5-22-2021 Signs of the Times
Matthew
24:1-13
Jesus left the temple and His disciples came to Him
to show Him the buildings of the temple.
And Jesus said to them “Don’t you see all these
things? Not one stone shall be left atop
another that won’t be thrown down.”
Having
berated the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy, Jesus left the temple
with His disciples following when He tells them about the destruction of the
temple.
As He sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples
privately came to Him and asked when these things should be (the end times). What will be the sign of Your coming at the
end of the world?
A logical
question. ‘When are You coming back so
we can be with You for all eternity?
Don’t we all want to know that?
And Jesus answered: Be careful that no man deceive you.
For many shall come in My name
saying “I am the Christ” and they shall deceive many.
Now, I’m not
an historian, but two recent ‘messiahs’ come to mind: Jim Jones and the People’s temple who
committed mass suicide in Guyana, South America after killing House Rep. Leo
Ryan; and David Koresh, leader of the ‘Branch Davidians’, who, along with other
Davidians, died in a fire following an assault by federal law-enforcement.
Even in the
disciples day, false prophets rose up as one Gamaliel cautioned the Jews not to
be too concerned about Peter and the rest of the disciples for if they were a
false sect, they would eventually become nothing (Gamaliel cited examples), but
if the church leaders pursued, they could find themselves fighting against God,
Himself (Acts 5:33-39).
Jesus,
Himself, tells us there will be many false Christs (Matt. 24:22-27).
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but don’t
be troubled for these things must happen, but that is not yet the end.
Nation shall rise against nation and kingdom
against kingdom. There shall be famines,
pestilences and earthquakes in various places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Wars and
rumors of war? Nations and kingdoms
fighting each other? Look at the world. In the past 100 years we have experience two
wars which have involved all the major power of the earth (1914-1918 &
1939-1945). The 1950’s saw Korea, the
1960’s saw Vietnam. This doesn’t take into
consideration all the unrest in the Middle East from 1900 to present! Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and so on. Rumors of wars? The Cuban missile crisis with the USSR (1962),
Threats from North Korea and even now the terrorist threats in the Middle East
and beyond. The ‘Cold War” hung as a
threat over people from the 1960’s until the USSR collapse in the 1990’s so, at
least the cold war, seems to have ended.
But the threat of violence continues to linger.
Over the
past several decades, I can’t remember how many time I’ve thought to myself
earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, all happening in places where they were not
expected to occur and, along with wildfires, occurring with intensities that
makes us wonder just what is going on!
And what did
Jesus say? This is just the beginning of
our problems!
Then they shall deliver you up to be afflicted and
they shall kill you. You shall be hated
by all nations for My name’s sake.
Then
Christians shall be attacked, simply because we’re Christians! Check it out!
Even today, in Asia and Africa, Christians are being jailed and executed
simply because of their faith in Jesus Christ.
And then many of you shall be offended and betray
one another, even hate one another.
Christian
brother will even turn against Christian brother. Parents will be against the children and
children against their parents and so forth (Matt. 10:17-23). The ‘world’ is going to be a mess! Way to go, Satan!
Many false prophets shall rise and
deceive many.
This goes
along with claiming to be Messiah but claiming to “know the way” isn’t quite
the same as claiming ‘to be the way’. A
false prophet’s job is to keep us from developing a relationship with Father. Or giving it his best shot to draw us away
from the Lord even once we’ve professed our faith. It could happen. But by the grace of God, it won’t. Father has given us free choice. The Holy Spirit prompts us and it is our choice
to agree to accept and receive Jesus into our heart. Once we have done that, it is still our
choice to live for our Savior.
That is, learn how to abide in His love – and do so. When I was young, the focus was on ‘getting
people saved’. The pastor’s sermons and
Sunday School would take care of the growth.
At least that’s what they thought.
But that only happens when souls became involved in listening to, learning
about and abiding in God’s love.
Jesus
cautions us to continually draw closer to Him, for if it were possible, those
false Christs and prophets might even deceive God’s elect (Matt. 24:24). That’s us, who walk and talk with the Lord.
To have a
solid relationship with Father, through Jesus, is most important.
And because sin shall abound, the
love of many shall wax cold.
Wax
cold? Grow cold! To become comfortable in ‘our own salvation’
then grow cold in our walk and wander away from Father.
Too much of
the church today has become a closed social club. You’re a brother in Christ? Welcome aboard, but we really don’t want any
sinners in our midst! Too much of
today’s church has become comfortable in going to church when the doors are
open, listening to a ‘good’ sermon and singing a few songs and some folks may
even toss some coins into the pot. But,
hey, some of those ‘weirdos’ even raise
their hands in church – and it’s not to ask a question!!! (???)
Back in my
youth, I remember our pastor almost begging someone to give him an ‘amen’ that
he could know that someone knew what he was talking about. But, alas, we weren’t supposed to talk in
church, unless, of course, it was with your neighbor about things which we were
curious about.
Again, from
the day we receive Jesus into our heart until the day Father calls us home, our
relationship with Him needs to be and should be continually growing (in some
form or fashion). That is drawing closer
to Him!
But he who endures to the end of all
this, it is he who shall be saved.
Endures? The closer our relationship with Father is (through
Jesus), the more able we are to endure.
He WILL NEVER leave us nor forsake us.
He is Always there (Deut. 31:6, Heb. 13:5), the Holy Ghost is within our
heart (2 Corinth. 1:22) and the angels without (Psalm 91:11-12). Psalm may be a prophetic word about Jesus but
we are all brothers (& sisters) in Christ (Rom. 8:29). What Father does for Jesus, He’ll do for us
(John 14:9-15).
Even though
Jesus never actually says when the end times will come (Mark 13:32), He surely
has given us enough information to know when those times are approaching. Look around at the world today. By the grace of God we have not had war on a
global scale for eighty years, but there sure have been plenty of ‘little
skirmishes’ all around for the past eight decades. World hunger?
And look at how nature has gone ‘bananas’ over the pasts several decades
– just in America (much less the world).
Flooding, earthquakes, fires, the intensity of the storms!
Look at how
people are rejecting God! Does it sound
a bit like some of those cities we read about in the Old Testament? Even today’s church has been setting aside
things God has said and is trying to conform to the world’s standards.
Yes, God is
love (1 John 4:8) and He surely doesn’t desire that any should be separated
from Him (2 Peter 3:9). But He does
require our faith to receive from Him (Mark 11:24) but He also asks our
obedience so He can bless us (John 14:15).
Faith and obedience are required to be with Him throughout eternity. Children naturally accept everything mom and
dad say. Just as parents expect the
children to be obedient to them, Father expects the same from us.
So, am I
saying we are in the end times even now? I believe we are definitely are in the
‘foothills’ of those things which must come, but the end is not yet?
Father is
closing out a seven year preparation period this year. Next year will be the beginning of a seven
year Spiritual Explosion, a time for mankind and the church to get back on
track. Father has said that there is yet
another seven year period following that.
What happens then? I don’t
know. Does anyone?
Are we
reading the signs of the times?
Could have
gone on more, but my prayer is that this at least stirs up the ‘juices’.
Amen