The Orthodox Church is convinced that the final event in human history will be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. During his earthly life, the Savior indicated several times that he intended to appear to people again. But the second coming of Christ will be completely different from the first.
If 2000 years ago Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and communicated with his contemporaries as a humble preacher, then at the Second Coming He will appear before us all in the full glory of the Divine. All people, both living and dead, will become eyewitnesses of the new appearance of Jesus Christ. The Orthodox Church believes that at the Second Coming, the souls of the departed will be reunited with their bodies. Regardless of how long ago a person died, his body will be miraculously restored.
Thus, all Humanity will meet Christ. As noted in the texts of the New Testament, the divine appearance of Christ for some will seem terrifying, but for others, on the contrary, inspiringly beautiful. This difference in perception will depend on how one or another person lived his life. If he tried to push God out of his life and became a prisoner of sin, then meeting the Savior will become torment for him. If someone’s life path is built on the basis of God’s commandments and the signs of a clear conscience, then the Second Coming will be a long-awaited and joyful meeting with the beloved Christ.
Is the date of the Second Coming known?
In recent decades, predictions from pseudo-elders and followers of various sectarian movements about the imminent Second Coming and the end of the world have become especially active in Russia. Someone calculates the exact date of this event using the stars. Others calculate it by adding up various historical dates. Someone claims that spirits tell him a specific day and hour, and so on. So, some people expected the end of the world in 2000, then in 2012. But the Second Coming of Christ never took place.
The Last Judgment - fresco by Pavel Ryzhenko in the Transfiguration Cathedral (Yakutsk, Russia)
Such conclusions are not new. For example, Baptist preacher William Miller (1782 - 1849) argued that the Advent would occur between March 21, 1843 and October 22, 1844. He created a new religious movement - Adventism, which exists to this day. Adventists found an excuse for the failed Advent. Allegedly, the Savior came, only not to earth, but to the Temple of God in heaven.
There are plenty of examples of such false prophecies. Would-be soothsayers calculate the dates of the Second Coming. And their followers each time postpone the dates when Christ does not visit the earth. What is the Orthodox Church preparing for the times to come? When is the Second Coming of Christ? If you are overwhelmed by doubts and fears, go to church. Prepare for Confession and consult with a priest you trust.
How to prepare for the Last Judgment and the End of Times
It won't be so much scary as it will be the last one.
You don’t need to imagine that this will be some kind of long process, when lawyers and prosecutors will speak, and the Lord will think about whether to accept their arguments or not. In fact, the Lord's Judgment is the making of a decision. And it will be clear to the person himself. Now the courts are saying: “We do not accept this verdict because it is not right!” During the Last Judgment, every person will understand why the Lord made such a decision. A person has a vector of movement towards God or away from Him. If a person does not want to go to church and does not make any effort, then he will never come to God. It all depends on the person whether he wants to be with the Lord or not. The Last Judgment will be universal for everyone: both the living and the dead.
Andrey Tkachev
clergyman
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Every person needs to prepare for this day, because what was said at this Judgment will not change forever. He who does not know God or who has rejected Him will forever be tormented, and the man who has served Him in the short years of his timely life will rejoice forever.
Questions for the priest
Should you be afraid of the barcode? After all, many see him as a sign of the Antichrist?
If a Christian is looking for Christ, then he tries to find Him everywhere: he looks at the beautiful sky and thinks: “These are the clouds the Lord sent,” looks at the mountains and sees: “These are the beautiful peaks covered with forests; all nature glorifies the Creator.” A person who is looking for the Antichrist is visited by other thoughts: “Here is a menacing sky - these are all the machinations of the Antichrist,” or if it is cloudless: “The Antichrist disguised this,” and when he sees the peak, he imagines some kind of demonic horns and tails. If a person looks at a barcode and sees something dangerous in it, then his desire is not for Christ.
Do we need to pay attention to natural phenomena now? For example, somewhere there was a flood, somewhere a flood, somewhere a comet flew by, and so on.
The Apostle Paul says that all creation groans and is tormented because of the sins of man. It’s clear that we remember this when we see the suffering of the animal world: either constant running after prey and hunger, or painful death when someone eats you. Every time we see some kind of cataclysm, we must understand that the Lord reminds us of the following: man, although he was entrusted with managing this world, he does not cope with his task, he is not perfect and cannot ensure his basic security. Therefore, when we see some natural disasters, our most important reaction is: “How can we help those who suffer from them?”
Is Antichrist the embodiment of Satan?
No, this is a wrong opinion. The Antichrist will be a simple man, but extremely corrupt and under the power of the devil. The name of the Antichrist is not known, but the apocalypse speaks only of his number - 666. There is no common understanding of this symbol in the Orthodox Church. The characteristic feature of the Antichrist will be blasphemy, he will assimilate divine virtues and demand religious worship. According to the Bible, difficult times will precede the Second Coming and the Last Judgment. Most of humanity is so morally degraded that they will forget about God. And if he remembers him, he will consciously resist His will. The apogee of people's moral regression will be the Antichrist - the complete opposite of the Savior or the ultimate embodiment of evil. He will be an enemy of Christ and will try to impersonate Him. According to legend, the Antichrist will come from the Jewish people, he will be a descendant of Dan, one of the 12 sons of the forefather Jacob.
RECOMMENDED: Why Jesus Christ was crucified.
Second Coming of Christ
The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is the return of the Savior to earth in the last days of the world. The purpose of the Second Coming is to overthrow the Antichrist and the nations subject to him. Jesus Christ will cast the devil and demons into eternal fire. The Lord will resurrect and judge at the Last Judgment all people living and who have lived on earth. The world will be transformed into an imperishable, spiritual world, where the righteous will dwell with God.
“Now God is a helper to those who turn from the path of evil, and then <at the Judgment” - a terrible and indefatigable investigator of human deeds, words and thoughts. Now we use patience, and then we will know justice when we rise - some to eternal torment, and others to eternal life, and each will receive according to his deeds (St. Basil the Great).
During these times, faith in Christ will practically fade away and the Antichrist will rule the world. Saint John of Damascus writes:
“It is not the devil himself who will become a man, just as the Lord became man, let it not be! But a person will be born from fornication and will take upon himself all the actions of Satan, for God, foreseeing the future corruption of his will, will allow the devil to dwell in him). The Antichrist will have enormous and worldwide power, he will be worshiped as God, “in the temple of God he will sit as God, showing himself to be God” (2 Thess. 2:4).
