Copyright © 2006 by The Voice of Prophecy

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Left Behind—Dead or Alive

Never in our lifetime has there been such excitement about the coming of Christ. Much of this is due to the dozen blockbuster books in the Left Behind series. We all owe much to the authors and publishers for putting Bible prophecy into play, big time, across the United States and Canada. Around the world, in fact. People everywhere are talking about Jesus coming! For this I thank the people responsible for Left Behind. God bless them all!

The publishers describe the Left Behind books as adult fiction. I must confess that the word “fiction” concerns me. How about you? A couple questions that come to mind are: Should Christians get prophetic insight from human fiction or Bible truth? And how might Scriptural truth differ from what we read in popular religious novels? Important questions, don’t you think?

In the minds of many, Christ’s glorious appearing is not for believers here and now. It’s for people left behind from a secret second coming. That’s the so-called secret rapture, when (according to its view of final events) Christ silently snatches up the saints and takes them away to heaven. Then, so it’s said, seven years later comes Christ’s glorious appearing.

We’ve all seen the bumper stickers: “Warning: Driver Will Be Raptured Any Moment.” And “If I’m Raptured, Take the Wheel.” Well, I guess if I’m raptured here in the studio, somebody will have to take the microphone!

No, this is a serious subject. We can’t base our beliefs on bumper stickers! What then does the Bible teach about Christ’s second coming?

Somebody wonders: Doesn’t it say somewhere that Christ will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night?

Yes, but does that mean the world won’t realize when it’s actually happening? Let’s go right to the source: the words of Jesus Himself. Matthew chapter 24, verses 30 and 31:

“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect.”

So everyone on earth, those lost as well as saved, will know when Christ comes to gather His saints. That blast of God’s trumpet will get their attention, believe me. That, along with all the glorious visuals of clouds and a sky full of angels.

“But Pastor Lonnie,” someone says. “Doesn’t the Bible teach that Jesus will come in the ‘twinkling of an eye’?”

Not quite. Believers at Christ’s coming will be changed in a moment, the twinkling of an eye. Did you catch that? Instantly changed. These bodies ruined by sin and doomed to death will be made new and sinless and immortal in a flash. As quick as it takes to blink your eye. Let’s get this right from the Bible. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 51: “We shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.” And by the way, did you notice that trumpet again? It’s throughout New Testament prophecies about Christ’s coming. Listen, friend. Christ’s coming will be the most audible and visible event of all time!

Come with me back to 9-11, that tragic morning in September 2001. Terrorists from the clear blue sky struck America. Intelligence agencies of the United States and Canada had warned for years about domestic terrorism from militants. Yet the sudden attack caught everyone by surprise. Once it happened, though, everybody knew about it.

So it will be at Christ’s coming. Despite worldwide warnings from Bible prophecy, the unsaved are caught unprepared. Business as usual, you know. Buying and selling, lying and cheating. But everyone—both saved and lost—will certainly know it when Christ has come.

Let’s hear more about this from Jesus. This is from Luke’s gospel:

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” Luke 17 verses 26, 27.
What is Jesus telling us in that compelling statement? What I get from it is that Christ’s coming for His people will bring total destruction to this earth and its inhabitants. Just like in the days of Noah’s flood. The world back then was also living according to its own agenda. Suddenly came God’s final, fatal surprise. All who rejected—or neglected—heaven’s warning perished. And Jesus said: “Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Verse 30.

After Christ's coming, the bodies of the lost lie scattered across the earth. Those left behind are all dead. How terribly sad! Jesus again warned about it. We read in Luke 17:34 through 37: “Two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left. ‘Where Lord?’ they asked. He replied ‘Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather’” [NIV].

I don’t hear in those Bible verses anything about a second chance for sinners. Do you? In fact I can’t find anything in Scripture that says that anybody—Jew or Gentile—can be saved after Jesus returns. A lot of sinners are enjoying themselves in Vegas. Having too good a time to repent. Not quite yet, anyway. Manan a, after the rapture.

Can you see a possible problem with such procrastination?
Please remember, I respect and appreciate the authors who have done so much to call the world’s attention to the soon return of Jesus. I appreciate that they do call people to come to Christ now. But here’s a problem that concerns me. The door is left open for sinners to have it both ways: First, they can party as they please before the rapture. Then when all the Christians disappear, that’s their clue to switch sides.

Doesn’t it worry you to think that many unbelieving spouses and friends just might be planning to do just that?

You see, prodigals are risk-takers. They welcome the notion of putting off repentance until after this rapture they’ve been hearing about. We need to tell them what the Bible says: Probation closes with the coming of Christ!

So if you want to be saved for eternity, friend, right now would be a very good time.

You might be wondering, “Okay, Pastor Lonnie. I do want to be saved. I want to be ready when Jesus comes. I know He is the Savior of the world. Now I’d like to make Him my own Savior. How can that happen?”

Taking such a step is as simple as it is profound. First we confess ourselves as sinners before God. We may not imagine we are as bad as those people who get their pictures advertised on the wall at the post office. But we all are sinners in our own way. The Bible says in Isaiah 53 verse 6: AAll we like sheep have gone astray.@ Nobody=s perfect, we love to assures ourselves. Perhaps that=s okay according to our thinking, but it can=t be okay with God. He can’t just pretend everything is fine when it’s not. He knows we can=t measure up to His perfection. That=s why Jesus came as our Messiah. AThe Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.@

As sinners, we can’t find our way up to God. So He came down to us. From Bethlehem He went to Calvary for our sins. But then He rose from the grave and returned to heaven in triumph. Today He cares for us as our High Priest in heaven’s temple. (We’ll talk about that later in this Focus on the Future series of broadcasts.) And you know what’s coming next! Jesus will return to take us home with Him to heaven. I can hardly wait, how about you!

My friend, do you want to spend eternity with your Savior? Not only with Jesus but with all your family and friends who love Him? Have you made arrangements for that with Him? You can do that right here and now, even as you’re driving to work on the Santa Ana Freeway. Just open your heart to God. Confess yourself as a sinner. Tell Him you trust Jesus as your Savior. Ask Him to be the undisputed leader of everything you do. Not just your co-pilot but the captain of your life.

When you do that, something wonderful happens. God immediately accepts you as His child. No doubt about it! You may not feel different, at least not right away. But you belong to God just the same. You’re His child. Your name is in heaven’s Book of Life.

That=s how we are born again, my friend. Our part is to believe and receive Jesus. God’s part is to accept us and give us new life through His Holy Spirit. And that same Spirit, the Bible says, will guide us into all truth.

It’s truth we need so desperately. Jesus warned that last-day delusions would be intense. In fact the enemy of our soul will “deceive, if possible, even the elect.” That’s a direct quote from Jesus: Matthew 24 verse 24. Which raises a vital question: What protects God’s people from being deceived? They insist on Bible truth. It’s not enough just to read religious books.

I guess I enjoy good reading from a Christian bookstore as much as anyone. In fact you’ll even find a Christian bookstore on our Voice of Prophecy website. So yes, Pastor Lonnie believes in Christian books! But I can only base my beliefs on the Bible itself. How about you?

I heard that the publishers of Left Behind have just come out with book one of another prophecy fiction series, entitled The Last Disciple. They expect huge sales. But The Last Disciple offers a dramatically different view of final events than Left Behind. So here we have two alternative views from the same publisher. No wonder even Christians can get confused about Bible prophecy.

I have something for you that I trust will be helpful as we focus on the future this week. This book goes beyond fiction. It covers what Bible prophecy actually teaches about Christ’s coming.