CAN WE KNOW? SHOULD WE KNOW? DO YOU KNOW?

1. It is clear that Jesus will not come as a "thief in the night" for watchful believers, because in the very same passage, verse 4, Paul tells us, "But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief." If we are trusting in Christ and looking for His coming, Paul said that even the very day does not have to surprise us!

2. Also, Jesus exhorted, "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief" (Revelation 3:3, KJV), obviously saying He will come as a thief only to those not watching!  It is obvious that for those watching, He will NOT come as a thief.

3. Jesus rebuked those who did not understand the signs of the times in His day: "O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the signs of the times" (Matthew 16:3).

4. Of the end of the age, Jesus said, "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). He said those watching would know when it is near!

5. God said, "Surely the sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing it to His servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7) God said "nothing," and He did not exclude Christ's return. I take Him at His word.

6. God not only knows the end from the beginning, He tells us that He makes it known! "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come." (Isaiah 46:10) He has already made it known! I personally believe it has been hidden in His Word all along, to be unlocked in His timing.  There is nothing wrong with seeking! No doubt, it pleases God. It also demonstrates that a person really believes, why else would you watch or seek to understand?

7. God said, "I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee." (Isaiah 48:5 KJV)

8. Jesus said the Holy Spirit "will teach you all things." (John 14:26). He said "all things." Did Jesus make a mistake, forgetting to exclude when He will return? I don't think so.

9. Friends confide in one another. Abraham was called God’s “friend.” (Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23) “And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do.” (Genesis 18:17) Now, because of Jesus’ atonement, we are called friends of God: “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends.” (Jesus, John 15:15) Obviously, God will not hide what he is doing or going to do.

10. Ecclesiastes 1:9 says “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (NIV). Many Bible students believe that ancient events and dating in the Bible are shadows and clues that foretell the coming of the Lord, even the timing.  An example is the six days of creation, seen as 6,000 years of man’s dominion over the earth, before the return of the Lord and the seventh, or Sabbath Millennium of peace, with Christ ruling in Jerusalem. According to Bible scholars, we are now at the end of 6,000 years since Adam.

There are other such passages. God clearly promised that we would know at least approximately when Christ will return, and even "the day" will not surprise us, as the Holy Spirit reveals through Paul!

In addition to the above, there is ample precedent for God revealing specific times in advance:

1. He gave Noah advance notice of when the flood would be (Genesis 6,7).

2. He told Abraham how long the Israelites would be in Egypt (Genesis 15:13).

3. As mentioned, He revealed to many the very day of Elijah's rapture (2 Kings 2).

4. He told Jeremiah how long the Babylonian exile would be (Jeremiah 29:10).

5. He told Daniel exactly when Messiah would come the first time (Daniel 9:25-26).

6. Some, including the brilliant Sir Isaac Newton, believe this same passage holds the key to the timing of His return.

7. There is evidence that the Bible reveals the exact number of years of "the times of the Gentiles" and the exact span of time to Israel's rebirth in 1948 and the recapture of Jerusalem in 1967.

Obviously, leaving us clueless now would violate God's own established pattern as revealed in His Word!

Also obviously, based on what you read above we are not left clueless. There are many, many signs, in fact more with each passing day.

Here are a few more clues from the Word Of God:

First: God warns all of mankind that he has 120 years....

Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” Genesis 6:3

Genesis 6:3 is an announcement of the coming flood, a warning that God will not tolerate man’s sin forever. God told Noah that he was not going to put up with mankind's sin and depravity for another 120 years. This is about how long it took Noah to build the Ark.

Then, just before the flood, God warns Noah again, not all of mankind, just Noah, a believer:

Genesis 7:4 : "For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made."

Or that is, when only seven days were left of the 120 years, God warned Noah. From that moment on, Noah knew the exact day of the flood. And Noah made the last preparations: he went into the ark together with his family and the animals. (Genesis 7:7-9)

And God fullfilled what he had told to Noah. After seven days the flood started: "And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth." (Genesis 7:10)

The Word of God also says that God will do nothing without warning his servants the prophets beforehand. (Amos 3:7)

"When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day." Matthew 24:37

Based on what God did for Noah, warning him exactly seven days before the start of the flood, could it be that God will warn believers seven days before the great event, just like he did for Noah?

God invited Noah and his family aboard the ark with the words, “Enter the ark” That’s His invitation to you today. God has not yet closed the door of salvation in this the Church age. At the end of the Bible, after warning of the judgment to come, God’s final appeal is, “The Spirit and the bride say: ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost” (Rev. 22:17).

Lest you put it off, the Bible goes on in the next to the last verse to warn, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly” (Rev. 22:20). The Lord Jesus is coming to judge the earth; He invites you to come aboard before He comes to close the door. Come to Christ now!

God has ordained one means of salvation from the judgment to come: The Lord Jesus Christ, crucified for sinners. Whether you’re wealthy or poor, moral or immoral, educated or uneducated, there is only one way of escape from the coming wrath, the way of the cross of Jesus Christ.

There was only one door into the ark. There is only one door into heaven and eternity with God, Jesus Christ.

Noah didn’t think up the idea of the ark himself. Clearly, the ark was God’s plan to save mankind. He revealed it to Noah. He designed it and gave him the directions he needed. No human plan would have saved Noah or anyone else. They could have climbed the highest mountains; the flood went 20 feet over the tops of those mountains. There was no means of escape except the means God provided, and it was sufficient.

The eight human occupants and all the animals of the Ark entered by a single door which was not closed by Noah, but by God—“the Lord shut him in” (Genesis 7:16,). Jesus said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.” (John 10:9)

Jesus is our Ark of Salvation today. Just as Noah was saved by grace through faith from the destruction of the Flood, we can be saved by grace through faith in Jesus, when we repent and turn to Him.

Christ alone can save you from the wrath to come?

Bottom line: Let us remain watchful and ready, and be found doing the Master’s work. He is coming very soon!

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. – Luke 21:36