The coming of the Savior will be a global event that will be impossible not to notice. It will be common to all humanity:
“As lightning comes from the east and is visible even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:27).
But this great day will not be joyful for everyone. For Christians who remained faithful to the Lord, who were not seduced by the Antichrist and endured all persecution for their faith, the Second Coming will be deliverance and the moment of transition into the Kingdom of God. And for everyone else, this is the moment of destruction “all the families of the earth will mourn” (Matthew 24:30).
About the Last Judgment
After His coming, the Lord will judge all people. How will the Last Judgment take place? Saint Philaret of Moscow (Drozdov) writes that God “will judge in such a way that the conscience of every person will open before everyone and not only all the deeds that someone has done throughout his entire life on earth will be revealed, but also all the words spoken, secret desires and thoughts "
Another Saint John (Maksimovich), Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco also says:
“The Last Judgment does not know witnesses or protocol records. Everything is written in human souls and these records, these “books” are revealed. Everything becomes clear to everyone and to oneself, and the state of a person’s soul determines him to the right or to the left. Some go in joy, others in horror.
The Impact of Sin After a Person's Death
When the “books” are opened, it will become clear to everyone that the roots of all vices are in the human soul. Here is a drunkard, a fornicator - when the body has died, someone will think - sin has also died. No, there was an inclination in the soul and sin was sweet in the soul.
And if she did not repent of that sin, did not free herself from it, she will come to the Last Judgment with the same desire for the sweetness of sin and will never satisfy her desire. It will contain the suffering of hatred and malice. This is a hellish state.
“Gehenna of fire” is an internal fire, a flame of vice, a flame of weakness and malice, and “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” of impotent malice.
Bible prophecies about the Second Coming
There are few prophecies about the Second Coming in the Old Testament. In pre-Christian times, the chosen people awaited the first appearance of the Messiah. But the prophet Joel foretells:
“Before them the earth will shake, the sky will shake; the sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars will lose their light. And the Lord will give His voice before His army, for His army is very numerous and the doer of His word is mighty; For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can endure it?” (Joel 2:10-11) .
Interpreters agree that these words mark the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Also in the book of the prophet Daniel you can find the words:
“I saw in the night visions, behold, one like the Son of man walked with the clouds of heaven... And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom... His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and His kingdom will not be destroyed” (Dan. 7:13- 14).
In the Gospel, the Savior Himself, when asked by the disciples about the last days, explained to them the signs preceding the Second Coming. The apostle Paul later wrote in his letter to the Hebrews:
“Just a little while, a very little, and He who comes will come and will not tarry” (Heb. 10:37).
The apostles expected the Savior and the End of the World. The times of the reign of the Antichrist, the Second Coming of Christ, the Last Judgment and the advent of the Kingdom of God are described in most detail in the last book of the Bible: the Revelation of John the Theologian, which he received from God Himself.
“And I saw an angel descending from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. He took the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and put a seal over him, so that he would no longer deceive the nations until the thousand years were ended; after this he must be released for a little while” (Rev. 20:1-3).
Old Testament about the Messiah
According to the prophets, the purpose of the coming of the Messiah into the world was the foundation of the Kingdom of God, into which a new, spiritually renewed Israel was to enter. The prophets describe this Kingdom in some detail. In our work, we set ourselves the goal of presenting prophecies relating to the Messiah and showing how they were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. We will present here the prophecies relating to His Kingdom briefly, dwelling only on the main and most general qualities of this Kingdom.
Speaking about the Messianic Kingdom, the prophets depicted it as a society of spiritually renewed people.
Moreover, this society should have included, in addition to Jews, other peoples.
The main feature of this Kingdom should have been the abundance of grace-filled gifts in it. Being the Kingdom of God, it is stronger than all earthly kingdoms and will outlive them. Having received its beginning from the time of the coming of the Messiah into the world, at the end of the existence of the world, after God’s general judgment of the nations, it must be transformed
in its appearance. Then, on the new, transformed earth, all physical disasters will disappear, and bliss, immortality and the fullness of God’s blessings will reign among the citizens of this Kingdom. Here, in a few words, is the essence of these prophecies. Now let's look at a few specifics.
Speaking about messianic times, the prophets indicated that they would be the time of the New Testament
(union) of God with people. As we know, the Old Covenant of God with Israel was concluded under Moses at Mount Sinai. Then the Jews pledged to fulfill the commandments written on the stone tablets, receiving as a reward from God the land promised to Abraham (the Promised Land). Here is what the prophet Jeremiah writes about the New Testament:
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—that They broke My covenant, although I remained in covenant with them, says the Lord. “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the Lord: “I will put My law in their inward parts and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” And they will no longer teach one another, brother to brother, and say, “Know the Lord,” for they will all themselves know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, because I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.” Jer.31:31–34).
The Prophet Isaiah calls the New Testament eternal
: “Incline your ear and come to Me: listen, and your soul will live, and I will give you an everlasting covenant, the steadfast mercy promised to David” (Is. 55:3, Acts 13:34).
The peculiarity of the New Testament, in contrast to the Old, should have been that, in addition to the Jews, other peoples would be attracted to it, who together would form the new Israel, the blessed Kingdom of the Messiah. The prophet Isaiah wrote about this calling of the pagan peoples in the name of God the Father:
“Not only will You (the Messiah) be My Servant for the restoration of the tribes of Jacob and for the remnant of Israel, but I will make You the light of the nations, so that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Is. 49:6).
And a little later the prophet Isaiah expresses joy on this occasion:
“Rejoice, you who are barren, you who do not give birth, shout and cry, you who have not suffered from childbirth, because she who is forsaken has many more children than she who has a husband... you will spread to the right and to the left, and your descendants will take possession of the nations and people the desolate cities” (Is. 54:1-5, Gal.4:27).
Here the prophet depicts the Old Testament Jewish Church as a married woman, and the pagan nations as a barren woman who will later give birth to more children than the first wife. Hosea also predicted the calling of the Gentiles to replace those who had fallen away from the Kingdom of the Jews (Hos. 1:9–10, 2:23). In Old Testament times, membership in the Kingdom was determined by nationality. In New Testament times, a necessary condition for belonging to the Kingdom of the Messiah will be faith, as Habakkuk wrote: “The righteous shall live by faith” (Hab. 2:4, Is. 28:16).
