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You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:14-17
The beginning and ending of each year brings a time of reflection and remembering. It also allows us the opportunity to be thankful for people and situations of life that have drawn us closer to God over the years. Please allow me to introduce to you Thomas Decosta Calendar—a man that will never know how much I appreciate the time and wisdom he poured into me as a young preacher. He was affectionately known as Dean, the founder, sole teacher, and administrator of The King Is Coming Bible Institute, a small premillennial, dispensational theological institute in Oklahoma City. It was there I started my theological studies in the fall of 1982, sitting at the feet of this small, salt and pepper, balding man in his early 60s. He was a transplant from the Caribbean country of Haiti and spoke with a heavy Haitian accent. His thirst for the Word of God and answering his call for ministry compelled him to leave his home in Haiti as a young man to pursue his theological training at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston. He became one of the finest systematic theologians of his time. In this article I would like to give him tribute and share with you one of his many short writings that I have been blessed to compile. It is my desire to publish these writings on eschatology in the near future.
Date-setting
by Thomas Decosta Calendar
As we enter the portal of the New Year, we should keep in mind that time is marching on, and great prophecies concerning the future are being fulfilled before our eyes. The proof of prophecy is its fulfillment. As I have said a number of times, a prophet is one who has the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other. Now, that is why I encourage all who are interested in prophecy to study the Bible and read the newspaper. If you are not in the habit of having daily Bible reading and daily paper reading you should develop that habit. Fifteen minutes a day of studying the Bible and reading the paper will change your life. Date-setting is the unpardonable sin of the prophetic preacher, teacher or student. Date-setting is the sin of the prophetic preacher, teacher or student that can never be forgiven. This is an exaggeration, but it gets across the point I want to make. All you say or do can be ruined when you attempt to set dates and ignore the fact that the Savior says that no man knows the hour when He will return (Matt. 25:13 ). Many people go after a man who gives the year, the month, and the day when a thing will occur. If he makes a good guess and the event occurs, they will put him on the throne with Jesus. But I want you to know that only God can set dates and cause them to be fulfilled. If we knew as much as God, we would be God. The person who claims to know the mind of God completely is attempting to get a place in the Trinity. We have to let God be God and quit trying to play God. Now when Jesus says that no man knows the hour, not even the angels or the Son, He is saying that the Son doesn’t know the hour in His human nature, but the Son knows the hour in His divine nature. Gabriel doesn’t know when Jesus is coming. Michael doesn’t know when Jesus is coming. The Devil doesn’t know when Jesus is coming. (He is the one who tries to get us to set dates to undermine our gospel message). The millions, billions, trillions and zillions of angels don’t know when Jesus is coming. Moses, Joshua, Elijah, the major and minor prophets, the historians, the inspired poets of the word, the Gospel writers, the epistle writers, the master historian Luke, and the apostle John don’t know when Jesus is coming. Only the triune God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit knows when Jesus is coming. In other words, the hour of the rapture is a secret that is only known to God (I Thes. 4:13-18; I Cor. 15:50-58).
I hope you were blessed by this article as we face a new year and find ourselves confronted with an onslaught of world-ending prophecies that seem to fall short of their predictions. In closing this column I would like to honor and thank God for the memory of my friend, mentor and spiritual advisor Dean Thomas Decosta Calendar who parted this life in 1990. If it were not for his advice and guidance, I might have never have left the red dirt and open plains of Oklahoma in pursuit of a seminary education in Dallas. Along with my wife and children we left our home and families. We had no jobs awaiting us, only a dream that I would study systematic theology and return to the King Is Coming to help my friend teach at the Institute. Man can set dates, but God must fulfill the date. A year into my seminary training God called Dean to his eternal reward. Twenty-four years later I am blessed to still be in Texas, pastoring one of God’s best congregations and serving the greatest state and national conventions of our modern era. To God be the glory for the great things he has done. Happy New Year!
