5. IMMINENCE
‘"Jesus could come at any time." I know what the people who say this mean, but we must take objection to that statement as it stands. In fact, Heaven has a day circled on the Heavenly Calendar when Jesus must come. [Acts 17:31, (God) has appointed a day in which He will judge the world by the Man Whom He has ordained.] That is to say, GOD knows when Jesus is coming. It is not random. It is clear. Jesus cannot come at just “any” time, but only on the day He has appointed.
So the problem is not that there is uncertainty in Heaven, but that we are uncertain. The question is, just how far is that uncertainty to extend? When the disciples asked Jesus, "What shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3) why did Jesus even suggest a time frame? Why did He answer such a thing at all, if we are not to know something ? Why not say, as we hear commonly today, "Don’t worry about it! It will all pan out. I’ll come when I come." That was not His approach. Jesus for all time laid out a clear description of a particular generation, a season, if you will, when He will come, so that those believers living in that generation will know it is time! All others of all time, not totally certain of what He was saying, since the time was not ready, have been commanded to watch, and be ready. Of course, the coming of Jesus at a man’s death is reason enough for any person, any time, to be on guard against foolish behavior.
The importance of knowing a particular season is confirmed by brother Paul, in I Thessalonians 5. First he says (verse 2) that Jesus is coming as “a thief in the night.” This is the concept that has been passed on to godly people as their own norm for looking for Jesus to come! But moving even one more verse leads us to : "For when they say, “Peace and Safety”, then comes sudden destruction upon them…" Who are they and them? The world! The unbelievers! The ungodly! Verse 4 insists, "You are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief!"
That means we can and should know the general time of His coming, especially if we are living in the last generation. That generation is described further by Paul in II Thessalonians 2:3. In words that could not be more clear, Paul demands that that Day will not come unless there is a noticeable world-wide apostasy and the revealing of the man of sin. Oh my! Jesus could come at any moment? Yes, in death. Yes, theoretically to those who walk in darkness and have not read the words of the apostles. But in fact? No! He must come when Paul says He must come, and that is after the great apostasy, and after antichrist.
The man or woman who is seeking God with all the heart about the coming of Jesus will see the plan unfold clearly and will indeed be watching when He comes. The ungodly "carnal" Christian, if there be such a thing, will be loudly proclaiming His love for a Jesus who might come just any time, and for him the coming will be a surprise, for that person has never dug deeply into God’s Word to find the truth. I am saying that more light is revealed to those who seek, and those who do not seek will be still in darkness and fulfill their own prophecies about how "we can never really know."
The only thing that has been denied to us is the very day on the calendar and the very hour on the clock when Jesus will come. Let us be diligent though to comprehend with all the saints what are the times and seasons God has revealed to us .
A word about the specific teachings of Jesus on this matter. In Mark 13:32-37, all are admonished to watch, for "you do not know when the time is." Even if Bible prophecy is a muddle to us, we are to be diligently living for Jesus, ready for Him at any moment. But as we grow in grace, we grow in understanding, and as He sees He can trust us with more knowledge about His coming, He gives us that light. For some, the knowing that Jesus will not come until after antichrist arrives would be a signal to let down and let up. These babes need to grow awhile before these other truths can sink in.
In Luke 21:34-36, Jesus tells people to watch and pray all the time, to be worthy to escape the horrible judgment that will come on the Day of His return. This is not to be taken lightly. Again, if prophecy makes no sense to you, and you are not sure of the validity of any of the books out there, and the Scriptures are not yet clear, just watch and pray. You will miss nothing! But, ask for more grace as the days go by to slowly get a hold of the hope of the calling of God. It can bring sunshine to a dark day, and downright overwhelming floods of joy when it is discovered even more.
Clues for a long wait for the coming of Jesus are in the Scriptures . Peter (II Peter 3:3) says that in the last days people will scoff, saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?” That is, it has been a long time.
Jesus told stories of men going into far countries (Matthew 21:33, 25:14). It takes a long time to get to a far country.
Some say that Matthew 24 is all about the final coming of Jesus, not the “secret” coming. They criticize those who say that, if you “know” exactly when he is coming, you will not need to watch. But in Matthew 24 itself are three warnings about watching:
36) “But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels of heaven…”
42) “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.”
44) “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.”
Here is the classic doctrine of “imminence” admittedly in the context of the return of Jesus to earth. Others who interpret these verses have caught their mistake, and decided that in the latter portions of Matthew 24, Jesus is actually talking about the “first phase” of His second coming. But one must ask by what system of Biblical interpretation such a division is justified. It would seem that the driving force here is the need to prove one’s position by any means.
For the above quoted verses are only a few sentences away from clear signs and clearer illustrations:
(15) The abomination of desolation, the signal for the beginning of the end, discussed above .
(32) The fig tree. When you begin to see leaves, summer is near. This is the beginning of the end. I am giving you a sign of the season, but not the exact day.
(37) Noah. Though judgment was only a week away (Genesis 7:10) only Noah and his family knew. He walked with God and was not caught unaware. The world that rejected God’s ways was caught totally off guard though the word had been going out for a century. Noah becomes a picture of those who will see the end coming when no one else does. But for the world, the picture is “thief in the night.” For Noah-like saints, no major surprise.
So the key is what we know and don’t know. Times and seasons we know if we watch. Abomination season. Fig tree season. Paul agrees in I Thessalonians 5:1, where “times and seasons” are what we are encouraged and expected to know. Day and hour? Not necessary to nail it down that close. Only watch. Be ready.
There is more evidence of this concept in the Book of Revelation. In the midst of the worst of the Tribulation days, sores, blood, scorching, darkness, Jesus speaks to His own, who really are still there (16:15) : I am coming as a thief! Watch! stay righteous before Me. Don’t give up now! Here is a context just before Jesus’ final return, all will agree. But the “thief” message is still being given! The warning to “watch” is still there.
Let the doctrine of imminence be believed in the light Jesus has given us. No matter how much we know or don’t know, we are told to watch! “Watching” and knowing when He is coming do not cancel each other. We are not watching with fear and ignorance, but watching with knowledge and expectation.
Upon our return from a recent trip to Mexico, we were told that within a couple of weeks our Mexican friends who actually live in the States, would be coming back to America also. Since we love them dearly and enjoy their fellowship, we started “watching” for their coming. We weren’t told the exact day of their arrival, for they did not know when it would be. But we knew that some day soon they would arrive. We knew some things had to happen first. They had to purchase bus tickets. They had to go to the bus station. They had to make the long trip. But we were anticipating their arrival, living with it mentally every day.
So antichrist rises, and we know that within a few years Jesus will come. Are we watching any less? Oh my no! The anticipation and excitement grows as we see prophecy so dramatically fulfilled. Those who say that such specific knowledge of the time of His coming would cause us to stop watching are speaking only of wicked servants, spoken of by the Master in 24:48ff:
“ But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants…”
No brothers, we are not in such darkness as this. We will know when He is coming, and we will be rejoicing until the end, knowing that His return is what our life is about.
One final line of thinking about “imminence”: Both Peter and Paul knew that the Lord could not come at “just any moment.” How? Jesus told Peter he would live to be an old man and die to glorify God, in John 21:18-19. Later Jesus told Peter that soon he was about to die, thus Jesus would not be coming at least until after that death (II Peter 1:14). Paul knew he was a chosen vessel who would stand before Gentiles and kings (Acts 9:15). It is not likely that they wore lapel pins announcing “perhaps today” , but their hope in His return was rock solid nonetheless, and a source of constant comfort and joy.
