapture Survival Guide) is to get your hands on a copy of the Holy Bible and immerse yourself in the Word of God. We’ll talk more about how to do this in Part 3 of the Post-Rapture Survival Guide.
Note: There are many excellent translations of the Holy Bible. The most reliable are word-for-word translations (e.g. King James Version, New King James Version, ESV, NASB etc.) but if you’re having trouble understanding what you are reading, the NIV or NLT are good translations with more modern language. On this website, I’ve used NIV just because the wording is easier for the average non-Biblical scholar to understand. Most Bible apps give you the option to easily toggle between different translations. Don’t get hung up on which version of the Bible you need to get your hands on. It’s the same core message unless you are turning to an alternative that is NOT the Holy Bible (e.g. the Book of Mormon used and distributed by LDS or the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures used and distributed by Jehovah’s Witnesses). Whatever you do, please don’t do that!
This part of the Post-Rapture Survival Guide is by far the most important information you can read and respond to in order to ensure your survival. Read it again and again if you need to because it is absolutely essential to securing your salvation. It doesn’t matter if you know everything there is to know about the Rapture, the Tribulation, or the Second Coming if you don’t know and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The truth is, many who vanished in the Rapture didn’t understand any of this either, but they knew Jesus as Lord and Savior and that is what really matters. In the next section, we’ll discuss more about what the Rapture is/was and what it means to you now that you have been left behind.
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Millions Vanished... WHY? 