Joseph Chambers

"Saved" After the Rapture; But, Oh, the Cost!
by Joseph Chambers

This is a dangerous subject. Hard people will hate me for telling others that people can be saved after the Rapture of the espoused bride. Yet, the truth of Holy Scripture leaves no doubt. I think that we will prove this truth beyond question of reasonable minds.

      But, I must warn you that being saved after the Rapture comes with incredible cost. There is clear evidence that almost every soul (maybe all) that wash themselves in the blood of Jesus after He catches away the overcoming saints will die a horrible death of martyrdom. If you think that suicide murderers are vicious and that death on the top floors of the world trade center, where over 1,700 persons were reduced to bits of pieces or ashes, was horrible; the death of Tribulation saints will be many times worse. Satan and his army of spirits will invade this world. The mother of harlots and her religious helpers from the Charismatic Joel's Army, Jesuit priests, Moslem terrorists, plus others will all be united to demand submission to the new religion and her mark. That mark is what the Bible calls the "Mark of the Beast."

      What is even more breathtaking is the fact that nobody that is saved after the Rapture can have the honor of being in the Bride of Christ. The Bride of Christ is the highest honor available to the saints. If everyone saved is a part of the Bride, then the whole idea of rewards falls on its face. When James and John's mother asked Jesus for her sons to sit on His right hand and His left hand, His answer was revealing. He said, "And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom." "And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father." (Matthew 20:21, 23).

      Apostle Paul dealt with this subject when speaking of carnal members in the Corinthian church that never matured into sainthood, but remained babes in Christ. He said of these spiritual babes, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire (Greek Interlinear: trough)." (I Corinthians 3:11-15). It would require incredible imagination to see these carnal babes sitting upon thrones of power in the eternal brideship of the Lord Jesus. In fact, it will not happen.

Saved After The Rapture

      All of my Christian life, I have heard ministers preach that no one could be saved after the Rapture. At the same time, I have studied the Bible and especially the Book of Revelation and seen the inconsistency of this mindset. Over and over there is this picture of people being slain for the Word of God, pursued by Satan's cohorts or crying out for their blood to be avenged on Satan clearly occurring after the Rapture. The Bible is a perfect whole and no truth is ever truly questionable when you rightly divide the Word of God. I think this idea began from the false teaching of Jesus Only" and/or "Latter Rain" doctrines. The idea that the outpouring of the Holy Ghost over the last one hundred years was the "Latter Rain" outpouring appears to be the source. Actually, the "Latter Rain" does not begin until Israel is saved at the end of the seven years and will continue through the Millennium. (Order booklet entitled, The Latter Rain Outpouring.) We are actually at the closing of the "Former Rain," which is clearly called "Moderate Rain." The seven years of the Tribulation Period is a bridge between the Early and the Latter Rain. Apostle Peter plainly stated that the Latter Rain will be "upon all flesh" (Acts 2:17), not just the moderate work of the Holy Ghost presently affecting the world.

The Glorious Pre-Tribulation Rapture

      Both from the dead and the living, the Pre-Tribulation Rapture is the grand event for the espoused bride of our Lord Jesus Christ. There will be millions of lukewarm, indifferent, and carnal people that will miss this glorious moment. The church is full of worldly, careless people professing Jesus Christ, but possessing almost nothing of spiritual life and Christ-centered surrender. They live for the flesh, they are enemies of the cross because Jesus is not allowed to be the Lord of their lives. There has been such a bombardment of cheap preaching, which promises so much for so little that a sermon like this serves to anger and disturb this careless crowd. I dare not fail in telling you the truth.

      Listen to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He appears to be screaming out these words of warning. "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Luke 21:33-36).

      There is no question to a reasonable reader of what Jesus was discussing. Luke chapter 21 deals with the Lord's great message of the end time events and the Great Tribulation time of His earthly wrath against wickedness. We can escape that wrath and He instructs us how to escape. The only way He warns us is if we are constantly vigilant in our consecration, that we allow nothing, not even the normal cares of life, to limit our Spirit-filled living. He warns us of being "overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness." He is not talking to sinners, but He is talking to the believers. His Olivet discourse is to the people of His kingdom, both Jews and the emerging church. Those words indicate in order as He presented them, "gluttoning on the world and intoxicated with the world." It is a perfect picture of the majority of today's church.

      Most churches do not have a Sunday night or Wednesday night service because it is too embarrassing to try. But, the problem is not the absence of these services, but it is the matter of the heart. The world's interest and even legitimate interests have often robbed the hearts of the people. The real problem is that we claim to be His espoused bride, while our courtship is with money, things, gourmet meals, pleasures, hobbies, vacations, and a multitude of other desires. This is exactly what Jesus was saying in the breathtaking words I just printed for you. If we are "overcharged" with the cares of the world, we are going to miss the Rapture and be left for "that day" as Jesus called the coming seven years of wrath.

Espoused To One Husband

      The Bride of Jesus Christ is "espoused to one husband" and one husband alone. Under no other circumstances will you be raptured with the Bride and miss the horrible years of wrath. Apostle Paul said this to the church at Corinth. "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." (II Corinthians 11:2-3).

      Every person that is raptured before the Great Tribulation will be a Biblical virgin and full of the oil of the Spirit. Their lamps will be burning brightly as presented in the Words of Jesus Christ. He spoke of ten virgins, of which five were wise and were raptured, while the other five were foolish (careless) and were left behind. "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." (Matthew 25:1-13).

