Here are a few posts I made some time ago on www.TheAwakening.com. Since the Awakening site will undergo a major change and these posts will no longer exist, I thought I could make a copy of them here in this post.
Faith and unanswered prayer
A good example of faith is a light switch. You must first know how to use the light switch. Once you have the knowledge, you will have to take action on that knowledge and flip the switch. Sounds simple, does it not?
That is the easy part. You may flip the switch and there is light. What happens when you flip the switch and there is no light? Do you make excuses such as:
- Maybe it is not time for the light to come on
- Maybe the light is on but we cannot see it
- Maybe the light is for others but not for me
- Maybe the light only works at night
- Maybe the light requires three on and off actions
- Maybe the light no longer works and was only used in the past
There are lots of excuses we can make if the promise is that we flip the switch and there will be light. Many people stop right there and give up. Some will wait to see if someone else can turn on the light and at times, may even even attack those that do manage to turn on the light saying the light is not for them and that they must be using evil powers to make the light come on.
Well, there is always more to it than a simple black and white condition and so is our walk with God.
You flip the switch and notice the light does not come on and you know the light bulb is good, but what about a fuse? Did a fuse blow, causing no power to reach the switch or the light bulb? Is the wiring okay, can it conduct electricity. There may be several reasons why the light is not lit when we throw the switch and we can stand there forever trying to turn it on, but until we investigate and see if there is electricity, it will appear to have failed us.
When a situation comes into our lives that require us to have faith in God, we can make excuses if we do not receive from our prayers or at times feel like God has failed us, but have we investigated to see if there is something blocking that power? In the Bible it mentions times when prayer is hindered. Here are a few that come to mind while writing this:
"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." [Matthew 5:23-24]
"Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." [1 Peter 3:7]
"Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia." [Daniel 10:12]
These are but a few, there are other things that may be in our way. As you can see, the enemy may delay an answer to prayers or we may have something against another and our prayers may not be heard.
Another direction we might look at unanswered prayer, does our prayers line up with the Word of God. Some times people pray for things that are not possible, such as violating a person's free will.
In the Book of Esther in the Bible, it tells a story of how a man used the King's power to make a decree to kill all the Israelites. When the king found out about this, even though the person had cheated to make this decree, the king could not change it. There was no way to stop the decree, if the king voided the decree, it would violate him as being king.
The answer to Esther's problem was not having the king cancel a decree, but to enact a new decree that said they could fight back and take out those that attached them. Many times we have a problem that cannot change directly but by looking at the entire problem, there may be avenues that line up with the Word.
The last problem that comes to mind is the misinformation. At times, we listen to ministers or teachings and cloud issues for us. On passage in the Bible says:
"Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye." [Mark 7:13]
This can happen when we hear different interpretations of passages in the Bible and it strips us of our faith to believe in them. In several places in the Bible it tells us to take heed of what we hear. We need to research those passages directly in the Bible using the Bible with prayer to verify if there are true or not. It may take some time, but prayer for God to help us listen to what the Bible says. Remember:
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." [Romans 10:17]
At times, we may have to read large parts of the Word before we find the truths. I know when I was "saved" back in 1990, I had several doctrines that people tried to convince me were true. I would think about these doctrines as I read my Bible. When I found passages for or against the doctrine, I would make a note on the edge of the page. After reading through the Bible (or a large part of it), I would go back and look for all those passages. Many times, it settled the matter. Remember, there is an Old and New Testament, ignoring one, may leave our doctrines a little lopsided. Much to be learned in both.
Remember, if we flip the switch and nothing happens, check for the cause, do not make excuses. God has given us many promises, directly and implied, we need faith to obtain them!
Comfortably Numb!
What will it take to wake us up and get us moving?
What will it take to get us out of our complacency, our lukewarm start of being? I remembered the title of an older rock song that fit the state of many of us today, it was "Comfortably Numb". That is what has happened, we are so desensitized to the sin that abounds around use and have justified so much of it, that we have made ourselves numb, without any feeling while the world around us is in pain and suffering and literally heading to Hell.
