January 29, 2013
When will the world end? ... How will it end? ...
As we already know, the Scriptures are not silent about the future of
our world and the events leading to the end of the age. ... Jesus gave
His 12 disciples the picture of what the world would look like as they
sat on the Mount of Olives overlooking the beautiful city of Jerusalem
..... "Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came
to Him privately, saying, 'Tell us ...
what will be the sign of your coming, and of the
end of the age?'" (Matthew 24:3) ... Christ then went into specific
detail as to what to watch for in the entire chapter of Matthew 24 as
well as Mark 13 and Luke 21, ... and summed it up by stating,
"Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near,
right at the door." (Matthew 24:33)
When reading through these specific Scriptures,
as I often do, it hit me that I should look at, and then bring to you,
some specific examples of just what these signs are. .... So after some
research and prayer, I settled on these 10 specific 'conditions' to
share with you .... Because of the length of this 'brief' research,
I've decided to spread it over two writings. Hence, here are the
first five ......
1) The Signs of Nature - Luke 21:11 says,
"There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various
places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven." ......
This subject has always been the least respected, even among believers.
The mere mention of it usually evokes a sneer accompanied by the words,
"Come on, what else is new? There have always been earthquakes
tornadoes, volcanoes, plagues, famine and illnesses ...."
But those who have this attitude forget that Jesus said the signs would
be like "birth pains" (Matthew 24:8) . This simply means
they will increase in frequency and intensity the closer we get to the
Lord's return. .... And NEVER has this been more true! .. We are seeing
records falling in almost every area of record-keeping when it comes
to these types of events. ... Just last week, scientists said
that they've never witnessed the magnitude of volcanic activity taking
place around the globe. ... Also just last week, we saw high & low
temperature records fall in both hemispheres, not to mention the severe
drought that is continuing to worsen over much of the world. ... There's
a lot more, but for the sake of time, I'll stop here. For more specific
Scriptures, also see Revelation 112:6 & 16:21. ... Plus, Revelation
6:7-8 tells of the 'Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse', which refers
to famine, war & plague.
2) Moral Decay - 2 Timothy 3:1-4 says, "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 ... " ... This passage sounds just like a typical
news headline today! ... Notice the three things it says people will
love in the last days ... self, money and pleasure ..... So let's break
it down ........ 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 'hedonism' - the lifestyle that is always produced
by humanism and materialism. (Hedonism is 'the indulgent pursuit
of pleasure as a way of life'). ........ Finally, when people choose
humanism, materialism, and hedonism, the end result is always 'nihilism'
..... which simply is a fancy word for despair. ...... Need I emphasize
that our world is wallowing in despair today? We live in a society
plagued by abortion, homosexuality, domestic violence, child molestation,
blasphemy, pornography, drug abuse, and on and on ...... I think the
aforementioned passage in 2 Timothy prophesied it quite accurately.
3) Deception - I think there may be more signs in
this category than in any other. ... 2 Timothy 4:3-4 says it clearly
... "For a time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great
number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4) They
will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
... Some of the negative spiritual signs that are specifically
prophesied include false christs, cults, heresies, apostasy, skepticism,
deception, occultism, and persecution. .... The one that Jesus mentioned
most frequently was false christs and their evil followers (see Matthew
24:5,11, 24). ... And in fulfillment of these prophesies, we have seen
an explosion of cults since about 1850. .... For more Scriptures concerning
deception, see also Romans 16:17-18, Ephesians 5:6, 2 Peter 2:1, 1 Timothy
4:1.
4) The Knowledge Explosion - Daniel 12:4 states,
"But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until
the time of the end. Many will run to and fro to increase knowledge."
........... and we certainly are "running to and fro' ...
like crazy people! ..... and the increase in knowledge? ... My mother
and I used to talk about this. .. She was born in 1914 .. just 99 years
ago ... and what she had seen in just that short time span was amazing!
... from horseback to men walking on the moon ...
and in just my time, from no TV until the 4th grade to today's fast-moving,
constantly evolving technology. ..... From the perspective of Bible
prophecy, there are many end-time prophetic events that simply
could not be understood apart from modern technological developments.
... Consider the prophecy in Revelation 11 about the two witnesses who
will call the world to repentance during the first half of the Tribulation.
... When they are killed by the Antichrist, we are told that their bodies
will lie in the streets of Jerusalem for three and a half days, and
the WHOLE WORLD will gaze upon them. How could anyone understand
such a prophecy before the development of satellite television, computers,
etc.? ..... In another example, how could the Antichrist control all
buying and selling worldwide (Revelation 13) without the
aide of computer technology? ... How could the False
Prophet create the illusion of giving life to a statue (Revelation 13)
without the technology of holograms, virtual reality, and robotics?
.... How could an army of 200 million come out of the Far East (Revelation
9) before the population explosion? .... How could the Gospel of Jesus
Christ be proclaimed to all the world (Matthew 24) before the invention
of movies, television & the internet? ..... The list goes on and
on ......
5) Ezekiel War - The Bible pictures a great power
located in the land of Magog in the "remote parts of the north."
... This nation will menace Israel in the end times and will ultimately
lead an invasion of Israel together with specified allies, all of which
are modern day Muslim states (Ezekiel 38:1 - 39:16). ... Russia
with all its Muslim republics and its Muslim allies fits this description
precisely. ... All the nations of the world are prophesied to come together
against Israel in the end times over the issue of the control of Jerusalem
(Zechariah 12:2-3) .... a prophecy being fulfilled today, right before
our very eyes.
So that's it for the first five. ... Next week,
I will bring you the last five which will include "The World Church"
.. 'The Reviving Roman Empire" ... "The World Economy"
... "Israel" ... and finally, "As in the Days of Noah"
....
I know I look at world news every day and study
constantly as to how it relates to our day and time, but when you put
it into perspective as these 10 categories do, it is quite shocking
to look at how obvious it is that we are truly living in the final moments
leading up to our Savior's return. ... and what is also stunning to
me is that more people just don't see it! ... but then, isn't that how
the Bible said it would be? ....
See you next week for the conclusion ... and once
again, Mary & I want to thank you so much for your interest and
participation in our site ... and please be sure & share it with
your contacts. This is the way we, as Christian brothers &
sisters, will get the Word out ... at least for as long as we can ....
God bless each of you!
Until next time,
Red