      This is an incredible picture of the coming Rapture and shows most clearly what is required to be a part of His Bride. All ten virgins had vessels that had previously held oil. Once they all had oil to be consumed, but the fire had gone out of the five foolish virgins" vessels. They were all expecting to go, but five of them suddenly realized the misery of being left. The greatest wailing and screaming of all human history will occur immediately after the Rapture among the Bible-believing world. Please note what the Lord said, "I know you not." That does not mean that He did not know who they were and their names. He knows the name of every living person and even the stars are known and named by Him. The words "I know" were words of inspection. He looked on them and said, "You do not pass inspection." You have failed the test of Biblical surrender and you are left for the misery to follow.

A Multitude of Martyred Saints

      Immediately after the Rapture of the espoused Bride, repentant men and women will begin to die for their newfound faith and saintliness. The fifth seal of Revelation six reveals the holocaust that envelops anyone representing fundamental Christianity. The seven-sealed book in the Father's hand is the entire transaction of the total seven years. The fifth seal is a picture of what the Antichrist kingdom will plan and execute against the remnant of Biblical Christianity. The first thing the devil and his entire evil kingdom will do after the raptured saints have escaped his reach is to go after every expression of the true but unprepared church. Unsaved young people and lukewarm church members will immediately be attacked and made to deny Christianity or die. A multitude will realize their fate and missed privilege, but will now find an altar and wash their souls in the blood of the Lamb. Many will do it at the same moment that they are being killed for refusing to deny the faith they have learned.

      Look at what we see in that fifth seal, "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." (Revelation 6:9-11).

      Remember, the Pre-Tribulation Rapture has occurred only a short time prior to this scene. The overcomers were raptured, but a large company of those that had allowed the oil to be depleted or had been overcharged with the cares of this life or had courted worldly goods have paid the ultimate price for their failure. They have now been killed because they would not recant. They are told to wait under the altar in Heaven until their brethren have paid the same price of martyrdom.

      In what appears to be near the middle of the seven years, all the martyrs up to that time will be raptured up to the throne of God, where they will receive their reward. Look at this extremely clear picture of that event. "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." (Revelation 7:9-17).

      This passage leaves no question that a multitude will be saved after the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. They are from "nations and kindreds, and people and tongues." They are not mainly Jews being saved, but Gentiles being saved. While there will be Jews saved during the seven years, the majority will be saved after Jesus returns to defeat the Antichrist in Megiddo. Apostle Paul prophesied of this in his letter to the Romans, saying, "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." (Romans 11:26).

      The seven years of the Great Tribulation is going to be a harvest time out of the nations of the earth. Isaiah prophesied of this incredible truth. ""for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." (Isaiah 26:9).

      God's judgment during this period will be so incredible that every inhabitant of this earth will recognize this action as the acts of the true God and creator of this earth and His Son, the Lamb of God. If any living person has the capacity to repent and turn to God, they will be received and converted and then be hated and martyred for the glory of God. Right down to the end of the seven great years of God's wrath, souls will repent and gain the victory over the Beast. John the Revelator wrote at the very last hour as the Millennium is being announced of those who had been converted. "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4).

An Entire Company of Souls Beyond Hope

      It's terribly important for every person reading this article to know that there will be a multitude that cannot be saved when the Pre-Tribulation Rapture has occurred. Anyone that would dare to say, "I'm going to wait until after the Rapture to be saved" probably has gone beyond repentance. That attitude is exactly the kind of action, which suggests someone that meets Apostle Paul's description of the hopeless. Look at his words. He first described the Antichrist and then what happens after he is revealed. "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (II Thessalonians 2:9-12).

      The religious world is full of people who love almost any doctrine over the literal truth of God's Word. They want their ears tickled, so they can be a "Christian" and still do as they please. We have a generation of religious people that are Biblically apostate. Their systems of doctrines are more precious than the beautiful and pure Word of God. They cannot hear because their system has built a wall around their minds. There are many religious people too busy to get on their knees in front of the Word of God. They have never taken time to fall in love with the "truth." The above Scripture says that anyone that rejects the "love of truth" will be hopelessly deluded and lost to the Antichrist world.

      It is not truth that saves the soul. It is the "love of truth" that saves. The false anointing that has gripped the church world is the result of experience and feeling that has pre-empted the "love of truth." Men and women would rather have an emotional picnic than a feast of truth. Such people will be in trouble on that day. The Charismatic world has spawned a generation of religious people that could care less about doctrines, just sing them a song and give them a shout. If you can slay the seekers, it does not matter whether you can preach. This is Satan's lie to cause a multitude to be rejected of the Lord. The Antichrist will have a ready following from these sad souls.

      Immediately, in the opening of the seven-sealed book, there is evidence of people that are beyond repentance. They pray to the mountains instead of the Father because they know this judgment action is His wrath against wickedness. The truth says, "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." (Revelation 6:15-16).

      Instead of repenting, they are seeking death. Four times in Revelation the Scripture states, "and they repented not"" or an equivalent statement. First, the Scripture stated, "And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." (Revelation 9:20-21). This was speaking of the general population.

      Second, he speaks of the Antichrist kingdom itself, "And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory." (Revelation 16:9). Then, he stated, "And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain. And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds." (Revelation 16:10-11). Can you imagine a day so wicked that men lose the ability to repent.

Conclusion

      I am grateful to the Creator that Scripture reveals His mercy even in judgment. The only crowd that cannot find mercy are those that themselves choose to turn from truth to love and embrace error. These are not sheep without a shepherd or people who never heard the truth, but arrogant and haughty individuals that reject the plain truth of the Word of God.

      The multitudes that had little truth or maybe none will now see the Biblical God in a way that shows His awesome glory and breathtaking holiness. Millions will repent and willingly die for their newfound faith. Do not be so hard as to think that our God will ever reject one soul that turns to Him with all their heart ready to pay the full price for His love and mercy.

Home     Pastor's Articles     End Times Newsletter     Terry's Articles     Bookstore    Academy