So, what will take to move us? How much tragedy must we see? Does it require personal mortality to hit us in the face before we cry out to God for help? What would you do if you or a loved one was diagnosed with a terminal illness tomorrow and given a week to live? How serious would your prayer be then? Must it go this far?
We need to wake up and seek God's face while we still can, while this is still time left. Not only for our future, but also for our present. God is always ready, but we are not. In the old testament it says:
2Ch 7:13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
What must God do to get our attention?
It is time while it is still day to turn to God and make Him the focus of our live instead of our fleshly desires. In Romans it says:
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
It is only our "reasonable service" to give our self to God, it is only reasonable, or should I say, the least we can do. Our mind is to stay upon Him. In Colossians says:
Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Our mind is to be on things above not down here. I heard someone say "do not be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good", but I rather say "do not be so earthly minded that you are no heavenly good"!
In the book of Revelation it says:
Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Notice, it is a rebuke but it is all a plea that we will come to Him and He will restore us.
How long will we wait? What shall it take to wake us from our slumber, from our numbness?
One Body?
Tonight I was thinking about Christians being one Body, one Family, one in Faith, one in Yeshua. I realized that over the last few years I have not really give this a lot of thought. Being "One Body" is quite amazing and at the same time dictates many responsibilities to everyone in that Body.
The first aspect of being a believer in Yeshua and thus being part of the Body of the Messiah, is family. The family of God is much more powerful than a natural family and crosses race, nationality and gender. We are one large family, if we will only remember it! If a person is prejudiced against any other race, nationality or gender, they need a deeper dip into Grace as there is no prejudice in the Body of the Messiah!
Even though we are family, that does not mean we will not have problems, it may actually mean we will have more as a group, but as being family, we are joined together anyway. We are commanded by Yeshua in the book of John, to love one another. That is not a suggestion, it is a commandment. Even if we do not agree on doctrines, as long as we are part of the Body, we MUST love each other. This should be a natural fruit of us being Born Again. If we have hardened our hearts to one another, we need to seek God and break down our hardened hearts. In the end, we need to see each other as Yeshua sees us and not by our flesh! Once we achieve this, we will never have a problem loving each other again!
Each and every one of us have the responsibility to help the members of the Body to which we have contact. We are to help each other grow in the Messiah unto His fullness. We need to stop thinking so much about our own welfare and start thinking about the welfare of the Body.
We can find more information on this in:
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John 15 and 17
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Romans 12
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I Corinthians 10 and 12
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Galatians 3
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Ephesians 4
Division
One problem I have noticed though, is that the Body seems to have too many heads and not enough other parts. There should only be one head, and that is Yeshua. It seems we have let division rule and man's interpretation of Scripture be one of the key dividers. We need to seek God for the answers and stop trying to "fit" Scripture to our own doctrines. I
There are currently tens of thousands of denominations, many of which are separated only by one or two doctrines. There is only one God and He is not divided in Word, He does not tell one person one thing and another a different version. If there is more than one view of a doctrine, we need to get the answer directly from the throne and not settle for agreeing to disagree. God is not dead and He has not left us alone, He gave us the Comforter to teach us all truth. The Holy Spirit has not left us, He is available to answer our questions and solve the doctrinal issues. There should not be two views on any doctrine and we should be one Body with one head!
It is our flesh that wants us to divide instead of solving the issues. We have our pet doctrines that we cannot release, even though they may be wrong. Any time we do not agree, we split off into a group that sees things the way we do regardless if our view is really God's view.
The Body needs "sound" doctrine and be a united front on this planet with absolute love for each other. Let us seek God's face and rip down these doctrine that divide us.
Sound Doctrine?
Some may say the the Bible has all the doctrine we need. I ask you this, by "who's" interpretation? It seems there are many different interpretation of vast amounts of Scripture. Who is right? There can only be one right answer and we need to receive that from God!
Let us say that you have a person in the church that had a change of gender before becoming a Christian. Now what do you tell them, have another sex change to go back? Maybe stay alone the rest of their life? How about a person that is born with both as both sexes?
Another issue is divorce. In Matthew 19, it says that if a person gets a divorce and remarries except for the grounds of "fornication", then they commit adultery along with the person they marry. In Mark 10, it does not even list the conditional "fornication" rule. Some take this clause of "fornication" to mean adultery, but what if it really means premarital relations? Under the law, they could put their wife away if they were not pure when they married.
