Picture: Signs of the Second Coming of Christ 3TC 392.1
This chapter is based on Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21:5-38.
Christ’s words to the priests and rulers, “See! Your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:38), had struck terror in their hearts. The question kept rising in their minds about what these words might mean. Could it be that the magnificent temple, the nation’s glory, was soon to be a heap of ruins? 3TC 392.2
The disciples also shared this sense of approaching evil. As they walked out of the temple with Jesus, they called His attention to its strength and beauty. The stones of the temple were of the purest marble, some of almost incredible size. A portion of the wall had withstood the siege by Nebuchadnezzar’s army. In its perfect masonry it appeared like one solid stone dug whole from the quarry. 3TC 392.3
The view Christ saw was indeed beautiful, but He said with sadness, “I see it all. You point to these walls as apparently indestructible, but listen: The day will come when ‘not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’” 3TC 392.4
When He was alone, Peter, John, James, and Andrew came to Him. “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” Jesus did not answer by speaking separately of the destruction of Jerusalem and the great day of His coming. He mingled the description of these two events. If He had opened to His disciples the future events as He saw them, they would have been unable to endure the sight. In mercy, He blended the description of the two great crises, leaving the disciples to study out the meaning for themselves. When He referred to the destruction of Jerusalem, His prophetic words reached beyond that event to that day when the Lord will come to punish the world for their iniquity. Jesus gave this entire discourse not just for the disciples but for those who would live in the last scenes of this earth’s history. 3TC 392.5
Christ said, “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” Many false messiahs will appear, declaring that the time of deliverance for the Jewish nation has come. These will mislead many. Christ’s words were fulfilled. Between His death and the siege of Jerusalem many false messiahs appeared. The same deceptions will arise again. 3TC 392.6
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end [of the Jewish nation as a nation] is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” The rabbis will declare that these signs are announcing the advent of the Messiah. Don’t be deceived. The signs that they say are indicators of their release from oppression are signs of their destruction. 3TC 393.1
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.” All this the Christians experienced. Fathers and mothers betrayed their children, children their parents. Friends betrayed friends to the Sanhedrin. The persecutors killed Stephen, James, and other Christians. 3TC 393.2
Through His servants, God gave the Jewish people a last opportunity to repent. He revealed Himself in their arrest and trial, yet their judges pronounced the death sentence on them. By killing them, the Jews crucified the Son of God anew. It will be this way again. The authorities will make laws to restrict religious liberty. They will think they can force the conscience, which God alone should control. They will continue this work until they reach a boundary over which they cannot step. God will intervene in behalf of His loyal, commandment-keeping people. 3TC 393.3
When persecution comes, many stumble and fall, renouncing the faith they once advocated. Those who leave their faith in difficult times will bear false witness and betray their brethren in order to secure their own safety. Christ has warned us of this so that we will not be surprised at the unnatural, cruel behavior of those who reject the light. 3TC 393.4
Christ told His disciples how to escape the ruin that was coming on Jerusalem: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.” Jesus gave this warning to be heeded forty years after, at the destruction of Jerusalem. The Christians obeyed the warning, and not one died in the fall of the city. 3TC 393.5
“Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath,” Christ said. He who made the Sabbath did not abolish it. His death did not cancel the Sabbath. Forty years after His crucifixion His followers were still to hold it sacred. 3TC 393.6
From the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ turned rapidly to the last link in the chain of this earth’s history—the coming of the Son of God in majesty and glory. Between these two events, long centuries of darkness for His church lay open to Christ’s view, centuries marked with blood, tears, and agony. Jesus passed these scenes by with a brief mention. “Then there will be great tribulation,” He said, “such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” 3TC 393.7
For more than a thousand years, persecution such as the world had never before known was to come upon Christ’s followers. Millions of His faithful witnesses would be killed. If God’s hand had not been stretched out to preserve His people, all of them would have lost their lives. 3TC 394.1
Now, in unmistakable language, our Lord speaks of His second coming: “If anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ... If they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” From thousands of gatherings where people profess to hold communication with departed spirits, is not the call now heard, “Look, He is in the inner rooms”? This is the claim that spiritism makes. But what does Christ say? “Do not believe it.” 3TC 394.2
