NOTES: on Matthew 24
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
Almost everyone I know is concerned about the end times, and what the Bible has to say about what is to take place. It does not take a "Rocket Scientist" to see how bad things are going to get in this world before Christ comes again.
Many people who believe and yet are very afraid of these things to come are beginning to cry out "come Lord Jesus" because they want to avoid any or all of the suffering that we may have to endure toward the end of time. I get asked many times about the rapture of Christians...how bad it will get, and what should we expect? There are so many who have started to go to people who claim to know what the prophecies of Revelation really mean, and spend hours at a time reading and studying these to the point that they have built doctrines around these potential outcomes.
I think it is important for us to stay focused at this point in history as Christians upon our relationship with God, and allow God to continue with whatever plan He has for this world without interference. God has already laid out a time table for what must take place before the end that is clearly shown to us in Matthew 24: by Jesus that pretty much simplifies what the book of Revelations is telling us. Our part in the end times and prophecy that is coming is to take a stand with Christ and not back down from our faith. In order to do that no matter what comes we must remain in as close of a relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord as we can because He is our only hope. If I am to take seriously what Jesus said about what we can expect I must be prepared to give my life for my faith as so many have in the past. The early church went through it's times of persecution from this world, and in those years we see many who died. I see no reason for the ending of time before Christ's return to be any different. We saw through scripture the dedication that the Apostles had in their work and ministry in the church, but we must realize that the efforts that we make as a child of God can be no less than the same when we are brought to a place of giving account for our faith and belief in Jesus.
Christ said that it will get really bad...so bad that many will fall away that have been only fair weather Christians. The question is what kind of child are we? The words of Christ repeat over and over again the fact that if the world hated Jesus so much then it will also hate us if we stand for Christ. The disciple should not expect any different treatment than the Master has been given for we are certainly not greater than He. It is this understanding that will help us to make some very serious choices about our faith in Christ, and our belief in God.
Are we strong enough in our beliefs to withstand persecution, pain and loss in this life? It is time now to begin a serious transformation spiritually from a person who has talked about faith in God to a person who begins to focus and live a daily life in God's command. We must become willing and ready to trade all that we have been given in this life for the promises that God has made to us for all eternity. If we truly believe then let us go ahead and make that declaration of faith to the point that we let go of the "white knuckles" grip that we have had on this world and begin to cling to those Heavenly things that give us hope when all hope has run out in this world. Anyone with any spiritual wisdom at all knows that it will only get worse here in what we have called reality...in this physical world we are seeing sin literally take the world that we have always known by the throat with it's teeth and begin to shake it.
For those who wish for a place where there is no violence and pain the only place that remains is the promises of God to those who give themselves completely to His care. We do not and we will not have any control over what is happening in this world in the end, and therefore we should not expect to have some kind of great revival that changes the sinful nature of this world and saves us from what we know is to come. What we do have is the information we all need to withstand this onslaught by accepting our place in God's Kingdom and living it out. The strength that we must have in this time is not from us , but from God. The response that we give to this world will not be from our own wisdom, but given from the power of God's Spirit who dwells within us. We should not consider ourselves to be our own...we have been bought with a great price to God, and we are now called on to be as daily living sacrifices to God. He has told us what may come our way; and indeed for some of us {if we live long enough} that will come at the hands of this world. God has told us not to be afraid of men who can take our life, but can do no more than that, but to fear God who can not only take our life but our soul. We are concerned about death, when we should be more concerned about the eternal life we have been created to have, and about where we will spend it... may you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
Almost everyone I know is concerned about the end times, and what the Bible has to say about what is to take place. It does not take a "Rocket Scientist" to see how bad things are going to get in this world before Christ comes again.
Many people who believe and yet are very afraid of these things to come are beginning to cry out "come Lord Jesus" because they want to avoid any or all of the suffering that we may have to endure toward the end of time. I get asked many times about the rapture of Christians...how bad it will get, and what should we expect? There are so many who have started to go to people who claim to know what the prophecies of Revelation really mean, and spend hours at a time reading and studying these to the point that they have built doctrines around these potential outcomes.
I think it is important for us to stay focused at this point in history as Christians upon our relationship with God, and allow God to continue with whatever plan He has for this world without interference. God has already laid out a time table for what must take place before the end that is clearly shown to us in Matthew 24: by Jesus that pretty much simplifies what the book of Revelations is telling us. Our part in the end times and prophecy that is coming is to take a stand with Christ and not back down from our faith. In order to do that no matter what comes we must remain in as close of a relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord as we can because He is our only hope. If I am to take seriously what Jesus said about what we can expect I must be prepared to give my life for my faith as so many have in the past. The early church went through it's times of persecution from this world, and in those years we see many who died. I see no reason for the ending of time before Christ's return to be any different. We saw through scripture the dedication that the Apostles had in their work and ministry in the church, but we must realize that the efforts that we make as a child of God can be no less than the same when we are brought to a place of giving account for our faith and belief in Jesus.
Christ said that it will get really bad...so bad that many will fall away that have been only fair weather Christians. The question is what kind of child are we? The words of Christ repeat over and over again the fact that if the world hated Jesus so much then it will also hate us if we stand for Christ. The disciple should not expect any different treatment than the Master has been given for we are certainly not greater than He. It is this understanding that will help us to make some very serious choices about our faith in Christ, and our belief in God.
Are we strong enough in our beliefs to withstand persecution, pain and loss in this life? It is time now to begin a serious transformation spiritually from a person who has talked about faith in God to a person who begins to focus and live a daily life in God's command. We must become willing and ready to trade all that we have been given in this life for the promises that God has made to us for all eternity. If we truly believe then let us go ahead and make that declaration of faith to the point that we let go of the "white knuckles" grip that we have had on this world and begin to cling to those Heavenly things that give us hope when all hope has run out in this world. Anyone with any spiritual wisdom at all knows that it will only get worse here in what we have called reality...in this physical world we are seeing sin literally take the world that we have always known by the throat with it's teeth and begin to shake it.
For those who wish for a place where there is no violence and pain the only place that remains is the promises of God to those who give themselves completely to His care. We do not and we will not have any control over what is happening in this world in the end, and therefore we should not expect to have some kind of great revival that changes the sinful nature of this world and saves us from what we know is to come. What we do have is the information we all need to withstand this onslaught by accepting our place in God's Kingdom and living it out. The strength that we must have in this time is not from us , but from God. The response that we give to this world will not be from our own wisdom, but given from the power of God's Spirit who dwells within us. We should not consider ourselves to be our own...we have been bought with a great price to God, and we are now called on to be as daily living sacrifices to God. He has told us what may come our way; and indeed for some of us {if we live long enough} that will come at the hands of this world. God has told us not to be afraid of men who can take our life, but can do no more than that, but to fear God who can not only take our life but our soul. We are concerned about death, when we should be more concerned about the eternal life we have been created to have, and about where we will spend it... may you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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