Who Stays, who goes . . . ?

Rev. Sudha Mehta©

Subscribe: http://onewaystudies.com

2 Peter 3: 3 Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.” . . . 8 Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. 

10 But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. (BSB)

In the aftermath of the Rapture the World will reel. The sudden removal of possibly a billion or so humans will result in all manner of chaos.

Isaiah 24: 19 The earth is utterly broken apart,

the earth is split open,

the earth is shaken violently.

20 The earth staggers like a drunkard

and sways like a shack.(BSB)

Before I go on with the subject of Tribulation, the judgments, the antichrist and so much more, I must address the subject of who will go in the Rapture and who will stay behind, since this causes confusion to a lot of people.

On this subject there are many opinions. Perhaps mine will not be comprehensive enough, but it will hopefully be sufficient enough as an overview to create a hunger to learn more and draw closer to God. I hope so!

In Revelation 2 and 3 seven short letters dictated by the Lord Jesus Himself to John the apostle. The letters are addressed to seven churches in Asia Minor, today part of Turkey. Although they were addressed to the churches of that era and were to be shared with other churches, they are multidimensional in concept. These seven letters dictated in this specific order provide us a linear history of the entire Church Age of the last 2000 yrs. There is also a time-transcendent horizontal view of these seven church types in each of the seven eras of the Church age. We are now in the final Church Era from a linear Church Age perspective, yet we see the same church types today as well. As always the Word of God transcends time.

Charts by Dr. Chuck Missler

Today my concern is not the Timing of the Rapture but who will or won’t go in the Rapture.

There are those that teach that everyone who has confessed Jesus is Lord at one time or another will go regardless of how they live.

Many believe as long as they are born again having said the salvation prayer, they will go.

There are others that teach that only a select few who have really walked holy will go.

There are also those who teach that only those eagerly looking for Him to call us out will go.

Titus 2: 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (KJV)

You must do your own research and come to your own educated opinion, but for what it is worth, I will present my case and back it with Scripture.

I will start with :

Who will not go.

Crowd photo from halifax.mediacoop

The Rapture is only for followers of Christ. Jesus will call out His own.

who will go:

1. Those who are genuinely born again and love the Lord Jesus Christ, and are diligently trying to walk after Him.

Worship at upperroomchurch

It is a given that none of us will arrive at perfection this side of Heaven, that is why we need Him. The requirement is not perfection that is man-attained but holiness and righteousness which is perfection imputed to us by His sacrifice for us and our acceptance of it. Using Abraham as an example, it says:

Romans 4:  21 And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.(KJV)

Abraham was not perfect, but he trusted in God’s perfection, and looked forward to a Heavenly city, which is our destination also!

Hebrews 11: 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.(BSB)

2. It is not required that you arrive at a certain level of holiness before you can go. The thief on the cross is a perfect example. He knew nothing of the Scriptures, was not saved until he hung on the cross next to Jesus, yet He was received by our Lord for a simple statement far removed from any formulas you may hear of. He will be raised in the Rapture!

Luke 23:  42 And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!”

43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”(BLB)

Three crosses from focusmagzine

3. It is not required that you have a certain amount of Scriptural knowledge. Again the thief didn’t know much.

Little children, brand new believers, mentally handicapped people do not have a lot of knowledge of Scripture. Believers in oppressed lands that have little or no access to the Word and do not have Scripture memorized are not disqualified. It is the state of the heart that God cares about. True devotion is a matter of the heart.

I am not excusing any believer from the responsibility of learning and knowing whom he/she serves, merely pointing out that it is not a one size fits all requirement. Ask a Chinese person in a slave labor camp who is a Christian . . . with ZERO access to Scripture and you will find his faith in his Lord to be stronger than the average comfortable pewsitter in America with a car, home, plenty of food /clothing , ten Bibles on a shelf that never get read because he trusts in his own affluence not his God. You may be surprised, but the slave from the labor camp will go, while the pewsitter may not! Again, God alone knows the heart, and men do not!

Twice I have had something incredible happen to me, let me share . . . I ordered a clothing item from my favorite department store by mail as I often do. On two separate occasions when I opened the package, I found a narrow slip of paper about half inch by two inches with a Bible verse of encouragement penciled on it. I checked to see where the item was made. it was made in a Country that uses it’s people for slave labor! The verse encouraged me for what I needed, but more than that it caused me to praise my God for this person and to pray for him/her. I have more than two dozen Bibles in my possession and many in my smart phone. I live in a Nation that so far has allowed me to worship freely . . . this brother/or sister (Yes, that is what they are to me), out of his/her extreme poverty has sought to encourage me just by a verse committed to memory, and at risk of death if discovered!! Incredible!!!

You can be sure The Lord, my Lord who is also their Lord will rescue them and they will go in the Rapture. They will receive their reward and I will cheer as I watch. They deserve far greater honor than I ever will. 

Now my hope is that this small blog be used to encourage the hurting in whatever circumstance they are, and bring hope, that same blessed hope that I have in my God’s promise and ability to rescue . . . He is my Blessed Assurance . . . Amen!

4. What about those that just recieve Jesus moments before the Rapture? They have little knowledge of the Scripture, and have had little or no time to do anything to prove their hearts. No problem! Since Jesus knows their heart, and cannot be deceived, if their is genuine, they will go.

from northcollegehillbakery

5. What about those who got saved at the very last moment before dying, and now lie in the grave?! If all the reasons why some pastors give that people won’t go are valid, then since the dead are to be raised before the living, won’t the same measurement be used for those in the graves? My own parents, whom I loved dearly, received Christ genuinely and then died with dementia due to illness, will they get raised or will they stay? They were cremated, not buried! If not raised by Christ, will they go to hell? There is after all no second resurrection of those people; and there is no purgatory!

How can it be that we rejoice over someone getting saved moments before dying and be glad that we will see them in heaven, yet think that they will not be among the dead raised in the Rapture before the living because they knew nothing of the Rapture and weren’t looking for it! Is it not foolish reasoning!?

The dead in Christ includes ALL the dead in Christ, not a select few.

This message is continued in Aftermath . . . IIIb. Please read that as well!

If you like and want this post to spread, please share it with others. After 2.25 million views worldwide Facebook no longer allows me to advertise, the only way this and every other post goes out is by you sharing and liking. So, please share!

Subscribe on https://onewaystudies.com

This way you get my new posts in your email  directly without being dependent on fickle social media.