Shortly before Jesus went to Gethsemane for the last time to pray, He announced to His disciples that He would leave them because His earthly mission was coming to an end and He would return to the place where they, for now, could not go with Him. Seeing the disciples‘ natural reaction of sadness and perhaps abandonment, Jesus told them: “Let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:1). Those words gave them hope and, like them, Jesus desires to give each believer the confidence of knowing that He understands all the circumstances of life and that He has everything the soul needs to be at peace. Then He said to them: “In my Father‘s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).

Those mansions represent a home and a home is the place where we all generally find security, peace and happiness. That promise should be a great inspiration to each of us; We will reach a home where also “the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock” (Isaiah 65:25). That home will be far from everything that today causes us sadness and insecurity, where “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain” (Revelation 21:4).

But the next promise was as great as the previous one: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3). “I will come again” was the balm the disciples needed at that moment. They did not yet know the test that awaited them, but from then on this promise would be the center of their attention and motivation to go out to preach His return, and strive to make Jesus Christ known to every nation, tribe, language, and people.

Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus led His disciples to the Mount of Olives, near Bethany, in front of the city of Jerusalem in which He had been rejected and then condemned to death. It was the moment of farewell and the opportunity to give the last instructions to this group of men and women who represented the lost sheep that had been found. Jesus‘ words were not reproaches for their faults or failures, they were words of the deepest tenderness and sympathy.

“With hands outstretched in blessing, and as if in assurance of His protecting care, He slowly ascended from among them, drawn heavenward by a power stronger than any earthly attraction. As He passed upward, the awe-stricken disciples looked with straining eyes for the last glimpse of their ascending Lord. A cloud of glory hid Him from their sight; and the words came back to them as the cloudy chariot of angels received Him, ‘Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.’ At the same time there floated down to them the sweetest and most joyous music from the angel choir.”2

At that moment two powerful angels in the form of men, through sympathy and love for the disciples who were looking at heaven, approached and asked them: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). This was the same message of hope that Jesus had told them long before “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory” (Matthew 25:31). This was the same revelation that John received on the island of Patmos “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen” (Revelation 1:7). The angels had assured them that this same Jesus whom they had seen ascend into heaven would come again as He had ascended. Indeed, He will come in the clouds, and every eye shall see Him.

Understanding more about the time of the end was something that attracted the disciples‘ attention—and it should attract ours as well. They came to Jesus privately to ask: “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3).

In places where technology is more developed and trips are made with modern means of transportation, we pay close attention to the signals that the satellite navigator or GPS device gives us, about the remaining distance to the destination or possible alterations in the selected route. The signs near the roads also help us. Biblical prophecies are much like a GPS telling us where we are in time so we can be prepared and guided safely to the destination.

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:4, 5). Why did Christ present this as the first sign before the end? The answer is given by the apostle Peter: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Dear brothers and sisters, Satan also knows the Bible prophecies and knows that the coming of Christ will put an end to his reign of terror. That is why with great cunning and sly intrigue–just like the lion that observes its victim before attacking it—he introduces false doctrines mixed with portions of truth to make believers fall into his traps. The spread of Islam, Buddhism, agnosticism, and other philosophical currents throughout the world have distorted men‘s perception of the character of the only true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and have distanced them from the only true source of knowledge, the Bible.

Our only security lies in studying the Holy Scriptures with much prayer and dedication. It is the only thing that can protect us against error. If we do so, we will surely be able to affirm “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). With frequent study of them we will be able to store in our minds the only treasure that will make us affirm: “It is written.” But a warning: with technological advances it is increasingly common to see that believers have abandoned reading conventional paper Bibles. On the one hand, it has been made easier for us to always carry complete libraries, lessons, hymnals, etc. with our electronic devices. But on the other hand, at the slightest sign of a message that reaches us or a small moment of distraction, we abandon study and our mind quickly changes to other things that often have nothing to do with that moment. With great ease and with this method, Satan has many times managed to separate believers from the study of the truth.

Jesus warned His disciples: “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places” (Matthew 24:6, 7). In recent years we have witnessed the upheaval in which nations live. While everyone is currently seeking peace, major wars have broken out that have killed thousands around the world. The displacement of thousands of refugees caused by wars and political instabilities in many countries has taken them in different directions, creating true humanitarian crises where pain and hunger prevail. Despite these horrors, millionaire budgets of the great powers are allocated to buy weapons and ammunition to continue wars.

On the other hand, while in some countries there is an abundance of food and many people get sick because of all the fast food or junk food they consume, and where every day thousands of tons of food end up in the trash, there are also other places where thousands die of starvation. It is difficult to accept that in the 21st century, with all the technological advances and the ease and speed with which things can be transported. There are places where people die due to diseases caused by not having drinking water or from weakness due to not having anything to eat. The natural catastrophes that have occurred in recent decades are also among the signs to which Jesus referred. As droughts exterminate life in some regions of the planet, floods caused by extreme and abnormal rains or tornadoes and hurricanes leave destruction and thousands of victims in their wake. In recent years, violent earthquakes have occurred in different places and have not only increased in power, but also in the large number of victims they leave behind.

