Scripture: Matthew 24 v 3 - 4: "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you."
The disciples asked Jesus 3 questions here after He told them the Temple would be destroyed.
1. When will the Temple be destroyed? In hindsight the best answer is before this generation shall pass. Within forty years of His death, the Romans under Titus in 70A.D. destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem.
2. What is the sign of Your coming? They believed Jesus would return as He said He would. And His immediate response was that they, or we, must not be deceived by anyone.
The Antichrist is the full manifestation of Satan in a human person. Jesus called him the father of lies. A being that is evil all the way through with no truth in him. Those who follow him pretending to be Christians, called wolves in sheep's clothing, are among us today in large numbers. They have many followers who ignore glaring errors in doctrine and behaviour in their adored leader/s and show anger and hatred to any who try to correct them.
In Thessalonians it is written that before the son of perdition appears (the Antichrist) there will be a falling away from true Christianity. This is already far advanced. The late Dave Hunt, Derek Prince and David Wilkerson, warned of this falling away which had started in their days. The things they warned about were false doctrines and false practices in the church.
The biggest Wolf is the Roman Catholic Church, which, unable to draw Protestants back into its clutches, is very involved in Interfaith and mingling of spiritual identity to form the One World superchurch comprising all religions and it will be governed by the Antichrist. Those churches who have watered down the gospel and adopted sinful practices are tarred with the same brush. They will call on Jesus in vain.
Think Chinese communist church regulations plus North Korean Christian prisons, plus Islamic killing and persecution of Jews and Christians plus the ISIS, Boko Haram type behaviour then multiply by the age of Earth and you will have the mind of Antichrist towards believers in the one true God. That's why Jesus said take heed that no man deceive you.
The signs of His coming are an increase in Earthquakes plus the destruction factor, also increase in destructive storms, waves roaring, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions. As Dave Wilkerson wrote in The Vision, the weather is out of control.
Just this past week we are seeing the worst hurricane ever to hit the Carribean and Florida, called Irma, with one already affecting Mexico, who also had an 8.1 magnitude earthquake; while they are still reeling from Harvey hitting Texas. And Jose is hitting those same islands another category 4 storm with hurricane Lee possibly waiting in the wings.
Other signs are plagues, famines, droughts, floods, heart failure, financial upheaval, anarchy, wars and rumours of wars. Jesus calls these the beginning of sorrows. The will increase into the Great Tribulation period lasting a further 42 months. Jesus says the Devil knows he has but a short time left and he has come down to Earth with great wrath.
Jesus says when you see these things happening you will know He is at the door and soon to come. You will know the season of our deliverance. Plus He says the end is not yet.
Question 3: When is the end of the world? God promised it would not be by flood as in Noah's time. According to Peter in 2 Peter 3 v 4 - 7: "And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."
He also says in verses 10 - 12: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?"
I used to think this was a nuclear war, or a huge meteor comet hitting Earth until I heard about the super volcanoes like the Caldera at Yellowstone National Park. There are many of these on Earth. Any one of them erupting will have life changing effects for the whole planet for decades. All of them erupting will turn Earth into a fireball.
Right now there is a gigantic solar flare coming out of an unprecedented solar storm and its heading for us. At best it will affect our communications and tv signals. At worst it will scorch this Earth and cause more havoc with the weather. It's just a reminder that there are some things beyond our control and we are at the mercy of our deadly enemy.
Our God will protect those that love Him and bring them home to Himself. Those that hate Him and reject Jesus are the ones who will end up in the great tribulation. If that does not open their eyes to who the real enemy is, they will spend eternity regretting it.
Israel's eyes will only open when the Antichrist goes into the Holy of Holies in the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem and declares himself God. They have been deceived for 2000 years, killing the Messiah the priesthood failed to recognize by being too politically correct and fearing Rome. They also made up a lie believed to this day that the disciples stole His Body and pretended it was resurrected.
The Bible says the Jews will look upon Him whom they pierced and mourn as for an only Son. He will show the scars of crucifixion to them and they will recognize Jesus at last. Only then will the Marriage of the Lamb to His Bride, Israel, take place.
It is all about her. The reason for our presence on this planet is all about her. Every book of the old and New testament is written by a Jew. She is the chosen....bride. She made wrong choices in Heaven. And more wrong choices on Earth but the love of Jesus for her has never wavered. In John 1 it says He came unto His own and His own received Him not. They killed Him and yet He loves them because He know that they do not know what they are doing.
She will make a peace treaty with all the Arab lands, not just Palestinians. Just this week Netanyahu PM of Israel said that there are already strong alliances in place with many Arab countries. This is a prelude to the peace treaty which will be countersigned by the Antichrist. Then we will know him and the last seven years will begin. Not before then.
As Christian we must be faithful to Jesus even until death. We must not even fear death as Jesus has full control over us and knows precisely how we will come home to the Father. We must try to win as many souls into His Kingdom because He died for all. That is all we can do and to do it we must show love, forgiveness and mercy to those who hurt us. Even to those who think they are doing God a favour by killing us.
There is no doubt that the end times are upon us. Forewarned is forearmed and it will not come as a shock. Walk in truth, shun evil, redeem the time i.e. make up for lost time. All your spare time playing games when you could be winning souls. All your spare cash going to Save the Sharks instead should be used to save the souls of the lost. Do not be deceived and diverted by enemy distractions! Find the will of the Father and do it!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, the end times here means a new beginning in Heaven and we long for it with all our hearts. Father as the world gets darker, let our light from Jesus shine ever brighter to attract those souls looking for truth. In Jesus' name. Amen.
