I recently went on the Internet and Googled the question
“What will the future look like?”
Of course, there was much said but here are a couple of interesting observations from the world:
- no one in this world really knows the future exactly
- predictions about the future are just guesses
- to understand the future, you must know the past
Here are some blogs posted which can not be denied:
The world has changed a lot in the last 150 years, but we humans are driven by the same basic needs as we were 150 years ago, food, sleep, the feeling of being appreciated and loved. Another blogger wrote: Here’s what we will see in the next 50 years: transition from an oil-dependent society, new medicine, further development of artificial intelligence, continued exploration of space, more people to die from AIDS and cancer, hopefully a better state for the poor people in the world, challenges in climate changes, and new inventions to make life easier and more entertaining!
Don Monro, a professor at the University of Bath in England said to NBC News 2 years ago, “I think it’s possible to free us completely from our wallets and keys using biometric technology if that’s what people want in 10 years’ time!”
Today, we have amazing things like IPods and DNA technology; but we also have cancer, AIDS, ethnic cleansing, senseless deaths due to drunkenness, drugs, and hate! We live in exciting and troubling times don’t we? Buckle up your seatbelts!!
More exciting and troubling times are coming!!
What does God say about the future and can we believe Him? The last few weeks we have been looking at evidences which support the reality of God, the validity of the Bible as God’s Word, and Jesus Christ being the only way to heaven and eternal life! And so, the best place to learn about the future is what Jesus says about the future. A good place to start is Matthew 24; please open your bibles there……..
The disciples, like us today, had a question about the future. In verse 3 they asked, Jesus, What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? There are 2 things we can note from this question; the disciples knew Jesus will come back to earth and this age will end.
Before talking about Jesus returning, what is the age that will end? As we can note from Jesus’ descriptions of what will happen, the end of the age is not the end of the world.
Look again at v29-30…..
Jesus will return to earth after a certain age. What is this age that will end before Jesus returns to earth? Jesus came to earth the first time to seek and save the lost, to give the Good News of the gift of forgiveness, and to build His church. The age that will end soon is the Church Age or Age of Grace. We are presently living in the Church Age or Age of Grace which will soon end.
Why will the church age end? The Age of Grace or Church Age will end for the same reason that Jesus must return to earth. Look again at v50-51…..
Jesus Christ will return to earth to judge wickedness.
Let me ask the question: Is the return of Christ believable?
We noted last time the validity of Jesus Christ. Does Jesus need to return to earth? All we have to do is ask ourselves, how wicked has the world become? Based on what you hear in the news, how would you rate the wickedness in the world on a scale of 1-10??
The Evening news is where they begin with ’Good evening’, and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.
Aren’t you tired of the wickedness in the world, including yours and mine? I don’t know about you, but I don’t question the return of Jesus Christ, my plea is “Come now Lord Jesus!” Wickedness must be judged!
Jesus talks about many things happening in the future as birth pains building up till He returns to earth. Yes, many of the things that Jesus mentioned happened right after His death. But again note that Jesus said those things will be happening in intensity till that day when He returns.
Here’s the point, Jesus Christ hasn’t returned to earth yet.
Right now, September 2009, today, we are still living in the Church Age. All the things that Jesus mentioned will happen in intensity until He returns. And so we come to the question, how close are we to the return of Jesus Christ and are those things Jesus predicted believable?
There are many things that Jesus said, let us highlight some of them. We note from Jesus in Matthew 24:4,5,&11 is that many in the future will be deceivers of the truth.
Again, all we have to do is go to the internet and search for “source of truths”. How many websites do you think are out there today for the source of truths?? Almost 6 million!
Now of course many of them talk about the Bible. So I searched for the number of known religions. What I found was this: There is a religion for every type of people in the world! In other words, there are millions of religions out there who will try to tell you the truth! Are the number of deceivers of the truth increasing as Jesus foretold? 20 years ago, people did not have access to many religions because there was no Internet!
Will Jesus return soon? We certainly have enough deceivers of the truth don’t we? And sadly, some of them are in supposedly Christian churches! Watch out! The Bible and Jesus Christ is your source of truth, always go back to the Word of God! Here’s what you’ll hear from me: you may not like it but whatever the Bible says is what I believe. The Bible says God made the earth first before any other star or planet! Why? - because God loves people! In this world there will be trouble and will increase in the future! But take heart!! God loves you and me!
Now look at what Jesus said in v6 of Matthew 24…………..
Is that believable and is increasing today? We have wars within our own country; racism, homosexuality, abortion, politics, football!!
Look again at v7……..
Are these things occurring more frequently?
Daily, we hear about verse 7 events happening!
Now, how do we know God loves every person in the world?
In spite of all the troubles happening, we read in v14 that everyone will hear the Good News of salvation of Jesus Christ! God gives everyone an opportunity to be saved from judgment through Jesus Christ! I hope none of you are still waiting to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. Jesus Christ is God and He died for your sins! Are you waiting for more signs? Look again at v36-40……..
You see if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ now as your only Savior and God, you might be left behind or worst you might die today! One of the major things that will happen in the future is what’s called the “rapture”, the catching up to heaven. The rapture can happen today! All believers of Christ will disappear and taken to heaven, non-believers will be left behind. Don’t be left behind!!
Please turn to 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18………..
I encourage you; look for Jesus coming for you!
Let’s close with one more major event that will happen in the future. Look again at v9…………
Jesus is talking about the end of the world and He cited the Old Testament prophet Daniel. Turn with me to Daniel 9….
Read along with me v26-27………..
The Anointed One is Jesus Christ who died, was cut-off! And after Jesus’ death, the city, which is Jerusalem, and the sanctuary, which is the Temple, will be destroyed.
What do we read in history books?
The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was a decisive event in the First Jewish-Roman War. It was followed by the fall of Masada in 73 AD. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which had been occupied by its Jewish defenders in 66 AD. The city and its famous Temple were destroyed.
But Jesus said that in the future a person will stand in the middle of the Temple in Jerusalem and cause an abomination! Is there a Temple in Jerusalem right now??
Only the Western Wall or the Wailing Wall is left But Jesus said, the Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt in the future! Will this happen? Is rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem believable as Jesus predicted? There are plenty of groups out there today working on rebuilding the Temple. One such group is The Temple Institute (show map); every country highlighted in yellow has members to this institute and if you like, you can donate money to rebuild the Temple!
The Temple will be rebuilt soon and a person will emerge as a superdeceiver who will call himself god in this Temple! This person will be supersmooth and achieve peace in the Mideast! Is peace in the Mideast (the land of Israel, Palestine, Iran, Libya, Egypt, and others) needed??
Are there people trying to establish peace in the mideast??
This superdeceiver called the antichrist will be coming soon.
Shall we be fearful? There is no fear when you have the right relationship with Jesus Christ! Jesus has given us a glimpse of the future. What will happen to you in the future? Would you listen to Jesus in Revelation 3:10-11……
