Last Days

The Sign

/ David R Maas / Leave a comment

According to Jesus, the End will not come until the Gospel of the Kingdom of God has been proclaimed to all nations – Matthew 24:14. 

When the subject of the Second Coming is raised, the question of what “sign” or “signs” will precede it is asked. Invariably, wars, earthquakes, tsunamis, famines, and similar catastrophes are offered as harbingers of that day. Yet Jesus gave the definitive answer to this question – the completion of the Church’s mission to proclaim his salvation and lordship to all nations.

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Spirit of Antichrist

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The Antichrist Spirit works to destroy the church from within, especially through deception propagated by false teachers and other deceivers – 1 John 2:18-22.

In popular preaching, the Antichrist is a political tyrant bent on world domination. However, Jesus and his Apostles expressed more concerns about the deceivers who would spread false teachings in the Church than world leaders. The New Testament applies ‘Antichrist’ and related terms to false teachers infiltrating the Body of Christ to distort apostolic teachings.

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The Danger from Within

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The greatest threat to Christ’s disciples comes from the deceivers inside the Church who spread false teachings and generate false expectations.

It is not the surrounding society, its culture, or the political system that will destroy the Body of Christ, but the satanic forces working feverishly inside the Church to mislead believers, especially false teachers and false prophets driven by the “Spirit of Antichrist you heard was coming, and even now it is in the world” – (1 John 4:1-3).

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Salvation & Wrath Revealed

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Paul presents his Gospel to the assemblies of Rome, a message about God’s righteousness or wrath for all men, Jews and Gentiles alike.

Paul described the Gospel message in his Letter to the Romans. It was the “power of God for salvation” to all men who accepted it. Due to our sin, two forces are at work in the world, righteousness and wrath. God provides the solution to our plight through Jesus and the announcement of his Good News. His salvation is available to all men and women through the “faithfulness of Jesus Christ.”

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From Faith, For Faith

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Men are not justified before God from the works of the Mosaic Law, but rather from the faith of Jesus Christ.

Paul demonstrates that all men have sinned in his letter to the Romans. Jews and Gentiles alike violate God’s revealed will, therefore, no one is justified before Him “from the works of the Law.” Jews have the Mosaic Law but fall short of its requirements. Gentiles have the witness of their conscience yet live and even revel in their sins. If no one is set right before God “from the works of the Law,” how are we reconciled with Him?

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