Signs, Signs, Everywhere are Signs

There are signs that warn us of the last days and the coming last day.
  
These signs fall into four categories: signs in nature, signs in society, signs against the church, and signs in the church.  

Matthew Chapter 24 speaks the most about these signs.  About when the end will come, Jesus, said, "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. ⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

While it is true that no one but God knows when the end of this age will come exactly, as in what date and time, Jesus does tell us when the end come - when the"gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations."  Because this is when the end will come, Peter was able to say in 2 Peter 3:12 that we can "speed" the coming of the Day of the Lord!

If you didn't catch it, I'll repeat it.  The end comes when the Gospel has gone out to all nations (or as I like to interpret it, when all who God intends to hear the Gospel have heard the Gospel, as He is patiently waiting for more people to come to repentance, since He wants none to perish), thus the end is in direct relationship to the completion of the church's mission to go and make disciples of all nations, so we can in fact speed the return of Christ.  2012?  Bring it on!  Maybe it'll be even quicker.  Since the signs have for the most part all been met, we must anticipate a return at anytime, just as the early apostles did.