A Letter To Those That Remain

I am sure there are a great many terrified and confused people in the world right now.  But I want to tell you the truth concerning the strange events that have taken place recently.  Those of us who seem to be missing are very much alive and well but just living in a different place.  A very dear friend of ours came and took us there and it was not against our wills.  This is something that each and every one who left has been waiting for and longing to occur.  Those that remain may be mourning and, no doubt, the whole event has caused world-wide chaos.  Yet, we are very happy to have been taken.

Although the world is in shock at the surprise of this event, the only surprise for us was that we didn’t know at what day or time He would show up to get us.  We knew, however, that He was coming.  It was our Blessed Hope and not just a wish, for the Bible made it clear that our Hope was a real upcoming event.  We are presently spending much time acquainting ourselves with this massive gathering of people.  We are also receiving rewards for our prior service on earth as well as learning more than we could have ever imagined about pretty much everything.  Our bodies have been renewed and our minds have been opened.  Yet, we are who we are - just better than ever.  Most of all, we are with the One who made this all possible; the One who gave us this gift of eternal living; the One who forgave us of our sins; the One who paid himself for those sins by dying on that cross two thousand years ago so that we would never stand in judgment for them ourselves.  The Christ, the Son of God.  JESUS.

Therefore, do not mourn for us as if we are dead for as much as you may miss us all, we did not die!  We were a group of people that had the privilege of being transformed into our eternal heavenly bodies without having first died.  I know this all sounds extremely far fetched.  Yet it was all foretold a long time ago in a book that has been on the best seller’s list for many years, the Bible.  Although many viewed it as a work of fiction, it is the most accurate text ever written regarding the history of mankind as well as the future of mankind.  A large percentage of the book was prophetic in nature.  In other words, events that have occurred in history were foretold ahead of time, in many cases, by hundreds of years or more, with complete accuracy.  Every prophesied event that the Bible says should have already happened has in fact happened.  It has never missed one and it has never been wrong.  Many books have been written regarding the uncanny accuracy of the hundreds upon hundreds of the Bible’s prophecies, yet did the majority of Earth’s people flock to God’s word declaring it infallible and true?  Sadly, no they did not.  People instead spent much time on attempting to refute the Word of God.  When faced with the reality of documented historical facts and the corroboration of archaeological findings, men merely set about changing the history books to achieve their goals of disqualifying the historical accuracy of the Bible.

The event that just occurred was also foretold in the Bible.  It is what we as Christians called the Rapture.  Although we are now safe and secure from all harm, those that remain are in grave danger.  Consider this: If the Bible has never been wrong and has accurately foretold future events all down through history, including the recent Rapture, then would it be wise to continue to ignore its writings?  It explains what will happen in the next several years, both in Heaven and on Earth.  You are living in what the Bible calls the End Times which has consisted of mankind’s falling away from the truth of God’s word.  The time that you have left will be a time of reckoning.  Those that remain will either choose God or choose death.  They will choose to trust in the One who saved them or they will choose to put their trust in another.  By the end of the next seven years or so, every person on earth will have made a choice for or against God.  There can be no neutrality, for a lukewarm person has, in fact, chosen death over life.

There will arise upon the political scene a very dynamic personality who will captivate nearly everyone remaining on Earth.  He will have answers and solutions for all of the upheaval that has happened since the Rapture.  He may even provide a plausible scientific explanation for our disappearances.  He will rise to prominence and power in one of the world’s major organizations such as the United Nations.  He will portray himself as a peacemaker that will for the first time in history formulate a plan for peace in the Middle East.  This man will sign a seven year peace treaty between Israel and the surrounding nations who rise against her.  It has been generally accepted that this signing will signify the beginning of what the Bible calls the Tribulation Period - seven years of hell on Earth. 

This man will be praised on earth.  People will gladly accept his help and leadership.  He will quickly rise from obscurity to become the most powerful man on the planet.  Yet, he was already spoken of often in the Bible and is called by many names: Son of Perdition, the Beast and the Anti-christ to name a few.  He was spoken of by Daniel in the Old Testament, John and others in the New Testament, as well as by Jesus himself.  The book of Revelation describes his deeds during the Tribulation in much detail.  Watch for this person and do not be deceived by his charm.  His words and actions may be awe inspiring and powerful, but do not embrace him or his political system.  He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.  Under his reign, thousands if not millions will be murdered.  Hitler’s holocaust will seem mild compared to the destruction that he will invoke upon the earth and in particular, upon Christians and Jews.

