What Will Be the Signs of Christ’s Return?

Jesus is coming back, make no mistake about it! The New Testament reveals various “signs” of his coming. Things will be happening on earth that we will see and experience. We can read about some of them in Matthew 24. 

Here’s the background. On Tuesday prior to his crucifixion, Jesus goes to the temple in Jerusalem where he pronounces final judgment on the religious leaders of Israel. Then he leaves the temple area with his disciples, crosses the Kidron Valley, and finds a place to sit on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. Jesus then begins to explain the world events that will lead to his return.

When the disciples comment about the beauty of Herod’s Temple, Jesus replies that a day is coming when the temple will be destroyed and “not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down” (Matthew 24:2). Researchers in Jerusalem have discovered the stones of the temple, still lying along the road where they were thrown by the Roman soldiers 2,000 years ago. For centuries they were covered by rubble. The recent excavation offers dramatic proof of the literal truth of Jesus’ words.

When the disciples heard this prediction, they asked three questions: “When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). In his reply, Jesus doesn’t directly answer the first question. He skips over 2,000 years to discuss the events surrounding his return to the earth.

In Matthew 24:4-14, Jesus reveals six “signs” of the times. As we study these verses, keep in mind they have a double reference. These “signs” are true and present in every generation, and they will be especially visible as we approach the end of this age.

Sign #1: Spiritual Deception                            

“Jesus answered: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many’” (Matthew 24:4-5).

The first “sign” reminds us that religious charlatans appear in every generation. As we approach the end of the age, increasing gullibility will lead to a rise in spiritual deception. People will follow anyone who speaks with authority and promises to help solve their problems and give meaning to daily life. We should not be surprised by the words of Jesus that such teachers come “in my name.”

Sign #2: International Conflict                   

“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matthew 24:6-7a).

We live in an age of commotion and upheaval. Leon Trotsky once commented that anyone seeking a peaceful world picked the wrong century to be born in. His words seem truer today than ever before.

A recent published list suggests these six hotspots as the most likely places where world war 3 might erupt: Iran, Israel, Turkey, Kashmir, North Korea, China. Those are just a few of the current “hot spots” scattered around the globe.

Sign # 3: Natural Disasters                       

“There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” (Matthew 24:7b).

This means there will be upheavals in nature itself as we hurtle down the final path that leads to the return of Christ to the earth. The UN says that the coronavirus will cause global famines of biblical proportions. The situation in Africa is made worse by the worst locust invasion in 25 years.

Sign #4: Fierce Persecution                      

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.” (Matthew 24:9).

This is a verse no one likes to read or memorize. It’s too negative to be popular, yet there it is, clear and easy to understand, right from the lips of our Lord. He told his disciples to expect the worst because he knew they would be persecuted for their faith. We see that happening around the world today in places like China, India, and in many Middle Eastern countries. But opposition to Christianity is on the rise everywhere, including Europe and the U.S.

Sign #5: Widespread Apostasy                 

“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold” (Matthew 24:10-12).

These verses paint a picture of unprecedented religious apostasy (a word meaning “falling away from the truth”) in the last days. They especially apply to so-called Christian leaders who depart from the Christian faith. They support abortion, the redefinition of marriage, and the right of pornographers to practice their evil trade. They do not preach the message of Christ’s salvation because they do not even believe the gospel. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Sign #6: Worldwide Evangelism

“But he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:13-14).

This sign may seem surprising because we are used to thinking of the signs of the Second Coming in purely negative terms. These verses give us a clear picture of the worldwide spread of the gospel in the last days. As we rush headlong into the final events of human history, vast multitudes will come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Let’s circle back to # 3: Natural Disasters. Matthew 24:7 mentions famines and earthquakes in various places. Luke 21:11 offers us some additional information: “There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.” 

The addition of “pestilences” includes infectious diseases of every sort. A “pestilence” is any deadly disease impacting an entire community. The term “pandemic” describes an epidemic that has spread to several countries.  The Amplified Bible gives us a useful expansion of Luke 21:11:

There will be mighty and violent earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences (plagues: malignant and contagious or infectious epidemic diseases which are deadly and devastating); and there will be sights of terror and great signs from heaven.

What can we say about all this? First, pestilence appears in the Bible in many places. Second, God uses pestilence to get our attention. Third, pestilence will figure in the events of the last days.

