�And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, �Tell us, when shall these things be?�� (Matt. 24:3).

s Jesus and His disciples departed from the Temple, they called His attention to the building�s striking beauty. Standing in majestic splendor on what today is known as the Dome of the Rock, gleaming like a pearl kissed by the Judean sunlight, it was the centerpiece of Jewish pride and worship.

But the disciples were stopped short in their verbal praise by the Master�s startling response: �There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down� (Matt. 24:2).

They could understand Christ�s denunciation of the religious leaders that had just occurred, but this reference to the Temple was another matter. He must be talking about the end of the world, they mused. What else could eclipse the glory of the Temple or bring it down? And so they asked, �When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign . . . ?� (verse 3).

In His response, Jesus addressed �these things� as end-time events as well as the end of the Temple shrine, considering the latter occurrence as the visible sign of the end of God�s contract with Israel. It was Titus who in A.D. 70 led his screaming eagle legions against Jerusalem and razed the Temple so that not one stone was left upon another.

Jesus continued His discourse, stressing the parallel signs that would transpire preceding the destruction of Jerusalem and the �end of the world�: war and its attendant evils; famine, pestilence, and upheavals in nature (verses 6, 7); and the preaching of the gospel to the world (verse 14). The Scriptures indicate that this was accomplished in a limited way prior to the demise of the Temple (Rom. 1:5; Acts 17:6), and it is a thing in progress as we approach the coming of the Lord.

An Unpopular Message
The word that our era is hurtling toward its conclusion with consummate speed is not a popular message to bear. People would rather hear that the dead are in heaven, caught away to be with God. That the second coming of Christ is a secret rapture thing. That the first day of the week has replaced the Sabbath as the true Lord�s day. That the saints will be raptured before the great tribulation.

While people are being lulled to sleep by false prophets, the true gospel of the kingdom will be preached planet-wide �for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come� (Matt. 24:14). While spirits of devils are working miracles, and psychic hot lines spin their yarns, the rising tide of truth will flood the world. God has promised to raise up a people who will �teach my people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean� (Eze. 44:23). �They shall keep my laws and my statutes . . . and they shall hallow my sabbaths� (verse 24).

Yes, while the secret rapture theory flows freely from the lips of world-renowned clergy, the truth about the Second Coming will peal like thunder and strike like lightning. And what is that truth? �And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory� (Matt. 24:30). This scripture kills the secret rapture. They shall see His coming! Paul suggests in 1 Thessalonians 4:18 that we �comfort one another with these words.� Matthew 24:14 fingers this preaching as a sign of the end.

In 2 Timothy 3:13 we find yet another sign of the end of human rule on this planet. �Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse.� In the last days �perilous times shall come� (verse 1). Are they not here? Ten months ago we witnessed a criminal act that has spread terror through the world. The twin towers in New York were demolished by human hijackers in a frightening display of human wickedness, killing nearly 3,000 unsuspecting human beings. This dastardly deed and its ripple effects have closed industries, costing thousands of jobs. It was a scheme conceived in hell. There have been other crimes against humanity that should have been a wake-up call, but we slept on. Do you remember Hitler? Have you heard of Buchenwald, Dachau, Auschwitz, and Treblinka?

These signs of human bestiality have ushered us into a reign of terror that God will not long tolerate. �These things� shout in a language clear: Christ is coming soon! Meanwhile, terror reigns supreme worldwide. Our Lord predicted, �There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity . . . men�s hearts failing them for fear� (Luke 21:25, 26).

Consider the trouble spots: Palestine, Kashmir, Korea, the Balkans; and consider how terror stalks the rest of the world: the United States, Europe, Asia. Indeed, the world has come to feel its vulnerability. It seems that the froglike demons of Revela-tion 16 are on the move, spreading confusion and fear wherever their loathsome bodies land.

But there is good news. While fear riddles the human environment, genuine Christians manifest calm in the eye of the storm. We know that the days are evil and that life has reached a new level of danger. But the Christian knows something else: �God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed� (Ps. 46:1, 2). �For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind� (2 Tim. 1:7). And we are comforted by the upward look: �When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh� (Luke 21:28).

We do not know the day and the hour of His return. We do not need to. The Christian�s word is not �when,� but �whenever.� We must be ready �whenever� He comes. Christians know their primary responsibility to this end-time generation�and that is to spread the good news to every person on earth.

Fulfilling the Great Sign Even Through Persecution
The supreme passion of the saints in all ages has been to share the �blessed hope.� Troublesome times have been a stimulus, not a depressant. Under the mad Caesars, the decree went forth, ��Non-licet Esse Vos��you have no right to exist.� The bloody executions that followed merely strengthened the Christians� resolve to bear a faithful witness. As they awaited their turns in the death dens of the Roman Colosseum, their slogan was �Let�s show these pagans how to die.� Of themselves they could not manifest such courage. Nor could we.

The secret of such steadfastness is found in Scripture. �Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righ-teousness� (Isa. 41:10). �Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, . . . and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world� (Matt. 28:19, 20). Their faith in these promises was tested by adversity, and they found in Christ a shock absorber. John Huss could sing hymns while flames cooked his flesh, for Christ was his painkiller. Paul could go willingly to Nero�s chopping block because Christ is the resurrection! Christ in you makes bearable the unbearable.

Toward the Grand Climax
America has been perhaps the most successful experiment in human government in the history of the world, its imperfections notwithstanding. No nation before it has promised so much to so many. The crowned heads of Europe, including the pope, scoffed at the idea of a �kingdom without a king and a church without a pope.� But the nation grew in wealth and influence until it became the leader of the free world. Its Christian missionaries are everywhere evident, operating schools, clinics, and hospitals, and feeding the hungry. In times of crisis American granaries have fed millions, and its treasure has secured the financial solvency of nations.

However, America is not without its serious deficiencies, and the will to deal with these travels sometimes at the pace of a snail. The United States now stand at the pinnacle of its power�the most influential since the fall of the Roman Empire. The attack on Pearl Harbor and that of September 11 shook its complacency.

Christians in America suffered with those who lost their lives on both occasions. Indeed, the pain still lingers. But while Christians experience pain with others, Christians are comforted by the redemptive event that these events signify�namely, the coming of our Lord, who will put an end to all such occurrences.

And even when in America, as the Bible predicts, oppression rears its ugly head and we hear the serpent�s hiss or the dragon�s roar, it will merely quicken our pace and hasten our steps toward that better land �where the wicked cease from trouble and the weary are at rest.�

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E. E. Cleveland has served the Seventh-day Adventist Church for more than 50 years as a pastor, evangelist, administrator, author, and teacher of preachers. He writes from Huntsville, Alabama.