The Latest Scientific Prediction of World Catastrophe                      The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 2025

What Time Is It?

In Matthew 24 Jesus warned the disciples that God will eventually bring the war for world domination to a climax with a final gathering of the nations opposed to his Chosen People Israel at the Plain of Megiddo and the Battle of Armageddon. And Jesus warned them not to be fooled by those who try to predict when it will happen, because he said it will come like a thief in the night when no one is expecting it.

In spite of Jesus' warnings, scientists as well as self-proclaimed prophets of doom, have made pronouncements and given exact predictions as to when things will come to a catastrophic end as a result of global warming or total annihilation in World War III.

Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives where Jesus will return             Photo: Lightstock

How Should Christians Live?

In 2 Peter 3:3-18  the apostle Peter addresses the challenge of the situation for Christians living in the end times.

"Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 

Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

The Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
   
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.   

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 

Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever!  Amen.

Signs of The End Times

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                                                Release International logo                                                 Open Doors Map of Levels of World Persecution of Christians in 2025

The Warfare at The Natural & Supernatural Levels

Major challenges confront Christians living in countries where there is state-organised physical persecution by imprisonment, torture and execution of Christian pastors, the destruction of churches, and deportation of individual Christians and their families to slave labour camps. 

The Challenge of Global Warfare for Christians   2 Corinthians 1:8-11; 1 Peter 2:11-25

1. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
2. Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.
3. If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

A Christian Response to Tyranny

In Luke 13:1 some folk came to Jesus and told him about the massacre Pilate’s troops had perpetrated against some Galileans, who were only trying to worship God. The people were hoping Jesus really was God’s promised Messiah and would rid them of Roman tyranny. But Jesus disappointed them by his response. Below is a summary of what he said.
1. The Real Cause of Suffering In The World Is Human Sin
We all sin and need God’s forgiveness, including Pilate. When we are hurt by others, we find it difficult to forgive them or realize we need to be forgiven as well. It’s not what happens to you but how you respond is the issue. If you do not repent of your sin, you too will perish like the Samaritans.
2. The Answer To Injustice Should Not Be Anger But Grace
Anger and hatred simply multiply the destructive nature of sin. Instead, when we remember God’s mercy in forgiving our sin, we realize love and mercy are healing in the face of injustice.
3. God Is The Ultimate Judge Of Injustice & Will Judge Justly
God gives sinners time to repent but will punish the sinner who refuses to acknowledge we all need his forgiveness. We need to endure the injustice in the knowledge that one day there will be a reckoning.
4. Jesus Did Not Challenge Pilate’s Authority Or Resist By Force
He pointed out to Pilate that his authority came from above and one day he would be answerable. God is sovereign over the whole world. Disciples of Jesus are governed by a higher authority to whom they are answerable. Suffering for doing the right thing has to be endured.
5. Standing Up For The Truth Of The Gospel Is Costly
Sometimes non-violent confrontation against tyranny will cost our lives as it did Jesus. But death is not the end. If we die with him, we shall be raised with him, Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 2:11. [Based on an article by Elias Ghazal Confronting Tyranny The Jesus Way https://abtslebanon.org]

The Challenge of the Battle for Truth

The enemy's ultimate tactic is the same as he used with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, when he questioned what God had said: "Did God say?" This is his major tactic for trying to prevent the message of the Gospel from being shared to the ends of the world. He is doing this by both the physical/natural means of totalitarian state persecution, including control of the media, and in the supernatural realm as the ruler of the cosmos through lies and misinformation in cyberspace and the jamming of the Gospel by sophisticated cyber technology.

Signs of The End Times

Steps to the Altar of the Temple of Zeus, Pergamum, Turkey on which Bishop Antipas was martyred           The Pergamum Museum, Berlin          Photo: Smart History.org

Satan's Use of Persecution in the Roman Empire (60-313AD)

In 2 Timothy 3:13-13 Paul warned " everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."  That is because Jesus himself had said: " If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also." (John 15:18-20) 

The early church experienced the full fury of satanic rage through the persecution unleashed against Christians by the Emperor Nero, when Peter and Paul were executed, and continued by others like Domitian, Trajan and Hadrian until the Emperor Constantine's Edict of Toleration was issued in 313AD, giving Christianity official recognition.

Famous among the early martyrs mentioned in Revelation 2:8-13 were Bishop Antipas, who was martyred on the altar of the Temple of Zeus in Pergamum (in the photo above) by being roasted alive in a bronze bull, and Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna, who was martyred at the age of eighty-six in the arena at Smyrna in front of a crowd baying for his blood. After several attempts to burn him alive at the stake failed, he was finally despatched with a dagger thrust. His prayer before he was martyred can be read at  Persecution Spreads The Gospel

Persecution Over Subsequent Centuries

The centuries since have seen the truth of Jesus' and Paul's warnings as Christians of all ages, both men and women, have faced death for owning Jesus as LORD and Saviour and being willing to share in Christ's sufferings, as Paul said in Philippians 3:10.

The Challenge of Totalitarianism for Global Missions

Satan's Strategy Against The Church

A major strategy of Satan's opposition to the Gospel is to attack the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ. In recent years the media has exposed the sin of leaders of all Christian denominations to erode confidence in the Word of God and spiritual leaders.

The Old Testament Prophets' Call To Repent

In the Old Testament we read how God sent prophets to warn his children to repent or suffer the consequences. From time to time God raised up kings, who brought the people back to the worship of the true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, through destruction of their idols and worship at shrines on high places of foreign gods, whose practices included ritual temple prostitution and the sacrifice of children to the god Molech.

God's Conditions for Revival

In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God set out his conditions for reviving his people, who had blasphemed his holy name and been a major cause of worldwide evil.

IF my people who are called by My Name will
•  Humble themselves
•  Pray
•  Seek My face

THEN I will
• Hear from heaven
• Forgive their sins
• Heal their land

The Warfare at Personal, Local & Global Levels