End Times - Mathew 24:21 - Distress

By Odon Bulamba


Word of God is not simply words but food for our lives.  In this verse, it says that there will be great distress, a big suffering that the world has never known and this sign that Jesus has given to us is happening now.  In our physical life, if you look around you can see how much people suffer.  Not only physical suffering but also mental, moral, psychological and spiritual suffering. 


Physical suffering: you will see people on the streets begging for help.  Sometimes you wonder why they beg.  They look strong and they can work but they are on the streets begging.  Others judge them and say, “you are capable of working, why are you begging?”  It is the end of time and suffering will be seen so this is the accomplishment of the Word of God.


You will see young people who say they need food but when you give them money, they buy marijuana instead.  Why?  They are suffering in their mind and in their spirit which proves that drugs is more important in their lives.  They can kill, steal and abuse to have the drugs.  They suffer a lot.  Their bodies shake when they don’t get drugs.  Some can even urinate in their bed.  Others can’t control themselves and this is suffering.


We can feel our bodies aching when we wake up.  Why do we have more pains in our bodies than 20 years ago?  We used to only see a small number of sick people a few years ago but now there is more and more sick even though medicine is getting more knowledge.  We continue to suffer regardless of this knowledge.  All because this sign has to be fulfilled.  No matter the effort we put into not suffering, we will still suffer.


Stress wasn’t common 30 years ago but today, everyone is stressed.  Even children today can feel stressed.  What stresses us? Something inside and sometimes it’s outside of us.

I used to leave my house at 6am and play and then come back at 6pm and my parents never wondered where I was but today if the child is gone for 2 minutes, you will fear.  Psychologically we suffer because fear is increasing every day.  We try to find solutions with counsellors or GPs or friends but forget that this is the sign of the end of time to remind us that Jesus is coming back soon.


Sickness that existed a few years ago now exist.  Today, any person can get cancer.  Immunisation was rare in Africa and we used to live and eat whatever we wanted without washing our hands and we were ok but today if you see an ant in your food or a fly in your food you won’t eat it, it is dirty.  For me, I will put the fly aside and continue to eat.


If you want to be extremely clean and everything has to be perfect then you will suffer in your mind and body.  The cold will come (winter is coming as I said last time).  Winter can come and light can still be there but the temperature will drop.  Today in the church the temperature is dropping.  Yesterday people used to pray with Holy Spirit but today if you are filled with Holy Spirit, people will look at you, who is this person speaking in tongues?  Today many limit what the Holy Spirit wants to do in us.  I went to one church and I wasn’t allowed to pray loudly.


The church is becoming sicker because we try to live according to the human principles.  If music is loud, we can’t play that kind of music.  Churches have debates over what can and can’t be done.  The church suffers.


We start to put aside the Word of God and start to live based on how we feel.  Pastors today bless gay marriage and any evil thing that the Bible says no to and say, “This was the time of the Corinthians but we are living in 20^th Century”.  Then the church is transformed to the world.  One day a pastor was wearing singlet and shorts and preached.  At break time, he had a cigarette and continued with preaching.


Sometimes I ask myself, do we mock God, do we understand what we are doing?  All of that can prove the church is suffering.  When someone suffers, what do they do?  Some express their feelings to inform others.  Others try to find solution.  Others try to ignore it.  As the cold is coming, the leaves are falling from the trees and our actions start to die and we start to act like people who have never known Jesus and act like those that live in the world or even worse.  On Sunday we praise God in church and then go back to our own way of living that does not reflect God’s lifestyle.


In Ethiopia, a colleague came with me to church and when I introduced my friend the people of the church were shocked to see him.  They could not believe the man next to me was a Christian because his actions were worse, he could steal and torture people and instead of improving the lives of refugees, he was making their lives harder.  He was ashamed and apologised.  


A courageous lady said to him, “You should also apologise to God,” which was true.  How often does the church accept to repent and ask for forgiveness from people and God?  How often do people wonder if you are really a Christian?  Do people really see light in you or are you like one of those that have light in you but no oil?  A lamp that can’t be turned on.  That is the suffering of the church.


If you compare the church from a few years ago, we are going downhill.  Many churches today are just like social clubs to meet, enjoy and catch up.  it’s not a place of worship anymore.  Those who used to pray before us, although they were sinners and could not respect God, they were trying to worship God with truth and open mind and heart and repentance.  You can read in your Bible that the Israelites would do something against God but they would all come together with a pure goal to reconcile with God.


Today we don’t want to repent sincerely anymore and reconciliate with God.  When was the last time that you knelt down and repented sincerely, “I need you to rescue me God”.  Very often we pray quickly like someone singing a song without thinking.  Our repentance has no meaning or understanding.  


Most of our prayers and way of repentance is meaningless.  We believe we are forgiven.  We know what repentance means but we don’t have time to practice it.  You can know how to drive a car but if you don’t practice, you will never drive a car.