Unlike the Old Testament law, written on tablets of stone, God's new law will be written on the very hearts of the members of the New Israel, that is, the will of God will become, as it were, an integral part of their being. This writing of the law on the hearts of renewed Israel will be accomplished by the Holy Spirit, as the prophets Isaiah, Zechariah and Joel write about. As we will see, the prophets, speaking about the grace of the Holy Spirit, often called it water. Grace, like water, refreshes, cleanses and gives life to a person’s soul.
The prophet Isaiah was the first to predict spiritual renewal: “I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry land. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants and My blessing on your descendants” (Isaiah 44:3). In Zechariah we read:
“On the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem I will pour out the Spirit of Grace and compunction, and they will look at Him whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only begotten son, and mourn as one mourns for the firstborn... On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem to wash away sin and uncleanness” (Zechariah 12:10–13:1, 14:5–9, Isaiah 12:3).
Here, by the way, the repentant sorrow that the inhabitants of Jerusalem experienced after the death of Christ on Calvary is predicted (see John 19:37, Acts 2:37). The prophet Ezekiel also wrote about spiritual renewal:
“And I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all countries, and bring you into your own land. And I will sprinkle water on you, and you will be cleansed from all your filthiness (uncleanness), and I will cleanse you from all your idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh (bodily - soft, kind). I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My commandments, and to keep My statutes and do them” (Ezek. 36:24-27).
Joel's next prophecy complements the previous three.
“And it shall come to pass after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. And also on My servants and on the handmaids in those days I will pour out My Spirit. And I will show signs in heaven and on earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun will turn into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:28-32).
These predictions began to be fulfilled on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Christ (Acts 2). Compare also Isa.44:3-5, Ezek.36:25-27 and Rom.10:13. The end of Joel's prophecy about the darkening of the sun refers to events before the end of the world.
The Messianic Kingdom is sometimes depicted by the prophets as a high mountain. This symbol, taken from the sacred Mount Zion, is suitable for the Messianic Kingdom because it, like a mountain, resting on the earth, lifts people up to heaven. This is how the prophet Isaiah writes about the Kingdom of the Messiah.
“In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the top of the mountains, and will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will flow to it. And many nations will go and say: Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion will come the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isa. 2:2-3).
The prophets called Jerusalem not only the most capital city of the Jewish state, but also the Kingdom of the Messiah. For example, Isaiah exclaimed:
“Arise, shine, Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and darkness the nations, but the Lord will shine upon you, and His glory will appear upon you. And nations will come to your light, and kings to the radiance rising above you. Lift up your eyes and look around: they are all gathering, coming towards you...” (Is.60:1-5).
This allegorical image of the Messianic Kingdom is repeated with new details in the vision of the prophet Daniel. In addition to the mountain, he also talks about a stone that broke away from the mountain and crushed the idol standing in the valley. The stone, as we have already explained, symbolizes the Messiah. Here is a description of this vision:
“The stone was torn from the mountain without the help of hands, struck the image, its iron and clay feet, and broke them. Then everything was crushed together: iron, clay, copper, silver and gold became like dust on the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, and no trace remained of them, and the stone that smashed the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”
The prophet Daniel further explains this vision:
“In the days of those kingdoms (Babylonian, then Persian, Greek and, finally, Roman), the God of Heaven will erect a kingdom that will not be destroyed forever, and this kingdom will not be handed over to another people. It will crush and destroy all kingdoms, but it will stand forever” (Dan. 2:34-35, 44).
Here the image represents the kingdoms of the earth. No matter how much the enemies of the Messiah wage war against His Kingdom, their efforts will not succeed. All earthly kingdoms will disappear sooner or later, only the Messianic kingdom will endure forever.
Sometimes, as we will see, prophecies of the Messianic kingdom speak of ideal living conditions of peace, joy and bliss. At this point, the reader may be wondering: Are these Kingdom descriptions a pipe dream? Or perhaps the New Testament Church itself does not have the right to claim the title of the Kingdom of God, since along its historical path there are so many deviations from the ideal outlined in the prophecies?
To correctly understand the prophecies about the Messianic Kingdom, we must remember that they often combine different eras,
separated from each other by many centuries, and sometimes by millennia. Indeed, in the Messianic kingdom, the external is conditioned by the internal: happiness, immortality, bliss, complete harmony, peace and other benefits are not imposed by God forcibly and mechanically. They are the result of that voluntary internal renewal through which the members of this kingdom had to go. The process of spiritual renewal was to begin immediately with the coming of the Messiah, but would be completed at the end of the world.
Therefore, prophetic visions of the blessed kingdom of the Messiah cover in one grandiose picture many centuries of its existence - times close to the prophets and the coming of the Messiah, and at the same time distant times, relating to the era of the end of the world and the beginning of a new life. This comparison of near and far in one picture is very characteristic of prophetic visions, and if it is remembered, the reader will be able to correctly understand the meaning of the prophecies about the Messianic kingdom.
In the next prophecy, Isaiah writes about joyful conditions in the triumphant kingdom of the Messiah.
“He (the Messiah) will judge the poor with righteousness, and decide the affairs of the sufferers of the earth with truth, and with the rod of his mouth he will smite the (sinful) earth, and with the spirit of his mouth he will kill the wicked... Then (at the end of times) the wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf, and the young lion, and the ox will be together, and a little child will lead them... They will not do evil or harm in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea . To the root of Jesse (the Messiah), who will become as a banner for the nations, the Gentiles will return, and his rest will be the glory” (Is. 11:4-10, Rom. 15:12).
Here, by “the wicked,” whom the Messiah will defeat, one should understand the last and greatest wicked one - the Antichrist. Here are two more predictions of the great prophets dating back to the same era.
Prophet Jeremiah:
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will raise up a righteous Branch for David, and a King will reign, and will act wisely, and will execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is His name by which they will call Him: “The Lord is our justification!” (Jer.23:5-6).
Prophet Ezekiel:
“And I will appoint one shepherd over them, who will feed them, my servant David. He will shepherd them and He will be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them... And My servant David will be King over them and Shepherd of them all, and they will walk in My commandments, and will keep My statutes and do them” (Ezek. 34:23–24, 37:24).
