Prophecy

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UNDERSTANDING THE SIGNS OF CHRIST’S RETURN.

(THEY ARE HERE)

By Henry Jaegers

While a great many Christians are comfortable in the security of the any moment appearing of Christ (the rapture) something astonishing is taking place in our world. Events mentioned in Matthew 24 like false Messiahs, false prophecies, abandonment of truth, lies and deception, are abundant as we write. Jesus mentions these events as taking place before His appearing. What should we say about all of this? According to some, if we interpret the Bible correctly, these events will happen after Christ returns for His church. Unfortunately, He has not come and these events will continue until He returns in Glory. Matthew 24 does not speak of any return before these periods of apostasy.

Paul the Apostle states in II Thessalonians 2:3-12, that Christ’s return will not come until two events have occurred. These two events are:

1. The departure from truth and faith

2. The Antichrist’s appearance.

There is no doubt in my mind the falling away is already happening. Let me give you some examples.

Today we are finding the authority of scripture, is being substituted for experience. Experience is now becoming the standard by which we understand God’s word. Forums are held to decide how to make the Gospel more palatable to the world and efforts are in force to re-event Christianity. A new false religion promoted by the book “the Shack,” and Williamsons “Course on Miracles" promoted by Ophrah Winfrey, is capturing the attention of many Evangelicals. This has opened the door to the dreaded The New age Theology.

I belong to an internet Christian group who is encouraging others to read these books. I don’t know how you interpret what the “falling away” means, but the Greek word Apostasia doesn’t mean the rapture as some would have us think. It is the word apostasy, the same definition found in our English Dictionary. Will there be another apostasy worse than the one that we see today? It’s hard to tell, but if this is notthe one mentioned in Thessalonians then hold on to your seats because the worst is yet to come. What about the arrival of the man of sin. Is that happening? There are some obvious happenings that should cause us to be observant and faithful to our Christian commitment.

According to Revelation chapters 13-18, this section describes the person of Anti-Christ clearly. He is the beast coming out of the Sea. He is different from the false prophet that later comes out of the land. My personal thought is that this first appearing of the beast from the sea will be a political force. He will lie and deceive attracting those who have rejected God and are looking for a hero to meet their emotional and material needs. He will attract many through his flowery words and promises. Those who have no understanding of truth will follow Him. II Thessalonians 2: 2-12, tells us that he will deceive by convincing people that he is God ( a counterfeit). God ‘s Word describes him as a deceiver. He will overtake those who continue to reject Christ. God will send a great delusion on them so they cannot understand or recognize truth. The deception will take place as a consequence of man’s deliberate rebellion against God. Will the tribulation take place at this time? The details are not clear.

Some think the tribulation will begin at the arrival of a great earthquake. This description is found in Revelation 8:5 at the sounding of the trumpets which begins with "the opening of the fourth seal". It’s my understanding that it will not be that obvious. The arrival and deception will be gradual emerging into the beginning of the great tribulation. Revelation gives us some clues. There will be a great coming together of false religion and politics. This is seen clearly of the woman (representing false religion) and her influence over the earth and the kings who benefited from her (the political influence). Eventually the fall of mystery Babylon (the woman and her alliances) will cause a massive economic disaster, affecting the whole world.
Now I ask you. As we view the present time, can you see that it is like reading today’s newspaper headlines? How should that affect those who claim to name the name of Christ? It is not time to relax in our false securities, thinking that Christ will soon return to remove us from this present disaster. What will it take to awaken men to the fact that the signs of Christ’s appearance are here? Whether we choose to believe that we will be removed or not, the belief in Christ’s coming should alert us to the fact that this belief requires preparation on our part and that means to be faithful Today.

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