Rapture: TBD?

My Taiwanese wife Phoebe does study the Bible a lot, but she seems to have avoided getting bitten by the end-time prophecy bug up to this point (although I'm working on her). So she caught me slightly off guard the other day when she asked me out of the blue:

"Honey, when will Jesus come back?"

Now, I've explained to her before all about the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Second Coming, and so forth, but she prefers to study the Gospels and some of the other New Testament epistles with no particular focus on end-time events. It takes her a wee bit longer because she studies English translations, not the Chinese translation, which according to her is bu hao (lousy, lit. "not good"). So, I always perk right up when she asks me a question about end-time stuff.

"Pretty soon, I think."

"Oh."

In spite of the fact that Phoebe's English is actually pretty good (light years beyond my Chinese), she and I routinely speak a peculiar hybrid of English and Mandarin Chinese at home (which I have dubbed Englinese), and that's why I couldn't help but laugh when she proceeded to half-jokingly ask me:

"Is it OK to ask Jesus kuai dian lai?"

Kuai dian lai means "come quickly," and I showed her a couple of verses in the book of Revelation where Jesus said He was going to do exactly that.

"So, yeah...you can ask Jesus kuai dian lai all you want!"

As I have discussed in previous articles, I think one of the things that has caused me to focus more attention on things other than the precise timing of the Rapture is an allergic reaction to the date-seeking mania that has gripped many believers recently, especially in the wake of the stellar-planetary alignment of September 23, 2017 that I firmly believe put God's stamp of confirmation on the truth of John's vision in Revelation 12, and that I firmly believe was a sign to those with ears to hear that we are officially in the run-up to the Rapture and the subsequent Tribulation. In other words, I believe it served as the Church's exit sign, so to speak.

But ever since the date that had been the obsession of countless thousands of believers for the previous five or six years came and went in spectacularly uneventful fashion six months ago, I have watched believers who had grown a bit too accustomed to having a big, fat DATE to look forward to continue to stress and obsess over every coincidence, pattern, significant event, dream, vision, earthquake, lunar eclipse, solar eclipse, blood moon, blue moon, super moon, and super blue blood moon (whatever that is—and please don't bother writing to me to explain it) as they incessantly seek to calculate yet another speculative date for the Rapture to which they can pin their hopes.

But that's not the real problem. Even though I personally have made a conscious decision to not get too bogged down in that sort of thing, it is certainly not my place to question or criticize people who study signs and events and patterns and such in an effort to gain a feel for when the Rapture might occur (without necessarily setting dates per se).

I just feel the Lord is drawing me toward other things, that's all.

And I am quick to acknowledge that yeah, there are many mature believers who are fully aware that we won't know the date of the Rapture for certain in advance, and take all these things with the appropriate grain of salt. They are able to temper their excitement and anticipation by obeying the Lord's command to watch and wait actively and they remain occupied with the Master's business. So, when the latest red-hot high-watch date comes and goes, they can just smile and brush it off, and thank the Lord for more opportunities to live for Him and glorify His holy name, and spread the life-changing message of the gospel. It's water off a duck's derrière.

The real problem in my opinion is that as these speculative dates that some people come up with come and go as they invariably do, I am seeing a disheartening number of good, sincere believers allow the resultant frustration, discouragement, and disappointment douse the flames of their once blazing watchfulness for His return. I see people who eagerly chat up one sizzling high-watch date after another—often based on some highly speculative tossed salad of numbers and perceived patterns, only to see that sizzle fizzle as they grow weary of one letdown after another.

And I find it as disturbing as I do heartbreaking.

Now, please don't think I'm insinuating that such people are not mature believers—I'm just saying. It happens, and it can happen to any of us at times. Ironically enough, it can happen to us precisely because we are obeying Christ's command to watch expectantly and long for His return.

And oh how we long for it. Unfortunately, we're still human.

As I have on several occasions in the past, I want to make it as clear as I can that I believe based strictly on Scripture that we will never know the precise date of the Rapture in advance; but I will refrain from carping at those who feel otherwise and continue in their efforts to figure out the date.

I just happen to believe they will continue to fail.

In addition to the frustration, discouragement, and disappointment that can result from the steady diet of failed dates that some have been feasting on, there is another phenomenon I am seeing more of these days, and that is the topic I want to focus on in this article.

