Meditation Monday

Sorry for no post on Friday.  We were having a weekend away and I spent it unplugged from social media.  But back to the real world.

Continuing our post from last Monday on end time scriptures and Jesus' words from Matthew 24:

9 "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. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 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. [Mat 24:9-14 ESV]

Who is Jesus talking to in these verses?  To the disciples (followers).  Do these verse apply to us 2,000 years later?  I say yes.

Jesus' followers are going to be delivered up to tribulation, death and hatred.  This persecution will cause many followers to fall away from the faith because they believe they will be out of here before all the trouble starts.  But guess what, here is Jesus' own words saying that they won't.  In the void where reality meets faith, false prophets will be in the business of telling you what you want to hear and your itching ears are going to fall for it.  Man will be inhumane to man and no one will trust anyone else.

But here is a glimmer of hope:  the one who endures to the end will be saved.  You will need the strength of Christ to endure but in the end it will be worth it.  So when is the end, exactly?

When the gospel has been proclaimed throughout the whole world, to all nations.  How close are we to this.  With the advent of modern communications:  internet, cell phones, etc. we have to be getting close.

I truly believe that many people missed Christ's first advent because He didn't come the way all the religious leaders and experts said He would.  Today, most leaders do not educate their followers on Christ's second coming and what the Scriptures say about it.  If you want to educate yourself, you need to spend some time doing the work.  Even then, we need to make sure we don't make the same mistake people did the first time and say "it will definitely be like this and if it isn't then He isn't the Christ."