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Matthew 24:
"See to it that no one misleads you...."
1 Jesus came out from the temple and was going away
when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to
Him.
2 And He said to them, "Do you not see all these
things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon
another, which will not be torn down."
3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the
disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will
these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming,
and of the end of the age?"
4 And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it
that no one misleads you.
5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the
Christ,' and will mislead many.
6 "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars.
See that you are not frightened, for those things must take
place, but that is not yet the end.
7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and
earthquakes.
8 "But all these things are merely the beginning of
birth pangs.
9 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and
will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My
name.
10 "At that time many will fall away and will
betray one another and hate one another.
11 "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead
many.
12 "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's
love will grow cold.
13 "But the one who endures to the end, he will be
saved.
14 "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in
the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the
end will come.
Perilous Times
15 "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF
DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet,
standing in the holy place let the reader understand),
16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the
mountains.
17 "Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to
get the things out that are in his house.
18 "Whoever is in the field must not turn back to
get his cloak.
19 "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those
who are nursing babies in those days!
20 "But pray that your flight will not be in the
winter, or on a Sabbath.
21 "For then there will be a great tribulation,
such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until
now, nor ever will.
22 "Unless those days had been cut short, no life
would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days
will be cut short.
23 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is
the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him.
24 "For false Christs and false prophets will arise
and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if
possible, even the elect.
25 "Behold, I have told you in advance.
26 "So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the
wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner
rooms,' do not believe them.
27 "For just as the lightning comes from the east
and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of
Man be.
28 "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will
gather.
"And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in
the sky...."
29 "But immediately after the tribulation of
those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE
ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers
of the heavens will be shaken.
30 "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear
in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and
they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with
power and great glory.
31 "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT
TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four
winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
(NOTE: Does the above sound like the "Rapture" to you? It does to us! This seems to be corroborated by 1 Corinthians 15:52, ("... in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the LAST trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.") and Revelation 8:6 - 11:25, which talks about the seven trumpet judgments and the horrible things that have happened on earth by the time the FINAL TRUMPET sounds. In our opinion, this TOTALLY negates the "pre-Tribulation Rapture" theory! -- But please, check it out for yourself and then make up your own mind. God WANTS us to examine His Word thoroughly!)
Parable of the Fig Tree
32 "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when
its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves,
you know that summer is near;
33 so, you too, when you see all these things,
recognize that He is near, right at the door.
34 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not
pass away until all these things take place.
35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words
will not pass away.
36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even
the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
37 "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just
like the days of Noah.
38 "For as in those days before the flood they were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the
day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and they did not understand until the flood came
and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man
be.
40 "Then there will be two men in the field; one
will be taken and one will be left.
41 "Two women will be grinding at the mill; one
will be taken and one will be left.
Be Ready for His Coming!
42 "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know
which day your Lord is coming.
43 "But be sure of this, that if the head of the
house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming,
he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his
house to be broken into.
44 "For this reason you also must be ready; for the
Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He
will.
45 "Who then is the faithful and sensible slave
whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their
food at the proper time?
46 "Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so
doing when he comes.
47 "Truly I say to you that he will put him in
charge of all his possessions.
48 "But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My
master is not coming for a long time,'
49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and
drink with drunkards;
50 the master of that slave will come on a day when
he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,
51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a
place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.
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