As one high-watch date after another flies by, I am hearing a growing amount of grumbling from various circles that God has delayed the Rapture. That's right, folks...Jesus actually intended to rapture us on:

September 23, 2017,
September 24–25, 2017,
October 5–6, 2017,
September 29–30, 2017,
December 31, 2017,
January 18, 2018,
January 21, 2018,
January 31, 2018,
February 16–17, 2018,
February 26–27, 2018,
March 3, 2018,
March 11, 2018,
March 17–19, 2018,
March 23, 2018, etc., etc., etc.,

...and I'm quite certain I missed a few, but He didn't for some reason. There was a last-minute change in plan. The catching away of the bride of Christ has been rescheduled.

The Rapture has been delayed!

Why? The most commonly offered reason seems to be that the Bride just isn't ready yet. Yep, we blew it—Jesus wanted to rapture us, but you know us. We weren't sufficiently focused on Him. Too many Christians are still too in love with the world, didn't ya know. We're too fleshly minded, and as a result our spiritual lives just aren't quite up to scratch. We're like the sleeping virgins in Matthew 25:1–13.

So get with the program, you guys! All right?! Reveille, reveille!

Be my guest: You can argue all you want—that's fine, but I am convinced based on my study of Scripture that the 10 virgins in Matthew 25:1–13 are not Church Age believers. If you are determined to wedge the Church somewhere into the Olivet Discourse, that's fine with me. If you want to make those virgins—wise or foolish—out to be Church Age believers, knock yourself out. I won't argue with you—I just wouldn't recommend holding your breath waiting for me to agree with you.

I am reminded of something I saw in the comment section of a website a couple of years ago. Several believers were discussing the Rapture and related events, and out of the blue some arrogant, self-appointed proffet popped in and spouted off something along the following lines:

"Sorry gang, but the Lord revealed to me last night that the Rapture has been delayed for 15 years."

Just between you and me, this is one reason I can't bring myself to put a comment section on this website: There's just no polite, sanctified way to tell some blowhard to put a sock in it—which is what I would be inclined to say. Not only that, but the moment someone says "The Lord revealed to me...," the last word I hear is "me." I have a shockproof horse-hockey filter that kicks in before the sound of the next word reaches my eardrums.

But this idea of the Rapture being delayed doesn't end there. Logically, if the Rapture has been delayed, then we can conclude that other end-time events can and perhaps have been delayed as well. Maybe the battle of Gog-Magog (Ezek. 38–39) has been postponed for a few years. Perhaps the treaty of Daniel 9:27 has been penciled in for the early 2020s. Maybe the rise of the Antichrist has been pushed back a decade or so. And, of course, that means the Second Coming and the inauguration of the Millennial Kingdom have been thrown off schedule and are TBD.

TBD—To Be Determined...and apparently not according to the will and the perfect plan of an all-knowing, all-powerful Creator, but rather by a fortuitous confluence of circumstances.

My primary motivation in writing this article is to show you clearly from God's Word that the idea that the Rapture and other end-time events have been delayed or postponed for some reason is not only patently false, it's impossible. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if you are fully aware of what the Word actually says about this, then to seriously believe such a thing amounts to sin. Why? Because it demonstrates that you don't trust God and you don't believe His Word.

Go ahead, ask me if I'm kidding.

Behold, I come quickly

One of the common snark-grenades lobbed at Bible-believing Christians concerning the Rapture and/or the Second Coming is the simple fact that it's been, you know, a really long time:

"OK, let me get this straight: It's been two thousand years, and you guys seriously think He's still coming. Oh, I'm sorry...I mean coming soon. Ooo-kay." (stifled snicker)

Yes, Jesus said He was coming "soon," or coming "quickly." Yes, He said that two thousand years ago. And no, two thousand years doesn't quite square with the normal person's concept of "soon" or "quickly." No argument there.

What we need to do is take a closer look at this business of "coming soon" or "coming quickly," because it's crucial for us to have a proper sense of what this actually means. Where to start? That's easy:

Let's start at the beginning...of the end:

In the opening words of the book of Revelation, John is informing us what he is going to present in this book, and he tells us it concerns things that must "shortly come to pass." Of course, the "things" John is about to describe comprise an outline of the entire Church Age, the Rapture, the execution of the three series of judgments that span the seven-year Tribulation period, the rule of the Antichrist, the physical return of Christ to the earth, the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom, Satan's final rebellion, the Great White Throne Judgment, the ultimate transition to the new heavens and the new earth, and many other attendant events along the way.

And John says these things are going to happen "shortly."

