The Signs Of The END Of The Age

Christ Jesus gives the Signs of the End of the Age

In three of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke.

These signs include two types of events, The Beginning of Birth Pains

And The Lesson From The Fig Tree (the Season of the Last Generation).

So although He does not give the day or the hour

That The Great Tribulation will begin,

Or the “Abomination that Causes Desolation” that precedes it,

He does give the signs of the “Season” just before.

We begin looking at these signs from the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 24

Jesus left the temple and was walking away

When his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.

'Do you see all these things?' he asked. 'I tell you the truth,

Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.'

[A similar occurrence happens at the End of “Time”

When Babylon and all the cities of earth are pounded into dust

By one hundred pound hail stones, and no man made thing is left standing.]

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives,

The disciples came to him privately.

'Tell us,' they said, 'when will this happen,

And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age.'

Jesus answered:

'Watch out that no one deceives you.

For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,'

And will deceive many.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars,

But see to it that you are not alarmed.

Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

All these are the beginning of birth pains.

Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death

And you will be hated by all nations because of me.

At that time many will turn away from the faith

And will betray and hate each other,

And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

Because of the increase of wickedness,

The love of most will grow cold,

But he who stands firm to the END will be saved.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world

As a testimony to all nations, and then the END will come.

So when you see standing in the holy place

The Abomination that causes desolation,

Spoken through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Let no one on the roof of his house go down

To take anything out of the house.

Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak.

How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women

And nursing mothers!

Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.

[In these verses, 16-20, Christ speaks of events

That are true of the end of time

As well as when Titus, the Roman general,

Came and destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D.]

For then there will be great distress,

Unequaled from the beginning of the world until now--

And never to be equaled again.

If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive,

But for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.

At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or

'There he is!' do not believe it.

For false Christs and false prophets will appear

And perform great signs and miracles

To deceive even the Elect—if that were possible.

See, I have told you ahead of time.

So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or

'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.

For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west,

So will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

Immediately after the distress of those days

The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;

The stars will fall from the sky,

And the heavenly bodies will be shaken.

At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky,

And all the nations of the earth will mourn.

They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky,

With power and great glory.

And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call,

And they will gather his Elect From the four winds,

From one end of the heavens to the other.

Now learn this lesson from the fig tree:

As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out,

You know that summer is near.

Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near

Right at the door.

I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away

Until all these things have happened.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Beginning Of Birth Pains

Jesus gives a list of the things that He calls the beginning of birth pains,

That will lead up to The Great Tribulation:

• Many will come claiming to be the Christ;
• There will be wars and rumors of wars;
• Nation will rise up against nation, kingdom against kingdom;
• There will be famines and earthquakes.

These signs have occurred periodically since the ascension of Christ Jesus.

However, we can anticipate that there will be a uniqueness to them

At the end of the age.

At the end of the birth pains comes the “Season”

That precedes the “Abomination that causes desolation”,

The apostasy and rebellion that occurs within the Church of God,

Which allows the Beast (Antichrist) to set up his “image”

In the holy place (the Church)

And requires that everyone worship him.

Then comes The Great Tribulation.

The Lesson From The Fig Tree, The “Season”

Jesus gives the lesson from the fig tree

In which He describes the “Season” of time that will immediately precede

The “abomination that causes desolation” and The Great Tribulation:

From Matthew:

• Christians will be persecuted and put to death;
• They will be hated by all nations because they belong to Christ;
• Many Christians will turn away from the faith and betray and hate each other (the apostasy and rebellion);
• Many false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and
  miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible
• (Which it is not).
• Because of the increase of wickedness the love of most will grow cold,
• But those who stand firm to the end will be saved.

Additional Lessons From The Gospel Of Mark:

• Christians will be handed over to local councils and flogged in Churches.
• Christians will be brought before governors and kings as a witness to them.
• The gospel will be preached to all nations.
• Whenever Christians are arrested and brought to trial, they are not to worry about what to say because the Holy Spirit will speak through them and for them.
• Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child.
• Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.
• All men will hate those who belong to Christ, but those who stand firm will be saved.

Additional Lessons From The Gospel Of Luke:

• Saints will be sent to prison.
• When brought to trial Christ will give His saints words and wisdom that none of their adversaries will be able to contradict.
• Saints will be betrayed by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, but not a hair of their head will perish.
• The saints must be careful, or their hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and anxieties of life, and the day will close on them unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth.
• We must always be on the watch and pray that we may be able to escape all that is about to happen; to escape The Great Tribulation and stand before the Son of Man.

The lessons from the fig tree describe the “Season”

That will immediately precede the “Apostasy,” the “Rebellion,”

That takes place in the “Church” of God;

That results in the “Abomination that causes desolation;”

Then comes The Great Tribulation.

Every Christian will be able to know and understand this “Season”.

Jesus says that the generation that experiences these “signs”

Will not pass away until The Great Tribulation occurs.

The “fig tree” is also representative of Israel as a nation.

The nation Israel, is at this time, “leafed out,” from its former barrenness.

The Last Generation

We must understand that the generation Christ Jesus speaks about

Is the last generation, at the end of the 6,000 years of Scriptural history,

At a time when Israel has been reconstituted as a nation;

Which are the two prophetic requirements that set up the end times,

That have not been present ever before.

Then, that generation,

Is positioned for the end time events to occur in their life.

After The Battle of Armageddon, will come The Day of Rest,

The thousand year millennium,

Where God will rest from His 6,000 years of dealings with mankind.

Christ Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit

Will tell us what is yet to come. (John 16:13)

The end time events will not take the The Bride of Christ, by surprise.

Many Will Come Claiming To Be The Christ

Christ Jesus says that during the “Season”

That precedes The Great Tribulation

No one should believe anyone who says

That He can be found anywhere on the earth.

