Bedok Methodist Young Adult Ministry

Hello YAMmers! At our last speaker session, we discussed about the end times. I thought the session was very informative so for those who couldnt come, heres a summary! (Though of course its always much better to be at the real thing, so please make the effort to attend the speaker sessions yourself!)

For your prayerful consideration.

Topic: Are we Living In The End Times?
Scripture taken from Matthew 24, 25

Jesus Teaching on The End Times:

Signs of nearing the end (Matt 24:3-14)

1. Birth pains
(v8 ‘But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.’)
Here, Jesus is using birth pains to describe the end times. When a woman is giving birth, intervals in contractions get shorter as the mother gets closer to child birth, thus resulting in more pain. Similarly, Jesus may be saying that more disasters(Earthquake, Famines, Wars) will take place as we get closer to the end.

2. False Christs
(v11 ’And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people.’)
Jesus teaches that as we get closer to the end, many False Christs and Prophet will come and decieve many. Be on your guard and do not be deceived
(v23 ’Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it.’)

Here is a video of one such False Christ:

*In verse 24 it says ‘For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.’
The man in the video above has no power to perform these signs and wonders, but future False messiahs may be able to.

*In verse 27 it says ‘For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes’.
When Jesus comes back, it will be very obvious and all will know. Probably just like how we know when its day or night, its very obvious and you will just know it.

3. Wars, threats of wars, famines, earthquakes
(v7 ’Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.’)

Wars -There have been 2 World Wars. Even today there are wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and widespread throughout Africa. As recent as last week, Russia recently had a small war with Georgia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_South_Ossetia_war)

Famines are not so prevalent yet. Food shortages like the eggs and oysters ones we have experienced in Singapore and rising food prices could be the beginning.

Earthquakes have been quite prevelant, with many being reported in the news.

4. Persecution of the Church
(v9 ‘Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.’)

5. Falling away of believers.
(v10 ’And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other.’)

This will probably be due to the reason that many Christians follow Jesus because they want something from him. So for them, when the cost outweighs the benefits to follow Jesus, they walk away from the faith. Also, they fall away from the faith to follow others with more enticing beliefs and claims like ‘You are God’ or ‘There is no sin’.

The Tribulation Period (Matthew 24:15-22)

1.The Anti Christ defiling the Temple of God.
(v15 ‘The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration* standing in the Holy Place.’ [Reader, pay attention!] )
The Temple of God was destroyed in the past and a religious structure named the Dome of the Rock currently stands in its place. Some people say the Temple has already been defiled, some say that it will be rebuilt again, then defiled. You can read more @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_in_Jerusalem

2. A time of great terror, Capable of causing annihilation
(16 “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. 17 A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. 18 A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. 19 How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. 20 And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again.)

3. It will be shortened
(v22 ‘In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones.’)

How Will It End? Matt 24:29-31

1.Eclipse of sorts, Celestial events, Symbolic or actual, Falling stars could mean Angels or Meteorites. (v30 ’Immediately after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.’)

2.Day of worldwide mourning. Probably because people will realise that the prophecy in The Bible is coming true and they have chosen wrongly. (v30 ‘and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth.’)

3.The Rapture/Glorious Appearing. There are many interpretations about how this may happen. Below is a video clip of one such interpretation from the movie ‘Left Behind’.

What Should You Do If The End is Coming? (Matt 24: 37-44, 25)

1. Don’t be lost in hedonistic pursuits
(v38 ’In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.)

2. Be Alert
(v42 ’So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming’)

3. Jesus uses 2 parables to explain about being alert and prepared. (Matthew 25)
-Be ready to meet Jesus (don’t cling onto selfish life projects) (10 bridesmaids)
-Be ready to account to Jesus (to account for your labor for His kingdom’s sake) (3 servants)

Conclusion
Some people believe we are near but not there yet, with gaps in the jigsaw puzzle yet to be filled. Some believe that it will not happen in our life time. Some also believe that the end is very near.
This is something you’ll have to decide for yourself. But its not whats important.
Whats important is since you don’t know exactly when, why not make the changes to your life today, before its too late?

Three things that one of the discussion groups shared that they’ll do is:
1.Live more purposefully
2.Pray more desperately for non Christians
3.Grow more spiritually

What will you do today?

Hey all! BMC will be hosting their 6th Alpha Course, starting on the 27th of August! The Alpha Course is an opportunity for anyone to explore the Christian faith in a relaxed, non-threatening, friendly and fun way.

Alpha is for everyone, especially those wanting to investigate Christianity, New Christians and Newcomers to the Church. We have had a wide range of participants in our previous Alphas. Ranging from secondary school children, working adults, grandfathers and even visitors from other religions organisations who wanted to understand what Christians believe in. So take that step of faith to come and also to invite your friends! Leave everything else to God =)

Bring your questions (you can ask any of them!), yourself, your friends and an open heart & mind as we explore Christianity in Alpha! Maximus from the movie, Gladiator, once said ‘What we do in life echoes in eternity’. May the Alpha Course make that everlasting echo in yours and your friends’ lives!

For more info see: http://www.bmc.org.sg/alpha.htm
Registration @ http://www.bmc.org.sg/alphaform2.htm
If you’d like to invite people through facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=28213683979
Contact BMC @ alpha@bmc.org.sg or myself (darylganyw@hotmail.com) for any enquiries at all!

Have a great week everyone and hope to see you and your friends at Alpha!

-Daryl