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Step 1
Look for the signs of the times. Read the headlines and stories in the paper, on the web and on television. Some of the signs we should look out for are; an increase in knowledge and travel, war, false Christs, famines and earthquakes in various places. Look for all of the obvious stuff but remember to look for some of the not so obvious stuff also. Look for things that might lead to other things the Bible talked about, such as an economic system that will keep people from buying or selling without being a part of the system.
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Step 2
Read the Bible. Make sure you examine closely what the Bible has to say. It’s easy to look at the headlines alone and get caught up into believing that the world is coming to an end. The Bible however, points to what we should really be looking for and be concerned about. Read Mathew chapter 24, the first few chapters of Joel, Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation. However, understand that Revelation often references things from the Old Testament and it’s not always obvious. One of the keys to understanding Revelation is to understand the meaning where certain phrases and concepts are previously mentioned in the Bible.
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Step 3
Read commentaries and other books. Look at what others have thought about the end times and their thoughts on whether they were or are living in the last days. You can gain a lot of understanding by finding out what others have already said on the topic; just remember that their word is not the word of God.
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Step 4
Look and see if this time is different than the past. Many have thought that they were living in the end times over the last two thousand or so years, and up until now they have all been wrong. It can be said that there was war and earthquakes and famine and other things in the past. Try to determine if these occurrences are different or more frequent now. See if anything else is different at this time than from any other.
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Step 5
Remember that no one can know when Jesus will return. Jesus said that no one knows the day or hour when he’ll return except the Father in Heaven. However Jesus did want us to understand the season of the end times and we have been given signs to watch for. So we can attempt to know if we are in the end times.
