Imminent!
My friend Chris sent me an email with a link to an interview between an author and a CBS Mornings host. The title of the book being discussed was Imminent: The Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs.
The word “imminent” naturally piqued my friend’s tendency to link the urgency integral to that word’s meaning to the same word’s urgency as related to the Rapture. And he knew it would garner my interest, too.
The Rapture is an imminent event; that is, it can happen at any moment without warning. Our purpose here is to urge our audience, if saved by belief in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross at Calvary, to be “Rapture ready” by being in God’s will when that great event occurs. We urge our readers who aren’t yet saved to accept Christ now, this moment. Jesus is the only Way to be transported into the clouds of Glory and onward into Heaven. All others will be, as the title of the series by my friends Dr. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins puts it: Left Behind.
The Rapture, of course, is that moment (in the “twinkling of an eye”) when millions will vanish from the earth when Jesus calls them (1 Thessalonians 4:16—18). I say “is” that moment rather than “will be” that moment because that calling is as good as already done in God’s omniscient, omnipresent view of things. Nothing can change that scheduled time when Jesus shouts, “Come up here!” as He did in calling John into Heaven to witness things to come following the Church Age (Revelation 4:1).
And, again, that calling is imminent. That is, the Rapture can take place at any moment. There is no sign or signal that is to precede that great event.
If one is to be Rapture ready, one must be so at all times. There will be no time to get ready. The time is now—right this moment—to be prepared, in the salvation sense, for that (twinkling-of-an-eye) instant when Jesus calls.
And that is the gloriously wonderful thing about the matter of the imminent Rapture. If you have accepted Christ, you will go to Him when He calls. No believer—no child of God—will be left behind to suffer the judgment and wrath that will, following that call, begin to descend upon the world of left-behind earth dwellers.
I take it that the author’s book, Imminent: The Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs, involves the belief that UFOs, or as they are called now by the government, UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena), are threatening us. According to the brief interview I heard, I presume the book warns that visitors from other worlds are on the verge of invading our planet.
In that regard, I think all we have to do is to glance around our society, culture, and every other aspect of the human condition to know that indeed there is an invasion from another world: the interlopers from the other dimension Paul described:
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).
Bible prophecy scholars like the late Chuck Missler undertook in-depth studies on these interlopers from the dark dimension. Writers and speakers like L. A. Marzulli continue to present great research about this end-times invasion. I, myself, have delved into fictional accounts of the matters involving UFOs—for example, with my novel The Rapture Dialogues.
I’ve written many times that I, as do others from the pre-Trib view of prophecy, believe the imminent invasion feared to come from other worlds (as even our government now expresses) will be part of the big lie Antichrist will foist upon those who are left behind. The people of the earth have endured many decades of being prepped/inculcated by the nefarious powers that be for that coming invasion, the time when the false prophet of Revelation 13 will call fire down from the skies.
Seeing this big lie taking shape, so far as it involves that coming supposed invasion from space, and discerning these times that look more and more like the Tribulation era to come, it is truly time to expect the greatest imminent event of history this side of the Second Advent.
Again, here is Paul’s heads-up on that occurrence:
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).
As always, for those who read this and don’t know Jesus for the salvation of your soul, you don’t want to be left behind when that invasion from Satan’s forces assaults the planet during the seven years of Tribulation (Daniel’s seventieth week). Here is how to make sure you go instantly to Jesus Christ when He calls all believers to Himself in the Rapture:
“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
Unaware
If I were to select one word that sums up most people today, it would be “unaware.” Despite the myriad of signs that tell us that the start of the Tribulation period is long overdue, few people are paying attention. Most believers pursue their aspirations with little or no understanding of the times in which they live.
Is this not yet another sign that we live in the last days? I believe it is.
“For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:38-39, emphasis added).
The words “they were unaware” in the English Standard Version are literally “they did not know” in the original. Because the people in Noah’s day didn’t believe his warnings about God’s impending judgment, it was as if they didn’t know about it until it started raining. Some versions of the Bible translate the words as “they did not understand.”
During the lengthy time required to build the ark, it seems likely that word of such a spectacle would’ve spread to most people living at that time. They saw so many things that were out of the ordinary with the building of a huge ark and the boarding of the animals on it, yet they remained oblivious to the coming flood until it started to rain.
Just like in Noah’s day, most people today are unaware that things in the world will suddenly change in perhaps the near future. For decades, they have heard people like me point to the nearness of Jesus’ appearing. Even though they have heard the warnings, they aren’t knowledgeable of what lies ahead and are thus unaware of what’s coming.
Because we don’t know the precise timing of Jesus’ appearing, we can’t cease the normal activities of our lives and wait for Him. However, Jesus’ words concerning the days of Noah imply that we can do so with an awareness that He might dramatically intervene in our world at any moment. We may see the end of 2024 and perhaps even the end of 2025. On the other hand, we may not see the end of today, this week, this month, or the next.
Why do I believe it’s so close? It’s because the Lord continues to warn us of its nearness by allowing both believers and those outside of the faith to see small yet vivid glimpses of the cataclysmic events described in the book of Revelation.
Many pastors, however, ignore the vast number of signs pointing to the nearness of the events described in Revelation. Is it not unbelief that causes them to dismiss the book’s message as having no significance for believers today? It’s because they do not understand the times in which they live that so many in their churches remain unaware of what lies ahead.
The Lord’s design for His church was to live with an anticipation of His imminent return. Why else would He instruct His followers to be ready and watch for His return? (Matthew 24:44; 2513). The sense of Philippians 3:20 is that we “eagerly await” Jesus’ appearing. Immediately upon turning to the Lord, the new converts at Thessalonica began anticipating His coming (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).
An additional advantage of such an expectation is that an awareness of what the Bible says about our day calms our hearts and enables us to live with hope. We don’t have to run from the news of our day or pretend that things will get better with time. We know these are biblical times and Jesus is coming for us soon.
I’m surprised by how many Christians today remain unaware of the lateness of our day. They talk and plan as though nothing will interfere with either their near-term or long-term aspirations. The problem is not with the planning itself but with doing so without an understanding of the imminent dangers that threaten their livelihood.
For many, their unawareness extends beyond that of the nearing Rapture and includes that of the dangers knocking at our day. Globalists plot how to dramatically reduce the world’s population while dire economic conditions seem probable in the not-so-distant future. The threat of World War III has never been greater than it is now.
Life between now and the Rapture may become increasingly scary and perilous. Because so many around us are unaware of what’s coming, it’s essential that we remain focused on the prize ahead for us, continue to study Scripture, and be ready to give an answer to those who ask about our hope (1 Peter 3:15).
If there ever was a time to obey the Lord’s command to watch for His return, it’s now!
-Jonathan