A Letter for your Rapture Box

As the hour grows closer, many believers are putting together boxes and instructions for their friends and family left behind.  I'd like to share mine with you.  Please feel free to copy and paste to your loved ones.

Dear Friend,

Peace be with you.  If you are reading this, you will need that peace to carry you through what you are facing.  Jesus tells his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27).  I pray for you:   “Lord, please comfort my Friend.  Please send your presence upon them now, please open their eyes and enable them to read and understand the words you have had me write.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.”

This letter is going to be the most straightforward and frank piece that I’ve ever written, for the time has passed for smooth words that cajole and coddle.  You are in dire straits and the words I am about to write are the only way to save your eternal soul.

I am sure that the world is spinning in chaos now with the disappearance of so many people.  Whatever you have heard, do not believe it.  Jesus has returned to take his Bride to Heaven and the much anticipated Rapture has occurred as was foretold in the Scriptures thousands of years ago.  

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 because the Lord himself, in a shout, in the voice of a chief-messenger, and in the trump of God, shall come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are living, who are remaining over, together  with them shall be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in air, and so always with the Lord we shall be.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52  lo, I tell you a secret; we indeed shall not all sleep, and we all shall be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, in the last trumpet, for it shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we -- we shall be changed:

The world will have many stories; Satan and his minions will come with many lying signs and wonders, (2 Thessalonians 2:9) they have prepared for this hour since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden when they received the lease to planet Earth.  They are powerful beings and will amaze mankind with their tricks, Scripture says that if it were possible they would even fool the very elect.  They will have elaborate explanations as to where we have all gone.

First they will come under the green cloak of environmentalism.  They’ve been doing it for a number of years now.  There is probably some sort of ecological disaster coming and I surmise that the lie will involve “aliens”, who will claim they are the creators of life and gods.    They aren’t, they are fallen angels and demons.  They will claim first that the Christians were eliminated because we would have been a hindrance to the new reality, then they will claim to have taken the children to protect them from what is coming.  They have probably abducted many well established atheists to cover the fact that Scripture accurately predicts the Rapture.  These atheist will  be broadcasting “live” from some fake location, reassuring the inhabitants of planet earth that all is well. It is not and they are lying.  It is like the Truman Show, it’s staged.

False Christian teachers and Pastors will emphatically claim it is not the Rapture because they and their congregations are still here.  The Bible says that in the last days men will cry out to him claiming to have been his children and He will declare “Depart from me, I knew you not.”  Matthew 7:21-23  This was the apostate church that spewed lies and preached a gospel other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  Stay away from them, they are agents of the devil.

The enemy will demonstrate power and spin false tales, they will claim they are the good guys, they are not.  A leader will emerge that will be the most amazing orator, peacemaker, and problem solver the world has ever known.  He will inspire the world and they will fall at his feet.  It is smoke and mirrors, he is an evil man and mid way through the Tribulation will seem to take a fatal wound to the head.  When he rises from the dead, there is no other than Satan possessing him.  The False Prophet will direct the world to worship this leader and force death upon anyone who refuses.  All will be required to receive a mark, either on their forehead or their hand that will allow them to buy and sell.  Anyone who refuses the mark will have their body killed, anyone who accepts it is damned to hell forever.

If you value truth, believe what I say to you.  Perilous times are ahead.  The painful fact is that most people that remain on the earth today will die over the course of the next 7 years.  Odds are, you and your family and friends that remain will not survive to the Second Coming of Jesus.

Before you now, is your last chance, your last choice.  You have heard the gospel and rejected it.  In your heart, you did not believe that “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Jesus will not die but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16).  It is not too late but the time is very short, your window of opportunity is closing rapidly.  God will be sending a powerful delusion to those who have heard and rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ.  (2 Thessalonians 2:11) If you do not repent and accept Jesus and your savior, you will believe the lies.  Once that happens, you are lost.

