Signs in the Heavens

The Saviour gives signs of His coming and fixes the time when the first of these signs shall appear: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”HLv 424.3

At the close of the great papal persecution, Christ declared, the sun should be darkened, and the moon should not give her light. Next, the stars should fall from heaven. And He says, “When ye shall see all these things, know that He is near, even at the doors.” Matthew 24:33, margin. Christ says of those who see these signs, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” These signs have appeared. Now we know of a surety that the Lord's coming is at hand.HLv 424.4

Christ is coming with great glory. A multitude of shining angels will attend Him. He will come to raise the dead and to change the living saints; 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 shall 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 come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”HLv 425.1

But Christ stated plainly that He Himself could not make known the day or the hour of His second appearing. The exact time of the second coming is God's mystery.HLv 425.2