November 18, 2014
*The Signs of Society
"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last
days. 2) People will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their
parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3) without
love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of the
good, 4) treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of
God .... " .. 2 Timothy 3:1-4
......
In this passage of scripture where Paul is
writing to Timothy, he certainly hit the nail on the head when describing the
godless societal conditions of these last days. ... In fact, these verses clearly sound just like
a typical evening newscast today! ... But for the moment, notice the three
things it says people will love in the end times ... self, money and pleasure.
...
David Reagan said it well when he described
it this way .... "The love of self is Humanism -- the belief that Man can
accomplish anything on his own. .. The love of money is Materialism. .. When
Humanism is your religion, your god will always be money. .. The love of
pleasure is the third love that is mentioned. .. This is Hedonism, the
lifestyle that is always produced by Humanism and Materialism. .... But God
cannot be mocked (Galations 6:7). He
therefore sees to it that when people chose Humanism, Materialism, and
Hedonism, the payoff is always Nihilism -- which is a fancy philosophical word
for despair."
When we look around at today's world, there
is absolutely no doubt that it is wallowing in despair. ... Here in
America,
we live in a society plagued with abortion,
homosexuality, domestic violence, child molestation, rampant pornography,
blasphemy, drug & alcohol addiction .... to name just some of them ..... If
we know how to 'look,' we can sense and feel the desperation in people today.
...
Now let's look at several scriptures which
show what Jesus Himself prophesied concerning the societal conditions of these
final days. ... Matthew 24:12 says that "Because of the increase in
wickedness, the love of most will grow cold." ... Anyone in their right mind can see that this
is true! ... Lawlessness and violence is now commonplace in the public square.
... Also, in Matthew 24, Mark 13 & Luke 21, Jesus tells us of the increases
in famine & pestilences, of wars and rumors of wars, of increased activity
in earthquakes and other natural disasters. ... The 'Birth Pains,' which translates to the increase in frequency
and intensity of these events, mentioned
in verse 8 of Matthew, are certainly provable events that even secular science
can and has documented. .......
Then in verse 9, He (Jesus) talks about how
the persecution of Christians would also increase ... "Then you will be
handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all
nations because of me." .... This is happening right before our eyes!
....... Adding to this, lets for a moment look at Romans 1:18-19 which says
this ... "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the
godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
19) since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it
plain to them." ... Simply, we are seeing a rapidly increasing amount of
attacks on Jesus, His Church, and the Bible. .. Here in America, we are going
to be forced underground much sooner than most 'Laodicean' Christians believe.
... Enjoy your 'religious freedom' while you can because it is not going to
last much longer! ...
OK .. There's a lot more scriptural support
for this subject, but these we just reviewed make it extremely clear as to how
and why society as we know it is falling apart. .... Simply, the Bible says
that this is how our societies will be
just prior to Jesus' triumphant return. ...
Shifting gears just slightly, there seems
to be a word popping up a lot since the recent election here in America .. and
that word is 'Revival' .... Several headlines of late have clearly expressed
this notion. .. On November 9th, Joel Rosenberg's blog said this ... "Does
'Wave Election' suggest America awakening spiritually? .. Able to avoid
implosion?" ...... Then on November 12th, this headline ... "Southern
Baptist President calls 46,000 churches to 'Extraordinary Prayer' for great
awakening" .... There were several more, but you can get an idea of what
& where I'm going here ... while words like 'Revival' & 'Great
Awakening' are uplifting and desired, other than an occasional 'hot spot,' it
will NOT be the case in the big picture. .. The Bible is perfectly clear that
things are going to get much worse before it is over. ... In fact Jesus Himself
tells us in Revelation 3:10 ... "Since you have kept my command to endure
patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial hat is going to come
upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth." ... It's plain!
.. For those of us who endure these coming difficult days and hold on to our
faith, he will keep us from the final devastation that will fall upon this
whole planet! ... He also says in Matthew 24:22 that "If those days had not been cut short,
no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be
shortened." ... One of the great things about our Lord is that He doesn't
'beat around the bush.' ... It's plain! ... All we have to do is read His Word!
Politics and elections are certainly a 'way
of life' here in America, and it is not a bad thing to see that some of those
who were elected have values that are more directly in line with the teachings
of the Bible ... and praying for revival is also a good thing because many
souls can be claimed for the kingdom before it's too late, but the only real
hope for America to hold off the increasing onslaught of evil is to invite God
BACK INTO OUR SOCIETY! ... That is the only thing that will buy us more time
and allow us to reach out and prepare as many as we can for the prophesied 'end
of things' ....
I will close this segment with one more prophecy
from Jesus Christ ... "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the
coming of the Son of Man. 38) For in the
days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, up to the day Noah entered the Ark;
39) and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came
and took them all away. This is how it
will be at the coming of the Son of Man."
(Matthew 24:37-39)
The current conditions of today's society
is sheer proof that we are, in fact, living in the last days ... which should
give those of us with faith and understanding a reason to rejoice! ... All this
craziness .. these dark days .. are numbered! ... The Holy One of God is soon
to come and take the reigns of leadership, and all this sin and havoc will be
forgotten ... Hallelujah!
Next week we'll touch on 'Spiritual Signs'
... Until then, know that I am praying for each and every one of you .. that
you will experience absolutely no fear in these times. ... John 16:33 says ... "In this world you
will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." ... Just know that the love of Jesus will
surround you in your time of need. ...
Hallelujah! ...
Until next time.
Red