Wars and Rumors of Wars
By Bruce Cannon
Mitchell County
“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. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” (Matthew 24:6,7)
Many of you, like me, have been glued to the news broadcasts over the past couple of weeks to see what Vladimir Putin and the armies of Russia have done to the residents of Ukraine. Our hearts are broken for these people. Thousands have died, countless homes and businesses have been destroyed, jobs lost and families separated perhaps, in at least so many cases, never to see each other again at least in this life.
What we are seeing unfold is exactly what the Lord said would happen just before He returned for His bride. We are living in what I believe are the very last days before His return. You believe that. I believe that as do so many others. How many sermons have I heard preached from men such as Dr. David Jeremiah, Dr. Jimmy Evans, Dr. J. D. Farag, Pastor Greg Laurie and so many others of this very fact…Jesus is coming!
Jesus said we would hear of wars and rumours of wars. We are! He said there would be pestilences and plagues. And there are! If COVID doesn’t count as a plague or pestilence I don’t know what would. And, neither COVID nor the invasion of Ukraine is the last of what we will see before He comes. They are only the beginning!
Jesus gave a dire warning in Luke 17:22 when He said, “The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.” The “days” of which He speaks are two: the event known as the Rapture is the first with the second being the Second Coming of the Lord at the end of the Tribulation Period. We know those alive in the Tribulation will be so thankful when He comes because what we have seen in Ukraine over the past weeks is only a small portion of the war that will be taking place worldwide during the Tribulation Period. In Revelation, there are two instances in the Tribulation Period where catastrophic and worldwide war breaks out claiming the lives of billions. (Revelation 6:8 and 9:18) What terror will grip the heart during this awful time!
BUT, notice Luke 17:22 says that there are two “days” of His coming. The first of the two is the Rapture. And, notice that before this event we will also be wanting to see Him, but we will not. He is simply saying that things are going to get so bad before He takes the Church home to be with Him that we are going to be longing for His return.
How many more plagues will there be before we get to see our Lord? How many more wars? How many more poor decisions will our governments make? How much more difficult will times be before then? How high will gas prices go? How expensive will groceries get because of fuel prices? How much more will “iniquity abound”?
Yet, there is good news! “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” (Luke 21:28) Are you ready? Is your family? Soon and very soon we are going to see the King! Amen! Thank you, Jesus!
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Reverend Bruce Cannon currently serves as the Senior Pastor of Bear Creek Baptist Church in Bakersville. Formerly he served as Director of Missions for the Bladen Baptist Association and he has served on the General Board of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.
You can read more Good Christian News from Pastor Cannon HERE.
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