What Is Your Legacy?

Over the past several years I have gotten emails from people concerning the fact that I am one who is preparing for hard times.

Folk have accused me of not "trusting God" and taking matters into my own hands.

Not trusting the government because they will "always be there for us."

Being a "post tribber" thinking I can hide in the mountains for 7 years and make it to the other side.

The issue is that when I am accused and then I question these people's logic.

Their response?  It usually does come down to the "well the rapture is coming so why should I prepare?"

I then ask them, "how many people do you know that do not know the Lord? Friends? Family? Co-workers?"

Everyone knows someone.

I then ask them if they have earnestly presented the gospel to these people and know without a shadow of doubt that they truly understood and have rejected the gospel.

I ask did they show these people from God's Word the eternal plan of salvation? Did they share verses with them that they have memorized?

I ask this because we read in Romans the following…

Romans 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

I do not believe that people come to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ through looking at stars, looking at creation, checking a box on some yellow card in church or raising their hand when the pastor calls upon them.

Can they come to the understanding that there is a God through these things?

Yes they can, but these things do not present God's sacrifice of His only Son on the Cross who shed his blood for our Sins and through that we come to the understanding of needing to accept that we are sinners in need of a savior.

In fact to expand upon this we know from what Luke recorded in Acts about a certain man named Cornelius the Centurion.

Act 10:1-2  There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,

2  A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

As we know Cornelius was a devout man, loved God, gave alms to the poor, and prayed to God always.

But Cornelius was not saved nor did these things lead to His salvation.

That is until Peter came to this man and preached the gospel to the gentiles.

Here is what happened…

Acts  10:44-45  While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.

45  And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.

As we see here, Cornelius "heard The Word. He and his household became Christians. In fact these people are the first recorded "gentile Christians" who came to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

I say all of this because I believe there are many who have possibly gone to church, listened to some preacher, watched some Christian TV show, heard some Christian radio show, etc, etc, etc.

But they are not Christians.

We know people whom the gospel has not struck home with them in the heart, they were not convicted, the knowledge of God.

It did not become apparent to them for one reason or another and it just did not click.

So what does this have to do with Preparedness?

A lot and in fact, it is one of my driving forces and why our family prepares for hard times.

See I am of the firm conviction that not only will I have a voice and a testimony on this side of the rapture.

I strongly believe that the legacy that I leave behind will also speak for me and hopefully through the teaching of The Word as well as through action and deed of my witness on this side will impact those on the other side of the rapture.

I know people, even some who are close to me,  who do not know the Lord. Some of these people I have spoken to and some I have not.

Sometimes I have tried to open the doors to share, but I just know that the timing is not right. The people I talk to stare at me like some deer in the headlights. It just is not computing with them and it seems that all I am doing is saying "blah blah…blah blah blah."

Now, I have to say that I strongly believe that even though "I" went through the proper paces, the Holy Spirit did not prepare that person's heart for that time to "hear" the gospel.

So I cannot say with conviction that the person I spoke to truly heard the gospel and was able to make a clear decision as to their fate of their eternal soul.

We learn from Christ's parable of the sower and the seed that even though the "seed" (the gospel) is sewn, the seed often does not take root and hold.

Mat 13:3-9  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Timing and preparation of that person's heart needs to be "fertile" so as to accept the seed and then have it fully germinate in ones heart, mind and soul.

To him who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Thing is that there are many, who at that time, do not have "ears to hear."

You Gotta Serve Somebody

I am one who believes that there will be no such thing as "Atheists" after the rapture has taken place.

See, I believe that once the age of grace is over, you will have one choice God or the Devil.

I do not think Buddha, Confucius, dali-lama, Joseph Smith, or even little green men will be preached during this time.

It will be the gospel of the antichrist (Satan) or the gospel of the Lord (Jesus Christ). Those will be the only two choices man will have at that time and they will have to choose one of them.

Yes, I know that there are some who believe that once the rapture takes place then it is "to bad, so sad, You missed the boat" for all those gentiles who are left behind.

In fact I think this is a very sad attitude indeed.

There will be gentiles and Jews who will come to God during the Tribulation. We know this for a fact.

How do I know this when so many preach a "To Bad, So Sad you missed the boat" message of doom and gloom?

There are two primary issues that many people refuse to look at.

The Great Multitude

First we read in Revelation the following…

Revelation 7:9-13  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;

10  And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

13  And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

14  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.

To back this up we continue to read in Revelation 20 the following…

Revelation 20:4  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.

So this I believe is the first evidence showing that there will be millions upon millions of tribulation saints from all walks of life who come to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then,… they died for Him.

But not all will die, some do live.

Christ Judges Sheep Nations and Goat Nations

The second piece I want to show is that we know that there will be nations and people who DO survive the tribulation and that DID NOT take the mark.

We know this for a fact because those who DID take the Mark of the Beast were in fact thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

We also know that there will be many because Christ himself will judge the nations and separate those who stood with Israel or who stood with the Antichrist.

Matthew 25 tells us..

Matthew 25:32-33  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Knowing that scripture will back itself up, we read in both Isaiah and Micah the following…

Isaiah 2:4  And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Micah 4:3  And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

There are those who believe that since it is the great tribulation that anyone who is saved during the trib are only from the house of Israel or that only a few gentiles come to the Lord.

I can't believe this for reasons I have shown above.

We know that millions upon millions will suffer and die for the Lord during the tribulation.

We also know that when Christ has finished His war with the Antichrist and his followers that He will judge the nations.

Nations are people, and not just a few here and a few there.

Now to caviat this, when one does the math, the statistics will be about 1 in 5 who will survive the tribulation.

Folks, those are not good odds at all and many will die, this is a fact.

