Welcome and thank you again for taking a bible break to test your knowledge of God's word.
This week's question:

When Jesus was lifted up and a cloud received Him out of the sight of His disciples as they gazed intently into the sky, two men in white asked them, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." This statement of scripture and others that make mention of the return of our Lord have started a firestorm of debate of how and when this "second coming" should take place. Many have predicted a date of His return and have been wrong and some even continue to predict the date, the time or the epoch of His return. Rest be assured His promise is true (Hebrews 6:9-20). There are even those that teach errantly concerning the Lord's return, as those at Thessalonica taught, that the Lord would return to those that only were alive on the earth, leaving no hope for those that had passed on  
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) and some even quit work to await His coming (2 Thessalonians 3:7-16). The Sadducees, while they acknowledge God, do not believe in the "resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit;" (Acts 22:8).

And so to answer our question of "when will Jesus come again?" we first turn to the book of

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18: For the Lord Himself will descend with a shout, with the voice of the

archangel, with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and

remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall

always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

So we understand that the Lord will return and how the Lord will return. In the next chapter we find time in which the Lord will return,

1 Thessalonians 5:1-3: Now as to the times and epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be

written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in

the night. While they are saying "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like

birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Just in case that wasn't quite clear enough let's try it again as Jesus tells His disciples,

Acts 1:7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or the epochs which the Father has fixed by

His own authority."

And so there we have the answer to our question! No one but the Father knows of this time-not even Jesus will know until He is sent by the Father. And so, why does mankind still try to predict the times and the epochs? Maybe it gets the fifteen minutes of fame, but that's all it's going to be as they will be wrong. And for those that stand that the Father and the Son have no difference in power, think about who knows the time and why. But that's another story.

Jesus tells His disciples who ask Him:

Matthew 24:3 And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately,

saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and the end

of the age?"

Jesus tells them of the destruction that would come upon that generation to fulfill prophecy He just spoke of in Matthew 23:33-36.

The majority Matthew twenty-four deals with the "Abomination of Desolation" which is the destruction of Jerusalem if you will note

Matthew 24:34-38 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take

place, Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But of that day and hour no

one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the Son of Man, but the Father alone. For the coming of

the Son of Man will be like the days of Noah. For as in those days were before the flood they were

eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the

ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the

Son of Man shall be. Then there shall be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.

Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. Therefore be on the

alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.

But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

Ask yourself this: Would the thief give the head of the household a call and say, "Oh, by the way, I'll be breaking into your house at about two-thirty in the morning, so you may want to lock all your windows and doors." The key is to be ready. For even though the Lord has not returned for about two-thousand years, for most of mankind He does come for them because of death that awaits us all save the ones that remain on the earth when the Son of Man is sent by the Father. We do not know when we take our last breath, but the warning is for us all, and that is to be on the alert!

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,

not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

The coming of the Lord will be a glorious time for the believers (Colossians 3:1-4) where death will be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:25-26) and those that are dead will be raised up (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) and gathered together with those who still are alive on this earth will be then raised up and gathered together and always remain with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

Let us all look for the coming of our Lord and live in the light of Him, diligent to the very end
(Titus 2:13)!

1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.