Matthew 24:3-12 – What in This World Is Going to Happen? (1) – Bible study

Matt 24:3-12 What In This World Is Going to Happen? We just finished with the elections and the "conservative," Trump, won because more of the voting districts voted for him. However, so far (as of Friday, November 11) Hillary won more of the populous vote. The last I checked, she had around 300,000 more votes than Trump. Those figures mean at least one thing. The voting people of America are about evenly split on which direction our country is to go from here, the two choices being liberal conservative and socialist democrat. The socialist democrats are going crazy with riots, calls to suicide centers, and a lot of whining and name calling. And while I under- stand why conservatives are happy that Clinton did not win, I hope we all understand that a liberal conservative is not a conservative by Alabamas measurements and certainly not by Bible standards. So, what is the world is going to happen? I would like to spend some time discussing with you what the Bible says for the Bible says quite a lot. What it says falls into the category of prophecy and more specifically, end-time prophecy. Lets start this morning and see how far we get. I. \#Matt 24:3-12\ Some of the same old things. A. These verses deal with the time period that we are discussing. 1. \#3\ The disciples asked Jesus almost the same question as our message title. 2. They asked, "What is going to be like when You return?" 3. Since Jesus will return at the end time, the two topics are the same. B. This passage is one of the most often studied texts relating to the end time. C. Lets divide it into three sections, but we will only look at the first two. 1. \#5-8\ The Common Signs – Signs that have always been around but will increase as time passes. a. \#5\ False Christs – 3 are mentioned in the Bible \#Acts 5:36, 37, 21:38\. b. \#6\ Wars (1) The first war in the Bible was mentioned in Genesis 14, just 5 chapters after Noah got off the ark and 3 chapters after God confounded the languages. The number has been growing ever since. (2) As of September 2014, there were 10 official wars and 8 active military conflicts which were recognized by the United States. There were also violent conflicts involving 64 countries and 576 militias and separatist groups. https://www.reference.com/government-politics/many-wars-going-world- right-now-ffd6236450ccb7ae# (3) Only ten countries are not engaged in some type of military conflict. http://theantimedia.org/10-countries-in-the-world-not-at-war/ c. \#7\ Famines, pestilences, and earthquakes – Genesis records the first famines and pestilences. Not much was said about earthquakes in the Old Testament. d. \#8\ All of these are referred to as the "beginning of sorrows" or to say, "things are just getting started." 2. \#9-12\ The Close Signs – Signs that began with the church age and are closer to our time. a. \#9\ Persecution of the Christians – This sign could not have begun before the church age. b. The remainder of these signs have been around but are getting worse. (1) \#10\ Civil Unrest (a) Many will be offended. (b) Many will betray one another. (c) many will hate one another. (2) \#11\ More false prophets (3) \#12\ Loveless and cold hearts 3. \#14-24\ The Catastrophic Signs a. These verses deal with the middle of the tribulation. b. They are beyond our topic. D. So the majority of the signs that Jesus mentioned have been around for thousands of years. 1. Two things are going to happen concerning these now. a. They are going to continue. b. They are going to get worse. (1) There will be more famines, more earthquakes, more unrest, more cold hearts, and more wars. (2) Things are getting worse in this natural world in every way. 2. So more of the same. II. The church will CONTINUE to fall away. 2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; A. I say CONTINUE for two reasons. 1. It has always been a battle to keep the church on the right track. It has always been made of human beings and humans fail. 2. It is well on its way to falling away now. B. When it comes to the church falling away, it is either the greatest symptom of the last days or the cause of the last days. 1. Either God is withdrawing Himself from the church causing it to fall away or the church is falling away causing God to withdraw from the church. 2. I rather think it is the later but I am not for certain. C. The church will continue to fall away in three areas. 1. Doctrine a. Again, the church has always battled error. (1) In fact, many cults are "Christian" cults; that is, they were founded on wrong views of the Bible. (2) Catholicism, Mormonism, Calvinism, Jehovahs Witness, and many more. (3) Remember, just because something is religious, that does not make it right. b. The difference today is twofold: (1) In the past, errors caused splits. (a) Today, most everyone is all right with error. They want to minimize doctrinal difference. (b) I know we dont need to split over everything but neither can we accept everything. (c) Error is error and over some things, there needs to be a split. (2) As with so many other things, this attitude has become universal. It is not that doctrinal has become unimportant to a few people. It seems to have become unimportant to most people. c. Truth is more than important. It is essential. Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 2. Lifestyle a. Christians will live less like Christ and more like the world. b. That is true in every area of life: (1) Dress, language – Two of the most notable. (2) It is true in our entertainment. (read, watch, listen to) (3) It is true in our education. (4) It is true in our goals. (make money, build houses, achieve prominence) 3. Ministry a. We have quit. (1) Most of it, we gave to the government and they booted us out. (a) educating the children, (b) healing the sick, (c) caring for the orphans, (d) feeding the hungry. (2) The church can barely do any of those things any more without a license from the government. b. Even the things that are still considered the churchs responsibilities we are not doing as we should. (1) Preachers are not preaching. That goes back to the issue of doctrine. (2) Churches are not giving and going. We have gotten comfortable just going to church. D. The church will continue to fall away until God removes it. 1. That is called the rapture. \#1Thess 4:13-18\ 2. There is no recorded trigger for the rapture in the Bible. a. As far as we know, no sin will trigger it. (1) The rise of abortion and homosexuality has not triggered it. (2) No blasphemy has triggered it. We have taken Gods name in vain, used God as the bunt of our jokes, satire, foolishness, and ignorance. (3) America turning from God has not triggered it. (4) The rise of Islam has not triggered it. (5) Attacks on Israel has not triggered it. b. As far as we know, no persecution will trigger it. The church has been persecuted before and God did not come get us. c. Even total abandonment of the light did not trigger it during the Dark Ages. 3. The timing of the rapture is totally Gods secret. Mt 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Lu 12:40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. 4. But at some point, God will either pity the helpless church or just get tired of it and call what is left of it home. These are two things that are going to happen in this world. Presently, I am thinking there are two more. But the question for the Christian is never as much was is going to happen in the world as it is what are you going to do. Even as the church falls away, you can choose to stay faithful to God. Lost person, even as evil mushrooms in this world, you can be saved and live for Jesus.