The Church is being Taught to Sleep
Orientation
The denial of Christ's imminent return is teaching the Church to spiritually sleep, robbing believers of the biblical hope that motivates holy living.
- Mainstream theology often mocks or dismisses literal prophecy, fulfilling the warning of 2 Peter 3:3-4.
- When the expectation of Christ's coming is removed, spiritual decline and conformity to the world follow.
- This is not a secondary issue but a direct assault on the Church's conscience and motivation.
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (2 Peter 3:3-4)
— 2 Peter 3:3-4
Clarification
Several specific theological errors work together to undermine the Church's watchfulness by denying or delaying Christ's return.
- Preterism claims Revelation was fulfilled in AD 70, leaving nothing future to anticipate.
- Dominionism teaches the Church must conquer the world first, pushing Christ's return into the distant future.
- Denial of the rapture (the secret coming for saints) confuses God's two-stage plan and removes imminency.
But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:48-51)
— Matthew 24:48-51
Structure
God's sovereign plan involves two distinct comings of Christ, revealed by Paul to provide comfort and motivate watchfulness.
- The secret coming (the rapture) is for His saints, a subject of rejoicing and comfort for those watching.
- The open coming is with His saints to establish His kingdom, a subject of woe for the world.
- The expectation of the imminent, secret coming is the key New Testament motivator for holy living and separation from the world.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
— 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
Weight-Bearing Prose
The contemporary theological drift denies the Pauline revelation of Christ’s imminent, secret coming for His saints. This denial—whether through Preterism, Dominionism, or rapture rejection—teaches the Church to sleep. It conflates the two distinct comings Paul reveals: the harpazo for the saints (1 Thess 4) and the subsequent open coming with the saints. This conflation or delay removes the expectation of imminency, which Scripture uses as the primary motivator for holy watchfulness and separation from the world (Titus 2:13). Without this consciousness, the Church loses its heavenly focus, and believers drift into the moral decay Jesus warned of in Matthew 24:48-51. The error is not merely prophetic; it is practical, undermining the very mechanism God appointed to keep His people awake in a dark age. The rapture is our blessed hope, our salvation, and our comfort—not a speculative curiosity but the wellspring of New Testament obedience.
Integration
Your assurance and standing are in Christ alone, not in your level of watchfulness. This teaching on imminency is given for comfort and motivation, not to create a new standard you must anxiously meet. Christ is your righteousness and your reward. The call to watch is an invitation into the comfort of His promised return, not a pressure to perform. Whether you feel alert or weary, your position in Him is secure. The hope of His coming is a stabilizing grace, a fixed point in a shifting world. Rest in the certainty that He who promised is faithful, and let that certainty, not fear, anchor your soul.