So, we have a couple come in to a church who have been married three times before while they were Christians. What are they to do? Are this living in adultery? Are you sure of the answer, enough to bet someone's eternal life?
There are only a few of the problems church leaders face. While different people may gave different answers, God can tell us exactly what should be done. Anything less is injustice!
Organization
By the shear number of denominations, we can clearly see that people are our of touch with God. There is no true organization in the Body. We need to come together and agree to seek God's face for the unity of the Body. It is impossible for a human body to function if every part has a mind of its own. Can you imagine trying to walk if one leg had a mind of its own while the other had a different mind? Unless they work together, the body would go no where.
Many wonder why so much evil seems to rule in the world today. This would not be so if the Body would function as it is suppose to function. We need unity, not division! Unity however, will not work unless all members of the Body are submitted to the Head.
We need organization in the Body to ensure all parts of the Body work together for the good of the Body and that the Body is listening to the Head. If any member is not listening to the Head, all members need to ask the Head to send commands to the breakaway member and all help the rouge member.
In the natural, it may seem impossible, but we need to remember that God designed us to work together. If we just hold on to sound doctrine and nurture all the members so that they get their orders directly from the Head and not become heads over them.
Another step in organizing, is to form a single church body in every town instead of hundreds of different churches. Even while we are working on unity, we can still gather in different rooms of a central church. At least we would recognize we are One, even though we where not doctrinally together. This would also represent us as a united Body to the world.
It is strange how much finances are wasted in the Body today. Many churches are only open a few days per week, but the resources for the building still have to be all paid. We waste a huge amount of our finances on empty buildings. Why not combine into one large church with many rooms and all contribute to the one church?
Imagine the complexes we would have if all the different denominations in a town combined into a single large center. There would be no more worry if the bills were going to be paid nor waste of resources. Together we could not only have a place to worship (everyone in their own rooms/halls), but we could also help the poor, have a huge sanctuary open 24/7 for all those who wish to come and pray and provide a media center where all people in the center could learn or record/produce teachings.
Conclusion
The answer is in unity! There is no other answer, we must all come into unity of the faith to see they great outpouring on this planet while the harvest is still ready. Find someone in your town who believes in this and begin working on the solution. I believe the first step is to unite the local churches into a single entity. After that we can come and reason together and work off some of the false doctrines that have crept into the Body. If we only agree on seeking answers from God, we will be able to overcome!
Of course, the most important issue is to pray. We all need to conduct organized, continual prayer for love and unity, that Yeshua may have a Body on this earth and not just a few ineffective parts here and there.
Compromise
It was a sad day to me today. Another University has compromised their beliefs. Wheaton College of Illinois became quite the news item because they rewrote their “Community Covenant” to now include Drinking Alcohol, Smoking Tobacco and Secular Dancing for its staff, faculty and graduates. They said it was due to new Illinois laws that came about in 1991 which caused them to accept these things because they did not believe that the Christian faith forbid them.
This is neither the time nor the place to debate whether it is proper for a Christian to consume alcohol, tobacco or partake of dancing that is not Spirit led. I do not know your personal beliefs on this topic, but I do know that most of the Body of Christ has lost the call to holiness. Most Christians no longer strive for Holiness or to live in a way that is set apart from the world, it appears they strive more to live as close to the edge of worldly as possible. This is flat out wrong and only leads to destruction.
I have heard a warning by some religious people that said “Do not be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good”. That is just like the enemy of God to get things reversed. It is “Do not be so earthly minded that you are no heavenly good”. As it says in Colossians 3:1-2 :
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth”.
When I was just a young boy of about ten years of age, I was allowed to go to a Christian summer camp. We had to memorize at least one Scripture over the few weeks in order to receive a small camp pennant. I managed to memorize one passage which took me almost all the way home to complete, but I finally did. You know I remembered the passage throughout my youth and was one of the first I looked up when I became a Christian at the ripe age of 28. The passage was Romans 12:1-2 which says:
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
That passage sums a Christian walk with few words. We are to take control of our bodies and make a living sacrifice of them, keeping them holy and acceptable to God. The write says this is our “Reasonable Service”. That means, do not go looking for rewards or patting yourself on the back, it is only what should be natural if we are what we claim.
