What are some of the signs that tell us we are in the last days?

 Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey (Photo credit: Duckgo AI)

The Monday morning “bible” study initiated with the topic: “What are some of the signs that tell us we are in the last days?” 

I love introductions like this because they can be filled with hope. However, that was not the case this day. Immediately, we were introduced to the following scriptures: Matthew 24:14; Matthew 24:33; and Matthew 24:42-44.

Let's start where the group leader started.

Matthew 24:14 EMTV And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Try to imagine where your thoughts go when you have this verse thrown in your face by some legalistic “brother”, trying to prove that Jesus cannot come back because "we know with certainty" that there are 114 people groups that do not have Bibles in their language. That is what I heard about 17 years ago. 

Fascinating how Iran made the bible illegal. ever since 1979, and yet Jesus himself still shows up at people's doors, in their dreams, and they know who he is. In the case of one man, Jesus showed up over the course of eight years. That man, finally got his family out of Iran and into Rome, was handed a Bible in Persian. The first thing he read when he opened it was Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door, and I am knocking. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, then I will come into him and I will dine with him, and he with Me.” That man told me that this is exactly what Jesus had done all those years, and yet I would not receive him because I was a Muslim. Well, he did come to know and accept Jesus, and he is now an evangelist for God. 

It was not a physical Bible that spoke to him; however, it served as a witness. It was Jesus himself doing the evangelism.

What does this do to our demand that every man gets a printed bible in their hand before the Lord can come back?

Are you not aware that an angel, or angels, will preach the gospel around the globe?

Revelation 14:6 KJV And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

And though Revelation 1:7 does not specifically infer that an angel will spread the gospel, it is clear that every eye will see Him. We foolishly assume that those who witness this event will immediately be slaughtered; that does not appear to be the case.

Revelation 1:7 KJV Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

And although it does not speak about the angels spreading the gospel message, in Colossians Paul tells us this:

Colossians 1:23 KJV If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Paul unquestionably did not go to every creature, and there had not been enough time for the disciples to reach the ends of the earth by the time this letter was written. There is the possibility of an exponential explosion in the number of salvations since the day of Pentecost, but we don't see that. What then does this say about personal responsibility, for every man has the knowledge of good and evil. 

What does that mean; does that imply that God has imprinted his life and character in every man? 

It does, but sometimes it seems as if we "humans" are only a shade above rocks on the evolutionary scale, because - having both been made by God - we humans have the ability, with our free choice, to worship. Yet, we reject Him. The rock, on the other hand, fully understands that man corrupted the existence God put it in, and can and does cry out to God for its redemption.

Look at what we see in Romans 1:18-20:

Romans 1:18-20 KJV For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; (19) Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. (20) For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

We hold the truth unrighteousness? 

That statement has nothing to do with a bible; it is what we are doing with an internal truth. 

Did Cain, one of Adam's sons, have a bible? 
No, and yet he had a responsibility to hold the truth in righteousness. 

Did he do that? 
No, he acted out of selfishness and jealousy and killed his brother Abel. 

So, whether you have a printed copy of the scriptures in your hand or not, you will be without excuse.

The second verse that was tossed at us was this:

Matthew 24:33 ESV So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.

This is great, but we never touched the signs or anything else that would have established us in this amazing hope, even though we have been looking at this Revelation for several weeks. 

Let's do a quick breakdown.

• Who is the “you” Jesus was talking to?
  The disciples. He is, of course, also speaking to us. Remember, all Scripture is given for our benefit. 2 Timothy 3:16
• And they were what?
  Jews first, disciples second.
• What was their motive for asking the questions that prompted the answers?
  The context begins in Matthew 22 where Jesus had entered triumphantly into Jerusalem, riding on the colt. (Hence the picture.) The people were shouting Hosanna, and the hope was that this would be the time He would show Himself as the Messiah they had longed for. However, He did not do that; instead, He intentionally made a whip of cords and threw the vendors out of the court of the Gentiles. He also raged at the Chief priests and elders about how they had defiled his house. This "verbal" battle lasted for two days until finally, they were all leaving toward the Mount of Olives. It seems the disciples were a little undone by it all. Not sure what to say, one of the disciples points out the temple's structure and the massive stones on which it was built. Thus begins Jesus' responses. Matthew 24:2 ESV But he answered them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."

There are definite signs, and Jesus spells out almost all of them, but I will get to that later.

