When you remove Bible doctrine for the Christian in the Church Age, you are left with little more than fairy tales and fables.
"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war." Revelation 19:11 (KJV)
In America today, there are roughly 300,000 churches claiming to represent Jesus Christ, that's an average of 6,000 churches per state. That's a lot of churches. So why are so many professing Christians ignorant about the main theme of the Bible? Because there is not one in a thousand that preaches Bible doctrine, and not one in ten thousand that believes the book of Revelation is a road map of the future.
What is the main theme of the Bible, you ask? From cover to cover, the main theme of the Bible is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to rule and reign as King over all the nations, literally, physically and visibly. I will pause here for a moment as you struggle to collect your thoughts, your mind reeling from trying to process this "strange teaching" that your pastor never touches on in your church.
When Paul commanded Timothy to study the word like a "workman", and to learn to "rightly divide" the truth of scripture, he was giving us a template for proper Bible study. Making necessary divisions like between Old Testament - New Testament, Jews - Christians - Gentiles, etc, takes away the confusion and seeming contradictions present when casually studying from a high level. Paul also says that in the end times, Bible doctrine will thrown out the window, leaving the average Christian in the dark about the future.
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." 2 Timothy 2:3,4 (KJV)
When you remove Bible doctrine for the Christian in the Church Age, you are left with little more than fairy tales and fables. Joel Osteen has famously stated that the reason he refuses to preach on Hell and the coming judgment is because "most Christians are beaten down enough". Hmm, I guess Joel knows better what a Christian needs than God does, because God commands us to study about the things that are about to come upon all the earth.
Paul says that in the end times Christians will "not endure sound doctrine" and so it is. The main reason they "won't endure" it is because most preachers won't preach it. So with that introduction, let's get to today's lesson on why pastors refuse to preach the truth about the Second Coming of Jesus. I have boiled it down to easy to read bullet points for those of you who are easily exhausted by actual Bible study.
The Top 5 Reasons Pastors Refuse To Preach On The Truth Of The Second Coming:
- THE RETURNING JESUS IS REPULSIVE TO THE LAODICEAN CHRISTIAN: Go to your average mega-church where thousands will gather on a Sunday, and you will hear happy, upbeat messages about how God has a "wonderful plan" for your life. What you will not hear is that when Jesus returns at the Second Coming, He stomps His enemies the same way you stomp grapes, with the literal blood of the fallen staining His white robes. Not only that, His eyes are gleaming while He does it. This imagery does not fit well with Laodicean slop like The Power Of I Am, and The Purpose Driven Life. But the Bible clearly and plainly teaches that the returning Jesus is coming to claim His Kingdom, and anyone who gets in the way will be flattened instantly. "His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God." Revelation 19:13 (KJV)
- THE DAY OF THE LORD IS FILLED WITH TERROR AND DARKNESS: Your average Laodicean pastor hardly ever mentions the Second Coming, but when they do, it's usually something along of the lines of this. "One fine day, Jesus will return and the world will live in peace and harmony, and there will be no more social injustice and everyone will be happy". What he doesn't tell you is that the Day Jesus comes back, the world is thrown into terrifying darkness, and that Jesus has come to rule this world as a military dictator. Joel has this to say about that Day - "Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come."Joel 1:15 (KJV). John has this to say about the military dictatorship - "And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." Revelation 19:15 (KJV). And I could give you dozens of verses more, from both Testaments, proving what I say is true.
- CHRISTIANS ARE NOT 'BRINGING IN THE KINGDOM': Have you ever sat in church and listened to the pastor waxed eloquently about "bringing in the kingdom", and that we must all "work together" to establish God's kingdom here on Earth? They do that so they can justify building programs, staff expansions, new locations and all the rest. People who are fooled into thinking they are "bringing in the kingdom" are willing to give large sums of money and provide free labor. Those two things are exactly why pastors preach like that. But the Bible says nothing about anyone bringing in the Kingdom except for Jesus Christ at the Second Coming. The only kingdom that humans are creating is the kingdom of Antichrist that will oppose Jesus when He returns. "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night."Revelation 12:10 (KJV).
- JERUSALEM AS THE CENTER OF THE WORLD IS ABHORRENT TO MOST PASTORS: Because most pastors and preachers in America today are not Bible believers, they spiritualize and make metaphor out of clear and plain Bible teaching. Scripture absolutely teaches a literal, visible and physical rule of the returned Jesus, who is now King of Kings, over all the nations of the Earth, and on His Throne in Jerusalem. Let me put it to you more plainly. When Jesus returns, people will be able to travel to Israel and see with their eyes Jesus ruling in righteousness from the actual land mass called Israel. This will take place for one thousand literal, actual calendar years. Don't believe it? Then you don't believe the Bible. Isaiah says: "For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD." Isaiah 66:18-20 (KJV). Zechariah says: "And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one." Zechariah 14:9 (KJV). John says: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." Revelation 20:6 (KJV).
- THE BOOK OF REVELATION IS TOO UNPLEASANT TO CONSIDER: Ask the average Laodicean Christian about the book of Revelation, and more often than not you will hear them say that it's a "symbolic book" that contains "confusing and dark" references to things that "no one can really understand". The average Christian pastor, from any denomination, feels the same way, too. Now I'll grant you that, like a Swiss watch, there are a lot of "moving parts" in the book of Revelation. It's complex for sure, but far from being "unknowable". But the real reason why Christians turn away from Revelation is not that it "cannot be understood", but rather that what it contains is too repulsive to contemplate. Revelation shows us the collapse of the professing Christian church into apostasy in chapter 3, the rapture of the Church in chapter 4, Jesus releasing Antichrist in chapter 6, and from there we see virtually unlimited death, destruction and terrifying judgments. So bad in fact that men's hearts "failing them for fear". Christians tell me all the time that, while they are looking forward to seeing Jesus, they don't want the Rapture to take place before they can get married and have kids. So pastors don't preach on the Pretrib Rapture because they want their flock focusing on things of Earth like building programs and fundraisers. "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken." Luke 21:25,26 (KJV).
Now you know why your church doesn't preach Bible doctrine and why your pastor is deceiving you with fluff stories and fairy tales. Because the truth is too terrible to contemplate, and it's bad for business. Now, if you've decided you actually like Bible doctrine and want to know more about what your pastor is hiding from you, click here to read our Bible Doctrine library.
It will help you to be ready for what comes next.
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