Another passage in Romans 8:5-6 says:
“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. “
It is time to live in Romans 12:1-2. The second half of that verse says that we are to be transformed to prove the good, acceptable, perfect will of God . Buy how? It says by “renewing of your mind”. This is accomplished by keeping our mind on the Word of God and spiritual things.
Yet another passage in Romans 13 :12-14 says:
“The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.“
Scripture is clear that we should strive to be more heavenly minded. In the days the we live in, it should be even more so! How can we show the way to the lost if we, ourselves, are so far away we cannot see? We do not have to be like the world to help them!
People it is time to repent of the works of our flesh and draw nigh unto God. Like that old song taught in many Sunday schools, let your light shine! It is the only thing people who are in darkness will be able to see!
Every Knee Will Bow
For the last few months, a theme has repeated itself in my mind. I wonder if we have lost this message somewhere. The message to which I refer is based on:
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phi 2:5-11
In the first verse, we see a description of ‘why’ Yeshua has the honor and who He is. The second verse though, embraced by those that believe and feared by those who do not. As Christians, we eagerly would fall at the feet of our Lord and confess that He is Lord. However, what about the unbelievers?
While many organized churches are trying to make God palatable to the world, verses like this seem to vanish from the typical sermon. I mean, it is a hard pill for an unbeliever to swallow that everyone, including them will bow to this God.
Offensive or not, it is a simple fact that one day not so far from now, everyone, get that word, everyone, will bow a knee and confess that Yeshua is Lord. Let that picture develop in your mind. Billions of people, everyone that ever lived will be gathered around the throne and before them will stand Jesus, the messiah and king. Every one of those people, willing, with joy for some and great remorse for others, will drop to their knees and confess out of their mouth, the deity and authority of Yeshua, giving Him honor and worship!
There is no escaping this for any person. Hitler will bow his knee, so will Mohammad, Buddha, L. Ron Hubbard, Ozzy Osbourne, everyone will bow their knee, willing before the Lord. Does not matter where you came from, how you were raised, who you knew, everyone will bow in acceptance of who Jesus is. People can try to fool themselves and say they will not, but there are no exceptions, everyone will bow their knee.
Now, that everyone has bowed their knee, the next problem they will face is eternity. In the Bible it says:
"Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore." Psa 16:11
In the presence of God, there is fullness of joy and pleasures forever. The unbeliever experiences that glorious feeling and after receiving judgment, the person is removed from God’s presences to never return. If that was the only punishment they would receive, it would be horrific, but they still have an eternity to live in torment beyond that day.
It is our duty to make sure we try our best to get everyone to know that one day "they will" willingly bow their knee unto Yeshua. They need to know, He is there and loves them, extending to them His love only asking that they receive.
One of my favorite passages is:
"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." Rom 5:6-9
What a wonderful comforting thought, that while we are at our worst, Yeshua still came and died for us. Does not matter what you have done, you cannot be too bad for Him. He paid the price for every human that has ever lived! No one ever has to worry about God rejecting them now, if they only come. We must lead them to the water, that they may drink and be renewed.
The Soon Return!
Jesus said the He would return and gather us together with Him at a later time. In the Bible, we are given hundreds of prophecies concerning the last day events.
Note: Some in the Body of the Christ today may have problems with the following. There are so many teachings when it comes to the last day events that it has caused great confusion. I do not say that I know exactly the order of the last day events, but I do know that anyone who reads the Bible and without twisting it to fit a certain doctrine, will have to admit that it could happen as follows. I love God and the brethren and I am not putting this out for a theological debate but as the way I feel the last days will occur from reading the Bible with an open mind. I just want everyone to be awake, Jesus could come tomorrow!
The Future and the Tribulation:
In the future there will be a period of seven years that some have named the "Tribulation" which will conclude with Jesus coming back with all Christians to take rule of this world.
During the Tribulation, a person shall arise to take control of the entire world in a New World Order (yes, that term you hear so much of lately). He will convince all the nations of the earth to gather against Israel, forcing himself as being their Messiah and hoping to stomp out all Jews that do not accept him. This is the one that Jesus shall destroy with the brightness of His return.
