“Immediately After The Rapture – The LOST”
INTRODUCTION: Read 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12.
This morning, we saw what is in store to the Christian immediately after the Rapture. We saw that the chief activity in Heaven will be WORSHIP around the Throne of God. Heaven will be PERFECT … AND … we will be PERFECTLY content, happy, and satisfied there.
BUT … WHAT ABOUT THOSE LEFT BEHIND? What will they experience immediately after the Rapture? The Bible doesn’t keep us in the dark. The Scriptures are very plain to let us know for certain. TONIGHT … I’m going to let the Bible talk. I’ll be going through 7 years … in 30 minutes.
If you’re LOST here tonight … OR … you’re UNCERTAIN about where you’ll be immediately after the Rapture … OR … you have some LOVED ONES who are lost … listen carefully. These verses will make you very UNCOMFORTABLE. BUT … it’s important for you to know what lies ahead.
There will be no second chance after the Rapture. Your fate will be sealed. Maybe TONIGHT, you will get prepared for the Lord’s return. OR … God will place a burden on your heart for your loved ones who are LOST. This message can “comfort the afflicted” … AND … “afflict the comfortable”.
Revelation Chapters 4-5 tell us what will happen after the Rapture for the SAVED. Chapters 6 and forward tells us what will happen to the LOST who are left behind. This is known as the “Tribulation Period” … which will last for 7 years.
The scene in Heaven now shifts from the SAVED in Heaven … to the LOST here on earth … those left behind.
6:1-2 – When the 1st seal is opened, we see the beginning of what will happen during the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation Period under the coming world ruler.
“white horse” – Someone will come on the scene as the “Savior of the world” … riding a “white horse”. He’s going to promise to solve all of the world’s problems … bring peace, prosperity and unity to all of mankind. I’m sure the world will be in chaos for a little while, because of the Rapture. The disappearance of the Christians may be blamed on a terrorist attack, or weapons of mass destruction.. Cars will crash … planes will crash into buildings … people will disappear without a trace.
Someone will come and offer PEACE … BUT … NOTICE … he has a “bow” … BUT no arrows. WHY? BECAUSE, it’s a FALSE peace. He’s a master politician … the ANTI-CHRIST. No one will realize his true identity … UNTIL he reveals himself 3 ½ years later.
In Daniel Chapters 8 & 11, we are told that he will make a treaty with Israel, giving them permission and provision to build their Temple. He will assure peace for Israel … AND … will rise to power with the help of the religious apostate church that is left behind.
6:3-4 – There will be fluctuating war & peace for 3 ½ years. THEN … in the middle of the Tribulation Period, the PEACE will be over. The ANTI-CHRIST will be revealed for who he really is. THEN … comes the GREAT TRIBULATION … like the world has never seen before. It will make WW I & II, Vietnam & Iraq seem like Disney World. See 12:12.
6:4 – “red horse” = war … bloodshed & persecution.
6:5-6 – 3rd Seal – inflation & famine. The “black horse” speaks of mourning & starvation. The “balance” speaks of the scarcity of food. Food will have to be rationed … BUT … you must have the RIGHT NUMBER – Rev. 13:16-18.
“denarius” = a days wages. $100 for a quart of wheat … 3 quarts of barley. You won’t be able to support your family on your wages. Even if you could buy food, the False Prophet is the one who distributes it. AND … you must have the “mark of the Beast”. If you take his mark, you are GUARANTEED to end up in Hell. BUT … without it, you will starve to death. I’ll never see this … KNOW WHY? BECAUSE … I’ll be up in Heaven, praising God around His Throne!
“see thou hurt not …” – the very rich will escape this famine. “oil” & “wine” = beauty aids, luxuries, medicine.
6:7-8 – 4th Seal – “pale horse”. In the Greek, it’s a ‘pale greenish yellow’. This represents death, epidemics, famine, pestilence … wild beasts released on earth. ¼ of the population of the earth will die … even the RICH won’t be spared from this. Still think you can survive the Tribulation if you’re left behind?
What will cause all of this? Germ warfare … weapons of mass destruction … nuclear fallout … poisoned water … AIDS?
6:9-11 – WHOA! Doesn’t it say that there will be SOME who will be saved during the Tribulation Period? Is there still hope for your loved ones? I thought there was no SECOND CHANCE?
WHO will be saved during the Tribulation Period? Let me answer that, by asking … WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD? The Tribulation Period is for the JEWS … to prepare them for the Millennial Kingdom of 1000 years that God promised them.
WHO THEN, WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE SAVED?
1.- Those who have never heard the Gospel. Does that include YOU … OR … your LOVED ONES? REMEMBER 2 Thes. 2:10-11 – “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. [11] And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:”
There will be a special angel, who will publish the Gospel to all nations … to those who have never heard … Rev. 14:6-7 – all turn.
2.- 144,000 Jews. Does that include YOU … OR … your LOVED ONES? Let’s take a look at these 144,000 Jews. Rev. 7:3-8, 13-14. Look also at 14:3-5. These are 144,000 Jews whom God has elected to come out of the Tribulation Period … and enter into the Millennial Kingdom.
6:12-17 – BEFORE THIS … everyone could explain away the disease, famine & inflation. BUT NOW … only GOD can control the forces of nature. There will be meteorites, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions … floods. 6:14 looks like an atomic blast.
6:16 – “the wrath of the Lamb”. A lamb is normally gentile. Jesus, the Lamb of God, has come to bring judgment and repentance. BUT … all it will do is harden their hearts.
