Violence Trumpets Christ’s Sudden Return

The Prophet of all Prophets, who just happens to be the very Word of God (John 1:1), described the human condition at the time of the first phase of His Second Coming. Jesus said:

“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man” (Luke 17:26).

Those are strong words, and they open an avenue that runs directly to a signal around which we can build a case for how near this generation must be to the Rapture. I write of the Rapture, and not Christ’s Second Advent, because in this prophecy, Jesus is talking about the sudden first phase, not the seven-year buildup to the second phase of His Second Coming.

The first phase is the Rapture; the second is the moment described in Revelation 19:11 when Jesus Christ returns dramatically to earth to end the human war called Armageddon. Jesus prophesied that at the time of this first phase, the Rapture, folks on earth will be going about life pretty much as usual. It will be like it was during the days before the Great Flood. About those days, Jesus said:

“They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:27).

In those days, like in our time, some strange and sinful things were going on—things that finally brought God’s wrath, judgment, and the destruction of all but the eight people inside the ark. The sinful matter going on in Noah’s day that I want to explore a bit here is put forth in the following:

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Genesis 6:11-13).

The operative sin is violence that “filled the whole earth.”

Violence has always been part of the human condition. Cain killed his brother Abel in the first murder. More than fifteen thousand wars have been the scourge of every generation since Noah and his family left the ark. Cain’s pre-Flood slaying of his brother set in motion a visceral propensity within humankind to do violence to fellow humans.

Wars waged by the likes of the ancient Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Alexander’s Greek Empire, and the Roman Empire brought tremendous bloodshed down through the millennia. But it was the twentieth century—with World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnamese War, and others that continue into the twenty-first century—that spawned the level of violence that equates to the level of worldwide violence during Noah’s day.

Murderous rage has exploded upon this late hour of human history in almost every aspect. Killing rampages that used to be aberrant acts of the rarely seen serial or spree killers now seem to be a part of homicide that’s considered the norm. One form of violence that strongly indicates a recently elevated rage that’s like the satanic hatred of times just before Noah and the others went into the ark is that aimed directly at true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Perhaps the most notable example is the assassination of Charlie Kirk, founder and head of Turning Point USA. He was a young man who told about his belief in Christ at every venue he spoke at. He tried, through that witness, to lead his listeners to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, in addition to trying to reason with them about coming back to their senses in understanding what living life peaceably in America should entail.

The entire world was shown the face of violence that has burst upon this generation with cameras focused on the young man when the assassin’s high-powered rifle round exploded the carotid artery in his neck at the very moment he sat civilly answering the questions of a student asking, ironically, about gun violence.

Following on the heels of the Kirk murder was the shooting by a sniper in Dallas, Texas, who unloaded his weapon into an ICE van while it transported detainees into an ICE facility.

One detainee was killed, and others were wounded. The sniper then shot himself. He, like Kirk’s assassin who wrote hate-filled things on the rounds in his rifle, had written anti-ICE engravings on the shell casing of the bullet he fired.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Lyons reported that such terroristic attacks against ICE have ramped up 1,000 percent just within recent weeks.

School shootings around the nation, too, have increased, with evidence coming out that such evil stems from the same leftist radical ideology.

The young have been radicalized–with the backing of mainstream news and entertainment media—to deal with anyone who opposes their anti-American ideas and upside-down political persuasion by using violence–even assassinating the political leaders they hate.

Such radicalized youths were responsible for the attempted assassination of candidate Donald Trump, the murder of Charlie Kirk, and the terroristic attacks on the ICE agents who are targets of their hatred.

So many instances of violent insanity are piling up that it is difficult to pick and choose which to use as examples of the end-times violence Jesus described.

That fact alone is enough to validate just how much our days are like Noah’s.

Violence that is such a characteristic of this generation must certainly be a major indicator sounding from the end-of-days trumpet of warning. It is heralding the glorious prophetic truth that Jesus can at any moment step out upon the clouds of glory and shout, “Come up here!” (Revelation 4:1).

—Terry

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What Makes Our Blessed Hope So Wonderful?

It’s the object of much ridicule and debate. Many Bible teachers and pastors say there’s no such thing as the Rapture, or they equate it with the Second Coming.

And yet, those of us who watch for Jesus’ imminent appearing recognize it as our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:11-14); it’s the time we will meet our Savior in the air. There are many things about the Rapture that make our anticipation of it over-the-top wonderful.