The third verse the group leader threw out that morning was Matthew 24: 42-44 (EMTV).

 "Watch therefore, for you do not know in what hour your Lord is coming. (43) But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have kept watch, and he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. (44) For this reason, you also must be ready, for, at an hour that you think not, the Son of Man comes."

The group leader focused on this for a moment and asked, why does God not want us to know the exact day, time, or hour? 
This kind of thinking is comparable to living in the Dark Ages, and we are no longer in the Dark Ages.

• First, the question is filled with false beliefs and assumptions.
  It is filled with assumptions because even our modern leaders will not take the time to find out if there is something that contradicts their inference; and then, false beliefs, because when confronted with the truth (and I have confronted them on multiple occasions), they refuse to listen to the truth and try to make a workaround so that they can keep their beliefs intact.
• Secondly, if this is really the way God feels, then the most likely reason is that we have a natural tendency to be slackers. This is also the most likely reason the church cannot handle talking about the freedoms we have in Christ. Think about it. If I told you how very simple it is to have this life in Christ, and that you have already been forgiven, you might choose to live an untamed life with no restraints, and perhaps not go to church. What is the problem with all that? Well then, just how is religion supposed to control you, and you are looked at as a source of tomorrow's funding.
  The morning's “discussion” even included a loud rant about how there is not enough preaching on sin and personal responsibility these days.

In light of this, why do we foolishly take passages like Matthew 24:36 NASB: "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” A passage that was meant to explain to the disciples what the end-time salvation of the Jews would look like, and apply it to ourselves?

There is a direct answer to this fallacy:

1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 ESV (1) Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. (2) For you, yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. (3) While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (4) But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. (5) For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.

Darkness is the Greek word skot'-os and means shadiness, obscurity (literally or figuratively), and darkness.

We are capable of knowing, and we are not in the dark. As a matter of fact, we are not even in the shadows. 

Jesus himself gave us two huge clues, or signs, if you will, about when we might expect him.

Matthew 24:32-34 ESV "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. (33) So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. (34) Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Israel is that fig tree, and it was transplanted in 1948. A generation has no firm understanding of the time-frame, so we turn to the dictionary, which states: A single succession in natural descent, as the children of the same parents; hence, an age. Thus we say, the third, the fourth, or the tenth generation. But it also applies to the people of the same period or living at the same time. 

So a child born in 1948 would today be 78 and would have lived out all their acknowledged years. Fortunately, or not, God does not seem to be too wrapped up in precise time frames (We have lived in Daniel's seventieth week for over two thousand years). I suppose since God created time, He can do what he wants with it, including making it fit His scheme of things.

If you really want to understand Matthew 24 and 25, then you need to think context.

• Jesus was talking directly to Jews/his disciples, but He was also speaking toward a future audience, and we are that audience.
  In talking to Jewish ears, he said things that their training in the synagogue would have immediately caused them to associate with scripture. Therefore, it was not all mystery as we think. We just need to adjust our thinking.
  You also need to understand that prophecy to a Jew meant that they were looking for a pattern, and therefore Jesus told them things that the prophets like Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Jeremiah had already declared.

You, as a believer, should be aware of what "all these things" are.

• Matthew 24:5 False messiahs will come.
• Matthew 24:6 Wars and rumors of wars
• Matthew 24:7 Nations will rise against nations, kingdom against kingdom, earthquakes in various places, and famines.
• Matthew 24:9 ..they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you (the Jews and Israel) will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
• Matthew 24:10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
• Matthew 24:11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.

  false prophets comes from two words pseudoprophētēs and means: a spurious prophet, a pretended foreteller, or a religious impostor

  
  
• Matthew 24:12 ... lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

This is a shortlist, but you should get the idea. 

One aspect that keeps coming up is the idea of apostasy. 

It means an abandonment of what one has professed, or a total desertion or departure from one's faith or religion. This can apply to the government as well. 

Look around you; can you see this happening? I can.

If you have a desire to know this Jesus that I speak of, merely and sincerely ask him into your life. 

He gave his life so that you could have a restored relationship with him again, and we have the promise that we will spend eternity with Him, in the presence of the Father forever. 
If you ask him, he will come into you and wash you, heal you, and fill you with the power of his Holy Spirit. All you have to do is ask.

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Something I said triggered him off.

