According to the Book of Matthew, chapter 24 of the Bible, there are seven signs that point to the eminent Second Coming (Advent) of Jesus Christ. Are we the final generation before the return of Jesus? Perhaps. Please read this eye opening article and decide for yourself.

False Christs (Matthew 24:5)

These are people, men and women, who will come to our world claiming that they are Christ. Charles Manson, Jim Jones, Sun Jung Moon, David Koresh, Marshall Applewhite (Doe of Heaven's Gate), etc. These people are powerful in their persuasiveness. They have and will deceive and kill many. Years ago, New Ager Benjamin Creme ran a full page ad in major newspapers in the world, claiming that the Messiah had come and was living in Liverpool, England. This Lord Maitreya is still alive and still claiming he is the "messiah".

Wars and Rumors of Wars: (Matthew 24:6)

Jesus puts a postscript that "nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom". The word "nation" in the Greek language is "ethnos" meaning "ethnic", a subgroup within a nation. It means "an increase of civil war within a nation. No one of sound mind can escape the fact that the news if filled with violent stories of one ethnic group against the other. For example, in the US, latins against blacks. In Ireland, Catholics against Protestants. In WW II, Nazis against Jews. In Israel, Arabs against Israelis. "Kingdom" is the Greek word "basileia" which means a "kingdom or a providence", which indicates that Jesus was speaking about international war between kingdoms like America, Russia, Africa, Israel, Canada, etc. In Rwanda alone, in less than 90 days, 900,000 people were massacred. This was done with machetes. Joseph Stalin killed more people in WW II, than Adolph Hitler.

World wide peril: (Matthew 24:7)

Famines There are approximately 6 billion people in the world, growing at a rate of 1 billion over so many years within a generation. According to WHO (World Health Organization), 1 in 6 people in the world are starving every night.
Pestilences In 1997, they said that the greatest threat to mankind, AIDS, is growing at a rate of 16,000 cases per day, world-wide. In 1999, they said that 33 million people died of AIDS alone. However, many people are not counted in that sum because many people die of ancillary diseases that are related to AIDS and they are not counted. Entire regions of continents are infected, IE, Africa. This is just one of many diseases that kills people, unlike anything ever seen. Think about cancer and others.
Earthquakes in Diverse Places Earthquakes in diverse places; the greatest proof of all three. "Diverse" means in places they have never been before and in numerical amounts they have never been seen. In case you are skeptical, these quakes were registered in places they have never been seen and in increased amounts over the years. Jesus said these would be the "birth pangs". We are not in Tribulation times yet, but we are close.
Persecution of the Saints: (Matthrew 24:9)
Jesus is not talking about the "now" time but the time of the Great Tribulation. Revelation 13:7 says: "It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him." That's why we know that the Church will not be around during the Great Tribulation because the Bible says that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. However, there will be people that will be saved during the time after the Rapture and they will be defeated by the anti-Christ; they will be killed. There will be mass executions, especially against Jewish Christians. We are seeing this persecution of Christians now. In Sudan, Africa, 5 million Christians are being persecuted. That's just one area. Interestingly enough, America is not doing anything about it. America doesn't want Christians to evangelize but calls for tolerance of other people's faith. If that means that Muslims are killing Christians, we, as a nation, should tolerate that because Muslims have the right to exercise their faith. Pretty amazing that that is the attitude of the liberal politicians and media in the "land of the free".

The Departure of the Faith: (Matthew 24:10)

There are many people who profess being Christians. who are not born-again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is really not their Savior but they go to "church" because it's a good thing to do. If you, as a born- again believer and ask someone if they believe they are going to heaven, and get an answer like, "Of course I do, I go to church and and I am good.", you are probably face-to- face with someone who is not saved and will fall away during the Tribulation. These are the people who we need to press on the Truth of the Gospel. Rom 8:15-16 says about true Christians: "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God..."