For the Old Testament prophets, the coming Kingdom of the Messiah invariably ends with the hope of overcoming the ultimate evil of humanity - death. Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Life
there is the final victory of the Messiah over evil. Chapters 25 to 27 in the book of the prophet Isaiah contain a song of praise to the God of the Church, a triumphant victory over death:
“Mighty nations will glorify You, cities of terrible tribes will fear You. For You were the refuge of the poor, the refuge of the needy in his time of need... And the Lord God will make for all nations on this mountain a table of rich foods, a table of pure wines, of the fat of bones and the purest wines, and will destroy on this mountain the veil that covers all nations , a blanket that lies over all tribes. Death will be swallowed up forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and will take away the reproach of His people throughout the whole earth... This is the Lord, we have trusted in Him, we will rejoice and rejoice in His salvation! For the hand of the Lord rests on this mountain... Open the gates, that a righteous people who keep the truth may come in. You will keep him who is strong in spirit in perfect peace, for he trusts in You... If the wicked are shown mercy, he will not learn righteousness” (Is. 25:3–10, 26:2–3, 10).
The prophet Hosea also wrote about victory over death: “I will redeem them from the power of hell, I will deliver them from death. Death! where is your sting? ! where is your victory? (Hos. 13:14). The hope for resurrection was expressed by the long-suffering righteous man Job, who lived in ancient times, in the following words: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day He will restore this decaying skin of mine from the dust, and I will see God in my flesh. I will see Him myself; my eyes, not the eyes of another, will see Him” (Job 19:25–27).
In conclusion, we present the following prophecy relating to the second coming of the Messiah.
“Behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of Days and was brought to Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all nations, nations, and languages might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and His kingdom will not be destroyed” (Dan.7:13-14, Matt.24:30).
Summarizing the prophecies given here about the Messianic Kingdom, we see that they all speak about spiritual processes: about the need for faith, about the forgiveness of sins, purification of the heart, spiritual renewal, about the outpouring of grace-filled gifts on believers, about the knowledge of God and His law, about the eternal covenant with God, about victory over the devil and the forces of evil. External benefits - victory over death, resurrection of the dead, renewal of the world, restoration of justice and, finally, eternal bliss - will come as a reward for virtue.
If the prophets, depicting future bliss, used words expressing wealth, abundance and similar earthly terms, then they did this because in the human language there are no necessary words to express a blissful state in the spiritual world. It was these words of the prophets about external goods, understood by some in a crude materialistic sense, that served as the reason for all sorts of distorted ideas about the earthly messianic kingdom.
It must be said that it was not only the Jews of the time of Christ who incorrectly imagined messianic times in the sense of earthly well-being. Similar dreams continue to arise to this day among sectarians in the form, for example, of the doctrine of the 1000-year reign of Christ on earth (chiliasm). The Prophets, Jesus Christ and the Apostles predicted the transformation of the physical world, after which complete justice, immortality and heavenly bliss would be realized. These desired benefits will come after this material world, poisoned by sins, is transformed by the power of God into “a new heaven and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” Then a new, eternal life will begin.
Those who wish to inherit the transformed Kingdom of the Messiah must go to this new life along the narrow path of self-correction, as Christ taught. There is no other way.
Signs of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ
The signs of the Second Coming are often interpreted by people who have difficulty navigating the Holy Scriptures and Tradition. Therefore, the Savior’s words about His return to earth are taken out of context. They are fertile ground for all kinds of speculation and fraud. Thus, false prophets focus on the external signs of the Second Coming: wars, cataclysms, epidemics. But they forget about the main sign - the spiritual degradation of humanity, when faith in Christ is practically forgotten.
The last days will be preceded by times of absolute moral decay. Faith will be practically reduced to zero. The Apostle Paul gave a succinct and accurate description of the conditions of people of the last times
“For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unfriendly, unforgiving, slanderers, intemperate, cruel, not loving what is good, traitors, insolent, pompous, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God who have a form of godliness , and denied his powers” (2 Tim. 3:2-5).
In the Gospel of Matthew, when asked about the Second Coming, Jesus Christ answered that many would come.
“under my name” and will claim that each of them is the Savior. Many will come in My name and say, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many (Matt. 24:5); And many false prophets will arise and deceive many (Matt. 24:11); ...in the last times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons... (1 Tim. 4:1); ...the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires they will heap up for themselves teachers, having itching ears... (2 Timothy 4:3).
From Satan they will be given the power to perform signs and wonders. Many believers will believe and be deceived. Then difficult times of wars and disasters will come: earthquakes, famine. Persecution of Christians will begin, “they will hand you over to torture and kill you; and you will be hated by all nations because of my name” (Matthew 24:9). Many will not be able to stand it and will begin to betray each other, hatred will increase and love between people will cool.
How will human history end?
But Israel will turn to Christ. Romans 11 says that all Israel, that is, the Jewish people, will be saved and converted to Christ. From the same chapter it follows that this conversion will take place in the last times: ... if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, then what will there be acceptance if not life from the dead? (Rom. 11:15). According to the Apostle Paul, if the rejection of Israel served to reconcile the rest of humanity with God, then the return of Israel to Christ will mean the imminent resurrection of the dead.
We should also expect the coming of the prophets Elijah and Enoch.
“...I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the day of the Lord...” (Mal.4:5).
Jesus Christ confirmed the prophecy:
“Indeed, Elijah must come first and arrange everything” (Matthew 17:11) Mark 9:12).
Just as John the Baptist anticipated the first coming of Christ, so Elijah will anticipate the Second Coming. Revelation 11:3-10 tells of two witnesses of God. They will prophesy and, after they have finished their testimony, they will be killed by the beast that comes out of the bottomless pit. According to Tradition, these witnesses will be Elijah and Enoch.
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).
Only for the sake of the elect who will not betray their faith will those days be shortened. Otherwise, no flesh could be saved.
“And suddenly, 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 the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven; and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and He will send His angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other one” (Matthew 24:29-31).
This is what Jesus Christ said about His Second Coming.
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The second coming of Jesus Christ is an event that raises many questions. The purpose of this article is to describe some of the signs that are happening or beginning to happen in the time in which we live. I invite you to find out what the Bible says about the imminent return of Jesus Christ and how this matches up with current events in the world.
