Salvation During the “Tribulation” (“Apocalypse”)

What is going on in the world?

Why is everything turned upside down and falling apart?

What is happening???

Listen, friend. Satan has been handed the reins of the earth and will be permitted to unleash his ultimate deception. Make no mistake, he’s been planning this for thousands of years and it’s going to be quite the show. But satan is evil to the core – he is the father of lies. He hates you, and he particularly hates any interest you show in Jesus Christ. He wants nothing more than to see your eternal torment.

Your soul is never going to die. While your body lives, you have the free will to choose your eternal destiny. Salvation is by God’s grace alone, through faith in Jesus Christ. This is God’s free gift to you, will you take it?

Right now, God is calling you. He has chosen you for this time, and for this purpose. You, and those around you, are spiritual orphans. God wants to adopt you into His family. Viewed another way – you, and those around you, are drowning in a sea of deception. God is offering you a lifeboat. Will you get on board? Will you be His witness?

The purpose of this life is knowing God.

God calls us. We experience that call as an inkling in our heart that maybe there really is a God… Maybe I should find out about Him… You may be on this page because you have felt that need, that calling. You may be wondering what is going on in this world.

The God who made you, the God who loves you more than you can comprehend, is reaching out to YOU today, to rescue YOU.

God made humanity for his pleasure, and it was always supposed to be a mutual relationship. We messed it up, on our end. So now the whole point of our lives is finding God – being reconciled to him in relationship. If we miss this, we miss the entire point of our existence. Nothing else we accomplish matters if we don’t get this right.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. – Romans 10:13 ESV

1. Know How God Sees You

God loves you, and has known you from before the creation of the world. He knew there would be a “you”. You were created specifically to be in His family, in relationship with Him. So, what’s wrong? Why does it feel like God doesn’t care – that He is absent?

The answer is sin. Sin separates us from God. Sin is anything we think, say, or do that goes against God’s laws. This world is broken because people are trapped in sin. Our sinful choices affect ourselves, each other, and even entire generations and societies. God has given us free will to choose to do as we please, and many times, people choose sin.

What is the Law of God? In the Bible, God has given many instructions for living right before Him. These include the 10 Commandments among others. But apart from the Bible, God has written His commands on human hearts, which we refer to as “conscience”. Our conscience is what tells us that murder is wrong. It is what makes us angry at injustices, abuses, and crime. We know we violate our consciences. The telltale signs are lying about it, hiding it (doing it in secret), or covering it up. This is how God can hold us as being without excuse.

Above all, God tells us to love Him with all our soul, heart, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. If you love anything in your life more than you love God (or a fellow human being), you have broken this command. Whenever you do anything you know you shouldn’t (lying, gossiping, pornography, stealing, cheating, sleeping around, saying “Oh my God”, disobeying your parents, etc), it is “sin”. We hold ourselves up to God’s standards and see that we fall hopelessly short. We’ve blown it, many times, and we know it.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV)

What if people choose to be good? Our human condition can be compared to a drop of poison in a glass of water. Whether there is one drop or many drops, the water is still poisoned. There are many non-religious and religious people who are good and kind. But no matter how “good” we are, we aren’t perfect. God’s law requires us to be perfect. Here is a wonderful article discussing how Jesus explains our inability to save ourselves. God’s laws are a mirror, to reflect back to us where we have failed.

Ask God to show you how lost you are.

2. Know Where You’re Headed

You know you’ve sinned, you’ve broken God’s laws. So what does that mean?

Our physical bodies die someday. However, God created humans to be eternal. That means the part of you that’s “you” – your spirit/soul – is going to live on forever. God says that He has “placed eternity in the hearts of men” – deep down, we know that physical death is not the end. When you die, you will stand before God and give an account of EVERYTHING you have done while alive. Everything done in the darkness and secret will be brought to light before Him (and perhaps before the angels and the rest of humanity as well). Everything you do is recorded in a book.

