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These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication To Rob Morgan My faithful friend Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Introduction Chapter 1: The Prophecy Chapter 2: In a World of Deception, BE HONEST Chapter 3: In a World of War, BE CALM Chapter 4: In a World of Disasters, BE CONFIDENT Chapter 5: In a World of Persecution, BE PREPARED Chapter 6: In a World of Betrayal, BE FAITHFUL Chapter 7: In a World of Lawlessness, BE KIND Chapter 8: In a World of Bad News, BE THE GOOD NEWS Chapter 9: In the World of the End, BE DETERMINED Epilogue Index Notes Acknowledgments About the Author Introduction Our world is in bad shape, and sometimes we feel that way too, don’t we? In our better moments we know we’re encompassed by God’s blessing, yet we seem to struggle mightily with anxiety, fear, resentment, and discouragement. The chaos of the world seeps into our hearts. Fear can erode faith if we let it. Is that true for you? At times, it sure is for me! From long experience, I’ve learned that staying mentally healthy in a crumbling world is our daily assignment, and we can’t do it without a buoyant spiritual foundation for our lives. We need God! We need Christ and His teachings. We need the Holy Spirit and His indwelling. And we need the Scripture and its prophecies about the future. In these pages, I want to show you a special scene in the Bible in which the teachings of Christ, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and the prophetic words of God come together in a gripping chapter that’s too often overlooked. We call it the Olivet Discourse. During the final week of His natural life, Jesus sat with four of His disciples on the ridge of the Mount of Olives. There at the crest of Olivet, our Lord rolled out the blueprint of the ages, the master plan for the last days. Jesus began with a shocking prediction, one that seemed totally implausible in that moment. The massive temple complex, He said, would soon come tumbling down—every single stone! Then Jesus gazed further ahead into the World of the End, and He told us what would happen in the precarious days prior to His return. In our days! This is the greatest message on the future ever delivered, and it’s recorded in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. (For this book, we will focus primarily on the opening verses of Matthew 24.) Our Lord knows everything that has ever happened and that will ever happen. He knows it totally, in advance, and in detail; He understands the future into infinity. He already knows everything that will befall you during your lifetime, and He has offered powerful promises in His Word to reassure you of His presence and protection, and of His ordering of your days. The future of the entire world is in His hands as well. Every sentence in Matthew 24 is addressed to you, if you’re a child of God through Jesus Christ. They are for your information, anticipation, and motivation. When we grasp the Message of Olivet, our plans and priorities will change. Our vision will shift from the immediate to the ultimate. We’ll see today’s headlines in the light of the hallelujahs of His return. We’ll think better thoughts, feel healthier emotions, respond with better reactions, and do better things. Christ’s prophecy, then, must determine our priorities. I’ve spent my adult life studying biblical prophecy, but I’ve never studied Matthew 24 more intensely than while preparing this book. To be honest, it seems I’ve had more spiritual opposition than usual while writing this book. The devil doesn’t want us to know the Olivet Discourse. But Satan is already defeated, and his future condemnation is set. The One who spoke the words on Olivet rules over the affairs of the nations, and He is relentlessly mobilizing the events of earth toward the imminent rapture of the church—the final battles of history, the splendor of His return, the unveiling of His kingdom, and the dazzling new heavens, new earth, and new city of Jerusalem. We don’t need to mope about our politics or global problems. We don’t even have to settle for coping with the times. We have a hope as sure as the sunshine, as enduring as Scripture, and as glorious as the almighty throne of heaven. In The World of the End, I want to show you how our priorities and lifestyles must align with these powerful words of Christ, which echo through history from that olive-covered ridge. For that reason, I’ve sought to make this book as practical as a toolbox. In the first chapter I’ll describe the dramatic setting and context in which Jesus spoke His prophecy. The following chapters will explain one event after another in our Lord’s list of the signs of the times: deceivers will arise; wars and rumors of wars will escalate; disasters such as plagues, famines, and earthquakes will bedevil the world; and God’s people will face increasing persecution, betrayal, lawlessness, and lovelessness. In spite of it all, the gospel will spread to the ends of the earth, and Christ will return right on schedule. Those who keep going for Christ—who endure to the end—will be heroes in His sight. That’s why we must rededicate ourselves to our coming King in every area and activity of life. With His help, we can stay calm. We can remain confident and well prepared. We’ll serve with uncommon faithfulness and unconditional love. As we hold up the cause of His cross, we’ll be upheld by the power of His resurrection. As we take His gospel to the world, we will endure to the end. The last part of every chapter in this book has a game plan of workable strategies for responding to the World of the End. We are not powerless. We may have limited control of what happens in our world, but we have extraordinary authority in Christ to determine how we react. We’re not at the mercy of circumstances. We’re empowered by the grace of God to leverage the events of life for Christ and His kingdom. As Dr. David Osborn, professor emeritus of Christian leadership at Denver Seminary, says: “Too often we try to use God to change our circumstances, while he is using our circumstances to change us.”1 You’ll also find lots of stories and examples in the following pages. They’re not there to entertain you. I’ve selected each one as an illustration for putting into daily practice the truths of biblical prophecy Jesus spelled out for us. Never forget, prophecy is practical! God lets us in on His plans for the future so we can establish our plans for today. His promises should shape our priorities and sustain our spirits. Billy Graham said, “When the ‘evil day’ comes, we do not have to be dependent upon the circumstances around us, but rather on the resources of God.”2 Christians are not normal people. They are extraordinary people living with supernatural power in a downward-spiraling world. We are on a mission to help others and to spread gospel hope. There’s a glorious work for you to do. We can no longer operate with confusion or complacency. The last days are accelerating, and to me it’s exhilarating. Let’s stand as never before with biblical, Spirit-inspired determination, committed to serve Christ with all our hearts, whether by life or by death. This I know with all my mind and believe with all my heart: time is short. Our Lord’s words are unflagging and unfailing. They must shape our priorities and energize our plans. As we study our Lord’s great sermon, every word of it underscores our mission. Every syllable establishes our glorious priorities as we await His impending return—that blessed hope—and as we say, Amen! Even so, come Lord Jesus!