I feel it is time that I
forward one of my tracts that I
wrote about 12 years ago, with
several hundred thousand in
circulation. For those of
you who believe that ALL
Christians will be taken in the
Rapture, I hope and pray that
you are right. On the other
hand, if one believes that
way, and feels no need to
change his backslidden, lukewarm,
compromising, unwatchful, worldly,
or fence-straddling ways, WOE BE
UNTO HIM, if he suddenly
finds the Rapture happened
and he was left behind.
Isn't it much safer to get as
close to the Lord as we can in
these VERY LAST DAYS? Is
there any negative in doing
that??? It is much safer and
wiser to believe that all
Christians are NOT going in the
Rapture. Not only safer and
wiser, but I believe MORE
SCRIPTURAL, also. Following
is the tract that I wrote:
ARE ALL CHRISTIANS GOING IN THE
RAPTURE??? ARE YOU SURE YOU
ARE READY???
Are All Christians going in the
Rapture? If, at some point
in your life, you have asked Jesus
Christ into your life to become
your personal Lord and Saviour,
does this GUARANTEE that you are
going in the Rapture? All
signs point to the END OF THE AGE
VERY SOON, SO THE MOST IMPORTANT
QUESTION YOU COULD ASK YOURSELF
IS, "AM I READY FOR THE RAPTURE?"
Before we go any further, let's
clarify what the RAPTURE is.
I Thessalonians 4:16-17 says, "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 will 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."
The Rapture is the GREAT ESCAPE
from the horrendous Tribulation
period that is SOON to come on ALL
THE WORLD! It is for a body
of born-again believers, called
the Bride of Jesus
Christ. The question is IS
THE RAPTURE FOR ALL CHRISTIANS?
It is probably safe to say that
a majority of Christians reading
this tract would say "YES".
We are NOT addressing the issue of
salvation, or "once saved, always
saved," or "eternal
security". For those of you
who answered "Yes", CAN YOU FIND
EVEN ONE SCRIPTURE THAT GUARANTEES
THAT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE GOING IN
THE RAPTURE?
Just because you have always
believed something, or your Pastor
believes it, or your church
teaches it, DOES NOT MAKE IT
TRUE! IT MUST BE BASED ON
THE WORD OF GOD! It is our
fervent desire that ALL CHRISTIANS
are going in the Rapture. If
ALL CHRISTIANS are going in the
Rapture, we have lost nothing by
drawing closer to the Lord, to
prepare for His Soon Return.
If, on the other hand, we have a
false sense of security, regarding
our readiness for the Rapture, and
we ignore the Lord's warnings to
GET OUR HEARTS RIGHT WITH HIM
BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, we have a
TREMENDOUS amount to lose.
Just read the Book of Revelation!
"Lord, your Word is
awesome. Lord, your Word is
powerful. Lord, your Word is
sharper than any two-edged
sword. Lord, use the
convicting power of the word of
the Living God and the convicting
power of your mighty Holy Spirit
to reveal to every one of us the
Truth from your Word. If the
message of this tract is
not true, then cause it to
have no effect on the hearts of
those reading it. If,
however, the message from your
Word IS true, we ask you to
release an outpouring of your Holy
Spirit on Christians
everywhere. For those who
are not spiritually ready, cut to
the very bottom of their heart and
REMOVE THAT FALSE SENSE OF
SECURITY IN THE NAME OF
JESUS! AMEN."
Your opinion, and my opinion,
do not matter. What you have
been taught does not
matter. WHAT DOES THE
WORD OF GOD SAY? This
is ALL that really matters.
The remainder of this tract will
be WARNINGS DIRECTLY FROM THE WORD
OF GOD CONCERNING YOUR READINESS
FOR THE RAPTURE! (If YOU are
ready, that's wonderful, but how
about your family, your
friends, and those who sit in the
church pews around you?)
In Luke 21, the whole chapter
is discussing the End of
the Age and the Second Coming
of Christ. In verses 34-36,
JESUS GIVES AN OMINOUS WARNING TO
ALL CHRISTIANS, "and TAKE HEED TO
YOURSELVES, lest at any time
YOUR HEARTS be over-charged
with surfeiting (partying), and
drunkenness, AND CARES OF THIS
LIFE, and so THAT DAY COME UPON
YOU UNAWARES. For as a snare
(trap) shall it come on all them
that dwell on the face of the
whole earth. WATCH YE,
therefore, AND PRAY ALWAYS, THAT
YE MAY BE ACCOUNTED WORTHY TO
ESCAPE ALL these things
that shall come to pass, and
to stand before the son of man
(Jesus)."
