James asked, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” ( James 4:1). Great battles will take place at a military level, but intense conflict will also arise more frequently within cultures, communities, and families. The word translated as “kingdom” could mean “kingship, sovereignty, authority, rule, especially of God, both in the world, and in the hearts of men.” What does Jesus mean here by “nations” and “kingdoms”? Jesus used the Greek word “ ethnos” to refer to a nation, or to a race of people, or even the “heathen world, Gentiles.” Jesus was saying there would be conflict, but it was not necessarily a sign of the end - the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” ( Matthew 24:6-7). See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. How will Christians know which wars are precursors to the Final Battle? After all, many people believed Jesus was coming when the Second World War was declared. Whether gangs or tribes shed blood, or two militarized nations pummel each other with missiles, this is a daily reality. Warfare is taking place somewhere in the world every day.
They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord” ( Jeremiah 23:16). Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. So will their reach: and technology has made it very easy to spread appealing lies throughout the world in virtually every language. Christ-centered believers will recognize false teachers, and those deceivers will multiply as Christ’s return nears. A true prophet models what he preaches.Īs the End Times could be drawing closer, the veil will be lifted. The fruit of this is great patience, a more loving posture towards others, wisdom, self-control, boldness in sharing the gospel, humility, obedience to the Lord, joy, reliability, peacefulness, and more. “The true believer is escaping corruption, while the counterfeit believer is mastered by it” (Ibid.).Ī true prophet from God helps believers to mature in Christ. Does the message turn listeners away from sin?.Does his or her message stir the Holy Spirit to praise God or appeal to one’s pride and preferences?.Is God being glorified, or is the speaker or some group being exalted?.
They are praying for God’s glory to be revealed and the veil to be removed from the eyes of unbelievers. What is revival? This movement starts with a group of Christians committing to meet regularly and asking God to forgive their sins individually, together, as a church body, and then interceding for their communities to do the same.
Writers at The Bible Project say this: “An apocalypse is not the unraveling of good! On the contrary, an apocalypse is a reorientation to what is truly good, if you dare to accept it.” But the end will not come without warnings: what are the signs? Here are just five of them. Biblically, the word refers to a revelation, so one sees how two ideas coalesce: the End Times will be eye-opening for both believers and unbelievers.Įveryone will bow to Christ and confess that he is Lord ( Philippians 2:10-11) and at the same time, systemic evil and those who plan destruction will be revealed for who and what they are. “Apocalypse” is the word often assigned to the End of the World, a description of total Armageddon.
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