Matthew 24:3-14 English Standard Version

Signs of the End of the Age

3 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?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

With war comes a desire to see to an end of all wars. This is what Jesus had to say about wars.

“These are but the beginning.”

I am extremely reluctant to place war as a sign of things to come. Here Jesus speaks to tribulation but that does not mean the Great Tribulation. In John 16:33 He tells us we will have many tribulations. Christians are already put to death and hated for His sake. False prophets have been around for many generations. Lawlessness is on the rise but it does not seem to have caused our love to have grown cold. Has it?

The only thing that is tied directly to the end of the age is preaching the gospel throughout the whole world.

But what age? The church age?

The apostles tied His second coming to the end of the age, but that was not confirmed by the Word that Jesus spoke.

Without any clear answers except to preach the gospel to bring about the end, then let us preach the gospel.

Revelation 18:2 English Standard Version (ESV) And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.

The ESV does not provide many uses of the word haunt. Isaiah links it to jackals and here in Revelations our Lord links it to the fallen. It might be best to look at haunting memories as unclean spirits, but do not confuse them with demons. Man has a spirit, a life force that is separate from the Holy Spirit.

Thanks to PTSD therapy I am no longer haunted by the memories of being shot by someone I knew. That was dealing with trauma involving the action of another person..

What continues to haunt me is the emotional attachments to a completely innocent event which stirred up strong emotions. The world recreates that image in one form or another in what should be considered innocence but in me it triggers an emotional image that is not so easily shaken.

My childhood is littered with events associated with my  Asperger’s syndrome. As a child that was undiagnosed and I had no coping mechanism. As an adult, having a better understanding of that disorder I can place a mature understanding of the emotions of my youth, misplaced as they were.

That does not remove the memory. I have to deal with those memories as a life without Christ. While I was innocent then, I am no longer innocent because I have partaken of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I now know what sin is and what sin does. While the memory is not sin, the image leads to strong emotions that left unchecked could lead to sin.

I can only assume that we all have something in our past that is better left to forgetfulness.

I thank God that He has chosen to forget that which I find difficult to forget.

Paul had his thorn, we all have our own to deal with.

Grace is sufficient. Amen!!