Matthew chapter 24, and Mark ch 13, both give an account of Jesus describing the last days before His return. All verses (unless otherwise noted), will be in one of those two chapters. Starting in Mt. verse 5-8 Jesus says, "For many shall come in my name, saying I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet, For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places, All these are the beginning of sorrows," I don't know about you, but this sounds a lot like the world we live in today. Mk. v10 "And the gospel must first be published among all nations." Mt v14 puts it this way, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and THEN shall the end come." Do you understand why missions is so important? Any church that does not support missions in some way, needs to start.
In Mk. v11-13 Jesus goes on to describe all the ways Christians will be persecuted, and how even family members will turn against each other. Then in v14 He speaks of the visions described in Daniel ch. 7. Telling us that those things pertain to the end of the world, and not another time in history. Verses 15-21 describe how we are to flee to the mountains, and not turn back for any reason, because of the afflictions that will be suffered by the Christians. Now in v22, it actually continues this theme, however there is one phrase I want to point out, "to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect." Now, the word elect actually refers to those that are saved, however for some reason I want to think of it this way, "even those that were elected" (considering the state of politics these days, and not just this country).
Now I want to look at a Mt. v27 "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be,". What I want to look at is the phrase "as the lightning", at first glance it seems that He is describing how the light without warning appears, and spreads across the sky, until all is lite up, then it is gone just as quick as it appeared, and only takes a split-second. Which I am sure is correct, however as Paul Harvey would say, "now for the rest of the story". Look in Luke 10:18 "And He said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." I believe that He is giving us a glimpse of what happened way back before the earth existed, when Lucifer was thrown out of Heaven, with one big difference. In v31 He says "And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." I can just imagine, the blackness of nothing, when the quiet of broken by the booming voice of God forcefully saying, "Lucifer get out and stay out". Then the blackness is temporarily broken by a flash of lightning, then thousands more flashes, as Lucifer and his followers are physically thrown through the pearly gates. I believe that God is saying that we shall see a similar site, when He returns to take us home.
Mt 35,36 says "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words SHALL NOT pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." Isn't it great knowing that all the people that have tried, and all those that will try will never be able to completely do away with the Bible. It has always, and will always exist in one form or another, either in print or in memory. Without faith v36 could be confusing, even though the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are all the same being, the Father knows things that the other two don't know. Jesus is waiting on the Father to tell Him when it is time to get us, and I think He has as much anticipation for that day as we do.
I like the picture painted in Mt 40-42, "Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your LORD doth come." Even though it is sad that not everyone will accept Christ, we know that it happens every day, someone goes to the grave after a lifetime of denying Christ, and even refusing to believe. But we should be doing everything we can to lead them to Christ. We need to be setting an example for them to believe in.
I can see it now, a man is sitting at his job at the Weather Channel, and is watching a large bank of monitors showing radar and satellite images. When all of a sudden, a flash of lightning starts over Jerusalem, and spreads over the rest of the earth. He stands up and shouts, "did you see that", as he turns around to look at the other employees. Half of them are looking at him with a puzzled look on their face, the rest are missing. Two construction workers are outside on a job site, when they see a flash of lightning streak across the sky, fingering out as it goes, one looks at the other just in time to see his hard hat fall to the ground. Immediately he wishes he had not told the other man that he was not interested in being a "Jesus Freak".
I hope you will take the time to read the two chapters entirely, and just think about how wonderful that day will be. I have one more verse, Rev. 22:20 Jesus said, "'Surely I come quickly', Amen. Even so come LORD Jesus." I also say come quickly LORD Jesus.
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