Jesus WILL return

There is much disagreement in the body of Christ about the details of eschatology. But all Christians believe in the return of Christ. Jesus himself promised it too many times for it to be denied.

The sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. — Matthew 24:30 NLT

I have heard slightly varying counts as to the number of times the return of the Messiah is mentioned in the Bible. My favorite Bible teacher, Tim LaHaye, counted 318 times that the Second Coming is mentioned. Only the doctrine of salvation is mentioned more often. That makes eschatology (study of the end times) is the second most important topic in the Bible behind soteriology (the study of salvation). Over 300 times, the Bible promises that Jesus will return. Jesus’ Second Coming is prophesied three times more in the Bible than his First Coming.

Jesus coming back is such an essential Christian doctrine that it is one of the few things that would make a person an actual heretic to deny it. But, unfortunately, I’ve noticed far too many people in the church that like to throw the word “heretic” around. For example, I remember going to one local church where I live for several weeks. I was impressed by their church structure and the fact that they took everything they did seriously. They weren’t overbearing sticks in the mud that didn’t know how to have fun or enjoy themselves. But they knew why they were there, and that was their central focus. So I was excited to take the members class to learn what was expected of people who wished to join the congregation. But then, a couple of weeks into it, the individual teaching the course mentioned a particular popular Christian personality and described him as a heretic. I slammed my Bible shut louder than intended, drawing more attention to myself than I was trying to do, but I made that decision then that I would not return to that church, and I have not. It is my personal belief that the designation of heretic should only be ascribed to those who profess to be a Christian but hold to a teaching that would be damning to the soul. So, for example, I do not agree with cessationism. That is a belief among some Christians that certain spiritual gifts ceased to be in…