Signs of the End Times

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come’” -Matthew 24:3-14 (ESV).

      Matthew chapters 24 and 25 are termed by scholars the “Olivet Discourse,” or teachings of Jesus to His disciples as they were on the Mt. of Olives. This mountain is the middle peak of a two and one-half mile long mountain ridge that towers over the eastern side of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives rises over two hundred feet about the Temple mount located across the Kidron Valley. At this place Jesus gave His disciples some very cogent and deep teachings about the end times and the tribulation period that will precede the Lord’s second coming (return) to earth.

      In the focal passage from Matthew 24:3-14, Jesus gave several significant events that will occur at the beginning of this period. Religious deception will be very evident (vv. 4-5, 11). Wars and rumors of war will be experienced (v. 6). Famine will be widespread. Earthquakes will be prevalent. Persecution of Christians will occur resulting in their martyrdom. One positive is that “the gospel of the kingdom” will be preached throughout the whole world before the end comes. People of all nations will have an opportunity to hear and know about Jesus the Lord before the end comes. And who will help to hasten this fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy concerning the end times? This will be done by Christians who are faithful in telling those they know about salvation through belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. When Christians tell others, we help to hasten the day of the Lord’s coming. This task began very shortly after Jesus ascended into heaven. We recall the command Jesus gave His disciples: “Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, ESV).

      Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ have already been commissioned to be faithful in telling others of the good news of the Savior and of His return to earth. All of us may not go as ambassadors. But we all can be faithful in praying for those who go to preach and teach and we can give to support our mission causes around the world.

      Many, like the first disciples, ask “What are the signs of Your coming and of the close of the age?” We must admit that many of these signs have already occurred or are now occurring. In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus told His disciples: “You must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:34). Be ready. Be alert. But Christians should go beyond looking and wondering about the second coming of Christ. They should be about the task of spreading the Word and fulfilling the Great Commission to go and tell all people. This is the will of God concerning us as we anticipate the Day of Jesus’ return to earth. - Ethelene Dyer Jones 11.27.2016

Developing an Attitude of Gratitude

“Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of a reverence for Christ.” -Ephesians 5:20-11.”Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” -1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 (ESV).

     This is our Thanksgiving season, a special time set aside in November to give thanks. Do we consider the seriousness of giving thanks, and how the Word of God urges us to “give thanks for everything,” and to “give thanks in all circumstances?”

     Most of us have difficulty overcoming the inability to “give thanks for all things” and “in all circumstances.”

     What about illness of self or one dear to us? Can we give thanks in this circumstance?

     Or what about hard times, some situation or event that clearly challenges every effort we can engage just to subsist or live through it? But to give thanks in it? That is difficult indeed.

     I recently heard a man’s son give a beautiful eulogy of his deacon father at the man’s memorial service. In the remarks about his loving and stalwart Christian father, the son recounted how his father always taught his children that they are strengthened by adversity and can, indeed thank the Lord for trying circumstances. Accepting the difficult situations as times to gain strength and to grow closer to the Lord and depend upon Him for guidance helps one to grow in character. If we can remember to be thankful in circumstances and to depend upon God’s guidance to bring us through whatever we are facing, victory surely will be ours. We will come through the period of trial a stronger and more understanding person.

     To develop an attitude of gratitude means to sincerely seek to have a spirit of thanksgiving every day. It is good upon arising to quote sincerely Psalm 118:24: “This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” In this way, the believer starts on a plane of gratitude and it will be more likely that throughout the day his spirit will rejoice and seek that which is uplifting and inspirational, even in hard situations.

     As we count our blessings this Thanksgiving, and give God glory for bringing us safely through another year, may we also give consideration to cultivating an attitude of gratitude that will help us every day to count our blessings and be grateful for the difficult circumstances as well as those that are happy, manageable and don’t require extreme effort.

     This exercise should help us to see that God is good, all the time, and every circumstance holds something good for those who love the Lord and seek to do His will. - Ethelene Dyer Jones 11.20.2016

Qualities of a Christian’s Character

"For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours, and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”-2 Peter 1:6-11 (ESV).

     Writing about 67 A. D. from prison in Rome, Peter, facing imminent death as a martyr to the faith, wanted again to write to the churches in Asia Minor to encourage them in their own persecution and to give them strong pointers on living an effective Christian life. He encourages Christians to remember how they were called into God’s own “excellence and glory,” (v. 3) and that their lives should reflect qualities of the divine nature.

     I like to think that the qualities of Christian Character Peter advocates are like giant steps upward to a life of effectiveness for the Christian while at the same time providing an example to be emulated by those who are weaker in the faith. Imagine the qualities as steps upward to godliness. Here are the qualities for which each believer should strive: Faith (the foundation); virtue (growing in grace); knowledge (really loving to study and practice the Word, the Bible); self-control (as the Christian learns scriptural truths, he puts them into practice in his life and is able to really live as a devoted Christian; steadfastness (another term is faithfulness); godliness (putting on Christ-like characteristics of humility, understanding and service); brotherly affection (loving one another, caring for one another); and finally, reaching the step of love (unconditional and God-inspired).

The graphic is hard for me to draw here, but draw a set of steps and write these eight qualities of Christian Character on the steps as a reminder that we are always striving to emulate the character of Jesus in our daily life and walk. And the striving is always upward.

     These characteristics are akin to the fruit of the Holy Spirit Paul admonished Christians to seek after and practice in their daily lives. From Ephesians 5: 22-23 we learn: “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

     Knowing Christ and following Him makes a vast difference in our own life and in how we relate to others around us. If we have made “our calling and election sure” as Peter writes in 2 Peter 1: 10, then it follows that we should be changed and become active in helping others to know Christ so that they, too, may begin that glorious climb upward in attaining a lifestyle pleasing to the Lord Christ and exemplified by virtuous living. - Ethelene Dyer Jones 11.13.2016

God Intervenes to Establish His Honor

“‘Now therefore what have I here,’ declares the Lord, ‘seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,’ declares the Lord, ‘and continually all the day my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak: here am I. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns.” -Isaiah 52:5-7 (ESV)

     Isaiah in his prophecy wrote at a time when chaos and conquest of the land by foreign, pagan powers was foreseen and was occurring. His writing establishes the sovereignty of God and pleads for true believers to return to God as the One in charge.

     We in America are in a period of unrest and agitation as we seek to choose the next president of our country. Our own rebellion as a nation reminds us of conditions of disbelief and departure from the statutes of God that Isaiah warned about in his time. He prophesied from about 740 B. C., beginning, as we are told in Isaiah 6:1 “in the year that King Uzziah died.” He recorded the death of Sennacherib (37:38) dated at 681 B. C. This 60-year period in Israel’s history carries a strong central theme espoused by the God-inspired prophet who declares unequivocally that God is the glorious central figure who is Sovereign of the whole world (13:1). Regardless of what man does to thwart God, He is supreme. His cleansing touch atones for sin, seen in the vision of the coal from the altar touching the lips of the prophet with the declaration, “your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7b). But as Isaiah, who was willing to accept God’s cleansing and become the spokesman for God for which he was called and set apart, we in our troubled day must experience, too, a turning to God.

     Note in Isaiah 52:6 what God requires of us: “my people shall know My Name.”

Oh, that God’s people would commit themselves anew to walk in the light of the Lord: “Come, now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 1:18-20). These are very plain words from the Lord through the prophet Isaiah. History has proven them true through centuries of kingdoms that have risen and fallen. Is not this a clarion call to us today? Return, return to the Lord. Recognize Him as Sovereign and Lord. - Ethelene Dyer Jones 11.06.2016