Who Will Be Left Behind?
“You are the salt of the earth;
but if the salt loses its flavor,
how shall it be seasoned?
It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out,
and trampled underfoot by men."
Matthew 5:13
Believers are to be the salt of the earth, preserving what is good, preserving what is truth. But when salt becomes stale, it's no longer useful.
This is what has happened to the church. The church was meant to be the salt of the earth - not the sugar, the salt. Big difference. And for a long time it was. But in these last days, it has become corrupt. It has fallen away from the truth. The sting of salt is gone, and it has become sweet processed sugar.
"Let no one deceive you by any means,
for that Day will not come
unless the falling away comes first..."
2 Thessalonians 2:3
As we see the approaching "Day of the Lord," the great Tribulation that Jesus spoke of concerning the last days, we marvel at how accurate the Word of God is. Who ever would have believed a time would come when all morality is set aside by the church, and licentiousness is approved, a time when "anything goes."
"...there will be false teachers among you,
who will secretly bring in destructive HERESIES...
BECAUSE OF WHOM THE WAY OF TRUTH WILL BE BLASPHEMED."
2 Peter 2:1, 2
Homosexual clergy - who would have believed it would ever come to this in the church? Clergy committing despicable acts with little boys. The murder of children - it used to be a crime, but now it's approved. The proliferation of false doctrine, "New Age" practices infiltrating the church. And perhaps the most damning of all heresies, "ecumenism," which is joining religions together saying all roads lead to God, when Christ himself said:
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
NO ONE comes to the Father except by me.”
John 14:6
Why is ecumenism heresy? Because other religions do not set Christ as the foundation. They say we simply call god by many names but it's all the same god. That is heresy! How can the church embrace Islam which states emphatically "God has no son"??? That statement is written ON their "Dome of the Rock" mosque on the Temple Mount!!! Islam acknowledges Jesus as a "prophet," but deny all that he said. They deny the Crucifixion, the death and resurrection of Christ. They teach that when the Muslim "Mahdi," their version of the Messiah comes, Jesus will come with him and convert the world to Islam before he (Jesus) dies and is buried with Mohammed. How on earth can any church leader not recognize this horrendous heresy and even think to join with it? But that is what is happening. Incredibly. Sponsored by the pope of Rome.
"Who is a LIAR but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
He is ANTICHRIST who denies the Father and the Son.
Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either;"
1 John 5:22-23
Scripture tells us that there is a restrainer holding back iniquity until the time when the Antichrist will be revealed. The "Man of Lawlessness" will lead the world into the horrors of the great Tribulation.
"For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work,
only he who now restrains will do so
until he is taken out of the way.
AND THEN the Lawless one will be revealed..."
1 Thessalonians 2:7-8
Most teachers identify the restrainer as the church, the Body of Christ. Imagine if the true Bible-believing church were removed ...then all the false doctrine and sin would be free to reign unfettered. There would no longer be voices opposing immorality. There would no longer be voices warning against heresy. False religions and false religious practices would no longer have anyone resisting them.
Well ...that is what is looming on the horizon. Jesus taught that before the revealing of who the Antichrist is, the Lord will remove the church - not the denominational church, but all believers who have been born again, standing faithful on the Word of God, and who are that salt preserving truth holding back lawlessness. They will be gone - and lawlessness will be free to take over with no one opposing it.
The Word of God has much to say about the days leading up to the Tribulation. And all that it says concerning those days is exactly what is before our eyes today. One of the great teachers in the Body of Christ said that when you see Christmas decorations in the stores, you know Thanksgiving is near. Likewise, because we see the kingdom of the Antichrist developing before us, the "New World Order" rising which he will lead, then we are to realize our departure is near, even at the doors.
If ever there was a time to be ready, it's now. If you are not certain of your standing with Jesus Christ, you'd best be seeing to that right now.
In Matthew 25:1-12, Jesus told the parable of the ten virgins waiting for his coming. Five of them would have called themselves believers but when the bridegroom finally came, they were left behind. Likewise, on the day after the Rapture, the corrupt, or so-called “liberal” churches will still be here, filled with the unfaithful, because all who truly belonged to Jesus will be gone and what will be left is the religious unfaithful who condoned immorality, who defined "love" as tolerance, and who saw nothing wrong with joining all religions together. Those - will be left behind. To endure the horrors of the Tribulation.
More:
The Rapture