Christians can "speed up" the time of Jesus' return by giving more money so the gospel can be shared across the globe, Louisiana pastor and televangelist Jesse Duplantis said during the Kenneth Copeland Ministries "VICTORYton" fundraiser.
Duplantis urged viewers recently to donate to the Victory Channel, which currently can be viewed on the Dish Channel, DirectTV and YouTube and is a network of Kenneth Copeland Ministries.
Duplantis' sermons are broadcast on the Victory Channel.
"The reason why Jesus hasn't come is because people are not giving away what God told them to give," Duplantis said. "You see what I'm saying? I mean, when you understand it – you can speed up the time."
Duplantis continued, "What is God saying to you? And I really believe this. If people would call this number and put this Victory all over the world — every available voice, every available outlet. The Father would say, 'Jesus, go get them.' Because you see, He wants to see us as much as we want to see Him."
The reason Jesus has not returned, Duplantis concluded, is "because people are not doing in the financial realm – because we live in an economic world – what God's called them to do."
Participating in a "Victorython" fundraiser for Kenneth Copeland's ministry, right-wing pastor Jesse Duplantis brags about being a multi-millionaire with his own private plane while telling viewers that they can "speed up" the return of Christ by donating. pic.twitter.com/3VE6sETWBB
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) September 22, 2021
His comments were posted on social media by Right Wing Watch.
Duplantis is the pastor and co-founder of Covenant Church in the New Orleans area, and the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries.
The Victory Channel is a non-profit, free-to-air television network that "fills the airways with the hope and healing from the Word of God," according to its website, which also says it features "faith-filled, Spirit-led ministers" such as those of Jerry Savelle, Jesse Duplantis, Creflo Dollar, Keith Moore, Bill Winston and Nicole Crank.
Decision Magazine, a publication of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, warned in a 2011 article that "although the Scriptures say the Gospel will be preached to the whole world and then the end will come, it does not say that the coming of Christ will follow immediately after the completion of the Great Commission."
"And even if it is to follow immediately, our understanding of completing the Great Commission may not match God's," the article said. "A day may come when we think the task has been completed, but we may be unaware of other people whom God still intends for us to reach. If Christ delays His coming for another hundred years, we must be faithful to proclaim His name to every generation, for as long as He tarries."
Photo courtesy: ©Unsplash/Rawpixel
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
