Page 75 - Prophetic Word Newsletters Archive 2006 by Pastor Randy Shupe

Let us begin with the most simplistic, “the HOUR” in which the rapture will take place. It is plainly stated in
the parable of the wise and foolish virgins as being “at midnight”:

“AND AT MIDNIGHT A CRY WAS HEARD, ‘BEHOLD, THE BRIDEGROOM IS COMING;
GO OUT TO MEET HIM!” Mat. 25:6

A sister in the Lord called me recently from an airport in which there was a man holding up signs and
preaching that Jesus is coming according to the “Central Time Zone” of America. Since God is the center
of all things, this man fervently warned people that Christ will come in an hour in accordance with
America’s Central Time Zone. As bizarre as this premise is, there is a subtle underlying erroneous
thought in Christianity that God causes the sun to rise and set on His favorite country, America. Perhaps it
stems out of the “One Nation Under God” delusion that permeates American Christianity, or the false
Puritan ideology that America has become God’s “New Israel” on the earth. When Jesus returns to earth
it will not be on American soil! God’s divine time zone continues to be Israel! The “midnight hour” in which
Christ will come as the Bridegroom for His faithful virgins will be according to Jerusalem time-bank on it!
The moral to the story of the wise and foolish virgins is not what hour He will come, but rather the
message that as much as half of His espoused virgins will be left behind at His coming! Let us not split
doctrinal hairs over “the hour” of His coming. It is superfluous. Just obey Jesus’ warning:

“BUT TAKE HEED TO YOURSELVES, LEST YOUR HEARTS BE WEIGHED DOWN
WITH CAROUSING, DRUNKENNESS, AND THE CARES OF THIS LIFE, AND

THAT DAY COME ON YOU UNEXPECTEDLY. FOR IT WILL COME AS A SNARE
ON ALL THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH. WATCH

THEREFORE, AND PRAY ALWAYS THAT YOU MAY BE COUNTED WORTHY
TO ESCAPE ALL THESE THINGS THAT WILL COME TO PASS, AND TO STAND

BEFORE THE SON OF MAN.” Luke 21:34-36

Where one may readily dismiss the idea of being taken up with the obvious sinfulness of “carousing and
drunkenness,” what about the category Jesus mentions of “the cares of this life”? Are we pursuing the
subtle substitute gospel of “The American Dream” of God-given, inalienable rights to life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness? Is our Christian faith centered in the moral values imposed upon the Republican
party by the Religious Right and the Moral Majority? Is the voting for a Christian president really the act
of responsible Christian faith? Is America the Kingdom of God on earth? Is any of this in accordance with
God’s Word? I think not! This kind of “cares of this life” can cause us to spin our wheels and spend our
funds on things that have nothing to do with the real Kingdom of God. Holding fast to right priorities has
always been a problem for God’s people. Paul and Peter both exhort the saints:

“AND DO THIS, KNOWING THE TIME, THAT NOW IT IS HIGH TIME TO AWAKE
OUT OF SLEEP; FOR NOW OUR SALVATION IS NEARER THAN WHEN WE FIRST

BELIEVED. THE NIGHT IS FAR SPENT, THE DAY IS AT HAND…
LET US WALK PROPERLY…” Rom. 13:11-14

“BELOVED, I BEG YOU AS SOJOURNERS AND PILGRIMS, ABSTAIN FROM
FLESHLY LUSTS WHICH WAR AGAINST THE SOUL, HAVING YOUR CONDUCT

HONORABLE AMONG THE GENTILES (THAT) THEY MAY, BY YOUR GOOD
WORKS WHICH THEY OBSERVE, GLORIFY GOD IN THE DAY OF VISITATION.”

1 Pet. 2:11-14

Paul tells us as believers, “Let us walk properly.” A proper Christian walk can only be defined by the Word
of God, not by the constitution of an earthly kingdom functioning under the guise of “Christian faith.” The
Constitution of the United States of America is not in harmony with the Word of God. The gospel of
democracy has replaced the gospel of the Kingdom of God (read my book, “Restoring the Gospel of the
Kingdom of God.”)

Peter exhorts the believers to have their “conduct honorable among the Gentiles.” Notice that he
addresses them as “sojourners and pilgrims” rather than citizens of an earthly kingdom. His call is to
“abstain from fleshly lusts” which includes the self-centered inalienable rights to pursuit of life, liberty and
happiness in an earthly kingdom.

Although I feel it is needful to state the above, I am obviously straying from my intended subject.