Know The Signs

    The church as a whole should not be having the attention focus of an untrained dog. One moment attentively listening to its master, the next off chasing cats and squirrels. We need to pay attention to our Lord's words regarding being watchful for His return, so that we'll be able to know the signs. For to those who know, His return will not come as a great shock. 

    Now, remember, Jesus is speaking with His disciples, not the general public. (vs 3). For such queries were even being said in their day that caused them to seek His wisdom concerning these things. Three questions they put to Him. 

1. When will these things happen?

2. What will be the sign of Your coming?

3. What will be the sign of the end of the age?

    WHEN WILL THESE THINGS HAPPEN? 

Matthew 24:9-25 gives us more details. False Christs rise up to distract and try to detract from the gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ. Witnessing to All Nations wherein we will be afflicted (suffer for the sake of the cross) and killed (for His Name's sake). The Abomination of Desolation will call himself God and declare himself God over all other gods, regardless of religious affiliation.

THE SIGN OF HIS COMING

    That one's pretty simple. 

    Revelation 1:7

Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him—even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen. 

    1. HE COMES ON CLOUDS and 

    2. EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM

    3. ANGELS WILL TRUMPET HIS ARRIVAL (Matthew 24:31)

    So, if someone says, I am the Messiah you seek, but then he arrives not on clouds, nor is seen by every eye across the globe at the same time, then we know that the speaker is false and not to be trusted. 

THE SIGN OF THE END OF THE AGE

 Matthew 24:4-8 is brief in its description. 

4. And Jesus answered and said unto them, "Take heed that no man deceive you.

5. "For many will come in My Name, saying, ‘I am The Christ,’ and will deceive many.

6. "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7. "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

8. "All these are the beginning of sorrows." 

    These eight verses are not several signs, but one sign taking place in many events. The first two verses here warn against listening to lying spirits: false prophets and false teachings. Such will sound good to the itching ears which do not want to hear the Truth of God's Word, but will only bring about their downfall and their destruction. Too many people will choose not to believe God and His Word. As stated earlier in The Day of The Lord: The Warning to The Church study on this site. 

    Verse six tells of wars and rumors of wars. But the church, the born again, Spirit-filled believers, are not to worry or be anxious about such things. 

    And then, there's the rumors of wars. We hear those now, as our grandparents heard it then. Since early Bible times wars have been fought on every continent, with the victor deciding how the conquered nation should live, or whether that defeated nation should live at all. Though some countries have known relative peace and safety throughout time, many have not. 

    In the last days, during this time of falling away from The Truth of God's Word, when the church will be sifted like wheat, and judged for her philandering ways, the world will always be at war with the believer.  As it has been, so shall it be, until the church is taken up out of this world by her Groom and Friend of The Groom. 

    Verse seven breaks this down even further. Not only will there be the wars and rumors of wars, but nation will rise against nation. And kingdom against kingdom. Within any continent there are many nations. And even within these nations there are more than one kingdom in place. 

    While all of the upheaval is happening, so, too, at the same time do famines, disease, and earthquakes in diverse places. Not just randomly, but in God's timing and on God's chronological chart, will these events take place. But don't be anxious, Christian: do no allow the worry of the world to take root in your hearts and minds. Yes, be wary of what is being said. But also be joyful, for these are only the birthing pains of what is about to happen. 

    In verse eight Jesus informs His disciples, then and now, that these events are merely the beginning of sorrows. The beginning of sorrows usually means travailing (contractions), childbirth. Though the arrival of a child is joyful, the getting to the arrival of the child, is painful for many women to go through. 

    In order for the church to be birthed, her Savior had to go through a period of sorrow, hence one of His titles is Man of Sorrows [Isaiah 53]. And His time of affliction is well documented both prophetically in The Old Testament and prophecy fulfilled in The New Testament. There are over 400 prophecies made in The Old Testament regarding The Messiah. In the gospel books {Matthew, Mark, Luke and John} Jesus Christ fulfills around 300 of them. (reference given below). Not all of them have been fulfilled yet; some will be fulfilled near the end of all life. That time of fulfillment of prophecy is nearer than many think or believe. 

OUR MAIN OBJECTIVE AS CHRISTIANS - Preaching The Gospel

    The church's main objective is to tell people about Jesus Christ, it is to win souls for the kingdom of heaven at any cost (Proverbs 11:30; Mark 16:15; Jude 1:22, 23): 

That He is God's Only Begotten Son  (1 John 4:9)

That He suffered and died (nailed to a cross) for the whole world, but that each individual must make a decision whether or not to believe this Truth. (John 3:16-18; Mark 16:16)

That He had the sins of the whole world laid across His shoulders (taking the load of sin off of us) (Isaiah 53:6; 2 Corinthians 5:21) God attributed the sins of the world to His Son Jesus Christ and then attributed Christ's righteousness to us, the believers. 

That He was laid in a grave, wrapped in burial clothes (Luke 23:50-53)

That He went to hell and defeated it and death (Revelation 1:18)

and

That He conquered the grave when He rose from the dead and walked out of it in a new body, becoming the First of us to rise in newness of life (John 20; 1 Corinthians 15:20; Ephesians 1:18-20)

That people need to know they will die in their sins unless they repent and turn away from their sins, turning to God in the process, choosing to be obedient and faithful to and in His Word (Ezekiel 14:6,7; Acts 3:19; Matthew 4:17; Acts 17:30; Romans 3:23; Hebrews 4:1; Romans 3:9-20; Romans 10:9-13) 

That water baptism is a public confession of faith in Christ Jesus, a symbol of being buried with Him and rising with Him (1 Peter 3:21; Romans 6:3, 4)

That the believer must hold fast, cling tightly to, faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation, not adhering to any words but The WORD (Anchored in Hope: Hebrews 6:19; Be Steadfast and Immovable: 1 Corinthians 15:58)

    Then we know that the sign of the end of this age of political, ideological and spiritual unrest will be when the antiChrist stands in the holy place, when he seats himself in the temple and calls himself God. 2 Thessalonians 2:4 "Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." 

