Do You Know When He Will Return?

Posted on Aug 10, 2022 Topic : Prophecy
Posted by : Amir Tsarfati

God is working out His plan. There will soon be a day when the church is taken up to meet Jesus in the air. There will come a time when God disciplines the people of Israel in a way that ultimately leads to their repentance. And there will come a day when those who have rejected the gift of God’s salvation will suffer His wrath because of their sins.

The “what?” of this coming day isn’t the primary question of this book. I dealt with the rapture and the Antichrist in detail in my previous book, The Last Hour. While we will deal with some of the events of the tribulation in The Day Approaching, our focus here will be on the when.

Now, it’s time for me to come 100 percent clean with you. I have no clue as to the day and time of Christ’s return. But I’m in good company. No person knows the day and time. The angels don’t know. Not even the Son of God Himself knows. Jesus said, “Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matthew 24:36). The Father has got the timing planned out to the minute, but He’s keeping His cards close to His chest.

What I can tell you is that as I look at the events unfolding in the world around us, I firmly believe that the day of Jesus’ return is rapidly approaching. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for that day when I see Jesus. I think about it. I imagine what it will be like. I study the Scriptures to learn all I can about it. This longing to see my Savior is not only in my heart but also on my lips. I believe that we should proclaim our desire for Jesus to come. The apostle John wrote in the book of Revelation, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’(22:17). John himself expressed his own desire when he said, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (verse 20). Have you asked Jesus to come?

Have you expressed to Him your excitement at seeing Him and your desire to be with Him forever?

Have you ever taken a moment to close your eyes and picture what it will be like?

Imagine sitting around the dinner table with your family. You’re about to take your first bite of your wife’s wonderful spaghetti bolognese when you feel something happening —a tingling, a lightness— and suddenly, you are airborne. As you and your family shoot upward, you barely have time to see the look of wonder on their faces when another face catches your full attention. You recognize it immediately, even though you’ve never seen it before. It is the face of Jesus in all His glory and majesty.

All the pains, fears, worries, and sorrows of the world are left behind in your recently departed dining room. Only joy, peace, and happiness await you as you enter eternity.

This is the rapture. It is not just a story. It is not a feel-good religious fairy tale. It is an actual event that will take place in real-time in the real world. I must admit that as I travel around the globe, I am amazed at how many people in the churches that I visit don’t believe in the rapture. Others, more than not believing in it, are hostile to the whole idea. They don’t even want to hear it mentioned.

I was speaking to a pastor friend of mine not long ago who told me that rather than looking forward to the advent of Christ’s rule on earth, he believes we are now living in the kingdom of God. He speaks that all the events described in Revelation took place by AD 70. When Rome destroyed the temple and slaughtered thousands of Jews, the wrath of God was sated. No more need for judgment; no more need for hell. Our satisfied Lord will eventually save everyone. I was shocked to hear the extent of this pastor’s deception.

We are living in a time of great anticipation surrounding the soon return of Christ, but it is also a time of great apostasy. Many antichrists exist in the world, both outside of the church and inside. As believers, we must know the truth of God’s plan for mankind and how we fit into it. It is out of this knowledge that we find our mission and our hope.

God Wants You to Know His Plan

If we take the time to look around us, we can’t help but realize that there is a strong sense of Any Day Now in the world. It is so obvious to me, and I’m not the only one who feels it. In early 2017, the number of Google searches for “World War 3” hit its highest level ever. What precipitated this spike? The combination of President Donald Trump’s escalation of activities in Syria and his dealings with North Korea.

Both situations have calmed since that moment of national panic, but there is still a sense that something significant is going on. Within us is a built-in curiosity about what will happen in the future and a sense that the way the world is now must eventually come to an end.

Much of this curiosity stems from a fear of the unknown. Newspapers and 24-hour cable news channels are constantly bombarding readers and viewers with why they should be terrified if the US president does this or Iran does that, or North Korea does something. Not long ago, a headline in The Telegraph read “World ‘on the brink of thermo-nuclear war, as North Korea mulls test that could goad Trump.” Try getting a good night’s sleep after reading that.

People accuse Christians and the Bible of being doomsayers, but the media actually are the doomsayers. In contrast, it’s Christ and the Bible that give hope. It’s Christ and the Bible that says, “Yes, eventually this world is going to blow apart. But let Me tell you how you can ensure yourself a flight out of here before it happens.”

God wants you to know His plans—His plans for the world, for Israel, for the church, and for you.

Are you interested in knowing the future? Then you need to go to the One who laid it out.