Publisher's Synopsis
Most will agree that events and conditions throughout the world are different today than just a few years earlier. These times are foretold in the Bible and in 2 Timothy 3:1-4 we read: "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." In Matthew 7:22-23 Jesus provides a terrifying and sobering message to many who attended church, participated in religious activities, gave to those in need, and claimed to know Him: "On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'" We must know the difference between the religion of the spiritually dead and being alive in the Spirit of Christ. All are born spiritually dead (Ephesians 2) because of sin, yet everyone has been given the opportunity to come to life through the power and love of Jesus Christ - to abide in His will and His purpose, and to overcome with a new heart as promised in Ezekiel 36:26-27: And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. It is vital that we recognize the urgency in God's Word to believers in these last days. The Bible proclaims the eternal death that awaits those that abide in willful sin and fashion a spiritual experience that is not of God but of self-motivated desires to shape God in our image. We urge you to study the Bible passages outlined within this book with sufficient prayer so that God speaks specifically to your heart in His Word and through His grace. We believe that a more complete understanding of end-times events predicted within the Bible can bring us closer to the gospel message of love and grace within the person of Jesus Christ. Our purpose is to communicate the urgency of building an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ and to live in fellowship with Jesus so that when He returns, we will be found full of courage, faith, and love. If we abide in Christ, we overcome this world as we have passion and excitement toward His return. We live in a constant state of readiness because we know the problems of the world point us to God and encourage us to seek Him in all matters.
