the last days are no doubt upon us the Bible has been clear with regards to the people we would find in this time the first group of people are the indifferent the state of society during the last days can be summed up in the scripture Matthew 24:12 which states because of the increase of wickedness the love of most will grow cold when Jesus came to fulfill the law the law was Consolidated into two commands to love the Lord with one's whole heart with all your soul and with all your mind and to love your neighbor
as yourself and so naturally the absence of Love would be a Telltale sign of the end of days as we can see today in many parts of the world lives are no longer valued there is a lack of human compassion a lack of kindness between people Jesus commanded us to love others as ourselves people's failure to give adequate love to others is simply a reflection of their failure to love even themselves adequately but how can one truly love oneself without appreciating the love of God towards us we need to appreciate that the blood of Jesus
Christ paid for your sins and the sins of every person on this Earth now if you think that you should be treated a certain way because of the price that Christ paid for you then you should also show this same treatment to your neighbor you should also love your neighbor in the same way that you are loved by the Lord we are all the image bearers of Christ and so lawlessness should never be found in our lives and the love in our hearts should most certainly never grow cold another group of people that you will
find in the last days are the mockers we should be cautious that these people do not draw us away from the Faith the Amplified translation for 2 Peter 3: 3:4 States first of all no without any doubt that mockers will come in the last days with their mocking following their own human desires and saying where is the promise of his coming what has become of it forever since the fathers fell asleep in death all things have continued exactly as they did from the beginning of creation ironically instead of being grateful for ample time to grow
in faith and live a life pleasing to God people will mock those who are preparing for the Lord's return if I were them I'd be glad that I had extra time to prepare but that's not how they see it and consider the elusive nature of time sometimes we have to run because we are late or because we are afraid of being late or because we're trying to to beat the occurrence of something undesirable these are all instances of human limitations for example if Lazarus was our friend and we heard he was dying we would likely
move with alacrity to see him we would run to him immediately however Jesus was not like us he did not respond in this way he loved Lazarus yet he decided to stay away Jesus's lateness could have been avoided as the scripture deliberately says that Jesus was nearby when he arrived he was 4 days late Jesus had a direct link to the father of time so he knew that he could never be late we should trust in God's timing and not fear we should rest easy in the assurance that God is all powerful and fully in
control he has every intention to return to save us from this world the naysayers can only think from a limited world's view while our God is not affected by time the final group of people are the backsliders in fact all types of people present in the last days can be encompassed in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 the Bible tells us that people will love only themselves and their money they will be boastful and proud scoffing at God disobedient to their parents and ungrateful they will consider nothing sacred they will be unloving and unforgiving they will slander others
and have no self-control they will be cruel and hate what is good they will betray their friends be Reckless be puffed up with pride and love pleasure rather than God they will act religious but they will reject the power that could make them Godly stay away from people like that I'm sure as a Christian you feel an unction to address these people and keep them accountable in our associations with them however let us remember that no man can come to God except the father draws him yes you want to show off all your Bible School
theology you want to catch that difficult person in their own flawed Theory and diminish it before their very eyes but tell me after you have proven this person wrong and shown yourself to be somewhat of a Biblical scholar how do they perceive your savior do they want to get to know this God who has saved them from their sins or has the conversation left a bad taste in their mouth this is not to encourage you to have a lukewarm Zeal for Christ and the spreading of the Gospel no this is to remind you that you
can win an argument but lose a soul remember that at the end of the day the Holy Spirit takes the credit for the saved Soul it is the undeniable Indescribable pull of faith that brings a man to Christ not a passionate debate after all without faith it is impossible to please God we have to be careful as believers that we don't backslide and fall into being unloving and unforgiving don't be puffed up with pride and love pleasure rather than God but in 2 Timothy 3 there is specific mention made of believers who will act Godly
but will be far away from the actual God do not get so bogged down by the appearance of being religious that you lose the Reigns of your relationship with God some of us have become so used to routine and keeping up appearances that we don't realize that we have become Christian caricatures while we should be wary of the types of people the scripture warns us of we should be wary that we haven't slowly and covertly become one of them ourselves we are never Beyond correction especially in the last days I'd like to offer a Biblical
perspective on the following headlines in Ezekiel 385 we have Persia modern-day Iran mentioned as well as four ancient Nations that are located in modern-day turkey Iran and turkey today are in the headlines with the will the desire the means and the motivation to attack Israel the article goes on to further say these developments show that we're far far down the road to the Gog Magog war and ultimately to Armageddon it's another sign to us of The Nearness of the coming of Jesus Christ now the entire world seems to be collectively holding their breath many are
concerned that world events appear to be setting the stage for an unprecedented attack on the nation of Israel the attack prophesized by the prophet Ezekiel approximately 2600 years ago the Battle of Gog and MOG described in Ezekiel 38 and 39 is perhaps one of the most debated events in biblical prophecy Gog and MOG refers to the enemies against whom God will wage an apocalyptic War at the dawn of the Messianic age it's believed that Gog is a person who rules over the land of Magog to who what and how of this battle is a contested
area among some Scholars with all believing that the Gog and Magog battle is an invasion of some kind but opinions differ on its participants location and timing biblical Scholars also disagree regarding timing of the invasion some believe it'll be just prior to the Rapture of the church and onset of the 7-year tribulation others think it will happen between the Rapture and the tribulation some think it will be around the middle of the tribulation and the final Camp things will happen just prior to the second coming Jesus Christ and so according to the Bible when Gog
