Good morning, blog readers, from mostly sunny and warm (72 degrees) Wisconsin where, in my morning research, Britt Gillette posed the following question: “How close is the rapture of the church?” In the article, Britt wrote: “Remember, the rapture is a sign-less event. It is imminent, meaning it could occur at any moment. No signs are required to precede the rapture, and the Bible doesn’t mention any signs or tell us to look for any.
However, the same is not true when it comes to the second coming of Jesus Christ. The return of Jesus at the end of the Tribulation is preceded by signs. Some say we can’t know anything about the timing of the Lord’s return. More often than not, their belief is based on this statement from Jesus: “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son Himself. Only the Father knows (Mark 13:32 (NLT).” It’s also based on the idea Jesus said He “will come like a thief in the night” which Jesus Himself said in I Thessalonians 5:2.
Question: “How close is the “rapture of the church?” I think we can get a general idea based on recent surveys of self-identified Christians in the United States: In 2022, the Christian Post reported: “Over a third of senior pastors believe ‘good people’ can earn their way to heaven.’ This was the conclusion of a survey conducted by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University. The survey polled around 1,000 Christian pastors, examining dozens of beliefs they hold and found only 37% hold a biblical worldview. The survey also found 39% believe ‘each individual must determine their own truth,’ 38% do not believe ‘human life is sacred,’ and found only 37% believe ‘having faith, in general, is more important than in what – or more specifically, Whom – one has faith.” By the way, all of this research validates what the the Bible says. For instance, in Matthew 24:10, Jesus said: “At that time many will fall away (from the faith) which Paul echoed this in II Thessalonians 2:1-4. So, what does this all mean? It means Jesus’ coming maybe sooner than later. So, let’s continue to watch, wait, work, witness for, walk with and worship Jesus until He comes. Even so, come, Lord Jesus (I Corinthians 16:42)!