LEFT BEHIND…
WHY WILL MANY SO-CALLED CHRISTIANS MISS THE RAPTURE
In Matthew 7:21-22, Jesus offers a stern warning to his listeners that, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you: depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” These verses decisively challenge the assumption that simply calling oneself a Christian, or performing outwardly religious acts, is sufficient. This powerful message makes it clear that actions alone, even those done in Jesus’ name, are not enough if they are not rooted in a true loving relationship with Him and submission to God’s will. Quite simply, many so-called Christians will miss the rapture and be left behind.
Here are some prevailing thoughts: “Being a Christian is so easy.” How is that? “Well, you just have to believe in Jesus.” But Satan also believes and has even seen Jesus, but I can assure you he is not going to heaven. “Yeah, but I know the Bible.” I’ve got news for you: Satan also knows the Bible too – he can read. Look, Satan knows everything about Jesus and who He is but will not surrender and bow down to Him and call Him “My Lord.” Matthew 7:21-23 highlights that mere verbal confession of faith (“Lord, Lord”) is insufficient for salvation, as true entry into the kingdom of heaven requires doing the will of the Father which also involves a personal, genuine, obedient relationship with Jesus.
Yes, there are multitudes of people sitting in pews, holding Bibles, singing worship songs and yet they are spiritually dead. They know how to play church and even can quote some verses from Scripture, but they do not intimately know or have a relationship with Christ. Yet, more importantly Christ doesn’t know them. The Spirit of God is not in them.
When the trumpet sounds and the Lord calls His body of believer’s home (rapture) there will be many so-called Christians left standing and confused and wondering why they were not taken. And the truth will be devastating. They never belonged to Jesus to begin with. Yes, they may have known a lot about Him, but they never really knew him, personally.
It is all about whether or not you have been born again. It’s about whether the Holy Spirit truly dwells in you. It’s all about a life that has been transformed and given a new heart. The Bible states that the Holy Spirit dwells in believers, acting as a personal, permanent guide and comforter. One of the two key verses can be found in 1 Corinthians 6:19, which calls the body a “temple of the Holy Spirit,” and Romans 8:9, which confirms that the Spirit of God lives in those who belong to Christ. There will be many professing Christians that think that just because they gave God their time, tithings, and even followed rules, sacraments, ceremonies, and traditions, that through all of this think they have secured their place in heaven. But these people will be thoroughly disappointed when the trumpet sounds and they are left behind because they were not born again with God’s spirit dwelling in them.
There is a vast difference between professing Christ and possessing Christ. You can say all the right things and still have a heart full of rebellion. You could be moral, charitable, etc. and still be left behind when the trumpet sounds. According to AI there are approximately 2.6 billion people on this planet that call themselves Christians but only a small percentage of them have the Spirit of God dwelling in them. Yes, a lot of them have religion but they are religious and lost to God. They can talk to you about religious stuff, but the fruit is not there. Jesus said, “You would know them by their fruits… (Matthew 7:16).” Not by their church attendance. Not their denominational ties. Not by their childhood baptism, singing in the choir, being an usher, or anything else. Quite clearly Jesus taught that people are recognized and judged by their “fruits” – meaning their actions, behaviors, and character, rather than their words or outward appearances. Just as a tree is identified by the fruit it bears, a person’s true nature, heart, and faith are revealed by the consistent output of their lives. Ultimately, it is Christ’s teachings that encourages discernment; suggesting that watching a person’s life and the “fruit” they produce is a reliable way to understand their true character.
