I’m sorry but it looks like it’s time for your reality check.
And when you try to cash your reality check, you will not be laughing all the way to the bank. For some of you, you’ll find yourself weeping uncontrollably. A reality check can do that. It often slams us in the face or gives us a gut punch. We’re doubled over in pain, wondering what hit us. There are a whole lot of Christians around the world. Many never expected the series of events that are unfolding before our eyes. Teachers, preachers, and Church leaders taught incorrect doctrines to their congregations. Now, after decades (in some cases, centuries) of false teaching and false hope, those teachers and seminary leaders don’t know how or are unwilling to self-correct.
Well, the gut punch is here for a lot of people. The reality check is slamming its fist in the face of many Christians. And stubborn Church leaders are sticking to failed doctrines. In particular, pre-tribulation rapture and postmillennialism.
I can imagine Christians struggling with doubt right now.
“Wasn’t Jesus supposed to take us before things got this bad?”
“What happened, they told me the rapture was coming?”
“My preacher told me that Jesus would take me away before things got really bad.”
“I believed my Pastor.”
A bad chapter but not the end of God’s story.
This is only one chapter in God’s story. And it’s not the last chapter. To tell the truth, the story will never end. Once this ugly chapter ends, things will get stunningly better. You’ve heard of “heaven on earth.” Well, that’s the next chapter. But this current chapter needs to play out. And as we can clearly see. It’s going to be a rough and tumble one. In fact, very rough and very tumultuous. The earth itself will shake on its axis.
If you don’t have your seatbelt fastened, you better do so. And more importantly, get your life square with the Creator of the Universe. He’s kind, gracious, merciful, and compassionate. But, there’s a timetable for all of this. And the clock is ticking down. His righteous and holy character demands justice. Unlike human leadership, the Lord will issue fair justice to all. Mercy to those who deserve it. And judgment for those whose lives have been bankrupt of love toward others.
Micah 6:8 A reality check on what the Lord requires of us
He has shown all you people what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Nahum 1:5
The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world, and all who live in it.
Postmillennialism and the Rapture-ready folks (Reality Check)
So, you thought things were going to improve, did you? Sorry, your reality check is here. Are you a Christian who believes in Postmillennialism? If you are, then you believe the world will gradually get better and better. The spread of the Gospel will slowly turn ungodly people into faithful servants of Christ. In time, the Good News will transform the world into a Christian paradise. That is an erroneous doctrine that Church leaders have taught for many centuries. And it ticked up in popularity just before the turn of the twentieth century (the 1900s). But it’s a doctrine that has old roots.
It’s hopeful. That’s very good. But it’s a Polly-Anna doctrine. You may not be familiar with Polly-Anna. She was a fictional character who always looked on the bright side. Always believing things will get better. That’s a wonderful trait. We need more Polly-Annas right now. But not in the pulpits. We need truth-tellers in our pulpits.
Rapture now! (Reality Check)
I don’t want to give away my age. But, I’m nearly as old as dirt. 🙂
I wasn’t raised in a Christian home but the Lord called me at an early age. I’ve heard about the pre-tribulation rapture for several decades. Here’s the simple version of that doctrine. The world will get scary and evil. But Christians don’t have to worry. We are the bride of Christ. And since Jesus will never beat his wife, He will take us away from the earth before things get too bad. You see, unbelievers deserve what’s coming. But Christians are good and will not suffer any wrath. So we get taken out of the coming mess.
That’s the story your Pastor probably told you. But it’s not sound biblical doctrine.
And so we find ourselves here. With the world going crazy. The rapture, though promised for many decades, hasn’t arrived.
The Bible doesn’t support the pre-tribulation view. Yes, I’m aware of the numerous verses used to support that doctrine. But, it’s a resoundingly poor interpretation.
We were deceived. I bought into that false doctrine. But, like many others, I’ve come to my senses after doing a deeper dive into the scriptures. That’s a deep dive we all should take.
Get back into your Bible. Read it regularly. Study it. Skip the YouTube prophets who keep saying the rapture is here. Allow the Lord, through prayer and study, to prepare you for this ugly chapter.
If you must, focus on the better future that arrives after this.
https://thewritelife.tech/2018/07/05/keep-focused-on-the-better-future-peace-will-come-the-nations-will-be-healed/
2 Thessalonians 2:3
Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
Revelation 20:4
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Revelation 20:6
Blessed and holy are those who have a part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
Things will get much better. They will. But we need to endure what’s ahead of us.
https://thewritelife.tech/2018/09/06/is-the-millennium-fiction-or-biblical-fact/
Let me know what you think.