We are living in what the Bible calls "the last days"
and there is no doubt that our generation will witness the return of Jesus in our lifetime.
Two thousand years ago, in the city of Bethlehem, a baby was born to Mary and Joseph, who was laid in a manger. This is how Jesus Christ came to earth for the first time. Now let's see what God's Word says about the second coming of Jesus. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells His disciples that He will return one day and how different it will be from His first appearance on earth. Jesus told the disciples, “Then they will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:27).
According to Jesus Himself, His next appearance on earth will be marked by the fact that He will come parting the clouds “with power and great glory”! It will be a spectacle worthy of admiration! The first time Jesus Christ came to earth, he became our Savior. At His next coming, He will establish peace and His Kingdom on earth in power and great glory.
When we look around us and see the turmoil and troubles of the world today, the very fact that Jesus is coming gives us great hope. We know that one day our Lord and Savior, the King of kings and Lord of lords will return to earth and stop destruction and evil with one word of His mouth and establish His Kingdom of joy. What a wonderful time this will be! The earth has been awaiting this great and glorious moment since the beginning of time!
Jesus, while on earth, talked about His second coming. He said that we will not know its exact day or hour, but we will know the time. In the Gospel of Matthew (24:32-34), Jesus said: “Take the likeness of a fig tree: when its branches become soft and put forth leaves, you know that summer is near; So, when you see all this, know that it is close, at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen.”
In other words, Jesus is saying, “When the fig tree puts forth new leaves, it is a sign that summer is near. Likewise, when you see the events that I tell you about taking place, this is a sign for you that My second coming is near. As a matter of fact, these events and My coming are so close in time that the generation that witnesses these events will see the fulfillment of what I predicted.”
Jesus went on to name many signs that would signal in the last days that the time had come for His return.
Even though the social, political and economic conditions and even the weather throughout the earth are very unstable, we can look at this and rejoice because these are signs of the soon return of Jesus! Jesus told us: “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).
We live in amazing times and are the generation that will see the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ! Now let's look at some of the signs that Jesus said would signal His soon return. They are mainly found in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.
Deception, False Christs and False Prophets
First sign:
A very important sign of Jesus' soon return is deception! Jesus said, “Beware that no one deceives you; For many will come in My name and say, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:4,5). (See also Matthew 24:23-26; Mark 13:5,6; Luke 21:8).
The kind of deception spoken of in these verses literally means “to be led astray,” “to go further from the truth,” or “to be led astray by wrong thinking.” It describes the emergence of people who will publicly declare themselves to be the Messiah or that great leader for whom the world has been waiting for so long. Jesus calls them “false Christ” or “false messiah.” Already today we can find them in various religious and cult organizations, whose teaching is not based on the Bible as the Word of God. These are “false Christs” who, dressed in strange clothes, proclaim themselves to be the reincarnation of Jesus or call themselves a new prophet. Along with the true men of God who preach the Word of God, in the last days, just before His return, there will be many deceivers, Jesus said.
Jesus also warned that false prophets would arise, men and women who would try to deceive and lead away from biblical truth. This is why it is so important for us to study the Bible and know God's Word. Then it will be impossible to mislead us and lead us away from the truth. The Bible is the foundation of all truth. Knowing what the Bible teaches protects us from being deceived.
There are hundreds of "gurus" - teachers of Eastern religious groups dealing with the occult sciences, and each of them proclaims himself a prophet of this age. When asked about Jesus Christ, they say that He was simply a prophet of His generation, nothing more, that is, they equate Him with themselves.
But if we continue to study God's Word, belong to the true church, and listen carefully to the voice of the Holy Spirit, we will not be among those who are led astray by the false Christ or false prophet of these last days!
Wars and war rumors
Second sign:
The next thing Jesus warned about was that there would be “wars and rumors of wars,” and this would be widespread in the days before His coming. He said: “See, do not be dismayed; for all this must be. But this is not the end: For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...” (Matthew 24:6,7). (See also Mark 13:7,8 and Luke 21:9,10).
Lately we have seen more and more wars constantly breaking out all over the earth today. But Jesus draws our attention to the fact that we should not be horrified by what is happening. He said: “all this must be”
, and that means God is in control!
We should not worry or be afraid because we know that our Heavenly Father will take care of us no matter what situations we face every day or what we hear on the news, what kind of warfare the nations are waging among themselves. More important than anything else, Jesus told us to keep peace and quiet, because everything that is happening is simply a sign of His soon return!
Ethnic confrontation
Third sign:
In Matthew 24:7, Jesus said that one of the signs of His return would be that “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”
The word "people" here is a translation of the Greek word "ethnos", which means "ethnic group".
How amazing is this statement of Jesus about the last days! You can translate this verse this way: “one ethnic group will rise up against another ethnic group.” This was Jesus' prophecy that before His second coming there would be a period of time when ethnic groups that had long lacked freedom of national expression would demand self-sufficiency and independence. Today, all over the world, and this is clearly expressed, different groups of people (ethnic groups) are declaring their rights and their place in the sun. Today, in different parts of the world, we can observe a clear picture of confrontation between different ethnic groups. In many countries, this is a struggle between blacks and whites; homosexuals in the Western world demand to be recognized as a “national minority” with their rights.
In other words, when Jesus said that “nation will rise up against nation,” He was predicting the unusual phenomena of our days, the last days before His coming, when chaos will disrupt the previously existing order and people of different nationalities and nationalities, as well as other groups of people, will shout about their rights and fight for them. This is a picture of a world falling apart.
Turmoil
Fourth Sign:
In the Gospel of Luke (21:9), Jesus names another important sign of His approaching return: “tumult.” He said: “When you hear about wars and turmoil, do not be dismayed...”
The word “confusion” means “confusion,” “disorder,” “a state of anarchy,” or “turmoil.”
Lately we have seen a lot of confusion and disorder in the world. Even great powers that were powerful in the past are experiencing enormous internal problems. "Turmoil" can describe political, financial and social instability.