Heed my warning, for I tell you the truth.  I am not dead, I am also not on some space ship, I haven’t been taken somewhere to populate another “Earth”.  I am with the Lord Jesus Christ right now celebrating, oh that you were with me!  The thing is, it is not too late.

You have before you now a choice:  Heaven or Hell.  “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”  (Please forgive the song lyric…)

To avoid Hell and get to Heaven, you must pray this prayer:  “Dear Lord Jesus - I am sorry that I have hardened my heart to you, I am sorry that I did not believe that you came to save me.  I am sorry that I have tried to find you with my own righteousness.  I am a sinner, please forgive me, Lord.  I confess that I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son, that He died on the cross for my sins, and was raised on the third day.  I believe that there is no other name under heaven or on earth by which we can be saved.  I ask for you to come into my life, to come into my heart, and I ask you to seal me with your mark.  Lord strengthen me for the trials to come.  Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me.  In my own strength, I can do nothing but I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.  In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.”

If you have prayed this prayer, memorize it and pray it often.  You must hold tight to your salvation.  For unlike the church age, this salvation demands obedience, vigilance, and faith.  The Parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25 describes what will happen to believers who survive the Tribulation - half of them were found to have not retained their salvation.  Oil in that parable is the Holy Spirit, whom you have received a portion of if you prayed the above prayer.

This is teaching that many during the church age did not recognize, it is why for centuries people fought over the eternal nature of salvation, for Tribulation believers you are instructed to hold tight to your salvation.  “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matt 24:12-13).

Jack Kelley of Gracethrufaith writes:  “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.  Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on (Rev. 14:12-13).”  These verses tell us tribulation believers will be responsible for both keeping the commandments and remaining faithful in the face of the deprivation and persecution they’ll face for refusing the mark of the beast. They will also be expected to surrender their lives if necessary rather than take the mark. They will have been warned that anyone who takes the mark will be lost forever (Rev. 14:9-11).  There’s no indication from these verses that post-Church believers will be protected from this, there’s only a promise of blessing for the martyrs.”

What is coming upon the earth is well documented; from the time Israel signs the peace treaty with the man of sin, the clock will start on the final 7 years.  There may be a lag time between the Rapture and the treaty, but we are told in Scripture that this period will be the most horrific ever recorded.

I suspect that reference material, books, websites, and bibles will be systematically eliminated.  Find a Bible and keep it with you.  Take it, use it, read it - it will be your most important weapon moving forward.  Go to gracethrufaith.com and print off as much as you can about what is coming down the line, the doctrine and teaching on this site is solid.  RaptureReady.com was designed to survive - they will have articles and research.  If you do not understand something, ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom.

Now for the good news, God wins.  He will triumph over Satan and will usher in His glorious millennial kingdom.  The earth will be restored to its original perfect state, justice, kindness, goodness, and prosperity will blanket the inhabitants.  Many that survive the Tribulation will not die but will have their bodies healed and renewed.  There IS hope.

You can do this and the Lord will help you.  You are no longer on your own, the Holy Spirit will guide you.  Learn and memorize the Lord’s Prayer:

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Memorize the Full Armor of God: Ephesians 6
10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.  16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.  17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

This seven year period known as the Tribulation is set aside to bring the Jews back into relationship with God and to judge the nations over how they have treated Israel.  This is also the judgement of Satan and his fallen angels and their eviction from the Earth.  At the Garden of Eden, Satan received a lease to this planet, the lease is up and the true and rightful owner is taking it back.  Revelation Chapter 5 starts with the breaking of the seals on this lease.  Read and study, it will serve you well.

I wish I could tell you all that I know but I feel this letter drawing to a close.  I have not gone into detail of the consequences of not choosing the path I’ve laid out for you, I trust that you will not chose foolishly.  Know this, everyone lives forever - this puff of smoke we call life determines whether you will spend it in paradise or whether you will be tormented in fire, sulphur, and violence forever.

I love you and I have prayed for you.