davidbowerkingwood

What about those who are Left Behind?

I got a comment from a dear brother in Christ in Kenya who expressed concern about the lost who have missed the church age and were left behind after the Rapture of the church. I promised this brother to write in some detail on what opportunities might exist after the rapture to receive Christ as Savior.

There is some seriously good news in that regard; there will be many opportunities to receive Christ as Savior after the church is gone but with some big changes. The church has been particularly blessed by God’s grace in that those who receive Christ during the church age are being indwelt by the Holy Spirit who will be in them for all of time and eternity and, in addition, we have a special relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ.

After the church is removed by the Rapture, the church age will be closed and although the Holy Spirit will be with believers the Holy Spirit will not indwell believers as He has done during the church age.

Being with but not in believers was the pattern in the Old Testament and great miracles were performed in the power of the Holy Spirit by God’s anointed in those times. After the church age is closed, that same pattern will be resumed until the Second Advent of our Lord which will bring the seven years of the Tribulation and the Times of the Gentiles to a close.

One point I would like to make is the Rapture of the church is not the starting point for the Tribulation. While the Bible does not specify the amount of time between the Rapture and the beginning of the Tribulation, I believe it could be several years; the starting point for the Tribulation will be the signing of a covenant between Israel and the Antichrist.

God’s Promises and the Rapture

In his comment the subscriber wrote, “we are assured that God is not ready to see anyone missing his kingdom and by now not all people in this world have known God or have been preached to.” I believe in the first reference he is referring to the verse in 2 Peter 3:8-9 where it is written:

“⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: 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. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

This might suggest the Lord will not return until everyone is saved but we know from other sections of Scripture that will never happen. If we look at the verse in context we will see that section is written to “those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: ² Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” 1 Peter 1:1-2

In other words Peter is talking to Christians and in Chapter 3:8-9 he is saying, in effect, that all those who have been called to membership in the church will come to repentance before the rapture takes place.

The second reference seems to be that section in Matthew 24:14 where it is written: “¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.“

This, I believe, is a reference to the evangelization that will take place during the Tribulation and is the subject we will cover next.

In the next blog we shall cover the evangelization explosion after the Rapture.