Page 8 - Signs of the End

2 THE SIGNS OF THE END

moment. If the Lord were waxing prophetic, they had som e very im­
portant questions on their minds. And, as a matter of fact, they put
three questions to Je su s at this point:

“And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came
unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be?
And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of
the world?” (Matt. 24:3)

Possibly they expected the Lord to answer in highly symbolic terms
or to give replies of such profundity that they would still be left wonder­
ing. But, on this occasion, Je su s chose to answer at least two of the
questions with utmost clarity and precision.

Their first question is not answerable by the Lord (see v. 36), but
He more than obliges them on the signs of His coming and of the
end of the world. From verse 4 to 28, the Lord gives the general
characteristics of the end of the age, and then He continues with the
signs of His coming along with several illustrations addressed to the
faithful.

It is m ost fascinating to consider that not a single sign given by
the Lord in this entire discourse is in any way unfamiliar to our own
generations today. Certainly, we have seen many come in His name,
saying “I am Christ” (v. 5). We have heard of the wars and rumors
of wars. We have seen nation rise against nation and kingdom against
kingdom. We have seen the famines, pestilences and earthquakes in
diverse places (v. 6-7).

It might be argued that the Lord was simply characterizing the
unspiritual nature of man a s it always had been and even was in His
own day. But, clearly, our generation has som e very good arguments
a s being either the very one to see the m ost emphatic of these signs,
or one quite close to the end.

There have been false prophets throughout the ages, of course,
before Christ and after Him. But few could utter with any meaning,
“I am Christ”. Few men could have said, “I am the Anointed One,
the Saviour of the world”, and have been prepared to deliver on that.
However, in this day and time, we are seeing such phrases uttered
by “christs” from all over. Rev. Moon is the M essiah and intends to