Immanency

The doctrine of immanency says that Jesus Christ could come at any second.  There is NOTHING that has to happen for the trumpet to start blowing this very second and Christ swoops in and snatches his church from this fallen, Satanic planet....in the twinkling of an eye.

That's the doctrine that I believe makes the most scriptural sense.

Think about it for a second....let's say someone says that the rapture won't happen until after Antichrist is sitting in 3rd Temple declaring himself to be God.

This would throw imminence right out the door...because now instead of being ready to meet Jesus in the air as the church should ALWAYS be....the church begins to watch for the Antichrist, watch for the 3rd Temple to be built, and then watches for the Antichrist to go into the Temple and be broadcast on Fox News all over the world.....ONLY THEN WOULD THEY LOOK FOR CHRIST TO SAVE THEM!!

Another passage that makes the most sense to me is II Thessalonians 2:7;  "For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way."

So what holds evil at bay in the Age of Grace in which we find ourselves?  The Holy Spirit that indwells in us...and which is the "he" in the above passage.  And how is this "he" taken out of the way?  By the rapture of the church.

If the Antichrist WON'T be revealed until after the rapture...then of course we can't be watching for the Antichrist to be revealed signing a peace agreement with Israel...which ushers in the last 7 years on earth before Christ's return.

Get it??

If you want more, please see this article from Rapture Ready on Immanency.
http://www.raptureready.com/rr-imminency.html

So do I believe that we will be so fortunate to jump right from the lap of luxury in America into the arms of Jesus Christ in the clouds?  No, I believe we could see hard times.  We may see the collapse of America, we may see Psalm 83, we may see the U.S. government making it illegal to read certain passages from the Bible.

But none of this stuff HAS to happen for Jesus to return.  He could return later this afternoon....at an hour that most people don't expect Him.  So encourage each other with these words....because whenever He comes....we all know that we are in the season of His return...and we all hope it is sooner than it is later.

Even so, come Lord Jesus.