The promise of Jesus’ return soothes troubled hearts. How did Jesus respond to His anxious disciples on the night before His crucifixion? He assured them of His promise to “prepare a place” for them in His “Father’s house.” He promised to return so that someday they would be with Him in glory (John 14:1-3). How often do we find relief for our fears in this same assurance that Jesus is preparing a home for us in Heaven?

The Rapture comforts us when we suffer the loss of loved ones. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Paul responded to those in Thessalonica who were grieving the loss of others in their small band of believers. Because they assumed that those who had died would miss the Rapture, they continued to lament their loss like those who had no hope of a future resurrection. In response, the apostle assured them that at Jesus’ appearing, He will first raise the “dead in Christ.” Not only would the “dead in Christ” not miss the Rapture, but they will be the first to participate in it.

Such comfort is especially dear to my heart because, at the age of ten, the Lord used the words of this passage to comfort me over the sudden death of my dad. Even when we look into the coffin of a loved one who has gone to be with the Lord, we sense the Lord’s comfort despite our tears.

The promise of immortality assures us of a reward for our service to the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 15:50-57, we learn that when Jesus comes for us, He will give us, His redeemed, “imperishable” bodies. Whether we are alive or dead at the time, He will clothe us with bodies just like His (Philippians 3:20-21). Wow! This promise of immortality forms the basis for Paul’s encouraging words in Corinthians 15:58:

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

The promise of tangible “incorruptible” bodies assures us that our work for the Lord “is not in vain.” Someday we will stand before Him with resurrection bodies, and He will reward our service, no matter how insignificant we might think it was. The Lord will not overlook any of our work on His behalf.

The Rapture guarantees that we will miss the wrath of the Day of the Lord. In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Paul promised the Thessalonian believers, and us, that we would miss the outpouring of God’s wrath that will come upon the world. This is particularly comforting to us as the signs of the approaching Tribulation period tell us that the “sudden destruction” of this day is ever so near (v. 3). These verses assure us of a pre-Tribulation Rapture; Jesus will take us out of the world before the dark days described in Revelation chapters 6-18.

If we were destined for this time of horror on the earth, how could it possibly be a truth that we could use to encourage one another and build each other up in the faith (v. 11)? But because we have such a hope, it reassures our hearts and leads to greater maturity in our walk with the Lord. After writing about the Rapture, Paul instructed his readers, us, to “encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18). Is this not the most overlooked command in Scripture?

Our hope enables us to “stand firm” during times of adversity. In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-11, Paul reminded his readers that they would miss the Day of the Lord with the terrors of the “man of lawlessness,” which will mark this coming time of devastation and terror upon the earth.

The apostle later wrote that our response to such a marvelous escape from this coming day of chaos and death should be that of giving “thanks to God” and standing “firm” in our faith (2 Thessalonians 2:13-15). In Philippians 3:20-4:1, Paul also encourages us to “stand firm” as the result of our hope embodied in the Rapture.

In light of our heavenly “citizenship” and the certainty of the glory that awaits us, we can remain confident of our hope of glory regardless of what comes our way.

The promise of inner wholeness promotes purity. I love the words of 1 John 3:1-3. They assure us that when Jesus “appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” These words go beyond the promise of immortal bodies that we noted earlier, but also include inner wholeness such as Jesus manifested during His life on the earth. Not only will He transform our physical bodies to be like His, but we will also be “like him” on the inside with our emotions, thoughts, and sinlessness. He will heal all the wounds and scars that come from living in a broken-down world.

Notice what John says will be the result of such a focus on Jesus: “And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” Yes, there’s considerable comfort in watching for Jesus’ imminent appearing, but it also has a purifying effect on those who do.

People will continue to mock the Rapture and reject us because of our belief in it. However, those of us who daily watch for it recognize the wonderful blessings that come from daily watching for Jesus’ appearing. We know that whenever He comes for us, it will be well worth the wait!

-Jonathan

God’s End-Times Dividing Line

Charlie Kirk’s going to be with the Lord in such dramatic fashion, I believe, is a profound prophetic marker at the end of this quickly fleeting Age of Grace. I believe what happened might indicate that a prophetic division might have been set in motion by the assassination that took place before the eyes of all the world in terms of its aftereffects.

A divine division, it seems to me, was possibly initiated in some prophetically scheduled way with that shot heard and seen around the world. I’ll try to explain.

Evidence of this specific hour in history fits the time Jesus and the prophets described when God will begin bringing the end of one age to an end and the next into being. The end of this age, the Age of Grace, and the start of the next era, the Tribulation, looks to be almost certainly at hand. Jesus could call all believers into His presence at any moment.