If ALL Christians were going to
take part in this GREAT ESCAPE,
WHY WOULD JESUS GIVE SUCH A STERN
AND OMINOUS WARNING TO THE
END-TIME
CHRISTIAN??? This is
DEFINITELY a very PERSONAL WARNING
for each of us. The subject
matter can be nothing but the
Tribulation hour and the
Rapture. Jesus says to pray
always. Surely, Jesus
knows that a non-Christian cannot
be in an attitude of constant
prayer. Surely,
non-Christians are not expected to
be LOOKING FOR THAT DAY and
WATCHING for signs of His Soon
Return.
Jesus is continuously talking
to HIS FOLLOWERS throughout this
chapter. Jesus says to TAKE
HEED TO YOURSELF, He is addressing
YOUR HEART and He is constantly
personalizing this message to YOU,
to YE, THE CHRISTIAN! ARE
YOU LISTENING? ARE YOU
READY???
What can we do, as Christians,
to be found WORTHY of the Lord's
GREAT ESCAPE, THE RAPTURE?
Jesus tells us to be in a
constant attitude of prayer.
Become so close to the Lord that
you can talk with Him about
anything. Pray that the Lord
would reveal to YOU anything in
your life that might keep you from
being ready for the Rapture.
Then you need to act upon that
which the Lord shows you to do.
In this passage, the Lord
strongly encourages us to be
WATCHING for the SIGNS of His
Soon Return, so that we would not
be UNAWARE of the approximate time
of His Return. Jesus said we
could KNOW when His Return
was NEAR, EVEN AT THE DOORS!
ALL SIGNS NOW CONFIRM TO US THAT
HIS COMING IS AT THE DOOR!!!
If you do not have this firm
conviction in your heart that our
Lord's Return is AT THE DOOR, it
is probably because you have not
been WATCHING for signs, as He
continuously admonishes us to do,
over and over again, in the New
Testament (Read Mark 13 and
14). Are the CARES OF THIS
LIFE your priority, or do you so
much look forward to His Return
that YOU LOVE HIS APPEARING (II
Timothy 4:8) more than the things
of this life?
The CARES OF THIS LIFE (Luke
21:34) are what cause us to become
"worldly" Christians, or
"backslidden" Christians, or
"lukewarm" Christians. Luke
21:34-36 (Go back and read it
again) strongly implies that these
types of Christians ARE NOT READY
FOR THE RAPTURE!!!
In Revelation, starting
with Chapter 6, the horrible
judgments of the Tribulation are
poured out on an unsuspecting
world. In Chapters 1-3,
there are
several WARNINGS TO THE
CHRISTIANS IN THE LAST
DAYS, WARNINGS BEFORE THE
RAPTURE AND THE TRIBULATION IN
CHAPTERS 6-19.
The constant theme of
Revelation, Chapter 2, is the NEED
OF THE END-TIME CHRISTIAN TO
REPENT! Rev. 2: 4-5
says, "I have somewhat against
thee, because THOU HAS LEFT THY
FIRST LOVE. Remember,
therefore, from whence thou are
fallen, AND REPENT, and do
the first works; or else I
WILL COME UNTO THEE QUICKLY, AND
WILL REMOVE THY CANDLESTICK OUT OF
HIS PLACE, EXCEPT THOU REPENT."
If you HAVE LEFT YOUR
FIRST LOVE you are a
"backslidden" Christian. You
need to REPENT and restore your
relationship with Christ back to
what it should be. Is the
Lord speaking to YOUR HEART RIGHT
NOW?
Rev. 3:10 says, "Because thou
has kept the word of my patience,
I ALSO WILL KEEP THEE FROM THE
HOUR OF TEMPTATION, which shall
come upon all the world, to
try them that dwell upon the
earth." The implication of
this verse is obvious: If
the end-time Christian does NOT
stay close to the Lord and
endure to the end, HE WILL NOT BE
KEPT FROM THE TRIBULATION HOUR!
Rev. 3: 15-16 is ANOTHER
OMINOUS WARNING TO ALL CHRISTIANS,
"I know thy works, that thou are
neither cold nor hot:
I would thou wert cold or
hot. So then BECAUSE THOU
ART LUKEWARM, AND NEITHER COLD NOT
HOT, I WILL SPUE THEE OUT OF MY
MOUTH."
Can you honestly give another
explanation for this verse, other
than the LORD CASTING LUKEWARM
CHRISTIANS OUT INTO THE
TRIBULATION? What are YOU
doing that would show the Lord
that you are ON FIRE for
Him? These verses say
emphatically that their WORKS
WERE LUKEWARM.
What happens to the
unwatchful SERVANT who
believes his LORD is not coming
back for a while and is not that
concerned about the way he is
living his life? Matthew 24:
50-51 says, "the LORD of that
SERVANT...shall cut him asunder,
and appoint him his portion with
the hypocrites: there shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth
(The Tribulation Hour?)." In
Matthew 25:30, we see the exact
same result for the
unprofitable SERVANT. In
both cases, there is A
LORD--SERVANT RELATIONSHIP ALREADY
ESTABLISHED. ARE ALL
CHRISTIANS GOING IN THE
RAPTURE? WHAT DOES THE WORD
SAY???
