Saturday, April 9, 2011

April 9, 2011

"Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You 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 the one 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." Matthew 24:1-14

I am really thankful that the disciples asked this question about the signs for the coming of the end times. It's good information! I sense you are curious, too.

Jesus seemed glad that they asked it, too, because He was happy to give them (and us) four signs to look for in our generation. Let's examine those together!

Sign One - Spiritual Crisis, Vv. 4-5

Since the days of Adam the human race has been entrapped in a spiritual crisis.

The world was in a spiritual mess when Jesus showed up. In fact, that is why He came!

Many are bemoaning the sorry state of the Church in the early 21st century. To say the least, it is struggling. With the cultural tide turning decidely anti-Christian, the prospects for inprovement seems bleak.

So, the world in a spiritual crisis is nothing new.

But the real question is, "How is your spiritual life? Are you in crisis? What do you need to do to get right with God?"

Sign Two - Political Crisis, Vv. 6-7a

Politics is really just about how people construct systems and structures to govern themselves. Because everything is essentially spiritual, when there is a spiritual crisis, that will be reflected in how people govern themselves.

Human nature is selfish and self-seeking, so it is human nature to attempt to grab power, position and personal wealth rather than govern purely for the the sake of those they serve. When you get several hundred Congressmen and Senators trying to pad their own bank accounts and personal fame, things can get to crisis status pretty quickly. We are there now!

But the big question is, "What are you going to do about it?" Are you praying regularly for your political leaders? Are you registered to vote? Are you knowledgeable of all the current pokitical issues?

Sign Three - Natural Crisis, Vv. 7b-8

There was another earthquake just yesterday in Japan. There are generally 15,000 to 20,000 earthquakes in a year. It seems the frequency and intensity of those, however, is picking up recently.

Romans 1 talks about how even the earth is groaning under the travails of planet earth. And, Jesus plainly states that things will get much worse before they get better!

Sign Four - Christianity Crisis, Vv. 9-12

As things turn tough in the last days, due in part to the spiritual crisis in conjunction with the political strife and the cataclysmic natural disasters, many will lose heart and give up hope. Even some who have professed faith and walked in righteousness will be deceived and fall away from God and the Church and forsake their faith because of the threats, the pressure and persecution brought against those who stand with Christ.

Jesus predicts that many will fall away from the faith in those terrible times. What about you? Will you stand strong? Can you remain faithful? Are you living for Jesus now? If you can't stand strong in faith right now, you probably won't when things get really tough for believers.

When times get worse, you must get better! You are called to "not be overcome with evil" but to overcome the evil in the world with the goodness and holiness of God. The first thing you must do is to get ready for the last days!







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