寻求真理 —— 选择生命
THE END OF THE AGE
Surely the Lord God does nothing,
unless He reveals His secret
to His servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)
But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. (1-Thessalonians 5:1-6)
Eschatology is the study of the events described in the prophetic texts of the christian scriptures. As many religions as there are in the world, Christianity is the only religion with a proven track record of the prophetic word spoken by God to have been fulfilled. The majority of religions don't even have prophetic texts to refer to. As we live out our lives in this century that is quickly approaching it's climax - we need to be more vigilant than ever. This series of pages will describe the timeline of the end days as we approach the end of the age as Jesus Himself conformed it in the scriptures through the prophets, the apostles. Prophecy gives us hope through the trials, hope of salvation at the end and courage to overcome tribulations. It is a joy to witness the fulfillment of the prophetic work spoken by God throughout time especially concerning the great restoration when the kingdom of heaven will be fully manifested on earth, so that God's will is truly done on earth as it is in heaven. The Holy Bible is approximately 27% of prophecy; much of prophecy is concerning the covenant people of Israel through whom Jesus Christ had to come to redeem mankind from eternal death; the other prophecies are concerning judgements of the surrounding nations of Israel. But a very large portion of prophecy is concerning the end of days, the end of the age that is also referred to as eschatology. This page is an attempt to piece together and chronologically arrange the the prophetic words concerning the approaching day of the Lord. The closer we approach the day of the Lord the clearer these matters will become apparent to us believers. It is important to note that prophetic events are not always listed chronologically throughout the bible books, in the individual books and even in individual chapters. It requires discernment of the text and times to piece this together.
THE GREAT APPOSTACY
Now 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 end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.....Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come......Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. (Matthew 24:3-8, 11-14, 23-26)
Deception is a purposeful misleading of someone from the truth to their exploitation or destruction. In our age of exponential information and knowledge increase there is also a surge in deceptions. Deceptions have always been around throughout history but in the last days there is an large increase in this just as with everything else. One of the biggest issues is the exploitation of people through the use of God's word by evil people. There were deceptions even in the early churches to whom the letters were written by the apostles to correct their doctrinal concepts. Faith defines our behavior and if our doctrines are not aligned with the word of God there is a real danger of being misled into lies and in a result mislead others away from the truth, away from true faith and away from salvation.
Some of the earliest false Christs already appeared in the first century and more claims of self proclaimed Christs have re-emerged in the 18th century and continues till this day. These false Christ claims will continue to emerge until the Antichrist will reveal himself to the naive public who will accept him as Christ.
GLOBAL POWER
Throughout history there were various kingdoms and empires, each had their era and place, but as we approach the end of the age - the end of the age where mankind rules with their mortal flawed nature - we will see more conflicts than ever before. While in old days there were only local conflicts, now in the past century we have been having a growing amount and frequency of global conflicts. This in itself is a prophetic word of God being fulfilled before us as Jesus said: "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Matthew 24:5-8)
The rise and fall of various kingdoms is a major theme in history and especially in the Bible. As we await the kingdom of heaven coming to us from God we will be witnesses of great changes as the various kingdoms will eventually merge into one global power. Global power so powerful that it will unite the entire world under one body of government, global court, global mandates, global treaties, global economy, global currency and of course and global religion. As we witness the embodiment of the kingdom of antichrist.let us not lose hope; on the contrary, let us always remember that God is still in control and He is allowing these things happen to brings forth His swift judgement of the wicked in due time. The four housemen of the apocalypse are the four seals, these represent the timeline of rule by fallen human nature. The four seals aren't specific events, they are a representation of the general history full of conquerors and warriors who brought forth suffering and death.
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (Matthew 24:21-22)
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)
THE GREAT TRIBULATION
When it comes to the topic of the great tribulation it is common to hear theories that attempt to comfort believers with the idea that the church will NOT face the great tribulation. But Jesus himself clearly stated: Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. (Matthew 24: 9-10) It is amazing when some believers openly deny the clear text. The righteous have been persecuted since the dawn of time until the day of the LORD when He manifests Himself to the world in glory and power that will never be challenged. all persecution of the saints; from the murder of first man - Abel to the murder of the last two witnesses - who's resurrection will time the last trumpet by three and a half days. The persecution of the saints is also represented by the fifth seal that opens the scroll.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5: 9-12)
THE DAY OF THE LORD
Immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31)