Matthew 24:4 ¶ And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
There will be many in history who will claim to be the Messiah or
Christ. A book by a Rabbi Hillel Silver, written, if I am not mistaken, as a
doctoral dissertation in the 1920s was entitled Messianic Speculation in
Israel. Silver outlined how, in the last 2,000 years, many have come
forward claiming to be the Messiah for the Jews or declaring that they knew
when the Messiah would arrive, and then to declare that they knew when the end
of the world would be. A list of Messiah claimants can be found on the online
encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
As a modern example in the 20th century a rabbi named Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who lived from 1902 to
1994, was claimed by many of his adherents to be the Messiah-to-come for the
Jews.
Verses 6 and 7 have been expressed throughout history. Don’t focus
on a single event as there will be constantly wars and rumors of wars. These
things will happen but the end is not here yet. They will, though, at the end
come to a crescendo like the climax of a symphony in our minds, threatening the
destruction of all there is. Followers of Christ will be persecuted around the
world. It has been said that today there are more Christians martyred for their
faith each week than when pagan Rome was at its full power. Others have said
that more Christians have been martyred in the last century than in all
previous centuries combined as Satan’s wrath builds to a fury.
Followers of Christ will be caused to stumble, will betray each
other, and even turn each other into their persecutors to save themselves. Because
of iniquity many will be cold to the gospel truth who may have even been
somewhat zealous in previous times. This is no more apparent than in the last
century of Christianity in the industrialized countries of the West where
religion is often nothing but a sham or an excuse to do wickedly to others in
God’s name.
John 16:2 They shall put
you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you
will think that he doeth God service.
False prophets, false Christs, false teachers will deceive
multitudes at this time. While these things mentioned have always happened they
will be very prominent toward the end.
Luke 18:8 I tell you that
he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he
find faith on the earth?
Holding fast to the end is of the utmost importance no matter how
bad things get.
Revelation 2:10 Fear none
of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of
you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days:
be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
1John 5:4 For whatsoever is
born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the
world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that
overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Revelation 2:7 He that hath
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that
overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the
paradise of God,,,11 He that hath an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh
shall not be hurt of the second death…17
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and
will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man
knoweth saving he that receiveth it…26
And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I
give power over the nations:
Revelation 3:5 He that
overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out
his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father,
and before his angels…12 Him that
overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no
more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the
city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my
God: and I will write upon him my new name…21
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as
I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Revelation 21:7 He that
overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my
son.
The entire world will hear the gospel of Christ before the end
comes and is that not a possibility today?
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