Here’s a sobering thought: There are multitudes of churchgoers that fall through their religious or denominational cracks – religious but still lost without Christ’s spirit dwelling in them. Just look at some of the Protestant Churches who broke away from the Catholic Church but still carry on with the false Catholic doctrine of infant baptism : Anglican/Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and many others. Their combined church membership is approximately 2.3 billion (Catholic plus Protestant). These people need to understand that no church members or denomination can save you. The only way that a person is saved is being in Christ Jesus and Jesus didn’t come to earth to form a religion. He came to form an intimate relationship with us; to reconcile us to God and you and I enter into that relationship with one MAN, and this is Christ Jesus. It’s all about a relationship, not a religion or denomination. Let me give you one example: At one time I attended the Anglican Church of Canada. They were the second largest church in Canada with well over 1000 churches. At that time, I remember that members of each church had to vote on whether or not to accept practicing gay ministers and our church was 1 out of 21 churches across Canada that voted against accepting practicing gay ministers. Would you believe only 2% of the churches in Canada voted to stand up to the teachings of Christ. The other 98% of the churches decided to follow the ways of this world and what was popular and not follow the Word of God. So, you can see where there will be multitude of churchgoers that will be left behind when the rapture comes – religious, yes, but they didn’t have the Spirit of God dwelling in them. What a travesty.
People also need to understand that salvation is not inherited from their parents or acquired through infant baptism. No, it’s not inherited and is not automatic because you grew up in the church or because your parents were Christians. No, it’s all about a personal intimate relationship. A personal surrender, commitment, and a personal (spiritual) rebirth – a new heart. And if this never happened in your life, you need to stop assuming you’re going to be raptured when Christ comes. You need to stop assuming because you said a prayer now and again or read some Scripture sometimes in your life or even regularly attending your denominational church made you sealed in Christ forever. No, your works or prayers didn’t save you. Jesus did, if it was a real conversion. And if He saved you, He changed you. You may not be perfect, but you cannot be the same person you once were.
Some of the lies that Satan tells people is that they are okay, that they are good enough and sadly many believe it. They sit comfortably in their deception. Never examining their hearts, never testing themselves to see if they are actually true in the faith. Look, people need to wake up and examine themselves and truly ask, do I just know about (the historical) Jesus or do I really know Him personally and have a relationship with Him. Because only those who possess Christ will be caught up when He comes in the air for us.
There is a dangerous lie sweeping through the church today and one that is sending churchgoers straight into eternal destruction. It’s the idea that you can have Jesus as your savior but not as your Lord. The idea that you can accept Jesus as savior to avoid damnation without totally submitting to Him as the Lord of your life. Thinking that if you only believe in Jesus, you’re automatically saved forever and guaranteed heaven. Let me be crystal clear: This is a demonic lie that is dragging a billion or more deceived so-called Christians straight to eternal damnation. The enemy is thrilled when you believe this garbage because it keeps you comfortable in your sin while thinking your secure, but you are not.
We also have In Matthew 25, Jesus telling us a parable that should shake every Christian to their core. The story where ten virgins were waiting for the bridegroom (Christ). They were all dressed for the wedding. They were all expecting to meet Him but only five of them were ready. Only five had oil in their lamps. The other five were unprepared, completely unaware that they were not ready until it was too late. What separated them was the oil – the very symbol of the Holy Spirit. Five virgins had the Spirit of God dwelling in them and the other five were without the spirit.
This parable is not about pagans and it’s not about atheists. It’s about those so-called Christians who are waiting for Christ. Those who think they are part of the wedding party – part of Christ’s body of believers. They believe in the return of Jesus, but they have no oil – the Holy Spirit is not dwelling in them. They have no desire or fire, and they have no Spirit of Christ in them. They are empty lamps. Deceived into thinking that attendance, going to church every week, is the same as relationship. But the rapture will not be a gathering of churchgoers. It will be the catching away of the Spirit filled individuals. And if you don’t have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you and you have never been truly born again then you will be left behind. It doesn’t matter how religious you are. This is exactly the danger of having religion without regeneration. You can be a moral and disciplined person and admired by others but if the Spirit of God does not dwell in you, you do not belong to Christ. The Bible is very clear on this, and you can’t spin it any other way.
