CHRIST’S OUTLINE OF END-TIME EVENTS LEADING TO HIS SECOND COMING
In Matthew 24
  1. Jesus Gives Warnings To His Disciples :

    • The disciples are curious and ask Jesus what is going to happen at the end: “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” Matthew 24:3 NKJV

    • Two things they want to know: 1. The Signs of His coming. 2. And the events of the End of the Age.
    • Jesus warns them about three things before He begins to give them the details: [Matthew 24:4-5]
      1. Deception from the enemy will be very strong.
      2. Deception from false Christs will be very strong.
      3. And if they are not alert, they could vulnerable to these deceptions.

  2. All Begins With: Wars, Famines, And Earthquakes :
    • The beginning of sorrows, but not the end yet: “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 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.” Matthew 24: 6-8
      • The last 100 years has been a century of constant warfare around the world, like never before in the history of the human race.
      • It has been recorded that 7 of the 10 biggest famines in the world occurred in the last 100 years.
      • More major earthquakes have been recorded in the last 100 years than in any other century in the history of mankind.
      • What Christ is describing goes with Revelation 6 and the opening of the 7 Seals.

  3. Persecution Of Born Again Believers, False Doctrines, And False Prophets In The Church :
    • Jesus continues: “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. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” Matthew 24:9-11 NKJV
      • There have been more recorded martyrdoms of born again Christians in the last 100 years than all the precious 19 centuries combined.
      • False doctrines and false prophets have inundated the Christian Church like never before in the history of Christianity.
      • The false doctrines and the false prophets are taking the church more and more into the apostasy or falling away that Paul predicts will occur before the antichrist comes into the scene. [2 Thess. 2:1-4]
      • Through the ecumenical movement, the apostate church will join with other religions of the world to form the one world religion or the Harlot of Revelation chapter 17.
      • But the Body of Christ, born again believers, will continue to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom under great persecution, as Jesus predicts: “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.” Matthew 24:13-14
      • The persecution of believers go with the opening of the 5th Seal and the martyrs under the altar who are told that they have to wait until the number of believers who are going to be killed will be completed. [Revelation 6:9-11]

  4. The Appearance Of The Antichrist, The Abomination Of Desolation :
    • Jesus continues speaking to His disciples about the signs of the end: “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand).” Matthew 24:15 NKJV
      • The antichrist will stop the daily sacrifices that he has permitted to return to the newly-built temple in Jerusalem. [Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:11]
      • The antichrist will set himself up in the temple and will declare that he is the only god to be worshiped in the world. [2 Thessalonians 2:3; Daniel 11:36-39]
      • The false prophet will force the people of the world to worship the antichrist or they will be killed. [Revelation 13:13-15]
      • The false prophet will force the people of the world to take the mark of the beast if they want to buy or sell in the antichrist’s world system. [Rev. 13:16-18]
      • The world will be divided into ten kingdom/territories and all the ten kings controlling those kingdoms will pledge their allegiance to the antichrist forming the one-world-government. [Rev. 17:12-14]
      • The ten kings will destroy the Harlot/the one-world-religion because the only god that will be adored is the antichrist. [Rev. 17:16-18].

  5. The Great Tribulation Begins :
    • Jesus continues with His prophecy of the end-time: “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Matthew 24:16-21 NKJV
      • The antichrist will turn against the Jewish people who will not accept him as the Almighty God. [Daniel 11:32-35]
      • Jesus warns that their flight must be fast, not looking back for anything because the antichrist will kill many of them until they arrive at the place of refuge that God has prepared for them in the desert mountains. [Rev. 12:6, 13-16]
      • When the antichrist sees that the Jewish people has found a place of refuge that God had prepared for them in the mountains and that he cannot longer attack them, then he will turn with great wrath against Christian believers who are still alive and sharing the gospel. [Rev. 12:17, 13:7, Daniel 7:21-22]

  6. Christ’s Second Coming :
    • After Jesus outlines all the events preceding His Second Coming, He describes how His arrival will occur: “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.” Matthew 24:29-30 NKJV
      • Like Jesus says, immediately after the tribulation, He will appear with his angels and with God’s glory on the clouds. [Rev. 14:14; Daniel 7:13; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Matthew 16:27]
      • Everyone on the planet will witness His appearance on the cloud and with His glory.
    • Finally, Christ will send His angels to gather born again believers, dead and alive, and they will be taken up to the clouds to be with the Lord. They will have their glorified bodies as they are going to meet the Lord in the air: “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.” Mat. 24:31 NKJV [1 Corinthians 15:51-54; 1 Thess. 4:16-17]
    • Jesus warned the disciples :
      • They should be looking for the signs that will precede His Second Coming [Mat. 24:32-35].
      • No one knows the day or the hour only the Father knows when it is going to occur. [Mat. 24:36]