According to God, breaking even one of His laws, once, results in the death penalty.

“For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 ESV)

Death?? Isn’t that extreme? God, as a supreme holy and righteous being, cannot tolerate any sin (breaking of the law) in His presence. God sees one sin as the same as being guilty of all sins. That’s how high His standard is. Unless we repair our relationship with God we will “die” for eternity. Eternal “death” is actually eternal separation from God and others, in the “lake of fire” – a place of torment and suffering. While your physical body is alive, you determine the eternal destiny of your spirit. Once your physical body dies, there are no second chances.

Yes, there are indications that there are different levels of suffering in hell, and that those who do worse things will suffer more. However, everyone will suffer there, and there is a way you wouldn’t have to suffer AT ALL.

3. Want to Change

We pursue, pursue, pursue, and when we accomplish it is exciting but also empty – now what? The rich never have enough money, the mighty never have enough power, the beautiful always have some flaw. We move from one thing to the next, never satisfied. Why? There *is* something missing. God. We are like lost sheep – wandering around aimlessly. Sure there are some “good things” and distractions in this world. But when it really counts, if we lost it all, if we face a car crash or a terminal illness – what is this life about? We were meant to live in harmony with God, our Father. His Spirit is meant to comfort us, to guide us, to bring us love, joy, peace, hope.

We are born into this world as spiritual orphans. We remain that way unless we listen to God’s call and find our way home.

Once God shows you how lost you are, and what that means, you now have a choice. You can choose to ignore Him, or you can choose to do something about it. God wants to restore the relationship. But you have to want to restore the relationship too. Relationships go both ways.

A change of heart, seeing ourselves as utterly lost and wanting to do something about it, is called repentance. Just recognizing that we do bad things (as defined by God), but not having a desire to stop, is not true repentance. We must truly want to be changed, to be restored to relationship with God.

4. There’s Only One Way Out

There is nothing *we* can do to fix our “wrongness” – no good work, no sacrament, no penance. But because God our Father loves us, He has given us a way to restore the relationship.

Jesus says “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.” (John 14:6 ESV)

God does not want you to be separated from Him for eternity. He created hell and the eternal Lake of Fire for satan and the fallen angels, NOT for humans. But you will go there if you reject God’s rescue plan. He wants you to come back to His family. So He sent a part of Himself, Jesus Christ, to die for you. The Bible makes it clear that every sin has to be punished by death and paid by the penalty of innocent blood. Jesus lived a perfect life on Earth – though He lived as a man under God’s Law, He never broke the Law. This qualified Him to take our sins upon Himself to become a perfect sacrifice. Jesus died on the cross to take our punishment for us. His blood paid the price required by God for our sins.

“But God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 ESV)

It doesn’t end there, though. On the third day, Jesus was raised to life, to a new eternal body. When we join God’s spiritual family, we, too, will get a new eternal body someday.

“the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord” (Romans 3:23 ESV)

5. Turn From Yourself Towards God and Believe

We chose to sin and Jesus chose to be a “sin-bearer” and take God’s wrath for us. God offers an all-inclusive “forgiveness slip” to every human on earth. If we believe what God has said about us (we are totally lost and have no hope of saving ourselves), and what He has done to fix it (Jesus is the only way as a Savior), we can obtain this “forgiveness slip”. We can ask God for Jesus’ payment to be applied to our account. This allows us to be declared innocent and sin-free in God’s Eyes – the debt we owed for our crimes is paid. Salvation is a change in legal standing before God – from “guilty” to “not guilty”. Jesus didn’t just pay PART of our debt, or even MOST of it, leaving some on the tab for us. He paid our ENTIRE debt.

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Romans 10:9-10 ESV

When you say Jesus is Lord, this means you believe He is God and He deserves to be Lord of your life. When you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you accept that what the Bible teaches about Jesus is true and that His death paid the price for your wrongdoings.

It’s not about anything we DO, but about what Jesus has already DONE.

