Predictions Of The Rapture

A message received by Bible Bulletin Board on 10-08-88 at

-TOM

I was amazed at all of the predictions of the Rapture of late.

What do you think about theologians and other Bible scholars

making public comments such as these? I'm sure many feel that

such "revelations" might motivate some lost persons to make a

quick profession of faith or at least to cease procrastinating as

making a public profession, however I think that such predictions

bait the media and have an adverse effect on the church at large

as many skeptics use such bold statements as grounds to "pooh-

pooh" evangelicals and charismatic leaders.

The following is my answer to the above questions................

FROM: SYSOP

TO: TOM

I am in agreement with you in the fact that the making of

predictions about the coming events, to the point of trying to

establish dates does more harm to the "cause of Christ" than any

good.

I believe that Jesus forbids us to "set times or dates" about the

coming events when He declared, "No one knows about that day or

hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the

Father (Matthew 24:36)." "It is not for you to know the times or

dates the Father has set by his own authority (Acts 1:7)."

I was given a book to review that claimed that the rapture would

occur in September 1988. Without even reading it I knew that the

author had no clue about the date because he was in direct

violation of Scripture by setting a date. He gave many arguments

for the date including justification for setting a date in that,

Jesus only said we could not know the "day or hour" but did not

restrict us from knowing the month or year! How foolish an

argument. Jesus used the term "day or hour" to include the week,

month, year, decade, century, etc.

God does not want us setting dates because:

1. We cannot know the date, therefore will always appear foolish

to the world when the time comes and passes.

2. It "sidetracks" the work of the Gospel. Christians focus so

much on the coming event that they pollute the message with the

event rather than the fact of sin and judgment and the need of

repentance and submission. It is wrong to convince an unbeliever

that the rapture will occur in two weeks and that they would be

"left behind" in a world of chaos, unless they "believe in

Jesus." We need to tell the truth....that the rapture maybe

2,000 years away and let the unbeliever make a decision based on

the work of the Spirit of God rather than the manipulation of

man.

3. Some Christians will believe that the rapture or some other

event will occur on a particular date and then change their life

patterns as a result of it. For example, the Christian who

believed the September 1988 date and took all his money and

bought hundreds of Bibles. He even took out loans to get more

money for Bibles. Now when the Rapture did not occur his faith

was weakened and his family now had an impossible debt to pay!

I believe that the persons who set the dates are committing sin

because they go against the very words of the Savior, and believe

there a various reasons why they do it:

1. They are Christians simply deceived. They have not "done

their homework" and have overlooked the prohibitions of Scripture

about the setting of dates.

2. They are trying to accomplish the work of God by using

"things of the flesh" which is the sensationalism of "setting the

date of the Rapture" and other events like that.

3. They are out to make money. The man who wrote the book on

the September 1988 Rapture sold thousands of books for the years

leading up to the date.

4. That many of these preachers and writers who set dates are not

really "saved" and are really deceived "pawns" of Satan being

used to discredit the Gospel and Christianity.

God wants us, His children, to live holy lives in order to be

able to witness to a lost world as we walk holy before them.

Preachers and Teachers have one purpose and that is to "Equip the

Saints" to live holy lives. All the intimidation and

manipulation that is found in "Altar Calls and the Setting of

Dates" is wrong. May we as Christians oppose such actions by not

supporting these activities.

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