Be Prepared

Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come. [Matthew 24.4-14]

End times signs are these: First there will be deception, wars and threats of wars, famines, earthquakes. Then, there will be persecution, betrayal, hatred, more deception, rampant sin, and heartlessness (love grown cold).

Jesus indicated however that it is possible to endure! In fact, propagation of the Good News will be notable across the globe.

Then the end will come.

What I take from this is that a genuinely dedicated follower of Christ will not only be aware of these events, but prepared for them. So prepared in fact will the true Christ-follower be that he or she will be able to focus on spreading the Word that there is forgiveness of sins for all who repent - the Good News.

The bottom line is two-fold: for the unprepared, it will NOT be alright. But for the prepared, it will be an opportunity of global proportion to bring the simple Good News of repentance that leads to forgiveness. In other words, for the prepared, it will be alright.

The basic difference between the prepared and the unprepared is a trust in the establishment, or, a trust in God and His Word. Deception must be expected and so only those who most effectively insulate/isolate/separate themselves from deception will manage to proclaim the Good News.

We must ask ourselves, "Do I believe prevailing social opinion, or do I believe God's Word?" And, more precisely, "Between these two, prevailing social opinion or God's Word, from which will deception come?" You see, deception will not 'reveal' itself, so we must actively be on-alert for it - and we can be sure the deception is not found in God's Word, leaving social opinion then as the likely culprit!

The fact that Jesus said, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many..." should further alert us that deception will penetrate all but the most astute religious groups. Let's face it, mainstream religion is, in many ways, just as dangerous as mainstream media.

Am I promoting fear here? Yes, in fact I am. I am promoting the fear of God alone. I am declaring that unless we are "afraid" of the consequences of not being in intimate fellowship with God, we will indeed suffer unimaginably. I am not sure where the idea that "fear means respect" came from, but I go on record here of attaching a "deception-alert" to that phrase! 

There are, no doubt preparations a Bible-believer should make. Not the least of these preparations should be an intensified focus on repentance and right-standing with God. This action of genuine faith will result in subsequent actions of preparedness - preparedness not only to survive social meltdown, but to generously purvey the Good News that there is forgiveness of sins for all who repent in the midst of it!

Father, as I increasingly fear You, help me to stop fearing the world and its unavoidable fate. Let the message of forgiveness of sins through Jesus for all who repent be the message I am prepared to proclaim! So be it!