Author’s note: With most every indicator of the advance toward the Tribulation era in view upon the prophetic horizon, Christ’s call to the Church stands brightly against the darkening gloominess. Thus it is time to again consider what God’s Word has to say about being Rapture ready–to be worthy of Christ’s call to that great event.

This article, written some years earlier, stands more than ever as a reminder of the fact we might at any moment appear before our Lord to give an account for our lives spent here on this fallen planet.

On Being Rapture Worthy

Lately, emails and articles I’ve been receiving are trending toward the thought that Christians not living exemplary lives as believers will miss being taken in the Rapture of the Church, should they not be fully “repented up” and ready to go. These will be “left behind,” as the LaHaye and Jenkins novel title puts it. First, it is perhaps best to consider what is meant by the “exemplary life” in terms of prerequisites for making it to Heaven in the Rapture.

Those who insist that one must be living the exemplary life usually frame that as “living a life of holiness” or “living righteously.” By this, I presume they mean for the most part that one must be doing “good works” rather than living life in the “broad way” along which the pedestrian world moves. I would, of course, agree that the born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ should be doing exactly that every day. There’s no question that God’s Word calls us to that model for life while upon this fallen planet.

However, the question is now raise—and it is closely akin to the question raised whenever the declaration is made that one can lose one’s salvation: At what point does one “lose” his or her salvation? What particular “sin-point” is reached that causes the salvation meter in Heaven to go “TILT,” removing the sinner’s name from the Lamb’s Book of Life? Or, for our purposes here, at what point does one sin enough to be taken off the list of those who hold tickets into Heaven, who will be lifted to be with Jesus Christ in that millisecond of time known as the “twinkling of an eye” when Jesus calls: “Come up hither!” (Revelation 4:1–2)?

Those who believe that the names of the redeemed can be removed from the Lamb’s Book of Life, of course, use the following Scripture as one that prove their position is true: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels” (Revelation 3:5).

This is proof, say the “conditional security proponents,” that one’s name can be removed from the Book of Life. But, let’s have a closer look to examine whether this is true.

Those who hold that believers’ names can be erased from this blessed Book of Life insist that the born-again must “overcome” sin. In their belief dictionary, this means we must stay sin free—that is, either live above sin or stay continually “repented up” in order to keep our names in the Book.

They miss the point entirely as to who actually does the overcoming. It isn’t the believer who overcomes all sin, but the Lord Jesus who died in order to take sin away from those who believe so that we are no longer separated from God the Father in the eternal sense. This is seen, for example, in the following: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5).

It is simple belief in the Savior who takes away the sins of the world that makes us overcomers. We still sin and come short of the glory of God, but His precious blood shed at Calvary covers all of our sins—past, present, and future. We overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil–all sin in this earthly sphere—only by belief in the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16). Our overcoming is only through God’s great grace, through faith. We can never overcome by our own power.

When we sin, we break fellowship with our Lord, but we never break the eternal, family relationship. We do the following to take steps toward making right the sinful break in fellowship that we have caused. First, we must realize and admit that we are not sinless, because repentance cannot truly be made unless we confess that we have sinned. Upon such confession and repentance there is given blessed remedy: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).

God’s Word shows us that our salvation and our ability to overcome is totally based on what Christ did for us and our faith in Him alone. This brings us to the matter of being “Rapture Worthy.”

Going to Christ when He calls, as Paul outlines in 1 Corinthians 15:51–55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, and given by John in Revelation 4:1–2, is a salvation matter. We know that from the overall gospel message and from the total context of God’s dealing with His family. Remember when Jesus prayed that beautiful prayer to His Father, as the Lord faced the cross (John 17)? Read it again, and you will see that it is absolutely clear that born-again believers are forever secure in the Father’s hand, based upon what Jesus did on the cross.

We know with absolute certainty that we are once and forever in God’s family because of the words of the One who created all that exists: “My Father, which gave [them] me, is greater than all; and no [man] is able to pluck [them] out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:29).

Paul confirms that the Rapture is a salvation matter as follows: “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11).

The Rapture will be Christ keeping us from the hour of temptation or Tribulation (read Revelation 3:10). The Tribulation is the time of God’s wrath–to which Paul tells us we are “not appointed.” However, there are many who insist that Christians who haven’t properly confessed their sins will go through that time of God’s wrath (and the entire seven years of the Tribulation will be God’s judgment and wrath). These use the following verse to make their case: “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 21:36).

The key word they hold forth as relevant here is the word “worthy.” Does this word not mean that we as born-again believers must be good enough to stand before Jesus in that raptured throng? Does this word not mean, therefore, that if we fail to live up to God’s standards while on this Earth, we will (at some point in God’s holy view of what it takes to fall from being Rapture ready) lose our ticket in that translation moment, thus not be taken when the shout is heard, “Come up hither!”?

