The Last Days according to Jesus: When Did Jesus Say He Would Return?

by R. C. Sproul

Publisher:

Baker

, 2015

Overview

Speculation and theories abound concerning what the last days have in store for us. In the hype of sensational books and movies, one important question is often obscured: What did Jesus believe and teach about the end times and the timing of his return? In his characteristically precise and compelling style, renowned theologian R. C. Sproul points us to the words of Christ as providing solid, biblical footing amid ever-shifting opinions about the age to come. He covers key questions regarding what Jesus, Paul, and John taught, when the resurrection and millennium take place, and more. In addition to answering these important questions about the last days, Sproul presents an authoritative explanation of biblical teaching about the end times and the timing of Christ’s return.

Contents

Top Highlights

“The most critical portion of this text is Jesus’s declaration that ‘this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place’ (13:30). When Russell pointed to this pronouncement, he made two important assumptions. The first is that ‘this generation’ refers to a specific time-frame that would be roughly forty years. That is, the terminus for the fulfillment of this prophecy is forty years. If Jesus made this announcement sometime between AD 30 and 33, then the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 would fit perfectly within the time-frame. The second assumption made by Russell (and others) is that the phrase ‘all these things’ includes all of the subject matter of his future prediction, including his coming in clouds of power and glory.” (Page 18)

“While partial preterists acknowledge that in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 there was a parousia or coming of Christ, they maintain that it was not the parousia. That is, the coming of Christ in AD 70 was a coming in judgment on the Jewish nation, indicating the end of the Jewish age and the fulfillment of a day of the Lord. Jesus really did come in judgment at this time, fulfilling his prophecy in the Olivet Discourse. But this was not the final or ultimate coming of Christ. The parousia, in its fullness, will extend far beyond the Jewish nation and will be universal in its scope and significance. It will come, not at the end of the Jewish age, but at the end of human history as we know it. It will be, not merely a day of the Lord, but the final and ultimate day of the Lord.” (Pages 169–170)

Product Details

• Title: The Last Days according to Jesus: When Did Jesus Say He Would Return?
• Author: R. C. Sproul
• Edition: New Edition
• Publisher: Baker
• Print Publication Date: 2015
• Logos Release Date: 2016
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Jesus Christ › Prophecies; Second Advent › Biblical teaching; Bible. N.T. Gospels › Prophecies--Second Advent
• ISBNs: 9781493402205, 9780801018589, 149340220X, 0801018587
• Resource ID: LLS:LSTDYSCCRDNGJSS
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T01:21:55Z

About R. C. Sproul

R. C. Sproul (1939– 2017) was a respected teacher, theologian, pastor. He was the founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries where he served as executive editor of Tabletalk magazine.

Sproul held degrees from Westminster College, Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary, Free University of Amsterdam, and Whitefield Theological Seminary. He taught at several colleges and seminaries including Reformed Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary. He served as senior minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, in Sanford, Florida. Sproul’s teaching can be heard daily on the ‘Renewing Your Mind’ radio broadcast which plays in over 40 countries.

Sproul wrote over 70 books and articles including the classic The Holiness of God and several theological articles in Tabletalk magazine.