Final Signs

Signs of the times

I speak and write a lot about “end times” and the “signs of the times” and I was asked recently, “Can you justify your version of end times and why you think we are in them?” OK – let’s go straight to the Word of God and I will do the best I can using that and that alone. Everything here is straight from God’s Word.

Matthew 24:3-14 “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all^[a]these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

So, if we dis-assemble that passage, these are the key points Jesus makes

· Increase of deception – One look at the different ‘gospels’ and doctrines being put about by the churches today will leave you in no doubt as to the truth of the claim that prosperity movement and replacement theology are two of the greatest deceptions. Others include ‘the end of the world’ from folk like Harold Camping and similar.

· Wars and rumours of wars – When we see the ‘wars’ that are being manufactured (Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan et al) plus the real ones and the civil wars and threats of wars, particularly against Israel, we can see the truth of this right now.

· Increase of natural disasters – a few years ago almost any earthquake or natural disaster was worldwide headline news. Now earthquakes and tsunamis are so prevalent that they are virtually a daily occurrence and go almost unreported.

· Christians hated by all nations – Hate and jealousy is being thrown at Christians all round the world. Even in America, Christians are regarded as possible terrorists.

· Betrayal of each other – In order to survive, to get food, or even to avoid death, some Christians are being forced to betray each other; to give names under torture.

· Rise of False Prophets – There are many provably false prophets around at the moment. The memory immediately goes to Harold Camping. However, there are also many more to come.

· Lawlessness – There are many countries round the world where lawlessness reigns on the streets. Even in most Western countries, little or nothing is done to prevent illegal immigrants living openly. Indeed in many places the police have been told NOT to try to stop wrong-doers as it could lead to ‘innocent’ bystanders getting hurt and the police department getting sued. Crazy.

· Love growing cold – Yes all of this contributes to loss of faith or love of God growing cold in favour of self-preservation amongst other motives.

Finally, in this wonderful passage, come three great promises and encouragements

1. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. As Paul says, if we run the race through to the finish we will receive our crown. Jesus encourages us saying, “My yoke is easy, My burden is light.” Keep going, just as millions have done so before you, and we shall see our God in all His Glory.

2. This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations. Not certain if this has happened completely. My feeling is that every nation has heard the Gospel but not necessarily every city, town, or village. This may always be a bone of contention so I simply give it over to the Lord, who knows all things, and I say to Him, “Lord, you know – you decide.”

3. Then the end will come. Oh hallelujah – come Lord Jesus \o/

Do I believe in the rapture – yes. Do I have any inkling of when that may happen – no because only the Father knows that. However, I don’t really mind exactly what will happen, or when it’s going to happen – all I know is that it WILL happen one day. Quite soon I hope.

There you have it – my opinion of ‘end-times’ and where we all are in relation to the Biblical prophecy of Jesus Himself. It’s your choice to believe the same or similar to me. All I can say is this

“Oh hallelujah – come Lord Jesus \o/”