When Will Christ Return?

Following along with this month's topic, I want to explain about the great hope of Jesus returning, a precious hope held by many believers. Sadly, some false teachers mislead naive students into believing in their pseudo-prophetic dates which they set as the day of his return.

Jesus said that no man knows the day when he'll return but the Father only. Yet there are always those self-proclaimed prophets who claim to know the whereabouts of his coming and when it will be. As Jesus said in Matthew 24:23 (KJV), "Then if any man shall say unto you, 'Lo, here is Christ,' or 'there;' believe it not."

Neither will Christ's return be a secret snatching away of believers. As Luke recorded in Acts 1:11 (KJV) regarding what the two angels spoke,, "Which also said, 'Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.'"

The Apostle Paul made it quite clear that the Lord's return won't go unnoticed by the world. He penned in 1 Thesalonians 4:16-18, (KJV), "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: 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."

Some folks think that meeting the Lord in the air means we'll stay there for seven years. That's stretching the verse far past its meaning. We know that returning kings were met in ancient times on their way home by crowds of adoring subjects. So it will be when Jesus returns.

My new book will deal in part with the subject of Christ's return. This is a serious matter and believers need to have their hearts ready for that glorious event. Watch this space for updates on the book which I'm calling You Think You're Going to Heaven?