“How frequently we hear of earthquakes and tornadoes, of destruction by fire and flood, with great loss of life and property! Apparently these calamities are capricious outbreaks of disorganized, unregulated forces of nature, wholly beyond the control of man; but in them all, God‘s purpose may be read. They are among the agencies by which He seeks to arouse men and women to a sense of their danger.”3 Scientists and philosophers seeking explanations and ways to prevent these events have concluded that everything is a product of climate change and that this is the cause of nature reacting this way. Once again, human theories divert people’s ears from the true reason for these events. It is true that nature suffers and is altered by the evil actions of humanity, but we must not ignore that these are also the signs to which Jesus referred. Nor should we ignore the consequences that those who have destroyed the earth will suffer. “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:18). The great work of creation is being exterminated, and those responsible for its deterioration will be punished.

Are these events the signs that Jesus declared to His disciples would serve as a guide to know how to distinguish time? Yes, they are. As the disciples asked, when will be the end of the age? We cannot set a date, we can only interpret the signs and understand that there is not much time left for our world and its inhabitants. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36).

Jesus pointed out that the time of the end would be similar to the time before the flood. “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:37–39).

Eating, drinking, or getting married are not illegal things. What has made them abominable to God is the extremes to which man has taken them. The most common diseases today are largely responsible for bad eating or drinking habits, a sedentary lifestyle, and the use and abuse of substances that are harmful to health. Prolonged exposure to toxic agents such as those breathed in large cities or the use of tobacco and drugs have not only been the cause of many diseases, but also genetic alterations that predispose to degenerative or autoimmune diseases. The story of what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as the experience lived by the people of Israel in Shittim in front of the promised land, are a warning that was recorded to teach us that sensuality and uncontrolled passions can lead human beings to commit before God the most abominable and vile acts that we can imagine. “All along through the ages there are strewn wrecks of character that have been stranded upon the rocks of sensual indulgence. As we approach the close of time, as the people of God stand upon the borders of the heavenly Canaan, Satan will, as of old, redouble his efforts to prevent them from entering the goodly land. He lays his snares for every soul. It is not the ignorant and uncultured merely that need to be guarded; he will prepare his temptations for those in the highest positions, in the most holy office; if he can lead them to pollute their souls, he can through them destroy many. And he employs the same agents now as he employed three thousand years ago. By worldly friendships, by the charms of beauty, by pleasure seeking, mirth, feasting, or the wine cup, he tempts to the violation of the seventh commandment.”4

“It is the privilege of every Christian not only to look for but to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:12, margin). Were all who profess His name bearing fruit to His glory, how quickly the whole world would be sown with the seed of the gospel. Quickly the last great harvest would be ripened, and Christ would come to gather the precious grain.”5

It is our privilege to speak of the blessed hope that is the return of Jesus Christ. It is also our privilege to do the same work of reform that John the Baptist did to prepare the way for the first coming of the Lord. “The great subject of reform is to be agitated, and the public mind is to be stirred. Temperance in all things is to be connected with the message, to turn the people of God from their idolatry, their gluttony, and their extravagance in dress and other things.”6

Now is the time to make a change in our lives, when our obedience to God‘s commandments reveals that we truly love Him. There is no time to lose. We must decisively close the doors to everything that does not represent the character of that people who are preparing to be translated to the heavenly mansions. Our works should demonstrate that “our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). The sole purpose of the probation we enjoy today is for us to use it for our consecration and preparation for the great day of Christ‘s coming. Every day that passes is one less day in the countdown to the end. If Jesus has not yet returned it is simply because He is giving us time so that we can all undergo thorough repentance and experience a deep, genuine conversion in our lives.

Our rescue was made with the precious blood of Christ, the Lamb without spot and without defilement (1 Peter 1:18, 19) to reach those mansions where “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Let not the attractions that this world offers us, its feasts and traditions, unnecessary fashions or decorations, unhealthy foods or drinks or the love of money and earthly possessions separate us from the precious message of the coming of the Lord and that now is the time to prepare!

Only the grace of God can help us prepare for His coming. Only the work of the Holy Spirit can convince us in the call to repentance and conversion. May our daily prayer be “thy kingdom come.” May the blessed hope be like a torch that illumines our pilgrimage in this dark world so full of evil and suffering. May our purpose be to continually press toward the goal, to the prize of the supreme calling (Philippians 3:14) to reflect Jesus every day and in every action. May pure and undefiled religion (James 1:27) be the result of Christ in us.

“When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.”7 Maranatha, the Lord is coming! He declares: “Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). Amen.