A New Way to Look for the Second Coming of Christ

I want to share something related to the last days and also in relationship to the second coming of Jesus Christ. I realize what I am going to share is completely different from anybody else that I have heard or read. My wife would say she's not surprised at that. But I share this with you just because I'm afraid we are so used to looking at preparing for the second coming in one way that we are overlooking something else from the Bible. We are so used to being motivated by scary, sensational events as a way to get ready for the second coming.
Turning your Bibles to Matthew 24:36, No one knows. Question: Are people more likely to cry out to the Lord when life is horrendously bad or when life is awesomely good? Horrendously bad. What we have heard for the last 50 years that I've been around is that things will continue to get worse before Jesus comes back. We assume that globally everything deteriorates. What if that is wrong?
Matthew 24:37-39; 42-44, Thief in the night. All my adult life I have heard that life will become more horrible until we get to that day. And as we see those horrible things coming about we are urged to get right with the Lord. Sounds to me like the whole Christian world is looking for the second coming of Christ right now. How could it be like a thief in the night? Could it be that the horrible things that the Bible speaks about are really events that happen right down to the wire, right at the very end, within months of Jesus return? And for the years before that, part of what much of the world is experiencing is a growth in compassion, humanity and peace.
You say, “Well Jesus is not coming back very soon then because we don't see too much compassion, humanity and peace.” We see the beginning of it. We saw uprisings in Egypt, Yemen, other countries of the Middle East which are controlled by oppressive dictators. The youths used Facebook, the Internet and other technology to stage revolts which are still going on in some places. What do they want? They want freedom. They want jobs. They want peace. They want their lives secure and safe. Maybe this is the beginning of things getting better in the world.
Years ago when I spoke in evangelistic efforts it always troubled me that we really didn’t have an explanation for the Soviet Union. Prophecy was silent about it even though for many years the Soviet Union and communism was the biggest threat to America. The Cold War was fought with the realization that it could become a hot war any minute and hence World War III which could end the world. But prophecy was silent.
Now we look back and see why. The Soviet Union was just a blip in history and communism is all but defeated. God didn’t see a reason to speak about it.
Today there are radical Moslems seeking the end of the USA and seeking more. Prophecy says nothing about them. Maybe for the same reason… they will not be here much longer. Peace will come soon.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Peace and safety, sudden destruction? As the world gets worse we are all led to look towards God for help. But as the world gets better who will then look to God? That is when the thief comes. This is a biblical truth we need to take seriously.