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.

2 '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.]

3 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.'

4 Jesus answered:

'WATCH OUT THAT NO ONE DECEIVES YOU.

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

And will Deceive many.

6 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.

7 NATION WILL RISE AGAINST NATION,

And kingdom against kingdom.

There will be Famines and Earthquakes in various places.

8 AND THESE ARE THE BEGINNING OF BIRTH PAINS.

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

AND YOU WILL BE HATED BY ALL NATIONS BECAUSE OF ME.

10 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 may people.

11 Because of the increase of wickedness,

THE LOVE OF MOST WILL GROW COLD,

13 BUT HE WHO STANDS FIRM TO THE END WILL BE SAVED.

14 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.

15 So when you see standing in the Holy Place

THE ABOMINATION THAT CAUSES DESOLATION,

Spoken through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—

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

17 Let no one on the roof of his house

Go down to take anything out of the house.

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

19 How dreadful it will be in those days

For pregnant women and nursing mothers!

20 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.]

21 For then there will be great distress,

UNEQUALED FROM THE BEGINNIG OF THE WORLD

Until now--And never to be equaled again.

22 AND IF THOSE DAYS HAD NOT BEEN CUT SHORT

No one would survive,

BUT FOR THE SAKE OF THE ELECT

Those days will be shortened.

23 At that time if anyone says to you,

'Look, here is the Christ!' or

'There He is!' do not believe it.

24 FOR FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE PROPHETS WILL APPEAR

And perform great signs and miracles

TO DECEIVE EVEN THE ELECT--

If that were possible.

25 SEE, I HAVE TOLD YOU AHEAD OF TIME.

26 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.

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

SO WILL BE THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN.

28 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.

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

AND ALL THE NATIONS OFTHE EARTH WILL MOURN.

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

With power and Great Glory.

31 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.

32 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.

33 Even so, when you see all these things,

You know that it is near

Right at the door.

34 I tell you the truth,

THIS GENERATION WILL CERTAINLY NOT PASS AWAY

Until all these things have happened.

35 HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS AWAY,

BUT MY WORDS WILL NEVER PASS AWAY.

36 NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT THAT DAY OR HOUR,

Not even the angels in heaven,

Nor the Son, but only the Father.

37 AS IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH,

So it will be at the Coming of the Son of Man.

38 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;

38 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.

40 Two men will be in the field;

One will be taken and the other left.

41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill;

One will be taken and the other left.

42 THEREFORE KEEP WATCH,

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

43 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.

44 SO YOU MUST BE READY,

Because the Son of man will come

AT AN HOUR YOU DO NOT EXPECT HIM.

45 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?

46 It will be good for that Servant

Whose Master finds him doing so when He Returns.

47 I tell you the Truth,

He will put him in charge of all His Possessions.

48 But suppose that servant is wicked

And says to himself,

'My Master is staying away a long time,'

49 And he then begins to beat his fellow servants

And to eat and drink with drunkards.

50 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.

51 HE WILL CUT HIM TO PIECES

And Assign him a Place with the Hypocrites,

WHERE THERE WILL BE WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH.

(Matthew 24)