Romans 8:9 makes this crystal clear: “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to him.” This means that there are countless people calling themselves Christian who think they’re saved because of something they did like professing to believe in the historical Jesus, a denominational church that they regularly attend that will save them, being baptized as an infant, even occasionally praying and reading Scripture, and a whole host of other works they may do that they think produces faith. But they never received the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. They have never been changed nor had a true heart transplant. They have never had their heart of stone replaced with a heart of compassion, love, etc. They never had the Spirit of God living in them – teaching them, comforting them, counselling them, praying for them and guiding them through their lives. Once again, Romans 8:9 highlights that true believers are defined by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit rather than living according to the “flesh” (sinful human nature). Having the Spirit of God (or Christ) is the essential, defining mark of belonging to Him. It distinguishes those who are spiritually alive and under God’s influence from those who are not. The Holy Spirit is the definitive marker of belonging to Christ.
People need to understand that the Holy Spirit is not a side effect of salvation. It is the evidence of it. The Holy Spirit convicts us, sanctifies us, empowers us, and guides us through life as well as renewing our minds and convicting us when we do wrong. If you can live in the ways of the world comfortably with no internal war and with no conviction, no sense of grief then it’s not because you’ve spiritually matured, it’s because you are missing the spirit. The Spirit of God is not in you and is not part of your life. And without the Spirit you are not sealed. You are not saved and you will not be ready when the trumpet sounds. You will be left behind like the five virgins without oil in their lamps when the true church, God’s body of believers are taken up in the rapture to be with Christ for all eternity.
This is the time to stop playing church and start examining whether the oil is real and your lamp is full. Is the flame in your soul still burning for Christ. Are you alive to Christ or are you simply going through the motions hoping your outward religion will cover your inward emptiness. When the trumpet does sound and the cry rings out, “Behold the Bridegroom is coming”, it will then be too late to go searching for oil. The door to heaven will shut and many will be left outside realizing the horror that they were never truly known – never really having a relationship with Christ. The Spirit of God (Christ) was not dwelling in them. They professed Christ but never truly possessed Christ.
In Revelation 3:16, describing our present church age, Jesus says to the church in Laodicea, “Because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” Now, that’s not a warning to the world. It’s a warning to the church. A church full of people enjoying the worldly pleasures around them thinking they’re going to heaven, but in reality, they’re not. The tragedy is that lukewarm people rarely know their lukewarm. They think that proximity to truth is the same as obedience to truth. They confuse knowledge with devotion, but spiritual apathy is dangerous. They say they believe in Jesus, but their lives revolve around the pleasures of this world. They are not cold, but they are not on fire either. You don’t have to hate God to miss the rapture. You just have to love him with a divided (lukewarm) heart. They might say to Jesus that you can have some of me but not all of me. That’s lukewarm. That’s enough to be left behind when Jesus comes for His true body of believers whose lamps are filled with oil and ready to meet Christ in the air. A bride who is not flirting with the world and all its pleasures while waiting for the Groom. The bride whose lamp is lit and whose heart is pure.
The rapture will not be for the complacent – lukewarm individuals. It will not be for those who give God some of their leftovers of time, thoughts and affection. Those who’ve not truly surrendered their lives to Jesus. Their hearts were never burning for Jesus. There faith was lukewarm. Jesus does not want part-time followers or half-hearted loyalty. He deserves and demands all of you – your total commitment and surrender to Him.
Please, do not be deceived: If your life looks exactly the same after your “salvation experience,” you need to examine whether you were actually saved at all. It tells us in Scripture to “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).” Fear and trembling – not comfort and complacency. Stop playing games with eternity. Your eternal soul is at stake. Act like eternity matters, today. Because the broad road leads to destruction, and MANY go that way (Matthew 7:13). Don’t be one of them because you believed the comfortable lie – we are all heaven bound – you don’t have to do anything just believe there is a God and He will take you heaven.
IN CLOSING,
If this message resonates with you and you realize that your prayer life is dry or maybe the hunger for His word is gone, you need to get back to building up your relationship with the Lord. A good start is with repentance and getting serious about building your intimate relationship with Him. You need to fan the flame again. Cry out to Him for a new fire, a new passion, a new urgency. Because when that trumpet sounds, He’s not coming for a church that’s asleep. He’s coming back for one that is alive, wake, and in love.
Oscar