The Sign of His Coming ?

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IS THE DOCTRINE OF IMMINENCE TAUGHT IN THE BIBLE?

The generally accepted definition of imminence is that Jesus could come
"at any moment" meaning there are NO signs to occur, NO prophecies to be
fulfilled before Jesus returns for the rapture of the church. However...

Christ predicted the destruction of the Temple (Luke 21:6, Matt. 24:2,
Mark 13:2.) He also predicted the coming of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49;
Acts 1:8.) Could He return before these things were fulfilled?

Jesus told Peter that he would get old and die (John 21:18-19.) Could His
coming be imminent as long as Peter was still alive? (Peter was part of
the church, wasn't he? Matt. 16:18 & Acts.) Peter even instructed us to
wait for and hasten the coming day of God (2 Peter 3:12.) How can we rush
a day which may begin at any moment? Is it possible that the Lord's
"slowness" (vs. 9) is directly linked to His command for us to 

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway,
[even] unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matt. 28:19-20)

In Matt.24:14, Jesus tells us that the gospel will be preached in all of
the world as a witness to all the nations BEFORE the end comes. It is
obvious from Rev. 7:9 that the job was completed; and Acts 1:8 suggests
that it is done by His servants after being baptized in the Holy Spirit.



Some people believe that Jesus teaches that His return is imminent in
John 14:2-3.

In my Father's house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would
have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where
I am, [there] ye may be also.

Does Jesus, in this passage, mention that His coming could be "at any
moment" or does He merely teach His disciples that He will be coming back
for them? Just a few days earlier, He had told this same group of men of
wars and rumors of wars, of the abomination of desolation, of the great
tribulation, of signs in the sun, moon, and stars.

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up
your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. Luke 21:28

Is it possible, as some believe, that the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24,
Mark 13, Luke 21) was meant only for the Jews and John 14 was meant only
for the church when BOTH were spoken to the same group of men only days
apart?



Some pretribulationists believe that the seven churches written to in
Revelation 2 and 3 represent not only seven churches in existence when
the letters from Christ were written, but also represent seven periods of
Church history. (But since we all want to be included in the Philadelpia
church, it must overlap the Laodicean church in order to have the
Philadelphian church alive at the rapture.) Little do these sincere
pretribulationists realize that by espousing this historical period view
of the churches, they inadvertently deny the doctrine of imminence in
that the return of Jesus could not have been imminent during the Thyatira
period, the Smyrna period, etc. Not until the Philadelphia/Laodicean
period could His coming be said to be imminent.

The prophecy of the seventieth week of Daniel (Daniel 9:24) deals with
Jerusalem and the Jews. Could Jesus' return to rapture His church be
imminent prior to 1948 when the Jews returned to Israel, or, for that
matter, 1967 when they recaptured Jerusalem? This argument should receive
even more weight considering pretribulationists claim that the seventieth
week (called by them, "the tribulation") deals not with the church, but
exclusively with the Jews (Dan 9:24.)



In answer the His disciples question in Matt. 24:3, "What shall be the
sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?" He did not tell them that
His coming would be imminent or signless. He told of wars and rumors of
wars, etc. Then He said,

As soon as [the fig tree's] branch becomes tender and puts forth its
leaves, you know that summer is near. So also when you see all these
things, you know that He is near, at the very gates.

In other words, we will not know the exact day or hour, but when these
things begin happening, His coming is so near that the generation to see
the signs will not die before His return. Could His coming be imminent
BEFORE these things have happened? (Matt. 24:32-34,36; Luke 21:28)



Many pretribbers quote verses about the "thief in the night" to support
their "at any moment" doctrine. In Revelation 3:3 written to the church
at Sardis, Jesus says, 

"Remember then what you received and heard; keep that, and repent. If you
will not awake, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what
hour I will come upon you."

However, it is "the day of the Lord" which comes like a thief.

"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens
will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with
fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up." 2
Peter 3:10. "For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will
come like a thief in the night." 1 Thessalonians 5:2.

But when we keep reading, we find, "But you are not in darkness,
brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief." (vs.4)

It is in this context that we are commanded to watch (vs. 6.)

Now if references to the rapture coming as a thief in the night mean that
the rapture comes at the beginning of the Day of the Lord (which I
believe is the accurate chronology) then what do we do with Acts 2:20 and
Joel 2:31 placing the sun turning dark and the moon to blood BEFORE the
Day of the Lord? That wouldn't make the rapture signless and imminent
would it? And what about Rev. 6:12 placing the sun turning dark and the
moon to blood after the sixth seal is opened?

Could it be merely a coincidence that this is the very sign Jesus
described would precede His coming?

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall
from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will
appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of
the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his
angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the
four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matt. 24:29-31.

This coinciding of the rapture and the Day of the Lord is spoken of in 2
Thess. 2:1-4. "Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our
assembling to meet him, we beg you, brethren, not to be quickly shaken in
mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to
be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one
deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion
comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of
perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or
object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God,
proclaiming himself to be God." 

Can rapture be imminent if the Antichrist must be revealed first? Was the
rapture imminent before Peter died, before the temple was destroyed, or
before Israel became a nation in 1948? Can the rapture be imminent before
the sun and moon grow dark and the signs described by our Lord in Matthew
24 come to pass? According to Luke 21:28, it is only "when these things
begin to take place" that we can "look up and raise your heads, because
your redemption is drawing near."


Some WORD for thought...

In Jesus Name,

Ken Vermillion