but see to it that you are not alarmed.
Such things must happen,
but the end is still to come.
Nation will rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be famines and earthquakes
in various places.
All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Matthew 24:6-8
But understand this,
that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money,
proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents,
ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable,
slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
having the appearance of godliness,
but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Knowing this first of all,
that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing,
following their own sinful desires.
They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming?
For ever since the fathers fell asleep,
all things are continuing as they were
from the beginning of creation.”
2 Peter 3: 3-4
For then there will be great tribulation,
such as has not been from the
beginning of the world until now,
no, and never will be.
And if those days had not been cut short,
no human being would be saved.
But for the sake of the elect
those days will be cut short.
Matthew 24:21-22
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies,
then know that its desolation has come near.
Luke 21:20
Then God said,
“Take your son, your only son, whom you loveIsaac
and go to the region of Moriah.
Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering
on a mountain I will show you.”
Early the next morning Abraham got up and
loaded his donkey.
He took with him two of his servants
and his son Isaac.
Genesis 22:2-3
Mary was standing outside the tomb crying,
and as she wept, she stooped and looked in.
She saw two white-robed angels,
one sitting at the head and the other at the foot
of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying.
“Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “
and I don’t know where they have put him.”
She turned to leave and saw someone standing there.
It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.
“Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her.
“Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener.
“Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away,
tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
“Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out,
“Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
John 20:11-16
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for;
it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Hebrews 11:1
Listen, I tell you a mystery:
We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound,
the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we will be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52
For we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus
those who have fallen asleep in him.
According to the Lord’s word,
we tell you that we who are still alive,
who are left until the coming of the Lord,
will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,
with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel
and with the trumpet call of God,
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left
will be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air.
And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:14-18
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters,
stand firm.
Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully
to the work of the Lord,
because you know that
your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:58