There are many who will decide to wait to receive Jesus as their Savior–until after the seven year Tribulation begins.

This will prove to be a horrific decision. Everyone who receives Jesus as their Savior during the seven year Tribulation period–will be beheaded by the antichrist.

Revelation 20:4 … Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands…

There is a second indication that for many who have rejected Jesus during this current time–before the Rapture takes place and the seven year Tribulation begins, it will be impossible for them to believe in Jesus and be saved, once the antichrist makes his appearance on earth.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Those people who put off their decision to receive Jesus, will fall victim to the deception of the new world leader who comes with great power and signs (sémeion), supernatural abilities not normal to a man. This will cause many to follow him. As a result, God will allow them their deception and they will find it impossible to receive Jesus during the time of the beast. Because these people did not receive the love of God and believe the truth of Jesus Gospel, they will be deceived by the beast and worship him. This will result in their eternal damnation–along with the beast, the false prophet and satan in the Lake of Fire.

Revelation 19:20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Once for Salvation, once for Judgment

The Old Testament is clear in its affirmation that the Messiah will have two appearances on the earth. The first for salvation, the second for judgement. Those who will live through the horrors of the seven-year tribulation will find Jesus visiting the earth in 21 judgments which will cause two-thirds of the people of the earth to perish. Those who have waited for His return will be removed from the earth before the seven-year tribulation begins. Either by Rapture in bodily form while still alive, or by resurrection for those who have already died believing in Jesus for their salvation. Both the living and the dead who love the Lord, will be taken from the earth to meet Him in the air.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

Waiting to receive Jesus will cost your life

All those who come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ during the seven-year tribulation shall find themselves under the terror of the beast. This new global ruler will appear on the world scene shortly after the disappearance of all believers in Jesus, at the Rapture. He will command the inhabitants of the world to give their worship to him in exchange for the right to buy or sell during the seven years of the antichrist’s rule.

Revelation 13:7-17 It was granted to him (antichrist) to make war with the saints (Christians) and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

To take the mark, the name of the beast, or his number is tantamount to worship of the beast. All those who worship him by taking his number or name will be assigned to the lake of fire forever.

Revelation 19:20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.

For those who love Jesus and gratefully live their lives in anticipation of His return, He will forbid that they should experience the coming wrath which will cover the earth during the Great Tribulation. According to 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4:16-17, the Lord will descend out of heaven suddenly and completely unexpected by the world. Believers will disappear where they stand as the Lord calls them to meet Him in the air. There is every indication that there will be no sound, no signal, or advanced warning prior to the disappearance of more than a Billion people. It may be that those whom the Lord is about to remove will hear Him call their name, similar to the event that preceded John’s rapture from the earth to heaven, in the fourth chapter of the Book of Revelation.

Revelation 4:1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here…”

The Rapture will be similar to Jesus’ appearance to Paul while he was on the road to Damascus. Paul was aware of Jesus and could hear Him, while those around Paul saw only the light but could not hear Jesus.

Acts 22:6-9 “Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.”

Jesus’ return for His church at the Rapture will not be a physical return to the earth. He will meet us in the air, in the outer atmosphere. This is truly amazing when you consider that the description of this event given by the Bible seems to imply that we will meet in an environment that a normal human being could not survive. The fact that we will all receive a new glorified and eternal body similar to the one that Jesus possessed after His Resurrection, is most likely the reason that we are able to live in such a hostile environment.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

At His second coming, Jesus will return physically to the earth at the end of the seven-year tribulation. He will be seen by everyone who dwells on the earth at that time.

Revelation 1:7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.

We should understand that the Messiah’s return to earth is a fulfillment of various Old Testament prophecies, such as Isaiah 35:4. The purpose of the seven-year Tribulation period is to reveal the wrath of the Lamb against all those who worship the beast and have taken his mark. This group of people will be made up of those individuals who have rejected Jesus Christ and have refused to repent of their sins and come to God through the provision of the Messiah’s sacrifice.

The time to receive Jesus as your Savior is now. The event of the Rapture may occur at any moment. Those who find themselves present on the earth during this period of history, will experience the most horrific events that the earth and its inhabitants have ever known. If you receive Jesus as your Savior before this event takes place, He will remove you from the earth before the appearance of the beast and you will not experience any of the wrath of the beast, nor the wrath of God during these final seven years.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ

Revelation 3:10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

You might also be interested in:

• The Rapture, the Tribulation, Heaven, Rewards, and God’s Final Judgment
• The Rapture
• The Tribulation
• The Battle of Armageddon
  
• The Book Of Revelation Audio Commentary
• How Jesus Controlled the Earlier and Later Fulfillment of Prophecy
  Waiting to Receive Jesus Will Cost Your Life During the Tribulation

Categories: Believers Removed before Tribulation, Believers saved during the Tribulation, Jesus Church, The Anti-Christ, The Rapture of the Church, The Seven Year Tribulation

Tags: Events surrounding the Rapture, He is coming with the clouds, The mark of the beast, The Rapture, The seven year Tribulation, Waiting to receive Jesus