Table of Contents
“… what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matt. 24:3.
The days of Noah – our days
When the apostles asked Jesus what was the sign of His Coming and the end of the world, He answered them:
“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matt. 24:37-39.
Here Jesus compared the last days to the days of Noah. How were people living in the time of Noah, before the Flood? Gen. 6:4, 5 reports that the people were wholly given to their fleshly lusts. The giants of that day multiplied their evils on the earth and “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”. At that time men had gone far away from God and His holiness.
“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence… And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Gen. 6:11-13.
The apostle Peter says:
“By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” 1 Peter 3:19, 20.
If we compare our days with the days of Noah, we will see that the words of Paul to Timothy very clearly portray today’s situation in the world. He says:
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof…” 2 Tim. 3:1-5
Here Paul describes 18 types of sin that will dominate the hearts of men, and he specifies that this will be “in the last days”. Nobody can deny today that these sins exist. On the contrary, they are so widespread and so controlling in human life, that we can say with certainty that today’s mankind which only has a form of godliness lives its final days before the Second Coming of Christ.
Just as in the days of Noah men did not believe that there would be a Flood, and they mocked the preacher – Noah, so today people who listen to the message about the Second Coming of Christ are saying that this is a fable and a tale. The apostle Peter says:
“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts…” 2 Peter 3:3, 4.
Though the Sacred Scriptures clearly describe in so many places that the Coming will happen and that it is at the door, yet today’s cultured world does not believe in these promises. Here is what Jesus said in the Gospel:
“Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8.
The final message before the end of the world
As God warned the old world through Noah about the Flood, so today God warns mankind through His ambassadors about the end. Jesus says:
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matt. 24:14.
In the first century, God showed the prophet John how His gospel would be proclaimed in all the earth. John saw the messengers of God in the form of angels of God that would warn all humanity about Jesus’ Coming. Their cry to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people is clear and easy to understand. It reads:
“Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Rev. 14:7.
Because people in the last days will give glory to idols and will worship gods made by hands (Isaiah 44; Psalm 115), for this reason, the servants of God invite them to worship not the creature but the Creator Who made heaven and earth in six days, and rested on the seventh day, Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11).
The second part of the message of God reads:
“Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Rev. 14:8. See also Rev. 18:2.
Here God declares that the apostate church that has entered into a corrupt union with the government (a church-state union) has spread her intoxicating false teachings to the whole earth, leading religious people and secular people alike into an abominable sin that causes the displeasure of God.
The third part states:
“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:9-12.
Here God compares the second beast of Rev. 13 (the beast that came out of the earth – the young union of the states that came from a land that was not densely inhabited) to the Roman power (the first beast) and warns the inhabitants of the world not to worship it – not to participate in its false worship that will be instituted by law, causing people to break one of God’s Ten Commandments.
God has a final message which is aimed to bring all the sons and daughters of God out of Babylon and prepare them for eternal life. John heard a voice, saying:
“Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” Rev. 18:4, 5.
We are glad that we live in the time when God through His messengers is preparing a way through all the nations for the Second Coming of Christ. These servants of God, compared in Revelation 14 to angels, are preparing also the saints for whom God says:
“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12.
The Glory of His Coming
After the above message has been given (Rev. 14:6-12) for a testimony to all nations and after the people of God have been prepared for the coming of the Savior in glory, the voice of God will be heard:
“He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Rev. 22:11.
“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.” Matt. 24:30.
Christ shall come with great glory, accompanied by all the holy angels. How much glory there will be when Jesus appears in all His brightness! Just one angel caused the Roman soldiers to become so terrified that they fell, half-dead. But what will it be when all the holy angels accompany Him, as the King of Glory, sitting in His majesty on a white cloud?
When the cloud shall come nearer and all the earth shall tremble, then all who have rejected the merciful Three Angel’s Message of God shall be filled with indescribable fear.
“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:15-17.
All who have mocked His message, are now laying in the dust and in vain praying to be hidden from the glory of the eternal King. The tongue is feeble to describe the glory of His Coming. A brightness that is incomparable to anything that is in the world, brighter than seven suns, will penetrate the most obscure corners of the earth.
The angels will gather the redeemed
When Jesus shall near the earth with His glory, He shall send His angels with the sound of a trumpet sound and they shall gather His elect.
“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.” Matt. 24:31.
He shall say:
“Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” Psalm 50:5.
For thousands of years, the good seeds and the bad seeds have been ripening, and the hour is coming when they shall be harvested. On the isle of Patmos, John saw how Jesus shall reap the earth. Rev. 14:14-16.
As the husbandman patiently awaits for the fruit to ripen, so the children of God are waiting with joy for the Coming when they shall be gathered by the angels for the Kingdom of God. Matthew 13:38-43. In Revelation, Jesus says: “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen.”
And all the faithful servants of God shall cry with rejoicing: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Rev. 22:20.