By David J. Stewart | March 2007
I went searching online the other day for anything concerning the Rapture. Sadly, I didn't find much. What I did find was a lot of heresy and ignorance concerning the Scriptures. Let me say right here, the Word of God clearly teaches a Pretribulation Rapture! There is NO way to reconcile the events of the Rapture with those of the Second Coming. They are two entirely Separate events.
I don't understand why America's Christians are so silent these days? The Apostle Paul knew what opportunities lay before him, "For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries." We have an opportunity like never before to reach people for the Lord over the internet. People who would never even think of coming to church to hear a sermon, will listen to a sermon in the comfort of their own apartment or home. Did you know that teenagers nowadays spend more time on the internet than they do watching TV? It's true. Truly the harvest is ripe unto harvest, but the laborers are few (Matthew 9:37).
I couldn't find any Rapture headlines, so I put
the above newspaper headlines together myself using Microsoft Publisher.
It is in JPEG format and you are welcome to share it with others, or to use in
an article of your own. Just right-mouse click on the photo above and
then you can save or copy it. Better yet, make some of your own
headlines and share them over the internet with others.
EXPLANATION OF ABOVE PHOTO:
The Word of God teaches that salvation is found only in Jesus Christ, apart from all self-righteous works. Sadly, most religions today are false, requiring their followers to give up something, or do good works, or get baptized to be saved. These are all damnable lies of the Devil. Romans 4:5 couldn't be any plainer on the matter, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Yet, Romans Catholics foolishly trust in the organization of the Catholic Church to save them, following the TRADITIONS of men, rather than the COMMANDMENTS of God... "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men ... Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition" (Mark 7:7-9). How much plainer could the Word of God be? Yet Catholics arrogantly defend their false religion--bowing in idolatry to images (Exodus 20:4-5), sinfully obeying the priests above God's Word (Matthew 23:9; Psalm 118:8), foolishly abstaining from meats (1st Timothy 4:1-3), and sinfully idolizing Mary when Isaiah 42:8 strictly forbids such wickedness.
Satan is the god of this world (2nd Corinthians 4:4), and he is working through several occult groups to lead the nations of this world into a global one-world government (aka, a New World Order). This will be the Beast system of the Antichrist. It is forming now. One of the main vehicle of Satan is the ecumenical movement, which promotes cooperation and better understanding among different religious denominations; aimed at universal Christian unity. Of course, there is NO way true Christians can UNITE with unbelievers and simultaneously SEPARATE from them as God commands (2nd Corinthians 6:14-17). It is a sin to be unequally yoked with unbelievers! Did you know that 18% of the congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Church are Atheists? It's true! Biblically, very few people will enter into Heaven (Matthew 7:13,14). It's worthy to note that the next verse in Matthew 7:15 WARNS, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." MOST religions today teach a false Gospel, a perverted Gospel. Galatians 1:7 states, "...there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ." The Catholic gospel is perverted. The Jehovah's Witness gospel is perverted. The Mormon, Seventh-Day Adventist, and Scientology gospels are perverted! Christian Science teaches a perverted gospel. Buddhism and Hinduism teach perverted gospels. Islam teaches a perverted gospel. Charismatics churches and Lutherans teach a perverted gospel.
Having said that... HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE GENUINELY BORN AGAIN? I dare say one out of a hundred people today are truly born-again believers, trusting solely upon Christ's work of redemption (i.e., the blood of Jesus), apart from all self-righteousness and religious ceremonialism. So many people today THINK they are Christians simply because they were told to trust Jesus; but they NEVER came to the realization that they are under the condemnation of God's Law, GUILTY, and bound for Hellfire for their own sins. We are witnessing today an entire generation of professed Christians, who claim to love Jesus; but have no awareness or guilt concerning their sins. Something is very wrong with that. Now, I'm not talking about the heresy of Lordship Salvation, where people are told they must forsake sin to be saved. No sir! We don't have to give up anything to be saved, because eternal life is a free gift (Romans 5:15), paid for by Jesus' blood (1st Peter 1:18,19). I'm talking about the PENALTY of sin, which we all deserve, which is Hellfire. God deliver us from this shallow false gospel that leads people to give their life to Jesus, without showing them God's Law, i.e., that they justly deserve to burn in Hell for their wickedness. Many people today will readily admit that they are not perfect and perhaps have sinned at times; BUT, few people sincerely believe that they deserve to burn in Hell. Why? Because they are ignorant of the Law... "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."
Oh listen friend, don't be left behind at the Rapture (i.e., the translation) of the church. Enoch was the first believer to be Raptured ... Hebrews 11:5 states, "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." Only those who are in Christ will be translated. 99% of the religious people in this world will be LEFT BEHIND, having only their self-righteousness, and not the righteousness of God... "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Jesus warned in Matthew 5:20, "...except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." You see friend, you need God's righteousness. 2nd Corinthians 5:21 so beautifully states, "For he hath made him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Do you have Christ's righteousness? Your own righteousness is a road to Hell (Isaiah 64:6).
We are living in the end times, in some very wicked and perilous times. As the church become more worldly, the world is becoming more churchy. Our churches are turning apostate. The Bible is being replaced by corrupted perversions. Men of God are becoming a rarity these days. Psalm 12:1 reads, "Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men." The Rapture will come and go virtually unnoticed by a sin-loving, Christ-rejecting world. 99% of all religious, but lost, people will still be here on earth. I dare say 100,000 thousand people will be saved by the time Christ returns. Doing the math, that's only one saved person out of 60,000 (of a total six billion). Although hard to fathom, we must ponder the Words of Jesus in Luke 18:8, "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" When you stop and consider that the Word of God is the SEED by which we are born-again (1st Peter 1:23), and the fact that the Bible is successfully being eradicated from society by the newer corrupted versions, such as the New International Version, there is much reason for alarm.
Concerning the Tiger Woods news... I was sickened by the Chicago Sun-times on Saturday, September 28th, 2002. As I read the newspaper, I ran across a small article on the upper left corner of page 14 which read, "690 die in ferry disaster." The sickest thing to me was what did make the front page of the Sun-times on September 28th,2002-- A full-page photo and article of Tiger Woods playing golf!!! So you see, even with dozens of planes crashing from the sky after the Rapture, massive car pile-ups, and tens-of-thousands of people missing, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Tiger Woods on the front cover again. Can you imagine... 690 people dying, and Tiger Woods' golf game is more important to the newsmedia?
Here's some more sample newspaper headlines below... it's all very plausible. Convincing or not, the Rapture is coming! Only blood-washed, born-again, Christians will be taken. 2nd Timothy 4:8 tells us, "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." A crown will be given to each believer who longs for and awaits the appearing of the Lord at the Rapture. Most saints today have been choked by the cares and riches of this world, and could care less if Jesus ever returns. Sadly, personal soulwinning means nothing to them. Oh that believers today would love the Lord, and long for His return.
"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ...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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." -Titus 2:13; 1st Thessalonians 4:16-18
