No man knows the time of Christ's return

With the increasing onslaught of false teachings, Christians must be diligent to maintain a deep concern for truth. Failure to do so abates hunger and thirst while compromising faith and practice.

God gave us the Scripture that we might know, not speculate!

Consider I Corinthians 12:1: “Now concerning spiritual [gifts], brethren, I would not have you ignorant.” (All Bible passages quoted are from the 1769 Authorized Version unless otherwise noted.)

Read Ephesians 1:18-20: “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [places].”

A similar truth is found in Philippians 3:10: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”

God wants you to know! A singularly important exception to this is the time and hour of Christ’s second coming. Jesus’ own words about this in Matthew 24:36 say, “But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

Jesus said no man knows the day or hour, that’s good enough for me. One wonders why so many keep guessing! Woe to those who blindly follow [Matthew 15:14] the “guessers.”

But things are much worse for those in charge, according to Jeremiah 23:1: “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.”

Despite this dire warning, some continue to oppose God’s Word with false teachings. This is found in every stratum of doctrine and not confined to end-time predictions. One insidious example of this is the nullification of sin, for which the penalty is austere.

Consider the declaration of Isaiah 5:20-24: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto [them that are] wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto [them that are] mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, [so] their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.”

All who claim to represent God should adhere exclusively to Scripture, for we must all give account to God some day.

When following any teacher you are well advised to be as those recorded in Acts 17:11b: “… they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

Bear in mind, when studying future prophecies, what we’re told in I Corinthians 13:9 and 12: “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

Putting the above information to use will benefit your spiritual understanding exponentially.

You cannot have great clarity on things that haven’t come to pass. Consequently, there’s no need to stew over things beyond your comprehension. Simply approach the Scripture with the attitude that it’s God’s unerring Word and reject all contradiction of the Scripture — covert or overt.

Sadly, many end-time teachings are based on a morbid fascination with evil. Fear then becomes the tool of choice for converting sinners. God-fearing Christians must eschew this, knowing it’s the goodness of God that leads to repentance. Perfect love always casts out fear.

The good news is not wrapped up in the revelation of the son of perdition. It’s found in the revelation of Jesus Christ, the son of God! His second coming is the main event and will bless all creation.

Anticipating Jesus Christ’s return should be the cornerstone of our existence and the overture of our thought process! Embrace this declaration in Revelation 22:20: “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

Come quickly, Lord Jesus, and tarry not.

Look for an end times order of events in the next installment of this series.

The Rev. Linus A. Mathis III is the founder and director of Frontier Christian Ministries.