Finally, we know that during the millennial reign people will once again populate the earth and Jerusalem will be the head and center of the world where Christ will rule from His throne.

What is Your Legacy That You Will Leave Behind?

We know that millions will make it through the tribulation. But we also know that this will be the worse time man has ever seen.

Millions upon millions will die during this time where the wrath of God is poured out. But that is not all. We often forget that the hatred of Satan will also be poured out upon man as well.

Man will be literally in the middle of these two immovable forces, God's Wrath and Satan's hatred.

The great tribulation will not be a cake walk, but there will be people who do in fact choose Christ and make it through this hell on earth and to the end.

It is for this reason that I know that, we know that we will leave a legacy to someone. Maybe a friend, family member, maybe even someone we have no knowledge of what so ever.

But because we as a family have prepared for hard times today, maybe we can leave a legacy for someone or some family after the rapture.

This is the reason why I ask the MANY Christians who are on this side of the rapture the following question…

"What Is Your Legacy That YOU Will Leave Behind?"

How will you be a positive witness to people on the other side of the rapture?

We have an opportunity to be a positive witness here as well as on the other side. But so many have been so self absorbed with the "great escape" of the rapture that they have not even considered those we could impact for the Lord on the other side.

This is one of the primary reasons why we are so convicted to be good stewards over what the Lord has provided for us.

Why?

Because what He has provided for us today, may be what He provides for that person or persons who missed the rapture on the other side.

Think about it. One may never need the "prepps" that they have put together.

Maybe the reason that God has impressed upon that person to prepp is to have something for those on the other side of the rapture.

I know for a fact that we have bibles, literature, DVDS and information sharing the gospel. We have in place things that will give that person answers as well as provide a safe place and hopefully the time to find an answer to their questions and through this come to the saving faith by grace of our Lord Jesus.

See the key is not having that person make it to the end of the tribulation,. The key is to have that person come to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Odds are that they will in fact die and it is their eternal soul that is important, not making it to the end.

It Has Always Been Grace Though Faith

What people do not realize is that salvation has ALWAYS been the act of faith through the grace of God's gift of His Son on the cross that has saved man.

It was that way during the Old Testament time, it is that way today, and it will be that way once again during the tribulation.

The only difference is that we live during the time of Grace. The Holy Spirit is with us the moment we accept the Lord as our personal savior.

But I believe that once the age of grace is over, that the holy spirit will return to His prior role as he did during the Old Testament times.

We know that people were able to have the holy spirit during the time of the old testament, but He did not indwell them like He does today. People could lose the indwelling of the holy spirit.

We know this because David begged God not to take the holy spirit from him due to his sins with Bathsheba when he said the following…

Psalms 51:11  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

I do not believe that the Holy Spirit will be whisked away never to be seen again like so many teach when it comes to the rapture.

To say that the Holy Spirit will depart completely is not within the character of God who is in fact omnipresent.

Meaning that He, God, The Holy Spirit, cannot vacate time and space, otherwise He is NOT omnipresent. If He being the Holy Spirit is NOT omnipresent, then it makes God a liar and we all know that God cannot lie. (Titus 1:2)

What can and what I believe will happen is that the role of the Holy Spirit be changed back to what His role was prior to the Age of Grace. What that was I am not sure, but we do know that the Holy Spirit was in fact present in many forms.

What this means is that if one is to come to the saving grace of our Lord during the time of tribulation, it will be very difficult to be a Christian because they will not have the full coverage from the Holy Spirit as we do today.

I do not believe that they will be able to lose their salvation, it will just be a much harder walk and then couple that with the  Wrath of God and the hatred of Satan and one can see that it will be a living hellish nightmare to be alive during this timeframe.

This is why I say that we, as those who had the foresight, can make a difference possibly in someone's life during the tribulation.

In fact who knows, maybe because we prepared today, someone from tomorrow might be the next Moody, Sprugeon or some great evangelist who does lead many to the Lord and away from the Antichrist.

We know that millions die for the Lord and they came to that saving grace prior to the 144,000 as well as the angels who preach the gospel.

So prayerfully consider storing up food, supplies and other items with the knowledge that you may be making a difference in someone's life not only today, but possibly during the tribulation as well.

Where To Start?

If this article has convicted you in hopes of being a voice on the other side and you do not know where to start, please contact me at ray.gano@prophezine.com and I can point you in the right direction. I have some PDFs that I have written to give you a good idea.This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

In fact a very good place to start is by getting my book "Survive The Coming Storm." Not only will this help you prepare your home now for the coming hard times today, but can also help you prepare in hopes of leaving a legacy to help someone on the other side.

I encourage you to get my book and please use one of the following links below.

If you live in the US, ($20.00) please use the following link

http://tinyurl.com/STCS-US-ORDER

If you live outside the US, ($25.00) please use the following link
http://tinyurl.com/STCS-NON-US-ORDERS

This is a conviction of mine so expect to see more articles in detail on how you can better prepare as well as articles to those who are on the other side of the rapture.

Finally..Always Be Ready

Knowing this does not negate our responsibility on this side of the rapture, what we need to be doing is being diligent about the Lord's work and share the gospel with everyone we know.

Prepping and then saying "well I have done my job" is not the right attitude. We need to work diligently "until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in."(Romans 11:25)

In other words, till the last Gentile comes to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We do not know when that time will come, nor what that number will be.

We are living in the last days of the last days and we have the chance to impact people for the Lord not only on this side of the rapture but quite possibly on the other side as well. But to do so, we need to take action now while we still have time and resources to do so.

That is why each and every one of us has a duty to God, to be diligent stewards and to occupy till He returns and Always be ready to share the hope that is within them.

By Ray Gano