In Luke 21:28 Jesus, speaking of the prophetic signals leading up to His return, said: “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
Jesus was saying He wants all who believe He is Lord and Savior to not be like the Judaizers, the Pharisees of the time when He first visited the earth in His fleshly incarnation.
These had their Messiah standing right in front of them, speaking with them, with Heaven-sent signs that He had come into their midst. He condemned them because they didn’t recognize Him despite all the signals. He said they could determine what the weather would be next day by observing the signals—the clouds, et cetera—but they couldn’t recognize Israel’s King standing before them at that very moment.
Jesus is saying today that the signals will be everywhere and in great profusion when the time arrives for His next intervention into the affairs of wicked humankind. We who have within us the Holy Spirit—whom He sent to indwell us when He returned to Heaven and the right hand of His Father—are to look up and know He is on His way back to take us unto Himself (paralambano in the Greek language). He will fulfill at that moment the mystery Paul would later reveal. Jesus said He would go away, but would come again and receive believers to Himself (John 14:1–3). That is the Rapture Paul, the great apostle, gave us in revealing that mystery Jesus described in John 14:1–3.
Jesus said in the Luke 21:28 account that we will see “all these things.” We’ll see the burgeoning signs of His Return. All of us (believers) are to watch for these signs (Mark 13:37).
Those of us who truly watch have been seeing these things “begin” to come to pass for quite some time. For certain, some who watch have been watching intensely since the rebirth of Israel on May 14, 1948!
The absolute avalanche of prophetic signals is converging at this moment at the end of this Age of Grace like at no other time I can remember. There is great urgency to present these signs and all attendant to them as quickly and as effectively as possible. The souls of people hang precariously in the balance.
We want those who don’t know Jesus for salvation to not be left behind to suffer under Antichrist’s hellish evil and God’s wrath during the last seven years leading to Christ’s Second Advent. Nor do we want those who are lost in sin and headed for eternity apart from God to die and go to the lake of fire, that terrible place prepared for the devil and his rebellious angels.
Thus the urgency cannot be overemphasized. The convergence we see propelling this judgment-bound world toward the Tribulation means there isn’t time to disregard or ignore the call of the Holy Spirit to accept Jesus Christ right now, rather than think to accept His saving grace offer at some time in the future. Because of the convergence of signs, Jesus is perhaps at the very door of Heaven about to step out on the clouds of Glory to call all believers out of harm’s-way in the Rapture.
We want all who don’t know Him for salvation to be saved from the wrath to come, and instead be in the shelter of Jesus Christ. Here again is how you can be saved from sin and its deadly consequences. Jesus is the only Way (John 14:6).
Romans 10:9–10 reads, “That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