Like in examining the issue of salvation, in looking at the term “overcoming,” we now look at the word “worthy.” What does it mean to be “worthy,” as given in this Rapture example? Again, the answer is wrapped up in the same name as before: “Jesus.” Jesus is the only person “worthy,” in God’s holy eyes, to be in the heavenly realm.

Remember what Jesus said to a man who addressed Him as “Good Master”? “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God” (Luke 18:18).

Jesus, the second person of the Godhead, was not seeking to chastise the man for addressing Him in this way. The Lord was confirming through this question that He is indeed God, the only good, the only righteousness. Righteousness is the only ticket to Heaven–either through the portal of death, or through the Rapture. Only through Jesus–being born again into God’s family through belief in Him–can a person enter the heavenly realm.

Jesus spoke to this all-important matter by addressing Nicodemus: “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

God’s Word says about fallen mankind: “As it is written, There is none righteous no not one” (Romans 8:10) and, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 8:23).

So, Jesus is the only person “worthy” to enter Heaven. It is through Him that any of us are worthy to stand before Him in that heavenly realm. That is the truth found in the Scripture in question.

On a less magnificent scale, the word “worthy” in this passage means that we should be in a constant mindset of prayerful repentance. We should always want to be found “worthy”–cleansed of all unrighteousness, as stated in 1 John 1: 9, so that we will hear our Lord say to us on that day, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23).

Wish I could claim the thought within this commentary as my own, but I can’t. The realization comes from the Holy Spirit, as do all thoughts that truly glorify our God. But, humanly speaking, I must give credit for sparking my thinking to Dr. David Jeremiah, whose program Turning Point I try to catch at 5:00 or 5:30 (Central Time) on either A&E or The History Channel each week day morning.

So it was the other day that Dr. Jeremiah began talking about the compilation of evils we are now witnessing. How, if attuned to things going on in our nation and around the world, those who aren’t believers could easily be in a constant state of depression, or worse.

Those not paying attention to things going on—the majority of people going down that broad way along with all of humanity—have little awareness of the signals of catastrophe just ahead. They are busy going through the routines of life and don’t even want to understand why we are now supposed to believe, according to godless cultural corruptors, that man created God, rather than God created man.

We are told that we, not God, must determine which gender we think we should be (or parents think we ought to be). Biblical order is now supplanted by political correctness and woke directives derived from social media acolytes who now more and more demonically govern from their basements and other dark, safe places.

Kindergartners should be taught the perversions of sexual activity by transvestites and outright pedophiles. Men, under the guise of transsexual metamorphosis can interact with teenage girls in locker rooms and restrooms, and anyone who says otherwise is persecuted and even prosecuted as being phobic and haters.

Boys’ restrooms now must, by public school administrative rules, have tampon dispensers. Men must be acknowledged as being capable of being pregnant; else those objecting can be hounded, harassed, and even legally charged with hate speech.

Our top leaders within the US government try at every legislative and judicial level to turn the greatest nation in history–in terms of liberty under our Constitution—into a third-world dystopia. The sellout to the New World Order minions, such as those of the World Economic Forum, continues to be a never-ending assault on this once God-blessed republic.

So it was that Dr. Jeremiah was painting the picture and pointing out that it’s no wonder that Christians who see and understand these things are praying that Jesus will call us home.

I, and many I know who have prophetic ministries, hear from those who want more than anything for the Rapture of the Church to occur. I get many such thoughts through email each week, and the numbers are increasing.

Prayers are going up incessantly to the throne, imploring that Christ step out on the clouds of glory and call believers to Himself. Yes. I frequently pray the same.

There are those who see, in every event reported, intensive hope of the Rapture taking place within days or weeks at most. These begin postulating on whether this or that event will be the proverbial straw that breaks the back of the camel. Will this event or that bring into God’s holy nostrils a stench from the corrupt world that will make His cup of filling wrath finally overflow?

Yes. I’ve had some of those thoughts as well…

Or will this or that happening with regard to Israel cause the Lord to call the Church out so He can again begin dealing with the Jews, where things left off with Christ’s crucifixion—thus bringing in Daniel’s seventieth week–the Tribulation?

Like, for example, do the five red heifers that are in the news at present indicate the Rapture can happen at any moment? Or the train that is being constructed to deliver Jews swiftly and en masse to Jerusalem–is this precursor to the building of the Third Temple, thereby showing how very near we are to the Rapture?

These things, I took it, were cocooned within David Jeremiah getting to the point of the many prayers going up to the throne imploring that the Rapture take place.

But it was when he brought into the message the words of the Lord Jesus that really caught my attention. Dr. Jeremiah said something like: “Even as much as we want the Rapture, did you know that Jesus wants that time of bringing us home even more than we want it?”

