Revelation 1:1-3 This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, who testifies to everything he saw. This is the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and obey what is written in it, because the time is near.
No arguments here that "soon" in this passage can me "in quickness or speed". However, this does not address that the time was "near", which is defined as close or nearby in place or time.
Yet you argue.
I pointed out
the fact that your theory falls flat where Paul says the man of sin is he "whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming", where Paul teaches the church that Christ's return
will not come before this, and this
will not come before the apostasy, the falling way from the faith on the part of many Christians,
yet what we see following your "return of Christ" is a Christianity
continuing to grow and be accepted in the Gentile world, to the point where it became the official religion of the Byzantine Empire, and of the Western Roman Empire, and of many nations, and was spread by missionaries into the Americas and Africa, and as far East as South Korea.
You have NO falling away, no man of sin seated in the temple of God (unless you're talking about the Pope, which is a debatable claim), but you still have no falling away or man of sin seated in the Temple declaring himself to be God and being destroyed by Christ at His return.
Yet you argue:
Classic "whataboutism". Don't actually address that Paul stated they were living in the fulfillment of the ages (1 corinthians 10:11) or that the author of hebrews mentions Jesus' 1st advent was at the fulfillment of the ages (hebrews 9:26-27), but instead switch to "what about this: apostasy and man of sin".
1.) The apostasy influenced by the spirit of the antichrist was already underway in the 1st century as evidenced by John, and that's how they knew it was the last hour.
1 John 2:18-19 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
2.) "is restraining" is a present tense verb. Along with the adverb "now", we can see that the man of sin was then being restrained in the 1st century. So regardless of who or what the man of sin was, he or what was being restrained in the 1st century.
2 thessalonians 2:6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.
You argument is classic "whataboutism". It's nothing more or less than
pure deflection from the facts in attempt to escape the reality that Paul told us that Christ would only return
after the apostasy, yet after this statement, Christianity continued to spread in the nations.
Heb 9:24-27 which you quote as though it supports your theory says,
"For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world (Greek: kosmos): but now once
in the consummation of the Ages hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many;
and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
So at the time Paul wrote,
* Christ had died and risen again; and
* had ascended into heaven where He now appeared in the presence of God
even for the people of Paul's day.
Yet Paul states that Christ died at the consummation of the Ages, which the YLT translates as "at the full end of the Ages".
So if the full end of the Ages had already come,
then why is Paul still writing decades later that Christ who died and rose again and ascended into heaven now appears in the presence of God for us?
Why did Peter tell the Jews in the Acts,
"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out,
when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the Age began." (Acts 3:19-21).
Which Age began in the time of the prophets?
"He shall send Jesus Christ" = He (Jesus) shall return at the appointed time.
Why, when the apostles asked the Lord on the Mount of Olives if He would
at that time "restore the Kingdom to Israel" (which Hebrews says occurred at the full end of the Ages), did Jesus reply,
"It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power."
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1:
Is it not because
just over 40 days earlier Jesus had told them the same thing yet they had already forgotten what He said?
"and this good news of the reign shall be proclaimed in all the world, for a testimony to all the nations; and then shall the end arrive." (Mat 24:14)
The good news of the reign of Christ, fellow,
had not gone into the world for a testimony to all nations by the time YOU say Christ came.
You are showing, in your arguments, very clearly the difference between exegesis and eisegesis.
Exegesis results when all scripture is compared with all scripture, and the meaning of the verses you quote is interpreted in the light of all statements regarding the matter.
Eisegesis, which is what you are practicing in this regard,
always results in false doctrine, because it isolates certain verses from the rest of scripture, and attempts to force a pre-decided meaning into those verses which is not there (which is EXACTLY what you are doing and have done).
There is an abundance of New Testament scripture which tells us that the Lord has not returned yet - Paul's statement regarding the fact that His return will not come until the apostasy comes first and the man of sin is revelaed, is only one of them.
However, you practice "what-if-ism" and deflect from the plain and obvious meanings of Paul's statements by assuming you know all that is contained in the meaning of phrases like "the cosummation of the Ages" and "in the fullness of time" (Galatians 4:4).
You may continue to deny the facts all you like, but you're only showing that you have no understanding of the fact that Christ came at the appointed time (the fullness of time) and at the consummation
of the Ages died, rose again and ascended into heaven, and that He shall return, just as scripture states, at the appointed time -
which is not before
* The gospel of the Kingdom of Christ has been preached in all the world for a testimony to all nations, and not before
* The is an apostasy, a falling away from the faith, and the man of sin is revealed, who will seat himself in the temple of God claiming to be God, whom Christ shall destroy with the Spirit of His mouth and the brightness of His coming.
That man you won't even recognize, because you believe he already came.