Tomorrow?
May 20, 2011 (Friday)
Tomorrow, May 21, 2011, has been identified as the day the world as we know it will be changed forever. This is not the first time the man behind this prediction of the end of the world has given us a date. The first was in 1994. When his predictions did not bring the Rapture or Judgment or the Appearance of Christ, he went back to his calculations and came up with another date. It didn’t pan out either. Now he’s back again with another date.
Jesus said he will return but went on to say that no one knows when, and then, astoundingly, he declared that not even he himself knew. The only one who knows is God the Father. That’s what Jesus said, so that’s what I believe. He’s coming back, but no one knows when.
Time after time throughout Christian history, people have gathered together with absolute confidence to welcome Christ and the end of the world. I remember one of those occasions in Waco in the early 1960’s when a group gathered on the highway to await the end. It didn’t come.
Let me be clear. Jesus will return. As I interpret the Bible’s prophecies, I think it can happen at any time. But I definitely do not believe anyone knows when. I believe as I do because that’s what Jesus specifically taught. The emphasis he placed upon the end of this age was the need to be prepared, ready for his coming at any time, because we will have no warning. He gave the illustration of a thief invading a home at night. Thieves strike without warning; people don’t know when they are coming. Jesus said his coming would be like that.
When it happens, we will know it. The important question is not, “Do I know when it will happen?” The important question is, “Am I ready?”
When the Lord returns, his people will be caught up to meet him in the air and shall always be with him after that. I remember hearing Billy Graham speak of this as a journey. “Are you ready for that trip?” he asked. “Are your bags packed?”