End of an era

A former Bible college acquaintance of mine recently went off the rails. He predicted that the end would begin on a specific month one year, and if it did not occur, he would declare himself a false prophet. As we have seen before in Christian history, the predicted date came and went, and instead of stepping down and declaring himself a false prophet, the gentleman came up with a brilliant excuse as to why his prophecies failed. When is the end of the world? In Matthew 24, Jesus' disciples asked him about it. What did he say? He predicted two things, the fall of Jerusalem which occurred in 70AD and that the end was not yet. The apostles wanted to know what was the sign of his coming and of the end of the age. Most of the sermon in Matthew 24 detailed the devastating events soon to follow, the end of an era for the Jews. The only specifics about when the end of the world would come were that the Gospel would be preached in the whole world and that no one knows the day or the hour of his return. So let's ignore the false prophets who say that Jesus will come this year or next. Instead, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. That's what Jesus said.