The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:1, “Understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.” And the times of difficulty he refers to were already happening for his readers. He was saying, in effect, “Don’t be surprised that life is tough; these are the last days, remember?” 

And 2 Peter 3:3 makes a similar assumption, and gives a similar reminder: “Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.” For Peter’s readers, and for us, the scoffers aren’t future; they are here now.

What’s next?  The next big step is that Jesus is coming back. That’s what the New Testament means when it says his return is “near” or “at hand.” It’s not about shortness of time as we conceive of it, but about nearness in history as God crafts it. And it should make us a people who anticipate it, pray for it, and live in light of it.

The return of Christ is near. We are living in the last days.

For the Sake of a Fallen World… Discipleship

When you were in college did you know any professional students? Maybe you called them “super seniors”.  They were the students who seemed to be in  school continuously, frequently changed their majors, never fulfilling graduation requirements. They found comfort and security in being a student... delaying one more semester or one more year... movement into the real world.

The college experience is all about camaraderie among students and the security of knowing if you’re in school, then you don’t have to face the harsh realities of finding a job, making a living and dealing with adult responsibilities.

Professional students played it safe, stayed inside the walls and hallowed halls of the institution, delaying as long as possible the responsibilities that come with adulthood.

Church can be like that for many believers. A safe place to hideout from the real world. Like college, the Church is an institution that prepares and equips people for real world responsibilities. College prepares students to graduate, equipped to enter the working adult world.  Similarly, the Church equips believers to fulfill their calling as disciples in their community and region of our world.

Church can actually get in the way of achieving the goal set before us by Christ to fulfill the Great Commission. His mission for us is outward bound not inward. Caring for one another, learning to live together in community and equipping is essential... but these activities can become “comfort zones” and must not be our only or primary focus.

Church is a training and equipping resource to prepare disciples for works of evangelism. There is the fellowship of disciples in worship assemblies, Biblical teaching, and learning to care for one another, bearing one another and most of all loving one another. We might liken these activities to a school for ministry preparation.

The Church, like an educational institution, equips individual believers for living in the real world, preparing them for the work of sharing the gospel.

In the Church, together as believers we experience continuous “spiritual formation”. It is a lifelong process of personal growth, flexing, transforming, adapting, learning to exercise and emulate the character of Christ that will carry us forward into eternity.

Serving God is seeking the lost souls of our world and sharing the gospel. It is holy living, honorable living that pleases our Father in heaven. Divine service is living a life set apart from the world, while in the world, but not of the world. Christians are to be equipped, trained and prepared to be noticed by the world as being uniquely different.

The Church, the assembly of believers, is the training and equipping place for Holy and Divine living. (2 Timothy 3:17; 4: 1-5; Hebrews 13:20-21)

God prepares all of us for every possible opportunity to glorify His name, magnify His Son and proclaim the gospel of salvation. Our mission is to recognize the opportunities and know when to seize them. 

Living Christianity each and every day is the greatest adventure in the world. There is nothing like it. The world is ripe for gospel proclamation.

In all professions, from the helper services such as doctors, nurses, teachers, social workers to business owners, managers, accountants, sales and marketers, there are opportunities to be a witness for Christ and His Kingdom. It can be verbal or it can be a silent living example of “conduct unbecoming the world”, but God-honoring and glorifying. 

The Church trains and enables individuals to find in their work a divine calling and see the hand of God in their efforts to create and promote what is good and to serve others in love.

The focus of our discipleship for Christ is not highly programmed church functions and activities, but equipping each other to deal with the real world. Discipleship is for the sake of the world, not for the sake of the church. It is carried out in the those situations where people spend their lives. Above all, dealing in and with the “world” is hard work. 

Unfortunately, “discipleship” as Christian groups now teach and practice it, consists mainly of “special” activities of various kinds, religiously characterized, motivated, and organized “inwardly”, for sake of the church. In today’s culture, there is useful value in a “place” — the church building.

It’s where people can go to hear and learn about Christ. But nothing can replace the “feet shod for Kingdom proclamation”, one on one, your mouth speaking the message of Christ to a hearers ears.

Whatever we do, every minute of everyday, lines up on one of two sides in the cosmic struggle for souls... God’s side or Satan’s side. Failing to perceive our mission as God intends it to be, “working in the real world” is a victory for Satan.

