In Matthew 24:7-8 Jesus was answering a question about the end times when He said: “ . . . there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. (8) All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Recently we have seen an 8.8 earthquake that just occurred off the coast of Russia. Wednesday evening I read that Mt. Rainier in Washington state, one of the few active volcanoes in the world is showing signs of waking up. Mt. Rainier is currently going through “earthquake swarms.” Since July 8 there have been over 1,000 tremors or earthquakes in and around it. “The USCS reports that earthquake activity has slowed down from the 41 events per hour on July 8 to a few events per hour by July 25.” (KIRO TV, Seattle). According to the USGS, there have been 184 Magnitude 2.5+ earthquakes on Earth over the last day (Thursday). Of those, 157 (that's a whopping 85%) have occurred in the general vicinity of the 8.8 quake off the coast of Russia. There is the recent deadly flood in Texas and two earthquakes in the past few days in Northeast Arkansas with the largest being a 2.5. And the north rim of the Grand Canyon is said to be a blazing inferno due to wildfire. (And that is just in the United States!) Romans 8:22: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” In the introduction to the study in the book of Revelation I pointed out that we are pre-millennial, pre-tribulation Baptists. Pre-millennial means that we believe that Jesus will return to “catch up” (rapture) believers and remove them from “this present evil world” prior to His coming to set up His millennial kingdom. Pre-tribulation means we believe that Jesus will come just before or at the very beginning of the Great Tribulation that He spoke of in Matthew 24. The verses of our text are “companion verses” to the information Jesus gave in Matthew 24. In our text He is dealing with the questions His disciples asked in Luke 21:7: “And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?” These words are the answer as He tells of judgment to come, His return, and the end of the world. Someone will ask, “Is Jesus really coming again? Do you really believe that?” I know a lot of saved people live like they don’t believe it, but my answer is an unequivocal, “YES!” And, there is a way for us to know that His Second Coming is near, “even at the door.” No one knows the day or hour of our Lord’s return. Jesus said so in Matthew 24:36: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” But God has revealed signs whereby we may be enlightened and know that His coming is near. I pray that God will use this message to stir our hearts and minds that the glorious coming of Jesus is close so that it may be uppermost in our hearts. That we will not be satisfied with merely being “saved,” but that we arise from our state of lethargy. That by the power of the Holy Spirit our hearts may be stirred to labor for Him for His coming is near. Here are some Bible reasons why I believe we should watch for the coming of Jesus, and why I believe His coming is near.

I. THE PRESENCE OF LATTER DAY SCOFFERS - II PETER 3:3-7.

II. THE GREAT APOSTASY - II THESSALONIANS 2:3.

III. REJECTION OF HOLY SPIRIT LEADERSHIP - I TIMOTHY 4:1.

IV. PERILOUS TIMES - II TIMOTHY 3:1-5.

V. THE IMMORALITY OF OUR DAY.

VI. THE LORD'S CHURCHES IN THIS AGE - REVELATION 3:14-22.

VII. THE LESSON OF THE BUDDING FIG TREE.