Watch: Are We In The End Times and How Can We Tell?

Religion
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Luke 21:5-36 American Standard Version (ASV)

5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings, he said, 6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in which there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 7 And they asked him, saying, Teacher, when therefore shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are about to come to pass? 8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not led astray: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am he ; and, The time is at hand: go ye not after them. 9 And when ye shall hear of wars and tumults, be not terrified: for these things must needs come to pass first; but the end is not immediately.

10 Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11 and there shall be great earthquakes, and in divers places famines and pestilences; and there shall be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all these things, they shall lay their hands on you, and shall persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, [a]bringing you before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13 It shall turn out unto you for a testimony. 14 Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate beforehand how to answer: 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand or to gainsay. 16 But ye shall be [b]delivered up even by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; and some of you [c]shall they cause to be put to death. 17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. 18 And not a hair of your head shall perish. 19 In your [d]patience ye shall win your [e]souls.

20 But when ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand. 21 Then let them that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains; and let them that are in the midst of her depart out; and let not them that are in the country enter therein. 22 For these are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 Woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! for there shall be great distress upon the [f]land, and wrath unto this people. 24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

25 And there shall be signs in sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the billows; 26 men [g]fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on [h]the world: for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh.

29 And he spake to them a parable: Behold the fig tree, and all the trees: 30 when they now shoot forth, ye see it and know of your own selves that the summer is now nigh. 31 Even so ye also, when ye see these things coming to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh. 32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all things be accomplished. 33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

34 But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare: 35 for so shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth. 36 But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

The Lord said there’d be signs? Are we seeing today, these signs Jesus spoke of over 2000 years ago? Have there not been massive earthquakes, famines, tidal waves that have wiped out thousands, hurricanes that have devastated entire countries that still haven’t fully recovered, comets from other solar systems and now, most recently, this Chinese virus that’s infected the world? Are we not seeing for the first time ever, Christians being locked up for going to church?

There are many things that must first happen? Who is the son of perdition? Could it be stated that there are armies in Jerusalem? A lot is currently happening and much of it was stated quite clearly in these verses but still, I think there’s a lot of time left before Jesus returns? What say you?

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We have been in the end times for the last 2000 years or so.

The prophesy in verses 20-24 was fulfilled with the destruction of the Jewish temple by the Roman army in 70 AD. Here an image from the Roman arch showing soldiers carrying away the booty from the temple:

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image1024Ă—773 220 KB

Source (Wikimedia Commons), license (CC-BY-SA 3.0)

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Thank you Bill. That marks the beginning of the “end times” and as Jesus said, “but the end is not immediately”. Here we are 2000 years later and I’m attempting to pinpoint the signs of our Lord’s second coming? As you “watch”, do you see signs IYO that this may happen soon? If so, what are the signs indicating it as such that’s new and different from when Jesus first spoke about this? When our government began outlawing going to church and potentially jailing you for doing so, this in my opinion is new and what Jesus spoke of? What are your thoughts? Do you see anything new that makes you believe The Lord will come soon?

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Doesn’t the bible state that the only one who will actually know is god?

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My personal end time is surely going to come within a few decades or sooner.

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Yes…The Lord says only His Father knows but he also tells us to watch. He used the fig tree as an example and of the signs you’d see, knowing when it would bloom. He’s telling us to watch in the same manner, looking for these signs and being prepared through supplication and prayer. My question to all those of The Spirit is, do you see any new signs indicating His return?

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I’m on board with that but what I’m speaking of pertains to all Christians and the second coming is a moment in time that’s referenced in the Bible. When will that time be and are we currently seeing those signs?

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end of what exactly? humans? all life? the universe?

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The end of the time prior to the return of our Lord Jesus.

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2 Thessalonians 2 American Standard Version (ASV)

2 Now we beseech you, brethren, [a]touching the [b]coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him; 2 to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is just at hand; 3 let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be , except the falling away come first, and the man of [c]sin be revealed, the son of perdition, 4 he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or [d]that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the [e]temple of God, setting himself forth as God.

I don’t think we’ve seen the “falling away” yet and I also don’t believe the “man of sin” has been revealed? If the day is close at hand, does anyone have any idea who the man of sin is? Has he been born yet? What say you…any thoughts…anyone?

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I absolutely believe we are in the end times. The signs that Jesus told us to look for are occuring at a rapid pace. Plague, pestilence, wars and rumors of wars. Nations are rejecting God, man us becoming more and more perverse and corrupt and scoffers are in the majority. I believe the Rapture is not far off.

Come Lord Jesus!!!

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Who is the “man of sin”? Is he alive today?

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■■■■ sapiens are evolving quickly and have both a) developed the means to kill us all very quickly and b) modify genetic makeup, which lend itself to saying “well, this is getting close to being it.”

On the other hand, we have done a better job very recently of lowering deaths via conflict

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and extending lifespans

So maybe not? I dunno. Just be nice to each other.

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I believe the man of sin refers to the Anti-Christ. Since we don’t know the exact time of the Rapture and coming tribulation, we can’t know for sure when he’s born, but if we assume that the Rapture is happening soon and that he will probably be a man old enough to be accepted as a leader, I believe it’s very probable he’s already been born. But, he’s not revealed until after the Rapture. Christians won’t have to be subject to his evil…

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I’m not following your post? First…I enjoyed the presentation regarding life expectancy but I failed to understand how you’ve related it to this subject?

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That is what my thread is about. While “watching”, I am attempting to correlate the signs of what’s currently happening, then relating this to what we’ve gleaned from the Bible to help us better pinpoint the exact time. There are things that must happen that precedes our Lord’s second coming and that’s what I’m focusing on now. All of my fellow Christians, coming together and sharing what we currently see and what it is we believe and attempting to determine when Jesus will come based on this criteria.

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Stuff is getting better overall, not worse.

Bible says end times follow stuff getting worse, not better.

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Please share the scripture that states that the rapture will take place prior to the man of sin being revealed? I was under the impression we’d see him but not recognize him?

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You’re singling out life expectancy as being the trigger of the rapture? When that goes the other direction, that will be the indicator? Thank you. Can you provide the verses that led you to this conclusion?

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There’s not one specific scripture. There are different beliefs regarding the timing of the Rapture. Some ( me included) believe in a pre-tribulation Rapture, others a mid-trib Rapture and some a post- trib Rapture. It’s the totality of the scriptures which Christians use to base their belief.
Just a couple quick things off the top of my head: Scripture talks about the coming wrath of God. To me it doesn’t make sense that forgiven Christians will have to face any of that, that’s the whole point of being forgiven. Christians are the bride of Christ. I don’t believe the Father will pour out wrath on the Sons bride.

The sequence of end time events is the study of eschatology, which you could spend years on. I’ve studied it from the perspective of the SDA Church and the Baptist Church. My own study has led me to accept a pre-trib Rapture in which most events occur AFTER the church is gone, including the revealing of the man of sin.

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