Sequestering ourselves in the confines of a programmed and activity filled church building in continuous preparation and training, never stepping forth into the real world to exercise the fruits of our discipleship, is a victory for Satan. Resisting and thwarting the efforts of the Holy Spirit to transform us, so that we are a beacon for the gospel, seen and known as Christians, is a victory for Satan. 

We either magnify and glorify God in our life conduct by living out our discipleship training in the real world by boldly preaching the gospel, or we don’t. If we don’t step out into the real world, armed and equipped with the gospel, we fail to hold to our commitment to serve God... His way.

The assembly of believers, elders and preachers guide disciples into their place in their world and show them how to “exercise dominion in life through the one man, Christ Jesus” (Romans 5:17). Church builds the whole Christian for the whole world.

Real life, “ordinary” life, is the place of disciples and the place for discipleship. Equipped, prepared and outward bound is our God-given mission.

COVID-19... Is It a Sign of the End Time?

We are living in uncertain times.  People are feeling unsure about the future, not just their own, but the future of humanity.   Nothing in our lifetime has had such a debilitating impact on our world. The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the things we thought we understood and could trust.  It’s left us wondering what will come next.

Is the coronavirus in Bible prophecy? That is a question many Christians are asking today, as they have throughout history whenever a world-changing event like the coronavirus comes into their lives.  Is coronavirus one of the plagues mentioned in the Bible?

According to the Bible, plagues are said to be one of the signs that herald the end times and the return of Jesus Christ. As the spread of the coronavirus continues, both Christians and non-believers alike are prone to ask themselves… Does the coronavirus fulfill biblical plague prophecies?

Jesus said that in the future, there would be many signs of the end of the age, but as to knowing when these things will be, He stated: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matthew 24:36).

You may stop to question how a tiny little virus particle (that isn’t even technically alive) can bring so much distress to the entire world. But we have seen this before. Remember, there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9–11).

Christians living in the mid-1300s faced a bacterial plague we know today as the Black Death. While we cannot be certain of the death toll, estimates are that half of the population of Europe died in less than a decade. The scourge had begun in Asia and brought its darkness to Europe and the lives of all people there.

Just as we see today among concerned Christians, there was fear of the disease even as there was no fear of death because of hope in Christ (1 John 4:13–21). 

As it ravaged their communities and news spread of its extent, those who had access to and could read their Bibles may have noted a similarity to Revelation and the plagues described there. Was the Black Death a sign that judgment was being poured out?

Wars and Rumors of Wars.  For nearly 2,000 years, followers of Christ have been seeking to know when the final judgment would come. As Jesus walked the earth, sin and its effects had been leaving their mark for 4,000 years. Death, disease, suffering, anguish, and groaning have been part of the human experience since the day Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree. 

All of creation, Paul reminds us, groans as it awaits to be delivered from the bondage of corruption and the revealing of the sons of God—which we often liken to an Eden-like state to dwell with God (Romans 8:18–25). We feel that groaning well up inside when trials come into our lives, and even more so as we see others around us experiencing that suffering on a massive scale.

Seated on the Mount of Olives, Jesus’ disciples asked him about the end of the age (Matthew 24). Sincere students of the Bible dispute exactly how to interpret Christ’s words there, and we must take care to be charitable toward those who hold different positions about whether those things have been fulfilled or are still to come. If the Jews at the time of the first coming of Christ misunderstood the signs, we can understand how different interpretations of what the second coming will look like are also disputed among those seeking to be faithful to Scripture today.

Sheltering in homes, avoiding contact with coronavirus, Christians have found themselves with extra time on their hands and they have been spending that time with their keyboards researching “End Times.” 

Consequently, posts on social media and internet sites are overflowing with “explanations” of the current times we are living.

People are trying to connect the dots and draw a conclusion that they have discovered when the “end” will actually come.  Pointing to the global COVID pandemic in concert with earthquakes, “murder hornets,” locusts, and other events around the world have rekindled specific claims of Christ’s return. 

The last time a viral pandemic occurred was in 1918–19. The Spanish flu, as it was called, killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide and 675,000 in the United States. These numbers translate into 3 percent of the world’s population and 0.64 percent of the US population at that time. 

Pandemics of this nature have occurred throughout human history at a rate of about one or two per century. Hence, it is not unusual that we are experiencing a pandemic now. Given that killer coronaviruses are most easily germinated by dense human populations coming into contact with dense animal populations, it is nothing short of miraculous that, in the present context of dense world populations of both, we have not had a coronavirus pandemic any earlier than now. 

