Matthew 24

    It struck me as I read this chapter that if we believe these are the last days, we need to read this chapter and commit it to memory and remind ourselves of it every day. Not only for encouragement, but being able to discern what is going on in the world and how to tell when Christ is returning.
    I can see clearly that people who say Christ is here and just hasn been revealed are false. People who say He is a member of a certain denomination are false. Jesus was a Jew and the Jewish are GOD's chosen people. Not because they were so outstanding, He chose them. If someone says, "I am Christ" or says they speak for Christ or they are the Christ because they can do miracles, they are not the Christ. Even satan can perform miracles. We are so easily impressed.
    The weather will get worse, earthquakes will get worse, volcanoes will get worse. It doesn't have anything to do with global warming or our carbon footprint or pollution.  Scientists have already proven that. But they are being censored and their research hidden so the world governments can continue with their agendas. satan just wants to deceive as many as he can. These are the 'birth pains' Jesus talked about.
    The conditions of the world will continue to deteriorate to a condition that is worse than the Holocaust. Worse than Sodom and Gomorrah. Worse than any war we humans have ever experienced. Worse than the days of Noah. Human rights will be a thing of the past.
     The Jews and Christians alike will suffer persecution like you have never seen before. The nations of the world will hate us. We will have no rights at all. We will be tortured and murdered. Many will leave the faith because of it and say, "Why bother? There is no god because where is he? Why would he let us suffer so? He never came back like he promised." These are all thoughts from the depths of hell. Don't fall for it!
    Yet those of us who die will be martyrs and surround the Throne of GOD. Those of us who survive and persevere will do so IN SPITE of the persecution and be a miraculous testimony of the One True Living GOD and His Only Begotten Son, Jesus the True Christ.
    When Christ returns, the whole world will see the event at the same time and there will be no doubt what just happened. The whole earth will mourn because all their false delusions and false beliefs will be exposed.
    This scripture may lay the argument for pre-tribulation rapture to rest. Scripture says that Christ will return after the tribulation, He will call for the trumpet, and then the angels will gather the elect from all over the world.
    You can't make it any more clear than this. I am going to continue to study the other scriptures where Jesus talks about the end times.

Matthew 24  (ESV)

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

1.  Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.
2.  But he answered them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."

Signs of the End of the Age

3.  As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
4.  And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray.
5.  For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray.
6.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.
7.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8.  All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
9.  "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
10.  And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
11.  And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
12.  And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
13.  But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
14.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

The Abomination of Desolation

15.  "So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
16.  then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
17.  Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house,
18.  and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.
19.  And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!
20.  Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.
21.  For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
22.  And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
23.  Then 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 arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
25.  See, I have told you beforehand.
26.  So, if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.
27.  For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
28.  Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man

29.  "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30.  Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31.  And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

32.  "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.
33.  So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
34.  Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
35.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

No One Knows That Day and Hour

36.  "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
37.  For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
38.  For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,
39.  and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
40.  Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.
41.  Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.
42.  Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
43.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.
44.  Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Therefore Be Vigilent

45.  "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?
46.  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
47.  Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.
48.  But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,'
49.  and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards,
50.  the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know
51.  and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Rest In Faith

This is a perfect example of finding myself in a major problem, humbling myself before GOD, and seeking His deliverance.  GOD will deliver me! It doesn't matter what the problem is, I may have even caused it myself. The turning point is realizing I was wrong and accepting that and seeking GOD's intervention. When I ask for GOD to forgive me, He does so immediately. And then He throws my sin away and remembers it no more. I cannot underscore this enough: I NEED TO FORGIVE MYSELF! Until Christ returns I am living in the Days of Grace. I am commanded to have faith. To live in faith, to believe in faith, to walk in faith. My self-determination will ALWAYS try to get me to move out of my faith and begin to doubt things and that is a covert attempt to get me to doubt GOD. The war inside is not always a war with satan but a war with myself. When the LORD doesn't move on my time schedule (which is always impatient like a child), my mind comes in to try to figure out a way to do it myself. Or repent again. Or to do something, do anything. That is not faith. That is why Paul the Apostle exhorted us (me) to discipline myself.

Everytime I have received a miracle from GOD, I have had a dogged determination to receive it with blinders on my eyes so I could not see anywhere but straight ahead to the throne of grace. Could GOD be waiting for me to get aligned with His Word and His will to act? To rest in faith.

Isaiah 36  (ESV)
Sennacherib Invades Judah
1.  In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 
2.  And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. 
3.  And there came out to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.
4. And the Rabshakeh said to them, "Say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours?
5. Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me?
6. Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
7. But if you say to me, "We trust in the Lord our God," is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, "You shall worship before this altar"?
8. Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.
9. How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
10.  Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it.'"
11.  Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall."
12.  But the Rabshakeh said, "Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?"
13.  Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: "Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!
14.  Thus says the king: 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you.
15.  Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, "The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."
16.  Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern,
17.  until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18.  Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, "The Lord will deliver us." Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
19.  Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
20.  Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'"
21.  But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, "Do not answer him."
22.  Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Isaiah 37  (ESV)
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah's Help
1.  As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord.
2. And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz.
3. They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 
4. It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.'"
5. When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,
6. Isaiah said to them, "Say to your master, 'Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me.
7. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.'"
8. The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.
9.  Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, "He has set out to fight against you." And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 
10.  "Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11.  Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered?
12.  Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?
13.  Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?'"

Hezekiah's Prayer for Deliverance

14.  Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.
15.  And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord:
16.  "O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.
17.  Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.
18.  Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands,
19.  and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed.
20.  So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord."

Sennacherib's Fall
21.  Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,
22.  this is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
     "'She despises you, she scorns you—the virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you—the daughter of Jerusalem.
23.  "'Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights?
    Against the Holy One of Israel!
24.  By your servants you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon, to cut down its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses, to come to its remotest height, its most fruitful forest.
25.  I dug wells and drank waters,
to dry up with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt.
26.  "'Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should make fortified cities crash into heaps of ruins,
27.  while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded, and have become like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grass on the housetops, blighted before it is grown.
28.  "'I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me.
29.  Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth,
and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.'
30.  "And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
31.  And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
32.  For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
33.  "Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it.
34.  By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord.
35.  For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David."
36.  And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
37.  Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh.
38.  And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of Ararat, Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.


English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.