It really bothers, and saddens
me when I hear Christians say that Jesus can come back today. HE CANNOT!
Certain things must occur before Jesus can come back at the rapture. Those things
have not happened yet, therefore Jesus cannot come back today or any other day
until those things occur.
God clearly tells us this; the Thessalonians basically had this same issue; they either thought they missed the rapture, or that it was about to occur. Here is what God through the apostle Paul told them.
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 2 Thes 2
What does God say? Don’t be shaken or troubled that the Day of Christ is at hand. In other words the Day of Christ, which is the rapture event, is NOT at hand—NOT IMMINENT! God told them the rapture cannot happen yet. God then further tells them what must occur before the rapture is at hand—imminent.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 2 Thes 2
What does God say must happen before the rapture takes place at the Day of Christ? The “falling away” must occur first, the man of sin—the antichrist—be revealed and the abomination of desolation occur—proclaims himself to be god in the Temple.
1.
Falling away.
2.
antichrist
revealed.
3.
Abomination of
desolation.
All of that must occur before
the day of Christ—the rapture—is at hand or imminent! Those things have not
occurred, therefore there is no imminence, and Christ cannot come back today.
But what is imminent is the awakening that many Christians are going to have
when they find themselves in the midst of major end times events totally
unprepared—the church is asleep.
What About Imminence?
Yet another argument put forth by pre-trib adherents is their belief in the doctrine of the imminent return of Christ. They reason that since the apostles were awaiting the return of Christ with great expectancy—and that they may even have believed that Christ could return and the rapture could occur at any time—that nothing has to occur prophetically before the rapture can take place. This includes the peace treaty or any parts of the 70th Week of Daniel.
This is a doctrine that was shown to be false by the apostle Paul himself. In 2 Thessalonians 2:1–3, Paul had to address the Thessalonians concerning a doctrinal problem they had regarding the timing of the Second Coming:
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.
The Thessalonians falsely believed that the Day of the Lord and the rapture were ready to occur (or had already occurred) and that they missed it and were in the Day of the Lord period. Paul told them that they did not miss it. He also told them about two signs that must occur beforehand, namely the great falling away and the revealing of the antichrist.[1] We have also elaborated on three other signs that need to occur before the Day of the Lord or the Day of Christ: the moon being turned to blood, the sun being darkened, and the prophet Elijah returning to earth. Therefore, since God has made it clear that certain things must occur before the rapture occurs at the Day of the Lord, and since those things have not happened yet, there can be no doctrine of imminence. Christ’s return will not be imminent until the signs mentioned above have first occurred.
Van Kampen elaborates on this point:
The return of Christ has never been truly imminent and will never be imminent until the great tribulation of antichrist begins and the surrounding Gentile nations come together against Jerusalem in the valley of Jehoshaphat. Only then are the elect of God told to look for the sign of Christ’s coming which will be seen in the heavens, but only after the earth is first plunged into darkness by the sign of the end of the age.[2]
So while the first-century church, as recorded in the New Testament writings, showed a great expectation and anticipation of the return of Christ, the scriptures themselves tell us that the rapture cannot occur at any time, but only after the signs are fulfilled.
End of excerpt
I hope you realize that Jesus CANNOT come back today; after we see the falling away, the abomination of desolation, and the antichrist take over the world, then we can say the rapture is imminent. And when you see Seal 6 opened—the sun darkened, the moon turned to blood, and the stars fall—then go outside and look up, because Jesus will appear in the sky and bring you home.
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
Not sure that you will go to
heaven? The end times are knocking on the door and so is Jesus. He wants to
save you, will you let him in? Find out
what you must do to be saved, click here.
Do you know what will happen in the end times and how to prepare for them? I wrote a book to help you. It is entitled The Coming Epiphany and will explain to you, in an easy to understand format what you need to know about the end times. The Coming Epiphany is available in paperback and as an eBook on Amazon.com. (If you cannot afford one please email me)
Note: I appreciate and want to thank all of you who have helped support this ministry by purchasing a book and or making a donation.
About the author: William
Frederick; M.Div. has been preaching and teaching the Word of God for over 30
years. He has dedicated his life to serving God and helping others come to a
saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and understand essential end times
Bible Prophecy truths. He is the author of several books including The
Coming Epiphany and The Dollar Code. His articles are originally published on The
End Times Forecaster Blog. From
there, his articles are published and referenced on various prophecy news
related websites. If you would like to republish his articles, please feel free
to do so, just please include the original link to the article. The more people
that see this information the better, and we need to wake more people up while
there is still time.
[1]
Some, in their attempts to bolster the pre-trib position, have claimed that the
phrase “falling away” comes from the Greek word rapturem and is better translated “rapture.” Thus, they argue that
the verse says that the rapture must precede the coming of the antichrist. In
my opinion, this is nothing more than an attempt to make the Word of God say
something that it does not. The word used in the Greek New Testament is apostasia, or “falling away,” from which the English term “apostasy” is derived. “Falling
away” means to backslide. Backslide from what? From the truth.[1]
Thus, the phrase “falling away” means just that—a falling away from the truth;
and the verse tells us that this must take place before the rapture and the Day
of the Lord.
[2] Robert Van Kampen, The Sign (Wheaton, Il.: Crossway Books, 1992), 315.
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