Something I said during bible study triggered it off, and although I cannot remember the verse reference he used in rebuttal, the theme went like this:

Matthew 7:21-23 NASB "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. (22) "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' (23) "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

His rebuttal was directed at two things.

1. Not everyone will enter the kingdom of heaven.
   And
2. A an underlying, massive rejection by Jesus/God saying, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME,'

I think I have shared previously how broken I was. I had to relearn who this God was that loved me; in doing so I found a God of mercy beyond my comprehension. Maybe my eyes finally opened and I could see the God of mercy I had never seen before, but as I said I was a broken man with a broken understanding, and the only God I knew was a God of judgment and punishment.

We, as children would have to say this cutesy little prayer at night.

Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

If I should die before I wake

I pray the Lord my soul to take

Sounds benign enough, but if you are raised with the concept of God sending you to hell over one little thing, such as, taking His name in vain - taking his name in vain was defined by my mothers personal morality standards, which were unwritten, seemingly impromptu rules that she dished out as she manipulated us children. 

If I am honest, this persons interruption, which assured that everyone was focused on him and his immense scriptural understanding, while I was leading bible study made me furious. I had to choose to be diplomatic and polite when everything in me wanted to lash out. 

What got my attention as he was taking issue was the emphasis that he put on, “not everyone will enter the kingdom of heaven;”as though this applied to believers. This rhetoric was associated with some other comments he made, the passage that he referred to, and Jesus speaking about Judas in John 16 and 17. 

As I said, the basis of his rant effectively followed the same theme as Matthew 7. Matthew 7 was a continuation of Christ's sermon on the mount.

It would seem that the emphasis is on the true believer and what it is that identifies us as such.

True disciples of Christ will be men and women cautious in their judgment of others; conscious of their own faults; confident and earnest in prayer; wary of false teachers and hypocritical profession; building all eternal hopes upon the firm Rock, faith in the Word of God and Christ Jesus.

Summarized Bible, Complete Summary of the Bible, By KEITH L. BROOKS

If I started at Matthew 7:1-2, the opening statement says, “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured back to you.”

But the person choosing to disagree was not concerned with judgment, or why God did not know these people he is turning away. He seemed to focus on the idea that these were believers, not meeting some standard, getting turned away from the kingdom. 

I like to think about assertions and passages like this in terms of context. Even though it was a mixed crowd that sat and listened to Jesus this day, it safe to assume that it is primarily a Jewish crowd, a religious crowd, and nothing Jesus said got past them, and it appropriately stung. 

Some purposefully listened with a critical ear; pharisees who stood by were looking for excuses to kill him.

Sadly a belief that focuses on meeting some standard is based in works and our salvation is not by works, but by faith.

Acts 13:38-39 MSG I want you to know, my very dear friends, that it is on account of this resurrected Jesus that the forgiveness of your sins can be promised. (39) He accomplishes, in those who believe, everything that the Law of Moses could never make good on. But everyone who believes in this raised-up Jesus is declared good and right and whole before God.

Romans 5:1 YLT Having been declared righteous, then, by faith, we have peace toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 9:30 GW So what can we say? We can say that non-Jewish people who were not trying to gain God's approval won his approval, an approval based on faith.

Jesus appeared to Saul (the Pharisee) as he was on his way to Damascus to persecute those of the way. He told Saul what his job was going to be, and this is what he said,

Acts 26:18 NASB to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'

Perhaps I have established that who we are and how we got here is based solely upon our belief in, Jesus Christ, the one that had to do the hard work (suffering severe blows and death) on our behalf. The closest that anyone came to being a believer prior to the Holy Spirit coming might be the disciples. Jesus referred to them as, “those whom you have given me.” I am not clear on this so I can only speak from assumption. 

We cannot make anything close to that assumption with this crowd. They came because they wanted what he could give them, food and healing. They wanted little else.

I think it is safe to say that Jesus statement, “ I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME..”, had nothing to do with followers of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 7:21-23 begins much earlier in the chapter, but lets just focus on some close proximity statements.

Matthew 7:15-16 GW "Beware of false prophets. They come to you disguised as sheep, but in their hearts they are vicious wolves. (16) You will know them by what they produce. "People don't pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do they?

I want you to consider several things here.

1. False prophets. They probably look normal.

God attempted to define for Moses and Aaron things that would indicate that someone was a prophet. You can find this in Numbers 12:6. The problem is that should you challenge someone about their qualifications they could tell you anything to appease you.

