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Matthew 24:1-14 NIV
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
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The human body has many alarm systems. When we get sick, our tonsils can become inflamed, and we may develop a fever. Swelling, dizziness... these symptoms are not without reason. As the saying goes, "There are no waves without wind." In the same way, the Son of the Heavenly Father answered the disciples' questions about the kingdom of heaven. Although there were many prophecies about the kingdom of heaven by the prophets (Isaiah 61:1-3), the mystery of the kingdom of heaven was not fully explained until the only begotten Son of the Heavenly Father came. There is an unknown period of time between the beginning of the kingdom of heaven and its complete fulfillment. It starts with the birth of the only begotten Son of the Heavenly Father and will be completed with His second coming. We are blessed people, living in this time. We all believe in the birth, suffering, death, and resurrection on the third day of God's only begotten Son. Like the apostles, we hope for His second coming and for Him to fully reign. Although we do not know the exact day of His return, the only begotten Son of the Heavenly Father gave us many signs. He said these signs before His return would be like the labor pains of a pregnant woman—more frequent and more intense. These signs include false Christs deceiving people, earthquakes, wars, plagues, persecution, and changes in the sky (Mark 13:3-13, Luke 21:7-19, Acts 2:19-20). In such circumstances, false believers will betray one another (verse 10) and gradually grow cold (verse 12). Only true believers will endure to the end. When the gospel is preached to every one of His chosen people, that will be the time when He returns to fulfill the kingdom of heaven.
Modern people are blessed because we are witnessing these signs happening one by one—not only becoming more frequent but also more severe. Just as a woman suffers labor pains before giving birth, the day of the return of the Heavenly Father's beloved Son is becoming more apparent. Believers, with living hope, prepare to suffer for the Lord and continually equip themselves to welcome that day. Those who haven't seen these signs should stop and carefully observe what is happening in the world around us, comparing now to ten years ago... the promises of the Heavenly Father are being fulfilled one by one. The day when the beloved Son of the Heavenly Father will return to judge is surely near. Only by repenting and accepting salvation in time can we survive on the day of His return.
Are we watchful? Do we see the labor pains this world is going through? Will what we possess have value on that day? Are we ready?
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