AFTER THE RAPTURE

By Dick Ainsworth    Satan knows that his time to control, tempt with sin, deceive and influence mankind on earth is short (Revelation 12:12); and this father of lies (John 8:44) is bombarding the 7.4 billion earthly inhabitants with every lie and deception he has in order to try to lure people away from the Saving Grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The subject of this article deals with one of his deceptions that doesn't get a lot of exposure in the Bible teaching and study classes, or in books and other Christian media and teachings: After the Rapture.   God's Word tells us to take care of our own eternal salvation first before we set out to save the world (Luke 6:42). For years it has bothered me to be in an end-times discussion with other Christian believers when the mention of wars and rumors of wars, hurricanes, pestilences, earthquakes, locusts, 100-pound hailstones and so on comes up. Someone just about always ho-hums it all away with a remark like, "I really don't care about that stuff because I'm not going to be here anyway!" It is my opinion that Satan is placing thoughts and beliefs like that in us in order to lead true believers away from witnessing to the left behind.   I believe the work of God's raptured Church doesn't end when we depart forever from this present earth. The estimated billions who are left behind have one last chance to spend eternity with the Lord, and it is up to us to prepare their way. We won't be able to help them directly face-to-face after we have been raptured out, but here is a brief look at what we can do now and what they will be confronted with in the 7-year tribulation.   The Holy Spirit will be very active during those 7 years, along with the 144,000 witnesses (Revelation 7:4, 14:3) and the two prophets (Revelation 11:3-12). But there are many, many things we can do now to steer the left behind away from Satan's deceptions. We can divide our works into two categories: (1) the physical, and (2) the spiritual.   Let's first start with the physical:   The Bible tells us that there will be apostasy and a "falling away" (2 Thessalonians 2: 3) prior to the rapture, but there will be massive revival after the Church is removed from earth. When some of those left behind finally see the light, then it is very important to keep those new believers alive into as much of the 7-year tribulation period as possible. Each of these new believers will spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others, so they must live as long into the 7 years as possible to reach as many as possible. Granted, many new believers will be martyred in those days, but they must convert as many as possible before their time comes.   Many of these new converts will also witness to others that were left behind, and so the revival grows. The 144,000 plus two will do so much, but I believe God wants the new believers to do what they didn't do in the pre-rapture days on earth.   In these pre-rapture days we need to be stockpiling supplies, materials and equipment to help new followers of Christ exist during the 7 years to do God's Work while still on earth. After the rapture one might check the local churches on that first Sunday. If the church and its parking lots are empty, then they surely have gone to spend eternity with the Lord. But if some of the churches are well attended, then the wrong gospel was taught; and they, pastors included, all missed the calling out from Christ.   With the true Church gone, the government in place plus it's collection of groups and followers will go on a Bible-burning spree to aid Satan's efforts to replace God. There will be "free" Bibles left behind in homes of the raptured, but many of the people left behind will have other things on their minds. Satan's people will be collecting those same free Bibles for a different reason.   Some of the other items to stockpile now are long-term storage food, water purification gear and additives, camping gear, solar-powered radios and equipment, medical and first aid supplies and manuals, outdoor survival manuals, guns and ammo, etc. Some of you may not like the guns and ammo items on this list, but bear in mind what Revelation 13: 16-18 says about not being able to buy or sell without the 666 mark of the beast.   Money and currency will be nearly worthless at this time, so new believers will have to form their own underground economy and establish barter systems. Another new believer may have something you need, so you can swap a gun or some ammo for it. Another good reason to have the guns and ammo in your stockpile is protection from wild and domestic animals that will attack you for their next dinner. The eco- system will be in an uproar, and wildlife and domestic pets will be starving. In those instances your pet dog or cat may attack you and your family due to starvation. So you might be forced to shoot Old Yeller.   Now let's touch on the spiritual category and what we need to leave behind for the left behind:   After the rapture of Christ's church, there will be a number of vacant church buildings. Since many present-day Bible scholars believe (as I do) that we are presently in the Laodicean church era (Revelation 3:14-22), thus there might not be a large number of empty churches after the rapture. The Bibles, tracts and other Christian-based literature in these vacated buildings will be quickly gathered up and destroyed by the evil people now in charge. Who is going to object or stop them? All the Christians are gone.   Those Bibles and related materials will be replaced with literature authored by Satan, his "staff"-the antichrist and the false prophet (Revelation 16:13, 19:20, 20:10). They will deceive many, but some will remember that crazy uncle that kept harping to them about the rapture and the end-times that follows.   A lot of those left behind will be bewildered and confused as to where all of those crazy uncles went. The "new church" will have answers like "the space aliens got them" or "the new world leader chose to rid the world of evil people so he used his godly powers to make them all disappear." But some of those left behind will realize that their crazy uncles weren't so crazy after all. Those with a clear conscience will still know good from evil, right from wrong. And they will need that, as the earth will be dominated with continuous and intensified sin of the worst kind. Stronger-than-ever evil temptations will be the norm, which includes those left behind being bombarded by Satan, whose time is short (Revelation 12:12).   This will lead to new believers forming home churches. This is where Bible study should head the list of activities, which will go hand-in-hand with group prayer and worship, also good Christian fellowshipping and setting up a barter system and underground economy. But home churches won't last long, as these new believers will lose their homes. If you can't buy or sell without the 666 mark, you can't pay your rent or make house payments. If your house is paid for, you can't pay your annual property taxes. People that don't pay their taxes will lose their homes to the new government.   All of the utilities will be shut off due to non-payment. And your local Wal-Mart will just be a memory. The new "greeters" at their front door will now be equipped with scanners to detect the mark, and security cellphones to report those without the mark so they may be arrested. So now maybe you might understand why I listed camping gear, water purification supplies, survival manuals, guns & ammo, long-term storage food, etc.?   Now let's take a brief look at what life might be like during these painful and horrific times:   With all the Christians gone, the hospitals and clinics will be gutted of good God-fearing doctors, nurses and staff. The same is true of the police, the fire departments, the military and the governments (both elected and appointed). Imagine what the Senate, Congress, all levels of judges, etc., will be doing to our laws when all the Christians are gone? We can't leave our families and friends to go through all of this without making an effort to save them after we have been raptured.   I have been storing up supplies and materials for nearly 20 years (before the Y2K craze), but a very important item I am leaving is a box containing personal letters from me plus exceptional articles from pastors, teachers and theologians. I want those who find this box to know about the Rapture Ready website (www.raptureready.com), as I believe you can read their articles continuously for a year and not cover it all. But I'm not sure what will happen to this website after the rapture. Rapture Ready suggests you print off hard copies now. I have been doing this for several years.   One series of present articles is currently on my most urgent list. It is a series of articles by Alice Childs entitled "The Tribulation Chronicles." As I write this article, she is now in her 6th week with more to come.   If Satan knows that his time is short, then we know our time is short also. But those who will be left behind aren't on the same eternal time calendar. This is working well for Satan and his minions, but we must act as Christ's alarm clock and point as many as possible in the right direction. Eternity is forever either in heaven or hell. And so far Satan has the biggest team with plans to increase his numbers. There are no free-agent drafts here. Once you are on a team, it is forever!   Dick Ainsworth