“But what will you do when the end
comes?” Jeremiah 5:31b AMP
In
the 1970’s you could find men standing on corners with signs stating “It’s the
end of the world.” People were appalled
at the amount of violence and war after war in those days. That decade brought famine after famine and
saw the end of one war and the beginning of civil wars in Africa. Christians thought that the end of the world
was near and that the Antichrist would manifest himself any day. Yet it did not happen.
Today
we are appalled at the increase of violence since that decade and one war is
not even finished before another begins.
There are not only famines but increasing natural disasters all over the
world in the form of hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes, yet the end of the
world has not come. The Bible tells us
that all this is not the end but only the beginning of the end.
“And you will hear of wars and rumors
of wars; see that you are not frightened or troubled, for this must take place,
but the end is not yet. For nation
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be
famines and earthquakes in place after place; all this is but the beginning [the
early pains] of the birth pangs [of the intolerable anguish].” Matthew
24:6-8 AMP
This
is a hard thing to grasp. We think times
are tough, but this is only the beginning of tough times. Things are going to get harder. Many believers will stumble and fall away
from their faith to the point of betraying one another in hatred. Some people will become so popular they will draw
many people into following what they say instead of the word of God and a large
number of the Body of Christ will become cold (heartless and uncaring) because
of increasing lawlessness and sin.
“And many false prophets will rise up
and deceive and lead many into error.
And the love of the great body of people will grow cold because of the
multiplied lawlessness and iniquity.” Matthew 24:10-12 AMP
What
then can we do about all this? Biblical
prophecy has always come true. It seems
inevitable it will all happen. Are we
just stuck in such a sad outcome? No we
are not! We have not only an opportunity
but a responsibility to not go along with the “status quo”.
“But he who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom (the Gospel)
will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then will come the end.” Matthew
24:13-14 AMP
This
is not the time to give up. As we face
more wars, famines, earthquakes and even imprisonment, we need to press in
harder and closer to the Lord. We need
to endure to the end! When we endure to
the end we will see the fulfillment of God’s promise found in Isaiah 25:8-9.
“He will swallow up death [in
victory; He will abolish death forever].
And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; and the reproach
of His people He will take away from off all the earth; for the Lord has spoken
it. It shall be said in that day, Behold
our God upon Whom we have waited and hoped, that He might save us! This is the Lord, we have waited for Him; we
will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” AMP
So,
in the light of what God has planned, what you will do?
