The present time is the final period of the Christian church foretold and described by the Lord in the Gospels and Revelation.

The previous section showed that the ending of 'he age means the final period of the church. From this it is plain what is meant by the ending of the age which the Lord spoke of in the Gospels (Matt. chapter 24; Mark chapter 13; Luke chapter 21). For we read:

When Jesus was seated on the Mount of Olives the disciples came to him privately saying, What is the sign of your coming and the ending of the age? Matt. 24:3.

Then the Lord began to foretell and describe the ending which was to take place by stages up to His coming, and how He would come in the clouds of heaven with power and glory, and gather together His chosen people, and much more besides (verses 30, 31); and none of these things happened when Jerusalem was destroyed. These descriptions were made by the Lord in a prophetic style, in which each and every phrase is a weighty matter. Their meaning has been explained in detail in ARCANA CAELESTIA (3353-3356, 3486-3489, 3650-3655, 3751-3757, 3897-3901, 4056-4060, 4229-4231, 4332-4335, 4422-4424).