Sermon Central
-
Signs Of Christ's Coming Series
Contributed by C. Philip Green on Aug 20, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: As Jesus’ coming approaches, escape the wrath to come by trusting Jesus with your life, ignore those who say Jesus has already come, look for the signs, and know He is coming soon, perhaps even in your lifetime.
Several years ago, in the winter (2009), Chicago experienced heavy snowfalls. A man and his wife had over a foot of snow piled up on the roof of their two-story home. Then they had a thaw. One evening when he returned home from work, he noticed that a thick sheet of ice and snow was hanging over the edge of the roof like a glacier hanging over a cliff. Their driveway runs right alongside the house, and one of their cars was parked directly underneath the overhanging ice.
The man thought to himself, “When that ice falls, it may land on our car.” However, he did nothing. Their driveway was filled from end to end, single file, with four family cars, and he would have to get permission from the police to park overnight on the street. The temperature was supposed to fall below freezing that night, and it didn't look as though the glacier was ready to fall yet. He thought, “We have lived in our home for 20 years and never had a chunk of ice fall on a car.”
The next morning when he went out to the car to leave for work, he looked up at the roof and noticed that the glacier was still there. That night when he came home from work after another warm day, the glacier was still in place. He thought to himself, “Just to be safe, I should at least pull my car as far as possible to the left side of the driveway.” But he was tired and cold and hungry, so he decided to go in for dinner. “I’ll move it later tonight,” he said to himself. He mentioned the overhanging glacier to his wife. The night passed, and he went to bed.
The next morning when he went out to the car to leave for work, he looked up and noticed that the glacier was still hanging over the edge of the roof. “I don't have time to mess with the cars,” he thought. Moving four cars would take more than five minutes, and he would be late for work. he drove away hoping that for one more day nothing would happen.
His wife, however, had not forgotten about the glacier. When she went outside, she saw the glacier hanging two stories above their car and decided to move it. First, she decided to go in the house and take care of food cooking on the stove, and then she would come back out and move the car. A few minutes later as she stood in the kitchen, she heard a crash on the side of their house. She ran outside. The glacier had fallen, landing on their car and shattering the front windshield (www.PreachingToday.com).
My dear friends, we live in a day and age when the “ice is about to fall.” The signs are “hanging over the roof,” so to speak, and a big crash is coming! Please, pay attention to those signs, which Jesus described for us in Matthew 24.
The last time we were together, we saw the signs He gave us for the end of the age, a 7-year time of tribulation before Jesus returns to rule and reign from David’s throne in Jerusalem. Those signs include: wars and rumors of war; famines and earthquakes; the persecution of God’s people; fake news leading many people astray; increased lawlessness; and the spread of the gospel around the world. Like never before, all these signs are increasing, which can only mean the Tribulation is about to fall. And if that’s true, then Jesus’ coming to rule and reign on this earth will soon follow.
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Matthew 24, Matthew 24, where Jesus gives more specific signs for His Second Coming. In verses 4-14, He described the signs for the end of the age. Now, starting in verse 15, He describes the signs for His Second Coming.
Matthew 24:15-16 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains (ESV).
Jesus says flee when you see “the abomination of desolation.” Run when you see the desecration of the Temple in Jerusalem. In other words, as His coming approaches...
ESCAPE THE WRATH TO COME.
Now, this “abomination of desolation” is that which Daniel talked about at the end of Daniel 9. There, Daniel speaks of a “prince who is to come” who will establish a 7-year peace treaty with Israel. Revelation 11 tells us that the temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem by that time, perhaps as part of this 7-year peace treaty. However, halfway through those seven years, this “prince” will break that treaty, stop the temple sacrifices, desecrate the temple itself, and proclaim himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
