1NR Matt. 24:3. The disciples inquired how people could know when the end was near, and Christ would be about to return to the earth.

2NR Matt. 24:36. It is impossible for anyone to know the exact date--the day, the month, or the year--of Christ's return.

3NR Matt 24:32,33. But it is the privilege and duty of every Christian to know by the signs that Christ has given when His coming is near, even at the door. Those who understand the Bible prophecies will know what is to happen just before Christ comes; and when they see those things taking place in these days, then they know that the great day is approaching.

   God's people will thus be able to see when the great day of the Lord is approaching. Heb. 10:25. They will not be in darkness and overtaken by His coming, as by a thief in the night. 1 Thess. 5:4.

4NR James 5:3. Prophecy tells us that in the very last days, when the end is near, the rich will pile up great fortunes, and heap up great treasures and wealth. The piling up of great fortunes since 1900 exceeds that of all previous centuries. In 1900 a certain man who has since become a millionaire did not have enough money to buy a turkey for Thanksgiving. Today he has such great wealth that if it were put into one-dollar bills, it would take 16,300 men to lift them.

5NR James 5:4,8. There was to be suffering on the part of the poor in the last days.

6NR Dan. 12:4. In the time of the end knowledge was to be increased. The increase of knowledge during the last 100 years exceeds that of all previous centuries from the beginning of time. Anyone today who is sixty years old has during his lifetime seen an advance in knowledge which exceeds all that people of past generations saw from the time history began.

   In the days of God's preparation the chariots of men were to run like the lightning (Nahum2:3-5), and this we see now in this great age of speed.

7NR Luke 21:11. In the last days, Jesus said, there will be fearful calamities. We see this in the increase of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tidal waves, droughts, and heat waves of recent years.

8NR 2 Tim. 3:1-5. Paul prophesied there would be perilous times in the last days, with a craze for pleasure, and a marked decline in true religion. We see all this right now before our very eyes.

9NR Matt 24:12. Jesus said that in the last days lawlessness would abound; the land would be full of bloody crimes, Eze. 7:2,23; Matt. 24:37; Gen. 6:5,11. We see this in the great crime waves of our day.

10NR Matt 24:14. The supreme sign that the end is near is seen in the fact that God is now sending a special message to all the world to warn the people to prepare to meet Christ. Rev. 14:6-14; Joel 2:1.

11NR 2 Pet. 3:3-5. There will be many who will scoff at the idea of the end being near.

12NR Isa 2:2-4. The nations in the last days will talk about putting an end to war. We see this fulfilled in the great peace movement of our day.

13NR Joel 3:9,10,14. When the day of the Lord is near, the nations will prepare for war as never before, and this we see before our very eyes today.

14NR Mark 13:29. When we see all these things we should know that the coming of Christ is at the door, and we should now be prepared to meet Him.

Perhaps the most misunderstood sign of the nearness of the return of Jesus Christ is found in Matt. 24:15-16, 21. Jesus told His disciples "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains...For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."  What is this all about? Why are so many pastors and laypeople confused as to what the abomination of desolation means? You don't need to be confused because a clear explanation is given here.