The End of Things
Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash.
What will the end of times look like? How will we know the end has come and what should we do in response to it?
In Luke’s gospel account, Jesus addressed the end of the age, saying, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.” (Luke 21:10-11, ESV).
Jesus described the conflict and the natural disasters that would occur at the end of time. Jesus said that it would be accompanied by awesome signs from heaven.
Jesus warned the people, saying, “Before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness.” (Luke 21:12-13, ESV).
The hardship and persecution that accompany the end of times is the opportunity for us to be faithful to God and to bear witness to God before those who persecute us and seek to cause harm and destruction in the world.
Jesus instructed the people with encouragement and exhortation, saying, “Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.” (Luke 21:15-19, ESV).
No matter how bad things may get, Jesus promised that we will receive all that we need to stand up to, to endure, and to answer hardship and persecution in the end times. God will give us the wise words to say. God will help us endure hatred and even death. God will protect us from all harm and God will preserve our life from death. God promised that “by our endurance we will gain our lives.”
May we be found faithful as we trust Jesus in the face of hardship and persecution at the end of things.
A Collect for the Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity (Proper 28): “Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people, that bringing forth in abundance the fruit of good works, they may be abundantly rewarded when our Savior Jesus Christ comes to restore all things; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).
Begin the month with a #dailydevotional. I have created a #devotional book for each month, a devotional for every day of the year, and offering them for #free by subscribing. Get a link to #Grow365: #November2022—A #Daily Devotional here: www.robbiepruitt.com.
Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash.
