A thief usually comes at night when the household is away or asleep. He catches them unawares, off their guard - he surprises them. You never know when a thief is coming! If you did, you would call the police and be prepared for him. The big question you would want answered if you knew a thief was planning to rob your home would be when.

So it is with the Coming of Christ! He will not come invisibly - any more than a thief comes invisibly. But, He will come UNEXPECTEDLY! No one will know exactly when He is going to come.

Jesus Himself explained: Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the Goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 24:42-44) In other words, be prepared at all times for his return.

And so Jesus likened his coming to a "thief" in respect to the time of His coming and the element of surprise!

How Plain!

When Christ came to earth the first time, He was mocked, tortured and killed. But when he returns as King of Kings to set up the Kindom of God, He will return with GREAT POWER AND GLORY (Matthew 24:30), and a great army of angels will accompany Him!

Jesus Christ came about 2000 years ago as a meek lamb to be slain for the sins of the world. But when He comes again, He will be wrathful - ANGRY - toward all evil! He will use His mighty power to change the ways that have caused all the sorrow and suffering on Earth.

The wrath of the "day of the Lord" is manifested in the seven "trumpet" plagues. (Revelation 8 and 9; 11:15-19) which are unleashed consecutively over a period of months, culminating in the Second Coming of Christ and the administering of the seven last plagues (Revelation 15:1; 16:1-21).

Therefore, as any wise and loving father punishes his children for their own good when they refuse to respond to kind and loving verbal admonition, an all-loving, all-wise God will have to punish this world to bring it to its senses! The glorified Christ is coming in all the splendor, power and glory of God to STOP escalating wars, nuclear mass destruction, human pain and suffering. He is coming to usher in peace, abundant prosperity, happiness and JOY for all mankind.

Make no mistake! World War !!! is on the way! World Wars I and II were merely small forerunners of the DESTRUCTION that will break suddenly upon the nations. This time it will be so hellish, only the Second Coming of Christ will be able to save mankind from extinction.

The word Armageddon is a greek form of the hebrew name har Meggido. It means "hill ( or mountain) of Meggido." This is the site of the ancient city of Meggido, which is about 55 miles north of Jerusalem, and about 15 miles inland form the Mediterranean Sea. Anciently, the region that includes Meggido and the Valley of Meggido (on the southern border of the Plain of Esdraelon) was an important military site that guarded a nearby startegic pass.

For ancient Israel, Meggido and the Plain of Esdraelon ( also known as the Valley of Jezreel) became the battleground of the centuries. Time after time the blood of battle was shed there. Over and over again the 13-acre mound of Meggido was refortified. Today the site is nothing more tahn an unoccupied, silent mound of historic rubble. Occasional tourists and archaeologists traverse its rocky face, but it is not a major military site at this time.

But Meggido is a symbol.

It is a symbol of war and human conflict.It overlooks the Plain of Esdraelon and stood at one of the great crossroads of the ancient world. And as the prophecy of Revelation 16 indicates, Meggido and the Plain of Esdraelon will become the staging ground or mustering area for the greatest concentration of military might ever assembled!

Prophecy tells us that "ten kings" (Revelation 17:12-14) will comprise the modern and final end-time revival of the ancient Roman Empire. It will be a political, military and religious alliance of incredible power. The Bible reveals a spectacular sequence of conquests by this power, followed by epic clashes with the kings of the east, which are modern day Russia and China.

In the end, these two superpowers will make their way into the Middle east for one final, climatic conflict. But instead of fighting each other in a battle that would end in the nuclear extinction of all life (Matthew 24:22) they will, ironically, UNITE their forces and march toward Jerusalem in an attempt to destroy their common "enemy" - Jesus Christ.

Therefore, you need to "watch" and "pray" (Luke 21:36). Be vigilant. Keep abreast of world news. And by all means STUDY your Bible and pray to god every day so you may be "accounted worthy to escape" the coming time of great world trouble!

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