Hi
Rick,
In regards to
children making the rapture………….. I guess this is where we need to rely heavily
on God’s Mercy and
Grace. If you choose not
to believe that he would be merciful enough to rapture all of the innocent
children that are too young to even know who Jesus is or the consequences of
right from wrong, then that’s your own personal choice. I believe, however,
that you may be in the minority in your beliefs on this subject. The horrible
situations that children find themselves in…..ie…..being parentless, being
abused, being born crack babies……….these are all instigated by the behaviors of
humans, NOT God. However, the rapture is an
event that is instigated by GOD ALMIGHTY. I believe he has
the power to decide the fate of our precious babies. If you believe that God is
merciful, than I think it would be a safe assumption to make, that children
under the age of accountability will indeed make the rapture. That would be
showing Mercy. That would be demonstrating the Grace of
God.
Regarding the
children that are left behind, you said: “If kept alive, they will probably be
forced to take the Mark of the Beast, as will all post-Rapture children. But
God will not hold them accountable for having the Mark because it wasn't them
who made the decision.”
Is there scripture
to back up this statement? Or, are you thinking that God’s
Mercy would come into
effect here and he would understand that these young children were incapable of
making that decision, therefore they are not held accountable. If you have
scripture to prove this, where the Bible specifically mentions this about
children, I would love for you to share it.
Until children are
capable of making the decision about their salvation, I totally believe that our
Merciful and Mighty God would not allow them to be captured and/or killed.
If a two week old
baby dies, does he/she go to heaven? The baby didn’t have the time to accept
Christ as his/her personal savior. So what happens to these babies when the
dead in Christ rise first? Do they rise up as part of the Bride? If they
haven’t accepted Christ are we supposed to believe that they will be condemned
to hell? I can’t even imagine it.
You mentioned that
there is no scripture to back up the belief that children of Christian parents
would be raptured. What about this scripture?
1 Corinthians 7:14
says, "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the
unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean;
but now are they holy."
I could be
misinterpreting it, but if not, I would think that the word holy would be of some
significance.
This is all I have
to say on the subject. Those of you that have fears about your children not
making the rapture…..(Kendra, I believe was one), I hope that this letter gives
you hope. If people are unsure of something, it’s better to write something of
that will instill hope, not fear.
Remember Doves, We
serve a God of Mercy and a God of Love. We serve a God who loves children and
all through the Bible demonstrates his love for them. I believe he will
demonstrate this love by removing them from harm’s way, through the
rapture.
May the Lord Be
with all of you in these latter days.
Watching and
Waiting,
Georgia
Kelly