Look at the world around us! Around the world, the crime rate is growing at such a rate that the relevant authorities are unable to cope with it, and prisons cannot accommodate all the prisoners. Sexually transmitted diseases are spreading at such a rate that some countries in Central Africa will have their populations wiped out within twenty years if left unchecked. Due to internal disorder and wars, there is a serious threat of national collapse. The monetary system is getting out of control; At the same time, there is apparently not a single person who knows where the money ends up and how to organize its control. There is anarchy, confusion and instability all around.
But Jesus tells us the same thing: don't let it scare you! He is in control of events, and everything that happens is a sign that He is returning to put everything in order. All the chaos and disorder around us will come to a screeching halt when Jesus returns as a strict yet gentle ruler.
Hunger
Fifth Sign:
In the Gospels of Matthew (24:7), Mark (13:8) and Luke (21:11), Jesus says that before His return the world will be shaken by famine in various parts of the world. The word famine refers to a life-threatening lack of food throughout a nation. Recently, famine has been rampant in many countries around the world, especially on the African continent.
Historical famine statistics show how the number of these natural disasters has increased dramatically, especially over the last century. From the twelfth century until the early nineteenth century, only a few serious cases are recorded, but between 1860 and 1960 the number rose to twenty, mainly in Africa, India and China.
From 1970 until today, the people of Africa have suffered terrible famines, with projections showing no improvement in the situation in the future. For example, in 1984, more than a million people died from famine in Ethiopia within three months. Then all attention and help were directed to this country of disaster by all countries of the world.
But just as the world began to recover from the horrific news of the starving people of Ethiopia, famine also began in the state of Somalia. And now we see such pictures almost constantly - and this is a sign that definitely points to the imminent return of Jesus to earth!
Moras
Sixth Sign:
When we read about “plagues,” we usually think of locusts invading wheat fields or some other super-severe insect problem. However, in the Gospels of Matthew (24:7) and Luke (21:11), Jesus speaks of terrible diseases that have reached epidemic levels.
Some of the most devastating diseases to emerge in recent years are sexually transmitted diseases. Due to the growth of lawlessness and human rebellion, these diseases are also spreading on earth, since promiscuity is always part of the rebellion of society against God, inspired by Satan.
A sexually transmitted disease called AIDS (immune deficiency) is spreading throughout the planet. The disease has no cure, and the increasing number of its victims around the world is alarming. Millions of people are infected with this deadly disease, and science is not able to find methods of treating it, and does not see such a prospect for many years.
With the existing moral, cultural, economic and political decomposition of society, according to the forecasts of medical scientists, we will witness the emergence of other incurable diseases on a global scale.
But no matter what new disease appears on the scene, Christians can seek God's power to protect them from disease. In the Bible, God promises healing for our bodies, and nothing is too difficult for our God. There have already been several cases of miraculous healing from AIDS and many cases of healing from cancer and other deadly diseases.
Therefore, when new incurable diseases appear in the near future, we can not only stand firmly on God’s Word, believing in our own liberation, but also rejoice, for this is a sign that the return of Jesus is getting closer and closer!
Earthquakes
Seventh Sign:
The Gospels of Matthew (24:7) and Luke (21:11) also mention “earthquakes in places.” This suggests that earthquakes will occur throughout the earth, and not in individual points, and their number will increase more and more.
The Bible clearly states that the number of earthquakes will increase markedly as the second coming of Jesus approaches. In light of this fact, it is interesting to read the latest statistics from the World Almanac regarding earthquakes recorded in history. Between 526 and 1896, 23 major earthquakes were recorded, but between 1906 and 2003, 77 major earthquakes were recorded.
Even though recording and preserving records of such events has been difficult in past centuries, there is still evidence that the number and frequency of major earthquakes is increasing every year. And instead of occurring in the same places, earthquakes occur where they have never occurred before.
Lawlessness and cooling in love
Eighth Sign:
In Matthew 24:12, Jesus says, “And because iniquity abounds, the love of many will grow cold.”
The word "lawlessness" means "a complete lack of respect for the law among the people." By using this word, Jesus indicates that just before His return there will be an increase in crime that will become epidemic.
A phenomenon directly related to this will be that “the love of many will grow cold.” Literally, men and women will become so selfish and greedy that they will have no love for others. They will only care about themselves.
The Bible gives a more detailed account of the state of the people's minds and hearts in the last days before Jesus' return in 2 Timothy. “Know this that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unfriendly, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, cruel, not lovers of good, traitors, insolent, pompous, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (2 Tim. 3:1-4).
The number of crimes, even very violent ones, will increase significantly. Who would have thought that so many criminals would have their own companies and have such power. The truth is that every crime and sin shows a lack of love and respect for God and others, and this lack of love and respect for others is spreading at an alarming rate throughout the world.
As Christians we must become more loving and must empathize with people whether they are Christians or not. At the same time, we must be sure that we ourselves obey the laws and respect the rights of others. This is part of our testimony to the world around us that Jesus Christ completely changes man.
Expansion of missionary activity
Ninth Sign:
This sign is one of the most exciting signs of Jesus' return to earth, because not only will we be a part of it, but as Christians we are fully responsible to Jesus for it! After His resurrection and ascension into heaven, He gave the Church a “great task.” Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (
all creation )” (Mark 16:15).
Jesus also taught that the gospel would be preached throughout the world before His coming. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).
More and more Christians are going to different countries and parts of the world where the Gospel has not yet been preached. Traveling today has become much easier than when Jesus was on earth, or even compared to a hundred years ago, and believers are able to reach places that were previously inaccessible. Moreover, with the help of modern satellite and television technology, the words of Jesus are being fulfilled before our eyes! Television brings the gospel anywhere in the world.
There are many believers living far from home among people who look, think, and act completely different, with one goal in mind: to bring them the Gospel. There are those who devote all their energy and time to creating television programs and showing them in the most remote parts of the world.
This is one of the most exciting signs of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ because we are part of it!
Increased demonic activity
Tenth Sign:
In all countries of the world, it is no longer unusual that when you turn on the TV, you hear advertisements for mediums. If you understand what the Bible teaches about mediums, then you know that, according to the Old Testament, a medium is a person who hears the voices of demons and tells people about their lives, identities and futures.
Jesus knew this would happen in the last days before His return when He said, “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24).
The Bible talks a lot about the fact that in the last days before Jesus returns there will be a marked increase in occult activity. Occult refers to supernatural manifestations and experiences that are carried out with the help of the devil and demonic spirits, and not by the Spirit of God. And according to Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (24:24), believers must stand firmly on God's Word and follow the Holy Spirit very carefully, because false signs and false wonders are directly aimed at us with the purpose of deceiving us and leading us away from God and the truth.