and his army attempt to overcome Israel God will come to the rescue of his people will quickly annihilate the Invaders by Supernatural means in Ezekiel 38 verse 18-22 we're given a picture of what will happen and here are the details we're given and it will come to pass at the same time when Gog comes against the land of Israel says the Lord God that my Fury will show in my face for in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath I have spoken surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the
land of Israel so that the fish of the sea the birds of the heavens the beasts of the field all creeping things that creep on the earth and all men who are on the face of the Earth shall shake at my presence the mountains shall be thrown down the Steep places shall fall and every wall shall fall to the ground I will call for a sword against God throughout all my mountains says the Lord God every man's sword will be against his brother and I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed I will
rain down on him on his troops and on the many peoples who are with Him flooding rain great hail Stones fire and brimstone so so this is just a glimpse of the god and Magog battle but there's also another battle to come the final battle at the end of the world between the forces of Good and Evil Armageddon the Bible tells us demonic spirits will gather all the rulers and their armies to a place with the Hebrew name [Music] Armageddon John then tells us the scenes he saw in Revelation 19 then I saw heaven opened
and a white horse was standing there its riter was named faithful and true for he judges fairly and wages a righteous War his eyes were like flames of fire and on his head were many crowns a name was written on him that no one understood except himself he wore a robe dipped in Blood and his title was the word of God the armies of Heaven dressed in the finest of pure white linen followed him on white horses from his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the Nations he will rule them with an iron
Rod he will release the fierce wrath of God the almighty like juice flowing from a wine press on his robe at his thigh was written this title king of all kings and Lord of all Lords he further goes into detail to describe what he sees then I saw the Beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his Army and the Beast was captured and with him the false prophet who did Mighty miracles on behalf of the Beast Miracles that deceived all who
had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue both the Beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery Lake of burning sulfur their entire Army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the White [Music] Horse so what can we learn from past battles and those predicted to come firstly war is not the biggest sign of the end times it is one of the signs the Bible places more of an emphasis on the rise of deception when it comes to the signs of
the last days secondly regardless of what comes God always protects his children God always defends those who have put their trust in him and finally Christians are not to pay attention to one sign over others but the collective group of signs Mark the beginning of birth pains as Jesus warned but this is no reason to fear because we know know what is to come there is a theory out there that many Believers think aligns with Bible prophecy and this theory is that at the top level if the Antichrist is really going to have rulership over
the world for a certain period of time then at a base level there must be some kind of mechanism or system that enables him to control people after all the Bible does tell us that without the mark of the beast you can't buy or sell but what if the mark of the beast is not actual mark That's imprinted on the skin what if it's what if it's digital here are a few interesting articles US Department of Homeland Security selects startups to develop digital identity credentials around the globe work on digital identity credentials is accelerating with
the United States the latest country to take a step forward in development digital IDs are here but where are they used and accepted while millions of Americans have opted to use mobile IDs that can be carried on a phone instead of physical identification in a wallet many businesses and agencies including law enforcement don't yet accept them what needs to happen next WF report discusses digital ID behavioral credentials in metaverse a new report from the world economic Forum suggests that digital ID is a Cornerstone in the evolving concept of metaverse identity expanding Beyond on traditional digital
identification to Encompass a broad array of data and new forms of credentials a further line reads for those who are concerned about the growing prominence of digital ID among governments and NOS like the world economic Forum the idea of using behavioral data for continuous authentication might be interpreted as a step towards constant surveillance where every action in the digital realm could be tracked and analyzed leading to concerns about loss of anonymity and autonomy how Tony Blair's national ID dream is slowly becoming a reality the building blocks for a national system are quietly coming together in
Britain Now by no means am I saying that a digital ID is the mark of the beast however what I am saying is that many Believers are interpreting these incoming changes to the world as the foundation being laid to enable a figure like the Antichrist to come and seize control because think about it pragmatically revelation 13: 16 to17 says it also forced all people Great and Small rich and poor free and slave to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the
mark which is the name of the Beast or the number of its name without this Mark you can't buy or sell so that means this Mark is tied in with your money no Mark no money now now a lot of people underestimate how severe this regime is if you're left behind and if you take the mark of the beast you have literally pledged Your Allegiance to the devil and people may think well I'll refuse and just find somewhere to hide for the rest of my days but this won't be possible because you will literally be
unable to pay your bills fill up the gas in your car or anything that requires a transaction you won't be able to do any of that without the mark of the beast imagine a world where you have to choose between buying food or selling your soul imagine being completely cut off from society and forced to live off the land just to survive this is the reality many will face the Antichrist will literally oppose Jesus Christ in every way if you think it's hard to be a Christian now then the persecution that Christians will see when
the Antichrist is in power will be unimaginable when the Antichrist will come to power he will mislead and deceive the masses the Mark will not simply be a means for survival and participation in society no this Mark will signify allegiance to the Antichrist this Mark will be a person selling their soul to the devil now there's no need to take this message as one of Doom and Gloom instead let this message push you into the arms of Christ today I encourage you to put Jesus first in your life we must be diligent in studying the
word of God so that we can recognize the signs of the times and be prepared for what is to come we must remain Vigilant and watchful testing everything against the truth of God's word in conclusion the world after the Rapture will be a dark and terrifying place I don't know about you but I pray that the Holy Spirit Will convict me daily so that I may always be ready waiting watching and anticipating the return of the King of Kings and the Lord of lords Jesus Christ
