Can Someone Be Saved after the Rapture?
by David K. Bernard
Podcast recording (no venue stated in the delivered transcript)
Kind: teaching
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4, Revelation 4, Romans 11

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/david-k-bernard--can-someone-be-saved-after-the-rapture
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
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that's an interesting question and to some extent it depends on your view of the timing of the rapture so as the Left Behind series indicates it's based on a pre-tribulation Rapture view which I hold as well so the idea is Jesus Christ is coming back for his church what is what is called the Rapture first Thessalonians chapter four and then there will be the tribulation this evil ruler that we often call the Antichrist will be revealed he will attempt to control the Earth uh there will be seven years of tribulation and then the battle of Armageddon Jesus Christ coming back to Earth so there there becomes a seven year period now if you believe in a mid-tribulation Rapture you would have probably a three and a half year period if you believe in a post-tribulation Rapture well then this question may not be so significant so the question will be in that interim between the Rapture of the church and the coming of Jesus Christ to Earth is there going to be any salvation so the answer would be in Revelation The Book of Revelation so in Revelation chapter 4 you have this vision of Heaven and the Saints of the ages worshiping God that seems to be the timing of the Rapture from my read well after that the Book of Revelation talks about people uh Jewish believers who are sealed and they're preserved from wrath and it also talks about some Martyrs who are killed because they refuse to accept the mark of the beast so it does indicate there are some people on Earth who are saved during that tribulation period however it appears that these are primarily if not exclusively Jews so they would be people who didn't really know about Jesus Christ or had minimal knowledge of Jesus but after the Rapture and when the events of Revelation begin to happen it wakes them up to realize what's going on and they turn to God and they seek God uh and then of course they come to Faith in Jesus Christ and they have an experience uh with Jesus Christ of a saving nature so yes I do believe uh that there could be people uh in that tribulation period who are saved however I don't offer that as a hope for backsliders or for people who heard the gospel it seems that these will be primarily or exclusively Jews uh if there are any others and and part of the reason for their tribulation is God is turning back to the Jews to give them one last chance as we see in Romans chapter 11 there's going to be a time where Israel will be saved Israel as a nation will recognize their Messiah and that's when Jesus comes back to Earth at the end of the battle of Armageddon so it seems by Design it's God's last uh reaching out to the Jewish people so that to me indicates there's not much hope for someone who heard the gospel or even experienced the gospel and then rejected it the idea that they would be saved after the Rapture I don't really find support for that now God is Sovereign and God is merciful but as far as my read of scripture it would be be mistaken to hope that people who had the gospel or especially even experience the gospel would somehow have a chance to be saved and I I find this in scripture because second Thessalonians talks about this very thing that when the Antichrist comes he will come with deception and delusion and that people that didn't receive the love of the truth would receive strong delusion that they might be condemned well that would be the case of someone here and now they hear the preaching of the Gospel or even if they have the witness of God in a more General way through creation and conscience and just kind of ignore it so they have some degree of Truth maybe not even the fullness of the apostolic faith but it's not important to them they don't love it they don't care about it they don't pursue it they don't believe it or if they believe it they don't love it enough to obey it then how much more people come into our churches hear the gospel but reject it or hear the gospel initially are born again but then fall away because they don't love it well it seems that According to second Thessalonians those very people are not going to wake up the day after the Rapture say oh I missed it oh God help me no they're going to believe strong delusion they're going to go along oh they're not going to say oh this is the Antichrist this is the mark of the beast they're going to say you know the world is so mixed up and this man has the answers he's amazing and this plan works and you know our economy is in shambles we've got fraud well this is going to be a way of preventing fraud and we're going to have a secure economic system where everybody will have their own number and everybody will have you know we we don't have to worry about being hacked but you know we're going to have this wonderful system and this man is going to solve all the problems of the world and in wars and bring World Peace so no they're not going to be panicking I miss the Rapture they're going to be believing a lie so yes I do believe there will be there will be some saved in the in the will of God primarily it seems it will be Jewish people and as I said God is Sovereign so so he can say who he Wills but I don't think we can offer hope for anybody uh that has heard the gospel or um experienced the the new birth that if they reject it by going into a life of sin before the Rapture I can't offer them a hope that they will suddenly be saved after the Rapture