DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?
DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?
Well, I have some good news and I have some bad news!
The good news is this- in the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us EXACTLY how we will know when the season of the ‘end times’ has begun.
The bad news is this- the season of the end times has probably begun!
UNDERSTANDING THE MATTHEW 24:3-14 PROPHECY
Let's review Matthew 24:3-14 (KJV, emphasis mine):
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and WHAT SHALL BE THE SIGN OF THY COMING, AND OF THE END OF THE WORLD?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 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.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 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.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; AND THEN SHALL THE END COME.
What do we learn from this passage? That there are TWELVE end times sign posts to look for!
1. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. (part of the 'beginning of sorrows')
2. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: (part of the 'beginning of sorrows')
3. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: (part of the 'beginning of sorrows')
UNDERSTANDING THE MATTHEW 24:3-14 PROPHECY
Let's review Matthew 24:3-14 (KJV, emphasis mine):
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and WHAT SHALL BE THE SIGN OF THY COMING, AND OF THE END OF THE WORLD?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 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.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 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.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; AND THEN SHALL THE END COME.
What do we learn from this passage? That there are TWELVE end times sign posts to look for!
1. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. (part of the 'beginning of sorrows')
2. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: (part of the 'beginning of sorrows')
3. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: (part of the 'beginning of sorrows')
4. and there shall be famines (part of the 'beginning of sorrows')
5. and pestilences (part of the 'beginning of sorrows')
6. and earthquakes, in divers places. (part of the 'beginning of sorrows')
7. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: (this is already happening)
8. and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. (this is already happening)
9. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. (this is already happening)
10. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. (and are basing their messages on the work of the false apostles: Mark, Luke, Paul and the unknown author of Hebrews)
11. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (falling church attendance, falling number of Christians and the growing rise of atheism)
12. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; AND THEN SHALL THE END COME.”
The fulfilment of sign post #12 happened two years ago! Let me take some time to explain the significance of this.
12. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; AND THEN SHALL THE END COME.”
The fulfilment of sign post #12 happened two years ago! Let me take some time to explain the significance of this.
UNDERSTANDING THE 12TH SIGN POST
First of all, this verse does not simply refer to the spread of the GOSPEL! This verse does NOT say:
“And the gospel shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; AND THEN SHALL THE END COME.” (emphasis mine).
NO!!! Christ was very specific! He said:
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; AND THEN SHALL THE END COME.” (emphasis mine).
Do you see the difference? In order to understand the prophetic message of verse 14, we MUST decipher what the phrase ‘the gospel of the kingdom’ means and what it signifies!
WHAT DOES THE PHRASE 'THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM' MEAN?
The word GOSPEL means ‘good news’. But did you know that the phrase- ‘the gospel of the kingdom’ only appears in the New Testament three times?
That’s it! The three references are:
§ Matthew 4:23
§ Matthew 9:35
§ Matthew 24:14.
And, by the way, this phrase ‘the gospel of the kingdom’ NEVER appears in any of the Pauline writings!
So what does this phrase mean?
You probably know that throughout His ministry, Christ always spoke of two kingdoms: the kingdom of God (love) and the kingdom of heaven (justice). Believers must give love on earth and Christ will deliver justice in heaven!
“And the gospel shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; AND THEN SHALL THE END COME.” (emphasis mine).
NO!!! Christ was very specific! He said:
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; AND THEN SHALL THE END COME.” (emphasis mine).
Do you see the difference? In order to understand the prophetic message of verse 14, we MUST decipher what the phrase ‘the gospel of the kingdom’ means and what it signifies!
WHAT DOES THE PHRASE 'THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM' MEAN?
The word GOSPEL means ‘good news’. But did you know that the phrase- ‘the gospel of the kingdom’ only appears in the New Testament three times?
That’s it! The three references are:
§ Matthew 4:23
§ Matthew 9:35
§ Matthew 24:14.
And, by the way, this phrase ‘the gospel of the kingdom’ NEVER appears in any of the Pauline writings!
So what does this phrase mean?
