THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES INTRO:

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Hilary Taylor
6 years ago
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1 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES INTRO: A. THE LAST DAYS. a. We are coming to the end of what Bible calls the last days or the day of the Lord. b. The last days began with the birth of Christ and will be consummated with His second coming B. THE TWO-FOLD PURPOSE FOR THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. (HEB. 9:26b-28) a. To bring judgment on the unbelieving. i. The word for judgment is krisis from which we get the English word crisis. ii. The process of judgment is a time of crisis for mankind. b. To complete the salvation of those who believe and are expectantly and anxiously awaiting Christ s return. C. IS IT POSSIBLE TO KNOW WHEN CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN? a. Many assume because of what Jesus said in (Mt. 24:36-42) that it is not possible. b. But don t forget what is written in (I Thess. 5:1-11). D. GOD NEVER BRINGS JUDGMENT ON THE EARTH WITHOUT WARNING. a. (2 Peter 3:9) God doesn t want anyone to perish; so He always warns of impending judgment. i. He warned those of Noah s day for 120 years before He sent the flood. ii. He warned Sodom & Gomorrah through Abraham iii. He sent Jonah to Ninevah and 15o years later He sent Nahum to that same city. b. Likewise, God is warning the world today that His Son is about to return. i. He is alerting us to the soon return of Jesus Christ through what we call THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. ii. These are prophecies concerning world events that we are told to watch for because they will identify the time of the Lord s return. 1. The Bible is full of these signs. 2. There are more than 500 prophecies in the Old Testament that relate to the Second coming of Christ. 3. In the New Testament one out of every 25 verses is about the return of Jesus. 4. Let me lump them together under 6 categories. Signs in; a. Nature b. Society

2 c. Spiritual realm d. Technology e. World politics f. Israel SIGNS IN NATURE. A. We are told to watch for earthquakes, famine, pestilence, and signs in the heavens. (Lk. 21:ll) B. This is the least respected category of signs for several reasons. a. There have always been natural calamities, so what else is new? b. But note in (Mt. 24:8) Jesus says these signs will be like birth pangs meaning that as we get closer to the Lord s return they will increase infrequency and intensity. That is exactly what is happening today. C. We shouldn t be surprised because God s dealings with mankind have often been through natural calamities. a. During Noah s time mankind s sin was dealt with through a great flood. (Ge. 6) b. God called the nation of Judah to repentance through a terrible locust invasion. (Joel 1) c. God called for the nation of Israel to repent through wind storms, mildew, locusts and pestilence. (Amos 4:6-10) d. The prophet Hosea pointed to a drought as evidence that God was calling the people to get their priorities in order. (Haggai 1:10-11) e. The N.T. opens with a special light in the heavens marking the birth of the Messiah. (Mt. 2:2) f. On the day Jesus was crucified there was three hours of darkness at noon time as well as an earthquake. (Mt. 27:45-51) g. When He returns the earth will experience the greatest earthquake in its history as every mountain is lowered and every valley raised, and every island moved out of it s place. (Rev. 16:17-21) SIGNS IN SOCIETY. A. Jesus said that society will become increasingly lawless and immoral as the time of His coming draws near. a. It will be similar to the times in which Noah lived. (Mt. 24:12, 37-39). b. Paul paints a chilling picture of end time society in (2 Tim. 3:1-5) i. God revealed to him that it will be characterized by three idolatrous loves. 1. The love of self. (Humanism) 2. The love of money. (Materialism) 3. The love of pleasure. (Hedomism) ii. The result of this carnality will be what philosophers call Nihilism that is, a society wallowing in despair, unable to find fulfillment. 1. Men s minds will become depraved. (Rom. 1:28)