Those who are spiritually attuned to all that has been transpiring over recent years, months, weeks, and days sense that Heaven’s judgment is poised ominously above the earth. The evil, the absolute wickedness, cannot be dismissed as simply being things as usual, even though life in general continues seemingly as normal.

It seems to me that the Charlie Kirk murder, witnessed by entire populations of the world through cyberspace platforms, has resulted, through divine arrangement, in dividing those who want God’s order from those who want no part of it.

This divine division, I believe, involves particularly the young adults of this judgment-bound planet. These, I mean, are those of Gen Z. Of course, it involves many more and diverse ages than those, but these are the most vociferous in expressing their emotions following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

On the one hand, the young continue to cheer in the most hate-filled and vulgar terms imaginable, applauding the bloody death of the man who engaged them in debate about their anti-God beliefs and comportment. On the other hand, there is a sudden, explosive movement by the young in support of all that Charlie Kirk championed—many expressing newfound understanding of and belief in what Charlie taught about His Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The mainstream news and entertainment media—which was, for a hesitating moment, somewhat unsure of how to report all attendant to the Kirk death—has now recovered its anti-God balance, and I suspect we can expect these to soon return to supportive incitement of the young haters—spewing lies and angry rhetoric against both the godly things Charlie Kirk tried to get across to the young audiences in his reasoned debates with them and, of course, against anything and everything involving Donald Trump’s efforts to govern.

However, there is a growing sense that the evil intended in this assassination of a man who professed Jesus Christ as the answer to all that’s wrong with America and the world, God will use for good.

And it is the divine dividing line, as part of that good God intends, that I think we could be witnessing as the Rapture of the Church approaches.

The Lord has used such dividing in the past to separate those who want His governance from those who want no part of divine order.

Perhaps the most relevant to today’s rebellion against God’s order is found in the book of Numbers.

Moses was leading Israel and was told by God to follow His order in doing things that would move His program for the nation forward. Korah, a man who was charged with bringing the people in line with God’s order, rather than doing so, did all he could to prevent Moses from following what God commanded.

The Lord told Moses to tell Korah to obey or face God’s anger. Korah refused and complained bitterly that God had led the people out of the land of milk and honey to die horrible deaths in the wilderness.

Following Moses’ declaration of the Lord’s command and Korah’s refusal to follow, God’s divine dividing of the obedient from the rebels was executed forthwith.

“And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation” (Numbers 16:31-33).

It is true that God was dealing with His chosen people in the case of this rebellion against His divine order. But Israel is a Heaven-ordained archetype for God’s dealings with all of humankind. Rebellion against Almighty God will always result in a divine cleavage of the good from the bad—the obedient from the disobedient.

There is coming such a dividing, and I believe we are seeing the beginning of divine preparation for that division. It is God’s dividing line I believe we are seeing being drawn.

In a sense, people today are being told, as Joshua told the Israelites millennia ago: “Choose you this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15).

We are seeing God’s order in the process of being issued to humanity, I believe, in this turbulent time following the bloody slaying of Charlie Kirk. It is particularly being manifested within the great masses of the youth, whose passions are in full-blown turning to God or else turning angrily away from His order in these last days of this Age of Grace. The divine demarcation is becoming clearer by the hour—God’s end-times dividing line.

Whether you are of Gen Z or a different vintage, here is the only Way to be obedient to the God who is on the prophetic verge of having to judge all rebels during the coming Tribulation:

“That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

—Terry

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Eraser Theology Obscures Our Hope of Glory

I believe that of all the future events of Bible prophecy, Satan hates Jesus’ Second Coming the most. Because he cannot erase Jesus’ return from Scripture, he fervently attacks the pre-Tribulation Rapture. If he can make that seem ridiculous, along with belief in a seven-year Tribulation with a real antichrist oppressing Israel, he effectively diminishes the spectacular and glorious nature of Jesus’ return, at which time He destroys Satan’s reign on the earth through the man of lawlessness.

Those who say Jesus’ Second Coming is the next event on God’s prophetic calendar quash the earthshaking impact of how the Old Testament prophets and John describe it. An end-of-the-age return is exceedingly bland compared to the words of Revelation 19:11-20:4 or even Psalm 96:7-13.

That’s why I refer to such amillennial beliefs as “eraser theology.” For them, the proclamation of the Gospel far too often stops with the forgiveness of sins. They portray eternal life as a nondescript gathering of family members in the sky by and by. Absent from their preaching is the Lord’s comforting promise of resurrected bodies, warnings of the coming Tribulation, and our hope of reigning with Him.

