But I will outline where you may read about His coming in the Word, for it is always a good thing to be in the Word of God and there He speaks to us. You will find that there are many who have counted and counted trying to find the date of His coming. There is an abundance of sites on the world wide web that deal with this subject and many deal with this only. Not how to live as a Christian, not how to learn about Jesus, not about what the Lord wants from you, just "The End Times". They strive to crack the code but they miss the message. It is my hope that you will not. They work to show how what is going on in the world now shows that we are in the end times basically they are saying, "Look! He is there!" Or, "Over there, see He is there!" Why do they do this? It's simple. It's what many want to know about and they usually are selling something. While searching for graphics for this page I found so many book covers. It's what our itching ears want to hear and they know it.

I'm not selling anything here. If anything, I want you to read the Word and let God speak to you. But because it is myself who is writing this page, placing the verses, and writing the comments, you must know that my own beliefs are going to come through on this and all of the pages of my websites. I challenge you to search the bible for yourself, listen to how the Word speaks to you, and meditate for direction from the Lord. We are all led if we will have it, the Lord will lead you through His Spirit and this makes us closer to God.

I will start off with Matthew 24. Here Jesus Himself tells about His return and the end of the age.

• MATTHEW 24:1-8 "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.' 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 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.'"

Here we are at the beginning of the birthing pains. The first of these things that our Lord says has now taken place: the destruction of the temple. It was destroyed about 40 years after Jesus said it would by the Romans. We are then warned about false christs that will fool many people. Some would say that this is happening now. One part of religion calling another by these names just does not click to me as what Jesus was talking about. Now wars and rumors of wars, this has been going since the beginning of time. So I am not sure what the Lord is talking about. But we are told not to be alarmed about these and I think that is the most important thing here. We are told that these things must happen and that it is only the beginning.

• MATTHEW 24:9-14 "'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.'"

We are told here that we will suffer because of our faith, even unto death. Surely, the men who preached the gospel in the early times were often beaten, inprisoned, and put to death. We are warned about the coming of false prophets and how they will fool many and this will increase sin in the world. We lose our love for God and each other and turn to ourselves. But those that stand firm in the faith-the love of God will be saved. It is they that will continue to preach the Word to the entire world. Then we are told that the end will come.

• MATHEW 24:15 "'So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel-let the reader understand-'"

• DANIEL 9:27 "He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven'. In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."

• DANIEL 11:31-32 "His armed forces will rise up to desolate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him."

• DANIEL 12:11 "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days."

This "abomination that causes desolation", what could this be? My bible speaks of an altar erected in the holy temple for Zeus and Antiochus IV in 168-167BC sacrificed a pig there. Pigs being unclean, this act was a desecration and an insult to the Jews and their God. But Jesus would not be talking about something that had already happened, though in Daniel's time it had not happened. Jesus is talking about something else. I have heard that this implies that the temple must be rebuilt so it can happen. The site where the temple stood in not held by Israel at this time. The Dome of the Rock stands there now. Now as far as the counting of the "sevens", I don't know anything about that and as I have said don't have any interest in this. There are no end of books and web sites that claim to have it all figured out, if you are so inclined you may visit one of those-but remember who these people are and what their interests are.

• MATTHEW 24:16-20 "'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.'"

As we return to Matthew 24, we see that we are now right at the brink of disaster. Those in Judea are warned that when this abomination of desolation happens that there is no time, they must flee the cities to hide in the mountains. Jesus speaks of the extra hardships that could also be happening, mothers of young children or pregnant, or having to break the rules of the Sabbath to escape. But is this warning just for those in Judea? Might those in the United States be still safe at this point? Could this be a war involving Israel, thus leaving the USA safe for a time?

• MATTHEW 24:21-25 "'For then there will be a 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 posible. See, I have told you ahead of time.'"

• MATTHEW 24:26-28 "'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 lightning that comes from the east is visable even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there vultures will gather.'"

Here our Lord is telling us that when he comes we will know for sure, no one will have to tell us. It will be very plain that the time has come and that Jesus has returned. These next verses tell us even more:

• MATTHEW 24:29-35 "'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 (or He) 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.'"

As we see again, there will be no doubt when the Lord comes. The angels sent to collect His elect is simply the rapture. Once these things have happened, the generation that has seen them will also see the coming of the Christ is one way to read the last verse but it may not be the only way to read this verse. I am told that there are other interpretations, you will have to find your own understanding by study and listening to what the Spirit says to you.

At any given time you could do a search on the for "Our Saviour" and get over a million results. That sounds pretty good, yes? Then do a search for "End Times", you may get over 35 million results. Again, it's what our itching ears what to hear. Me, I enjoy learning from the bible about how I should live, act towards others, and towards my God. I don't spend any time trying to find when the coming of Christ will happen. But that's just me.

• MATTHEW 24:36-41 "'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 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.'"

• MATTHEW 24:42-44 "'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 must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.'"

This is a quote from my Life Application Study Bible's notes:
"Knowing that Christ's return will be sudden and unexpected should motivate us always to be prepared. We are not to live irresponsibly-sitting and waiting, doing nothing, seeking self-serving pleasure; using His tarrying as an excuse not to do God's work of building His kingdom; developing a false security based on precise calculations of events; or letting our curiosity about the end times divert us from doing God's work."

As a Christian-a follower of Christ, we must live our lives on this earth as if it is our last day. There is really no need to sift through the events of these times to see if He is coming soon, for He will come as a thief in the night. If we are working to be close to God and living as He would have us, what would we have to fear? His coming could be in the next minute, or it could be in a thousand years. We are with Him either way.

I hope that I did a fair study of this subject, and that there was information that will help you in your walk with Jesus. You may wish to search for more information on this subject and you will find pleny written on it. There is also more in the bible that can help you, I hope that you will pray for the Holy Spirit to help you know the truth when you are seeking in places where there may always be falsehood.

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