Are We Seeing Signs of the Close of the Age?

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Mike Ratliff

by Mike Ratliff

15 Προσέχετε ἀπὸ τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν, οἵτινες ἔρχονται πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν ἐνδύμασιν προβάτων, ἔσωθεν δέ εἰσιν λύκοι ἅρπαγες. (Matthew 7:15 NA28)

15 “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but within are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15 translated from the NA28 Greek text)

The Church in our time appears huge, but this is only in appearance. It is thousands of miles wide, but only a fraction of an inch deep. Much of what claims to be Christian is not and proves it by what is actually its focus and what (or who) it actually worships. The focus has its foundation in pragmatism and its worship is nothing more than self-aggrandizement. They give lip service to their own version of “Jesus” who bears little if any resemblance to the Jesus we read of in God’s Word. This counterfeit Christianity is the majority while the true Church, which is made up of those saved by grace through faith because of God’s election and effectual calling is the minority. This should not surprise us because the Word of God tells us that this will be case as this age comes to a close to make way for the age to come.

1 Καὶ ἐξελθὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀπὸ τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἐπορεύετο, καὶ προσῆλθον οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπιδεῖξαι αὐτῷ τὰς οἰκοδομὰς τοῦ ἱεροῦ. 2 ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· οὐ βλέπετε ταῦτα πάντα; ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐ μὴ ἀφεθῇ ὧδε λίθος ἐπὶ λίθον ὃς οὐ καταλυθήσεται. 3 Καθημένου δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄρους τῶν ἐλαιῶν προσῆλθον αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ κατ’ ἰδίαν λέγοντες· εἰπὲ ἡμῖν, πότε ταῦτα ἔσται καὶ τί τὸ σημεῖον τῆς σῆς παρουσίας καὶ συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος; (Matthew 24:1-3 NA28

1 And having gone out, Jesus went from the Temple and his disciples approached him to show him the buildings of the Temple. 2 But he answered saying to them, “Do you not see all these things? Amen I say to you, by no means here will there be a stone left upon a stone which will not be demolished.” 3 And while he was sitting on the Mount of Olives the disciples approached him privately saying, “Tell us, when these things will be be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the closing of the age?” (Matthew 24:1-3 translated from the NA28 Greek text)

Carefully read this passage my brethren. There are three questions asked of our Lord by the disciples in response to his warning of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in v2. However, our Lord’s answer to these questions apparently intertwines prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and His second coming, which will end this age and usher in the age to come. Let us look at our Lord’s answer to these questions which is found in vv4-31 of Matthew 24, however, we will concentrate on vv4-14 in this study.

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