8:1 – 7th Seal – Introduces the 7 angels with 7 trumpets. “silence” … like in a courtroom when a judge enters … to sentence the condemned criminal. The 7 trumpet judgments are about to be given. Time is given for those on earth to think about God’s judgment. (Some use this verse to prove there are no women in Heaven!) Heaven stands speechless & spellbound for ½ hour. Something terrible is about to happen on earth … 8:2,6
8:7 – 1st Trumpet – This is what those left behind will experience … if not already perished.
8:8-9 – 2nd Trumpet – It could be an atomic bomb … or a great burning meteor … whatever God has in mind and wants to use.
8:10-11 – 3rd Trumpet – The fresh water is polluted … drinking water is contaminated. “wormwood” = a perennial herb … extremely bitter & destructive to the human body.
8:12-13 – 4th Trumpet – The sun will lose 1/3 of it’s power … extreme cold. “Woe, woe, woe” … look out … repent … the next 3 are even worse.
9:1-12 – 5th Trumpet – Hell is let loose on earth. For 5 months, people will want to commit suicide to get relief … BUT … they can’t.
Aren’t you glad you’re a Christian? And all God’s people said “Amen”! Those who are left after the Rapture will experience “Hell on earth” … ONLY … actual Hell will be much worse!
9:13-15 – 6th Trumpet – in 6:8, ¼ of the earth’s population were killed. NOW … 1/3 of those remaining are killed. ½ of the earth’s population had been killed.
NOW … the 7th Trumpet brings 7 bowls of wrath for the earth.
16:1-2 – 1st Bowl – SORES … running, painful, stinking boils, ulcers.
16:3 – 2nd Bowl – NOW … death to everything in the oceans. They had rejected the BLOOD of Jesus … NOW … blood brings forth death to them.
16:4 – 3rd. Bowl – BEFORE … 1/3 of water was turned bad … NOW, ALL the water is turned to blood. They spurned the WATER OF LIFE … NOW they must taste of the WATER OF DAMNATION.
16:8-9 – 4th Bowl – In the 4th Trumpet, the sun lost 1/3 power & there was COLD. NOW … the sun has increased in power and there is extreme HEAT. Boils & sores … NOW … blisters on top of them! No water to satisfy their thirst or soothe their wounds. A taste of Hell to come.
All this, so they might repent & turn to God. INSTEAD … 16:9.
16:10-11 – 5th Bowl – Darkness … running into things … bumping their sores & blisters … falling into the rivers of blood. When Jesus died to take away our sins, there was 3 hours of darkness over the earth. NOW … there is darkness because of their rejection of Him.
16:12 – 6th Bowl – Preparation for the Battle of Armageddon.
16:17 – 7th Bowl – Satan’s kingdom is crumbling. The earth, Satan’s domain, has been devastated beyond all human recognition. “It is done” … “It is finished” … sound familiar? God’s plan of salvation was completed at the cross, when Jesus said “It is finished”. NOW … for those who rejected it … “It is done”. See 16:21.
CONCLUSION: Do you see why this time BEFORE the Rapture is called the “Age of Grace”? All that we read here tonight WILL HAPPEN … LITERALLY. BUT … thank God … He is the God of love and grace … and has provided a way of escape through Jesus Christ. He is the God of LOVE … BUT … He is ALSO the God of JUSTICE.
How can you or your loved ones escape this? It will be TOO LATE after the Rapture. You must come to Christ NOW … BEFORE it is eternally too late. You must TELL THEM about Jesus NOW.
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“Immediately After The Rapture – The LOST”
INTRODUCTION: What will it be like, for the LOST, immediately after the Rapture … for those left behind?
- There will be no second chance for salvation – 2 Thess. 2:10-11
Revelation Chapters 6-16:
6:1-2 – The 1st SEAL is opened – the beginning of the 7 ½ year Tribulation Period.
- The Anti-Christ will offer peace for the nations.
6:3-4 – After 3 ½ years, the peace will be over – 12:12
6:4 – There will be bloodshed & persecution.
6:5-6 – There will be inflation & famine without the right number – 13:16-18.
6:7-8 – There will be epidemics & wild beasts unleashed.
6:9-11 – Who will have opportunity to be saved?
1.- Those who never heard the Gospel – 14:6-7
2.- 144,000 Jews – 7:3-8, 13-14, 14:3-5
6:12-17 – God controls the forces of nature.
8:1 – The 7th SEAL introduces the 7 TRUMPET judgments.
8:7 - The 1st TRUMPET – Hail, fire, blood.
8:8-9 – The 2nd Trumpet – 1/3 of the sea becomes blood.
8:10-11 – The 3rd. TRUMPET – Fresh water is polluted.
8:12-13 – The 4th TRUMPET – Extreme cold on the earth.
9:1-12 – The 5th TRUMPET – Hell is let loose on earth
9:13-15 – The 6th TRUMPET – ½ earths population killed.
- The 7th TRUMPET introduces the 7 BOWLS of God’s wrath.
16:1-2 – The 1st BOWL – Sores.
16:3 – The 2nd BOWL – Death to everything in the oceans.
16:4 – The 3rd BOWL – They spurned the “Water of Life” … now they must endure the “water of damnation”.
16:8-9 – The 4th BOWL – Extreme heat.
16:10-11 – The 5th BOWL – Darkness … due to rejection.
16:12 – The 6th BOWL – Preparation for Armageddon.
16:17 – The 7th BOWL – Satan’s kingdom is crumbling – 16:21.
CONCLUSION:
- Today, we live in the “Age of Grace”.
- God is extending His grace to you … before it is too late.