You probably know that throughout His ministry, Christ always spoke of two kingdoms: the kingdom of God (love) and the kingdom of heaven (justice). Believers must give love on earth and Christ will deliver justice in heaven!
Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the ‘gospel of the kingdom’ is really a shortcut way of saying the [gospel of the ‘kingdom of God’ AND the gospel of the ‘kingdom of heaven’]. Ergo, the gospel of the kingdom!
HOW HAS THE PROPHECY OF MATTHEW 24:14 BEEN FULFILLED?
So what is the prophetic sign post that Christ is giving us? Matthew 24:14 says that you will know that the season of the end times has begun when you hear the ‘gospel of the kingdom’ being preached! This is the significance of this verse! If there is no preaching of this gospel, then the end times cannot begin! Consider the following facts:
FACT #1: The Pauline version of our faith has dominated Christianity for almost 2000 years! In fact, 'Pauline Christianity' is the term used to distinguish it from Christ's real message. And did you know, if you google the question- 'who is the founder of Christianity?' many search results will credit Paul and not Christ! Hmmm!
So what is the prophetic sign post that Christ is giving us? Matthew 24:14 says that you will know that the season of the end times has begun when you hear the ‘gospel of the kingdom’ being preached! This is the significance of this verse! If there is no preaching of this gospel, then the end times cannot begin! Consider the following facts:
FACT #1: The Pauline version of our faith has dominated Christianity for almost 2000 years! In fact, 'Pauline Christianity' is the term used to distinguish it from Christ's real message. And did you know, if you google the question- 'who is the founder of Christianity?' many search results will credit Paul and not Christ! Hmmm!
FACT #2: We also know that the Pauline writings NEVER mentioned this specific gospel (the gospel of the kingdom) message!
FACT #3: Therefore, for Christians to hear this gospel being preached, it means that Christ’s version of Christianity must be regaining prominence and popularity! This return to our original faith is what I call Restoration Christianity 2.0! This form of Restoration Christianity is based on the teachings of the Old Testament and the teachings in The Apostolic Scriptures alone! Sola Scriptura! The original Restoration Christianity movement (aka the Stone-Campbell movement) uses the Old Testament and the New Testament. But I disagree with this. You cannot desire a return to Christ but still rely on Pauline doctrines! The Apostolic Scriptures, on the other hand, are the 10 Books of the New Testament that were written by Christ's true Apostles (Matthew, John, James, Peter and Jude; see Matthew 10:1-4).
Restoration Christianity 2.0 removes the tares!
Restoration Christianity 2.0 removes the tares!
Because of the Apostolic Scriptures (released in 2020), more and more people will now be able to focus on Christ’s undiluted message!
The prophecy stated in Matthew 24:14 has been fulfilled and the end times season is upon us.
Twelve sign posts. Twelve prophecies fulfilled. Make sure that you are counted as one of God's remnant!
*****
‘HARVEST TIME Prophecies’ is the blog post site of TNG Academy. Our blog post site gets its name from Matthew 13:30- the separation of wheat and tares that occurs at harvest time (i.e. the endtimes). Remember, the ‘wheat’ symbolises the things of God and the ‘tares’ symbolise the things of the devil.
The purpose of this blog is threefold.
1. Some of the posts are written to help the reader develop a deeper understanding of the theology of Christ’s core message- i.e. the ‘gospel of the kingdom’.
2. Some of the posts are written for the reader’s personal discipleship journey. We need to understand what God expects from us. After all, all believers should be on a journey of ‘becoming’ our best selves, capable of impacting and changing the world!
3. Finally, some of the posts are written to answer this question:
What would our faith look like today IF we had fully embraced Christ’s doctrines, as recorded by His Apostles, and rejected the doctrines of Paul and the other false apostles?
If we are sincere about our desire to restore Christianity to its roots, i.e. a return to Christ’s original message, then we must start by admitting that ‘while men slept’ (Matthew 13:25) the enemy planted false teachings (tares) into the New Testament!
Visit our website- WWW.TNGACADEMY.ORG, to see our Bible study books. Which books would I recommend for you to read first? Start with these three-
- WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD?
- MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN!
- THE APOSTOLIC SCRIPTURES.
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