Russia is reportedly deploying warships to the Caribbean, North Korea is reportedly restarting its nuclear efforts and just this week Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spewed his typical rhetoric of hatred and destructive desires for Israel and America...in New York City!
And as I sit in my office contemplating such news that has become so commonplace, my thoughts of war and rumors of war are accentuated by the sound of a large caliber machine gun in the distance. I live across the river from a US Army Firing Range and tonight the army is apparently practicing with what sounds like a 50 caliber.
It is all quite surreal but yet it is real indeed. This reality led me to think about the conversation that Jesus had with His disciples about His Second Coming in Matthew 24...while He walked this earth the first time He talked about coming to this earth the second time and since everything else He said is true, it is safe to say that He is coming again. His disciples thought they were going to see both His first coming and second. They wanted to know what to look for so they could know when He was coming.
As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, 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 various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
No doubt the contractions have been going on for quite some time now so I am thinking the real labor pains could come anytime....
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Some of these pains are already being endured by believers in other parts of the world and in this country the hatred towards Christianity is growing more and more obvious. Lawlessness. Hatred. False prophets...endurance. Press on brothers and sisters...He is coming again!
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