I get a number of letters and e-mails in any given week concerning countless things.  Many of them are solicitations anywhere from asking for money for a certain cause to wanting me to take some five-minute survey that takes twenty-five minutes (I only took one of those).  Without fail I also receive one or two letters a year warning me, along with the rest of the world, that Jesus is coming.

Now, I have no problem with the fact that Jesus is coming, because I believe that as strongly as anyone.  The thing that bothers me about these letters is that the people writing them always seem to know the specific time His coming is going to occur.  For example, let me quote from a letter I received just this past week: “Global persecution of the church kicks into ‘full scale’ Sept. 09…  King Jesus returns for a holy bride in the not too distant future….”  (Some are even more specific; down to the day and hour.)

I have received similar letters from all over the country through the years.  However, this is not just a phenomenon of my lifetime; it has been going on for centuries.  How people can be so bold to make such statements without any evidence is incredible.  How other people can believe such things is perhaps even more mind-boggling.

A quick look at the New Testament reveals that Jesus made it very clear that the hour would come when He would return- - just as He went away (John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Revelation 1:7 et.al.).  What we need to understand is that He made it equally clear that no one knows the precise time and no signs would precede it.  He taught: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.  For as in the days of Noah before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be”  (Matthew 24:36-39).

In conclusion, “Is Jesus coming?”  Yes!  “Do we know when?”  No!  “Any advice?”  Yes- - watch and be ready! (Matthew 24:42-44).