LUKE 21: AND CHRIST SAID TO THEM: NATION WILL RISE AGAINST NATION, AND KINGDOM AGAINST KINGDOM. AND THERE WILL BE GREAT EARTHQUAKES IN VARIOUS PLACES, AND FAMINES AND PESTILENCES, AND THERE WILL BE FEARFUL SIGHTS AND GREAT SIGNS FROM HEAVEN. AND THERE WILL BE SIGNS IN THE SUN, IN THE MOON, AND IN THE STARS; AND ON THE EARTH DISTRESS OF NATIONS, WITH PERPLEXITY, THE SEA AND THE WAVES ROARING; MENS HEARTS FAILING THEM FROM FEAR AND THE EXPECTATION OF THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE COMING ON THE EARTH, FOR THE POWERS OF THE HEAVENS WILL BE SHAKEN. THEN THEY WILL SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY.
With the chaos and uncertainty growing around the world almost daily, more people than ever should be preparing for the event that will bring about the climax to human history, and the restoration of all things, in other words, a NEW Heaven, and a NEW Earth: The Second Coming of Christ. The Bible describes how God's plan for a personal relationship with man had a definite beginning (with Adam almost 6000 years ago) and will have a definite end, climaxing in the return of Jesus Christ. God does indeed declare "the end from the beginning". The Bible contains many prophetic scriptures concerning world events, the nation of Israel, and Jesus Christ. Many have been already confirmed by history, while others relate to what the Bible terms "the last days".
Prophecies of the Old Testament, the early apostles and Christ himself all speak openly of "signs" that will herald the close of this age. So clear are these descriptions that we, today, can have no doubt that we are living in those last days. Perhaps the best known passage of scripture is in Matthew 24:3-31. These "signs" will be manifest in all aspects of life: the nations, their alignment and conflicts; nature; religious confusion and hypocrisy; society and the family; technology and knowledge; and Christian revival.
SIGNS IN NATURE: The cataclysmic tsunami resulting from perhaps the largest earthquake in history, and killing over a hundred thousand at the end of 2004, " THE SEAS AND THE WAVES ROARING", we have never seen more signs than now that the last days are here. The 20th century witnessed a marked increase in earthquake activity with millions being killed. It has been estimated that the incidence of earthquakes has doubled every ten years since 1950. Witness the massive earthquake in Iran at the end of 2003 that killed tens of thousands, "AND THERE WILL BE GREAT EARTHQUAKES IN VARIOUS PLACES". Similarly we have seen hundreds of thousands die of disease and starvation, "AND FAMINES AND PESTILENCES".
Today, man lives in fear of catastrophic changes that are occurring in the world's weather patterns: more extreme temperatures, more severe cyclones, floods and droughts. In space, comets are coming out of nowhere and are making close calls to the earth, such as the 1996 Comet Hyakutake, or the 1997 Hale Bopp comet. A direct hit of even a small comet would be catastrophic. The sun has never been more unstable, with solar storms at an all time high. "AND THERE WILL BE SIGNS IN THE SUN, IN THE MOON, AND IN THE STARS". As well, there is concern over the harm that is being done to the earth through man's tampering and weather manipulation with mechanisms like HAARP, and through pollution and depletion of natural resources.
SOCIETY AND THE FAMILY: The Bible also foretells a breakdown in society and morals: '"this know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 3:1-4).
What better words could describe our time and generation? Crime rates continue to soar around the world, as does the incidence of domestic violence and marital breakdown This generation's desire to please "self' first has severe repercussions on social behavior and people's expectation for the future. Drugs, alcohol and other pleasures so heavily pursued by many provide only temporary escape from man's deep unhappiness and discontent. Depression is driving many to suicide (particularly amongst our youth); while mental disorders and nervous breakdowns are more prevalent today than ever before.
INCREASED KNOWLEDGE: In Daniel 12:14 we read: "But thou, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: but many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased". Our generation has seen a breathtaking increase in knowledge and technology, unimaginable to those of even a hundred years ago. Advances in communication, transport medicine, materials science, electronics, and nuclear physics, to name a few, are products of this age of increased knowledge and opportunity which the Bible refers to as the "times of the end".
Despite man's preoccupation with knowledge and academic pursuits, Paul warns that many are "Ever learning, and never coming to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7). Their desire for knowledge is misdirected. And: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables" (2 Timothy 4:34).
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