SHOCKING TEACHINGS OF JESUS (Part 4)

In Mathew 24:22, Jesus described what these recognize. Challenging world conditions prior to His second coming. Christ emphasized that "If that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive; but for the sake of God's chosen it will be cut short."

If Jesus Christ doesn't step in and intervene in world affairs, the human race will be faced with extinction. That's what the Bible says. It is clear. Yet, humanity has been living with the threat of "mutually assured destruction" for more than a half century. What a reminder that this prophecy could not have been fulfilled until mankind had the potential for mass destruction. Now only in the last 50 years or so, has this become possible. We have issues today that the world has never faced before. People say:

*I mean that is definitely the biggest problem right now - is who is going to push the button first.

*I think those are one of the many signs that let you know that 'end of age' is on its way.

*There will be no end times... .

*There's a lot of things that I have heard, religious things but they're just a bunch of theories and ideas. I don't think we're nearing a nuclear war, I do not.

*There's a lot of problems in the Middle east. Could that be it?

There are conflicting opinions. It's true, many think there's no need to be worried about the world ending. They point to epidemics of end-time panic that have raged in the past. They list many failed past predictions regarding the end of the world.

Now such criticism is justified to a point. Doomsday predictions have abounded for centuries. Date setters have been wrong. Now the main problem with most of these predictions was that they were human ideas who badly misinterpreted information in Scripture. They didn't understand that biblical "end days" is not the end of this world.

Now it's true that Jesus certainly spoke of the devastation of war. He said: And you will hear of wars and rumors' of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."

Christ makes it clear here that many wars would come and go yet it would mark the end. So why did He even mention them then?

Now this is a critical piece of the prophecy puzzle: Jesus is telling us that wars would increase, they would occur more often and on a more intensive scale as we approach the time of the end. Wars and all those other events that Jesus mentioned at the beginning of the prophecy in Mathew 24 are going to increase, more and more and more That's what He is telling His followers. That's what He's telling us to look for. Although we don't know the exact time, one thing we know for sure is the Bible prophesies the end of the world as we know it.

But exactly does that mean? Now here's the key: When Jesus' disciples asked Him about "the end of the world", they weren't talking about the "world" in the sense of our physical planet, the Earth. The Greek word that is translated "world" is aion, which literally means - an age, epoch. It's talking about an era. So, Jesus's true teaching may shock you - this world won't be totally destroyed by an asteroid or completely annihilated by nuclear warfare, or climate change or any other method. The truth is: man's rule, his way, the cultures and societies of this world will end. That means, man's governments and his dominions, man's geopolitical rule will be completely abolished. That's what will end. Not the planet itself. Instead of the end of the world, it will be the end of this age, Man's corrupt civilization will be swept away and a new era will dawn at the return of Christ. (Next part - the end)