Behold, I have told you before. Matthew 24:25
The Holy Bible is full of many prophecies and warnings
of what is coming on the Earth.
Some teachers say some of them have passed already.
Others say Jesus will rescue you, so you don’t have to worry.
After all, they think, Jesus won’t want us to go through tough times
because He protects us and cares about us.
Just about all of Jesus’ disciples were killed in a violent fashion.
Jesus warned us that many of us would suffer persecution
up to and including death.
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:
but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28
Jesus let us know we would see wars and rumors of wars.
He told us not to be frightened, that the end is not yet.
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars:
see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass,
but the end is not yet. Matthew 24:26
He also said there would be natural disasters
and that this is the beginning of sorrows.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows. Matthew 24:6-8
And, one of the most sobering verses in Matthew 24 is this:
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you:
and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. v9
And almost as concerning, the verse that follows it:
And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another,
and shall hate one another. v10
We will be hated, then betrayed, then hated again.
Lots of hate toward God and toward His people,
those who follow Jesus and serve Him.
There are just a few of Jesus’ warnings written here.
As you read, if you are willing to see and let the Holy Spirit show you,
you will see many more warnings as you read His word
over many different situations that Jesus encountered.
The prophets warned in the Old Testament.
The Old Testament is filled with God’s heart as well as His mercy.
He knows how we feel. He knows we love our flesh to a degree.
That we don’t like pain and suffering.
Jesus still warned us.
We don’t exactly know what it means that we should pray that we are counted worthy to escape those things about to come on the Earth:
Watch ye therefore, and pray always,
that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things
that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Luke 21:36
Worthy to escape could mean that we will escape the evil and deception will be so strong that we would be compelled to serve it.
Whatever it means exactly, as some of the commentators do not even comment on it, it means that we need Jesus and His Holy Spirit
to make it through.
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast,
that no man take thy crown. Revelation 3:11