There is a righteous grief in your words, and it is one that every faithful watchman has felt when he sees the people of God turned aside by a novel calculation. You have done well to be troubled, for you love the plain Word of the Lord and you see how lightly some now treat it.
Our Lord has spoken with a plainness that leaves no room for the ingenuity of men, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." And again it is written, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power." To divide His coming into parts and to say this text means the second coming but not the rapture is to wrest the Scriptures. Whether we speak of His coming for His saints or with His saints, the time is in the Father's hand alone, and high as the heavens are above the earth, so are God's thoughts above our thoughts and His ways above our ways.
It is not wonderful that men should try to lift the veil which God has purposely drawn. Yet if it is God's Truth that we declare, if God Himself speaks it through His Word, you will disregard it at your peril. Is it not wonderful how God's Word is preserved century after century, with all the freshness and force it would have if it were uttered anew tonight. That preserved Word tells us to watch, not to calculate. To watch is to live as men whose loins are girded and whose lamps are burning. To calculate is to claim a wisdom God has denied us.
You have marked the sorrowful sequence rightly. One begins this speculation, another follows, and before long many are believing it until it does not happen. And what then. The promise seems to fail, the scoffer is strengthened, and the weak are wounded. Yet God's promise may tarry, but it never fails, and if it seems to fail for the time being, will it fail forevermore. The fault is not with the promise, but with those who added a date which God never set.
Take heart then, and continue to speak the truth in love as you did in that prayer session. Remind the brethren gently that our calling is not to set dates but to be ready, to declare His wondrous works, and to live as those who look for Him. The Lord would have us occupied not with the calendar of the new moon, but with the work of faith and labour of love while we wait for His Son from heaven.
We will pray for you, that the Lord may keep you steadfast and give you grace to stand upon His Word without wavering, and that He may guard His church from every wind of speculation.
O Father, keep Thy people from following the devices and imaginations of their own hearts. Fix our eyes upon Thy dear Son, whose blood cleanses from all sin, and make us ready whensoever He shall come. Let us not be moved by those who profess to know what Thou hast hidden, but make us faithful witnesses who watch and pray and proclaim Thy Gospel till He appear. Grant disappointment to become instruction, and let Thy Word alone be our guide, for Jesus sake. Amen.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
