THE SCOURGE OF THE LAST DAYS CHURCH

Matthew 24 King James Version (KJV)
24 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
2 And 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.
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?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
     
     In these Scriptures, Jesus is talking to His Apostles about the last days...He talks to them about the wars, pestilences, famines,and the earthquakes, but then He talks to them about His servants, the Church.  He refers to the fact we'll be hated of all people for His namesake, but then He makes a statement about the last days church folk...many shall be offended, and shall betray one another and shall hate one another.  He goes on to say there will be false prophets that will deceive, and then says because of all the sin that will abound, the love of many will wax cold.
    
     Nothing more points towards the fact that we are in the last days than the offense of people.  People get offended at the most minor things.  The streets fill with protestors over some of the smallest offenses.  Jesus pointed out to His Apostles that this would be a sign of the church in the last days.  Notice, He said "many would be offended". 
     In Matthew 13, Jesus told the parable of the sower.  He said that as the sower sowed, some of the seed fell on stony ground.  He went on to explain this parable to the disciples that were there with Him:

Matthew 13:20-21 King James Version (KJV)
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

     Notice Jesus says in verse 21 that this seed grows right up, but really has no root & then He goes on to say that when tribulation or persecution arises due to the fact they follow the Word of God, that person is easily offended.  One of the things we have been made aware of over the last several years is the fact that so many people are so easily offended, not in the world, but in the church.  This has become a scourge to God's church.  Notice the key ingredient Jesus says when referring to the facts associated with offended people..."he hath not root in himself."  It's obvious (according to Jesus' interpretation of this parable) these people never got a grip on the truth of God's Word.  It's so important to have and know the Word of God.  David said this...

Psalm 119:11 King James Version (KJV)
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

     Notice, David says he hid God's word in his heart "that I might not sin against thee"...the Bible refers to itself as being...

Hebrews 4:12 King James Version (KJV)
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

     The reason we need the Word hid in our heart is it gets down into the inner most parts of a man.  The
Bible refers to it piercing into the joints and marrow.