Signs of the Times: Unity

He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the sings of the times (Matthew 16:2-3).

Have you ever wondered why there are great strides being taken to erase the distinctions between race, culture, sex, politics, economics, even religions? There has been a push in the last several years to be ‘unified’ (to make or become a single unit), or is that ‘uniform’ (identical or consistent; without variations in detail), or is that ‘unity’ (absence of diversity)?

I remember studying about the World Council of Churches in college and its efforts in the cause of ecumenism (promoting unity among the Christian Churches of the world). The idea was for each Christian denomination/faith to downplay their uniqueness in order to promote their commonality. The problem is each Christian religion’s distinctiveness is what makes them distinct! You cannot harmonize Catholicism with Baptism or Pentecostalism or Methodism, etc. because of the interpretation and application of biblical doctrines mixed with historical and religious traditions. The United Nations has been more successful politically, but it has its flaws.

Since WWII there has been the push to unify all independent European countries (27) into what is called the European Union. Recently there was a big stir over the United Kingdom leaving the European Union and what it would mean if others followed suit. The same was true in 1922 when many of the republics of Belarus, Ukraine, the Russian Federation and Transcaucasian Federation were united and formed the U.S.S.R. That lasted until 1991. There was some talk years ago in the Clinton presidency of removing the borders between the U.S. and Mexico and Canada and forming a single entity called North America. You don’t hear much about it now, but rumors continue.

The point is this - nations have always wanted to consolidate other nations into a world-wide Empire with one government, one economy, one culture, and one religion. Greece tried it. Rome tried it. Russia tried it. It hasn’t worked, but one day it will. When the restrainer is removed (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8) and the Antichrist rises to power, a single government will be formed that will unite the nations under one authority - Satan. It will ultimately be defeated by God.

All of the signs that have been mentioned in the past few days signal our moving toward an ultimate end. They are all characteristic of the end times. As the days and years pass, these characteristics will intensify and expand. We are seeing that even as we speak. I have no doubt we are living at the end of the end time. We need to be watching, waiting, and working for the Lord’s return.

“Thank You, Lord for the promise of Christ’s return. Thank You that this age is drawing to a close when we will witness His return. Help us to warn those who are not prepared and to prepare them for Christ’s coming. Amen.”

Pastor