HAVE YOU NOTICED
ANYTHING CONCERNING
HAPPENING IN OUR
WORLD?
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for not
recognizing the signs of His first coming. The religious leaders of His day had
full knowledge of the prophecies of the Messiah, yet these religious leaders
ignored the signs and still rejected Him. Being a meteorologist, forecasting
the weather and discerning the signs of the times go hand in hand for me.
Unlike the religious leaders of the first century, I refuse to ignore the signs
of the Lord's return!
What are
the signs of the Lord's return? How do these signs show us that the Lord's
return is soon? Jesus refers to these signs as "birth pangs." Here
are the "birth pangs" Jesus told us to watch for:
•
Wars and rumors
of wars
•
World wars
•
Famines
•
Pestilences
•
Earthquakes in
diverse places
•
Fearful sights
and great signs in the heavens
•
False prophets
•
Persecution
The signs
of the Lord's return will be like "birth pangs," in that they will be
increasing in frequency and intensity before Jesus returns. Therefore, we can
use the "birth pangs" to gauge how close we are to the Lord's return.
The "birth pangs" occurring on a regional scale today, are moving
continuously to a world scale. So, what I hear Jesus saying is that when these
"birth pangs" begin to have large-scale consequences, on the verge of
becoming global, we know the Lord's return is imminent:
The greatest sign that shows where we are in
regard to the end times is that Israel is a nation again. The Jewish people are
returning from exile. After nearly two thousand years of rejection, God is going
to call them His people again, according to Hosea 1 and Romans 9, but first He
must deal with their transgression of the Law.
God is not
going to wait for several generations to deal with Israel. God has brought His
chosen people out of exile to deal with their transgression, in preparation for
the coming Messiah. Many people, including myself, believe that the sign of the
fig tree in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 show that God is going to fulfill all these
signs within the life of the generation who witnessed the rebirth of Israel as
a nation.
Look at
the signs of the times listed in scripture and then look around at our world:
- Famines
and pestilences - Due to increase in natural disasters and war
-
Satellite technology
- People
from all over the world will be able to view the two dead witnesses listed in Revelation 13
-
Computer technology
- A
cashless society
- Global
currency
- All
other currencies will crumble
- Rampant
immorality and hedonism
- Increase in selfishness and resistance to
absolute truth
It appears to me that a "perfect
storm" is brewing. Since Israel has been back in the land, we have seen an
explosion in technology and travel, now called the "Information Age." Constantly, there are wars and rumors of wars. There has also been a drastic
increase in the intensity in natural disasters. In just the last few years,
these disasters have become a threat to the global food supply.
Immorality
is certainly on the rise, with legalized abortion and gay marriage and more. Hedonism
has helped to lead the world into the credit crises we are in, which is
threatening to collapse economies around the globe.
Because of
the credit crisis, there have been calls to form a new global currency. This could easily be instituted as a
cashless currency. Cash is not widely used anymore, due to advances in computer
technology. The technology of the mark of the beast is here, as computer chips
are already being embedded in animals, and people who have diseases, such as
Alzheimer's.
For the
next FOUR weeks we’re going to be taking a good look at the forecast for the
future as laid out in the Bible. Here’s
a great question: IS IT POSSIBLE WE COULD BE LIVING
IN THE LAST DAYS? Let’s talk
about it this Sunday. Why not invite
someone to attend with you? This issue
is on most people’s minds. I am looking
forward to seeing you this Sunday!
For Him and For You,
Pastor D
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