Many disasters shall happen in that seven years. Some by mankind and some are the result of God's judgment on the world. Here is a small list of some of the disasters:
- Russia and its allies will attack Israel and five sixths of their armies shall be destroyed in the mountains (sounds like a nuclear attack). It will take all of Israel seven months to bury their dead enemies [Ezekiel 38:1 39:29].
- Famine so great that it will take a full days wage to buy a loaf of bread [Rev 6:5 6]
- One out of four people will be killed by war, famine, disease and wild animals [Rev 6:7 8]
- Nuclear war [Rev 6:12 17 / Zechariah 14:12]
- Hail stones that weigh 100 lbs each. [Rev 16:21]
- One third of sea life and ships destroyed by an asteroid [Rev 8:8]
- One third of the land set on fire [Rev 8:7]
- One third of the drinking water polluted [Rev 8:10-11]
- One third of the sunlight blocked out because of something in the air -- it could be nuclear fallout [Rev 8:12]
- All life in the sea destroyed [Rev 16:3]
- Horrible sores on the people [Rev 16:2,10-11]
- One out of every three people killed by a 200 million man Asian army -- never possible until our time [Rev 9:13 21]. The cold war is not over it has just moved to China.
- The creation of a global New World Order. In this New World Order, you will not be able to buy or sell unless you have a mark in you hand or forehead. If you take this mark you shall be damned [Rev 13:16 17,14:9 11,20:4].
These are only a few of the things that are yet to come upon the world. The Tribulation will end with Jesus coming back and ruling His kingdom.
After the Tribulation, Satan will be bound and cast into the pit for a period of 1,000 years. During this time, there will be great peace on the earth and we will rein with Jesus, in our new bodies that do not ever experience pain or die. People of this earth will live to be many hundreds of years old as it was in the beginning. Out of these people two nations shall be formed which will fight the last war when Satan is turned loose for a season. When the war is over Satan will be cast into the lake of fire along with all those who are not found in the Lambs Book Of Life. Then God will make a new heaven (sky, stars, etc.) and a new earth where we will live with Him throughout eternity.
This may seem like a lot to take in, but signs of it have already started to come to pass. This can only mean that we will see the Return of Jesus the Christ in our lifetime. You might ask "people have said that centuries, what is different now?"
I will not even attempt to list the large amount of prophecies that are being fulfilled today on the evening news, but will give a few clear reasons why His return is very soon!
The Rapture or Catching Away:
It is written, that there will be a loud blast of a trumpet and the people who have past on before us will rise again. Then us who remain and are alive will be changed in a twinkling of an eye and will meet Jesus in the air (I Thes 3:13 18 / I Cor 15:51 58). This changing is when our flesh is converted will be changed and will not ever decay or die. The flesh of Jesus was changed when He was resurrected. We shall have the same. Few people will agree when this event, that some have named the "Rapture" or the "Catching Away" will occur.
The Rapture is when Jesus comes back for His own and takes them away to heaven while God pours out judgment on the earth during Tribulation. I believe there are scriptures that can place the Rapture at the beginning, middle and end of the Tribulation. Nobody can say absolutely that they know when the rapture will take place, since there are scriptures pointing at all three positions. I look at it this way, if you are ready for it to happen at the beginning you will be able to handle it if it does not take place until the end.
I personally tend to support the Rapture taking place just before the Tribulation because of the reason for the Rapture (to keep us from His wrath) and a couple scriptures:
"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." [St. Luke 21:28]
"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" [St. Luke 21:36]
While there are still many more that support the Rapture happening just prior to the Tribulation, these seem to be clear. There is another simple fact that would support the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah it seemed that nothing could be done until the only righteous people who lived there, were removed to a place of safety [Genesis 19:22].
There are still more scriptures that tell us we need to watch for that day [Mark 13:13 37,Mathew 24:42 44,Luke 21:33-36]. If some event still needs to happen, why would He tell us to watch? If you approach the Bible with an open mind, these few scriptures will make you say that it is at least possible for Him to come at any time.
