"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 Christ, 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 he 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 24:3-14
Yesterday I turned on the TV and watched about 5 minutes of the news. In those 5 minutes there were reports of major flooding in Poland, and of a deadly cyclone in India. Earlier this month there was terrible flooding in Tennessee and tornadoes in Arkansas. To top it all off, this year there have been many earthquakes, both small and incredibly large. And when I read the Bible, it says, there will be wars, rumors of wars, famine, and earthquakes but we are not to be alarmed. This is the beginning of the end. This is the birth pains. That's what Jesus said.
Over the last few years I've heard over and over and over again "We're living in the last days..." And yeah, I believe that the end is coming, but reality is that we have no clue when Jesus will come back. We don't know what the next second holds, so how can we say something like (what I hear going around all over the place) "The world's going to end in 2012!" Um...excuse me?!? Jesus could come back one minute from now, and yes he could come back in 2012, but like I said, we don't know. Like it says later on in Matthew 24, " No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,but only the Father." (vs. 36)
So, what do we do? We see everything going on in the world, and as the Bible instructs us, this is the birth pains. The end is still to come, but the key is it IS to come. There will be an end. And we must be ready. We must be prepared. We must stand firm.
Later on in the chapter, Jesus says the following:
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
I've written this a lot, but it's reality: Jesus IS coming, and He is coming SOON! It could be today, next year, in 10 years or longer or anywhere in between, but He IS coming! And for me and everyone else who has dedicated their life to Him, that's super exciting! But for those who are not ready, that news can be sobering. See what else Jesus has to say in this chapter:
"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
I'm sharing this truth with you today, because I care. I want you to be aware of the truth and reality of what is coming. I know there will be people who will come across this blog post who maybe have never heard the truth of Jesus Christ. Or maybe you have, but something in your life has brought you to a place where you have pushed Jesus and the knowledge of Him out of your life. Or maybe you do know Jesus and have dedicated your entire life to Him and have given yourself to bring glory and fame to His name on the earth. This message is for all of us. It's for me just as much as it's for you wherever you are at.
Jesus loves each and every one of us. And He wants each of us to spend eternity with Him. He may come back before we die, or we may die before He come backs, but at some point each and every one who has ever existed will face eternity. The question is where will we spend eternity.
In my life I've made a choice to stand firm in Christ. I desire to be like that servant who Jesus talked about who is found doing what his/her master has asked of him/her. But reality is that there is another side, and it is called hell, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Everyone who is not found doing what the Master (Jesus) has asked will spend eternity there.
The last thing I want to do is scare you regarding eternity, but this truth is something that so many have shied away from for too long. I want you to be aware of what is to come.
My desire is that your life will be used to glorify the very One who breathed His breath of life into you.
Stand firm!
