“Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time…” (Hebrews 9:28)
So why would any faithful Christian investigate the Baha’i Faith? Because they are following what the Holy Bible, and what Jesus says, of course. Jesus promised “the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” (Matthew 16:27). The Bible says that Christians should “Watch at all times, praying that you may … stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36). It also says, “It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.” (Luke 12:37). Therefore, Christians are exhorted to “Try the spirits whether they are of God.” (I John 4:1).
Christians who study the Bible know that they should not hold to the interpretations of prophesy made by other mortals over the years. They know that no mortal man should add or subtract from the Bible for his own interpretations of how things will play out (Rev. 22:19). They know that the Bible says that “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (II Peter 1:20), and that, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Genesis 40:8). This is because not all those who claim to prophesy in His name will be acceptable to God (Matthew 7:23). This is because the true students of the Bible know that with God, anything is possible (Mark 10:27), and to hold to one vision of how the Return will play out, would be limiting God.
Christians who study the Bible also know that the Jews did not accept Jesus because they expected a Messiah of their own imagination that would deliver them from the Romans. Even though the Jewish leaders claimed to follow Moses, they missed their Messiah, and as Jesus said, “had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me.” (John 5:46).
Christians know that no mortal man can claim to know the time of the Lord’s return (Matthew 24:36). The Bible promises that only those that seek Him shall find Him when it is written, “Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time…” (Hebrews 9:28). Jesus calls His servants not to despise all prophesying, but to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thess 5:20). Therefore Christians can be constantly seeking their Lord in all things. They can learn to be detached from the visions of artists, prophets, and preachers over the years who might have offered their own interpretations of how Christ would return. Christians know that God promised them that if they “Ask, and it shall be given you: seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.” (Matthew 7:7). Therefore Christians must ask, seek, and knock in search of their Lord.
Finally, Christians might remember that Jesus Christ promised to return “like a thief in the night.”(2 Peter 3:10). How does a thief in the night come? A good thief comes into your house, does his work, and leaves in the morning without you ever knowing. A Baha’i would ask, is it possible that the Lord returned to the earth, delivered His message, and then left in the morning without the body of Christianity realizing their faith had been fulfilled? Why not? Was not Judaism fulfilled without the majority of Jews accepting its Messiah? Did not Jesus warn His followers to not deal with the Return of the Son of Man as the Jews had dealt with Him? As the Bible warns mankind, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place…”(Revelation 2:5)