The Greek phrase translated "shortly" is en tachei, with tachei being a form of the noun tachos (quickness, speed), and the word suggests that something is done, well, fast, or as quickly as is appropriate to the particular situation, or done without unnecessary delay. The phrase en tachei is typically rendered "quickly," "soon," or "shortly" in most translations, and could literally be rendered "in quickness," although that sounds rather clumsy to the ears of native speakers of English.

The expression en tachei is used eight times in the New Testament, and in four of those usages (Acts 12:7; 22:18; 25:4; 1 Tim. 3:14) it is used in reference to the actions of men. In the other four usages (Luke 18:8; Rom. 16:20; Rev. 1:1; 22:6), it is used in reference to the actions of God.

The adverb form closely related to the expression en techei is the word tachu (quickly, speedily), and HELPS^TM Word-studies has this to say about tachu when it is used in reference to God:

In other words, there is a subtle shift in the sense of usage. With God, the emphasis is no longer on the fact that something will be done in haste, or done "quickly" in regard to time, but rather that it will be done with no unnecessary delay, basically because all things unfold according to God's sovereign plan. God does what He does and it is what it is, so any perceived "delay" exists only in the fleshly pea-brains of men.

The adverb tachu is used twelve times in the New Testament, and oddly enough its usages are also split down the middle, fifty-fifty. In six of the usages (Matt. 5:25; 28:7, 8; Mark 9:39; Luke 15:22; John 11:29), it is used in reference to the actions of men. In the other six usages (Rev. 2:16; 3:11; 11:14; 22:7, 12, 20), it is used in reference to the actions of God.

When Scripture says a person did something or went somewhere en tachei, or did it or went there tachu, it's clearly used in the normal sense of doing something or going somewhere fast. Time's a-wastin', hoss. Let's get going.

But when the Bible speaks of God doing something en tachei or tachu, there is a shift in the sense of usage—and when we stop and think about it, that shouldn't surprise anyone.

Think about this carefully for a moment. Why do people need to act quickly? Why do we need to hurry? Why do we need to delay things sometimes? There are multitudes of reasons:

• We might be forced to delay our actions because something didn't go according to plan.

• We might have to postpone something due to the fact that someone else isn't ready or something hasn't been completed in a timely manner.

• We might be pressed for time due to some unforeseen event.

• We may be racing against time in order to prevent an undesirable result in some situation.

The list goes on and on. Now, ask yourself:

How does this apply to God?

• Is God ever forced to delay His actions because something didn't go according to plan?

• Does God ever have to postpone something due to the fact that someone else isn't ready or something hasn't been completed in a timely manner?

• Is God ever pressed for time due to some unforeseen event?

• Is God ever racing against time in order to prevent an undesirable result in some situation?

NO! Every single thing I can think of that might cause men to act quickly or delay something simply breaks down when applied to an omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient God.

Nothing catches God by surprise. Nothing cuts God short of time. Nothing is unforeseen to God. Nothing forces God to delay anything. Nothing throws God's timing off. How on earth could it? He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and in complete, consummate control of everything at all times, from before the beginning of time.

Unlike men, God is never in a hurry, and is never forced to delay things.

Why would He need to? He's God.

Oh yeah? Well, what about Nineveh? In the book of Jonah, we read that God sent Jonah to preach to the people in Nineveh. You know the story—three days in the belly of a whale and all that. But notice that after Jonah finally got around to doing what God had told him to do, the Ninevites repented and God sovereignly forestalled the judgment He intended to send upon them (a judgment that fell hard 100-odd years later). So, if He "delayed" the judgment of Nineveh, what's wrong with the idea of Him "delaying" the Rapture?

Apples and oranges. Do you think their repentance caught God by surprise? No. Was God "forced" to delay His judgment by something unforeseen? No. Although the ultimate destruction of Nineveh was prophesied by the prophet Nahum and came in God's perfect time, God sovereignly chose to use the Ninevites (whose pride and cruelty were legendary in the ancient world) and His recalcitrant evangelist Jonah to give the world an object lesson.

He wanted to show the people of the ancient world that although He is a holy God who judged evil, He is also a merciful God who looked on the hearts of sinful men and responded with mercy to their genuine repentance. This has nothing to do with the idea of God repeatedly being forced to postpone the Rapture because something unexpected has occurred, or because His Son's carnal slob of a Bride just can't get her act together.