We can’t earn it or maintain it in any way – we are not and will not ever be worthy of salvation. The critical element is faith. Faith in Jesus’ provision. Faith in His completed work for us on the cross. That’s the beauty of God’s grace. “It is finished”.

For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

There is some Biblical evidence that suggests we may retain free will to reject our salvation and leave the faith by our own choice, so make sure you hold firm in your beliefs until death. It’s entirely possible that these were never TRULY in the faith, but were instead deceived by their hearts and lulled into a false assurance; but regardless, all those who are truly in the faith will hold firm until the end.

6. What Next?

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1 ESV)

If you asked God to forgive you, and have chosen to follow Him, you are now part of His family. He has forgiven you, and you have a clean slate. It’s time to learn more about Him, grow your relationship with Him, follow and obey Him. It’s like any relationship – it takes time and dedication!

First, talk to God. This can seem awkward at first, but talk to Him as you would to a best friend. Nothing fancy, no complicated words or phrases, just talk to Him. Tell Him how you feel, what you’re doing, what questions you have, what you need. God’s not a magic genie – he doesn’t give us things for our selfish purposes. He wants you to see yourself in His bigger picture. He wants you to grow in holiness, to become more like Him. If you ask God to help you know Him better, to help you understand His word and how He wants you to live, he always answers those prayers!

Second, read the Bible. The Bible is more precious than food or gold – find one and keep it very safe. Read it every day. Start in the book of John, then Romans, and then read the rest of the New Testament. Each time, ask God to help you understand what you read. If you are reading this after the “apocalypse” has begun, the book of Revelation will be particularly important for you. Access to the Bible will likely be taken away at some point, so consider printing out portions of it (or take pages out) and hide them in secret locations.

Third, try to obey God. Ask Him to help you. As you read the Bible, He will teach you what He wants you to do. Deliberately choose to stop doing things He doesn’t like and commands against. Deliberately choose to try to act more like Him – patient, kind, forgiving, joyful, serving, gentle, self-controlled, honest. You will still struggle with doing what you don’t want to do, and not doing what you want to do. When you sin, ask God to forgive you.

Fourth, be baptized in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This can be done in any body of water and can be performed by any true believer in Jesus Christ. It should be done by full immersion (under the water) if possible. Baptism isn’t necessary for salvation, but it is important to God as an act of obedience. Through baptism, you symbolize your spiritual death and resurrection. If you have an opportunity to do so, you should take it.

Fifth, try to find other Christians to spend your time with. Our friends can influence where we are headed. Find other people who are willing to forsake all for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s highly unlikely that there will be true churches operating. You will need the support of other believers, and they will need you. This truly will be a time that hearkens back to the days of the “Acts 2” church. The book of Acts in the Bible can tell you about the early days of the first believers.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47 ESV)

Sixth, teach others what you know. Tell others of the spiritual battle that is currently going on and deliver them from the deception. In this way you will literally pull them out of the flames of eternal fire.

Seventh, pray for miracles. God’s Spirit works where the gospel of Jesus is being preached and where people are desperately seeking Him. He WANTS to help you. Pray for divine healing, protection, and deliverance. That said, trials of faith are your destination. Trust God in both the little things and the big things in life. Put your faith in Him.

Anyone who is destined for prison will be taken to prison. Anyone destined to die by the sword will die by the sword. This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful. (Revelation 13:10 ESV)

Eighth, read up! Apart from the Bible, there are books and articles and sermons online you can learn from. I’m not sure what access you will have though. Print articles out if possible. Books about growing in Christ I highly recommend are Jerry Bridges’ Pursuit of Holiness and Practice of Godliness. This church has such wonderful articles. Get familiar with the books of Daniel and Revelation so you will know what to expect. Commentaries on things to come:

7. What if I still struggle with sin?

Even the godliest people struggle with sin – doing what we don’t want to do, or not doing what we want to do. We still wear the sin nature in this natural body. However, our hearts and minds are freed from being enslaved to it – if we call for help – God will provide a way out so we don’t HAVE to sin. The trick is identifying temptation early, and halting it before we are sucked into full blown sin.