    Our redemption is near. Luke 21:5-36. 

    

**Resource Used: Ray Konig, Author & Investigative Journalist 

The Last Hour

 

        1 John 2:18

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.

     As there are many that paved the way which leads to The Messiah's arrival, so, too, are there many leading the way to the antichrist, which is the opposite of everything Christ is. 

     Christ Jesus is Truth. The antichrist is a liar. Christ Jesus is Life. The antichrist is death. Christ Jesus is Hope. The antichrist is despair. Christ Jesus is Eternal Life. The antichrist is death twice over. 

    Which one do you believe and follow?

 Matthew 24:5

For many will come in My name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.

Matthew 24:24

For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible.

 1 Timothy 4:1

Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons.

Be Ready, Be Armed

    Romans 13:11, 12

And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

    1 Peter 4:7

The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.

Escapism Isn't

 2 Timothy 3:1-5 

1. But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. 
2. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money , boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 
3. unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good,
4. traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 
5. having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!

Anything or anyone that captivates a person's attention away from the Word of God is destructive to a person. The word captive can be used as both a noun: 

• A prisoner
• A person who is enslaved or dominated

and an adjective:

• Made or held prisoner
• Kept in confinement or restraint
• Enslaved by love, beauty, etc.

Captive, therefore, means:

• To attract and hold the attention thereof
• To enchant
• To capture, to subjugate (to bring under complete control, to master, to conquer; to make subservient, enslave

     You may say that every decade has its problems and you would be half right. But it has been centuries since Jesus went back to heaven to prepare a place for us and His return is always imminent.           Therefore, since He left people have been living in the last days. These last days are the days leading up to His return. Even the last hour. 

1 John 2:17-18 "The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever. Little children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen, whereby we know that it is the last hour."

     We need to recognize that what separates us from God now will be the very thing that separates us from God then: sin. Everything named in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 is sin; these things separate a person from a right relationship with God. 

     We see the results of such sins even more so as the counting of days ends and the counting of hours before Christ's return draws near. All of these sins have kept people away from God's presence, have kept people away from prayer with Him, have kept people away. Period. 

We are made aware of this immediately: 

• Terrible Times will come: difficult days, dangerous days, furious days; days of weakness and reduced strength
• Lovers of Themselves: self-loving, selfish
• Lovers of Money: avaricious, greedy, covetousness
• Boastful: one who gives one's self airs in a loud and flaunting way
• Arrogant: proud, disdainful, haughty
• Abusive: blasphemous, slanderous, evil-speaking
• Disobedient to their parents: who will not be persuaded, contumacious: willfully and obstinately disobedient, stubbornly perverse or rebellious
• Ungrateful: ungraceful, unthankful, unpleasing
• Unholy: wicked, profane
• Unloving: devoid of affection, hardhearted towards kindred
• Unforgiving: without libation (without truce, without covenant); implacable (unable to please or placate, unyielding)
• Slanderous: accusing falsely, unjustly criticizing to malign and condemn, accuser, backbiter; malicious, false, defamatory statement or report; calumny: a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something
• Without self-control: powerless, impotent, lacking self-control, inclined to excess: without self-discipline nor self-restraint; unable to have power over one's self
• Brutal: not tame, fierce, savage
• Without love of good: not loving that which is good; a hater of that which is good; someone who is hostile to the things of God
• Traitorous: betrayer; treacherous: faithlessness, untrustworthy, unreliable; perfidious: deliberately faithless, deceitful
• Reckless: headlong: hasty, without deliberation (careful consideration before decision); impulsive, rash
• Conceited: foolish; having a cloudy (muddled) mindset-moral blindness resulting from poor judgment which brings further loss of spiritual perception; having an exceptionally favorable opinion of one's abilities, appearance, etc.
• Lovers of pleasure: strong desire, sensuous pleasure that is pleasing only to self, self-gratification; the satiation of bodily desires at the expense of others. Rather then Lovers of God: God-loving, friend of God
• Having a form of godliness but denying Its power: external appearance, resemblance, looks like the real thing but isn't

     Escaping from God's presence now is escaping from God's presence in eternity. Whether the choice is made to believe or not, it is still a personal choice that each of us makes. There is no one to blame but us.

     When we recognize ourselves, our actions in any one of these descriptions, we must turn to God, repent of our wicked ways and seek His forgiveness, which He will surely give to the repentant heart. His Word will enter into us and begin to change us into the person we were created to be. His Spirit will mold us and transform us by God's power. 

     Nothing we can do will change us. Nothing we say will transform us from sinners to sinners saved by grace except belief in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God. 

     What is our defense against God's judgment on sin except Jesus Christ? 

    What is our hope and expectation of God except His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world? 

     The Lord Is My Hope and My Salvation. Is He yours?

     Now is the time to get on our knees and pray. Don't fret about the words coming out of your mouth. God wants to hear our hearts not our words.

The Last Days Church

 

1. Just how prepared are American Christians to become the underground Church?

2. How prepared are we individually to gather together in secret when the time arrives here?

If we go by this year's statistics, not at all. I, myself, have missed being inside a church with my fellow congregationists. I have, however, attended several online services. Not just within my own church, either; for there are a couple other ministers whose sermons convict me and encourage me. 

LTW  Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Yousseff

IN TOUCH MINISTRIES with Dr. Charles Stanley