Just to top things off, here are the three final usages of tachu in the Bible, spoken by the Bridegroom to the Bride:

I come quickly. So what do you think? Do you suppose Jesus is in training for the Rapture, up in heaven sporting a pair of Nikes with a couple of angels standing around with stopwatches?

"Ooh, good time, Lord! I think that's your personal best. But let's try it again, only this time try to get a better jump out of the starting blocks."

Not a chance. The point I'm trying to make is that there is only one correct way to interpret these Scriptures. When Jesus says "I come quickly," He means one and only one thing:

I am coming WITHOUT UNNECESSARY DELAY!

Let this sink in for a moment. Jesus tells us point blank three times in the space of 14 verses that He is coming back without unnecessary delay. That means it's important. That means He's trying to drive the point home. That means if we allow ourselves to entertain the notion that the Rapture has been pushed back or postponed or delayed for some unforeseen reason or because the Church isn't quite ready yet, we are in error, pure and simple.

Now, does this only apply specifically to the Rapture? No. I see no reason to believe that it does. I think it is clear that Jesus is referring to the entire process of His return at the Second Coming, of which the Rapture could easily be considered the initial phase—the raising of the curtain on the whole Second Coming program, so to speak.

In other words, it is completely clear that this principle of "without unnecessary delay" must logically apply to every major event or phase of the entire Second Coming process—from the Rapture, to the treaty of Daniel 9:27 that launches the Tribulation, to the abomination of desolation at its midpoint, to all the various judgments and events of Daniel's 70th Week, to Christ's physical return at its climax, and everything that follows. The logic is inescapable:

These end-time events are sequential. That means that if even one of them can be delayed, then so can every event that follows it.

There's no logical way around it. If the Rapture can be delayed, so can the Tribulation, the Second Coming, and so on. And Jesus tells us emphatically and repeatedly that He is coming without any unnecessary delay.

One precious little gem I want you to take away from this article is this:

It's on, folks. God is not going to take His foot off
the gas and let things coast for a decade or two.

Or a day or two.

If some sphere of activity within Bible prophecy seems to be idling, you can rest assured things are advancing in other spheres. Many people, even seasoned watchmen, can sometimes get overly focused on one certain prophetic arena, and as a result may pay inadequate attention to others.

For example, they may be tuned in to the military aspects of the run-up to Gog-Magog, and so they're up-to-date on all the latest posturing and maneuvering of Iran and Russia in what used to be Syria.

They might be heavily into the political aspects of the coming treaty of Daniel 9:27, and thus locked in on what's happening in regard to the push toward a settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

They might be focused on the advancement of the technology needed to usher in a one-world economic system that will be under the control of the Antichrist, or that needed to implement his mark.

And the list goes on. There are times and seasons when there is noteworthy activity in any and all of these prophetic theaters, and few people, if any, can effectively monitor them all. Of course, the Father knows this and that's why He leads certain watchmen into certain areas of the prophetic spectrum.

But at the same time, this is also one reason why it can sometimes seem to even the most faithful watchmen that the Lord is delaying things. When you don't hear any news about anything significant in a certain area of prophecy for a period of time, it can make certain people feel as if things have been put on hold. The Lord is dragging His feet for some reason, and that feeling can suck the Titus 2:13 out of the best of 'em:

This is also something that can lead people to get overly hyped up and convinced the Rapture is only days away. It seems to them that things are ripe in one prophetic arena (the one they're focused on, naturally), and that may be true. So, they reason, it's time! For example, they may note that things have reached the point where the Battle of Gog-Magog could literally occur at any time—the players and the military hardware are all in place. As a result, they are convinced the Rapture must be set to occur within weeks.

The problem is that even though they may be right about that aspect of the prophetic scenario, there may well be other areas that might need some number of months or even several years to reach their pre-ordained level of prophetic maturity. In other words, they may fail to take into account the entire prophetic tapestry.

What's wrong with a little delay?

OK, so the Lord said He would come quickly, or with no unnecessary delay. Swell. Yeah, that's what He said, but it often seems to us that He is kind of, you know, delaying things.

He should have already raptured us outta here by now...what on earth is taking Him so long?!

We often get so hyped up over legitimate signs and compelling indications of His soon return (not to mention the highly speculative, off-the-wall stuff) that we reach the point where we're ready to pull our hair out in chunks. And this begs the question:

So, what's so bad about thinking the Lord has delayed the Rapture?

