Am I, in March of 1994, now safe to state: "The rapture of the Church is not in 1988"? I would think that six years after that date (made famous by Hal Lindsey in his best seller The Late Great Planet Earth) this statement would be universally embraced as not only truth but FACT. Yet, six, or even ten years before 1988, when I stated the same thing, very few listened. Why? Was it because Mr. Lindsey was right and I wrong? No, for time has shown myself to be correct and he to be in error. Was it because Mr. Lindsey had an international reputation and the backing of Dallas Theological Seminary, and I was a nobody? A factor, but not the reason.
There are two reasons this or any error is believed. They are:
1) Eighty five to ninety five percent of everyone in Christianity is a sheep, a follower who needs to be guided and taught. To accomplish this, God has first and foremost given each believer in Christ the Holy Spirit. Next, God has provided the scriptures, the "owner's manual" as it were, to His people. Third, God has given Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. Like the legs on a three legged stool, ALL THREE must be in place and functioning in a believer's life to keep him from being "carried about with every wind of [false] doctrine" (Eph. 4:11 14). Thus, the primary reason any of us become duped is our failure to put ourselves in the proper POSITION to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit by not searching the scriptures daily and not finding and submitting ourselves to God- ordained, anointed leadership!
2) The second reason is that many of our "leaders" in the Church today are not God sent Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers because they are not God called, taught, and ordained (Matt. 24:11; II Tim. 4:3 4; I Tim 4:1). OR, if they are, they have all too often allowed the "party line" of denominationalism or the intellectual seductions of seminary to corrupt by degrees the vessel God has called. Simply stated, the majority of Christian authors, TV and radio teachers, and traveling speakers are error peddlers making their living not by the gospel, but off God's gullible (for lack of prayerful scripture study) sheep.
Some, like Hal Lindsey, are but seminary party liners whose "errors" are in the long run fairly harmless. We might call these "sheep who have taken on themselves shepherd's clothing." Others, like the "word" or "faith" teachers are often actual false prophets and teachers wolves in sheep's clothing devouring God's people.
It is thus incumbent upon each of us to first be in God's scriptures, submitted to a local pastor and church, and filtering everything through the Holy Spirit. Second, we must stop being so gullible in believing that just because someone is a "minister" or "has a pulpit" or "a book" or "a show" that they are automatically of God. Bluntly, the simple fact that "ministry" has a price tag on it should automatically tip you off that it is at the least not pure and at the worst not of God at all! Neither Jesus nor His true ministers ever require money to be given for ministry to be received (Acts 8:18 21; Mat. 10:8 10).
Over the years I've written and preached a good bit about things associated with the "end times." I've done, and will continue to do this with a feeling of great accountability both to God and to you. Further, after 20 years of forth telling (prophetic ministry) I hope I've gained some credibility. Credibility from the test of words against time (as on a 1988 rapture). Credibility from the continual free disbursement of ministry. But most of all, credibility from the witness of the Spirit. I may be one with a small and obscure voice, but I hope to you it is a true voice.
In the past, I've written that Christ's coming is between 1994 and 2030 that "window of time" which is 2,000 years, or 2 millennial days, after His first advent because God wants you to KNOW that you are indeed the last generation (Hosea 5:14 6:3; II Pet. 3:8). I've written as a watchman in warning the Church for the last 20 years that the rapture will be preceded by 3 1/2 years of tribulation that we may be prepared (Mat. 24:29 31; I Cor. 15:23, John 5:28 29, Rev. 20:5). I've written against false doctrine such as unconditional eternal security that the religious may know that to take the mark of Antichrist is to lose one's soul (Rev. 14:9 12; James 2:24).
Now, I'm writing to you again about an end time event the sealing of the Bride. This topic is one seldom addressed by "end time" experts including myself. But recently the Lord moved upon me to give this event top billing over the mark of the beast, tribulation, and even the second coming. Why? Because for those who are not sealed, the second coming will mean only judgment. For those who are sealed (marked with God's mark) the mark of the beast and tribulation will be swallowed up in victory. The bottom line of this article is: "Thus sayeth the Lord, the sealing of the Bride is near!"
But before we have ourselves "in heaven," we must remember that the Bride is composed of individuals who have met certain conditions. God seeks a lover who knows what He requires and has accordingly made herself ready (Rev. 19:7).
The Biblical record is the record of a love story. From Genesis (the beginning) to Revelation (the final consummation), the who, what, why and when of this love story is laid open to any who have eyes to see and ears to hear. Shrouded by facts, law, history, and theology, just below the surface of the dead letter of the Bible flows a river of love and eternal life the chronicle of God and His Bride. God is about to make one of His greatest moves in history because the time of The Wedding is near! God wants us to search His word as brought forth by His prophets through His Spirit to know who is sealed, why, and when they are sealed. Oh, search and know that this is true!