Then The End Will Come

Every time I see another story about black vs white, civilians and police officers being shot (of all colors by the way), conflict in the Middle East, tensions with Russia, natural disasters and so on....I can't help but remember that Jesus told us about all of this in Matthew 24.

"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." (NKJV)

It is fairly obvious that tensions continue to mount, especially in the Middle East, following wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we currently see conflicts arising in Syria, Turkey and elsewhere amidst growing threats from Russia, North Korea and China. According to wfp.org, some 795 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. That's about one in nine people on earth. The newest threat in the news is the Zika virus which has made its way to the United States and now appears to be a global problem. It does appear that the frequency and intensity of earthquakes and other natural disasters is increasing as time goes on.

BUT THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING HE SAYS

Islamic extremism endangers the lives of Christians throughout the world. Simply by identifying with Jesus Christ, believers are hated, persecuted, tortured and killed on a daily basis. Does any other "religion" have this problem? Curious, but Jesus himself reminded us that if they hated me, they will hate you. (John 15)

He tells us that many will be offended, will betray one another, will hate one another. Have you seen, heard or know of anyone who is offended at the gospel of Christ and the Word of God? Now, mind you that there are a lot of professed Christians and Christian organizations that go around spewing just as much filth and hatred as anyone else. However, there are many people that are just plain offended at "Thus saith the LORD". I'm sorry, but in the United States of America you have the right to freedom of speech, freedom to gather peaceably, freedom to worship as you will, to believe what you want and act how you want within the bounds of the laws of this country. NOWHERE IS IT WRITTEN THAT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT NOT TO BE OFFENDED!.

Okay, so now some of you reading this are offended. It's okay! We can agree to disagree on things without hating each other. What we cannot afford is to turn into a LAWLESS, LOVELESS society. As Christians we are called to love everyone, including our enemies, including those we don't agree with, including those who hurt us (Matthew 5:44)

LAWLESSNESS

Jesus said that lawlessness would abound and love will grow cold. I think we are getting there on many levels. As we have seen in the media recently, the respect for law enforcement officers and authority in general has taken a huge dive. Civilians shooting cops, cops shooting civilians....why? Because our love has grown cold. We don't love our neighbor as ourselves and we are losing respect for the sanctity of human life.

He mentions false prophets that will rise up and deceive many, preaching lawlessness and leading people away from God's Word. Now in the Bible, LAWLESSNESS (or iniquity) as translated in Matthew 24 is the Greek word Anomia which derives it's origin from the Hebrew word Torah referring to God's perfect Law. Using the various definitions of this word and context, we can see that Jesus spoke of a time when general lawlessness would prevail; including the despising not only of man's laws but more importantly of God's instructions, His Word.

But Jesus also gives a vision of hope, telling us that the gospel of the Kingdom, the good news will be preached to all nations; reminding us that those who endure to the end shall be saved. Those who will be saved are those who put their faith in Jesus as the one who paid for their sins against God's Law, those who strive to live according to the instructions found in the Word of God, and those who endure to the end in faith.

AND THEN THE END WILL COME

ARE YOU READY?

#torah #law #lawlessness #disorder #endtimes #racism #violence