After all, what harm can it do? Isn't that a reasonable way to deal with the very human disappointment stemming from the fact that Jesus seems to be taking His sweet time in taking us home?

In addition to the idea that the Church isn't quite ready yet (which flatly contradicts Scripture anyway because we were as ready for the Rapture as we will ever be the moment we trusted Christ for our salvation), some people actually think Jesus keeps having to delay the Rapture because He keeps stumbling across more people to save.

Well, He just can't leave 'em behind, can He? How merciful would that be?

This flatly contradicts Scripture as well, because God knew every single person who would repent and believe the gospel in faith before the foundation of the world, and gave them to His Son—who knows and will keep each one of them. That means there are no surprises in this regard. Jesus isn't out running around discovering scattered pockets of people here and there who, to His surprise and delight, will believe the gospel and be saved, and to believe such a thing is to simply misunderstand Scripture.

I see three fundamental problems with entertaining the notion that the Lord is delaying the Rapture.

1. If we believe the Lord is delaying the Rapture, we don't trust Him and we don't believe His Word.

As I mentioned earlier. This one is drop-dead obvious, so let's dispense with this one right now. The Lord told us point blank three times in the closing chapter of the Bible that He was returning without unnecessary delay.

What does He have to do, draw us a picture?

If you don't remember anything else I say in this article, remember this:

The Lord told us with overwhelming clarity
that He will not delay the Rapture. Period.

Do you believe Him or don't you?

2. If we believe the Lord is delaying the Rapture, we may fall under the sway of false teachers who don't believe He's coming back at all.

In this passage from the Olivet Discourse, Christ gives us an illustration involving a faithful servant and an evil servant, and He uses it to emphasize the importance of being ready for service at all times:

Of course, it is the evil servant who thinks the Master is delaying His return, and as a result, he beats his fellow servants and engages in dissipative, ungodly living.

Without getting sidetracked by an in-depth exegesis of this passage, let me just say this: I believe Jesus is talking about false teachers and faithless ministers who, instead of lovingly shepherding and edifying believers, faithfully ministering the Word to them, and encouraging them to wait patiently for the Lord's return (and I believe the Second Coming is in view here), continue in the ways of the world and burden the believers in their charge with false teaching that robs them of such a hope. In this case, the "delay" is in the perception of these wolves in sheep's clothing who in most cases don't believe He is ever coming back at all.

I believe that after the Rapture and during the Tribulation, although legions of people will come to faith in Christ, there will still be wolves who prey upon the flock, denying the truth of the Rapture in retrospect and continuing to foist upon people false teachings that deny the literal return of Christ to the earth and the Millennial Kingdom that follows. Just as there are today.

As far as the Rapture itself is concerned, one doesn't have to look very hard or very long today to find plenty of teachers within organized Christianity who arrogantly rant and rail about how the pre-tribulation Rapture is a ludicrous escapist fantasy that was concocted by a scurrilous charlatan named John Nelson Darby in 1830, who pilfered the idea from the ramblings of an unstable 15-year-old Scottish girl named Margaret MacDonald, and who revel in viciously mocking the pathetic, deluded simpletons in the Church who have fallen for such a fantastical fairy tale.

As far as this fanciful tale of J.N. Darby and little Maggie MacDonald is concerned, I know from bitter experience that arguing with such people is an exercise in futility. But don't take my word for anything. There is only one intellectually honest thing to do in response to this flimsy fiction, and I guarantee it'll kill it, skin it, and bury it in the backyard:

Exercise due diligence—do your homework.
(Because they sure haven't done theirs.)

Now, hopefully people who think the Lord is delaying the Rapture won't reach the point where they stop believing Christ will ever return, but they may get a little (yawn) tired of waiting.

3. If we believe the Lord is delaying the Rapture, it can easily drain us of the watchful expectancy we are instructed to maintain.

You heard me—instructed. Go back and re-read Titus 2:11–14 carefully.

As an illustration, I give you the 10 Sleeping Beauties:

Although I am not convinced that the primary thrust of this parable applies specifically to Church Age believers, the overarching principle of maintaining a state of watchful expectancy for the Lord's return certainly does.

While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. Of course, we can assume the "tarrying" was in the eyes of the virgins, but notice the effect the Bridegroom's perceived delay has on all 10 of them:

So was the Bridegroom really tarrying? I'm gonna let the writer of the book of Hebrews answer that one:

Incidentally, the same Greek word is translated "tarry" in both Matthew 25:5 and Hebrews 10:37 above, and it is a form of the word chronizo (to delay, tarry, linger; to spend or take time).

