Shortly before Jesus’ death, His disciples approached Him privately and asked about what would precede His return. ‘Tell us … what is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” [Matthew 24:3 CSB]
What followed is a list of natural disasters and wars that is familiar to anyone who has been in the church for any length of time. In verses 9-13, Jesus also tells them that persecutions and martyrdom await those who live during that time. There will be betrayals and the love of many will grow cold, but, amazingly, at the end of that section is a beacon of hope in verse 14.
“This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.”
Amid all the terrorism, war, persecution and natural disasters, there will be an end-time Church of Christ Jesus that will finish the Great Commission. This end-time church will have the fullness of the Power, Presence and Person of the Holy Spirit in her midst. The Spirit will pour His power upon this end-time church again and again so that she will burn with passion and zeal and a love for Jesus.
This awakened church will be gripped by the Spirit, empowered and bold. She will speak truth with a call that will travel across our globe with a fervor that may not have been seen since that first church in the Book of Acts. Truth and holiness will be welcomed in her midst.
Joel 2 promises that this end-time awakening will come to all, to men and women, to the young and old. It will not be limited to pastors or prophets, as all will receive the Spirit’s outpouring. Then as they remarked about Peter and John in Acts 4:13, “When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus,” they will know that we, too, have been with the LORD.