The Biggest Day Ever!!

There are a couple people in our congregation (well they used to be in our congregation) who have been taken in by the Latter Rain Cult - this is a Judaic Cult that says the Rapture of “true believers” is going to take place on May 21st / 11 - and that, according to this Judaic Cult is why “true believers” should leave the Christian Church immediately.

This cult can be found under many different names but you can get information at

http://www.wecanknow.com and
http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/nomanknows/nomanknows.html

I need to make a few comments on the errors of this cult’s teachings. I know the post is long but people are being taken in by this scam and I want to address the Cult’s most egregious comments.

1) The Cult takes the verse from Acts 1:7 where Jesus says, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”

Why did Jesus say this? Because His disciples still didn’t understand the concept of the Kingdom of God. So immersed in the belief that the Messiah would be an earthly King who’d come to free Israel from Rome that they’d asked the question, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

And what is the cult’s interpretation? “From these verses we learn that during the church age there would be a great curiosity concerning the time of the end, but believers were not to be at all preoccupied with this question.”

- First of all that is NOT what we learn from “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom.” Second the people in this Cult are absolutely preoccupied with, even obsessed with the time of the end.
- - - - -

2) Next this Cult turns to Ecclesiastes 8:5 and, taking this verse completely out of context tells us, “The wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.” The context is talking about dealing with a King properly, as well as stating that principle and prudence set limits on our freedom. Further, this cult completely ignores vs. 9 “Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come?”

And who has a wise heart, according to Cult leaders? Why, it’s the people selling the Cult's books of course.
- - - - -

3) What the Cult tells us is, “However, it was not until a very few years ago that the accurate knowledge of the entire time-line of history was revealed to true believers by God from the Bible.”

True believers means leaders of this Cult - the people selling the books.
- - - - -

4) There is a line that the Cult leaders use to give us information that they know and we do not. The line is - “Several years ago we had learned . . .”
. “Several years ago we had learned . . .” The seven year Great Tribulation spoken of in Revelation is actually a 23 year period that began on May 21, 1988

. “Several years ago we had learned . . .” Since May 21, 1988, no one has been saved from within a Church congregation. It makes me wonder when these people received forgiveness of their sins through faith in the work of Jesus on the cross.

. “Several years ago we had learned . . .” “This salvation is not occurring in any church, but will continue outside of the churches to the end of the Great Tribulation, on May 21, 2011.” From the comfort of their airconditioned homes the leaders of this Cult worship where they please, as they please, when they please, funded by any job they have chosen to have and living with families in near perfect peace and safety, and from this vantage point the leaders of this Cult declare a Great Tribulation in progress.

. “Several years ago we had learned . . .” May 21, 1988 was the last day of the Church Age.

. “Several years ago we had learned . . .” Since May 21, 1988, “the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from all of the churches as well as the entire world.” I believe this is called hell but . . .

. “Several years ago we had learned . . .” “Because at the beginning of the Great Tribulation period (May 21, 1988), Christ removed the seventh and final seal from this book.” It boggles the mind how these people can read in Revelation the horrors that come with the breaking of each of the seven seals and they expect us to believe that these things have taken place in the world - eg. “The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.” Rev. 5:14
- - - - -

5) 1st Thessalonians 5:2,3 - “For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”

The Cult interprets this verse as saying that, “[Jesus is ] coming to destroy those who deny that near the end of the world the true believers will know the time (the hour) of Christ’s coming.”

Other Scripture tells us that “Like a thief” means that Jesus will come suddenly or unexpectedly. “If you had known when the thief was going to come you would have been prepared.” Every single believer that I have ever met agrees that in theory Jesus could come before we’re done reading this sentence. Or that our life could end in the blink of an eye and the next thing we know we’re in the presence of Jesus. It is important to be “prepared” i.e. in an intimate, healed and forgiven relationship with Jesus. Those who are not saved, of course, think that this is nonsense. Many deny that Jesus even existed let alone that He is coming back in a manner whereby every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord of lords and King of kings.

Nevertheless this Judaic Cult says that it is Jesus, not satan, but Jesus who is going to come to steal, kill and destroy.

vs. 3 “While people are saying, “Peace and safety, destruction will come on them suddenly.”