So is Jesus really tarrying? For the umpteenth time, no. But apparently that's how it seemed to our 10 Sleeping Beauties, who let their perception of the Bridegroom's delay rob them of the watchful expectation they should have had...and as a result they were caught snoozing.

Applying this general principle to Church Age believers, we could say that those who believe the Lord is delaying the Rapture can slip into a state of slumber, or a state where they are no longer looking for Christ's return as they became preoccupied with other things. The fire of expectancy goes out, their spiritual lives flicker, their witness is compromised, and it's high-fives all around for members of Satan's SWAT* Team as they move on to their next victim.

*SWAT—Spiritual Warfare And Trickery

Look away

As we have seen, there is no scriptural reason to believe that the Lord has delayed or will delay the Rapture. In fact, Scripture is emphatically on the opposite side of this fence. God's Word tells us to watch, to wait patiently. But like I said, we're still human, and we ache for the moment when He will catch us away to be with Him for eternity.

Waiting for His return. Aching for His return.
Waiting...aching...waiting...aching...waiting...aching...

It's almost enough to drive a person mad sometimes. So what do we do?

Since I face the same dilemma as anyone else out there, I can't sit here and pretend as if I have all the answers. So what do we do?

Same as always: We go to the Word.

In Philippians 3, Paul is exhorting the believers at Philippi to press on toward the mark, and then makes the following statement:

Paul is obviously talking about waiting for the Rapture, but let's take a closer look at the word he chose to use.

The Greek word translated "wait" in verse 20 is a form of apekdechomai, and although many translations render it with reasonable accuracy as "await eagerly" or "eagerly wait for" or something along those lines, a closer examination of the word apekdechomai gives this verse nuance that the English doesn't effectively communicate.

The word apekdechomai is formed from the prefix apo (away from) and ekdechomai (to look for, wait for, expect), while this last word ekdechomai is formed from the preposition ek (from, out from among) and dechomai (to receive with warm hospitality).

This could properly be translated as "to welcome from and out of," and it suggests the kind of waiting that decisively looks away from everything that will be left behind. It is the prefix apo and to some extent the preposition ek that put the emphasis on the idea of separation. Hence, this word stresses the idea that we should be looking away from the things of this world (because we are looking to Christ).

In other words, Scripture tells us that we should wait patiently and expectantly. But it also tells us to wait in a manner that sees us striving to separate ourselves from the flesh, the world, and all the things in it that we will happily leave behind in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. And when we catch ourselves getting frustrated, discouraged, or disappointed over a perceived "delay" in regard to the Rapture, that should be our first clue that we're not doing that.

As everyone knows, however, that takes discipline and conscious effort—our waiting for the Lord should not be passive. It takes work, and if we are doing it the way the Lord told us in His Word, it will never produce frustration, discouragement, or disappointment. Why? Think for a second: Why do we sometimes feel those things?

We feel frustration, discouragement, and
disappointment when we perceive that our own
selfish, fleshly expectations have not been met.

Ouch. Instead of looking away from the flesh and the worldly things that we will leave behind, sometimes we focus on them and allow ourselves to become mired in the muck of our own selfish, short-sighted expectations. Thus, if we find the Rapture does produce frustration, discouragement, and disappointment, then maybe we are looking toward our own feelings and expectations too much, which are among the very things Scripture tells us to look away from.

I really don't mean to sound preachy here, because I struggle with this sort of thing as much as anyone else. I want the Rapture to happen last October. So, I just want to encourage you to take the following nugget with you as you go:

Our focus should be on Jesus. Our focus should be on looking away from our flesh and the world and submitting our carnal curiosity and selfish expectations to our Heavenly Father's perfect plan, which we will marvel at in stunned amazement one day soon enough.

It's simple. I know it's not always easy, believe me. But it's simple.

So don't let yourself fall into the trap of thinking that Jesus has had to delay or postpone the Rapture, and has tentatively rescheduled it for a later date.

The Rapture is not TBD.

The Rapture is TBAWAEPETMUTLAFTWATFTWWLBAWELTORAOR:

To be anticipated with an eager, purifying expectancy that motivates us to look away from the world and the fleshly things we will leave behind as we eagerly look to our redemption and our Redeemer.

And whenever our Redeemer comes, He's going to be right on time.

Greg Lauer — MAR '18

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