We are living in an end-time dispensation where the signs are evidently with us. Matthew 24 talks about the end-time signs. In fact, there are other scriptures also that contain them, but Matthew 24 is more detailed. The Word of God says that Jesus was about leaving and He told His troubled disciples, let not your hearts be troubled; “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” [John 14: 2 – 3].
And so, Jesus didn’t tell them “I’m coming back on December 25th or December 30th or January 1st but He gave us signs marking His coming. And I want to say, brethren, that these signs are literally being fulfilled. If you look at the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, “… Jesus said unto them, “See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down” [Matthew 24:2]. And in AD 70, Emperor Titus led a team of soldiers to Jerusalem and pulled that glamorous temple, the Solomon’s Temple down. The Wailing Wall is the relic that remains of that temple today. That’s where people go to pray when they visit Jerusalem. That sign is fulfilled.
And Jesus began to talk about wars and rumours of wars. Are we seeing wars today? Yes, all over the nations. The Russia/Ukraine war is on – going and it‘s affecting nations. How many of you are impacted by the price of bread? We’re told that it’s because Ukraine, the world largest producer of wheat cannot export it freely.
So, those are signs marking the coming of the Lord. And Jesus began to say there shall be earthquakes in diverse places. I was in the US a few years back for a conference and we went to New Orleans where the hurricane Katrina took place in 2005 and I saw massive destruction that claimed no fewer than 1,836 fatalities. And also, Jesus talked about kingdom rising against kingdom, nation against nation; of famine and pestilences. Interestingly, when I came to Abuja in 1981 as a youth corps member, we went to Izom, a border town in Niger state and bought yams worth 300 Naira that lasted three months! A whole goat was 15 Naira then and a whole cow was 300 Naira!
Today, when you give your wife thousands of Naira to go to the market and she comes home with a few plastic bags, she has not cheated you, it is what it is, signs the of the end time benchmarked by market condition. He also spoke about pestilence – There is Lassa fever and the COVID that God delivered us from – some that are curable, others defy cure. These are signs marking the coming of the Lord Jesus. And Jesus continued and in verse 14 said, “…because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. And the Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached as a witness unto all the nations and the end shall come.”
And from verse 41 downwards of Matthew 24, Jesus said, “Two women shall be at the mill grinding, one shall be taken, and the other one shall be left behind.” He said, take heed that His coming does not take you unawares. I want to say that the signs marking the coming of the Lord Jesus, the end-time signs, are literally being fulfilled and so responsibility is laid on us to preach the Word of God as never before.
In challenging times like these in our nation, people are eager to listen to the Word of God, they want to hear words of comfort. When you turn to the trending news, it’s all about evil news – earthquakes, coups in Gabon, in Niger and others are threatening and Nigeria also is unstable because of the hijacked mandate. So, we have a lot of confusion all over the world. I want to say that these are signs marking the coming of the Lord Jesus. Jesus speaking to us from His Word says, lift up your eyes and look; and as commanded in the Word of God in 2 Timothy 4: 2 – 4:
“Preach the Word; be instant in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts, shall heap to themselves, teachers, having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables.” People no longer want to listen to the truth. These are signs marking the coming of the Lord. They will be preaching nonsense and you will hear, “Tell them! Speak more!” in response and some others will step out, dropping money in front of the preacher turning the Body of Christ into showmanship. There is no remorse any more when the Word of God is being preached. In those days when the Word of God was being preached, there was absolute silence. There was no disorder. And because the Holy Spirit was given full flow, things happen during service.
So, what does our text present to us? We are told no more procrastination. The Word of God says, “But say not ye, there are yet four months…? “ The stage is set for the coming of the Lord. Our text also talks about the readiness of the harvest. They are white ready for harvest – the souls of men. Dead men all around us. Men, women, youths, teens, children, that are alive but dead spiritually. There are those that are well dressed and perfumed but still stinking profusely before the presence of God. Youths that are bound in addiction and in 419. If you see the rate at which drug is devastating the lives of younger ones, even adults, you would know full well that we just need to move out. We cannot sit back.
In Matthew 9: 36, it says: “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus saw the state of man. Forget about all the bogus cars that people are driving; forget about the way they appear gorgeous. There are a lot of things that Agbada and suits are covering. Right inside, they are fainting, many are dead spiritually, harassed by the devil. And Jesus said “…Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest shall send labourers into the harvest field.” That was the concern of Jesus. What is the scripture saying? Lift up your eyes and look. What are we seeing when we look? Some are seeing “men as trees.” This is the highest level of insensitivity [Mark 8: 24]. When you come to the level where you see men as trees, you do not have the burden to begin to reach out to them. So, you must come to the level of seeing them as souls, in the name of Jesus. If you are seeing men as trees, may the Lord give you a second touch so that you can see them clearly as souls that are being destroyed in hell. This should generate a burden to pray for the Master to send labourers into His harvest field [Matthew 9: 38].
What are our platforms for our mission and soul-willing efforts? The seven gates of human existence are open to us as platforms. We have Gate Number One: The gate of art, entertainment and sports. Nigerians are sports-loving people so we must reach out to them in the field of sports, in the field of entertainment, in the field of arts. There was a time Nigeria played one very crucial international match and a church I know carried a television set to church during Bible study, because the Pastor knew what will happen if he didn’t do that. After they watched the match, they now said “Praise the Lord” and began to do Bible study!
What is the second gate? The Second Gate is the gate of church and religion. Do not be deceived; Yes, people come to church. But there are some people that have become so churchy that Jesus is of no relevance in their lives. They come to church to fulfil all righteousness. Number three, The Gate of business, finance, and commerce. Anytime I’m not using my car and I have to enter any public transport, I have determined in my heart that anybody in that same vehicle must hear the Gospel. You do business with people on daily basis, yet they walk away without you sharing Christ with them? You need God to touch you. You need to look at those souls. Number Four Gate: Distribution, media and communication. Then Gate Five: Education and training; Gate Six: family and Gate Seven: Community; government and law. You need to reach out through these areas. Those are the seven gates of human existence.
What to note: Every opportunity that God creates is a mission and soul-winning opportunity. Your birthdays, your wedding, whether traditional or Church wedding, burials, celebrating promotions, naming ceremonies, retirement, village and family meetings. Every opportunity that God creates is a time for mission work or for outreaches and declaring the Word of God and making Jesus known.
My brethren, what are you looking at? And what are you seeing? Are you seeing men as trees? Are you seeing men without sensitivity that these people, if they die, they are going to hell? God is calling on you to “Look up and see.”