One of the most significant events in world history is rapidly approaching: the rapture. Many denominations and church groups do not believe in the rapture. The wicked skeptics ridicule the entire concept, while carnal believers relegate it to mysticism. All of these arrogant opinions were foretold in Scripture.
The Catholic Church had global domination as its founding goal; it had virtually nothing to do with the Kingdom of God. It was all about the Kingdom of the Church, specifically the Catholic Church. The word Catholic means “universal.” It was an “ecumenical” movement to gather all the pagan religions under the banner of Christianity and the dominion of the Vatican, to form a political base that could take over and rule the entire world!
This is where the Church completely lost the biblical mandate to make disciples unto Jesus. People were not invited to convert to faith in Jesus; they converted to the Church. They were not taught to abandon their idols and pagan beliefs; instead, they were incorporated into an ecumenical religion’s idolatry. Evangelism in Catholicism and even in many sects of the Reformation was done by threat of death. This is literally where the phrase “turn or burn” originated. Many who would not convert were either massacred by the sword or burned at the stake!
The ”Church” changed the names and dates of Christian holy celebrations: Christmas, the resurrection, crucifixion, Good Friday, Lent, and every other biblical celebration was changed to coincide with the pagan holy days as a means to appease pagans. The worship of the saints, the veneration of Mary, and the worship of relics were a way to “Christianize” pagan worship into the Church. They made it a crime for believers to read the Bible, kept the mass in Latin,and all to create an ecumenical mindset that rejected Jesus as Lord, as well as all the fundamental New Covenant doctrines.
Early believers who rejected the paganism of the Church and the immoral, godlessness of its leaders were murdered by the tens of thousands. Very early in the history of Catholicism, serious theologians saw the Catholic Church as the apostate religion that would usher in the antichrist and create a false one-world religion!
Since it was the Church’s objective to take over the entire world, they rejected the biblical truth that Jesus would physically return to Planet Earth, overthrow the false religions of the world, defeat the antichrist and His armies, and establish His Kingdom on earth. They wanted their followers to believe the Church would conquer the world; the Church members would be obligated to serve in the armies of God, and the wealthy were obligated to finance this godless war against the nations of the world.
The primary means of massive fundraising was the sale of indulgences. This is when the wealthy could pay obscene amounts of money to purchase their salvation. If the gift was large enough, they could continue in any form of immorality, adultery, political corruption, or mass murder, with the promise of forgiveness and eternal life!
If the biblical reality of the tribulation, the rise of the antichrist, the false prophet, the apostate religion, the rapture, and the millennial reign of Jesus were to be believed, it would completely undermine the most wicked religious deception ever perpetrated on the world! They would have to admit that they are among the false religions that Jesus would come to destroy; they would lose their ability to raise obscene amounts of money through corrupt deception, and they would have to give up their Luciferian quest to control the world.
Please do not be so naive as to think Catholicism is the only corrupt version of Christianity. There are smatterings of Catholicism, paganism, cult, and occult doctrine woven into the fabric of every man-made institution! All of the end-time teachings of Paul, Peter, and Jesus, Himself, are explained away by most Christian groups around the globe. In fact, all biblically-based teaching about the Lordship of Jesus and the Kingdom of God is a threat to those who would attempt to control its followers and seize power.
The biblical prophecies of end-time events are so damaging to the corrupt agendas of the carnal church that they developed a theology called Preterism, Kingdom Now, and several other less ominous names. This corrupt theology teaches that all biblical prophecies have been fulfilled, the Book of Revelation is not literal, and the Church, not Jesus, will take over the world, conveniently ruled by the pope, giving all power to the Vatican or whatever leadership structure they contrive.
These corrupt end-time teachings are alive and well, gaining momentum today, along with the corrupt, debilitating fruit it bears. Once the truth of the millennium is eradicated, so is the doctrine of the rapture. Therefore, one of the most significant reasons to have hope as the darkness emerges is stolen from the body of Christ. Paul called the rapture the blessed hope, Titus 2:13. Without the promise of the rapture and the millennium, believers will be forced to look to a counterfeit, apostate religion and corrupt governments for protection from the dominion of the beast and the false prophet.
Jesus describes what He labeled “the beginning of sorrows,” which sounds pretty horrific. This is, however, the time of manmade sorrows, designed to thrust people into a frantic search for security. Once the seven-year period called “the tribulation” begins, this will be when the inhabitants of Planet Earth enter into what will be the worst tribulation ever experienced since the world began! False religions and false Christs will arise, offering to deliver us from the horrors of the tribulation. But they will only take believers further into spiritual delusion and destitution!
It will be confidence in governments, politicians, denominations, and religious leaders, i.e., those things that are man-made, that will launch us into the beginning of sorrows and ultimately turn to the lawless one to deliver us from the man-made tribulation. In other words, at the time we should know that our only hope is in God; without the blessed hope, we will only look to those who seek our demise!
This brief history lesson comes down to this: every biblical reason we have to look to and trust in God to protect and deliver us from the darkest hour in world history is the truth that very few Christians believe; those who believe parts of it, seldom know what the Bible teaches. Jesus said, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Luke 21:25. The problem is this: if we believe what most Christians believe, we will not lift up our heads looking to Jesus. We will lift up our heads looking for a false deliverer.
Our confidence in the rapture is based on many absolute realities. There are types of the rapture in the Old Testament. Jesus taught very explicitly about the rapture and the second coming. It is doctrinally based on Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. The teachings of the apostles clearly present many details of the rapture. If the rapture seems far-fetched and too mystical, I would say there is uncertainty in our belief and understanding of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.
Last week, I launched a new CyberChurch series called, The Morning After: Life After the Rapture. I encourage you to join me; I think it will be an eye-opener, a faith-builder, and an anchor of hope!
Just so you’ll know the relevance of these facts I have shared with you, on November 6th, there is a worldwide ecumenical gathering being organized under the banner of the Catholic Church. It claims to seek common ground between all religions. All across America, there are pastors of mega-churches and scores of charismatic leaders moving toward this false ecumenical seduction. I can assure you, at some time in the not-too-distant future, occult-based groups like this, which are already aligned with the governments of the world, to determine what is legal for preachers to preach and Christians to believe. But I want you to know that God has a solution for us!
The Morning After the rapture, the world will finally reach a place where there are no restraints on their wicked doctrines, their blood-passion to enforce their beliefs on an unsuspecting world, and their attempt to eradicate all biblically-based knowledge of God from the earth. Their response to the rapture will be one of the primary catalysts launching them into a worldwide dive into reprobate minds, rendering them incapable of knowing the truth.
I don’t know how much time we have left, but know this: I am fully committed to preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth until my last breath. I will warn, exhort, encourage, and inspire all people to prepare their hearts to meet Jesus and be delivered from this wicked world.
Thank you for all you do to make it possible to continue
…changing the way the world sees God!
The following series will help you prepare your heart while equipping yourself to prepare others. The money you spend on these materials will be an eternal investment in you, your family, your friends, and those we will all reach with the gospel of the Kingdom.