Gtcotr/ws101823
We live in a world where things happen suddenly. You can go to bed one night and wake up in the morning and everything has changed. Something that has happened on the other side of the world can suddenly impact your life. These things happen to the young and the old alike. Whether it’s a teenager at a party or a president on their way to a high level meetings with a coalition of national leaders … suddenly things change, and we know, things will never be the same again.
What do we do when our expectations are thwarted, and peace is destroyed? What do we do when we mourn, but in many ways, also envy the dead? How do we carry on in the midst of such dreadful and evil times? Just how bad has it gotten when people begin to reach for the book of Job in hopes of finding comfort?
This evening we will explore three main principles of life that offer us direction in troubled times.
There are several passages I considered before settling on our text for this evening. I studied Psalms 83; Ezekiel 38 & 39; Isaiah 17 & 49; Zechariah 12; Zephaniah 2; 2 Timothy 3; 2 Timothy 4; 1 Timothy 4; and 2 Peter 3 to name a few. After due considerationbefore the Lord, I felt the words of Jesus best for our purposes tonight.
So let’s turn to our text for this evening.
Matthew 24 NKJV
3 Now 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 end of the age?”
4 ¶ And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.
5 “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.
6 “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
The story of the Bible is a story of:
And God is not finished telling the story yet. World events fit perfectly into the plan of God, and we will have to let God tell the whole story in His unfolding time. This may not be the day when God is trying to achieve a temporary peace for Himself or for His people.
What will move Gog and Magog to come from the north and attack Israel? When will the Church be raptured? Will the battle of Armageddon begin? Is the anti-Christ alive and in place? When will the cities of Damascus and Amman be destroyed? Is this the time when Elam, Iran, experience a devastating catastrophe and the people be scattered throughout the world? Will the next peace plan be the beginning of the 7-year tribulation period? We don’t know! We can speculate, but we don’t know.
Salvation is not an offer of peace between God and sinners.
Salvation is an offer of death to sin and a new birth in Christ.
Matthew 24
7 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
8 “All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.
10 “And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
11 “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
12 “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”
Matthew 24
13 “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
14 “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.
We are called to be the light of the world and to share the Gospel of the Kingdom in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end shall come. Without exception – Our message and our mission will not change!