Eraser theology cannot change what God’s Word says about Jesus’ glorious future as King over all the nations, but it does keep many saints from rejoicing in the wonders of all that lies ahead for them.

Amillennialists Erase the Awesomeness of the Day of the Lord

Amillennialism changes the awesomeness of the Day of the Lord into something rather ordinary by comparison. They dismiss the Old Testament prophecies of this day by characterizing its words as symbols that signify a reality far different than what the prophets intended at the time they wrote.

Through the prophets of old, the Lord spoke about a day when He would judge the world in real time; He repeatedly warned of the terrible devastation of this still future time. The descriptions of its horrors have never occurred in the history of the world (see Isaiah 13:6-16, 24:1-23; Joel 2:30-3:3; Zephaniah 1:14-18). One has to greatly change the meaning of the words in these passages to say this day occurred in the past or that the words have a spiritual connotation rather than a literal, futuristic meaning.

Jesus also spoke of this coming time of judgment in Matthew 24:21-22:

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”

Those who say that the Lord’s words in these verses have already reached fulfillment reflect their disbelief in the Old Testament warnings about the Day of the Lord. Sadly, their effort to sanitize God’s Word of His wrath keeps believers in the dark regarding the future of the planet, muffles the Lord’s warnings for our day, and keeps focus of the saints earthbound rather than heavenward.

The Day of the Lord culminates with Jesus’ victorious return to the earth after His judgments have vanquished antichrist’s reign of terror. He returns as a conquering hero to inherit His kingdom.

Amillennialists Erase the Many Glories of Jesus’ Thousand-Year Reign

The adherents of eraser theology, the amillennialists, tell us that the church age is the promised millennial rule of Jesus over the nations. Please notice how just a few of the biblical depictions of Jesus’ earthly reign radically differ from our current experience on Earth where pain, suffering, and death prevail:

• Jesus reigns over all nations for one thousand years (Psalm 2:7-9; Revelation 20:1-10).
• The Lord rules with a “rod of iron,” signifying that justice will prevail everywhere on the earth (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 11:1-5; 32:1). Injustice ceases to exist on planet Earth during His rule.
• An angel places Satan in a “bottomless pit” from which he cannot escape, oppress the saints, or oppose the Lord’s agenda for one thousand years (Revelation 20:1-4).
• Wars cease to exist throughout the duration of His rule; peace prevails in every corner of the planet (Psalm 46:8-10).
• Christ rules from Mount Zion (Psalm 48:1-8).
• People enjoy long lifespans such that they consider death at age one hundred a premature death and attribute it to sin (Isaiah 65:20-25).
• “All peoples, nations, and languages. . . serve” the Lord Jesus (Daniel 7:14).

The above descriptions of Jesus’ rule do not in any way match the church age. Pastors who teach that this vale of tears, where lawlessness and wickedness prevail, is Jesus’ kingdom obscure both the Savior’s glory and ours as coheirs of this spectacular realm. Please read the above list again if you think the church age in even the most minuscule way matches Jesus’ future reign as depicted in Scripture.

Amillennialists Erase the Preeminence of Jesus from His Return

In my book, Invitation to a Lavish Feast – Wisdom’s Path to the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, I explain how Colossians 1:15-20 verifies our belief that what the Apostle John wrote about in Revelation 19:11-20:10 is both literal and future. The popular views of the Second Coming, listed below, make it appear far less powerful and victorious than how the Bible describes it, and obscure the glories of His future rule over the nations.

1. Preterists say that it happened in AD 70 either spiritually or with a clash of chariots in the sky that only a few people saw.
2. Those who adhere to Dominion Theology say Jesus returns after the church inaugurates millennial conditions on the earth and rules without His physical presence.
3. Amillennialists place Jesus’ return after the current age, which is His Kingdom.

The words of Revelation 19:11-20:10 shout with the message of Jesus’ preeminence and negate all the above beliefs. They all fall far short of exalting the Savior in the way that Colossians 1:15-20 does. Only the belief that Jesus returns to earth after abolishing the reign of Satan via antichrist and sets up a thousand-year rule over the nations exalts Him in a way fitting with His preeminence and glory.

Those who say there is no Rapture, no Tribulation, and no Millennial reign of Jesus perform a great disservice to the body of Christ. The Bible says that someday we will return with Jesus in great glory and we will reign with Him in His earthly kingdom. The scoffers say no; the Bible says yes!

Maranatha!!

-Jonathan