The Presence of the Lord in the Life of the Believer

Matthew 24 does talk about the time Jerusalem would be burn with fire, but that was the time many people of the city accept Jesus as savior and received the Holy Spirit.  Many people come to Jesus in wars also.

For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. {6} 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. {7} For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. {8} All these <are> the beginning of sorrows. Matthew 24:5-8)

The words beginning of sorrows is àrcü wëinwn the beginning of birth pains.  Christ said "you must be born again" to be saved.  Verse eight should read all of these things are the beginning of birth pains.  These things are what it takes for man to get saved.  Matthew 24:30 says man shall see the Son of Man coming to him in the clouds of heaven.  These clouds are the dark storm clouds of life.  Read what Joel says the day of salvation will be like.

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for <it is> nigh at hand; {2} A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, <even> to the years of many generations. {3} A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land <is> as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. (Joel 2:1-3)

However before this day can come upon mankind he must hear the good news about salvation.  The reader needs to understand that it is easier for some people to come to the point of salvation than others.  For a little child it is different than for an adult man.  For the man it is easier for God to put a camel though the eye of a nettle than it is to bring him to the point of salvation.  The storm clouds in the adult man's life must become very very dark.  The very powers of heaven must be shaken before he puts his trust in Christ.  The summation of what has just been written is the subject Matthew Chapter 24..  The reader needs to recall what God said in Revelation.  The seal of God must be placed in the forehead before the earth could be hurt.  The hurting of the earth is the dark storm clouds spoken of in Joel 2.  That is what it takes for man to be saved.  God puts the seal of the living God inside the forehead of the elect.

And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that  the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. {2} And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, {3} Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. (Revelation 7:1-3)

The seal that the Holy Spirit puts inside the elect's forehead is belief in God's word.  That seal is placed in the Jew and the Gentile.  The opposite of this seal is the mark of the beast, it is unbelief in his forehead and it is also seen upon his hand.