Are You Afraid of the End of the World?
It seems that more and more people are talking about the end of the world, even people who would not profess any particular faith. There is something in the air and the people of our world are sensing it. Are you?
Jesus spoke about the end of the age. When asked about the signs of His return in Matthew 24 Jesus mentioned spiritual deception four times. He said in verse 24, “False christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive if possible, even the elect.”
Even a casual observation will discover that spiritual deception is increasing at an alarming rate. The times the Bible warns us about; the times that preachers have been preaching about for many years are now upon us. It isn’t hard to see how our world will accept the man of sin, the Antichrist, when he is revealed. “You’re who we’ve been waiting for” they will say. This great deceiver will be a genius in every way; militarily, economically, politically and religiously. And the apostle John said that the spirit of antichrist was operative in his day and Paul said, “the mystery of lawlessness is already at work” in 2 Thessalonians 2:7.
This is where we are! The deception will continue to increase. The man of sin will be revealed.
But what many miss is the fact that in Jesus’ detailed description of end time signs and the great deception increasing He also said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (vs. 14) God’s activity will also be increasing as we approach the end of the age.
A survey of the spiritual landscape reveals much evidence of this increase in the activity of the Holy Spirit. “We are in the midst of the greatest prayer movement the church has ever seen” said Dave Butts, President of the National Prayer Committee. He speaks of over 5000 day and night prayer rooms in South Africa and over 1000 such places of prayer in Indonesia!! The words of Isaiah 62:6-7, “Give Him no rest day or night…” are being done all over the world.
Many believe we are about to see the greatest revival in church history that will usher in the greatest harvest of souls in church history. Muslins are coming to Christ by the millions each year in Africa and hundreds of thousands are coming to Christ throughout the Middle East. America is behind the rest of the world but God is faithfully stirring things up here and awaking the church to its potential and its calling to be part of this end time harvest.
I believe these are exciting times to be alive. We are indeed here for such a time as this. If we listen we will hear the Spirit calling us to stand firm, trust the Lord and be bold for Christ. It will cost us something and the days may come when it may cost us even more but it is a price well worth paying for the honor and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now is not the time for fear but faith. Now is not the time to shrink back but advance. Get connected with other believers who are good soldiers of the cross and get involved in this great end time move of the Spirit!
Pastor Dan