You will still sin, but you will have a desire to get back on track and restore your relationship with God (although individual sins won’t take away your salvation, it will put you out of relationship with God). The Holy Spirit will start to convict you of sins. It is your job to listen to Him and follow His lead, to progress in holiness (sanctification).

8. What if I Don’t “Feel” Saved?

If you do not feel secure in your salvation, IT IS RIGHT TO EXAMINE YOURSELF, to see if you are in the faith. Hold on firmly in the faith until death. Refuse to allow doubt or thoughts of giving up to creep into your mind.

If you can continue in habitual sin without feeling remorse and guilt (even common sins like sex outside of marriage, homosexuality, gossip, lying, cheating…) then you should question whether you are saved. The Holy Spirit will convict you of sin.

The “heart” is comprised of our mind/intellect, our emotions/feelings, and our will/actions. We have feelings about God, we think through the facts about Jesus and the Bible, and our actions will demonstrate what we believe. In each of these areas, we must rely on GOD to provide the faith. We can’t make ourselves believe – we can’t force feelings, we can’t understand if our spiritual eyes are closed, and actions done on our own effort will consistently fizzle over time. Examine if all 3 aspects of your heart are in alignment. If not, confess that to God and pray for HIM to provide you with saving faith. God rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 ESV

9. Warnings!

You will be responsible for remaining faithful in the face of severe deprivation and persecution. Plead with God not to take His Holy Spirit from you.

This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” (Rev. 14:12-13 ESV)

You are required to act on your faith. Anything you do for other believers is done for Jesus Himself. Anything you don’t do for other believers you are withholding from Jesus Himself. You will be held accountable for what you do, or what you do not do (Matthew 25).

At some point you will be required to take a certain mark on your right hand or forehead to be able to buy or sell. It may be something that affects DNA. If you do this, you will be eternally lost to God (Revelation 14:9-11). You must surrender your life if necessary rather than take the mark.

It’s going to be extremely difficult, but you need to admit to your faith in Jesus before others, even if it means physical death. “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28 ESV). God may have called you exactly for this purpose, and the witness of your death may plant the seeds of salvation in others. “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:35 ESV) Remember that God’s viewpoint is one of eternity. Our viewpoint is often limited to the here & now. Be encouraged:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:7-18 ESV)

Do not give up! Do not despair! Cling to God with all your might, no matter how things look, no matter what others are believing, no matter how you feel.

PLEASE, God is calling you. He LOVES you. He CARES what you choose.

What to Do if You Missed the Rapture:

The Redeemer, free eBook: https://gracethrufaith.com/books/the-redeemer/

Make Sure You Follow the Right Jesus: HERE

You Are Loved
https://redmoonrapture.wordpress.com/2017/08/11/you-are-loved/

Leading Children to Christ:
https://redmoonrapture.wordpress.com/2017/08/08/leading-children-to-christ/

The Gospel – Unsealed:

What is the Gospel? Matt Chandler:

The Gospel Message:

The Delusion of Athiesm Movie:

Barabbas – Gospel Message:

Examine Yourself, to See if You are in the Faith:
https://www.gty.org/library/questions/QA145/what-kind-of-things-do-and-do-not-prove-the-genuineness-of-saving-faith

Read God’s Word, the Bible. Suggested order:

The Gospel of John

The Gospel of Mark

I John

II John

III John

Genesis

Ephesians

Galatians

The Gospel of Luke

The Gospel of Matthew

I Corinthians

II Corinthians

Romans

Psalms

Proverbs

Today is the day of salvation. We never know if we will be given another chance tomorrow. Choose to follow Jesus TODAY.

Red Moon Rapture

A Literal, Whole Scripture Prophecy Model

Salvation During the “Tribulation” (“Apocalypse”)