The Rise of False Prophets: (Matthew 24:11)

You've read about the false Christs but these are different. These are cults and the new religious organizations, of which there are over 1000 in America today. Cults are, by definition, a church or an organization that calls themselves "spiritual" but denies who Jesus Christ is in His Person and His Diety and denies the Scriptures at certain points, that prohibits a person in truly believing who Jesus Christ is and going to Heaven. For example, Charles Taze Russell, in the late 1800's founded the Watchtower, known today as the Jehovah's Witnesses. He says that Jesus Christ was coming in 1914 and that Armageddon is getting ready to come. When Jesus did not arrive in 1914, he revised his date to the 20's, 30's, 40's and so on. Now the Jehovah's Witnesses say Jesus came but He is hidden. They don't believe in hell but do believe that Jesus really is Michael, the arch-angel. Joseph Smith, in the late 1800's, founded the Mormon church. They believe that Jesus is the "johnny-come-lately" God and if we live to be good, reach the heights of their Mormon ladder, with rituals and become an "apostle of the Mormons", we will inevitably become God, like Jesus. Then, you will ascend to your own planet, (Yes, I wrote "planet" after death and bear your own "spiritual" children and have your own world like Earth. The Mormons require a 10% "tithe" from their constituents, and even send you a "bill" to your home. How nice... The Mormon church has amassed over 13 billion dollars and is one of the largest communications company in America today. They own more radio and television stations than any other company in the nation. That is why you can see more commercials of a little Mormon girl with her Mormon bible on prime time television.

[b]Lawlessness and the love of many growing col[/b]d: (Matthew 24:12)

We are in the cult of "self" today. The prophet Isaiah warned (Isa 5:20-21), "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight..." Paul wrote in 2 Tim 3:1-5, " But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these." Does this remind you of something? The reason the love of many will grow cold and lawlessness will abound in the Tribulation period is because the Church will be removed.

Read 2 Thessalonians 2 and play close attention on verses 6-8; "And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming..."

Satan has no love whatsoever for this world or God, and the Holy Spirit is restricting him until the Spirit is removed. The Holy Spirit of God lives within every true believer in Christ. When He is removed, we shall be removed. That's when Satan will be revealed unto this remaining world and lawlessness and lack of love for others will abound.

The seven year Great Tribulation will then begin.

Johnny Rivera is a Christian inspirational author and small business adviser. Over the years, his work has been published in several technical and business websites and in local newspapers. Johnny invites you to visit his business advice e-zine, The Latino Edge.

Johnny never lets failure defeat him. He says, "Failures are stepping stones to success. I fail only when I quit. To me, failure is never final. Get up or stay down - it is all about choices. I choose not to quit. When it rains, I'm still the parade!"

He gives his Friend and Savior, Jesus Christ all the glory for his success. "Without Him, I am nothing and can do nothing of value. He is my only Source."

TRUE......SO TRUE

Jesus himself was a false Christ. Before him there were alleged Christs and after him there were and are alleged Christs too. The world will always have a cycle of peace and war. These are normal occurrence not signs of another fake Christ coming.

ifeness:
Jesus himself was a false Christ. Before him there were alleged Christs and after him there were and are alleged Christs too. The world will always have a cycle of peace and war. These are normal occurrence not signs of another fake Christ coming.

Christians will never understand. All these things existed before "christ" came will always continue to exist. The world will never know worldwide peace because evil makes the world balanced and also helps us appreciate the good things of life

All these things listed here have been happening thousands of years back.. Now they are special.. lol.. christians shaaa..

hahn:


Christians will never understand. All these things existed before "christ" came will always continue to exist. The world will never know worldwide peace because evil makes the world balanced and also helps us appreciate the good things of life

Exactly. Too much of peace will make life boring and one sided. We need a bit of ignorance and delusion like religion and evil to compliment good deeds.

Jesus is coming back. He's the new Adam. Every thing is going to be under his dominion when he comes back. God the creator of every thing will put every thing under his control.