Nevertheless, there is much we can learn from the current outbreak that can help forestall and mitigate future pandemics. Along with scientific and medical learning, we can apply what we already know as creatures made in God’s image. We can help and encourage anyone we know who is affected by the virus in any way.

What can we do in these uncertain times?  It is normal to question God's goodness during this time when millions of people are suffering as a result of the health and economic consequences of this pandemic.

It is a sad truth that the world has always been a broken place, dating back from the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Suffering and sickness have been a part of this world for so long; humans in their imperfection and frailty have chosen to follow the wrong paths, which has led to detrimental consequences for mankind and the planet.

Though the Bible gives accounts of plagues as a result of God’s wrath, the New Testament speaks of God’s love, mercy, and ultimate sacrifice for us through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. For that reason, we need not fear a wrathful God, rather we can rejoice in a God of grace and mercy, who forgives us for our sins and transgressions.

I don’t remember anything quite like the COVID-19 pandemic, not in my lifetime. I can remember being vaccinated against Polio and Small Pox as a child, but even those diseases or the fear of being infected did not disrupt the globe such as we are experiencing now.

The personal, social, economic, and political effects of COVID-19 have been staggering. “Unprecedented” has been used over and over again. It’s natural for people to think this is an epoch-altering event in human history.

So let me restate the questions on everyone’s minds these days… Is the Coronavirus a fulfillment of biblical prophecy? Is it a sign that Christ is returning in our generation? A stage-setting step toward a global takeover by the Antichrist? Is it some insidious mechanism for foisting the mark of the beast upon unwitting hands and foreheads? 

My unhesitant answer… No, it’s not.  I make that statement based on my understanding of the theology of the end times.

My reasons for not linking end-times prophecy to the COVID-19 pandemic are as follows:  

1.  We can’t know the times or seasons. In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2, Paul says, “Now concerning the times and seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” By the first century, the phrase “day of the Lord” had become a technical phrase referring to any period of time characterized by God’s mediated visitation in judgment in this world (Isaiah 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11; 3:4; 4:14; Amos 5:18, 20; Obad. 15; Zeph. 1:7, 14; Mal. 3:23). 

Though there have been many “days of the Lord” throughout history, the New Testament looks forward to a final period of judgment on this earth—the ultimate “Day of the Lord,” characterized by the kinds of events described by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24; Mark 13) and pictured in the symbolism of the book of Revelation—war, famine, disease, deception, etc. Some people call this period the “Tribulation.”  

In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul says the destruction of the Day of the Lord will come “suddenly” (5:3), “like a thief in the night” (5:2). Like the time of the coming of Christ, we will not know “the times and the seasons” (5:1; cf. Acts 1:7 related to the coming of Christ as king). Unlike the more specific “day and hour,” the phrase “times and seasons” refers to a more general, indefinite period of time. 

Let me illustrate. Imagine if a certain satellite in orbit around the earth were bound to fall out of the sky and crash. But imagine scientists said, “Not only do we not know the day or hour, but we don’t even know the period of time or season.” In other words, we have no idea when the satellite will fall, we just know it will. Similarly, in 1 Thessalonians Paul communicates that we can be neither precise nor general in our estimation of when the Tribulation (“Day of the Lord”) will begin. 

Therefore, we can point to no current events—like COVID-19—as markers that we’re in the end times or even in the general time or season of end-times events.  

2.  The Day of the Lord comes when people don’t expect it. In the same passage, Paul says the destruction of the Day of the Lord will come when people feel comfortable and secure. 

When they are saying, “Peace and security!” (1 Thes. 5:3), the destruction of the end-times Day of the Lord will come suddenly. 

The cry “peace and security” doesn’t mean they’re in the midst of horror and turmoil and they’re longing for peace and security. That explanation wouldn’t make sense because the inescapable destruction comes upon them “suddenly” and “like a thief in the night” (5:2-3). 

In fact, Jesus portrayed the ease people will be feeling prior to the coming of judgment this way: “But concerning that day and hour no one knows… For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away” (Matt. 24:36-39). 

Both Paul and Jesus portray the sudden coming of the period of end-times judgments as preceded by a sense of calm, peace, and security, when people are carrying out their normal, everyday affairs like marriage and work (24:40-41). The coming of the Son of Man mentioned in this passage refers to his coming as the one who metes out judgment upon the earth, and that coming in judgment, known as the Tribulation or “Day of the Lord” will arrive like a thief in the night “at an hour you do not expect” (Matt. 24:42-44). 

