By Jonathan Bretner
Waiting is difficult! Whether we’re waiting for cold symptoms to subside, a job offer, or a storm in our life to end, it’s never fun waiting.
It’s also not easy waiting for Jesus to take us home to heaven. Yet I know so many of you, like me, have been waiting decades for His appearing.
Recently, I have been thinking about Simeon, the man who greeted the Savior in temple when His parents came to present Him to the Lord. The Holy Spirit had previously revealed to Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah.
Just as God rewarded Simeon for his faith, I believe He will reward those of us who remain watchful for the Lord’s return for us.
For those of you who are eagerly waiting for the rapture, I see several reasons to remain hopeful that Jesus is coming for us in the very near future.
1) THE STAGE IS SET
Perhaps the strongest indicator of the season is this: many events the Bible describes as happening in the last days seems to be right on the brink of coming to full fruition.
It’s as if the stage is all set and we are just waiting for the curtain to rise and the actors to appear!
2) THE INCREASING FREEFALL OF MORALS
The casting off of God’s authority has led to a freefall in morals such as I never thought I would see before the rapture. Women celebrate their abortions, a man married to another man is running for president, and the LBGTQ people continue to get their way through bullying and castigating anyone who disagrees with them.
This devaluing of human life along with the rampant anti-Semitism and hatred of Bible-believing Christians will enable the antichrist to gain worldwide acceptance and even worship while at the same killing multitudes of tribulation saints and Jews.
3) THE STATE OF THE CHURCH
The Apostle Paul warned of time when church goers would “not endure sound teaching” and thus turn away from biblical faith. This time has surely arrived!
Aside from the obvious where churches welcome and applaud behavior contrary to sound doctrine, they are now teaching that the church has replaced Israel.
4) DEMONIC DECEPTION
I know of no other way to explain it other than to assign it to widespread demonic deception.
Why else would people mourn the death of a murderous terrorist with the blood of so many of our soldiers on his hands? Why else would people celebrate the murder of children?
Paul tells us that during the tribulation God will send a “strong delusion” among those who reject the Gospel. I believe this delusion already operates among many in the world today.
My purpose in saying all these things is not to depress you, but to affirm our conviction that we live in the last days and that someday very soon the Lord will reward our watching and waiting just as He did with Simeon.
Yes, it has been a long time and it seems like we have waited a very long time for Jesus’ appearing. And yes, great evil and wickedness have always existed in our world with varying intensities over time.
So what makes this time so different than that of previous generations?
Never before have people in such large numbers been so eager to throw off all moral restraints while at the same time so many signs appear throughout our world indicating the nearness of the seven-year tribulation.
If it was just the wholesale rejection of God and His Word that we see in and out of the church, I would not be as hopeful of the Lord’s soon return. But it’s this defiant rejection of the Lord’s authority coupled with more signs than I could possibly list in this article that makes me confident the rapture can occur at any moment and will happen soon.
It’s many things combined that designate the time in which we live as the last days in human history as we know it.
So take heart fellow waiters and watchers. I cannot predict the timing of the Lord’s return or promise you will see it in your lifetime, but all the signs point to Jesus’ soon arrival.
I know that many of you sense the nearness of the rapture as well. Perhaps the Lord will reward us with witnessing the rapture in our lifetime just as He honored the faith of Simeon with His first coming!
And if not, He will surely reward our faith in watching for His soon return.
“Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:8