It seems obvious to me that those who are not saved do not believe that Jesus could come again at any moment. The unsaved believe that they can bring about peace and safety through the creation of wealth and education for everyone. This Judaic Cult however says that the people who are going to be judged and destroyed BY JESUS are those who - “Yet they believe they are at peace with God and safely under His care.”

Now, I admit that there are going to be people who believe they are right with Jesus and the awful truth will be found in Jesus’ comment, “Get away from Me. I never knew you.” But why is this Judaic Cult saying that genuine followers of Jesus are not saved? Because these people have the audacity to say that May 21st 2011 as the date for the Rapture of "true believers" cannot be known.

“The language of this verse (1st Thessalonians 5:3) describes perfectly all of those in the world who on May 21, 2011 are still following any church. Because churches teach many things that are not true to the Bible, including a plan of salvation that is contrary to the Bible, and the Holy Spirit has abandoned all churches, those still following any church on May 21, 2011 are not saved.” (emphasis mine)

Think about that!
Think about what the Bible teaches regarding the means of salvation!

Mark 16:16 - Jesus said, “Those who believe and are baptized will be saved but those who refuse to believe will be condemned.”

John 1:12,13 Jesus said, “Unless you are born again, you can never get into the kingdom of heaven.” There is no eternal doom awaiting those who trust Him to save them. But those who don’t trust Him have already been tried and condemned for not believing in the only Son of God.

John 5:24 - Jesus said, “I say emphatically that anyone who listens to My message and believes in God who sent me has eternal life and will NEVER be damned for his sins. He has crossed from death into life.”

John 8:24 - Jesus said, “For unless you believe that I am the Son of God, the Messiah, you will die in your sins.”

Romans 3:27,28 - Our acquittal is not based on our good deeds, it is based on what Christ has done and our faith in Him. So it is we are saved, by faith in Christ and not by the good things we do.

Romans 9:32 - Because they were trying to be saved by keeping the law and being good instead of by depending on faith, they have stumbled over that great stumbling stone, Jesus.

Galatians 2:19 - It was through reading the Scriptures that I came to realize that I could never find God’s favour by trying and failing to obey the law. I came to realize that acceptance with God comes by believing in Christ.

1st Thessalonians 1:8,9 - The Lord Jesus will bring judgement on those who do not wish to know God and those who reject His plan to save them through our Lord Jesus Christ. They will be punished in everlasting hell, forever separated from the Lord, never to see the glory of His power.

Yes, there are Churches that do not preach the Gospel of Jesus listed above. That, according to this Cult is NOT how one is saved. In order to know salvation, according to this Cult, you have to buy one of their books and remove yourself from any Christian congregation. The Church, the community of believers is the Bride of Christ yet the leaders of this Cult demand that people leave the Church and tells them they will not be saved, that they will face the judgement of Christ if they don’t leave the Church.

Think about that!

Here comes this Judaic Cult telling people that they can lose their salvation simply because they belong to a Christian Church and dare to agree with Scripture that says, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

If you agree with Scripture, according to this Cult, you will lose your salvation.

Or so says Harold Camping from Family Radio. While claiming to divulge secrets long hidden in the Bible, we still, according to Harold, need to buy his books - not the Bible - his books (“Read this booklet for an honest Biblical look at God's plan for salvation and the end times we are living in.”) to find out what the Bible says about how to find salvation and the forgiveness of our sins in and through Christ Jesus.

If you’re tempted to be drawn in by the Latter Rain Cult, if you’re tempted to be alarmed by yet another in a long, long list of goof-balls who have left their families and responsibilities behind so they can sit on a hill and wait for the “imminent” return of Jesus, just think about what this latest Cult is telling you; think about the lie that it’s telling you regarding your salvation.

For a good summary on the false teaching of Harold Camping and Family Radio Dot Com see http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Wolves/harold_camping.htm

If this ridiculous topic interests you, here are some sites that document the hundreds of end of the world scenarios that have been presented to date.

http://www.bible.ca/pre-date-setters.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/end_wrl1.htm
http://www.holysmoke.org/hs02/worldend.htm