The return of Christ Jesus, His second coming, will be no mystery;

The heavens will be ablaze.

At the end of The Great Tribulation and before the Battle of Armageddon

He will come and the whole world will see Him.

At the trumpet call of God,

He will come on the clouds with power and great glory;

Gathering his elect from heaven and earth.

The Gospel Of The Kingdom Preached To The Whole World

Christ Jesus says that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God

Will be preached to the whole world and then the END will come.

This may not entirely be done through the evangelism of the saints,

Because an angel is sent at the beginning of The Great Tribulation

To preach the gospel to every living person.

Every person on earth will have heard the gospel before the end comes.

The Abomination That Causes Desolation

Jesus says that, So when you see standing in the holy place

The Abomination that causes desolation,

Spoken of through the prophet Daniel--Let the reader understand--

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. (Matthew 24:15)

• The Beast, the Antichrist, sets up his “image”, “the abomination that causes desolation” in the holy place, the Church.
• This situation has been brought about by an apostasy and rebellion in the Church against God, brought about by the deception of the devil.
• This is the time when every living person must make a choice for Christ Jesus or for the devil.
• Then, after a brief period of time The Great Tribulation begins.

The Bride of Christ In The Desert

Christ Jesus gives a single brief description of the Bride of Christ in the desert, the “Woman” of Revelation 12:1:

Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. (Matthew 24:28)

In other words wherever the body and blood of Christ

Are lifted up and celebrated,

There the vultures, the eagles, the Bride of Christ will be gathered.

The Great Tribulation

Christ Jesus gives a description of The Great Tribulation:

For then there will be great distress,

Unequaled from the beginning of the world until now--

And never to be equaled again.

If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive,

But for the sake of the Elect those days will be shortened.

(Matthew 24:21-22)

Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles

Until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:24)

[This passage parallels Revelation 11:2]

There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars.

On earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity

At the roaring and tossing of the sea.

Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world,

For the heavenly bodies will be shaken. (Luke 21:25-26)

If Those Days Had Not Been Shortened

Christ Jesus speaks of the unequaled distress of The Great Tribulation;

That if those days had not been shortened,

No one on earth would have remained living.

But for the sake of the elect those days were shortened.

I believe that it was because of the Bride of Christ (the elect) in the desert

That those days were shortened.

I say this because those days were not shortened for the saints who were beheaded; They died for Christ.

The days were shortened for the Elect, the Bride of Christ, living in the desert

As they were the only Elect, still living on earth at that time,

Who would benefit.

False Prophets And False Christs Will Appear

During and just after the time that the Beast, the Antichrist

Sets up the “Abomination that causes desolation”

And before the beginning of The Great Tribulation,

There will be false prophets and false Christs

Who will appear and perform great signs and miracles

To deceive even the elect--If that were possible (which it is not).

The signs and wonders are aimed at getting every living person

To worship the Beast and to receive his “mark.”

Nevertheless, those who believe the Word of God,

Will understand what is happening and determine to die for Christ,

The only option for them at that time.

The Return of Christ Jesus

Just before The Battle of Armageddon

When Satan and the armies of the world are defeated, Christ returns:

Immediately after the distress of those days (The Great Tribulation)

The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;

The stars will fall from the sky,

And the heavenly bodies will be shaken.

At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky,

And all the nations of the earth will mourn.

They will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of the sky,

With power and great glory.

And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call,

And they will gather his Elect From the four winds,

From one end of the heavens to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31)

No One Knows The Day Or The Hour (Matthew 24:36-51)

No one knows about that day or hour,

Not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking,

Marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;

And they knew nothing about what would happen

Until the flood came and took them all away.

That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of man.

Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.

Two women will be grinding with a hand mill;

One will be taken and the other left.

Therefore keep watch,

Because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

But understand this: If the owner of the house had known

At what time of night the thief was coming,

He would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.

So you also must be ready,

Because the Son of man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Who then is the faithful and wise servant,

Whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household

To give them their food at the proper time?

It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so

When he returns.

I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself,

'My master is staying away a long time,'

And he then begins to beat his fellow servants

And to eat and drink with drunkards.

The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him

And at an hour he is not aware of.

He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites,

Where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Christ Jesus says that no one knows the day or the hour,

However, he has already said that we should recognize the “Season”.

The warning of Christ Jesus:

Keep watch and be ready,

Because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

The Word of God is an open book

And makes plain what the Lord requires for each of us to be ready.

Those who are not ready when He comes, will be cut to pieces,

And find themselves with the hypocrites,

Where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

As It Was In The Days Of Noah

Christ Jesus says, that as it was in the days of Noah,

So it will be when He comes again.

In the days of Noah:

The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become,

And that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart

Was only evil all the time.

The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth,

And his heart was filled with pain. (Genesis 6:5-6)

Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence.

God saw how corrupt the earth had become,

For all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.

So God said to Noah,'I am going to put an end to all people,

For the earth is filled with violence because of them.' (Genesis 6:11-13)

For most people The Time of the End will be like the days of Noah.

The worldly, godless people had no idea that the flood was coming.

They watched as Noah built the ark over a long period of time,

Just as people today watch God build His Church.

Noah preached to his generation,

Just as the Church of God preaches to this generation.

Worldly people will have no idea that the END is coming until it is upon them,

And The Great Tribulation begins.

One will be taken and one will be left;

One will be taken into the desert as part of the Bride of Christ,

And one will be left to endure the Tribulation.

Today, the world is raging against God, rushing toward oblivion. (Psalm 2)

America is being ground to powder because of her SIN against God.

Save yourself from this Corrupt Generation! (Acts 2:40)

As God has written, so shall it be! Hallelujah! Maranatha!

Father, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in Heaven!

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