Mark 13:7,8 “But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows.”
Stand Firm in the Faith ~ Be Alert
There have always been those who have tried to set the date of the Lord’s return. Even recently someone had amassed a great many followers to proclaim his message of Judgment and of the end of the world that it would be on May 21st, and then when that didn’t happened -- the date was changed to a later date for later on this year to Oct. 21. Many people invested their life-savings into spreading the message of that modern-day prophet and were sadly mistaken. But had they only read in the Bible for themselves they would of read these words:
Matthew 24:3-6 “As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age? And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.”
Matthew 24:7-8 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
Luke 21:25-28 “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Luke 21:34-36 “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
** (Dissipation meaning: 1. excessive indulgence in sensual or foolish pleasures; Thorndike ) 2. A scattered attention or that which diverts and calls off the mind from any subject. 3. A wandering from object to object in pursuit of pleasure; a course of life usually attended with a careless and exorbitant expenditures of money, and indulgence in vices, which impair or ruin both health and fortune. “ Noah Webster Dictionary 1828 )
Mark 13:7,8 “But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows.”
The Lord Jesus was clear from the Bible . Christ told us to be ready for His coming; “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. (Matthew 24:42) “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Matthew 24:36)
** We agree with the Author below who said it so biblically accurate how we should be found living, alert and ready for the Lord’s return:
“I do not know when Christ will come again, I should think it most presumptuous if I said that I did. I am no prophet, though I love the subject of prophecy. I dislike all fixing of dates, and naming of years, and I believe it has done great harm, I only assert positively that Christ will come again one day to set up His kingdom on earth, and that whether the day be near or whether it be far off, it will take the Church and the world exceedingly by surprise.
It will come on men suddenly. It will break on the world all at once. It will not have been talked over, prepared for and looked forward to by everybody. It will awaken men’s minds like the cry of fire at midnight. It will startle men’s hearts like a trumpet blown at their bedside in their first sleep. Like Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, they will know nothing till the very waters are upon them. Like Dathan, and Abiram, and their company, when the earth opened under them, the moment of their hearing the report of the visitation will be the same moment when they will see it with their eyes. Before they can recover their breath and know where they are, they shall find that the Lord is come.
I suspect there is a vague notion floating in men’s minds that the present order of things will not end quite so suddenly. I suspect men cling to the idea that there will be a kind of Saturday night in the world, a time when all will know the day of the Lord is near; a time when all will be able to cleanse their consciences, look at their wedding garments, shake off their earthly business and prepare to meet their God. If any reader of this address has got such a notion into his head, I charge him to give it up for ever.
If anything is clear in unfulfilled prophecy, this one fact seems clear, that the Lord’s coming will be sudden, and take men by surprise. And any view of prophecy which destroys the possibility of its being sudden -- whether by interposing a vast number of events as yet to happen, or by placing the millenium between ourselves and the advent - any such view appears to my mind to carry with it a fatal defect. Everything which is written in Scripture on this point confirms the truth, that Christ’s second coming will be sudden. ‘As a snare shall it come’, says one place, ‘As a thief in the night,’ says another. ‘As the lightning’, says a third, ‘In such an hour as ye think not,’ says a fourth. ‘When they shall say, Peace and safety’, says a fifth (Luke 21:35; 1 Thess 5:2; Luke 17:24; Matt. 24:44; 1 Thess 5:3).
Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself uses two most striking comparisons, when dwelling on this subject. Both are most teaching, and both ought to raise in us solemn thoughts. In one He compares His coming to the days of Lot. In the days when Lot fled from Sodom, the men of Sodom were buying and selling, eating and drinking, planting and building. They thought of nothing but earthly things: they were entirely absorbed in them. They despised Lot’s warning. They mocked at his counsel. The sun rose on the earth as usual. All things were going on as they had done for hundreds of years. They saw no sign of danger. But now mark what our Lord says: ‘The same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed’ (Luke 17:28-30). “
From the Book: Are you Ready For The End Of Time? - Understanding Future Events From Prophetic Passages of the Bible - by J.C. Ryle