He then gave an eloquent dissection of perhaps my favorite portion of all Scripture. It is the section that most touches me. He went through Jesus’ Words in the Gospel of John, chapter 17.

This, of course, is Jesus’ prayer to His Father for each and every believer who will ever live. And, I agree with David. He said that this section of the Bible, of all portions, is truly holy ground, and we must take off our shoes here (symbolically equating this time of Christ’s prayer to Moses’ time before God when receiving the Commandments.)

The pastor pointed, then, to Jesus’ most profound expression of desire to God the Father, and urged us to consider how much Jesus loves those who are His own–all believers. David spoke of how intensely Jesus desires to have us with Him—not to Indwell us, as He already does, but to have us in the place He spoke of as recorded in another part of John’s Gospel.

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:1–3)

Jesus implored His Father:

“And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:22–24)

Jesus’ capacity for love, for intense desire, is far above any human love or intensity of desire. Jesus wants us with Himself even more than we are capable of wanting it. This is the message in this portion of His magnificent prayer directly to His Father. Is there any doubt that God the Father will honor the request of His Son in this regard? There is no doubt whatsoever from this quarter.

Like so many of you, I believe the moment of Christ’s call is very close. To go to the Savior, our Brother, our Bridegroom, our Lord and God when He calls, you must be willing to do the following.  

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9–10)

Peter and Paul Lalonde and their productions are among my fondest memories during my earlier days upon entering Bible prophecy ministry. Theirs were among several programs I wouldn’t miss on any given week. So, I’m more than pleased to be given notice that Peter is again ready to join the pre-Trib prophecy community of ministries.

In the seventies, Peter Lalonde became fascinated with the prophecies of the Bible.

In the eighties he began writing, ultimately penning a dozen books.

In the nineties he spent a decade co-hosting an international television program called This Week in Bible Prophecy with his brother Paul.

By the two thousands, they had produced eight feature films including Left Behind: The Movie.

Lalonde remembers it this way: “We didn’t really do anything, it seemed like we were just along for one thrilling ride.”

Pointing out that the Bible contains 228,000 words of prophecy, not one word of which can be wrong, Lalonde notes “if it’s supposed this important, it can handle our best challenge.  That’s why it’s in there.”

His next venture is to put Bible prophecy on trial in a real courtroom with evidence presented to a global interactive jury in which anyone can participate. He shows jurors the evidence and they cast their vote right on their desktop or phone in real time as they watch.

“It’s not what I can show you about what I believe,” he says, “it’s about an honest presentation of facts that allow the jurors to decide what they believe.”

Knowing his excellence of presentation and past performance in laying out God’s prophetic Word, overlaid upon issues and events of these days so near the moment of Christ’s call to His Church, this is exciting news.

We should all look forward with great anticipation to what Heaven’s directive has for Peter Lalonde to present in these closing moments of this Age of Grace.

I, for one will do so with intensive interest.

Author’s note: This article was written a week earlier, so didn’t include my thinking on the most recent sabotage of the Nord Stream Pipelines that carry gas from Russia to Europe. This action adds further to the things shaping for the Gog-Magog prophecy as presented in this commentary. 

“Gaslighting” is considered a form of psychological abuse whereby a person or group manipulates one or more people into questioning their sanity and perception of reality. People who gaslight may intentionally or unintentionally use this form of abuse to exert power or control over others, with the goal being to manipulate them.

The above is the precise definition I got from the Internet. Certainly “gaslighting” is a term used to paint those who do it in a bad…well…a bad light. We often hear it used in politics when one side accuses the other of gaslighting–through fear or intimidation—in order to gain advantage over an opponent.

Manipulation is itself an unattractive thing in most cases, as it implies twisting in a deceptive way in order to get one’s way. But in the case of this commentary, I believe “gaslighting” and “manipulation” are absolutely righteous things. That is because that is exactly how I see our God is positioning one of Bible prophecy’s most heinous actors yet future in order to achieve the desired goal of that character’s judgment.

Of course, I use the term sort of tongue-in-cheek, because the Gog-Magog assault described in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 involves the force led by the leader possessed by the Gog spirit. And, I and others believe, the spoil Ezekiel says Gog will seek with the invasion into Israel might be well in view at this very moment.

That spoil the invaders will want might well be oil–petroleum. And, of course, natural gas–thus the perhaps the not-so-clever title of this article.

The Lord Himself will manipulate—will gaslight—the leader we believe will be from the land of Rosh (Russia). God will, according to the prophet Ezekiel, make manifest Gog’s evil intention.

