A couple months ago, as I was reading Matthew chapter 24 again, verse 14 had impacted me. The Holy Spirit was leading me to question why verse 14 was after the above verses. Let us study the above verses.
Matthew 24:4-13 Jesus answered them, Be careful that no one misleads you [deceiving you and leading you into error]. 5For many will come in (on the strength of) My name [[b]appropriating the name which belongs to Me], saying, I am the Christ (the Messiah), and they will lead many astray. 6And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened or troubled, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in place after place; 8All this is but the beginning [the early pains] of the [c]birth pangs [of the [d]intolerable anguish]. 9Then they will hand you over to suffer affliction and tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.10And then many will be offended and repelled and will [e]begin to distrust and desert [Him Whom they ought to trust and obey] and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred. 11And many false prophets will rise up and deceive and lead many into error. 12And the love of [f]the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity, 13But he who endures to the end will be saved.14 And this good news of the kingdom (the Gospel) will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then will come the end.
Today, many Christians believe the gospel has already been pretty much testified/preached to all the nations. Through technology and the internet, the gospel can be found at the tip of our fingers. Yes, there are some who argue that the gospel has not reached all people like those in the distant jungles of the Amazon or the likes. But we can agree, the gospel has reached all nations regardless to some degree.
Yes, today, we are hearing wars and rumors of war. Nations are preparing to rise against each other and especially some against against Israel. There are various famines around the world and it appears there are more frequent earthquakes. There are even earthquakes in places where earthquakes are rare. And there are some countries where they are persecuting our brethren even unto death. Verse 9 states that many of us will be handed over to suffer affliction and tribulation and put to death hated by ALL nations for His name sake. Scripture continues and states when such things happen, many of His people will be offended and fall away betraying one another. Many false prophets will arise leading many to error and the love of the Body of people will grow cold.
In some sense, some can make an argument such things have happened or are happening. But today, many Christians can agree we are living in the days when we are hearing rumors of war as nations are being raised against each other. Even natural disasters such as earthquakes and other calamities are shaking many nations. Many Christians believe the gospel has reached all nations and we are ripe for the Lord's return.
Many Christians believe the gospel has reached all nations or at least to a certain degree and we are ready for the Lord's return but scripture is pointing out in Matthew chapter 24 that the Gospel will be preached after all those events as described above in verses 6 to 12. Scripture says this is just the beginning of birth pangs. We are just at the beginning? Other translations have it as the beginning of sorrows. What does this mean? Many believe we are at the beginning of birth pangs but they believe the Gospel has already been preached to the nations but yet scripture is saying it will be preached during this time and to the end. Now, some may interpret and say verse 14 is not a statement reflecting a time line but may be a general statement as a whole but let us look at verse 6, it states that all these things must come to pass but the end is not yet. This means that the Gospel will still be continued to be preached during all those event and even to the end.
In verse 9, it states that Christians will be hated by ALL nations for His name sake. Christians will be handed over to suffer affliction and tribulation and put to death. Are we living in times in which ALL nations hate us in which the many many of us are being put to death? We read these scripture verses and many assume this is the period of the Great Tribulation. The various events described above are not the events of the end per se because in verse 6, it states that these must come to pass BUT THE END IS NOT YET! Therefore, what is being described are not the "very" end time events but perhaps the pre-events of the end events. Verse 6 once again, "BUT THE END IS NOT YET!"
I had believed as many Christians are believing that the Gospel had basically reached all nations and we are ripened for the Lord's return. However, The Lord has been impressing on me that the many missionaries previously sent to the nations have been the efforts of man and their religion. It has been a watered down gospel with NO POWER flesh giving birth to flesh in most cases. When Jesus walked the earth, He had addressed this to the Pharisee.
Matthew 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes one [a proselyte], you make him doubly as much a child of hell (Gehenna) as you are.
Yes, we are at the beginning of birth pangs. When dark and difficult days arrive, He will send His servants that are being trained in their wildernesses and He will send them to the All the Nations during a time of persecution when His people will be hated by ALL nations. They will be His servants raised and trained as He had with John the Baptist. This is Spirit giving birth to Spirit and God will get all the Glory and the uncompromising message will be of repentance and return of the Lord with the POWER OF GOD behind it confirming His Word.
Am I saying that we will go through the Great Tribulation? No, I am not saying this because I do not know whether we are going to go through the whole Tribulation or not. But God is requiring us to draw closer to HIM, abiding in HIM DAILY, receiving His Gifts and POWER so that we may be ready for the days that are coming. We need to be ready to fight the spiritual war that is coming. We will have to be ready to endure and persevere possible persecution and death if necessary.
If we are not prepared for such events spiritually, it will be the many Christians who will be offended as described in verse 10. They will end up betraying the Lord because the end time will not have happened as they had hoped or been led to believe. Many will end up dying from various things.
When John the Baptist was in jail, he had sent a message to the Lord.
Matthew 11:2-3 Now when John in prison heard about the activities of Christ, he sent a message by his disciples. 3And asked Him, Are You the One Who was to come, or should we keep on expecting a different one?
John the Baptist, I believe was asking for help. But the Lord replied as in the following verses.
Matthew 11:6 And blessed (happy, fortunate, and [a]to be envied) is he who takes no offense at Me and finds no cause for stumbling in or through Me and is not hindered from seeing the Truth.
I believe Jesus was telling John the Baptist that he would be martyred and not be rescued. If we found ourselves in a position of persecution and possible martyrdom for not only ourselves but our children also being put to death before us, will many of us who had been led to believe He would have returned by that time be offended? Would many at that time renounce HIM? Most of us in the western church are but a microwave, fast food, drive through, a spoiled generation of abundance and do we seriously believe when the time comes for martyrdom we can die for HIM in a worthy manner? If some of us are called to be martyred, how can we die for Him in a worthy manner when so many of us are not living our lives worthy of HIM.
As I said before, I believe He will return in my life time. But He has spoken some things over my life. He has spoken some things that others will do before His return. Do not only read the signs of His imminent return but also read the signs that it may not be this year, next year, or even several years there after.
Do not be left unprepared, naked, and exposed when it doesn't turn out as many had been led to believe. Otherwise, the Will of God will have passed your life just as Jesus had passed and gone before His people during the first coming and they had not realized they had missed their Messiah because they had sought Him for their selfish reasons for relief instead of His Will.
Fire of God
Steve Yong Kim
March 22, 2012
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