Some Die Once – Many Die Twice [Part 16]
In Part 16 of our series of Blog Posts from our upcoming book titled “One Way or Another Your Eternal Destination is Guaranteed” we are going to look at: “Time is Short and Best Make the Decision Now”
Time is Short or Endless
Time never ends, but we are running out of it.
We approached a boy who was celebrating his fifth birthday. He replied to our “Good morning” with a smile. Wishing him a happy birthday brought the same response. Wanting to hear him talk, we asked, “How old are you today?” He bashfully looked up and held his hand open showing all five fingers. Next, we asked, “When was your last birthday?” With brief thought for his answer, he finally spoke, “Uh, two years ago.”
It seems the younger one is, the slower time goes by. For the elderly, nothing could be more correctly stated than that the time left; for remaining life on earth is short. For the younger generations, the amount of time left is unknown to us. Many younger people die unexpectedly being killed in automobile accidents, acts of violence, fatal diseases, mishaps while riding bikes, hiking, swimming, and the list goes on. Therefore, no matter what the age, every person needs to be ready.
Amos 4:12b
Prepare to meet your God, O Israel.
Left Behind
God promises to send His Son to the clouds to gather all believers together with Himself in the air [the event called the Rapture] All unbelievers will be left behind to experience God’s furious wrath in the Seven-year Tribulation period:
1 Thessalonians 4:17
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them [with the believers of the Church Age who’ve died] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
God has never broken a promise:
Titus 1:2
In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
Second Coming
Speaking of His Second Coming (which will happen at the end of the seven year Tribulation) the Lord Jesus said:
Matthew 24:36
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
Other Scriptures on this point:
Matthew 25:13
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of man is coming.”
Mark 13:32-33
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.”
Luke 12:40
“Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man [Jesus] is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
1 Thessalonians 5:3
For when they [those rejecting the Savior] say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
Time is Short Indeed
The verse says that those who do not believe God’s truth shall not escape. They might be enjoying their earthly pleasures, but God’s truth gives warning of a coming, deceiving man called the Antichrist (who is also known as the lawless one).
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Deceived?
The ones who are going to be subjected to being deceived will have no further opportunity. There will be some who will endure or will be martyred during the seven-year Tribulation, but those who hear the truth during the Church Age, and yet ignore, it will have their names erased from the Book of Life. Our humble advice is to tell them to swallow their pride and sincerely repent now before it is too late.
2 Corinthians 6:2b
Behold, now is the day of salvation.
Revelation 1:3
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear [discern] the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Revelation 22:7
“Behold, I [the Lord Jesus] am coming quickly! [suddenly] Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
Revelation 22:10
And he said to me, “Do not seal not the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.”
Time is Short – Best Make the Decision Now
The decision to accept the Lord Jesus as Savior needs to be made before the imminent Rapture, because it could happen at any given moment—even before finishing reading the next sentence. With all the chaotic violence, murders, robberies, immorality, diseases, climate disasters and lawlessness, the Bible’s patterns and predictions are quickly coming to fulfillment. Only the Father knows when He will be sending His Son Jesus to Rapture all believers, and seven years later to send Him back onto this earth. Jesus said:
Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
When the Lord spoke this in Matthew 24 and Mark 13, the information had not been revealed to Him, but having gone through glorification and now being at the right hand of the Father in the height of glory…does Jesus maybe now know when the Father will send Him? No one else knows.
Rapture / Antichrist
The truth of God’s Word tells us the Rapture will occur just prior to the appearing of the Antichrist and seven-year Tribulation period. The chronological order of events in Revelation 4, 5, and 6 confirm the order of events. Paul prophesied this in his second Letter to the Thessalonians who apparently thought they had missed the Rapture:
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together [in the air: 1 Thessalonians 4:17] to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, [in case some false teacher wrote them] as though the day of Christ [the Lord] had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, [This falling away is happening before our eyes: the apostasy of the church and individuals with false teachers, immorality, forsaking God], and the man of sin [the Antichrist] is revealed, [but the Antichrist will not be revealed until after the Rapture as we will see in vv. 7-8], the son of perdition [utter destruction], Who opposes and exalts himself [a prophecy of mid-Tribulation within the chronological order of events] above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he [the Antichrist] is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining [the Antichrist], that he might be revealed in his own time. For the mystery [hidden truth] of lawlessness is already at work; only He [Holy Spirit of God] who now restrains will do so until He [the Holy Spirit] is taken out of the way [by way of the Rapture with the Body of the Church]. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming [at the end of the Great Tribulation]: The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan [during the seven-year Tribulation] with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth [of the sudden coming Rapture], that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Time is Short
In the repeated verses 10-12 above we learn the eternal ruin of those who deny the truth that God has been providing since before these Words were penned. The value of understanding God’s truth cannot be over emphasized. The Bible is packed with warnings and filled with love. People who, prior to the Rapture, have heard God’s truth, and yet opt to reject it, are destined to spend ETERNITY in the lake of fire which is the second death.
Next Blog Post, on March 13, 2025: “Jesus Christ is Almighty God – The Almighty God Lord Jesus is Coming Quickly—Suddenly and Do not be Ashamed of Jesus at the Moment He Comes”
Pray that people will come to the saving knowledge of the Truth before it’s too late, and love their children to teach them the Truth.
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Gospel Folio Press – William MacDonald – Believers Bible Commentary
Warren Henderson Publishing
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version, unless stated otherwise. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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