April/June 20 No. 46 Nisan/Iyar//Sivan 577 - Moriel Ministries

stinctively go up. If you then ask, “How many
of you are ‘Evangelical’ Christians?” the majority
drop their arms and only 38% of hands
are still in the air. But if you ask everyone to
keep their hand in the air to affirm they believe
in each of the above nine points as they are
read one by one, the end result will be that only
about 8% of the room will still be holding up
a hand to affirm all nine of the basic criteria.
By what standard do you determine whether
or not someone or something is “Christian”? If
Barna hasn’t provided the minimum requirements
for the members of the faithful remnant,
what would you add or change? I think these
are minimally basic.
I am saying that from a common sense,
scriptural evaluation, we are living at a time
when the number of the truly faithful are dwindling
rather than ascending in numbers. Do
you really think there is some kind of “exception”
which will make the Harpazo as radically
big as the mainstream appear to believe? Is it
likely that the Harpazo is much bigger than we
think to include so many “cultural” Christians,
or is it more realistically to be smaller based
on the spiritual condition of all the potential
candidates?
But there is one other trend I implore you to
consider. As Jacob Prasch has taught in a great
many of his sermons concerning the Last Days,
if you want to attain to the best understanding
of what it is going to be like leading up to
Christ’s Second Coming, learn everything you
can about His First Coming. Nearly everything
in His First Coming foreshadows a greater,
ultimate fulfillment in His Second Coming.
At His First Coming there was a one-world
government with a self-deified ruler from Rome
which foreshadows the ultimate fulfillment of
the working of the Antichrist at His Second
Coming. At His First Coming everyone was
marked for economic control just as at His Second
Coming no one can buy or sell without the
mark of the Beast. At His First Coming Herod
foreshadows the dragon of Revelation in the
persecution of God’s people. On and on it goes
throughout the Gospels. Through the events
and patterns of His First Coming the Holy Spirit
is trying to teach us something about their
ultimate fulfillment at His Second Coming.
What has this to do with how many are going
to actually participate in the Harpazo? Look at
how few recognized and followed Christ at His
First Coming! More importantly, make a very
careful study of the statistically very few who
recognized and believed to the degree that they
were true followers by scriptural standards.
The odds are very good if you are 30-35
years of age or younger that you do not know
that the definition of “Christian” has changed
dramatically in just the span of a single generation.
It is the same with the term “Evangelical.”
Things which in the first half of my life
were identified as “heresy,” “false teaching,”
and out-and-out “lies” are today, quite shockingly,
accepted as being “Christian” and/or
“Evangelical” in my waning years. That the
world redefines terms according to its own
notions is to be expected, but how does this
happen within the walls of the Church? It has
happened the same way it always has, going
Danny Isom
back to the earliest days recorded in Scripture:
by neglecting the Word. And this is exactly the
most oft-addressed issue in the Gospels, how
so few clung to the Word and so many misapplied
it, misused it, or rejected it outright.
Do you see how closely the present situation
mirrors that of Christ’s First Coming?
Jesus faced priests and Levites who treated
their office as nothing more than a vocation.
He faced Sadducees who were liberal religious
scholars who did not believe in any kind of literal
interpretation of Scripture but treated it as
allegory and mythology. He faced Pharisees
and scribes who elevated their own interpretations
and works above the authority of the
original Scriptures. In other words, at every
turn He faced people who on nearly every
level conceivable turned away from the plain
and simple application of God’s Word in favor
of something else. We have that in multiplied
volume and effect at this present hour.
This battle over God’s Word began with Satan
himself trying to twist Scripture during the
temptation in the wilderness. It was evident at
the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in
the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus repeatedly
states, “You have heard it said…but I say
to you,” in order to rectify their treatment of
Scripture. It is seen time and again in dust-ups
with the various authorities over the Sabbath
and the washing of hands and what Jesus calls
their “traditions.” It characterizes Christ’s last
days on earth in the Temple when various factions
tried to question Him where God’s Word
is concerned. They even mock His Words while
He is on the cross! One of the most prolific
characteristics of the people during the time
of Christ’s First Coming is that the majority
had found various ways to ignore, mangle, or
misinterpret God’s Word to such a degree that
they missed out on their expected Messiah, Jesus.
