Is now a right time to come to God?
I recently talked about the Bride of Christ and how we the church will be swooped up and whisked away to a wedding day with Jesus. This event is called the Rapture and we examined it and our place in biblical history and came to realize we are living in a time when this could happen at any moment.
I reminded you to have your wedding clothes on and to be sure that you have sent your R.S.V.P. to Jesus. We do not want to be like the five foolish virgins who let the oil go out of their lamps in Jesus parable about the bridegroom coming for his bride. Matthew 25:1-13
Today I want to assure you that the bible has much more to say on this subject and that we must not be caught off guard. The Old Testament provides for us a Backbone to Prophecy through the book of Daniel. It is there that we learn of Gods program for the Church Age and for its end and the beginning of Tribulation for the Jewish believers and the unsaved left on this earth as we escape this Tribulation period and enjoy the Wedding of the Lamb. Revelation 19:7
Is now a right time to come to God?
Many of us come to knowledge of God through our parents. They present us for Baptism in a Christian Church and we learn about God that way. We in effect learn what we are told. It is not until we are older that we begin to investigate Gods place in our lives for ourselves.
Sometimes this is a natural extension of our introduction by our parents to the Christian Church. At other times it is due to conflict or crisis in our lives that brings us to our knees as we seek answers and assistance from God to sort out our lives.
Fortunately many of us find God in one of these ways and we come to a saving knowledge of God through Jesus Christ. Still others even in the church can miss out on finding God. We can have knowledge of God but not know Him personally. For a large part of the Jewish population this is the case. They do not yet know who Jesus is. They do not accept him as Messiah and in fact openly reject him to this day.
It is this condition that keeps the Jews from being a part of the Church Age and that will cause them to experience the Tribulation Period along with those Christians that we might call nominal in their faith: Those who practice Christianity out of habit rather than out of a faith in Jesus Christ.
For them the right time to come to God is now, before the Tribulation Period begins. Jesus is the means by which we can escape the time when the Anti-Christ rules through violence and demonic power. It will be a time like no other upon the earth. It is a time that is promised to come and we may be very near its start.
More than 2500 years ago in the land of Babylon (Iraq) a young Hebrew prophet named Daniel, a captive from the land of Israel, received a revelation. The angel Gabriel reveled to Daniel how his nation Israel, his people the Jews, and his holy city Jerusalem would play a central role in Gods plan for all mankind.
They would act as Gods prophetic clock the nation of Israel, Jerusalem and the Jews would be the focus of world attention as Gods clock began to tick away the minutes of human history. Daniel foretold the coming of two great rulers who would affect the whole earth: And how a future Jewish Temple would play a central part of this plan. These events are reveled for us in the book of Daniel in the 9th chapter verses 24 to 27. (Adapted from http://www.truthnet.org/dan70.html)
Daniel 9:24-27
24 Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.
26 And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one
week; But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.
The Book of Daniel is actually one of the most authenticated books of the Old Testament, historically and archaeologically. Chuck Missler
From his Book "The Creator Beyond Time and Space"
Daniel, originally deported as a teenager (now near the end of the Babylonian captivity), was reading in the Book of Jeremiah. He understood that the seventy years of servitude were almost over and he began to pray for his people.
The Angel Gabriel interrupted Daniels prayer and gave him a four-verse prophecy that is unquestionably the most remarkable passage in the entire Bible: Daniel 9:24-27. Chuck Missler
These verses outline the coming of the Messiah (Jesus), the cutting off of the Messiah from the Jews a destruction of the temple then a sudden rebuilding of Jerusalem and a broken period of time (The Church Age) and a covenant with an evil Prince. (Tribulation Period)
Many bible scholars believe that we are indeed living in this Pre-Tribulation period. The last seven years of Daniels prophecy. Israel was destroyed and ravaged then left to disappear from history only to reappear after the Second World War and become a country again. They have not rebuilt the Temple for Jewish worship since the Muslims control the Dome of the Rock where it is thought the original Temple once stood. But there is a group of Jews who are ready to build once they solve that problem.
The next great Prophetic event will be the Rapture of the Church or the ending of the Church age or the time of the Gentiles and the covenant with this world leader who will be the Anti-Christ. So for us it has never been a better time to be counted as a Christian. We have been saved and are being changed day by day by our Saviour Jesus Christ.
We are being prepared for a wedding day and will escape this terrible time of trouble. For those who wait like the five foolish virgins in Matthew 25, destruction will fall upon them quickly as they witness our disappearance and the appearance of this world ruler of sin.
A comparison of the details of Daniels seventieth week with 2Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 13 demonstrates further New Testament dependence upon this passage. They have in common, among other things, the idol, the blasphemy in the temple, and a three and one half year reign.
Can you afford to put off a personal relationship with Jesus Christ given that we are so near to seeing these things fulfilled in our time? Do you wish to be an invited guest to Jesus wedding feast or would you rather put off the invitation and accept what this world will become? Turn to Jesus today and escape the events of the Tribulation period.
Jesus and Jesus alone can save you from your sin and from the events prophesied about the end of the church age. Today you have heard what is coming all around you it is evident. The world is moving to a one world government and the world is full of sin and violence. Jesus will not leave his bride in such a place and you too can escape it.
Heed Daniels warning and trust in the saving power of Jesus Christ. Read for yourself and let God speak to your heart. Those of us who are Christs will not be here when these things take place. We can not help you then and that is why we plead with you now.
Come to Jesus just as you are and join us at the Marriage of the Lamb.
