THE END OF TIMES – part 4

Bible: Matthew 24: 1-14

Main verse: Hosea 6: 3 part B – His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.

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– As we have learned before, the end of time has been closer to us each passing day. Therefore we Christians, sons and daughters of God, have to prepare ourselves accordingly.

– As it had been written in the letter of Peter, we Christians should be prepare ourselves like this:

1PETER 4: 7 – But the end of all things is at hand; Therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.

– In order to be serious and be watchful in our prayers, we have to know with certainty when it should come and what is happening in that period before Christ returns.

– Luckily for us, God has made it clear in the Bible about that period and show us very detail of what will happen so that we can be sure of it and prepare ourselves accordingly.

– First, we have to know about the period that called the end of time. When we read the letter to Hebrews we will know right away when that period has been started.

HEBREWS 9: 26 part B – But now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

– That means the period that called the end of time started when Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

– Another thing that we should pay attention to is the numbers that God often apply to His plans. Those numbers are 3, 7, 10, like Jesus was crucified, died and came back to life after 3 days, like God created the universe in 6 days and rested on the 7th day, like 10 commandments.

– According to the Bible, from the time Adam was sent out of the Eden to Christ’s birth is approximately 7000 years. And if we read God’s word in 2Peter we know that a thousand years is one day in God’s eyes.

2PETER 3: 8 – But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

– Thus we already have 7 days passed from the time of Adam to Jesus’ birth. And now we live in the third millennium, also means on the third day in God’s eyes. As we can see, we are very close to the time of Christ’s return.

– If Paul reminded the Christians in Rome about the end of time was nearer to them, it certainly is much nearer to us nowadays.

ROMANS 13: 11 – And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

– But, to be more convinced about the end of time is near, we should use others means to watch for it. All of them have been recorded in the Bible for our benefit.

– After we know about the period that called the end of time, the second thing we should know is what is happening in that period and especially right before Christ’s return.

– To assure us of the day He returns to Earth, God has been forewarning of many things that He allows to happen in this world so that we Christians have no doubt of the certainty of the second coming of Christ.

– In His warning, God has told us that before His return, the world will be influenced by gay people.

LUKE 17: 28-30 – Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

– As we have known from the book of Genesis, Lot, Abraham’s nephew, was live in Sodom with his family. When two angel came to that city, all of the men of Sodom, from young to old, rushed to Lot’s house and wanted to have intimate relationship with them.

GENESIS 19: 1-5 – Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.” But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.”

– Jesus indicated that the world at the time He returns will be like Sodom, a city of gay people or under strong influence from gay. Our world today is advancing to that end as we now have gay people as political leaders, the entertainment industry promotes gay images, education system teach gay way of life, businesses have been subjected to gay rules, sport industry supports gay community.

– Franklin Graham: ‘There’s an Agenda’ to ‘Lure’ Children ‘into Promiscuity’
– Vatican-backed family rally to have workshop welcoming gays
– RSL kicks off Pride Month in support of LGBTQ community.

– As the influence of the Bible and of the church have been diminishing each passing year, a gay world is a certainty of the future and it is one of the sign that warns us about the end of time before Christ returns.

– At the same of the gay advancement in societies, the influence of the Christians church has been declined steadily in recent years. It happens because Christians do not love the Bible as before or as they should. Although Christians still claim that they love God’s word but they seems to know more about things in the world than the Bible.

– One of the proof for this kind of ignorance of the Bible is Christians adopt world standards for their lives more quickly than God’ standards. One of the questions Christians used to ask is Why I can’t do things like other non Christians do? It means they want to live like non believers. Most of Christians never ask How can I be salt and light for the world like Jesus wants them to be.

– But Christians’ lack of love for the Bible has also been forewarning by Jesus when He answered to His disciple the questions relating to the end of the world.

MATTHEW 24: 12 – And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

– As we can see, when crimes are increased many folds in societies today from East to West, the love for the Lord and His word among Christians has also been declined significantly.

– That’s why God has been forewarning us many times in the Bible that when Christ returns there are not many who will be saved.

MATTHEW 22: 14 – For many are called, but few are chosen.

LUKE 18: 8 Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?

– Least of those who will be saved has also been mentioned in Jesus’ word when He spoke to His disciples about the end of time. Jesus used the story of Noah to warn us Christians about the danger of not many of us will be saved when He returns.

LUKE 17: 26-27 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

– When Jesus mentioned about Noah, He wants us to remember that when the great flood came, although Noah had warned people of that time about it for a hundred years, only 8 people had been saved

1PETER 3: 20 – When once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

– By the Bible we know that Noah was a righteous man and he had preached to the people of that time about the danger of the great flood that is going to happen, but nobody listened to him except his family.

2PETER 2: 5 – And did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.

– It happens the same way nowadays, when the Bible has been printed and distributed all over the world, but people keep ignoring of the book, even long time Christians and their ministers. We always say we love the Bible and believe it, but least of us actually to live according to its teaching. That’s a sad truth of our time.

– Thus the Bible in our hands is very important. By it we can be saved or not depending on our commitments to its teaching. That’s why Jesus said blessed those who obey and live out his life according to standards in the Bible.

REVELATION 22: 7 – Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.

– Next time we will learn more about other signs that foretold us when Christ returns and when the world is ended.