Christ's return is not eminent.

 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

II Thessalonians 2:1-12

I have been studying Revelation and now Daniel Monday nights with some believers. As we have been perusing the text, and also that of other texts such as Mat 24, Isaiah 13 and Thessalonians, a picture of the unfolding of events leading to the return of Jesus Christ has emerged among us. What we have seen is that His return is not eminent. This means that first of all some events have to occur before He returns. The passage above is the most specific detail that we have. So here are the events that must happen before Jesus returns:

1. The man of sin must be revealed. Antichrist comes, and deceives the whole world into thinking that he is Jesus. 

2. There must be a falling away. Antichrist will set up his church, and the people who do not know God will join him and believe, with all their hearts, that they are following the true Jesus. 

3. He, or his false prophet, will do many signs, seemingly confirming he is who he claims to be. 

4. Those who do not love the truth will perish with him when the real Jesus appears.

In Matthew 25 there will 10 virgins waiting for the return of Jesus. They were ALL asleep when Jesus comes, but only half of them were prepared, and, when awoken, were able to join the bridegroom at His wedding. The proper preparation, however, is symbolized by the oil. This is representative of an intimate, personal knowledge of Jesus. When we know Him who is True, we shall not be deceived by the one who seems to be true to ones natural senses. 

Jesus is the Man of Sorrows. In Ph. 3, Paul says that his only goal is to know Him intimately, being "like him in death that I may obtain to the resurrection of life". John, in his epistle, warns us to not love the world. The song goes, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace". Knowing Jesus is all there is. When we know Him, we will gladly embrace suffering, eschewing the world for the Kingdom. We will know His voice, and will not be taken in by the voice of another. Let those with ears to hear this word hear.