A Look At The Evidence

  1. Matthew 10:23 – Jesus said he would return in the lifetime of his disciples.
  2. Matthew 16:27-28 – Jesus said he would return with his angels to judge all men before every one standing there died. Please read it!
  3. Matthew 24:29-34 – Jesus said he would return in the clouds with his angels – in that generation!
  4. Acts 3:19f – Peter said Jesus would return when all the Old Covenant prophets were fulfilled. If the Old Prophets have not been fulfilled the Old Covenant is still in effect (Matthew 5:17-18).
  5. Romans 13:12 – Paul said “the day is at hand.”
  6. Romans 16:20 – Paul said God “will bruise Satan under your feet shortly.’
  7. I Corinthians 1:4-8 – Paul said the Corinthians would have the miraculous gifts until “the end, the Day of the Lord.”
  8. I Corinthians 7:28-31 – Paul said, “the fashion of this world is passing away,” and, “the time is short.”
  9. I Corinthians 15:51f – Paul said not all of them then living would die before the resurrection.
  10. Phillippians 3:20 -4:5 – Paul spoke of the resurrection at Christ’s coming and said “The Lord is at hand.”
  11. I Timothy 6:14 – Paul told Timothy to live faithfully “until the appearing of out Lord.”
  12. Hebrews 9:28; 10:37 – The writer said Christ would appear a second time for salvation and then asserted “in a very, very little while He that will come will come, and will not tarry.” Isn’t it sad that man says Christ has delayed, in spite of what this verse says? What does inspiration mean? Did the writer lie? Was he mistaken?
  13. James 5:7-9 – James urged his readers to be faithful “until the coming of the Lord.” He says “The coming of the Lord is at hand,” and, “The judge is standing right at the door.”
  14. I Peter 4:5,7,17 – Peter said Jesus was then “ready to judge the living and the dead,” “the end of all things is at hand,” and “The judge is standing right at the door.”
  15. I John 2:15-18 – John said the world was passing away and “it is the last hour.”
  16. Revelation – This book says no less than ten times that its predictions “must shortly come to pass,” were “at hand,” were to happen “quickly,” there would be “no more delay,” etc, etc.

These are not by any means all the verses that either directly stated Christ’s return was at hand in the first century, or indirectly taught it as true. What will you do with these verses in God’s inspired word? There is not one verse that uses language of imminence about the coming of the kingdom that is as strong as some of the language about the coming of the Lord? See Hebrews 10:37. Christ never said “in a very, very little while the kingdom will come” But the inspired writers said it about the coming of Jesus! If, as the amillennialist correctly insists, we must acknowledge the strong language of nearness in regard to the coming of the kingdom, must we not acknowledge the even stronger language that is used in reference to the coming of the Lord? If not, why not?

YES, BUT
Someone will respond to the above by saying, “Wait, now, Christ has not returned because earth and time continue. Every man did not see him come back, therefore, he did not come back.” The problem here is one of the preconceived ideas. The prevailing idea bout Christ’s return says he will come back bodily, on an actual cloud. Time will end as the physical earth is burned up, and all the dead are raised out of physical graves to stand before Christ to be judged. Obviously, from a physical perspective all this has not happened. But is it just possible that this concept of the Day of the Lord is wrong?17 If you have agreed with our investigation about God’s use of time words you are forced to rethink you concept about the nature of the Day of the Lord, or else call the inspiration of scripture into question! Which will it be?

Don K. Preston