What Shall Be the Sign of Thy Coming and of the End of
the World?
An outline of Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21
The question that everyone wants to know is the question
that the disciples asked Jesus toward the end of his ministry on earth. The gospels each give a consistent account
yet each of them provides a different view.
This reply, when compared to other apocalyptic passages throughout
scripture gives us a clear picture that this period of time will not be pleasant
for the inhabitants of the earth. How
does this line up with the prevalent end times doctrines circulating the church
today? We are going to carefully study
these scriptures and see where the Lord leads.
I.
Take heed that no man deceive you (Matthew 24:4-5,
Mark 13:5-6, Luke 21:8)
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Matthew 24:4-5
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Mark 13:5-6
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Luke 21:8
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And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no
man deceive you. For many shall come
in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall
deceive many.
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And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any
[man] deceive you: For many shall come in my name, saying, I am [Christ]; and
shall deceive many.
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And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many
shall come in my name, saying, I am [Christ]; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
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a.
2 John v.7
– For many deceivers are
entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh. This is a deceiver and an
antichrist.
§
Who is a
deceiver? Amongst other things, a deceiver is one who does not confess that
Jesus has come in the flesh.
§
Who can qualify
as a deceiver? Anyone including ourselves
§
1 John 1:8
– If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us.
o
By saying we have
no sins we are ourselves deceivers
o
Confession of sin
and repentance acknowledges the God that has power over that sin, the God and
the man Jesus Christ
§
1 John 1:9
– If we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
o
Unless we are in
a constant state of repentance, we can deceive ourselves into believing a lie.
-
Confession and
repentance of sin clears the lines of communication, the Holy Spirit can then
speak to us and through us
o
We cannot have
access to the truth unless we have a right relationship with God, we can only have
a right relationship with God when we repent of our sins.
b.
1 Timothy
4:1-2 – Now the Spirit
speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits,
and doctrines of devils;
speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron
§
We are indeed in
these latter times and can clearly see that these seducing spirits have had a
devastating impact on humanity
§
Doctrines of
devils have crept into several mainline denominations (as well as off shoots) and
serve to turn the hearts of the people away from our Lord.
§
What does it mean
to give heed to seducing spirits?
o
Deuteronomy
18:9-14 - When thou art come
into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do
after the abominations of those nations.
There shall not be found among you [any one] that maketh his son or his
daughter to pass through the fire, [or] that useth divination, [or] an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a
witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with
familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things [are] an
abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God
doth drive them out from before thee.
Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and
unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee
so [to do].
o
Consulter,
necromancer – one who evokes the dead
-
Wouldn’t praying
to anyone other than Jesus Christ be evoking the dead? Christ is alive
-
Wouldn’t praying
to “saints” fall under this category?
-
Conducting a
séance would definitely qualify
-
Doesn’t Hillary
Clinton say that she speaks with Eleanor Roosevelt?
c.
1 John
4:1-3 – Beloved, believe not
every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God: because many false
prophets are gone out into the world.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every
spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is
not of God: and this is the spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it
should come; and even now already is it in the world.
§
It’s not like we
see spirits every day, what is Paul talking about?
o
John 6:63
- It is the spirit that
quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the
words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.
-
Words - ῥῆμα rhēma, 1)
that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken, word 2)
subject matter of speech, thing spoken of
§
We are given the
template to avoid deception and are commanded not to believe every spirit
(every word), but try them (The Holy Spirit welcomes the challenge)
§
We need to first
repent of our sin so that we can hear clearly from the Holy Spirit, then apply
this test to the source of every doctrine in question
§
How is the word
spirit used in this context? Spirit - pneuma - the disposition or
influence which fills and governs the soul of any one
d.
Matthew 7:15 -16a –
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly
they are ravenous wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits…
§
Christ is the
Good Shepherd, His followers are often likened to His sheep. By stating that these deceivers’ will come in
sheep’s clothing is stating that they will come appearing to be one of us, but
they are not
§
We need to be
watchful, the fruit is key
here, what kind of fruit does the source bear
§
We have false
prophets in churches all across America
e.
Galatians
2:4 - And that because of
false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty
which we have in Christ Jesus, that
they might bring us into bondage:
§
What is the
purpose of deception? To bring us into bondage
§
Satan seeks to
manipulate and control; Y’shuah HaMashiach, Jesus Christ, seeks to set us free
and give us liberty
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