Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas recently shared how Christians can prepare for the end times, their misconceptions, and the next event on the Bible’s prophetic timeline.
“We have been living in the last days for 2,000 years, and I think you could argue that we are in the last days of the last days before the rapture of the church,” he said. “The most important thing is to recognize that Jesus will return again, rather than trying to guess when He will return, so we can be sure we are ready. Masu.”
Instead of making predictions, Jeffress focused on several ways Christians can prepare for the end times, including referencing the righteousness of Christ and putting on the “right spiritual clothing.”
“There are two clothes we can wear to meet the Lord,” he said. “We can put on the garment of our righteousness and our good works, but the Bible says that it is but a filthy rag in the sight of God. You can choose to put on the righteousness of God.” And that is what it means to be a Christian. ”
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God,” he added. 2 Corinthians 5. Jeffries argued that this righteousness is the essence of the Christian faith, since believers are vindicated before God by Christ, not by their own works.
“That’s the first thing we do to make sure we’re saved Christians and accepted into the presence of God,” he said.
During an interview with christian postJeffress identified three misconceptions about the end times that are prevalent among Christians, including fanaticism, fatalism, and cynicism.
“Fanatics are trying to set a date for the Rapture or Second Coming of Christ, and they are trying to read prophetic meaning into every headline in the newspapers,” the pastor explained. “Jesus said it very clearly.” Matthew 24 25. No one knows when the Lord will return. That’s why we always need to be prepared. ”
Regarding fatalism, Jeffress said fatalism is the “most dangerous place” for Christians. Because it’s the belief that “Jesus will come back whenever He comes back, and you don’t have to do anything different with your life.”
“The Bible talks about prophecy, but the Bible never separates Bible prophecy from everyday life,” he said. “in 2 peter 3The apostle said, “Since the world is coming to an end, and all these things are thus consumed, what kind of people shall we be?” in holy deeds and piety. . ”
The third view, irony, is the view that “for thousands of years, people have been saying, ‘Jesus is coming back, but he hasn’t come back yet,'” Jeffress said.
“Peter said that scoffers would bring the message, and 2 peter 3 They will say, “They will come, where is the promise that this will come?” We need to recognize that the themes of the Bible are consistent. It means Jesus is coming back and we need to be ready,” he said.
Jeffress also pointed out that the rapture of the church is the next prophetic event in the Biblical timeline. 1 Thessalonians 4when Christians “catch up together to meet the Lord in the air.”
He distinguished this event from the Second Coming of Christ. The Second Coming of Christ will occur in seven years as detailed below. apocalypse 19.
“The interesting thing about the Rapture is that there is no prophecy that has to be fulfilled for it to happen. It could happen before we finish this interview and that is why, again, we That’s why you need to be prepared,” he said.
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Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributor to Christian Headlines and host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast dedicated to sound doctrine and Biblical truth. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Alliance Theological Seminary.