The global COVID-19 pandemic, which has stolen people’s sense of peace and security and literally delayed normal, everyday events like marriages and work, doesn’t line up with the Bible’s own portrayal of the kinds of conditions immediately preceding the actual Day of the Lord. 

3.  Nothing must precede the imminent Day of the Lord. Like many in the early church, I’m a futurist with regard to the coming seven-year Tribulation period, during which events and opposers of God Almighty will wreak havoc on this world. This same period of time is the means by which God exercises judgment—the final Day of the Lord—partly prophesied in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24 [though I believe Jesus partly referred to events in the first century]), and more directly prophesied in the book of Revelation. I know this isn’t everybody’s view of the end times, but it has strong early historical precedence. 

The fact that the coming of Christ in judgment and the commencement of the Day of the Lord (Tribulation) can occur at any time—and that there are no warnings prior to its start—means that coming period is imminent. There is no count-down. There are no signs that must occur prior to the Day of the Lord. No intermediate prophecy needs to be fulfilled. No global government established. No technology invented. No specific politician in power. 

In fact, a consistent futurist reading of Revelation would regard all the symbolic visions described in that book of Revelation as finding their fulfillment during (not before) the future seven-year Tribulation. This would correspond with Jesus’s often-misinterpreted statement that wars, earthquakes, death, pestilence, false religions, and persecution would appear in the world, but “these are but the beginning of birth pains” and “see that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet” (Matt. 24:4-8). 

Such events have been occurring throughout the world, to varying degrees, since the ascension of Christ and establishment of the church. Though it would be accurate to say these foreshadow (or provide “types” for) the kinds of intensified judgments of the actual Day of the Lord period, none of them are, in fact, the judgments themselves. 

Of course, other views of the end times will render different results. The position known as “historicism,” which views the book of Revelation progressively fulfilled throughout history, would theoretically be open to any current events matching biblical prophecy. But a consistent futurist, confines the fulfillment of these prophecies to the future.

Therefore, because I believe the Day of the Lord is a definite future period of time marked by certain very distinct conditions, before which there are no prophecies to be fulfilled, COVID-19 is not an event of the Tribulation period. 

4.  No stage-setting events precede the Day of the Lord. I’ve heard people say, “Well, this pandemic may not be the actual fulfillment of prophecy, but I think it’s setting the stage for it.” Then they may project some extremely speculative scenario in which a one-world government forms out of the COVID-19 crisis, some antichrist figure takes control, and the end-times prophecies come to pass. The typical response is something along the lines of “Well, you can’t be sure it isn’t preparing the way for the end times, so it’s better to be prepared.” RE-READ considerations 1–3 above before you settle on that idea of the end times.

I do believe that someday in the future, maybe near, maybe far, the events of the end times will take place. Therefore, at some point, events in our world will immediately precede and logically set the stage for the Day of the Lord in some way. And, nobody can know for sure whether today’s events fall into that unique category. 

This fact, however, would be utterly unknowable and completely irrelevant. Theologically speaking, everything that has occurred in history from Christ’s ascension forward can be viewed as in some way setting the stage for the future Tribulation. Events of history are connected in a complex web of cause-and-effect, all under the providence and sovereignty of God. The prophet Daniel said that God “changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others” (Dan. 2:21). 

But in light of points 1–3, there would be no way of knowing whether this or that current event is directly related to any stage-setting of end-times events within our own generation. So, it’s best not even to suggest these current events as being the beginnings of the end time.  

Instead, we should apply Jesus’s words: “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matt. 24:44). And “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8). 

In my life as a believer, I’ve seen outright date-setters, sign-seekers, and "this-is-that" proclaimers come and go. Some are still doing it.  ALL have been obviously wrong… we are still here. 

Those of us who remember Y2K (Google it), may recall well-meaning Christians writing books plotting out how that global crisis was going to lead to the rise of Antichrist and the end times.

They did the same with 9/11. And with every other significant world crisis that’s come along. We’ve been through this all before. In fact, for 2000 years the church has had to deal with such end-times speculations based on even more deadly and tragic crises than COVID-19. 

So what do we do do?  How about our primary job!  Our job as Bible-believing Christians, given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ,  is not to look for signs, speculate about scenarios, or set dates. Our job… is to be ready with lives of holiness and to preach the gospel to all peoples.