Living in the End times

Not long ago, there was this sermon about how are we suppose to view and respond the end of times.

Read Matthew 24:3-14

It might not be a good sermon at this time, as most of us are still have a good life in this country (aside from the volatile market and political issues). But it did bring a good reminder for the Christians, especially. We need to live as if the end is coming.

Based on this Scriptures, some signs of the second coming of Christ:

Deceiving (v4-5)

Wars (v6)

But end is still to come (v6)

Nation will rise against nation (v7)

Kingdom against kingdom (v7)

Famines (v7)

Earthquakes in various places (v7)

But all these are only the first of the birth pains, with more to come (v8).

Let's examine some of these signs:

- Disasters around the world:

There were many earthquakes reported in the recent years - South Sumatra, Indonesia (2007) 8.5 Richter scale; Sichuan, China (2008) 8.0; Chile (2010) 8.8 and the recent one, Nepal (2015) 7.9 with aftershocks over 7.3. Even Sabah also earthquake few months ago.

- Famine:

Current world's population is about 7.2 billion. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, about 805 million people are living in starvation.

- Nation rises against nation:

Some notable wars - Second war world, the Holocaust, tribal genocide in Africa, religious violence in India, Pakistan and the Middle East, the war in Iraq and Iran, the latest Rohingya refugees and recent terrorist movements today.

- Believers are suffering, martyred and rejected:

According to Open Door statistics, 11 most severely persecuted countries - North Korea, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iran, Pakistan, Eritrea and Maldives. Also ISIS who is recently active in Syria is aggressive in hunting down Christians, and many Christians are martyred for their faith. ISIS is even now on Malaysia's watch list.

- Sharing the gospel to the ends of the earth and testifying to all nations (refer to v14):

Among the 635 unreached people in the world, there are currently 95% already have Christian communities within them. Looking at this number, it means that the gospel has almost reached the ends of the earth, and that also means the day of Christ's return is very close.

So how can we live in the End times? The Scriptures provided the following:

- the parable of the 10 virgins (Matt 25:1-13)

- the parable of the talents (Matt 25:14-30)

- the judgment of all people (Matt 25:31-46)

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