PJ HanleyHolding Fast our Hope
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Heb 10:23-25
The hope of the church is the Rapture on the Day of the Lord. This is our helmet of deliverance that covers our mind and thoughts. That is why Jesus told us to look up, and Paul told us to set our affections on things above, and Peter told us to fix our hope completely on His coming for us. Hebrews tells us that as we see the Day approaching, we must hold fast the confession of our hope. Our hope is about being with Jesus, not just escaping wrath, although that’s good too. What Bride is just concerned with escaping her father’s house? Certainly not one who loves the Bridegroom.
It is very disturbing to see how the church today has been robbed of its hope by earth-focused leaders. What hope do they offer? The hope of the Tribulation? The hope that we can become rich and famous? The hope that the world will repent, and society will change? The hope of Christians taking over the governments and eliminating corruption, something they have failed to do in the church? The hope of positive thinking?
Hope deferred makes the heart sick and believers who do not have the hope of His soon coming are being set up for failure. We do not hope for what we have and what has been made available to us in Christ. Our hope is in heaven, not on earth. It is the return of our Savior and the redemption of our bodies. We hope for what we do not see yet, and we wait eagerly for it. Furthermore, we not only hold fast our hope, we hold fast the confession of it. We proclaim it, we tell everyone about it, and we encourage one another with it. Friend, do you have this hope? If not, I pray that you will find it in this book. And when you get it, find some like minded believers who will not try to steal it from you!
Pure Devotion
“All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” 1 John 3:3
Many Christians believe that once they are born again, they are all set – guaranteed the Rapture. But this is absolutely wrong. It’s obvious they have no concept of what it means to be the Bride of Christ. The New Testament warns us over and over to flee sin and walk in the truth. Why would all these warnings exist if there was no danger of falling away? The reality is, of course, that we are saved by grace and washed in the Blood. But this salvation is from sin, and not just its effects. Those who are freed from sin no longer live in it. That does not mean that we don’t sin at all, but that we no longer practice it. Instead, we walk in righteousness and live in the grace of Christ. We continue to grow and walk in victory and rid ourselves of all impurity.
As we apply what Christ has done for us and live in obedience to the Holy Spirit, we become mature in Him. We are a Bride set apart for the Bridegroom and bought with an enormous price. Therefore, besides doing His work that He told us to do, we spend every moment we can preparing and waiting for the wedding. Those who have this hope in Him are highly motivated to watch and pray in preparation for the Day. They are also the ones who obey His commandments and are busy doing His work.
Checking the Time
“…but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Heb 10:25
This Scripture tells us clearly that we can see the Day of the Lord approaching. Thus we can see the signs and determine how close we are. As I come to the end of this book, I want to show you how to read the clock and discern what time it is. This does not mean I am going to tell you the exact day and hour. I think you know by now that the ones who keep harping on about that are just using it as an excuse for their lack of enthusiasm about the Second Coming. Nevertheless, there are several indicators that are like hands on the clock. As we watch them move forward and reach fulfillment, then we know the time has come.
As we have discussed already, the restoration of Israel as a nation in 1948, and their taking back of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in 1967, fulfilled the prophecy of Jesus in Luke 21:24. At that time, we entered the last generation. A generation Biblically is 70 years. And Jesus said that before this generation ended all the things spoken by the prophets would come to pass. That would suggest that the Millennial Reign would begin in 2037.
Another prophecy that confirms this date is from Hosea Chapters 5 and 6. The prophet says that God was going to wound Israel like a lion tears prey and go back to His place. Then they would be without king or priest or temple for a long period of time. After that time He would restore and heal them again. This of course would be the Millennium. Then the prophecy culminates with this verse:
“Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him.” Hos 6:1-2
The early rabbis understood this passage to refer to the Messianic era. The Jewish people would be wounded for two days, but on the third day they would be healed. For two thousand years they would suffer, and in the third millennium the Kingdom would come. Thus on the third day or third millennium they would be healed. For centuries the church viewed this prophecy as proof that the year 2000AD was the Third Day. However, they assumed that the first day began with the birth of Jesus or with His death. Once again, because of Replacement Theology their understanding was darkened. The prophecy does not speak about the Messiah but the wounding of the Jewish people. This is clear from the context in Hosea Chapter 5 and 6.
In 66 AD the wounding and scattering of Israel began in what came to be known as the War of the Jews. Israel was rejected by God, but only for a season. She would be wounded for two millennia and healed on the third. Then she would be completely accepted again. Since we know the date the first millennium began (66 AD), we can determine when the third millennium will begin. This time we have to convert the biblical prophetic years into our calendar years. To do that we must multiply by 360 and divide by 365.25. So 2000 Biblical years multiplied by 360 equals 720,000 days. Then when we divide 720,000 days by 365.25 we get 1971 of our Gregorian calendar years. We add this to 66AD and arrive at the year 2037 again. These are two significant proofs that the 70th Week of Daniel may be beginning in 2030.
Having said that, let us look at the hands of the clock and see what they tell us. There are a number of things that have been promised that we could point to. However, I have chosen two. These are completely reliable: the building of the Temple on the Temple Mount and the Peace Treaty with Israel and its neighbors brokered by the World leader who becomes the Antichrist. These two are connected and are essential for the 70th Week to begin. As of 2017, everything was finally prepared for the rebuilding of the Temple. This process took 50 years. And in the same year the President of the United States issued a decree recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The leaders of Israel believe that this event was as significant as the Decree of Cyrus in 536BC. Also, there have been many attempts over the last 30 years or so to establish a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians. These attempts all failed. Now, another has been rolled out by the Trump administration that will require a significant change in the current situation in order for it to be implemented. That happens to be exactly what the Bible says will occur. Also, this is the first time ever that any nation or proposed agreement has ever called for establishing Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount. Thus, in the last three years the hands of the clock have moved significantly. When they reach their prophesied target, the 70th Week will begin and with it the three-and-a-half-year countdown to the Rapture.
Conclusion
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. Mt 25:1-5
Now one more time, let us take a look at the famous parable of the virgins. We are told that at the end of the age there is a church that is ready and one that is not. This is how the coming kingdom will be. The Bridegroom will come, and the prudent Remnant Bride will go with Him to the wedding. The rest, whose lamps went out, will be left behind in the darkness weeping and gnashing their teeth. They will remember all their mocking, all their denial, all their persecution of the Remnant. They will discover through horror and paralyzing agony what it means to be left behind. The Bridegroom came and they were not ready. The end of the age came very suddenly, and they missed it.
Dear friend, can you see the Bride? She who has waited and waited and watched and prayed – have you joined her? Have you also trimmed your lamp and gone out to meet Him? Can you feel the excitement, the anticipation? It’s dark, but the lamps are beautiful. The air is crisp, and my heart is pounding. What about yours? Our beloved is coming tonight, I know it. He is delayed a bit, but I’m sure he’ll be here by midnight. What time is it? “Actually, it just turned midnight now! Wait a minute, did you hear that? The ground is shaking.” I feel it too.
“At midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’” Mt 25:6
Excerpt from ” The Rapture of the Bride – A Biblical Case for the Pre-Trib, Mid-Week Deliverance of a Bridal Remnant” by PJ Hanley.
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