Matthew 24:15-31

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Question #3-What is the sign of your coming? 15 ``Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 ``Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 ``Whoever is in the field must not turn back, to get his cloak. 19 ``But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 ``But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.

21 ``For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever, will. 22 ``Unless those days had been cut short, no, life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 ``Then if anyone says to you, `Behold, here is the Christ,' or `There He is,' do not believe him. 24 ``For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.[The deception by these false messiahs will be so believable that the true believers may be misled.]

25 ``Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 ``So if they say to you, `Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, `Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them.

27 ``For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. [The sign will be like a lightning flash from the east to the west.] 28 ``Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

29 ``But 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 the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

THEN, 30 ``And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. 31 ``And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

The point here is that Jesus will not come in a secretive, humble manner as when He first came, so that His coming might occur unnoticed. But He will come in a dramatic way following a great world-wide tribulation, claims of false messiahs and major changes in the heavens (sun, moon and stars). When Jesus comes back, no one will be able to miss it! The question again is: "Are you ready?"