At 6 years old, my dad brought me a toy car.  I played with it.  I was the driver, the engine and instead of the car carrying me, I was pushing it around.  I would pick it up and keep it somewhere.  If I saw a danger, I would pick it up and hide it.  We walk with God like that.  We have made Him a toy car.  “God come here,” and we try to lead God in the direction we want to go, to do what we want when we want.  


God wonders if He is a toy and you’re God.  What is your relationship with your God? Don’t you see that you have been suffering a long time.  The church has transformed God to be their child or their friend.  When God created everything He said it looked good.  Although the sea looks beautiful, it is dangerous and can kill you.  Many things that look beautiful are harmful.  God is good but He can sometimes become angry.  We believe God is a nice guy but He is the judge, the punisher, the creator and more than our physical fathers.  


What the church is fighting for today is for the consumer rights.  We try to apply our rights in the Word of God.  This is my right to do this.  We complain when events happen in our lives and when God doesn’t respond as we wanted.  It’s my right and I have been praying for 15 years but He doesn’t fulfil it.  When God gives us something, we don’t like it and we want it to be better than that.


Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit but we use our bodies to please our rights rather than to please our Creator.  The church is mentally sick.  The body God gave to you, you want to use it in the wrong way every time.


One of the opposition leaders who passed away two years ago, his body remained in Belgium.  His son became president in Congo so decided to bring back that body to Congo.  It cost $17M US to prepare the arrival of that dead body.  People gathered.  They brought the body down with honour, people were crying and worshiping him.  I asked myself, how we can cry for someone who passed away 2 years ago and can spend money for someone who doesn’t even exist anymore instead of taking care of and supporting those who are raped, children, or those in hospital.  


In the same way, we can see in the church today, we want to invest in dead actions rather than investing in God.  We prefer to spend our $20 to please someone such as beer for someone rather than asking God what to do with that $20.  How can I use this $20 for Your Name to be glorified?  We make our own decisions without asking God because it is our own right.


The president of Congo has spent hundreds of millions of US dollars in 4 months which is needed for 2 years.  He is a bad leader.  Sometimes we want to do things on our own.  God gives us the Holy Spirit to guide us, but we don’t want to be governed by Holy Spirit.  I have seen from the Bible that Abraham did the same.  He went to the mountain and told the workers to stay there.  How often do we limit God, you stay here and I will do what I want.


We are suffering with superiority in the church.  Selfishness has taken over.  The church today is very selfish which is a terrible sickness in life.  Jesus gave us this message so that in the end of the time that suffering will be so terrible more than what has been seen.  Hitler killed Jews and the world knows that that man was not a good man.  In some countries today the persecuted are being killed and the world knows.  


What we do against God in secret is worse.  Our way of behaving shakes the heavens.  Maybe God asks if that is His son or daughter who can do that.  The whole heaven is shocked.  When one soul is saved there is a party and when one soul is lost, the heaven is shaken, more than people crying for the dead.


One time I was a child and I asked my mum why did Jesus cry for Jerusalem.  We are welcoming Him and He is crying.  Imagine Tyrone crying now.  We will wonder what is wrong.  God cries when we disappoint Him, when we go far from Him, when we reject Him, and when we go through the suffering but no one comes close to God to ask why is He crying.  If we ask, we will get an answer.  But if we don’t ask God, maybe we think of God as being annoying now, we are sick of God talking to us.


Christians start to say, I’m not feeling like going to church today.  We are really sick and we need to be seen by a doctor.  The church is suffering.  Jesus is the healer.  Be careful my brothers and sisters and understand we are living in the end of time.  All the signs are there that Jesus is coming back soon, are you ready or are you going to say you didn’t see the signs?  Signs are there but we pretend not to see them or not to think about them.  We can think about birthday parties but we forget to think about the end of the time.


My father wrote a Will before he died with a feather but all that he owned was taken by the government.  All was ceased.  The beautifully written Will written by a lawyer was useless because the government took it all because he was talking against the government.  You can have promises from God but if you don’t look after yourself, it is possible for God to waive those promises.


Winter is coming and we can’t feel the warmth of God anymore because we are not being by His side but prefer to guide our own lives.  My father was extremely rich.  Around 1964 he had more than $50M in a Belgium bank account.  If it were today, it would be billions of dollars but that bank account was frozen and the bank took the money.  In those days, men would not associate their wives in their bank accounts.  My mum was not associated with the bank account.  


Who is associated with your gifts?  Who do you pass on your gifts?  If I’m a singer, do I teach others how to sing?  If I’m a teacher, do I teach others how to teach?  Instruct others and show them how gifts function.


The prophets in the Bible used to open schools for prophets.  Teach others.  Today, we have our children and friends and we have no idea what their gifts are.  If we could share with them what we have, it could help them to teach, sing, preach etc. We have to plant these seeds under the soil.