September 23, 2017 – Homecoming or Ho Hum?

For the second year in a row, certain Christians have been predicting that major, world-changing events will take place on my son’s birthday. It has to be a bit of a bummer when you want to celebrate but folks around you are forecasting apocalyptic-type events for your big day.

A growing number of Christians have been rallying behind the belief that a secret rapture of the Church is going to occur on September 23, 2017. They believe this event will then kick off a seven-year tribulation period, which will ultimately culminate with Jesus’ visible return.

I have to admit; the folks that have been working on this theory have done a ton of research. Hundreds of hours must have been spent putting all of this stuff together. And to be honest, some of it is impressive.

  

The theory, though, totally hinges on the doctrine of imminence. The modern doctrine of imminence basically states that Jesus will secretly rapture His Church without any signs preceding this event, and then the Great Tribulation will begin. Many Baptist seminaries teach this doctrine, and I used believe it as well. It’s become a very popular teaching over the last 150 years, and I admit that aspects of it are quite appealing.  

However, please consider that understanding of imminence in light of Jesus’ parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24. 

Jesus also told His disciples, “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place (Matthew 24:32-34).”

Jesus said that when we see all these things, we will know His return is imminent. So, what are all these things that He referenced earlier in the chapter?

v Vs 10) A great apostasy occurs within the Church.

v Vs 15) The Antichrist sets himself up in temple of God declaring himself to be above God.

v Vs 21) There is a great tribulation like never before in history.

v Vs 24) False Christs and false prophets do remarkable signs and wonders to mislead the elect.

v Vs 29) The sun is darkened.

v Vs 29) The moon doesn’t give its light.

v Vs 29) Stars fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens are shaken.

v Vs 30) THEN, all the tribes of the earth mourn when they see the Son of Man coming in clouds with power and great glory like lightning flashing from one end of the sky to the other. He appears with a great trumpet blast to gather His people to Himself.

Peter affirmed the simple words of Christ in his first sermon on the day of Pentecost. Quoting the Lord God in the book of Joel, he proclaimed, “And I will grant wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come (Acts 2:19-20).”

According to Peter and Jesus, before the day of the Lord, the sun will be darkened and the moon will look like blood. We should be looking for these signs.  

Paul adds his witness against the modern understanding of imminence in 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 3-4, writing that Jesus’ return and our being gathered to Him will not occur until after the great apostasy and the Antichrist is revealed.

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him… Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

Like Paul and Jesus, the early Christian writers overwhelmingly affirmed that the Church would remain on earth while the Antichrist was bringing tribulation upon Christians. Here are just a few examples:

He shall come from heaven with glory, when the man of apostasy, who speaks strange things against the Most High, will venture to do unlawful deeds on earth against us Christians. – Justin Martyr 160CE, ANF Volume 1, p. 413 [CD-ROM]

He will cause all those who will not worship the image of the beast to be put to death. Here the faith and the patience of the saints will appear, for he says: “And he will cause all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their forehead; that no man might buy or sell without having the mark, the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” For, being full of guile, and exalting himself against the servants of God, with the wish to afflict them and persecute them out of the world, because they give not glory to him, he will order censers to be set up by everyone, everywhere, so that no one among the saints may be able to buy or sell without first sacrificing. – Hippolytus 200CE, ANF Volume 5, p. 382 [CD-ROM]

The Antichrist, when he begins to come, will not be allowed to enter into the church just because he threatens. We will not yield to his arms and violence, even though he declares he will destroy us if we resist. . . . The Antichrist is coming. Yet, above him, comes Christ also. The enemy goes about and rages, but immediately the Lord follows to avenge our sufferings and our wounds. – Cyprian 250CE, ANF Volume 5, p. 613, 619 [CD-ROM]

The testimony of the earliest Christians is that we are going through the Great Tribulation. We will be around while the Antichrist is wreaking havoc on us and on the earth. Many Christians will fall away. Though we will experience the wrath of Satan and the Antichrist, true believers who persevere will not experience the wrath of God. Jesus will come for us just before He pours His bowls of wrath out upon the earth.

That is the overwhelming testimony of the earliest Christians. Now, it is possible that they could have been mistaken. It’s possible that at any moment, even on 9/23/17, without any signs or warnings, there will be a secret rapture of the Church that will usher in the Great Tribulation. But which is more prudent to prepare for?

Hurricane season is rapidly approaching in Houston, TX. In my lifetime, some have hit close to home, and some have been all bark and no bite. That being said, anyone who has been a Houstonian as long as I have knows that you prepare for the worst but hope for the best. Perhaps we should take the same approach to the Great Tribulation as we hold fast to the simple words of Christ.    

Simply Jesus Pt. 26: “Immediately After the Tribulation of Those Days…”

Has someone ever told you that it doesn’t matter what you believe about the Second Coming of Jesus as long as you believe in a Second Coming?

It sounds nice, doesn’t it? But is that a wise way to approach to approach the Scriptures? Is that a wise way to approach our Lord’s return?

Permit me to offer a few examples of varying approaches to the 2^nd coming:

Generally speaking, Post-Millennialists believe that the Church will be able to usher in a virtual golden age on earth, a literal or metaphorical thousand-year reign of God’s kingdom where evil is more or less vanquished. After that time, Jesus will return.