Deuteronomy 13:1-5 NIV If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, (2) and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them," (3) you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. (4) It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. (5) That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.

If you read the passage above then you picked up on two things. This person attempts to lead you away from the true God, and you are to get them out of your midst. 

(I am not giving you the carte blanche to harm anyone.)

2. They come disguised as sheep. I mentioned that they probably look normal. Have you got some perception of what a Christian looks like? Throw it out because it is wrong. We are all shapes and sizes, and some of us are tattered, while others wear fine clothes. None of that makes a stitch of difference in God's eyes. If he needs you appropriately dressed, to stand before kings, then he will make sure that happens. What you need to understand is that as you sit there in your comfortable church pew, you could be sitting next to a wolf in sheeps clothing and not know it.
   
   
3. You will know them by what they produce. Jesus, it would seem, threw a little sarcasm at us when he said, "People don't pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do they? So the wolf will be trying to get you work in opposition to God's standard, a baseline laid out by His word. Sadly that requires that you READ God's word for yourself and not be dependent upon what some “teacher” tells you; that includes me.

What kinds of things can you expect to see being produced when the wolf gets involved?

Romans 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 

Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-

Romans 1:29-32 NIV They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, (30) slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; (31) they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. (32) Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

You can find more should you choose to look, things that speak to the works of the flesh. Now those things are covered in the passages from Romans but just to show you I will give a little more.

Galatians 5:19-21 NIV The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; (20) idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions (21) and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

I can imagine what many are saying right now, "but these are works of the flesh, common to every man", and you would be right, but they are in total opposition to God, and the reason we were born into sin, for Adam did exactly this, when he chose to do his own selfish thing, allowing for sin to enter into the world through man. Life and liberty re-entered through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection.

Perhaps the question you should be asking is: What is a false prophet?

In Acts 13 we see Saul (he had not changed his name yet) and Barnabas traveling, and teaching God's word to the Jews (That may be important).

Acts 13:6-12 NIV They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, (7) who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. (8) But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. (9) Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, (10) "You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? (11) Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun." Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. (12) When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

Did you notice that the man Bar-Jesus was a Jew. A wolf in sheep's clothing. 

So the original premise was that, according to the guy that disrupted the flow of bible study that day, some Christians will not be allowed into the kingdom of heaven. Let's go back to what might have been his backing for such a statement.

Matthew 7:21-23 NASB "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. (22) "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' (23) "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

If I look back at the experience of Barnabas and Saul (Paul), then what I see in this man Elymas, is a man, learned in the Talmud, the law and prophets; able to argue against Saul's teachings (you really should be very skillful in the same literature that you wish to argue against if you want to defeat or discourage someone), and he performs amazing “miracles” that aid in his presentation and the contestation of others, at this moment the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. 

Elymas was not a believer in Jesus Christ at this point and perhaps not a fair argument. The writer of Hebrews, in chapter 13:5, to followers of Christ (believers), states, 'because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."'

Our men's bible study has been slogging our way through the book of John. But that gospel is John's demonstration that Jesus, on this earth, was God, and therefore a huge and significant demonstration of God's character as seen in Jesus' actions and words.

John 10:27-30 NIV My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (28) I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. (29) My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. (30) I and the Father are one."

If I based my understanding about the security of my relationship on this alone I could be confident, but I have showed you more. 

The idea and reference for God casting aside some who claim to be his comes out the Great White Throne judgment. This happens at the end of the millennial reign. Look this up in Revelation 20:11–15. Jesus was talking about this very moment when he described a separation of the sheep from the goats. (Matthew 25:31 – 46) 

Matthew 25:31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.

It is possible to develop side essays on virtually everything that shows up on these pages; that was not the point. The point was to address the question of whether God will choose to throw us aside someday. Should you think that your pettiest of sins will change his heart about you, you are wrong. Christ's death was an all inclusive payment for the sins of the whole world, then and forever, so you are okay in that regard, as long as you have accepted Jesus Christ as the one who paid that price for you. 

Another strong argument as to how much he loves and cares for you comes from that famous verse, Romans 3:16. God, so loved a broken and unloving world, that he, regardless of how that world might trash his love, sent his only Son as a sacrifice to save it. 

He cares for you, and should you choose to follow him, he will never let go of you. In this you can trust.

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