Author: Dr. Bob Thiel

Will most people that profess Christ recognize Jesus when He returns?

World Net Daily editor Joseph Farah, correctly, seems to doubt that:

When the Jewish people finally received their Messiah, the vast majority did not recognize Him.
When He returns, will Christians make the same mistake?
That’s the fear WND founder Joseph Farah expressed in an interview with Paul McGuire on “Apocalypse and the End Times” on GodTV. It was part of a wide-ranging conversation about how the last days will be far different than what many believers expect.
“Who is Jesus and how is he going to come back?” Farah asked. “You know, a lot of people missed Jesus the first time He came. Most of the Jews did not recognize Him as their Messiah. They had a misunderstanding of how the Messiah was going to come. And they were going a lot by man’s teaching rather than going back to the Scriptures. And I wonder, when Jesus does come back, if many people in the church are going to miss Him too.” …
“This Jewish guy is going to come back, on the Mount of Olives as prophesied, and He’s going to become King of Israel,” Farah said wryly. “And the whole world is going to center around Israel at this point. Are they going to recognize him? Or are they going to be fooled by an imposter that we call the Antichrist who is going to do all kinds of signs and miracles, et cetera?”
Truly becoming knowledgeable about the Bible and the roots of the Christian faith is a passionate concern of Farah’s, who urges all believers to examine their beliefs.
“More than a billion people in the world call themselves Christians – how many of them are authentic Christians?” he asked. …
“Did Jesus come to start a new religion? No – he preached only to the House of Israel during his earthly ministry. The Apostles did initially also and only later, decades later perhaps, did they recognize that perhaps Gentiles could be part of this, and it’s such a blessing that we are. The notion of replacement theology is why Israel still is the most controversial country in the world today.” …
He mourned the average Christian’s lack of knowledge about the Millennial Kingdom and the earthly rule of Jesus.
“If you ask the average Christian about that, they have no understanding,” he explained. “We’ve got to perfect and redeem this world. To bring it back to the Garden of Eden – that’s the goal, that’s what Jesus is coming back to do, and to rule and reign from Jerusalem with a rod of iron.
“Are people prepared for this sweet Jesus that they read about in the New Testament to rule and reign from Jerusalem with a rod of iron? These are questions I think it’s important for Christians to challenge themselves with.” 01/28/17 http://www.wnd.com/2017/01/how-christians-will-recognize-jesus-again/#Tv3LCrfs88QtYzZc.99

Joseph Farah, a non-Roman Catholic, is correct that relatively few who profess Christ believe in the millennial reign of Jesus, even though the Bible teaches it (Revelation 20:4-6; see also Did The Early Church Teach Millenarianism?). Few understand that Jesus will rule with a rod of iron (Revelation 12:5, 19:15). And even less understand the good news of the Kingdom of God. And most are sorely ignorant of the true history of the faithful Christian church (Jude 3; for details check out Continuing History of the Church of God and Where is the True Christian Church Today?).

What about Roman Catholics?

Well, officially they do not believe in the millennial reign, in spite of the fact that it admits that many of their claimed early saints taught the millennium. Now they strongly condemn this belief as a doctrine of Antichrist:

676 The Antichrist’s deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the “intrinsically perverse” political form of a secular messianism. (Catechism of the Catholic Church. Imprimatur Potest +Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Doubleday, NY 1995, p. 194).

It should be noted that the millennial teaching appears to be the only doctrine associated with Antichrist that is condemned in the current official Catechism of the Catholic Church (which is the first new one in hundreds of years). The one that has the imprimatur of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger who is now called Pope Emeritus and was Pope Benedict XVI.

While some Catholic writings are correct, certain contradictory Roman Catholic writings/prophecies teach that Antichrist:

Will cite scriptures as proof of His Messiahship
Will keep and promote the seventh-day Sabbath
Will teach against idols and an idol-related Mass
Will teach that the Catholic religion is false
Will renumber the Ten Commandments
Will be Jewish
Will “observe the Jewish rites”
Will have supporters who teach against the trinity
Will preach the millennial gospel of the kingdom
Will preach that there is a coming future opportunity for salvation
Will come after thunders, lightning, earthquakes, mountains being leveled, and great hail
Will win the “battle of Armageddon”
Will come after the destruction of the Roman Empire
Will claim to be the Messiah
Will have those that appear to be resurrected saints with him.

Jesus: said scriptures testified who He was (John 5:39), kept the seventh-day Sabbath, taught against idols, never advocated the wearing of crosses on the hand or forehead (cf. Revelation 13:16;20:4), taught that those who held to a religion based upon tradition over the Bible is false, taught all the ten commandments as the Continuing Church of God teaches them, was Jewish (John 4:9-10; Matthew 1:1-3; Luke 3:23-33), kept “Jewish practices” like Passover (Matthew 26:18) and the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2,10), has always had non-Trinitarian supporters, taught the millennial gospel of the kingdom, taught that there would be a future opportunity for salvation, shows that thunders/lightning/earthquakes/hail preceded His coming (Revelation 16:17-21), shows that the forces of evil gathered at Megiddo lose (Revelation 16:13-16; 19:17-21), that He will reign after the destruction of the Roman Empire (Revelation 19:2-8), and He will teach He is the Messiah (John 4:25-26). And His Apostles Paul and John were inspired to write that resurrected saints will come with Jesus and reign at His second coming.

Thus, it appears that certain private Greco-Roman Catholic prophecies have been given to warn the world that when Jesus comes He will be the Antichrist. This may be part of the reason that the Bible warns that people will be angry and will actually make war against/with Jesus when He returns:

18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,
And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,
And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,
And those who fear Your name, small and great,
And should destroy those who destroy the earth (Revelation 11:18).
19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army (Revelation 19:19).

Thus, I believe that Satan inspired a lot of false prophecies and improper theology so that those who are not the very elect will be deceived (Matthew 24:24) and will actually fight against Jesus (Revelation 19:19). This is part of Satan’s Plan.

This is part of why all who profess Christ need to understand who the true Church has been from the beginning, who the true Church was in the intervening years, and who the true Church actually will be in the end (for more details, please go to the History of Early Christianity page, and/or the free online booklets Continuing History of the Church of God and Where is the True Christian Church Today?).

Furthermore, it needs to be understood that some Greco-Roman Catholics also seem to teach the ones that those of us in the COG consider to be the two witnesses, will be announcing Antichrist (e.g. Birch, p. 556) and that during the time we in the COG call the Great Tribulation there will be supernaturally-fed people opposed to the Roman Catholic church dwelling in caves and that they will be “the advance guard of the son of perdition” (Hildegard of Bingen. Scivias. Paulist Press, Mahwah (NJ), p. 301).

Sadly, many Greco-Roman Catholic prophecies and writings apparently are directed against those in the protected Philadelphia remnant of the Church of God and against Jesus Christ. Many pronouncements by supporters of Martin Luther did as well. Those that do not understand the truth about Jesus, church history, and prophecy will be deceived. But YOU do not have to be.

Read the full article and related links: WND questioned if professing Christians would recognize Jesus when He returns

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Author: Dr. Bob Thiel

Radio News Reporter: James Martenet