Last Days

What will it be like in the last days?  Have you ever wondered about that and what people will be like before the coming of Christ?  In God’s Word we can find all the answers to these questions; I am going to share a few of them.

Jesus spoke to His disciples about these things as He sat on the Mount of Olives in Matthew 24:4-31:

“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 nation 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.

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place’ (whoever reads, let him understand), ‘then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.

“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. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

In 2 Timothy 3:1-9 Paul wrote to Timothy and the church about these things also:

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.”

There are other books in the Bible that talk about the end time events and how the people will act and what it will be like, so that every believer will prepare themselves and not be taken by surprise.  If this is the way it is going to be then what kind of people should we be?  I think we need to take these warnings and learn by them.  People need to see a consistent Christian life if we proclaim one, one that is authentic and not just mere talk.  I don’t claim to know all of the prophesies that are in the Word, but even I can discern the signs of the times and I believe we are in the last of the last days.  

I know that hearing these things can be scary, but for the believer they can be exciting times.  Persecution is never fun but it will separate the true believers from the false ones.  When the church comes under persecution is becomes a stronger church and it helps to take your dependency of everything else and put it on the Lord, where it belongs.  If you are a true believer persecution will draw you closer to the Lord than most anything else, plus you will know more about Him.  Many of your activities will change and you will press into the Lord like never before, spending much more time in prayer and the study of His Word.

It says this about this subject in Matthew 5:10-12:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,

    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

I think persecution makes people bolder and more determined to see non-believers come to Jesus plus when those who are timid in the Lord see your faith and boldness it will help them to be bold and stand strong for their faith also.  I know this may not be a popular message but I think we believers need to be aware of what is coming, and like I said, be prepared for it.  Something to think about!  May you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you!!