When the Rapture takes place all the people who believe in Jesus and are ready, shall go with Him to heaven until the end of the Tribulation. At that time, we will all come back with Jesus to rule with Him for the 1,000 years of peace.
There is a doctrine that that I call the "the doctrine of the Second Chance" that almost put me and some of my family in hell. What this doctrine says is that after the Rapture the people who have rejected Jesus or are not living up to the Christian walk and are left here on earth shall have another chance to be saved. I was taught (in a major denomination) that if you missed the Rapture you could be saved if you would die as a martyr for Jesus during the tribulation. This is far from what I have read. The only people who have any form of a chance during the tribulation, are those who have never heard about Jesus!
In [II Thessalonians 2:10 12] it clearly says that all those who miss the Rapture, that have heard of Jesus and not received Him, shall be made to believe a lie so and will be damned. The will have lost their own free will. This is simple, if you know the Lord and do not make the Rapture you will be damned. There is no second chance.
Do not be fooled if people try to comfort you about you unsaved family members who have heard about Jesus but as still rejecting Him. It does not matter if you leave books or movies behind for them, they will be blinded to the truth and no longer have a free will. Today is the day of salvation. They need to receive Him before that day comes.
After I got Born Again and read this chapter I was scared since it almost put me in hell (almost it did not cross my mind that I could die before that event and still be in hell). I thought I could just wait until the Rapture and then turn to God after I had lived a life of sin. I had to inform other people (including members of my family) about this false doctrine after I read this passage because they had been taught the same.
Signs Of When This Shall Come To Pass:
There are many signs that we shall see all this come to pass, but I will present a couple very clear ones here.
In the first century A.D. there was a common doctrine where the days of creation represented a thousand days each. It was founded on [Psalm 90:4] and means that it took six days to create everything, so it shall exists for 6,000 years.
I believe this is exactly what Peter was confirming when he wrote:
"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." [Peter II 3:8]
Barnabas was a traveling companion with Paul. He said in his writings (which were not included in Bible, but I refer to here for historical record only):
"And God made in six days the works of his hands; and he finished them on the seventh day, and he rested the seventh day, and sanctified it. Consider, my children, what that signifies, he finished them in six days. The meaning of it is this; that in six thousand years the Lord God will bring all things to an end. For with him one day is a thousand years; as himself testifieth, saying, Behold this day shall be as a thousand years. Therefore, children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, shall all things be accomplished."
This is very direct. You can clearly see the link to what Peter said. We are now at around the end of that 6,000 year period. This could never have been possible before and will never again. It can only happen in our lifetime!
Next, we have a passage in the Gospels that refer the last days and tie them together with the parable of the Fig Tree [Matthew 24:32,Mark 13:28,Luke 21:29]. The Bible refers to Israel as being the Fig Tree (an example is when He cursed the fig tree because it was not bringing forth fruit as a picture of Israel's current condition Hosea 9:10 also has a reference to the fig tree) . What many believe this to be is the forming of Israel as a nation which happened in May of 1948, after not being a nation for about 2,500 years, others think this may apply to the 1967 war that allowed Israel to have Jerusalem again. However you wish to take it, it does point to the near future.
The passage continues on to say:
"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. " [Luke 21:32]
Some Christians take this to mean the generation that was alive at the time when Jesus said this would not "pass away. " This could not have been correct since "all be fulfilled" would have included the return of Jesus. Yet, others believe the word "generation" was actually supposed to be "age", so that the version was "this 'age' shall not pass away..".
What I believe this really means is, the generation that sees the rebirth of Israel shall not all die before what was mentioned shall be fulfilled, which includes the return of Jesus.
These are only a couple of main prophecies pointing to the present time. If you look around at the world, you will probably see a lot of what the following describes.
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." [II Timothy 3:1 5]
The "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God" is what is wrong with a large amount religious people today.
Summary:
The main focus of this is that the Lord Jesus the Christ is coming back in our lifetime and we need to be ready. How can we be ready? Simply tell as many people as you can the Simple Gospel and draw close to God!
To know that it will be soon, we only have to look around, there are too many things in place that cannot be held back for long. Jesus the Christ will be back soon and all of this will begin!