The Rapture of the Church is a Sign-less Event

Yes, there is certainly some serious disagreement when it comes to End Times and what the Bible says.  I totally get it.

I like what Dr David Jeremiah says, "Yes there are other opinions besides Pre-Trib when it comes to end times....they are wrong...but there are other opinions." (laughter by congregants)

A reader sent me some older articles lambasting Prophecy Conferences and reminding us of all the people who have come along in the last 2000 years and whooped up lots of folks by saying "Jesus is coming!"  It's like the Little Boy who Cried Wolf....ultimately no one believes what you are saying.

Currently we have prophecy conferences happening all over the country and they are very well attended.  Are we getting all caught up in foolishness again?  Will we be embarrassed if we all die of old age in 50 years and still haven't seen the Lord's return?  Worse....would we have brought dishonor to the Lord by preaching his soon return...only to have him tarry another 100 or 1000 years?

For centuries Bible prophecy pundits have predicted that the end was near. They appealed to the same types of signs: wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, and false religions. They all had one thing in common. They’ve all been wrong.

None of this has stopped contemporary prophecy writers and speakers from claiming that the end is near. My library is filled with their books. I’ve debated dozens of them over the years.

Prophetic predictions wouldn’t be much of a problem except that millions of people fall for the claims and the effect on our nation’s social, political, and moral landscape has been devastating.

Once again the usual suspects are gathering at Grace Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, in October of this year to tell an eager and naïve audience that all the signs are aligned for an inevitable end-time event.

Anybody familiar with the history of Bible prophecy knows, all of this has been done before. In fact, there is a nearly 2000-year history of predicting some type of prophetic event based on wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, and apostasy. Consider Frank X. Gumerlock’s The Day and the Hour, a nearly decade-by-decade chronicle of prophetic speculation.

People like Hal Lindsey and Chuck Smith, both popular prophecy authors who have sold tens of millions of prophecy books, assured us that the prophetic excrement would hit the fan by 1988.

I suspect that the majority of attendees who will sit under Mark Hitchcock, Jan Markell, Ron Rhodes, Erwin Lutzer, Jonathan Cahn, among others, will not realize that only the names, events, and dates have changed. They will be hearing regurgitated prophetic speculation in the name of the Bible.

In 1970 Hal Lindsey, who spoke at the 2005 “Understanding the Times” prophecy conference, argued that Israel becoming a nation again in 1948 was prophetically significant. He then turned to Matthew 24:34: “This generation will not pass away until all these things took place.” He stated that a generation was 40 years in length. He then argued that with the establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948 and the 40-year length of a generation that the so-called “rapture of the church” would take place before 1988.

Let’s not forget Edgar Whisenant’s booklet 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will be in 1988. I debated him in 1988 on radio. He told the audience, “If I’m wrong in my calculations, then the Bible is wrong.”

Here;  http://godfatherpolitics.com/jan-markells-end-time-hysteria-conference/

This author goes on to say that prophecy folks are contradicting themselves in claiming that the rapture is a sign-less event...and then telling everyone to watch for the signs!  Of course he is missing what prophecy watchers are clearing saying.  The rapture has NO SIGNS.  The rapture has always been imminent.  But the coming GREAT TRIBULATION does have signs.  We will see wars, rumors, famines, pestilence, increase of knowledge, Russia-Iran-Turkey coalition building, Israel back in the land, race against race, one world government fomenting, cashless society made a possibility, etc....  These are all signs that the earth is groaning for Christ to return.

"When you say ALL THESE THINGS BEGINNING TO HAPPEN then lift up your heads for your redemption is near."--said Jesus.

As Dr David Jeremiah says, "When you see the Christmas decorations go up at all the stores...you know that Thanksgiving is close."

As I watch the news and read the headlines and read my Bible, I have NO IDEA when Jesus is coming....but I certainly would not be surprised if it happened very soon!  The Christmas decorations have gone up and we await Thanksgiving which must come first!

"Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King!"

1 Thess. 5

4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.