This world is full of LUKEWARM,
BACKSLIDDEN, UNWATCHFUL, AND
WORLDLY Christians. In Rev.
7:9, we see a GREAT MULTITUDE,
that no man could number, standing
before the Lamb of God in
Heaven. Verse 14 describes
them, "These are they which came
OUT OF GREAT TRIBULATION, AND HAVE
WASHED THEIR ROBES, and made them
white in the blood of the
Lamb." In Chapter 20, it
says they were beheaded for not
taking the Mark of the Beast.
This great multitude of people
already had robes.
Your Robe of righteousness is
given to you at the time of your
salvation. They were already
saved but their ROBES WERE
DIRTY. These COMPROMISING
Christians were caught up
in the CARES OF THE WORLD
when the Rapture happened, and
they were cast into the
Tribulation hour like the
Scriptures had warned them
about so many times. They
WASHED THEIR DIRTY ROBES in the
Great Tribulation because there is
no compromise then---IT'S EITHER
JESUS CHRIST (and lose your head)
OR ANTICHRIST (and lose your soul
FOREVER)!!!
Do you really want to have to
face that choice? It is
clear from God's Word what you
must do to be assured of a place
in the Rapture. YOU MUST ACT
QUICKLY BECAUSE THE TIME FOR THE
RAPTURE IS ALMOST HERE!
1. Make sure that you have
received Jesus Christ into your
life as your PERSONAL Lord and
Saviour.
2. Examine your own heart for
any signs of backsliding,
worldliness,
unwatchfulness, compromising,
and lukewarmness.
3. REPENT (Turn COMPLETELY away
from sin and turn COMPLETELY
around towards Jesus). Sin
separates you from God, even as a
Christian.
4. Study end-time
Biblical prophecy until you
become completely convinced that
His Coming is, indeed, AT THE
DOOR. This will help keep
you from temptation and sin.
JESUS IS COMING VERY SOON!!!
5. Do something for the
Lord. (Passing out tracts,
or forwarding this
post, would be a good start.)
6. Examine your
priorities, lest the CARES OF THIS
LIFE cause YOU to MISS THE
RAPTURE, as we are so adamantly
WARNED about in
Luke 21, and
so many other Scriptures.
7. Draw closer to God by
praying, reading His Word,
attending a fundamental church as
often as possible, and surround
yourself with a Christian
atmosphere (Christian friends,
books, music, radio, TV,
etc.)
8. PRAY DILIGENTLY. ASK
THE LORD TO REVEAL TO YOU ANYTHING
IN YOUR LIFE THAT EVEN MIGHT KEEP
YOU FROM THE RAPTURE. PRAY
THAT THE LORD WOULD GIVE YOU A
PEACE, IF YOU
ARE READY, AND AN UNREST AND
UNEASINESS IN YOUR HEART, IF YOU
ARE NOT READY.
9. Listen for His voice and
then STAY OPEN TO THE LEADING OF
THE HOLY SPIRIT.
10. Act upon that which the
Lord is calling you to do. DO IT
NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!
If the Lord has planted the
least bit of doubt, or uneasiness,
in your
heart, please swallow
your pride and pray this prayer
with me:
"Dear Lord, Thank you for
preparing a WAY OF ESCAPE from the
horrible Tribulation to
come. It is
my
sincere desire to be
ready for your Soon Return, so
that I can participate
in the Rapture. Give me a
COMPLETE PEACE IN MY HEART FROM
YOU if I am, indeed, ready.
Let there be no false sense of
security in my heart concerning my
readiness for Your Return.
Begin to reveal to me things in my
life and in my heart that might
keep me from the Rapture.
Show me what I need to do to BE
READY and then give me the power
to act upon that which you show me
to do. Draw me away from the
world and closer to you every
day. Use me in whatever way
you can to help others who may not
be ready for your Return.
Fill me with your peace when I am
ready and fill me with YOUR POWER,
for victory over sin and
temptation, and for effective
service for your kingdom. In
Jesus' mighty name, Amen."
The words of the Lord that He
would leave with you in these last
days before His Return, "REMEMBER
THEREFORE, HOW THOU HAST
RECEIVED AND HEARD, AND HOLD FAST,
AND REPENT. IF THEREFORE,
THOW SHALT NOT WATCH, I WILL COME
ON THEE AS A THIEF, AND THOU SHALT
NOT KNOW WHAT HOUR I WILL
COME UPON THEE." (Revelation
3:3)
Feel free to make copies of
this tract, or forward it to
your backslidden, lukewarm,
compromising, unwatchful, and
worldly family members and
friends. Do not delay.
Time is short. What we do,
we must do quickly now.
Maranatha!
Ron Reese