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Our guest this week on Christ in Prophecy is Dr. Ron Rhodes, the founder and president of a ministry called Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries. Dr. Rhodes has been Lamb & Lion Ministries' most frequent conference speaker over the years, and we have always been blessed by his spiritual and scriptural insights as a guest on our television program. Dr. Rhodes joins us to answer the question, "Why is Jesus Christ's promise to return under attack today?"
False Christs and Failed Second Comings
Dr. Rhodes: Did you know that the doctrine of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is under attack today? It really is! It's created so much confusion concerning biblical prophecy.
The Jesus Seminar, for example, was made up of 200 liberal scholars who tried to determine which of the sayings of Christ were real and authentic. They ended up rejecting more than 80% of what the New Testament claims that Jesus said. They rejected virtually all of Christ's words about His Second Coming. How amazing to think that everything about the Second Coming was tossed out!
There was a survey taken of Protestant pastors, and that survey found that 90% of them had no expectation that Christ will ever return again. Now, what does that mean? That means that 90% of them don't believe the Bible!
New Agers certainly share their view. New Ager Benjamin Crème identified Christ as Maitreya. By the way, I debated Benjamin Crème on live radio on Southern California's KBRT radio. It can be best described as a "controlled brawl." But anyway, this Maitreya character is supposed to take leadership in the New Age, and there is a day of declaration coming in which he is going to manifest himself to humanity, and then the New Age is really going to be "exciting."
David Spangler is another New Ager who claims that just as the cosmic Christ came upon a human Jesus, so today the cosmic Christ is coming upon all of humanity. And so, the Word is being made all flesh. That's the Second Coming according to David Spangler.
I'm sure you've encountered Jehovah's Witnesses, right? You've likely encountered them on the weekends. They teach that Jesus spiritually resurrected from the dead. They teach that the Second Coming was spiritual as well and, by the way, it happened back in 1914. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that the Bible says that every eye will see Him, right? So, how come we didn't see Jesus return back in 1914? They say that the reason why nobody else saw Him return is that only those who have "eyes of understanding" could see Him. Now, who has eyes of understanding? It is the Watchtower Society, the organization that leads the Jehovah's Witnesses. That's why it's nobody but them who saw Christ return spiritually. You just don't have eyes of understanding, you see.
This one is really wild. The Aetherius Society is a UFO cult that teaches that Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, and other religious world leaders are extraterrestrials traveling aboard UFOs. They are here to help us enter into the New Age. Their leader is George King. They teach, in fact, that all of the references to the Second Coming are references to George King.
Then there's Baha'u'llah, the leader of the Baha'i faith, which is an offshoot of the Islamic faith. This particular cult teaches that a new prophet comes every so often, and then he teaches humankind what they need to know. The greatest prophet of all they believe is Baha'u'llah, and he fulfills all of the prophecies of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Then there is Reverend Moon, the Lord of the Second Advent. According to Moon, Jesus failed in His mission, but Moon came to the rescue and fixed what Jesus got wrong. Now, of course, I suspect he's had a little bit of a change of heart since he died and passed on to judgment.
Hyper-Preterist Hooey
More recently, moderate Preterists have been attacking Bible prophecy in general, but Hyper-Preterists are attacking the biblical teaching of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Are you familiar with what Preterism teaches? I'll tell you what, as a Pre-Millennialist, I'm being attacked left and right by these guys. I'll cover more about that in just a minute.
In moderate Preterism, the idea is that most of the prophecies in Matthew 24 and 25, as well as in Revelation, were already fulfilled back in AD 70 when Titus and his Roman warriors overran Jerusalem and destroyed the Jewish temple. Moderate Preterism is represented by writers like R.C. Sproul, Hank Hanegraaff, and Gary DeMar. When it comes to Hank Hanegraaff, I once co-hosted the program The Bible Answer Man with him for eight years. He wasn't a Preterist back then, but as soon as I left, everything went haywire at CRI.
Moderate Preterists do teach that the literal resurrection of the Church and the Second Coming are yet future, but those really are the only prophecies that they claim are yet future. All of the other prophecies in Revelation and Matthew 24 and 25 they claim took place back in AD 70. And so, that means that most of the book of Revelation has already passed!
When it comes to dealing with Preterists, they're like a bunch of sharks chasing those of us who believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church. I'm not kidding! I claim that imagery purposefully because that exactly describes their character. These people are vicious. They are vicious in coming after Pre-Tribs, the Dispensationalists, and those of us who believe that Bible prophecy is for the future. Preterists don't want people to read books by David Reagan, or Ron Rhodes, or anyone else who holds a Pre-Millennial, Pre-Tribulational point of view.
Now, Hyper-Preterism is even worse. Hyper-Preterism teaches that all of the prophecies have already been fulfilled, including the resurrection of the Church and the Second Coming. They make a big deal out of Matthew 24:34 which reads, "Jesus said, 'Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.'" And so, they conclude from this that virtually all of Bible prophecy had to have been completed before the death of those people living at the time Jesus spoke. And so, they say that all of the prophecies were fulfilled by AD 70. No exceptions! All of the prophecies. That means that Christ's Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead, and the Great White Throne Judgment are all past events. No prophecy of Scripture remains unfulfilled. There is no future hope of Christ's return. And, the universe in which we now live is the New Heaven and the New Earth.
Now, just think about that for a minute. Today Israel is surrounded by people who want to blow it up. Muslim nations yearn to utterly wipe Israel off of the map. This world still has human trafficking, where young girls are put into servitude. This world is engaged in wars all of the time. This world, even in our own country, has got unbelievable political problems. In this world there is just so much wrong. How then could this world today possibly be the New Earth? If this is the New Earth, then we truly are without hope.
By the way, did you know that eight out of every ten martyrdoms on planet Earth are against Christians? And this is the New Earth? Really?!? I don't think so. I just don't think so.
Resource
Ron Rhodes' entire presentation, along with the other powerful ones made by Kelly Shackelford, Mike Gendron, Eric Barger, Mike Riddle and David Reagan, are included in the Contending for the Faith 2019 Bible Conference video album. Get your copy today!
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