Christians?  Did you not say that they all disappeared?  Yes.  All born again, Jesus-believing people did disappear.  However, after the Rapture a great number of people from all over the earth will come to their senses and choose Christ.  Yet life for them now will be more difficult than for any other group of people that has ever lived.  Believing and professing to be a Christian during these seven years just may cost them their very lives.  But think of it in this manner, seven years or less may be all that anyone has left to live.  Losing your life for Christ’s sake is better than denying Him and losing your life for all eternity in Hell at Judgment Day.

According to the Bible, approximately three quarters of this planet’s population will lose their lives during this seven year period of time.  The earth will experience the most horrifying natural and manmade disasters of all time.  The Bible describes events and the consequences of those events in great detail - much more detail then anyone of John’s time period could have known.  These events will follow a set order in a given timeline of which there are two major sections - the first half of the Tribulation and the second half, which is called the Great Tribulation.  It will be so bad that if God himself doesn’t step in to command control, nothing would survive.

Although many of these events may seem to be completely of man’s own making as well as natural, they are in fact judgments from God himself.  He has been lenient with men throughout history.  He could have merely abandoned us at any time in all of our sinfulness and destroyed the earth but He didn’t.  Instead, He provided us a way to be united with Him.  He gave His Son to us as a sacrifice that we would have a way to be justified from our sins.  We didn’t deserve it.  Yet, He loved us that much and He has waited for as long as possible before coming back so that many would choose Him.  He warned us and showed us the signs of His eminent return.  As it was in the day of Noah, so shall it be at the time of the end.  At the time that God flooded the earth, Noah was the only person left who was not completely corrupted by sin.  God destroyed this planet with water but He said that the next time it will be by fire.

Even though His judgments will be great and harsh, He is still merciful.  He could catastrophically destroy the earth as before, yet, He isn’t.  That is, not quite yet.  Many men will rightfully recognize what is happening as coming from God.  Multitudes will be saved during the Tribulation.  Probably most of these would never have chosen God if not for witnessing the sheer power of His might.  Men will be shaken to the core.  They will literally die from fright.  For those that choose Christ during this time, even their deaths will be a victory for they will reap special rewards upon reaching Heaven.  God’s incredible display of His terrifying might will still be tempered because of His great love for us and His spirit will inhabit all those that choose Him.

The Bible says that there will be wars followed by great famines and diseases.  There will be natural disasters followed by, again, famines and diseases.  Is there anything new about this?  Hasn’t this always happened down through history?  How many countless thousands died of famine and disease after the 2004 tsunami?  What will make the Tribulation disasters any different?  Why would people perceive these disasters as judgments from God Himself?  We’ve always had wars and the Middle East has always been a focus of world attention and tension.  What will cause men to come to the conclusion that this is the Seven Year Tribulation?

Well, for one thing, the prior disappearance of millions from the planet Earth.  Secondly, the severity of the disasters will be unprecedented.  There may even have been, for the first time in history, terrorist attacks using nuclear weapons.  This would cause a world-wide epidemic of wars, famines and disease.  There will be earthquakes of great magnitude which will subsequently cause, over and over again, a torrent of tsunamis, mudslides and land devastation.  What always follows is famine and disease.  In the past there was always time between disasters for recovery.  Nations would help out other nations with food, money and manpower.  What if these events happened with such frequency that nations could barely help themselves, let alone any others?  Epidemics would abound.  Millions would die and many more would long for death.

Thirdly, a system of government will come into existence like none other before it.  A ten nation or regions of government will be established.  One man will become the central authoritative figure of this government - the Anti-christ, the Son of Perdition, the Beast.  After deceiving the world for three and one-half years, he will break his own treaty with Israel and walk into the Temple in Jerusalem defiling it by proclaiming that he himself is a god.  He will cause all that live to agree to his system of government by accepting a mark in their hand or forehead, without which they cannot buy or sell.  A one world system of government using computers and implanted chips is no longer futuristic or far fetched.  It will be a working reality and the technology for such a system is nearly in place.  It is just a matter of uniting the world to agree to implement such a system.  Most likely it will be out of economic necessity that this system will be born.