The Savior gives signs of His coming and sets the time when the first of these signs will appear: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, 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 they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” 3TC 394.3
At the close of the great papal persecution, Christ declared the sun would be darkened and the moon not give her light. Next, the stars would fall from heaven. And He says, “When you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.” Matthew 24:33, NRSV. Christ says of those who see these signs, “This generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.” These signs have appeared. Now we know with certainty that the Lord’s coming is near. 3TC 394.4
Christ is coming with great glory. A multitude of shining angels will come with Him. He will come to raise the dead and to change the redeemed who are living, to honor those who have loved Him and kept His commandments, and to take them to Himself. When we look on our dead, we may think of the morning when “the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52. The King will wipe all tears from our eyes and present us “faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Jude 24. “When these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” 3TC 394.5
But Christ stated plainly that He Himself could not reveal the day or the hour of His second appearing. The exact time of the second coming is God’s mystery. 3TC 395.1
Christ continues, “As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” 3TC 395.2
How was it in Noah’s day? “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5. The inhabitants of the world before the Flood followed their own unholy imagination and perverted ideas. Because of their evil, they were destroyed. Today the world is going the same way. Those who break God’s law are filling the earth with wickedness. Their gambling, drunkenness, lustful practices, and untamed passions are quickly filling the world with violence. 3TC 395.3
Christ said, “Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Before the fall of Jerusalem, Paul declared that the gospel had been preached to “every creature under heaven.” Colossians 1:23. Similarly now, the everlasting gospel is to be preached “to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.” Revelation 14:6. Christ does not say that all the world will be converted, but that “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” By giving the gospel to the world it is in our power to speed our Lord’s return. We are not only to look for but to hasten the coming of the day of God. See 2 Peter 3:12. If the church had done her appointed work as the Lord intended, before now the whole world would have been warned, and Jesus would have come. 3TC 395.4
Because we do not know the exact time of His coming, Jesus has commanded us to watch. See Luke 12:37. Those who watch for the Lord’s coming are not waiting in idle anticipation. They are purifying their hearts by obedience to the truth. They combine vigilant watching with earnest working. Their zeal is stirred to cooperate with divine intelligences in working for the salvation of others. They are declaring the truth that has special application just now. As Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses each declared the truth for his time, so Christ’s servants now will give the special warning for their generation. 3TC 395.5
But Christ mentions another group: “If that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him.” 3TC 395.6
The evil servant does not say that Christ will not come. But by his actions and words he declares that the Lord’s coming is delayed. He banishes from the minds of others the conviction that the Lord is coming quickly. His influence confirms them in their worldliness and unconcern. Earthly passions, corrupt thoughts, take possession of the mind. The evil servant beats his fellow servants, accusing and condemning those who are faithful to their Master. He mingles with the world, and with the world he is caught in the trap. “The master of that servant will come ... at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.” 3TC 396.1
The coming of Christ will surprise the false teachers. The day of God will come like a snare, like a prowling thief on all who make this world their home. Full of rioting, full of godless pleasure, the world is asleep in godless security. People laugh at warnings. “Tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant.” Isaiah 56:12. We will go deeper into pleasure loving. But Christ says, “I am coming as a thief.” Revelation 16:15. When the scoffer has become shameless, when people follow the routine of money making without regard to principle, when the student is eagerly seeking knowledge of everything but his Bible, Christ comes as a thief. 3TC 396.2
The signs of the times are ominous. Coming events cast their shadows ahead of time. The Spirit of God is withdrawing from the earth, and calamity follows calamity. Where is security? There is assurance in nothing human or earthly. 3TC 396.3
There are those who are waiting, watching, and working for our Lord’s appearing. Another class are falling into line under the leadership of the first great apostate. The crisis is creeping gradually upon us. The sun shines in the heavens, following its usual circuit. People are still eating and drinking, planting and building. Merchants are still buying and selling. People are competing for the highest place. Pleasure lovers are crowding to theaters, horse races, gambling establishments. The highest excitement prevails, yet probation’s hour is quickly closing, and every case is about to be decided for eternity. Satan has set all his agencies at work to deceive people and keep them occupied and fascinated until the door of mercy is shut forever. 3TC 396.4
“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” 3TC 396.5
