David Diga Hernandez - Are We Living in the Last Days?

Concerning the end times, we have no clearer text than Matthew 24. The book of Daniel is wonderful and filled with revelations about the future. The book of Revelation is amazing and filled with apocalyptic imagery that provides us with insight into what lies ahead; however, no text is as clear as Matthew 24. I’m not saying the others are inferior; I’m saying that this is what you should base your understanding on—these words in Matthew 24. Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to Him privately and said, «Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?» Jesus told them, «Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in My name claiming, 'I am the Messiah.' They will deceive many, and you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world, but all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. Then you will be persecuted, arrested, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are My followers, and many will turn away from Me and betray and hate each other. Many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. The good news about the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world so that all nations will hear it, and then the end will come.» A few things that Jesus says will indicate the season of the final days. The first thing we see here is that many will come in My name claiming, «I am the Messiah.» Now, in the original language, this term «I am the Messiah» means «anointed one.» So it’s not necessarily that people will come claiming to be Jesus, though that will happen. I think sometimes we have a limited view on this because we only take that one angle. But it’s not just going to be people claiming to be the Savior or claiming to be Jesus. This is referring to individuals who claim to be anointed; it’s much broader than just the specific claim saying, «I’m Jesus» or «I’m the way to salvation.» This speaks of people who claim to have the anointing but are really wolves in sheep’s clothing, deceiving God’s people. Many will come in My name claiming, «I am the Messiah,» and I suspect these are some of those mentioned in Matthew chapter 7, who come strutting up to the Lord on that day, fully confident that they’ll be accepted in, and He says, «Depart from Me; I never knew you.» I love the way the Message translation puts it, where Jesus says to those who did wonderful works, «Get out of here! Get away from Me; all you did was use Me to make yourselves important.» And that’s what some do—they treat the church and the gospel like it’s a business opportunity, and they peddle the word like it’s a product. Now, as I mentioned before, there is financial support involved in ministries, but the purpose of ministry isn’t money. Some people treat preaching like it’s a career, not a calling, and because of that, it becomes about them. This is what Jesus was talking about. In the last days, there are going to be a lot of people who claim, «I’m anointed. I’m anointed. I’m anointed.» Anyone with access to live-stream equipment can get on, garner an audience, and claim to be anointed. But don’t let anyone mislead you. You will hear of wars and threats of wars, nation going to war against nation, treaties being dissolved, and national relations becoming tense and uncertain—sounds like things happening today. Now, interestingly, Jesus says here in verse six, «Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately.» In other words, these aren’t the only indicators. He goes on to say, «Nation will go to war against nation, kingdom against kingdom.» Then He adds, «There will be famines, food shortages.» People of God, there will be food shortages in all parts of the world as we get closer and closer to that final day. It’s not just going to be a scramble for toilet paper; it’ll be a scramble for bread and meat. I suspect that at this point, we’ll start to see miracles of food multiplication among the people of God. I believe we’ll witness things like manna coming from heaven for God’s remnant. As the darkness outside deepens, the light inside the church will shine brighter. To see greater miracles, we need to embrace persecution because the scripture says that you’re blessed when people insult you for the Lord’s name. It actually says, «Then the glorious Spirit will rest on you.» There’s something to be said about persecution bringing the glory of God into your life. The greater the pressure against the church, the greater the power within the church. So, famines and earthquakes. While we were here, we just landed. I had dinner last night with Patrick and Steve, and Patrick’s wife texted him saying there was an earthquake in California, a pretty significant one—4.4. I don’t know where that is on the scale, but it sounds big to me. People began to talk again about «the big one» coming. You don’t have to worry about that here in Denver necessarily, but in California they talk of «the big one"—the one that will shake everything up, literally. I believe there are big ones on the way.