It's a question that many have been asking for over two thousand years. Jesus prophesied of His return, as well as several New Testament authors such as John, and Paul. But did they give us enough information to determine the timing of His coming?
Through this entry I would like to bring to your attention the severity of Christ's coming, and its legitimacy. First let me say that there are two different advents I will be mentioning, and they are separate. These two advents both concerns the return of Jesus. The first advent will be when Jesus returns, but does not step foot on earth, also known as the "Rapture", or the "Snatching Away".
( 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words)
The second advent will be some seven or so years later where Christ will come and defeat the armies of Antichrist, and will set up His Millennial Kingdom.
(Matthew 16:27 For 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.)
But when will all these things be? And what shall be the sign of His coming?
The disciples wondered this as well. I encourage you to read the Matthew 24 in its entirety, but for the sake of your reading, I will bullet point some of the things we are
to watch for concerning the return of Christ:
- False Christs shall come
- Wars, and rumors of wars.
- Civil unrest
- Famines, and Pestilences
- Earthquakes
- Christian Persecution
- Love will not be abound.
- The gospel will be preached to all the world
I can give examples of every one of those bullet points, however, we must move on.