Signs of the Times

In Matthew 24, Jesus gave us some signs of the times, pointing to His return. It’s as if Jesus was reading from the front pages of today’s newspapers.

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. Matthew 24:4 (KJV)

Widespread deception. Jesus said to watch out for deception. People can be deceived many ways- by lying devils, false teaching, cults, wrong mindsets, wrong belief systems, etc.It is imperative that we know the truth. God’s Word is the truth.

For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. Matthew 24:5 (KJV)

False Christs. The spirit of antichrist has been working since Jesus prophesied this. Anti means against. many will be against Christ. In I John 2, John said Antichrist would come, the man of sin and perdition. Yet, many antichrists have come- those who deny that Jesus is the Christ. This is a sign of end times. Jesus must be given His proper person, position, and place. If not, get away from such people- they are antichrist.

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Matthew 24:6-7 (KJV)

Wars. Wars and rumors of wars will abound- right up until Christ’s second coming- including the final war.

and there shall be famines, Matthew 24:7 (KJV)

Famines. Famines, food shortages, and hunger have been predicted.

and pestilences, Matthew 4:7 (KJV)

Pestilences. This is the Greek word loimos, which refers to any deadly infectious malady, an infectious disease or one that spreads. This sounds like a pandemic, doesn’t it? Note, some manuscripts omit the word pestilences from this passage.

and earthquakes, Matthew 24:7 (KJV)

Earthquakes. More and more earthquakes have been happening every year according to seismic records. if you get an earthquake app on your phone, you can see multiple earthquakes occurring in the world every single day.

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. Matthew 24:9 (KJV)

Hatred and persecution. Hate breeds persecution. We see this happening everyday in every corner of the world. Division is everywhere.

And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. Matthew 24:10 (KJV)

Offense and betrayal. Offense and betrayal go together. When one is offended, that person will turn on the one who offended them. Today people are offended over misperceptions and every little thing. People have become touchy and easily offended.

And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. Matthew 24:11 (KJV)

False prophets. Don’t get me wrong. I am a believer in prophets and prophecy, but we have to know the Word to test any prophecy to see if it is of God. False prophets will deceive many people. False prophets are those who seek to turn people away from true faith in Jesus Christ.

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Matthew 24:12 (KJV)

Lawlessness. Iniquity means lawlessness. People choose to do whatever they want, regardless of what it does to others. Because of this, people will be out for themselves and what feels good to them. They will not care of others. Their love for others will progressively grow colder until it is nonexistent. People become indifferent to other people. They are unconcerned and simply don’t care. They will love others less and less, and they will become lovers of themselves.

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14 (KJV)

The Gospel preached to all. The word nations actually refers to ethnic groups. The good news of the Kingdom will be preached worldwide to every ethnicity. This is one of the greatest signs of Christ’s coming. Technology has made this possible.

We can see from the signs given by Jesus that things are wrapping up. We don’t know how many years we have until Christ’s return, but the time is getting shorter everyday. We must be ready for the soon return of our Lord!