I talk about the soon return of Jesus a lot in real life. I am constantly surprised by the reactions I receive from Christians. More often than not, the rapture conversation makes them uncomfortable. It is sort of amazing to think of the prophesied abruptness of the change from one epoch to another. It will happen in the twinkling of an eye. In 1/100th of a second, Christians will be changed from corruptible to incorruptible, and the lost will remain and wonder what is happening. But still, the notion of a speedy snatching up to Jesus is supposed to make us glad, eager, and aware of our destiny in Christ. Yet too many Christians see that moment as an unnecessary interruption of their lives.
Some Christians take it better than others. The mildest kind of deflection usually goes something like this: after listening patiently, even indulgently to me, of Jesus's return and the necessity of our forgiven state, they will say "Well...no one knows the day or hour." And then they change the subject.
I want to address that response. I want to address it because it is wrong.
The bible is right, no one knows the day or hour. But too many people use that verse as an incorrect response to any discussion of the imminence of the rapture. What they mean is, because no one knows the day or hour, we must not speak of His snatching us away at all. They say "It may be thousands of years. No one knows." And they believe that to be a sufficient deflection of the topic. They verbally and rhetorically push it off a few thousand years, hinging on that verse as their justification to put it out of their mind. How wrong they are. But they deflect the topic because confronting that notion, that time for us may end at any second, means they must take a close and imminent look at their sin, their lifestyle, their walk, their weakness.
I say this: because no one knows the day or hour, we must speak of it constantly. Why? It could be tomorrow.
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