Originally published in "The Lord's Coming Herald & Wesleyan Bible Prophecy Advocate," Spring Edition 2007
Are We Looking For The Right Christ To Come?
Wesleyan Bible Prophecy is committed to promoting love and unity among all who
profess to be looking for the coming of the Lord. We believe the time is far to
short to do otherwise.
Jesus warned of the dangers involved in the failure of love and unity among His disciples relative to His eschatological appearing. We should beware lest we should become like that "evil servant" Jesus spoke of, who, having lost his faith in the coming of his Lord, began to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken (Matt. 24:46-51).
Faith in the promise of the coming of the Lord is ever the Christian's purifying
hope (I Jn. 3:3). "Unto those that look for Him shall he appear the second time,
without a sin offering unto salvation" (Heb. 9:28). Yes, even among this wicked
and adulterous generation, and in this evil day of unbelief, blessing still
attends those who dare to live "as men that wait for their Lord" (Lk 12:36).
Love and unity flow forth, at least in part, from an understanding of the truth.
It is indeed a "like precious faith" that we hold who are still looking for the
Lord to come!
This is not the idea that Jesus will come to set up His kingdom, for He already did that two-thousand years ago. Nowhere does the New Testament teach that the kingdom of Christ has been postponed until after the Second Coming. Rather, the Bible clearly teaches that when Christ returns He will "deliver up" the kingdom of redemption to the Father that has already long ago been "set up" (I Cor. 15:23-27).
Postponed kingdom thinking is not Christian thinking! The "Jesus"
that is expected to set up some earthly material 1,000 year kingdom for the Jews
sometime yet in the future is not the true Christ of the Bible, who plainly said
that He will judge every man according to his works when He returns (Matt.
16:27; 25:31-46)!
Now, are we all still looking for the biblical Christ to return, or are some of us looking for another?
Many Jews of the first Christian century, who were also
looking for another messiah, experienced physical destruction as a result of
their false-programming and misguidance. So what makes us so sure now that
history is not in the process of repeating itself in our time, as well?
Again, the idea is not that Jesus will come for the secret rapture of the Church
before some future seven year end-time prophetic time frame, during which God
reverts to dealing in a PRE-new covenant manner with the Jews. Progressive
revelation both precludes and forbids the spiritual authenticity and authority
of such a reverse mindset!
Friends, the true Christ of the Bible did not say anything about rapturing His
Church before seven years. That is a system of false teaching based on
misinterpretations of Scripture begun by Edward Irving and John Nelson Darby in
the nineteenth century! And just because it has gained the ascendancy today in
the exceedingly pervasive and popular way that it has, does not mean that it is
the truth, either!
It simply means that the masses are deceived and asleep at the midnight hour, just like the Bible predicted would be the case!
Related Article Links
Postponed Kingdom Thinking Is Not Biblical Christianity
The Bible Rapture