On May 21st, 2011, the cause of Christ had suffered yet another embarrassing setback, as yet another prediction for the Rapture had come and gone without fulfillment.Β The damage that had been done is far too extensive to fully document in this brief space, but youβve all heard the stories.Β The faith of sincere believers had been shaken.Β Some who spent their life savings to warn the world of the end were left to pick up the pieces of their shattered financial lives.Β And since the media referred to the man who made this prediction as a βBible scholar,β unbelievers had yet another reason to scoff at Christianity, laugh at the Bible and Bible teachers, and dismiss anyone who tries to share anything from the Bible with them.
In the past, those who have tried and failed to date the Lordβs coming have sought to account for their failure in two ways.Β Some have explained that the date they set was accurate, but that the Lordβs coming was a βspiritualβ coming.Β Others have scrambled to cover themselves by admitting to a miscalculation, and setting yetΒ anotherΒ date.Β The Bible teacher behind this latest debacle resorted toΒ bothΒ excuses, and warned that the end would come the following October.
Thankfully, we serve a God who proved He can bring good out of bad when He took the worst thing that ever happened, the crucifixion of Christ, and turned it into the best thing that ever happened, the salvation of our souls.Β And so we trust that you will join us in prayer that the disillusioned followers of this discredited ministry will now begin to question its leader, and that grace believers everywhere will be able to use this sad event to lead these brethren to an understanding of the truth.
There is something we can learn from all this.Β Christians who believed that the Lord was coming on May 21st were spurred to live for Him as never before, enthusiastically telling their friends and loved ones to be ready.Β While this failed prediction has no doubt left some questioning if the Rapture will come at all, we who βlove His appearingβ still believe that we should beΒ βlooking for that blessed hopeβΒ (II Tim. 4:8; Titus 2:13).Β With that in mind, may each of us catch the wave of this misguided enthusiasm, and may His coming find us all busily redeeming whatever time we have left in the service of the Christ that loved us, and gave Himself for us. source
