Is Christ’S Return Near?

By Diane M. Heiser

Could Jesuss words in Matthew 24 be happening now? Do science and current events support this prophecy? Do Russia, China, Iran, and the pope play a significant role in bringing it all about? Do you believe God gives us harbingers before he puts his plan into action? Are the signs here, and is the time now? This book connects all the dots in a prudent and informative manner as we weave through the clues together to conclude, Is Christs Return Near?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 16, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514475096

Diane M. Heiser

Diane M. Heiser is a wife, mother of two, a grandmother (very recent), a former middle school religion teacher, and a student of eschatology. She has an honorary doctorate of biblical studies. She is active in pro-life ministry and volunteers in her community.

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Diane M. Heiser.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2016904154

ISBN:       Hardcover       978-1-5144-7511-9

       Softcover       978-1-5144-7510-2

       eBook       978-1-5144-7509-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 03/15/2016

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

738310

Contents

Acknowledgment

Chapter One

Prudence and Discernment in These Times

Chapter Two

Is the Consecration of Russia Relevant?

Chapter Three

An Angelic Message

Chapter Four Prophesy of the Last Popes

Chapter Five

God Gives us Harbingers

Chapter Six

Signs in the Sky

Chapter Seven

Will the Church be Harvested?

Chapter Eight

An Antichrist Will Arise

Notes

Acknowledgment

God has blessed me with a wonderful group of friends, many whom I consider sisters, great family, and most importantly, a very supportive husband. James, thank you for all your encouragement and love.

I would like to thank Linda Bruner for taking the time to edit my book. More importantly, thank you, Linda for your very insightful and authentic spiritual guidance.

I would like to thank my son, Daniel for his gift of wisdom and knowledge. Thank you, Daniel, for sharing your gifts with me.

Thank you to my dear spiritual sisters who bless me just by their very presence in my life. How lucky am I to know such beautiful ladies. Thank you May, Pat, Pam, Rose, Karen, Lisa, Glenna, Pam R., and Regina. You are all such beautiful instruments of the Lord and he has placed each of you in my life for a purpose.

Thank you to Sister Anne and Bobbie and Tom who have introduced me to the world which God asks us to share in – the giving of oneself to those in need. May God bless you always in your ministries.

To all of you mentioned, I am truly grateful for your inspiration and guidance.

The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty. Proverbs 22:3

Chapter One

Prudence and Discernment in These Times

As I returned to the United States from a pilgrimage in Greece and Turkey, I was astonished to turn on the news only to see that a beheading had occurred on our soil. A U.S. citizen was beheaded by a fellow employee in the name of Allah right here in America. More puzzle pieces of our future began to fall into place. But, what final picture will it reveal?

Before we can answer this question, there are many aspects to look at. What are the signs of the end? What must occur in order for Jesus to return? What warnings have we been given and how many have come to fruition? Are we living in the last days? And, would that be a bad thing if Jesus were to return?

Where do I begin? In order to understand the appointed time of Christ’s return, we need to look at what our Lord said must occur before this happens.

Jesus left the temple precincts then, and his disciples came up and pointed out to him the buildings of the temple area. His comment was: Do you see all these buildings? I assure you, not one stone will be left on another – it will all be torn down. While he was seated on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came up to him privately and said, Tell us, when will all this occur? What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the world? In reply Jesus said to them: Be on guard! Let no one mislead you. Many will come attempting to impersonate me. ‘I am the Messiah!’ they will claim, and they will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Do not be alarmed. Such things are bound to happen, but that is not yet the end. Nation will rise against nation, one kingdom against another. There will be famine and pestilence and earthquakes in many places. These are the early stages of the birth pangs. They will hand you over to torture and kill you. Indeed, you will be hated by all nations on my account. Many will falter then, betraying and hating one another. False prophets will rise in great numbers to mislead many. Because of the increase of evil, the love of most will grow cold. The man who holds out to the end, however, is the one who will see salvation. This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a witness to all the nations. Only after that will the end come. (Matthew 24: 1-14)

Some may argue that Jesus was speaking directly to those times. He points to the temple and states that the buildings would be torn down, which they were in 70 A.D. by the Romans. But, the end did not come. He, then tells them to be on guard which should apply to all of us! We should always be on guard for His return. Jesus is very specific with a warning of do not let anyone mislead you. Many will come attempting to impersonate me. Does this apply to modern times? Can you think of anyone who in your lifetime has proclaimed to be the Messiah?

In 1993, a man named David Koresh, founder of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, claimed to be in the line of David (of the same bloodline as Jesus Christ) and declared himself to be the Messiah. It didn’t turn out too well for Mr. Koresh as approximately 75 armed agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) put an end to his cult storming his compound in a fiery exchange of gunfire.

Prior to David Koresh in 1978 there was Jim Jones who proclaimed to be the reincarnated Jesus Christ and did the unthinkable of killing his members, all 900 of them, by forcing them to drink cyanide-laced punch. Obviously, he was not familiar with Scripture and the Ten Commandments, thou shalt not kill. Sadly, people searching for answers followed him blindly to their demise.

Then, we have Sergey Anatolyevitch Torop also known as Vissarion who also claimed to be Jesus Christ. With roughly 5000 followers, Sergey (known as The Teacher of the Church of the Last Testament) has a settlement located in Petropavlovka just north of Mongolia. Dressed as we envision our Lord, in a long white garment and sandals sporting long dark hair and a beard, Sergey misleads his congregation under the pretense that he is the Messiah. He’s even written a book entitled the Last Testament, an addendum to the New Testament. For those of you who do not know Christ’s final words in the Book of Revelation, they are, If anyone adds to these words, God will visit him with all the plagues described herein! If anyone takes from the words of this prophetic book, God will take away his share in the tree of life and the holy city described here! (Rev 22:18-19) Notice the exclamation points emphasizing the importance of his words. Woe to the man who claims to be the Lord. That man is playing a very dangerous game with his soul.

Inri Cristo, from Brazil, believes himself to be Jesus reincarnated. Of course, Christians know that no one is reincarnated, but resurrected into new life. Nevertheless, Cristo has allegedly hundreds of followers and since 1979 has impersonated Christ, as he rides around on his scooter! The name he’s chosen to identify himself, Inri, is an abbreviation for Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum or Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews which was written and hung, by Roman soldiers, on the cross Jesus died upon. Cristo actually depicts himself as the image of Christ from the Shroud of Turin. Very sad, indeed.

And, the list goes on too numerous to count. Many have identified themselves as our Lord, yet Jesus tells us not to be fooled by the many impersonators, but to be on guard. The Book of Revelation 1:7 states, "See, he comes amid