THE WAY OF HAPPINESS -Hope

THE STORM BEFORE THE CALM

Jesus foretold that the last days would be marked, not by peace and security, but by the very opposite!  His composite sign of "the conclusion of the system of things" includes international warfare, food shortages, pestilences, and great earthquakes.  (Matthew 24:3, 7; Luke 21:10, 11; Revelation 6:3-8)  Jesus also said:  "Because of the increasing of lawlessness, the love of the greater number will grow cold." - Matthew 24:12. 

That coldness is evident in many ways, which another Bible writer specifically foretold.  At Timothy 3:1-5, we read that in "the last days," people in general  would be obsessed with self, money, and pleasures.  They would be arrogant and fierce.  Families would lack natural affection, and children would be disobedient to their parents. Religious hypocrisy would be commonplace. 

Those stormlike conditions confirm that this world is in it last days.  Those also confirm that the calm of the Kingdom rule is near.  Indeed, Jesus  included  the following assurance in his prophecy about the last days.  "This good news of the Kingdom will be preached  in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and the end will come. " - Matthew 24:14. 

That good news gives fair warning to wrongdoers and hope for the righteous, assuring the latter that the promised blessings will soon become reality.  

Next time: THE WAY OF HAPPINESS - LEARN MORE

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