Jesus warned His followers, “If they shall say unto you (you believers), ‘Behold, he (the returning Christ) is in the desert,’ go not forth, (expecting to meet Him); ‘Behold, he is in the SECRET chambers,,’ believe it not” (See Matthew 24:26). Note well that Jesus clearly says there will be nothing secret about His return. “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, SO SHALL ALSO THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN BE!” (verse 27, Matthew 24). The return of Jesus Christ will be the most spectacular event the people of this world have ever witnessed!
Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away!” (Matthew 24:35). If we will only listen to Jesus and pay attention to the words He spoke and the statements He made we would not be confused or susceptible to men’s distorted unscriptural teachings. King David wrote, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). Again, “The entrance of thy words giveth light, it giveth understanding unto the simple” (Psalm 119:13). I do not listen to the words of Tim LaHaye or Jerry B. Jenkins – authors of the Left Behind fictional series portraying a distorted view of the end times and Christ’s return. Nor am I swayed by the oratory of Hal Lindsey in his bestseller The Late Great Planet Earth. These three men might mean well. The Mormon bishop might mean well. The Pope might mean well, but that is no indication they know and speak the truth.
Tens of thousands of professing Christians and their pastors, who lived in the 20th Century were absolutely certain they would be alive to be caught away in the “rapture.” Most of them are now long dead, moldering in their graves. Tens of thousands of professing Christians of this 21st Century likewise are certain they will be caught away in a secret rapture long before Islam begins conquering nation after nation. Many of them are so certain of this that they refuse to prepay their funeral expenses or purchase grave plots. They are unaware that thousands of Christians who lived and died in the 20th Century had the same mindset.
To be continued…..
Christ’s Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley