I received the following question in August of 2018 from a faithful
web visitor. ...
Hey *****,
Yes, I do. I remember my father in 1980 saying that he thought the Rapture would happen within the next 5 years. He wasn't setting a date, he just felt that way. That is how God wants every believer to feel, expecting Christ to return at any moment. Granted, after 2,000 years it can get quite frustrating at times, but if we consider Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's image, we are definitely close to the end...http://www.jesusisprecious.org/prophecy/8_kings_of_revelation.htm
We are clearly living in the times of the feet of iron mixed with clay. As we move from the head toward the feet in Nebuchadnezzar's image, each succeeding metal cheapens but becomes stronger, until we get to the weakened feet. The two legs of iron represent the brutal divided Roman empire. Today, no one nation rules the world, as did Rome during the New Testament. We have numerous super powers today, but no one world power. The forming New World Order will be a global force, but consisting of individual nations, some weaker than others; hence the iron mixed with clay.
The following passage of Scripture clearly explains that God is going to keep His promise to return, but is delaying so more people can get saved. A day is as a thousand years to God, and a thousand years as a day. That is amazing...2nd Peter 3:3-4 and 8-9, "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. ... 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. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
I have to admit that there's a part of my soul that thinks the Lord won't return for another couple decades, because technology hasn't quite developed yet as I think it will. I foresee holographic images in the future, because Revelation 13:15 says the False Prophet will cause a life-like image to both speak and kill anyone who refuses to worship the Antichrist. That sure sounds like advanced technology to me. With genetic engineering, and the making of chimeras (half human/half animal creatures), I don't think the Lord will tolerate much more of this mess.
Clearly, the temple in Israel is begging to be rebuilt. The Muslims own control of the Dome on the Rock, which is where the first two temples once stood. The Antichrist will work out a peace agreement and deal so that the third temple can be rebuild. It is from this temple that the Antichrist will claim to be God midway into the Tribulation period (2nd Thessalonians 2:3-10). So everything is ready to go. We are certainly very close to the Rapture. I always capitalize the word "Rapture" because it refers to an official event.
But maybe the Lord will come today, because Jesus said He would return at a time when most people wouldn't expect Him. Luke 12:40, "Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not." Jesus could come today, right now, and I firmly believe that. Albeit, it is my personal feeling that we still have a ways to go. I'd love to be proven wrong! Robert Breaker foolishly sets multiple specific dates for the Rapture in the past couple years, and made a fool of himself on YouTube. We don't know WHEN the Lord will return. No one knows!
I love and respect Pastor Steven Anderson, but he is very wrong doctrinally to teach that the Rapture will happen 75 days after the Antichrist breaks the peace agreement with Israel and claims to be God (i.e., the Abomination of Desolation). Like Robert Breaker, he is setting a date! The Holy Bible says that no man knows, nor the angels, not even Jesus Himself. Mark 13:32, "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." Does Jesus know now that He is in Heaven with the Father? I do not know. That is one main reason why I believe in a Pretribulation Rapture, because anything else would reveal the exact time of the Lord's return.
Jesus foretold in Matthew 24:37-39 that the world would return to the apostasy of Noah's time. Noah preached the Gospel for 120 years and NO ONE repented. Wow! Not one convert in 120 years! People are still getting saved today, which is another reason why I personally don't think we are quite ready for the Rapture. Please don't misunderstand, I DO believe Biblically that the Rapture could happen at any time. It is just my personal opinion (which God entitles us to have), that the Rapture won't happen for another couple decades, but I could be wrong. We don't know!
I still see a lot of good people in our country. We still have some men of God behind the pulpits, but not many. God has His 7,000 who have not bowed their knee to Baal. I believe my web visitors are among those 7,000. With the flood of counterfeit Bible versions, and the fading out of the inspired King James Bible, the churches are in trouble. Bible theology is being replaced with spirituality. True repentance unto the Gospel is being replaced with reformation to change one's life. It is clear that the Antichrist system will be hindered as long as the Church is here on earth, which is one reason why God will remove it, and then the Antichrist will come (2nd Thessalonians 2:7-8).
It is my humble opinion that Revelation chapter 18 describes the destruction of America. Since it is destroyed by fire, that leads me to believe that it will be nuclear bombs. Revelation 18:8, "Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." We certainly deserve God's hand of judgment on America: 54,000,000 abortions, sodomite marriages, lesbians adopting children, transgendered restrooms, the smutty filth capital of the world, public nudity, extreme violence nationwide, epidemic adultery and divorce, blatant political corruption, massive government theft of citizen's wealth, unprovoked wars, genocide, pride, blasphemy, banning the Holy Bible from classrooms since 1963... Revelation 18 can't happen soon enough! But God is longsuffering toward us-ward, not willing for any to perish. And so the Lord's return draweth nigh, but I think not quite yet.
I heard one of my favorite preachers, Pastor Danny Castle, say the other day in a sermon that 25 years ago he saw people shouting and praising the Lord when he visited churches in Ashville, North Carolina, but that is no longer true today. The churches have lost their fire. Brother Lester Roloff was right when he said, "America was great when she was good, and she was good when she had great churches!" He says that in one of my favorite MP3 sermons called, "Titanic!" ...http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/BTP/Bro_Roloff/the_titanic.mp3
Things are changing for the worse in America quickly. The Devil is deceiving the world (Revelation 12:9). Satan is the god of this evil world (2nd Corinthians 4:4). But thankfully, the earth itself belongs to the Lord (1st Corinthians 10:26). Satan is a deceiver! The Devil even has his own ministers to deceive the people (2nd Corinthians 11:13-15). Everything happening today is headed toward the Rapture and Tribulation. As believers, we are commanded to look for Jesus! "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13). We are not told to look for the appearing of the Antichrist.
I am right now listening to the sermon "Titanic" by Brother Roloff (1914-1982). He just made these statements:“When America lost her way to the right kind of church, she lost her way to living right!”
“If your moral judgment is crooked and rotten, and you have no Bible conviction, when the conscience says, 'Do right!', you may do what your moral judgment said for you to do, and it's wrong! That's the reason we need Christian schools. That's the reason we need Christian homes, to teach our young people!”I love Brother Roloff!
I am glad that you are looking for the Lord's return, me too! I hope it is today.
Kindest regards,
David
“Nothing
in my future can ever affect the salvation that I have... Once you trust
the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are eternally secure!”
—Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008), a quote from the classic MP3 sermon
titled, “