At His First Coming, to those who were
supposed to know the Word, Christ said…
“For if you believed Moses, you would
believe Me, for he wrote about Me. —
John 5:46 (NASB)
Because they wanted Scripture to be fulfilled
according to their own expectations,
their own desires, their own chosen lifestyles,
they disqualified themselves at Christ’s First
Coming. I see the same thing happening again,
only on an even larger scale.
When I see the growing impact of the Purpose
Driven agenda, I don’t merely see people
being deceived, I see a reduction in the candidates
for the Harpazo. When I see the growing
influence of the Emergent Church, what I see
is a reduction in the candidates for the Harpazo.
When I see the wholesale embrace of New
Age practices inside the walls of the Church,
I see a reduction in the candidates for the Harpazo.
When I see the crowds flocking to the
likes of Benny Hinn, Todd Bentley, or any of
the other so-called “signs and wonders” freak
shows, I see a reduction in the candidates for
the Harpazo. When I see the de-emphasis if not
outright silence when it comes to the teaching
of the cross and a commitment to exclusively
live according to God’s Word alone, I see a reduction
in the candidates for the Harpazo.
Enoch, Noah, Lot and Elijah all lived in an
age of apostasy where the truly scripturally
faithful were but the tiniest minority. But when
it comes to the final and last age of apostasy
which they foreshadow, Jesus says it leads into
“a great tribulation, such as has not occurred
since the beginning of the world until now,
nor ever will” (Mt. 24:21). In other words, it
is greatly magnified and more pervasive than
during any other time in history!
Are you genuinely consumed with being
one of those who is eligible for the Harpazo?
Then carefully study those who were qualified
at His First Coming.
When Jesus had a question of His own for
the religious of His day, why did He ask them,
“The baptism of John was from what source?”
(Mt. 21:25). It goes hand-in-hand with Jesus’
earlier observation: “But the Pharisees and the
lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves,
not having been baptized by John” (Lk. 7:30).
The only ones “qualified” to understand and
accept Christ’s Word at His First Coming were
those who first and foremost genuinely repented
of sin. Those who don’t truly commit to the
work of the cross cannot properly put His Word
into practice so as to attain to the scriptural
definition of someone who is “faithful,” someone
held to be a right and proper “candidate”
for the Harpazo. I believe this is one of the
reasons that when it comes to the End Times,
the chief activity Christ Himself encourages us
to engage in is the preaching of the Gospel.
I know that there are still a great many
people who have never heard the Gospel and
desperately need the chance. But like it was
at Christ’s First Coming, I also believe there
is a very big “mission field” right inside the
institution we call “church.” There is every bit
the need to bring the work of the cross and the
Word to those today following in name only in
the shadow of Christ’s Second Coming as it was
during His First Coming. It is the only possible
way to boost the membership of those who will
actually participate in the Harpazo to come.
At His First Coming Christ called out and
sent new messengers to preach the simple truth
of the Word, those who would lead in preaching
the cross and obedience to His Word. In
the shadow of His Second Coming the need is
even greater.
Seeing the people, He felt compassion for
them, because they were distressed and
dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
— Matthew 9:36 (NASB)
This is what I see the famous false teachers
of the famous false spiritual movements doing
to the institution of the church today, a place
populated with “sheep without a shepherd.” Or
in context with what we’ve been discussing,
“Passengers who don’t actually have a ticket.”
As at His First Coming, the institution is again
miserably failing. Like the authorities to whom
the Magi first went, such can quote Scripture,
but they were not the ones to respond to God’s
Word; it was the shepherds who were actually
out with the flock. The same work and calling
is required again.
In Him,
Danny Isom
Guest Author
June 2011 • Moriel Quarterly 21