They believed in their day the [End was near]. My Grandfather felt it would be somewhere in his grandchildren/great grandchildren lives. But his Teaching and Preaching was to usher it in and pass the torch.
Your grandad believed the Bible
“And,
behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me,
to give every man according as his work shall be.
He which testifieth these things saith,
Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
Revelation 22:12, 20 KJV
it’s meant for us to believe the end could be tomorrow or ten thousand years but it is imminent because we have only a short lifetime to accept the gospel our end is always just ahead our last day is always a few years out can always come at any moment in this world
the gospel is in the world only because we are in the world and need to hear and believe in order to go home to the lord when we leave this world where his kingdom is in full swing and is coming one day soon to us all who believe the writers of the nt believes the end was near also
“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the world are come.”
1 Corinthians 10:11 KJV
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that
we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”
1 Thessalonians 4:15-16
“For yourselves know perfectly that
the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then
sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 KJV
there’s a principle about urgency that’s hard for us to accept even though it’s throughout that teaches us to love each day as if he’s coming tomorrow , this allows us to do away with complacency in Christ and gives us the motivation to repent quickly when we find ourselves off course , rather than feeling “it’s going to be a thousand Years , so we can linger in sin a bit longer we have time to get right later .”
As Paul says it’s always “ today that is the day of salvation , “until suddenly time runs out. Yesterday can’t save us but it can condemn us if we continually repeat it and fail to repent and believe the gospel
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”
Hebrews 1:1-2
there is this element of the gospel understanding Jesus gives us
“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.( parable of the ten virgins )
the conclusion and lesson from this parable
....
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”
Matthew 25:1-2,
we’re meant to know it’s any day so we’re supposed to live like that it’s an understanding that is meant to create change in how we live
“But
the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless
we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”
2 Peter 3:10-14 KJV
It’s about an understanding a new spirit that creates change because we believe it could be tonight or not in my lifetime , but my lifetime is the time to believe and be saved so it’s always imminent as death hangs above us