The Return of Christ
Matthew 24:35-36
By Harold D. Dinsmore, M.Div.
Ó2008 Harold D. Dinsmore 

In the Daily Oklahoman on July 25, 1986 the following advertisement appeared in the special notes section:  “Christ is coming.”  There is no doubt that He is, but last days madness had hit again.

            Ever since I can remember, I have heard stories and predictions of the day when Jesus was going to return.  For some, it was 1912-14.  Then 1925, then in the 40’s when Israel became a nation.  I remember the book circulated to churches entitled 88 Reasons for Christ to Return in 1988.  As we have seen, someone predicts the year almost annually.

            In his book by the title Last Days Madness, Gary DeMar says this.  “History is a great teacher if we learn from its lessons.  Speculation on when Jesus will return is an old item that never seems to go away.  Conditions for Jesus’ return always appear to be favorable generation after generation.  As one failed set of predictions is discarded, a new, but no wiser, prophet surfaces to take up the banner of prophetic certainty in the belief that past generations did not have the right prophetic key.”

            Every generation has felt, and rightly so, that they are in the last days.  Jesus began the doctrine of last things Himself.  In John 14, He gave them instructions that just as sure as He was leaving, He would return to receive them unto Himself.