The sign of wars and rumors of wars

Everytime I talk about a prophecy, please refer to Matthew 24. Let's continue.

Did you know that there have been approximately fifteen thousand wars in recorded human history? But the wars the twentieth century in particular have been far bloodier than any century that preceded it. Far more people have died in wars during the past hundred years.

Brutal ethnic confrontations have erupted around the globe- in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, India, in the territories of the former Soviet Union, and elsewhere- and more of these simmering hot spots seem about to break out in open war.

Yet how did Jesus tell us to respond to such reports?

"See that you are not troubled,"He said, And why should we not be troubled?The two reasons are found in Matthew 24:6.

1."All these things must come to pass"
2."But the end is not yet."

Obviously, wars are not 'the sign' of the end! The fact is, however, Christ did inject the subject of war into His answer to His disciples' question "What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" This can only mean that 'the sign' had to be a special kind of war.

Steps to avoid being deceived

1. Know you Bible!
Jesus said that 'the truth shall make you free.' The Bible is the truth of God, so the better you know the Scriptures, the better prepared you will be to withstand Satan's deceptive ways. So I recommend that you all engage in the daily reading of the Scriptures, particularly the New Testament.

2. Test the spirits! (1 John 4:1)
Everything comes down to whether a teaching agrees with the Scripture. That is why you should study the Bible regularly, so that you can test any new teaching by the Scripture. Another important question to ask is, What do you believe about Jesus? Most false teachers have faulty views of Jesus. Some are blatantly false; the more dangerous ones will accept Him as a god but not God in human flesh. Never trust any teacher who does not believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, His sinless life, sacrificial death, bodily resurrection, and His promise to come again physically to this earth. Always ask,"Does the message or teaching glorify Jesus?"(John 16:13-14)Every teacher should make Him as our special object of worship, love, and service.

3.Seek God's guidance in life and teaching! (proverbs 3:6)
The Lord wants to guide and direct His children, If you are willing to be led by God, He will guide you to the truth.

4.Share you faith aggressively with others!
This world has never been more religiously confused. As you witness to others about your faith, you strengthen your own convictions and help many of those to whom you reach out. So preach and teach others vigorously, like me!

5.Walk in the spirit! (Ephesians 5:17-21)
All Christians in every age should walk in the Spirit, for Paul says that is 'the will of the Lord'. What is walking in the Spirit? As Ephesians 5:19-21 says, Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

As the Spirit fills and uses your life, He will make you sensitive to both truth and error.

What shall be the sign?

In our Lord's Olivet discourse, Jesus' disciples asked the crucial question "What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of age?" In His answer our Lord unfolded several significant 'signs' that will characterize life on earth just before His return. I believe some of these signs already have been fulfilled and that the time of the end could well be soon. Here are the two first two warnings Jesus gave.

1."Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many."
2."You will hear of wars and rumors of wars."

Let us consider both of these warnings.

The end times will be filled with deception as the Lord prophesied. He warned his disciples at least six times in His Olivet discourse against false teachers and deceivers:

1. Take heed that no one deceives you(24:4)
2.For many will come in My name, saying,' I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.(24:5)
3.Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.(24:11)
4.Then if anyone says to you,'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.(24:23
5.For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect (24:24)
6.Therefore if they say to you,'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.(24:26)

Of course, there have always been false teachers, for that is Satan's way of distorting the truths of God. Jesus called him a deceiver and a liar, declaring that he had been a liar from the very beginning. That is why we have so many cults, religions, and other -isms that claim a Christian basis for their beliefs. If Satan cannot get people to disbelieve or rebel against God, he will get them hooked on some false doctrine to lead them astray. There is nothing new about that.

Yet who can deny that everywhere we look today, we find deception growing stronger and more prevalent? Dr. M.R. DeHaan, a popular Bible teacher in the fifties and sixties, wrote:

Never before in all history have there been such divisions in Christendom. There are today over 350 denominations, sects and cults in Protestantism in America alone. All of these claim that they are right and that others are necessarily wrong.

