For you are our glory and our joy.
How could Christ’s return at the Rapture be imminent in view of the Lord’s statement that Peter would grow old (John 21:18) and His promise to Paul that he would visit Rome (Acts 23:11)? Concerning God’s promise to Peter, "when you grow old" (John 21:18) is a very general description of what lay ahead for Peter. Peter could have undergone confinement and died at any time after Christ’s ascension and one could say he had grown old. About the promise Paul received, the assumed condition of its fulfillment was probably if the Lord did not return before then. This would have been true for what Jesus prophesied concerning Peter’s death as well. We often speak this way today. We say something will happen, but we mean and do not say unless the Lord comes first.