“WHEN WILL JESUS COME AGAIN?” By: Jim Hill, Evangelist That Jesus will someday come again no one who believes the Bible will deny! Jesus said, “I will come again (John 14:3), and we know He will keep His word. The apostles were assured, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner. . .” (Acts 1:11). So among Bible believers there is general agreement that Jesus will someday come. Yet there is no such general agreement as to when Jesus will return, nor even on whether it will be soon or in the distant future. Why is there agreement on the fact of Christ’s coming, but not on when this will be? There is a good reason: the Bible clearly teaches the fact of His coming, but it does not tell us when it will be! DATE SETTERS I first became aware that people were setting dates for Christ’s return as a child in grade school. One day on the playground some of my classmates were telling the rest of us that Jesus was coming again within just a few days. Their preacher had said this! Some children were so disturbed at this claim that they were crying. I asked my mother about this that evening and she wisely referred me to Jesus’ statement in Matthew 24:36. Regarding the time of His return, Jesus here stated: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” All who know much about religious teaching of our times know of some who have set dates when Christ, supposedly, is to return. The more we delve into religious history the more apparent it is that there have been similar predictions all through the years. ~ In the 1840’s William Miller claimed to have determined the precise time the Lord would return. It would be on March 21, 1843! When this date passed without Christ’s appearance, he revised his calculations, convincing a large number of people that Christ would come October 22, 1844. Some zealous followers even sold their farms and used the proceeds to help propagate this teaching since after this date they believed they would have no need for material things. When this prediction also proved to be false many disillusioned people abandoned this movement, some even giving up on religion altogether. ~ Charles T. Russell, founder of what became known as Jehovah’s Witnesses, predicted that Jesus would return in 1914. When such did not happen, he moved the predicted date to 1918. He died in 1916. ~ “Judge” Rutherford, successor to Russell, wrote a book Millions Now Living Will Never Die that dated Christ’s coming as 1925. ~ In the 1960’s the Witnesses announced “with all certainty” that the end would be in 1975. Following this time 1984 was the date that was projected in this manner. They claimed that 1914 was the beginning of the end, that the end would be in the generation beginning in 1914, and that a generation is 70 years (suggesting the 1984 date). ~ Space forbids us from detailing the claims of Hal Lindsey, Billy Graham, and a host of others who have claimed there are “signs” by which we can know that Christ’s return is near. Right now other such dates have been set and are being taught. Supposedly these dates are validated by their claimed proper interpretation of Bible prophecy and signs. WHAT FAILED PREDICTIONS SHOULD TELL US 1. When the prediction is made that Jesus is coming at a certain time, and He does not come, we should conclude that the one giving the prediction is a false teacher (a false prophet)! God gave this sure way of knowing if He was behind a prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:21-22: “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” That these prophecies of when Christ would come were wrong speaks volumes! It shows that those who have made them are false teachers, so should not be listened to. Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15,16). 2. When proven to be false teachers on these matters, we should be extremely cautious about other things they say. Certainly it is extremely naïve to recognize them wrong in such predictions and then gullibly accept additional predictions they might make! Usually accompanying such false prophecies will be various other doctrines that are not scriptural. We must insist that all that we accept be taught in the Bible. “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). TWO MISCLAIMED “KEYS” TO SUCH PREDICTIONS Usually those who claim to know that Christ is about ready to come again (or, will even state when) will base their prediction either on Matthew chapter 24 or the last six chapters of the book of Daniel. However, the claimed “signs” from Matthew 24 used to determine when Christ will come are actually referring to the events leading up to Jerusalem’s destruction in AD 70. From William Miller to the present, many of the date-setters have claimed to have discovered the “key” to end time prophecies from chapters 7-12 of Daniel. Time has shown that their “key” that they claim to have discovered here did not really “open” any understanding of when the end would come Their set dates are long past and the world still continues. There is an even surer way of showing that Daniel did not identify the time of the end of the world. When Jesus was on earth he knew all scripture perfectly, including the book of Daniel. However, he said that even he did not know when He would return. Had Daniel told the time, Jesus would certainly have known, but note what Jesus said: “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32). Since Jesus did not know when He was going to return, we can know that Daniel had not written a “key” by which we can know! OUR NEED: BE READY! Since Jesus is going to someday come again, and since we cannot know when this will be, our need is to be prepared at all times. Being ready is emphasized time after time in the Bible. Consider with me some of these scriptures. MATTHEW 24:36-39 compares Christ’s coming with the coming of the flood in the days of Noah (spelled “Noe” in the KJV N.T.). Jesus shows that just as the people were going about their normal life activities, unaware of the impending flood until it suddenly occurred, “so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” MATTHEW 24:42-44 begins with the admonition, “Watch, therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” It then illustrates with the man of the house not knowing when the thief will come, ending with this warning: “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” MATTHEW 24:45-51 teaches this same lesson of constant preparedness by discussing a situation when servants have been left to care for the home while the master is away. They must not make the mistake of thinking they can act as they please with the Lord being away. He may “come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of.” MATTHEW 25: 1-13 is a popularly known as The Parable of the Ten Virgins. All ten were invited to the wedding feast and they did not know when the wedding procession would take place that would lead them into the wedding feast. There would not be time to prepare when the procession came. All ten had made initial preparation, but five had not stayed ready. When the midnight cry, “Behold the bridegroom cometh!” was heard, they did not then have time to get ready, so they were excluded from the feast. Jesus ended this parable with the exhortation: “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. I THESSALONIANS 5:1-6 also compares the time of Christ’s coming to the unexpectedness of a thief who comes in the night. Then it adds the illustration of birth pains suddenly coming on an expectant woman. She knows this will happen, but does not expect the “travail” to come at the time that it does. The admonition to Christians is given, “Let us watch and be sober.” 2 PETER 3:10-12 again compares the time of the Lord’s coming to that of a thief in the night. In view of this he asks, “What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation [conduct] and godliness. . .?” In verse 14 he says: “Wherefore beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” MARK 13:35-37 - “Watch ye therefore; for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing or in the morning: lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all. Watch” Do not take the word of any man or group about Jesus and His coming, take His word that comes only from the Bible, because the word is what declares His was, His will, and His coming!
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 18:52:59 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015