And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. Acts 1:7
When I was a teenager, I was so certain that the Rapture must occur within the next few months because of the condition of the world and the events I was hearing about in the news. I am no longer a teenager – I have grandchildren who are no longer teenagers – and I am a little less sure that the Rapture is only months away. I see the condition of the world to be much closer to end time conditions, and I hear things on the news that should much closer to what must occur shortly after the Rapture. And yet, I must agree with today’s text that you and I cannot predict the timing of God’s program.
Just before He rose from their midst to return to Heaven, the disciples asked the Lord Jesus if He was about to restore the kingdom to Israel. He had been speaking to them ‘of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God’ -Acts 1:3. But He had mentioned nothing to them about the timing of that kingdom. So when they asked about that timing, He made it clear that the timing was God’s business, not theirs. Does God know when the Rapture is to occur? Of course He does, just as He knows what you will have for breakfast on this date next year. But He has good reasons for not letting us know.
The apostle Paul had to address a situation in Thessalonika where some Christians in the Assembly there were so convinced that the Lord’s coming was within hours, or days at the most, that they stoped working and sat waiting. They mooched off other Christians and they gossiped. Paul had to remind them that the Lord had work for them to do. His admonitions against mooching and gossiping are still valid today.
Yes, we are to eagerly await our Lord’s coming. But no, we are never to make His coming an excuse for idleness. -Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/KyWyL2Lbjn4