There is a verse in the fourth chapter of 1 Timothy that also speaks of an increase in demonic activity in the last days. “The Spirit speaks clearly that in the last times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1).
Fortune telling, palm reading, using astrological charts or simply calling a medium to find out whether you will get a job or not, marry that person or not - all these activities are occult. You are getting information from demons instead of God's Spirit and the Bible.
Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He gave us the Holy Spirit for our safety to remain with us forever, to guide and guide us every moment of our lives, to give us wisdom when we face difficulties and to comfort us when life brings heartbreak. pain.
The Gospel of John (16:13,14) records that before Jesus was crucified, He said to His disciples and to all who would believe in Him: “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; For he will not speak from himself, but he will speak what he hears, and he will tell you the future. He will glorify Me, because He will take from Mine and proclaim it to you.”
All the knowledge we need can be obtained from the Holy Spirit and the Bible. This is the job of the Holy Spirit—to open our eyes to biblical truth and answer our questions! Jesus sent Him to live in us, to teach us, to guide us, to bring us comfort in difficult times. There is no reason why a believer should go to a medium or fortune teller and find out anything from the father of lies (Satan) and his demons when they can go straight to Almighty God and find out the truth.
So in these last days, as we watch the alarming increase in demonic activity, we can rest in the Holy Spirit and His power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. The same power lives in us! And so, when we feel a demonic attack or see the devil challenging God's authority, we can boldly say what the Bible says: “Children! you are from God, and you have overcome them; for greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
The Holy Spirit who lives in us is much stronger than Satan and his followers!
Eleventh Sign:
Terrible Apparitions and Great Signs from Heaven
In the Gospel of Luke (21:11), Jesus gives us two signs that, unlike earthquakes, famines, and wars, are observed very rarely. But despite this, today we are faced with phenomena that are extremely unusual and have no precedent in history.
When the Bible speaks of “terrible sights,” we are talking about something so grandiose and terrible that, at the sight of it or even at the mere thought of it, the whole world, every living creature, trembles with fear. It is today that the whole world has the opportunity to see these “terrible phenomena”, and this opportunity is provided by television.
The place where these “great signs” occur is the sky, which means they can be observed using a telescope. From this we can understand that we are talking about unusual and terrifying phenomena and starry space outside the earth’s atmosphere.
In the early 90s, we witnessed one such incident when a huge comet collided with the planet Jupiter. Pictures of this breathtaking phenomenon surprised the world and amazed scientists. One of the comet fragments left a large black spot on Jupiter larger than the Earth, and the other turned into a fireball three times the size of the Earth.
After this, astronomers and experts tried to determine how this might affect the planet Jupiter. They said that the effect was very unexpected for them. Their unanswered questions and theories about “What would happen if a comet of this magnitude hit the Earth?” make many, many people think.
“Terrible sights” and “great signs from heaven” were rare occurrences in the past. But the fact that we survived the tragic Challenger explosion and watched a comet collide with Jupiter over a period of ten years suggests that we are indeed close to the return of Jesus.
Like in the days of Noah
Twelfth Sign:
Jesus was very clear that at His return the state of the world would be similar to what it was before the great flood, when God told a man named Noah to build a big ark, go in with his whole family, take two of each of the animals and prepare for the rain, after which the whole earth will be covered with water (see Genesis, ch. 6-9).
The Old Testament describes what happened in the days before the great flood. There are verses in the book of Genesis that describe the condition of mankind in the days of Noah before the rain came. “And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. (...) But the earth was corrupted before the face of God, and the earth was filled with evil deeds” (Gen. 6: 5,11).
The state of humanity was deplorable! Everything was bad, the human race was evil. In the book of Genesis (6:6) we can even read that God regretted in His heart that He had created man.
According to Jesus, humanity will reach a similar state of sin just before His return. He said: “But as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man: for as in the days before the flood they did eat and drink and were married and given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they did not think until The flood came and did not destroy everyone, so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37-39).
From the verse in Genesis 6 we learn that the hearts of the people were filled with evil thoughts and the earth was full of evil deeds. Therefore, when Jesus says that the people ate, drank, married and were given in marriage, this indicates all sorts of excesses that they indulged in.
People didn’t just eat: they greedily devoured any food they could get their hands on! They didn't just drink a glass of wine with dinner, they got drunk every night. Since this was a time when the flesh reigned over sound thinking, people indulged in all kinds of sexual sins, which resulted in illness. When the flesh rules a person's life, he becomes lazy and turns to crime as a means of making profit.
Describing the days of Noah as an example, Jesus paints the following picture of society: they are sleepy, lazy gluttons who are constantly drunk, who lead a completely immoral lifestyle and are capable of any atrocity, including murder, to get what they want.
Jesus points out a lack of understanding of the dangerous situation people are in when they rebel against God and His Word. They have completely rejected Scripture and are confident that not only can they sin and get away with it, but also that Jesus, who is coming to establish a godly kingdom on earth, simply does not exist.
But there was one man on earth before the flood who led a righteous life and loved God, and that man was Noah. God decided to destroy humanity, leaving only Noah and his family alive. After the flood, the settlement of the earth began with them.
Jesus will do the same after His second coming to earth! He will put an end to evil, remove Satan and his demons from our planet and restore peace and order. Only this time, instead of using one family to populate the earth, He will use those who have surrendered their lives to Him.
In the last days we will see the crime rate rising, evil intensifying, and this will become almost something familiar to us; we will witness the breakdown of families and a complete loss of respect for God's Word of purity and morality, and again and again we will hear those who have turned away from God say: “Nothing will happen! You see, I can live the way I want, and nothing changes because of it. God, if He exists at all, has nothing to do with this.”
The Bible says the following about this: “Know this first of all, that in the last days there will appear arrogant scoffers, walking according to their own lusts, saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers began to die, from the beginning of creation, everything remains the same” (2 Peter 3:3-4).
People will think that Jesus will never come, but the Bible says otherwise!
In these last days, we must pray for unbelieving people, tell them about Jesus and do everything to see as many people as possible saved.
