The End Times Will Arrive Before You Even Realize
The fundamental basis of this sermon is Christian Eschatology, Eschatology is a part of theology concerned with the final events of history or the ultimate destiny of humanity. We all know we are getting closer and closer each day to the return of the Lord Jesus.
And as time moves on and progresses, we see prophetic events foretold in the Bible coming into fruition before our eyes.
We all know that we are living at the end of days as we know it. In Matthew 24, Jesus was telling his disciples about his second coming and he was highlighting the signs that you and I should look out for that signify the arrival of the second advent. In the generation of Noah, he was found to be the only upright person in his time.
God told him that he would destroy the world with water. He preached that one message for 120 years.
He told people there is a coming of a flood and the only living beings that will be saved are the people and animals that will be in that boat. And the people looked at him and cast him away and said to him. You are a fanatical, fear-mongering fool. It is never raining. And what you are preaching, Noah is something that has never happened and therefore we don’t believe you.
Don’t you think that the reactions of the people in the days of Noah are the same reactions of people in our day?
Our society looks at those who preach out about the return of the Lord Jesus Christ as fanatical, fear-mongering fools.
But that’s how they looked at Noah. Noah preached the same message for 120 years. They did not heed his warning. They went on marrying and eating and drinking until the flood came upon the earth. And the whole flood came, imagine how they felt when they heard the thunder roar and the lightning flash and that first drop of rain came, they all thought of Noah, that fanatical fear-mongering fool.
The day the flood came, they were all caught unaware. This is the same way Christ will show up one day and people will be caught unaware. What we are concerned about in this sermon is the signs that will manifest in the last days.
If we read through Matthew Chapter 24, we will see numerous events that Jesus described as signs leading up to his second advent. Jesus was not the only one who talked about these signs at the end time. Paul also talked about the things that will start to happen at the end of the age. In second Timothy three. You cannot look at these things that we have been warned about and look at the world today and say they are not happening. Everything that Jesus talked about and the things that Paul talked about are happening around the world today. We cannot turn blind eyes or deaf ears to the things happening. What should this tell us? The time of the second advent of our Lord Jesus is getting closer than ever before. We need to wake up from our slumber and start to do the right thing that is required of us by God. We need to retrace our steps if we are moving away from the path of salvation.
Matthew 24 verses four and five. And Jesus answered and said onto them, Take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many. Firstly, people will impersonate Jesus. What Jesus said is that people will come claiming they are Jesus Matthew 24, verse five for many people shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many. What Jesus is saying here is that many will come to you claiming they are sent by Christ.
They will come saying they have news from the Lord for you. What these people will do to you is deceive you and make you fall to their will. There are many people like that in the world now. If you go online and search for different stories of people claiming to be Christ, you will be shocked. We already have people claiming to be Christ himself. There is a documentary on the YouTube channel about a Siberian cult leader that thinks he is Jesus and he has thousands of people who follow him.
You would be surprised at the number of people who believe he is Jesus. Not only will people claim to be Christ himself, but some will come to you and say they are sent by Christ to you. This is not the time to allow yourself to be deceived. You cannot afford to fall into their deceit. I purposely make this one of the major signs because it is what the devil will use to make people fall flat. Many have fallen from grace because of these people who have claimed to have come in the name of Christ.
Many Christians have left the path of Christ to follow the wrong path, to follow doctrines of devils. Different doctrines have crept into the Church of God today through these people claiming they have been sent by Christ. We now have what they call half-truths in the church today, where they mix truth with lies for their own selfish gains. Matthew 24, verse 11. And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. What will these false prophets do, they will deceive many.
Their job is to come and make you follow their doctrine. Their job is to make you follow the wrong path, all the while making you think you are on the right path. They do it in a way that has you feel they are sent by God himself. These prophets are different from all those who claim to be Christ or claim to be working for Christ. What these false prophets will do is tell you the truth for the wrong reason. To understand this, we will look at how Jesus was tempted. After fasting, Jesus was taken to the wilderness and then the devil came.
Almost all the things the devil told Jesus were true. No lies in them. The first thing he said is in Matthew four verses three. And when the tempter came to him, he said, if that will be the son of God command that these stones be made bread. The devil knew he is the son of God. He said the truth. The second thing the devil said that Jesus is in Matthew for verse six. And Satan said onto to him, if that would be the son of God, cast thyself down. For it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee. And in their hands, they shall bear thee up. Lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. God will indeed send his angels to bear in their hands. What the devil said here was true, but for the wrong reason. False prophets do not lie all the time. I’m not saying they don’t lie. That is their number one characteristic. They tell lies conveniently. But when I am saying is that it is not all the time that they tell lies.
They tell you the truth sometimes. But that truth is what will push you to do the wrong thing. This sign of the last days is what we should make sure we take seriously. There are other signs that we must take seriously, but this one affects us so much and these false prophets can cause us to fall. This is the time to get closer to God and to stop playing around. Christianity is all about power. You need that power in your life.
False prophets have gone into the world. God wants his children to go into the world too and neutralize the works of these false prophets. God wants you to go and establish the power of God. The world awaits you. We are seeing the signs that Jesus talked about. We are also seeing the signs that the apostle Paul talked about. This means that the time our Lord Jesus Christ will appear is very close. Are you prepared? If Christ comes now, will you reign with him?
These signs are not for us to be afraid of anything. They are for us to prepare ourselves. You are reading this article right now. You have time to prepare yourself. Go into the ark, the ark that is Jesus Christ, and save yourself from the flood. Don’t be like the people of Noah’s generation. You have time to prepare yourself. Jesus gave you these signs to look out for. They are for us to tell the world that time is short and that the Lord is coming.
It is also to remind ourselves constantly that Christ is coming soon. False prophets will come. They will try to deceive you, but by the power of God, you will overcome them. And in the world we live in today, there are many who will tell you that believing in God is ridiculous. Many believe that Jesus is not coming back. But we believers know the truth and we must prepare our lives and act in obedience, just as Noah did so that we may find grace and mercy in the sight of the Lord when the time comes. Believers should learn to walk with God, even if it means walking alone. At times when we walk in obedience to God, we appear to be senseless to men. However, First Corinthians one, verse 25, tells us that the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. The generation of Noah discovered her folly, but it was too late. Ultimately, believers should know that the ark built by Noah was only a shadow of the reality to come.
Jesus Christ is the ark that saves. Therefore, we must believe the word of God is true and valid, irrespective of the world’s responses to it. Jesus will return unannounced to take his people to be with him. His return will be a sudden as the event of the flood in Noah’s time, which caught them all unaware. Matthew, 24 verses 36 to 44. But of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my father only.
But as the days of Noah were, so also, will the coming of the son of man be for us. In the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also, will the coming of the son of man be. Then two men will be in the field, one will be taken and the other left, two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and the other left.
Watch, therefore, for you do not know what hour your lord is coming, but know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready for the son of mine is coming at an hour you do not expect.
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