Thursday, January 12, 2017

Are We in the Last Days?

Even to the casual observer, it is evident this world has withstood a series of profound crises over the last decade.
                                                                                                                                                                          
In 2004, a devastating earthquake rocked the Indian Ocean, which triggered a massive tsunami that wiped out about 230,000 lives. A similar catastrophe occurred in March 2011, when Japan was pounded by a tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis. In July 2005, Hurricane Katrina plowed into the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,800 people. It was the deadliest hurricane to strike America in more than 75 years.

In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia, Iran conquered Lebanon, Germany conquered Kosovo, and the economy of most of the world’s countries came within a few minutes of financial meltdown with its attendant unemployment issues. In 2009, the United States spent time warring its traditional enemies, Israel went to war with Hamas in Gaza, Iran crushed a democratic uprising called the Green Revolution, and the Lisbon Treaty became Europe’s new constitution. In 2010, for all intents and purposes, Iraq fell to Iran.

And then there were the natural disasters in various forms: 2010 was one of the deadliest years on record. The Associated Press called it “the year the Earth struck back.”

And Today?
Today the world faces numerous destabilizing movements in the Middle and this situation is greatly accelerating since February 2011 - the ousting of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and its subsequent instability crisis, for example. In Syria, civil war rages, claiming over 120,000 lives to date. Multiple political scandals, deadly bombings and various tribal and country wars have also hit the headlines. Given these many earthshaking events, is it any wonder why many people now believe we are living in the prophesied last days of this age?

Dangerous Times
Are We in the Last Days? Time was when some people shouting ‘doomsday’ warning were ridiculed with all kinds of names. But today serious world leaders and scientists are saying grave things about the current drift in world conditions.”

Added to that, never before in history—until this generation—has it been possible for man to destroy all flesh from the Earth. This, in itself, makes it possible for the prophecy of Matthew 24:22 to be fulfilled: “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

In 2 Timothy 3:1 Paul warned, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” The word perilous can also be translated dangerous. These dangerous times are upon us now! 2 Timothy 3:2 describes human nature in all of its ugliness. People today are “lovers of their own selves”: They couldn’t care less about the needs or desires of other people. Everywhere we see lovers of money, materialism and radical individualism—people who are contemptuous of God and His law and who aggressively promote the upside-down families spoken of in Isaiah 3. Paul also says people are unholy, unthankful and without natural affection, and we love pleasure more than we love God. It all has a “form of godliness,” but it’s just a show.

Losing Our True Religion
God says we deny His authority by our rebellious actions! The Bible no longer bears any direct authority over people’s lives. The miraculous events of Scripture are explained away as fable or old wives’ tales (1Tim. 1:4, 4:7, 2Tim. 4:4, Titus 1:14 kjb). People may claim to be religious, but they don’t really believe that God will intervene and change world events. They deny that Christ will return and rule this Earth with a rod of iron, even though dozens upon dozens of prophecies describe that soon-coming reality.

The world is filled with churches, which send hundreds of “missionaries” into foreign lands, telling people about Christ. Yet His message, the good news of the Kingdom of God, they deny. The true gospel they oppose. This world has been deceived by a counterfeit gospel about Christ the person. His actual message has long been forgotten.

“From such turn away,” Paul says. He describes this generation as ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2Tim. 3:7kjb). In other words, Paul is describing a generation where there has been an explosion of materialistic knowledge. And yet, we are further from the truth than ever before! Advances in science have not put an end to war and suffering—instead, we have seen tragedies increase.

And yet, many people still deceive themselves into thinking there is no special danger right now—that the world has always been like this. Of course, this is true in part. From the very beginning, it was man, under the influence of Satan, who introduced this world to selfishness, destruction and death. But 2 Timothy 3 tells us that in the latter days, world events will take a dramatic turn for the worse.

This, coupled with the stark reality that never before has human annihilation been possible as it is today, ought to wake us up!

The Sign of Christ’s Coming
In Matthew 24, the disciples came to Christ and asked Him what would be the sign of His coming and of the end of the world. The focus of Christ’s message was on today—the end of the world, or the end of this age. Not only did Christ describe signs of the end of the world, He gave signs of the end of the end time! He gave specific details to watch for. Notice the first and most important warning Christ gave them: “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (verses 4-5). This religious deception is the first horseman of the apocalypse! (Revelation 6). It is not just about deception from false, non-Christian religions. People are going to be deceived about Christ and His message—about what true Christianity really is.

Christ went on to say, “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. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places” (Matthew 24:6-7).

All this is only the beginning, He says in verse 8. These end-time events, Jesus continued, are leading to a world war, the likes of which this Earth has never seen (verse 21). Without God’s intervention, mankind would literally destroy itself (verse 22).

“Many other scriptures show that conditions will become more frightful than ever before or ever shall be again on Earth. “Such conditions are rapidly escalating at this moment. Person is against person, even within a large proportion of families. Group is against group. Nation is against nation. Violence is escalating as never before in history. Terrorism is throwing fear and worry into people all over the world.”

There is hope
But we can thank God that all these self-inflicted curses will culminate in the prophesied return of Jesus Christ: “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (verse 30).

Jesus Christ will set foot on this Earth for the second time, arriving in the exact same manner He left the first time (Acts 1:11). This time, however, He is not coming to sacrifice His life for the sins of a rebellious mankind. This time, He is coming to forcibly put an end to human suffering and death, and to set up the Kingdom of God—the royal Family of God that will administer God’s righteous government over all the Earth!

 Are you ready? (Revelation 20:10-15, 21:7-8, 2corin. 5:10). courtesy

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