If Jesus said He would return in the sky and gather the saints and Jesus has not returned in the sky to gather the saints, then it has to be in the future.
Were you there in 70 AD when the temple was destroyed? If not, then how do you know these things must be "in the future"?
Were these writers mistaken when they wrote:
{7}The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober
spirit for the purpose of prayer.
1 Peter 4:7 (NASB)
{1} God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
{2}in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
Hebrews 1:1-2 (NASB)
{1} The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the
things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated
it by His angel to His bond-servant John,
Revelation 1:1 (NASB)
{3} Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it;
for the time is near.
Revelation 1:3 (NASB)
{6} And he said to me, "These words are faithful and true"; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the
things which must soon take place.
Revelation 22:6 (NASB)
{10} And he *said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book,
for the time is near.
Revelation 22:10 (NASB)
{7} "And behold,
I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book."
Revelation 22:7 (NASB)
{12} "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward
is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.
Revelation 22:12 (NASB)
{20} He who testifies to these things says,
"Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Revelation 22:20 (NASB)
{18} Children,
it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared;
from this we know that it is the last hour.
1 John 2:18 (NASB)
{39} and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and
the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.
{40} "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire,
so shall it be at the end of the age.
Matthew 13:39-40 (NASB)
The end of what age??? Paul explains!
{26} Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world;
but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
Hebrews 9:26 (NASB)
{8} You too be patient; strengthen your hearts,
for the coming of the Lord is near.
James 5:8 (NASB)
Obviously, all the apostles were wrong for believing what Christ told them here:
{28} "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."
Matthew 16:28 (NASB)
Now follow the logic here: either Christ and His apostles were correct about the coming "end of the age" in 70 AD, or you are.
If they are correct (and I'm putting money on it), then what people need to do is rethink what this means. In other words, you're going to have to change your understanding of what Christ meant. You're going to have to throw out a whole bunch of junk theology that's been built up over the years.
Start with the assumption that Paul, Peter, James and John were all correct in their understanding of the imminence of Christ's return, then you'll be able to grasp the rest.
Oh, and I'm well aware that there are lessons to be taken from Christ's words to those living at the time He was among them. That's not what this is about. I'm not the one taking salvation out of context. You, on the other hand, are taking Christ's and the apostle's end time statements out of context.