However, the Bible says that anyone who accepts the Mark of the beast will be doomed to Hell.  People may not perceive it as submitting to a person’s theology.  Would we question the morality of getting a debit card?  Of course not.  It’s just another technological advance.  Not this time.  The Bible is plain on this one.  Do not accept the Mark!  There will be no turning back.  No amount of repentance will change the destiny of your soul.  People will accept the Mark out of ignorance unless warned.  However, by warning people you may be endangering your very life.  Many will understand the danger yet succumb to the Mark because they are hungry or need health care for themselves or their loved ones.  All they bought for themselves were a few more days upon the earth and an eternity of misery for themselves in Hell.  It will be better to die without the Mark than to live for a short time with it.  Don’t give in and don’t give up.  Don’t, under any circumstance, receive the Mark - in whatever form that it takes!

This will be a time of great deception.  The world will be under what the devil believes to be his control.  A great delusion will fall upon man to believe a great lie – the devil’s lie.  He will cause man to seek out and destroy Christians and Jews.  There have been many books written about this period of time, about hiding and living under these circumstances.  It may be far more difficult and dangerous than any of these novels have described.  It may very well become totally impossible to survive without accepting the Anti-christ or his mark.  What then is a person to do?  How will it be possible for men and women to keep their families safe?  How will it be possible to eat?  How will it be possible to receive medical help?  The fact is, it may not be possible – any of it.  What then?

No matter what the circumstances, do not accept the Mark.  If you love your families and friends, do not accept the Mark.  You may be struggling with the fact that it could buy you or a loved one some extra time on earth.  Yes, in fact it may, but your death sentence will be signed and sealed.  This is like no other time in history and what may make sense to you now is not like before.  Faith is the only thing that can save you and your loved ones at this point.  It will take believing in the supernatural.  It means believing that there is a God and believing that there is a devil.  You will need to believe that there is a war between good and evil and that we all are in the middle of it.  It will take faith to believe that this will all come to an end around seven years after this period of time has begun.  It will take faith to believe that what the Bible has forewarned is real.  It will take faith to possibly lay down your very life and the lives of your families in order that you all will ultimately remain safe and alive – forever.  It will take faith to believe that there is a God who can give you eternal life.

This kind of faith can only be achieved by personally getting to know the giver of eternal life – God, the Father of our Savior Jesus Christ.  The only way to get to know Him is to hear Him and the only way to do that is to hear what He is saying to us through the Bible.  It is the very Word of God.  Through His word you can attain a faith to believe without a shadow of a doubt that His gift of eternal life is given to us when we personally trust that His son, Jesus, came to earth as flesh and blood, lived a sinless life and then died in our place on the cross.  He personally bore every one of mankind’s sins; past, present and future when He was upon that cross.  He died in your place.  He suffered personally for your sins.  When you place your trust in Him, He will personally stand before God and declare you innocent so that you can enter into the presence of God wholly and completely blameless, justified and welcomed to be there.

Faith in God is therefore the only way to save you and your loved one’s lives.  It may very well take dying here on earth for what you believe.  Many will no doubt be tortured for their beliefs.  You may even need to be courageous enough to watch as someone you love is tortured and possibly executed, yet, staying strong enough to not succumb to accepting the mark or to deny Christ.  You will need to trust that through all of the agony and pain, there is One that will forever stand with you and that person is Jesus Christ.  He will be there through all of the pain and tribulations that you may endure.  If He chooses to supernaturally save you from that pain, you may count it fortunate.  If not, He will still be there to welcome you home.

Seek out and find a church and/or a competent religious leader.  However, beware of false teachers and preachers.  Be careful of whom you listen to for spiritual help.  Not everyone that cries out the name of God is trustworthy.  Beware of religious radicals who claim to know God but who deny His power or deny Jesus and the cross.  Personally get acquainted with God’s Word in the Bible so that you may be able to discern good from evil.  Learn as much as possible.  Pray continuously that God will open your eyes to see and understand the truth.  Pray that you will have the courage to stand when circumstances become difficult and dangerous.  Have faith that God will see you through to victory and everlasting life.

                                                                                            Your Friend

Your Decision to Receive Christ as Your Savior:

     Confess to God that you are a sinner.  Believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for your sins on the cross and was raised for your justification.  Receive and Confess Him as your personal Savior.   

Assurance As a Believer:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Romans 10:9).

© 2007 G. R. Workman  

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