Pre-millennial, pre-tribulationalists believe that before Jesus returns to usher in a literal 1,000 year kingdom on earth, there will be a Great Tribulation. However, before that Great Tribulation unfolds, Jesus secretly takes all the true Christians off of the earth so they don’t have to experience any of the terrible events coming upon the earth. Then, at the end of the Great Tribulation, Jesus returns with all the raptured Christians coming behind Him to triumph over the enemies of God.

Those who believe in pre-millenial, post-tribulation/pre-wrath teaching believe that the rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of Christ will basically occur at the same time, the end of the Great Tribulation. The Church will therefore be around while the Antichrist is on earth deceiving and doing his worst to Christians, and encouraging countless numbers of us to fall away from the living God. After the Second Coming and gathering of the true Church, God pours out the seven bowls of His wrath on the rest of unbelieving humanity and Jesus reigns on earth for 1,000 years.

There are certainly more views than those three, but I believe it’s fair to say the majority of Christians around the world today fall close to one of those camps.

What about the early Christians? Well, though their writings don’t show them entering into the heated eschatological debates modern theologians frequently partake of, they certainly had their opinions on the matter. And, with what could be argued as being only a couple of rare exceptions, they believed Christians would be on the earth throughout the Great Tribulation. I demonstrate several examples of this fact in my book, New: Wineskins and the Simple Words of Christ.

The early Christians took Jesus seriously and simply. They took Him at His word. So in Matthew 24, when Jesus said He would return in the clouds to gather His people to Himself after many of His disciples fell away, they believed Him. When He said His return would be after the Antichrist was already on the scene, deceiving and destroying those on earth, they believed Him. When He said His return would be after the tribulation of those days, they believed Him. 

What effects could these varying eschatological beliefs have on our daily lives?

If, as a post-millennialist, you believe the Church will bring about a golden age, an age almost like heaven on earth, then I believe it’s fair to assume that you could be inclined to view Transhumanism as a tremendous blessing. Transhumanism is the belief that through blending humanity with technology and genetic engineering, we can eventually achieve not only immortality, but essentially a divine status. Amazingly, there is already a significant population of Christians pushing this movement. Like Adam and Eve, they believe that through our own efforts we can become as God is.

I used to be in the pre-millennial, pre-tribulation camp. With them, I was betting my life on being rescued out of the world before all hell breaks loose. At that time in my life, accompanying my faith in that teaching was a subtle belief that though Jesus may want me to fight for Him, He generally wouldn’t ask me to suffer for Him. But as I’ve written in numerous blogs (you can read two examples here and here), the Scriptures and the early Christian writings bear witness to a vastly different testimony.

A little over a half-decade ago, I began to align myself with the post-tribulation and pre-wrath camp. Two factors that contributed to the shift in my doctrinal stance were the early Christian writings and beginning to read the Scriptures more simply as they did. And the more I have meditated on the possibility of going through the Great Tribulation, the more I have accepted the truth that suffering for the faith is supposed to be a normal part of the Christian life.

As you can see from the excerpt below, the early Christians felt the same way.

Then they shall deliver you up to tribulation, and shall kill you, and you shall be hated by nations for my name’s sake. … When you see the abomination of desolation, which is spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains. … for there shall be great tribulation, such as has not occurred from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. …

But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved. And then the sign of the Son of man shall appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory. And He shall send His angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds. …

And these are not new or sudden things which are now happening to Christians; since the good and righteous, and those who are devoted to God in the law of innocence and the fear of true religion, always advance through tribulations … in the hardship of a narrow path. – Cyprian 205CE Volume 5, p. 878-879 [CD-ROM]

Hurricane season is clearly upon us. When one is bearing down upon the coast, a Christian can either believe that God won’t let a terrible storm touch him and his family, or he can prepare his house for the worst. If the storm misses his family, wonderful! Praise God! But if it comes, will he have been ready to persevere through whatever the weather brings?

Inclement weather is coming upon the earth when Jesus returns. How will you prepare? 

Justin Martyr on Christians, the Antichrist and the Second Coming in 160CE

Two advents of Christ have been announced: the one, in which He is set forth as suffering, inglorious, dishonored, and crucified; but the other, in which He shall come from heaven with glory, when the man of apostasy, who speaks strange things against the Most High, shall venture to do unlawful deeds on the earth against us the Christians, who, having learned the true worship of God from the law, and the word which went forth from Jerusalem by means of the apostles of Jesus, have fled for safety to the God of Jacob and God of Israel; and we who were filled with war, and mutual slaughter, and every wickedness, have each through the whole earth changed our warlike weapons,— our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into implements of tillage, —and we cultivate piety, righteousness, philanthropy, faith, and hope, which we have from the Father Himself through Him who was crucified. ...

Now it is evident that no one can terrify or subdue us who have believed in Jesus over all the world. For it is plain that, though beheaded, and crucified, and thrown to wild beasts, and chains, and fire, and all other kinds of torture, we do not give up our confession; but the more such things happen, the more do others and in larger numbers become faithful, and worshippers of God through the name of Jesus. For just as if one should cut away the fruit-bearing parts of a vine, it grows up again, and yields other branches flourishing and fruitful; even so the same thing happens with us. For the vine planted by God and Christ the Savior is His people. But the rest of the prophecy shall be fulfilled at His second coming.