The Great Apostasy Prophesied by the Lord Jesus Christ

According to St. Augustine the Sixth Age of the World lasts until the Second Coming of Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ's Second Coming is, according to St. Augustine, the Seventh Day. (Ages and Days are the same. They are not of equal length.) The Eighth Day is the eternal age in the recreated universe when Christ has returned and reigns visibly forevermore.

Parallel passage references are from the full consensus of the Church Fathers according to the Council of Trent.

Mt:24:

1 ¶ And Jesus being come out of the temple, went away. And his disciples came to shew him the buildings of the temple.

2 And he answering, said to them: Do you see all these things? Amen I say to you, there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone that shall not be destroyed.

[Lk:19:44:

44 And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee. And they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation. (DRV)

The temple destruction was in 70 A.D. See Luke chapter 21.

3 aAnd when he was sitting on mount Olivet, the disciples came to him privately, saying: bTell us when shall these things be? cAnd what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the consummation of the world?

[v. 3 This dates this as basically end time prophecy from this point on]

4 ¶ And Jesus answering, said to them: Take heed that no man seduce you.

[Jer:29:8:

8 ¶ For thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Let not your prophets that are in the midst of you, and your diviners deceive you: and give no heed to your dreams which you dream: (DRV)

Eph:5:6, 11, 24:

6 Let no man deceive you with vain words. For because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the children of unbelief.

11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness: but rather reprove them.

24a Therefore as the church is subject to Christ: (DRV)

Jer:14:14:

14 And the Lord said to me: The prophets prophesy falsely in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, nor have I spoken to them: they prophesy unto you a lying vision, and divination and deceit, and the seduction of their own heart. (DRV)]

5 For many will come in my name saying, I am Christ. And they will seduce many.

6 And you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must come to pass: but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And there shall be pestilences and famines and earthquakes in places.

8 Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows.

9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

10 And then shall many be scandalized and shall betray one another and shall hate one another.

11 And many false prophets shall rise and shall seduce many.

12 And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold.

13 But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved.

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations: and then shall the consummation come.

[This dates this from here on as the end of the eschaton. The eschaton is the consummation of this age of grace which began with Our Lord Jesus Christ’s Incarnation by the Holy Spirit, conceived and born of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The eschaton or the ending events, began with v. 3c”And what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the consummation of the world?” From here on it is the very final events leading up to Our Lord’s Second Coming. See article directly below for continuation.]

The Great Tribulation and the End of this Age

15 When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth let him understand.

[Dn:9:27:

27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many, in one week: and in the half of the week the victim and the sacrifice shall fail: and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end. (DRV)]

16 Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains:

[Means to utterly flee from any involvement with the with those things contrary to the Gospel.]

17 And he that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take any thing out of his house:

18 And he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat.

19 And woe to them that are with child and that give suck in those days.

20 But pray that your flight be not in the winter or on the sabbath.

21 For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be.

22 And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sakeof the elect those days shall be shortened.

[This refers to the short duration, by God’s Sovereign command, of the persecution.]

23 Then if any man shall say to you, Lo here is Christ, or there: do not believe him.

24 For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect.

25 Behold I have told it to you, beforehand.

26 If therefore they shall say to you, Behold he is in the desert: go ye not out. Behold he is in the closets: believe it not.

[From v. 27 on down is the Second Coming of Our Only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the general resurrection of all men and the final judgement by Jesus Christ Himself.]

27 For as lightning comethout of the east and appeareth even into the west: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

28 Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together.

29 And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be moved.

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. And then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty.

31 And he shall send his angels with a trumpet and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.

32 ¶ And from the fig tree learn a parable: When the branch thereof is now tender and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh.

33 So you also, when you shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh, even at the doors.

34 Amen I say to you that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done.

35 Heaven and earth shall pass: but my words shall not pass.

36 But of that day and hour no one knoweth: no, not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone.

37 And as in the days of Noe, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For, as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noe entered into the ark:

39 And they knew not till the flood came and took them all away: so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.

40 Then two shall be in the field. One shall be taken and one shall be left.

41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill. One shall be taken and one shall be left.

[vs. 40 and 41 According to the Church Fathers and Doctors this refers to the binding of the cockle to be burnt with eternal fire. The cockle are the damned and the ones who do the binding are God’s angels. This does not refer to any “secret rapture”. There is no “secret rapture”. The so-called “secret rapture” is heretical docetic denial of the resurrection.]

42 Watch ye therefore, because you know not what hour your Lord will come.

43 But this know ye, that, if the goodman of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly watch and would not suffer his house to be broken open.

44 Wherefore be you also ready, because at what hour you know not the Son of man will come.

45 Who, thinkest thou, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath appointed over his family, to give them meat in season?

46 Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come he shall find so doing.

47 Amen I say to you: he shall place him over all his goods.

48 But if that evil servant shall say in his heart: My lord is long a coming:

49 And shall begin to strike his fellow servants and shall eat and drink with drunkards:

50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day that he hopeth not and at an hour that he knoweth not:

51 And shall separate him and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

(DRV)