The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Anjela Paje of Spokane, WA, from the tape, GC 1301-X, titled "Bible Questions and Answers Part 26."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE.  ©1983. All Rights Reserved.

Questioner

I want to know if the world is going to know when Jesus returns for the saints, if the world’s going to see this, and if there’s a scripture saying they will or won’t?

John MacArthur's Answer

The question, basically, can be answered this way, obviously, the world is going to know something happened. It appears as though they’re not going to acknowledge what it is that happened.

For example, when the rapture occurs, is what you’re asking about and the Lord catches away the Christians, which is the end of the church age. When that occurs, the world’s going to have to know that because millions of people will instantly disappear. There will be no bodies left. None. And, I’ve often wondered what would happen to the people in the morgue and the embalming places who are sort of "in process." When the mortician goes back in and can’t find anybody, and they start searching around for the body-snatchers that supposedly took these cadavers that would be joined with their spirits and so forth.

That’s going to happen for sure, but the world, apparently, does not acknowledge that because there’s no great revival following the rapture. A seven-year period called the Tribulation follows the rapture. The first three and a half years there’s no revival of any kind at all. In fact, with the church gone, there’s really nobody left to evangelize. And, it’s kind of like what Jesus said to the Rich Man and Lazarus. You remember the Rich Man said let me go back and tell my brothers and warn them, and He said, Jesus said, if they don’t believe the scriptures, they wouldn’t believe the one who rose from the dead. And, if they don’t believe the scriptures, they aren’t going to believe the rapture, either. Isn’t going to make ‘em believe. In fact, the very opposite happens, and when the two witnesses of Revelation 11 are sent around the world, and, I believe, they’re in the first three and a half years. Two witnesses, called olive branches and lamp stands, are sent around the world to preach. The world kills them. That’s how hostile they are.

Now, people have often asked me, well, how can they explain this away? Let me give you an illustration.

Some years ago, there was a young man who came to our church, and he was commissioned by a The Schurmer (sp?) Music Company, which is probably one of the largest music publishers in the world. They publish an awful lot of church music. But the Schurmer's (sp?), the people at that time, from what he told me who ran the company were into the occult up to their ears, and were contacting mediums and spirits. And they had this society, I can’t think of the name of it anymore, but it was down in Santa Monica, they met and they went through these deals with these mediums, contacting demon spirits and all this. And, this young man was was commissioned to write a rock opera very much like Jesus Christ Superstar. One of those called, Elisium (sp?) 1990, and he wrote the whole thing. And, he said it was all written by demon spirits. In other words, it was automatic writing. He sat down and his hand moved, and he just made the notes. And, he knew he was under the control of demon spirits. He did it very rapidly, and all of this kind of thing. And he said he got further involved in this New Age Society, kind of occult thing, Society of the Golden Dawn, or something like that. And, when he got in it, he learned some very interesting things.

They gave him a book, and he brought me the book. He brought me this book. And, in this book, was a very interesting section. And, the book said that we have our demons located in various planets. We have them located in the United Nations. We have our spirit beings located in the government of all the countries of the world, and we’re working on this sort of massive plan and all this stuff. And, one of the sections of the book was very interesting. It said that someday we’re going to remove all the Christians from the earth who are holding back society from reaching the next level of consciousness.

So, the demons have already laid out some kind of a strategy and an explanation for the rapture. They’re just going to tell the people who are connected to them, that they’ve removed these people so that society can rise to a higher level. And, unbelieving people are going to buy that faster than they’re going to buy the truth. So, I don’t think there’ll be a great revival at that time, no. The great revival comes at the middle of the Tribulation when God seals the 144,000 Jews and sends them out all over the world to evangelize, and then when all hell breaks loose across the earth, that’s what drives people to an understanding of the salvation that comes in Christ.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur's Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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