Of all doctrines, eschatology is the one that lends it’s self LEAST to being dogmatic.  Christians who believe many different things about Jesus’ return ALL… A) ARE saved, B) Study the same Bible, C) Pray to Jehovah God, D) Use the same Scripture to support their beliefs, and E) Believe they’re led of the Holy Spirit to their conclusions.

In Scripture, the “Last Days” began with Jesus’ ascension to heaven and will continue until He returns (1 John 2:18b)! Every generation of Christians since Jesus’ ascension believed he would return soon, and rightly so.

There are only four things EVERY believer agrees upon about the Second Coming…

Jesus will return (John 14:3), We don’t know when it will be (Matthew 24:36), We should be ready (Matthew 24:44).  There only other thing we know FOR SURE about Jesus’ return… it is closer today than it was yesterday.

We DON’T know who the Antichrist is…

People have suggested: Nero, Napoleon, The Pope (By Martin Luther), Hitler, Stalin, JFK, Henry Kissinger, Tony Blair, Barack Obama, and there will be a host of others to come.  Bottom line… we will not know who he is until God reveals him.  If serious and faithful Bible scholars have been wrong about who the Antichrist is through the centuries, who are we to think we are right?!  Consider these Bible texts: There are many antichrists (1 John 2:18), whoever denies Jesus is antichrist (1 John 2:22), the antichrist’s spirit was already present in the world when the Apostle John wrote his epistle (1 John 4:3)! 

There is one requirement before Jesus returns…

The Gospel will be proclaimed to all peoples, THEN Jesus will return.  Since Jesus has not returned, this has not yet taken place.  One person tried to date Jesus’ return in a book titled, “88 Reasons Jesus Will Return In 1988,” and obviously got it wrong.

For what it’s worth… here is what I seek to understand from Scripture about Jesus’ return…

Timing… World Events… Tribulation… “The Rapture” Click here, and here, and here. (It seems from 2 Thess 2:3-4 that Christ will return after the tribulation.)

Conclusion: Regardless of what view you hold… 1) Serve God, 2) Be ready.  Jesus could come back today, or not for 1,000 years and still fit in line with Biblical prophecy.