Discerning the Signs but Looking for the Lord
I do listen. As I get older, I forget more easily, but I do listen to people’s concerns. In the last several years, a number of devoted Christians have asked me some form of the following question: “Are we close to the return of Jesus Christ?” As with any Biblical teaching, we must be careful with this subject. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus said, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man.” Later, in Acts 1:7, He added, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons.” Paul wrote in I Thesssalonians 5:2 that “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” Thus, date-setting defies God’s Word and dishonors our Savior. However, in Matthew 16:3, Jesus pointedly asks, “Can ye not discern the signs of the times?” We do not know and cannot know the exact time of Jesus’ Second Coming and the resulting period of the Tribulation, but we are told to seriously study the signs found in Scripture. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
An eleventh sign of the encroachment of the end is an intense hatred of Christianity. This is nothing new; we can think of the official persecution of the Church in the first century by Roman emperors such as Nero and Domitian. Jesus warned His disciples in John 15:18, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you.” In verse 20, He added, “If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” Thus, the history of Christianity has been one of the world’s opposition. However, II Timothy 3:1-5 tells us “that in the last days perilous times shall come.” Part of this evil envelopment is that “men shall be… blasphemers” (verse 2) and people will openly challenge the existence and goodness of God and will attack His people. They will not, though, abandon the pretense of religion. Verse 5 speaks of a quasi-religious movement that will be rotten at its core and that will prepare the way for the false religion of the Antichrist. II Peter 3:1-4 singles out “scoffers” (verse 3) who dominate “the last days.” Verse 5 indicates a settled decision on the part of these godless ones: “this they are willingly ignorant of.” These who are willfully ignorant will denigrate all that is good and godly. We have a promise that pertains to this subject in II Timothy 3:12: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” This everpresent hatred will increase, for verse 13 warns, “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” Yes, it is bad and getting worse and will at the end be even worse. But our God remains good, and He remains our God.