"About the time of the end, in all probability, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the prophecies, and insist upon their literal interpretation in the midst of much clamor and opposition." - Isaac Newton - Ya think?! ... Certainly opposition to the 'watchmen' of God's prophetic word is growing by leaps & bounds in this rapidly disintegrating secular society. ... Even men like Isaac Newton saw it coming many years ago. .. But alas, for those of us who are charged with this task, nothing will deter us from this mission .. to warn the world that time is extremely short .. that the time for turning to the truth is NOW! ... Last week, my commentary - "The Final Countdown" - talked about just this thing .. that we are in the final moments of the Church Age and that all of us need to get our 'spiritual acts' together while there is still time. ... I mentioned that the 'Birth Pains' would continue to rapidly increase as we move ever closer .... Well, here we go! .. As predicted, it is increasing! .. The 'Birth Pains' are accelerating much faster than I even suspected. ... As the new year dawned, prophetic events began to explode all across the globe. .. Let's take a quick look at just a few of them ... *The world economy is showing signs of a complete meltdown. .. In the first economic trading day of 2016, China's markets had to be automatically shut down due to it's free-fall. .. Needless to say, the rest of the world's markets followed with a highly volatile day. .. Since Monday, the signs continue to show major distress. ... *The Middle East is rapidly continuing to spiral out of control. .. Egypt and its allies are rebelling against Iran, ISIS is now making moves against Israel, and the Muslim tribes of Psalm 83 are increasing their vengeance against God's chosen people, Israel. ... *China (King of the East) & Russia (King of the North) are rapidly increasing their military might as America continues to fade on the world scene (Ezekiel 38 & 39) ... *Civil unrest is rapidly accelerating in many countries of the world. .. Just take a quick glance at Africa & South America .. and the European Union nations are beginning to see increasing unrest due to the migrant crisis, with no apparent end in sight. .. Even Switzerland, which has always been a 'neutral' and relatively peaceful place to live, is telling its citizens to arm themselves as fear of migrant violence looms. ... *The Nuclear threat is growing by the moment as smaller & smaller devices are now being obtained by nut-jobs such as ISIS and other radical factions. .. The chance of a nuclear terrorist attack has increased exponentially. ... *Other specific Bible prophecies such as the rebuilding of the Third Temple & the destruction of Damascus are now headline news. ........... There's so much more, but this should give a brief overview. ... But now let's move to the hope .. the reason I bring these things to you so that you can see first the truth of God's teachings, and then what will be the end result of all this worldwide mayhem. .. Simply, when talking with many people, most demonstrate a sense of fear & dread concerning where all this is taking us .. and that because of these feelings, most chose to simply 'ignore' all of it. .. We see this phenomenon especially in the younger generations ... 'just ignore it all and it will just go away' .... While this may be helpful to them in the short run, long-term, it will have a disastrous conclusion .. Chaos will come upon them and they will NOT understand why! ... To me, this is completely unacceptable! ... Let me for a moment turn to the one source of truth in this world .. God's Holy Word. ... What does it tell us about these times we live in, and what we are to do as Christians. .. Let's look at Jesus Christ Himself as the leading example. .. In Matthew 24:3, the disciples asked Jesus this question about the last days .. "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and the end of the world?" .. The point I want you to notice here is this ... The disciples asked Him about the signs of His return - and of the end of this age of man's rule over man, as influenced by the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). .. In Christ's day, it was simply understood that 'some generation' would experience 'the end of the world.' .. Now notice that Jesus did NOT correct His disciples for getting caught up in all that prophecy stuff, like many of today's preachers are doing.. .. Many are telling their congregations to 'not worry about prophecy or nations or wars or signs. .. They say things like 'live what you think is a good life, and just leave it at that. ... But is that how Christ answered their question? .. He directly confirmed that there will be an end of this present evil world! .. He gave SPECIFIC details we need to watch for so that we KNOW when that end is upon us! ... Now if these details, spoken by Jesus Himself, happen during our generation, thousands of years after Christ described them, shouldn't we be jolted by that? .. It simply means that the Bible you have on your shelf is actually a better news source than the entire internet. .. And if these details are happening right now, during our generation, doesn't that mean we are living at the END OF THIS AGE? ... We live in an incredible and unique period of history - a time when the ENTIRE scenario of long-awaited Bible predictions that immediately precede the coming of Jesus Christ is being fulfilled before our very eyes! .. And sadly, at this very critical time, many Church leaders are either ignoring or attacking the possibility of knowing last-day prophecies. .. In fact, they are so caught up in their own agendas that Christ's coming would most likely be an interruption to their plans! ... But then, the prophets also warned that this would be the case .. that this very thing would happen. ... Simply put, scripture demonstrates why prophecy IS the most URGENT message for God's people and the Church today. .. God shows us how prophecy gives us the HOPE we MUST have to be effective for Christ in a time when hope is fading at a dramatic rate. .. Simply, prophecy provides we Christians a great opportunity to bring HOPE in a time of darkness and hopelessness. ... I do know that many of you out there are sick and tired of us perceived 'doomsayers' and are done with hearing about all of it. .. In fact, many have become the 'scoffers' spoken of by the apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3:3-4 .. and I must admit that sometimes I feel like the 'kid you cried wolf' one too many times, but then I think, that's exactly what the enemy wants - to defeat those of us who try to bring the knowledge of God's prophecies so as to bring understanding and hope to as many as possible. .. Believe me when I say, this increasingly dark world needs as much hope as it can get right now! Jesus Christ will soon return to earth in the same manner He left almost 2000 years ago (Acts 1:11). .. Only this time He's not coming as a sacrifice for sin, but as the resurrected and glorified Son of God! .. He's coming to forcibly put an end to human suffering and lawlessness and to set up a peaceful and joyful kingdom of God on earth! ... Hallelujah! ... "So we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." (2 Peter 1:19) .... Simply, if you know the basics of God's prophetic word, your fears & worries will fade away and be replaced by hope. ... Hallelujah! ... Until next time, Red