I have considered myself a watchman on the wall for many years. There is never a shortage of news or events to highlight as our planet groans with wars and rumors of wars, moral and spiritual decline, and rampant apostasy.
Even so, God is doing good things too! Not everything reported today deals with how the sky is falling. God is saving souls, and Bible prophecies are being fulfilled. So much is happening that it is a challenge to keep up with it all. So when it comes to world events and Bible prophecy, commentators, columnists, authors, and pundits have to be selective. That is not easy.
Our Times—Not a Pretty Picture!
First Chronicles 12:32 says that the sons of Issachar were men who understood the times. That suggests that God’s people need to understand what on earth is happening. And the only way to do that is to understand what the Bible says about our times.
Here are some thoughts for starters.
In 2 Timothy 3 is a powerful passage that talks about the character of fallen mankind during the last days. It’s not a pretty picture! Perilous times will come. People will be self-focused. They will be covetous, boastful, proud, blasphemous, unthankful, unholy, and without natural affection. There will be little respect for parents. And people will be marked by a “form of godliness” (verse 5)—they might look good on the outside, but it’s a completely different story on the inside.
People will be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. If it feels good, do it! They will call evil good, and call good evil (Isaiah 5:20). People will be so bad because of reprobate thinking that God will give “them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting, being filled with all unrighteousness” (Romans 1:28-29).
People will also gravitate toward false theology (1 Timothy4:1). This means solid churches will be hard to find. There will be many wolves among the flock (Acts 20:29).
Most troubling of all, “the spirit of the antichrist” (1 John 4:3) is already here, even before the Antichrist—whom I call Mr. Fix-It—will turn up on the world scene during the end times. By then, believers will have already been raptured from the earth. But his influence precedes him, even before his appearance.
A Front-Row Seat for the Last Act
Our world is getting worse. At first we might think, Who would want to be an end-times Christian? However, we have been called for such a time as this, and we are here on assignment! It is a privilege and a challenge to be alive in these days. We have a front-row seat to the last act. The drama has become intense. The players are all in place. The stage is being set. And you can’t understand the times without developing a biblical perspective that helps to shine the light of God’s truth on everything.
When it comes to understanding the times, our school education doesn’t matter. If we don’t know what the Bible says about life during the last days, we’ll be vulnerable to deception. If we don’t know God’s prophetic word, we will be lost in a sea of terrifying headlines that make no sense.
The way our world is coming apart at the seams, our human inclination will be to hide in a storm shelter until things get better. But that’s not what God desires of us as Christians. And sadly, too many churches are leaving their flocks unprepared for these last days.
Game Changers
From a prophetic standpoint, there have been many game changers all through the history of mankind. And lately, they’ve become more frequent—new wars, pandemics, economic turmoil, governments taking greater control and leading us toward globalism, and all sorts of happenings that can be called apocalyptic without being sensational. Today’s crises are truly stunning. They are coming fast and furious. On many days, I feel overwhelmed. And if this longtime watchman is taken aback, I can imagine what others are feeling!
Look Up and Not Around
While we could easily be discouraged by all that’s going wrong, I want to remind us we’re to live with anticipation in these amazing times—and consider our place in God’s end-times plans. We are to be “encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25).
As fellow watchmen, we can’t merely sound a warning. We are to prepare people for what is happening, encourage them to understand the times, and urge them to look up to God and not around at the world.
If God has you here on assignment, then shouldn’t you view this as an amazing time to be alive?