“And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.” (Ezekiel 38: 3–4) 

God’s Word predicts further:

“Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.” (Ezekiel 38:10–12)

Amidst all of the phenomenal things we see developing in regard to stage-setting for prophetic fulfillment, God’s gaslighting the Gog-Magog forces gathered above Israel today is most significant in my view. The fact that most all nations of Europe are facing a winter without sufficient fuel to heat homes and even to power electrical necessities is nothing short of profound in figuring all of this, prophetically speaking.

And, while our God hasn’t caused this stage-setting for one of history’s most focal, end-times judgments, His omniscience has certainly controlled mankind’s sinful proclivities to the point it might be called heavenly manipulation.

Russia has all but cut off Europe from critical natural gas supplies, knowing the winters are brutal and European leaders are at his mercy. Or so Mr. Putin must think…

But God’s chosen nation (although they most often act as anything but these days) Israel, is also being used in a supernatural “gaslighting” way, if I might use the term again.

Israel, it appears, is now on the threshold of being able to fulfill all of Europe’s needs in this regard. As of this moment there are still matters to be manipulated and worked out. But one can almost tangibly feel the setting-up of the situation that might–and I believe will—bring about that enraged attack from Israel’s north.

Israel is cutting into Vladimir Putin’s money-making—power-grabbing—business. My question, of course: Will this be primary in acting as the “hooks in the jaw” of whoever will lead that Magog force over the mountains of Israel?

Here are brief excerpts of developments in the matters involving Israel and European fuel needs.

“Israel is not part of Europe, the theme of this issue of in FOCUS. But Israel’s trade, political and social relations to the continent are central to its thinking – and to that of Europe. As European countries – particularly Poland and Ukraine – worry about their reliance on Russian gas during frigid winters, Israel has forged an energy future that may challenge Russian leverage over European policy.

“Amidst the almost unbroken gloom and doom (mostly well-justified) about just about everything in our fracturing world it is a pleasure, for a change, to write about a development that is almost entirely good news. Israel, for the first 50 years of its existence, was almost totally devoid of natural resources, with the exception of some potash exports from the Dead Sea area. This was the basis of the joke that God promised the Israelites that he would lead them to a land of milk and honey, but he neglected to mention that all the oil and gas would go to others.

“Finally, in 1999, Noble Energy of the United States and the Delek Group of Israel began to plan and then carry out exploration and development of natural gas reserves off the coast of Israel.  Ten years later the Tamar commercially-viable gas field was discovered and development began.  Two years later the massive Leviathan field was also discovered and is now in the course of development. (Natural Gas: What it Means for Israel and Europe, Norman A. Bailey, PhD, professor of  economic statecraft at The Institute of World Politics, 2018)

“One of Israel’s major concessions when it signed the Camp David peace agreement with Egypt was giving up the Alma oil field in the Sinai Peninsula. Discovered and developed by Israel, the field seemed to be Israel’s only hope of becoming energy-independent.

“Rather than becoming independent, Israel depended on other countries like Egypt, Russia, and Azerbaijan for oil.

“Since then, Israel was known as one of the only countries in the Middle East with no natural resources. But that all changed in 2009 when a large natural gas reserve of 311 billion cubic meters (BCM) was discovered off the coast of Israel.

“Today, Israel’s gas reserves are so rich that they can supply not only Israel, but Europe as well. And that’s precisely what happened on Wednesday when Israel, and the European Union signed a natural gas agreement. The agreement was forged in Cairo as Egypt as the gas will flow via Egypt’s pipelines. Signing this trilateral agreement is Europe’s solution for replacing the Russian gas imports it has relied on for decades.

“Western Europe is trying to distance itself from Russia including economic boycotts. This phenomenon provided Israel with a rare opportunity to provide natural gas once provided by the Kremlin.

“Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission said in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem on Tuesday: “With the beginning of this war and the attempt of Russia to blackmail us through energy, by deliberately cutting off the energy supplies, we decided to cut off and to get rid of the dependency on Russian fossil fuels, and to move away from Russia and diversify to trustworthy suppliers,” adding that “It is an outstanding step bringing our energy cooperation to the next level.” (“Israel to supply natural gas to Europe and its connection to a blessing from Deuteronomy,” David Sidman, June 16, 2022,  Biblical News)

There seems no other prophecy we can see developing in clearer fashion than the Gog-Magog attack. There are differing views of when it will occur. Some believe it will take place before the Rapture of the Church, some after, and some simultaneously with that great home-going. But to the truly attuned Bible prophecy observer, preparations for that assault are shaping dramatically day by day, even hour by hour, proving, to my way of belief, that this world is on the brink of the Tribulation.

Before that most terrible time of history, Jesus will step onto the clouds of glory and call His bride, the Church, to Himself so His judgment and wrath can fall on the rebels of planet earth.

If you want to be part of that glorious leap from the planet when Christ calls, to be taken out of harm’s way, here is how.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9–10)