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Nobody Knows the Date (Nor Even the Season) of Christ's Return

I. People have been trying to predict the date of Jesus' return for nearly 2000 years and they have all failed and will continue to do so.

II. Jesus plainly stated that no man knows the day and hour of His return.

Mat 24:42 - Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Mat 24:43 - But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

Mat 24:44 - Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Mar 13:32 - But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

Mar 13:33 - Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

Mar 13:34 - For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

Mar 13:35 - Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

III. Jesus Himself in His humanity didn't even know the date of His return.

Mar 13:32 - But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

How presumptuous is it for a man to claim to know something that Jesus didn't know!

IV. Some try to avoid the plain statements of Jesus by not setting a specific day, but rather by choosing a day as an outer limit before which Jesus will return.

There are a couple of problems with this.

Firstly, the Bible says that not only don't we know the day or the hour, but also the times and the seasons of Christ's return.

1Th 5:1 - But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

1Th 5:2 - For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

Secondly, if we make it to the day before the outer limit, then we know the day of Christ's return.

For instance, let's say that someone does some calculations and concludes that Jesus will return no later than December 31st, 2050.

They will justify their unbiblical prediction by saying that they are not setting the day of Christ's return, but just the outer limit.

But what if time goes on until December 30th, 2050?

If the man is right, then we know the day of Christ's return, and Jesus is a false prophet.

If the man is wrong and Christ doesn't come on December 31st, 2050, then the man is a false prophet.

Date setting is therefore dangerous business.

V. Some will not explicitly set a date for Christ's return, but they will teach that the saints will be resurrected and raptured a specific time before the return of Christ (usually 3.5 or 7 years).

This, too, is date setting.

If indeed the saints are resurrected and raptured before the last day of time (which is unbiblical - Joh 6:39,40,44,54; Joh 11:24), then when that happens, everyone will know that the return of Christ is exactly 3.5 or 7 years away.