The Bible is very clear about the last days. In fact, the disciples asked the Lord Jesus three questions that His answers to form what we call the Olivet Discourse in Matthew chapters 24 and 25. Matthew 24:3, “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” In His answers, the Lord tells us that there would be false Christs, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, health crises, famines and ethnic strife.
The words, “nation shall arise against nation,” do not mean country against country, but the word nation is where we get our English word “ethnic.” A sign of the last days, the beginning of sorrows, was to be a rise in ethnic divisions. Even writing about racial strife is a risky proposition today. Let me make a few things clear to which we all should be able to agree.
The color of a man’s skin is God’s business. He is our Creator and if we have trouble with the existence of someone who has a different skin pigment, we have a problem with the Creator.
A desire to hurt or in any way injure another based solely on skin color is sin.
The Bible does not teach us that God loves one skin tone more than another.
In fact, it teaches just the opposite.
In Acts 10, Peter sees a sheet let down from heaven with all manner of unclean animals and is told to eat. When he refuses, the Lord tells Peter not to call unclean what the Lord has cleansed. The issue at hand was not the animals, but the Gentiles to whom Peter would soon be introduced.
The Jews had a problem with Gentiles being saved. They just could not imagine the Lord saving Gentile dogs. I am thankful the Lord saves sinners of all kinds and any person who is a believer in Christ is my brother in the Lord.
We must not allow the fringe elements of society to define us. Hate groups on both sides are fomenting trouble and violence. Violence is not the answer to our problems. Grace is the answer. I am uncertain how much of the hatred we can stop. I am certain, however, that as individuals, we can make sure it stops with us.
The KKK, the neo-Nazis, and the violent members of the Antifa Movement do not represent the majority of Americans. Their hatred cannot be allowed to infect the rest of us. Anarchy is not a reasonable answer to political problems.
Those of us who claim the name of Christian must live up to it. We are to be known by our love one to another. The Lord could return at any time. Matthew 24:44 “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.”
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