Matthew 10:28 "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

It is very regrettable to lose one's soul. Some false teachers whom use drugs as an inducement to open their disciples minds to new thought are today leading thousands of young people astray. Deception is proliferating in this century.As Time magazine reporter described this problem late in 1997:

These are the waning years of the 20th century, and out on the margins of spiritual life there's a strange phosphorescence. As predicted, the approach of the year 2000 is coaxing all the crazed out of the woodwork. They bring with them a twitchy hybrid of spirituality and pop obsession, part Christian, part Asian mystic, part Gnostic, part X Files...we have seen the Beast of the Apocalypse. It's Bambi in a tunic.

We expect deception to increase the closer we come to the next millennium--particularly if these really are the last days the prophets spoke so much about.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 "The coming of the lawless one(antichrist) is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

The greatest deception the world will ever face is the seven-year Tribulation, when the contest between God and Satan for the souls of men will reach its greatest heights. Satan will go all out with deceiving spirits and signs and lying wonders potent enought almost to deceive even 'the very elect'. Although that period has not yet come, it is highly probably that false teachers and deceivers committed to Satan are already in the world.

Lord's Olivet discourse:Literally or Symbolically?

It is almost impossible to exaggerate the importance of our Lord's Olivet discourse found in Matthew 24-25.(visit biblegateway.com to read up on it). It outlines the future to which all other prophetic sections should be related.

Matthew 24:1-8
Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, ad His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them,"Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olivers, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, whe will these things be? And what will be the sig of Your coming, ad of the end of the age?" And Jesus answered and said to them:"Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying,'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. 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.
"For nations 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."

Now you may ask,"Should we take it literally or symbolically?" In this case, we should take it literally. Let's look at the evidences.

In the first two verses of Matthew 24 the disciples are seen proudly showing off the temple buildings to their Master. No doubt they expected Him to ooh and aah along with them. But to say our Lord was unimpressed with what He saw is something of a understatement. "Do you not see all these things?" He asked His disciples, no doubt pointing to the gleaming structures around them. "Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

History records that our Lord's words were fulfilled to the letter in A.D. 70. In that year the Roman army under the command of Titus destroyed the city of Jerusalem. Fires raged through the city and in the temple area itself. After flames burned themselves out, the soldiers saw that large amounts of gold had melted and flowed into the crevices of the blocks of the temple. In order to recover the precious metal, the Romans had to take the buildings apart, stone by stone, just as the prophecy said,"Not one stone was left upon another."

Some of those stones were later used to erect the wall standing today near the edge of the temple mount. Everytime you see pictures of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem (www.thewall.org), you see the pinpoint accuracy of Jesus' prediction. So here is a big hint that we should interpret this passage literally.

Are These the Times of the Signs?

A study of prophetic literature from the first century right up to our own day will show that Bible- believing Christians have always been interested in when and the signs of his coming. Invariably, there has always been commentators coming up with bizarre theories and conclusions that were proven wrong by the passage of time. Some have set ill- advised dates. So let us be wary of what teachers of the Word say. In Matthew 24:36, "Of that day and hour no ones knows, no, not even the angels of haven, but My Father only." This clearly tells us that no one will know when Christ will return. If someone says it is on 18 Jun 2008, do not believe it! For only the Father knows. And in Acts 1:7, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority."

However, the Lord did say in the parable of the fig tree that we can know the general time of His coming. Jesus sais in Matthew 24:33, "So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the doors."

For more than 1900 years, God has almost refrained from unmistakably intervening in the affairs of men as He did in the days of ancient Israel. During these years He has confined His expressions of His existence primarily to creation, the Scriptures, His Son's life and teachings, and the power of the Cross as it changes the lives of those who come to faith in Him. So what does this mean? Through evidences from the Bible, something significant is going to happen! Let's look at the possibilities in the next post.

New Testament Prophetic Events

Here is a list of events in chronological order. Please refer to this when you're not sure:

First Coming of Christ, Church Age, Rapture, Tribulation, Second Coming of Christ.

The first coming of Christ refers to Jesus' birth on the Earth 2000 years ago. The church age refers to the period of time we're living in now. The rapture refers to the calling of believers to meet Jesus midair. The dead from the grave will rise first, followed by those who're still living when the last trumpet sounds. We, who are believers, will be transformed with new bodies and caught up in midair with Jesus. The Tribulation is the period of 7 years when the anti-christ reigns on the Earth. The Second Coming of Christ refers to the coming of Jesus to set up his millennial kingdom.