THE SIGNS OF THE NEARNESS OF THE DAY OF THE SECOND COMING Matthew, chapter 24

My beloved brothers and sisters in Our Risen Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!

THE SIGNS OF THE NEARNESS OF THE DAY
OF THE SECOND COMING [Matthew, chapter 24]

“Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him
privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And WHAT
WILL THE SIGN OF YOUR COMING, AND OF THE END OF THE AGE?”
(Matthew 24:3].

The question about the signs and the persecutions is connected in the Holy Gospel of Saint Matthew with THE SIGN OF HIS COMING AND THE END OF THE AGE. The Holy Disciples dream of the hoped FOR EARTHLY KINGDOM, which they expect to appear almost immediately. However, Christ knows their anticipation and sets out to prepare them for what is to come. He warns them to “take heed” not to (1) be seduced by any deception; (2) be overpowered by the violence of afflictions which will come; or (3) stumble because of false brethren.

“And Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My
name, saying, ‘I am the Christ and they will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See
that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in
various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows” [Matthew 24:4-8].

It was not pleasing to the Lord–for our own moral benefit–to reveal to us the time of the “LAST DAY” of the present heaven and earth, the day of the Coming of the Son of Man, “the Day of the Lord.” “Of that day and hour knoweth NO MAN, not the Angels of heaven, but My Father ONLY” (Matthew 24:36). “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power” (Acts 1:7). The fact that the time IS UNKNOWN SHOULD AROUSE CHRISTIANS TO A CONSTANT SPIRITUAL VIGILANCE: “Take heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is… And what I say unto you I say unto all, WATCH” [Mark 13:33, 37].

However, the UNKNOWABILITY of the time of the Lord should NOT prevent Christians from reflecting deeply on the course of historical events and discerning in them THE SIGNS of the approach of the time of the “LAST DAY.” The Lord taught: “Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know THAT IT IS NEAR, EVEN AT THE DOORS” [Matthew 24:32-33].

Here are some of the signs indicated in the word of God:

a) The spread of the Gospel to the whole world: “And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and THEN SHALL THE END COME” (Matthew 34:14).

b) On the other hand, there will be an extraordinary manifestation of the powers of evil: “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12). The Holy Apostle Paul says: “In the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers… lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Faith in general will grow weak: “When the Son of Man cometh, SHALL HE FIND FAITH ON THE EARTH?” [Luke 18:8].

c) The devil will raise up warfare against the Kingdom of Christ through his instrument, ANTICHRIST. The name “Antichrist” is used in Holy Scripture in two meanings. In a broad, general sense it indicates every enemy of Christ; this is the meaning when “antichrists” are spoken of in the First and Second Epistles of Saint John the Theologian. But in a particular sense, “Antichrist” signifies A DEFINITE PERSON–THE ADVERSARY OF CHRIST WHO IS TO APPEAR BEFORE THE END OF THE WORLD. Concerning the qualities and actions of this Antichrist we read in the Holy Apostle Paul: “Let no man DECEIVE YOU by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God…For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy by the brightness of His Coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the lover of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-11).

d) In the Apocalypse (Revelation) of Saint John the Theologian there is indicated the appearance of “two witnesses” during the period of the Antichrist’s activity; they will prophesy of the truth and perform miracles, and when they finish their testimony they will be killed, and then after “three days and as half” will be resurrected and ascend into heaven” (Revelation 11:3-12]. According to the universal interpretation of the Holy Fathers of the Church, these “two witnesses” (mentioned also in Zachariah, chap. 3) are the Old Testament RIGHTEOUS ONES Enoch and Elijah, who never died but were carried up alive into heaven, and endure their earthly death only during the reign of Antichrist. [Resources:  Orthodox Dogmatic Theology]

____________
“Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!”
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in our Lord’s Divine and Glorious and Redeeming Resurrection,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George