Believe in the depths of your mind and heart that the terrible things we witness and experience personally will not continue forever. Most importantly, they are signs of the return of Jesus Christ - our Lord and Savior. When the world around us goes crazy, we can rejoice, live in peace and do what He has called us to do, because these signs only confirm that He is in control, that He is able and willing to take care of us and lead us to victory - Jesus is coming!
How to prepare for Jesus' return?
The only way to prepare for Jesus' return is to make sure that He is Lord of your life. Those who accepted Jesus belong to Him and at His return they will be transformed into His likeness and, according to the Bible, will rule and reign with Him forever.
If you do not yet know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, know that God is good and has a special plan for your life. He wants to bless your life to make it happy. God wants you to be healthy and have no needs. The Bible is God's Word to us, telling us how these promises can be fulfilled in your life. But more importantly, in the Bible God talks about how to have a relationship with Him and know Him. God doesn't want us to earn His love through our good works. God already loves us. In Ephesians, God's Word says that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more because He already loves us. The Gospel of John (3:16-18) tells us that God loved us so much that he gave us the freedom to choose what we do and who we want to love. The only thing God asks of us is that we accept His Son Jesus Christ into our hearts. God has prepared a way for us to be able to resume a right relationship with Him, and that way is through His Son Jesus Christ.
Jesus, the Son of God, came from heaven to earth and became a man similar to each of us, but he was sinless. He lived thirty-three years and performed many miracles to show everyone how good God is. He died a terrible death on the cross, paying for our sins.
If we do not accept Jesus as our Savior, then after death we will go to a terrible place called “hell” and will suffer eternal torment there because of the sin that is in us. But if we accept Jesus and believe that He is the Son of God, that He not only died, but also rose again, then all our sins are forgiven through the sacrifice of Christ and we are clean before God.
On the third day after Jesus died, God raised Him from the dead and took Him back to heaven forever. If we accept Jesus as our Savior, then after death we will also live with God in heaven forever. God wants us to believe in His Son Jesus Christ, but He will not force us to do so. He wants us to see how much He loves us and choose to love Him too.
Being a Christian, however, does not only mean gaining eternal life in heaven after death. This also includes many blessings here on earth. God wants to heal our bodies, meet all our needs, solve our problems, free us from fear and bad habits, and help us live victoriously. You might say, "If God wants to do all this, what's stopping Him?" God will not force His will on anyone. To have access to God's rights and privileges, we must become citizens of His Kingdom. And we do this by believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died for each of us, and God raised Him from the dead on the third day also for our sake.
If you really believe this with all your heart, then ask Jesus to make you a new creation in Him. Ask God to teach you how to live in Him. You need to read the Bible, getting to know the Savior every day. You also need to find a church that will teach you more about the Word of God.
The Word of God is the most enduring, immutable and eternal value we have. as Christians, we own. Now, more than ever, we must give God's Word an important role in our lives. Jesus said: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them will be likened to a wise man, who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24).
False prophets, wars, famine can give birth to fear. And although the whole earth may be filled with fear, we will live in peace and confidence as we follow God's unchanging Word.
Whether you are a long-time Christian or have just accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we pray that you will receive answers to your questions about the second coming of Jesus Christ and continue to live in peace and confidence by holding fast to God's unchanging Word.
Problematic issues of the Second Coming
“Look around the whole world in which you live, and judge that everything visible is mortal, that everything is subject to decay. Look at the sky, and it will one day be destroyed; look at the sun and it will not stand; all the stars, animals living on land and in water, all the decoration of the earth, the earth itself - everything is perishable; a little more time, and all this will not happen” (St. Basil the Great).
When should we expect the Second Coming of Christ? Its exact time and the timing of the subsequent End of the World is known to no one except God.
“But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but only My Father” (Matthew 24:36).
Therefore, any dates are fiction, and those who predict them are false prophets or simply deceivers. But at the same time, the Lord does not leave people in complete ignorance and lifts the veil of secrecy in the form of signs of the Second Coming.
The Second Coming was expected by the apostles and the first Christians during the days of persecution. It was expected in the Middle Ages, when various diseases claimed millions of lives. They expected it in the 20th century in Russia, when the atheistic government destroyed many believers. When the Great Patriotic War claimed millions of lives, leaving behind a devastated land. They expect it even today, when sin becomes the norm and pious life is ridiculed, the line between good and evil is blurred.
But one should not be so impudent about the Holy Scriptures as to literally project the words of the Savior onto modern life. And even more so, you should stay as far away as possible from various false prophets. From those who endlessly talk about the End of the World, forgetting to think about saving their souls.
Some Predictions about the Second Coming
1000 year. Pope Sylvester II was an authoritative medieval scholar. He claimed that the world would end on January 1, 1000. Many believed him. When the Advent did not happen, a clarifying version was put forward. Allegedly, the pope made an inaccurate prediction, and the end of the world was supposed to be the coming of the millennium, not the birth, but the death of Jesus Christ. That is, the date of the second coming of Christ was supposed to be 1033. But after this prediction did not come true, they decided to forget about Sylvester II’s calculations.
1284 Pope Innocent III set the Second Coming for 1284. He connected this expected event with the emergence of Islam. He believed that in the year 666 after the appearance of this new religion, the last times would come. The Pope made his prediction during the Crusades, times of interreligious hostility. The pontiff himself did not live to see 1284.
1988 Predictions by Edgar Viznant, a scientist from NASA. His book "88 Reasons Why the Second Coming Will Be in 1988" became a bestseller.
1992 Predictions of the American preacher Lee Yang Rim. His preaching brought him fabulous wealth in the form of donations from his frightened followers.
year 2000. Expectation of the end of the world on a “round” date, including the computer “Problem 2000”. A certain number of people believed this, they bought bunkers and stocked up on provisions.
To fear or not to fear the Second Coming?
From the Holy Scriptures we know quite a lot about the Second Coming, the Last Judgment and the end of the world. But is it worth panicking about future events? Indeed, the righteous and sinners will be judged and receive retribution according to their deeds. God gave each of us earthly life. And during it we can repent of our sins, begin to lead a godly life, and do good deeds.
And most importantly, we can participate in the Eucharist, in the sacrament, without which the salvation of the soul is impossible. All of the above gives us hope of being among those who will inherit the Kingdom of God and eternal bliss.
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