THE END IS NIGH!

I had a very long conversation with a friend of mine last night. He was talking about the end times and the signs listed in prophecy.
We touched on a lot of things but I wanted to open some perspective for all you out there who might see this.

Some Christian's LOVE to point out that Jesus tells us we shall not know when he is going to come back (and the end of the world hits us).They drag out verses like...

"of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, not even the son, only the Father." (Mk. 13.32)

Those words of Christ carry a great import but some people (Christians or not) often seem to take them the wrong way.
People treat this statement as a kind of pass... "well since no one knows when he will come I can do whatever I choose."

And those words do exist in many forms...

"It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority." (acts 1:7) or

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." (Matthew 24:42)

But what he is actually saying is that we ought to be on our toes. we will not know the time he is coming back so we need to always be prepared.

1"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
3The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.
4The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.
5The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

6"At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'

7"Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.
8 The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.'

9" 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'

10"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

11"Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!'

12"But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.'

13"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour."

(Matthew 25: 1-13)

"He replied, "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Jesus then left them and went away."
(Matthew 16:2-4)

"Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you."
(Rev 3:3)

But even with those statements he does still give us a bit of help,

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them." (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

"First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men." (2 Peter 3:3-7)

In short, we can probably ignore the declarations of man about when the world will end, And that will not cause us problems.

We can discard many notions of men about comets and calendars etc, and we can all do so based on what Jesus had to say about it. BUT the fact is that what Jesus did say was as a warning.
Do not let yourself fall into the traps of this world because he could come back at any time! Even if he doesn't return in YOUR time here on earth, you still need to prepare to see him and live every day as if it is your last because he could call YOU home at anytime and you need to be ready to meet him.