August 2, 2005
And Jesus, answering them, began to say: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many. But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows…”
--Mark 13:5-8
Many of us are asking, “When will the last days be here?” Well, the time is now. We are in deep trouble. There is an anti-Christian bias within our culture—what many call the post-Christian era. These are very uncertain times.
And while many believe that time will go on and on, Jesus gave us warning signs of the things to come and exactly what to expect. As we see our culture enveloped in darkness, we need to be aware that the dark clouds are moving in and we need to prepare for the storm. I hasten to say that I believe Christians will take an early exit from the world before the tribulation, but we must beware of the darkest days to come.
Jesus illustrates these signs as the birth pains of a mother about to deliver a child. Just as those birth pains come suddenly and intensify with rapidity, so in the final hours of human history will these birth pains intensify. There are several pre-tribulation marks: spiritual deception, continual conflict, and physical destruction.
Spiritual deception can be identified as the increase of false prophets—even those who claim to be Christ! Today, we are seeing a proliferation of false religions, cults, and phony prophets. Counterfeit christs are flooding our culture with liberalism by taking apart the Bible and making its words their own. Over 400 new religious groups have formed in
When the tribulation occurs and Christians are raptured into heaven, the Word of God will no longer be proclaimed, the Holy Spirit will be taken away, and the world will get what its always wanted—life without God and spiritual truth! In the midst of it all, many people are going to cry out to God, but He won’t be there. All restraint will be gone and hell will break loose upon earth.
In the meantime, increased wars, famine, natural disasters, and catastrophic events are rocking the world left and right. I truly believe we are in merely in the eye of the hurricane right now, and destruction is coming upon us. As mankind faces extinction and death with tribulation on its way, make sure that you are ready to meet your Maker. Hurriedly deliver the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who don’t know Him. Pray that God would have mercy and move in our churches, so that others can escape hell and experience salvation.
THE FIRST STAGE OF THE END OF THE AGE IS SPIRITUAL DECEPTION—
DON’T BE FOOLED BY COUNTERFEIT CHRISTS AND BOGUS RELIGIONS.