3 2. And people will call evil good and good evil. (Isa. 5:20) B. We are seeing these prophecies fulfilled before our eyes today as we watch our society reject its Christian heritage and descend into a hellish pit of lawlessness, immorality and despair. a. We spend billions of dollars supporting unrighteous regimes and avowed God hating terrorists. SPIRITUAL SIGNS A. These are both positive and negative signs we are to watch for. a. The negative ones include; i. the appearance of false christs and their cults. (Mt. 24:5, 11, 24) ii. The apostasy of the professing church. (2 Thess. 2:3) iii. An increase in the Worship of Satan (1 Tim. 4:1) iv. Persecution of true Christian believers. (Mt. 24:9) B. As society has become increasingly secular, true Christianity has come under increasing attack. a. Judeo-Christian values, once the foundation of Western Civilization, are now openly mocked, and those who still adhere to them are castigated as intolerant, narrow minded funamentalists by the media. C. The positive spiritual signs include; a. The proclamation of the Gospel to the whole world. (Mt. 24:14) b. A great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. (Joel 2:28-32) SIGNS IN TECHNOLOGY A. An explosion of knowledge in the end times and very rapid movement of people. (Da. 12:4) a. There are many Bible prophecies that never could be understood apart from modern technology. b. Those who wrote them never could have understood some of the things they were told. B. Read p. 189 in Can America Survive by John Hagee SIGNS IN WORLD POLITICS A. The Bible prophecies that there will be a certain pattern of world politics that will characterize the end time geopolitical map. a. The focus will be the re-established state of Israel. (Zec. 12:2-3) i. It will be besieged by armies from the remote parts of the north, (Ezekiel. 28:2-6)

4 ii. It will be threatened by a nation from the east capable of sending an army of 200 million namely China. (Rev. 9:13-16; 16:12-13) iii. A third source of danger will be the Arab nations that immediately surround it. They will covet the land and try to take it from the Jews. (Ezek. 35:10; 36:2) B. Other signs include wars and rumors of wars (Mt. 24:6-7) and international terrorism & lawlessness. (Mt. 24:12) C. Note the growing impatience and intolerance for nations and national interests. a. We are moving toward a one world government and economic system. THE SIGNS OF ISRAEL. The signs related to the State of Israel are prolific and important. A. Jewish people will be regathered from the four corners of the earth in the end time. (Isa. 11:10-12) B. The re-establishment of the State of Israel. (Isa. 66:7-8) a. Once they are back the land will miraculously become lush and fruitful. The desert will bloom and people will exclaim, This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden. (Ezek. 36:35) b. The reoccupation of Jerusalem (Lk. 21:24) c. Resurgence of Israeli military strength. (Zec. 12:6) d. Refocusing of world politics on Israel. (Zec. 12:3) C. Jesus says in (Lk. 21:28) that when these signs begin to happen, we should straighten up and lift up our heads because our redemption is drawing near. D. The most important signs are the ones that relate to Israel because God uses the Jews throughout the Bible as His prophetic time clock. a. By this I mean that very often when the Lord is revealing an important event that will take place in the future, He shows how it often follows something significant in the life and history of His covenant people. i. (Daniel 9) When it is revealed to Daniel that the Messiah will come within a specified period of time after the decree is made that will authorize the rebuilding of Jerusalem. E. There are 2 key prophecies which relate the return of Jesus to events that have occurred in Jewish history since These 2 events clearly established the period in which we are now living as the season of the Lord s return. a. The first is the re-establishment of the state of Israel which occurred on May 14, i. His prophecy regarding this is contained in (Mt. 24:32-35). 1. The day before He had cursed the barren fig tree, causing it to wither. (Mt. 21:28-29) This was a symbolic prophecy that God would soon bring judgment on His people because of their spiritual barrenness in rejecting His Son. ii. The next day Jesus reminded His disciples of the fig tree. He said to watch for it to bloom again.

5 1. In other words, He said watch for the rebirth of Israel. 2. He indicated that when the fig tree blooms again, Her would be at the gates of heaven, ready to return. iii. Then He added an interesting observation: Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. (Mt. 24:34) 1. What generation? The generation that sees the fig tree blossom. 2. We are that generation. The fig tree has blossomed. Jesus is at the gates. b. The second key event was prophesied by Jesus in the same speech, as recorded in (Luke 21:24): The Jews will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. i. The first half of this prophecy was fulfilled in 70 A.D., forty years after Jesus spoke the words. 1. In that year the Romans conquered Jerusalem and dispersed the Jews among the nations. 2. Jerusalem remained under Gentile occupation for 1897 years until June 7, ii. On that day, June 7, 1967 during the Six Day War Israel after 1,897 took control of Jerusalem once again. 1. The Jewish re-occupation of Jerusalem is positive proof that we are living in the season of the Lord s return. 2. Jesus said that event would mark the end of the Gentile age. CONCLUSION: We are living on borrowed time. The signs of the times are shouting for our attention. A. Are you ready? Are your loved ones ready. B. Let me ready from (Romans 13:11-14.)

We are living on borrowed time

We are living on borrowed time by Dr. David R. Reagan Many people believe there is nothing that can be known about the timing of the Lord's return because Jesus said He would return like a "thief in the night" (Matthew 24:42-44). But