“Then they will see the Son of Man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these things begin to happen, straighten up and lift up your
heads. Because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).
Hey
Gang: Throughout the history of man
known to us, there has never been a time in which the signs of the time have
been closer and taking place in quicker succession than today. I believe all would agree the world of today
does not look much like the world of yesteryear. Biblical historian Edmund Jacob wrote, “The
Bible speaks with such urgency of the intervention of God in history, and now
He is realizing His plan with Israel; we should make sure that we take heed of
the signs which point to His plan.”
As the signs
of the end times, given by God Himself, agree with each other, we do well to
concern ourselves with them; they proclaim the greatest event in the history of
mankind, the Second Coming of the Son of God in victory to take back what is
rightfully His. That we may know and
recognize some of these signs does not proclaim the end of the world- but a
completely new era under the lordship of Jesus Christ. If that does not get your thumper thumping,
you had best check to see if your thumper is thumping.
Unbelievers
are warned but believers are encouraged to spread the Gospel, to watch and to
pray, to inwardly prepare and say, “Come quickly Lord Jesus!” We live in a day when discouragement is
rampant, and men’s hearts are truly failing them with fear. True, “Everything
is being shaken is being shaken so that only those things that cannot be shaken
will remain.” But notice, the writer
of Hebrews did not stop there, he went on to assure us that “since we receive a kingdom which cannot be
shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable
service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:26-29).
In the last
prophecy blog I promised that I would choose the twelve most profound
prophecies that have been fulfilled in my lifetime. I found that a most difficult task. The longer I researched the longer the list
grew and finally, after days of digging, I came to the conclusion that
understanding the prophetic word was like any other subject in the Word, it is
up to the reader and studier to zero in on those prophecies that ring your
bell.
I recently
received a message from Dr. David Reagan, Founder and Director of the Lamb and
Lion Ministries. He reported on an experiment
he conducted with twenty-two gurus of Bible Prophecy, while writing his book Living
On Borrowed Time. The main focus of
this gathering was to discuss what each felt was the single most profound sign
of the time and why?”
The report
was rather lengthy so I will restrict my comments to the topics that each
selected. I might also add that Dr.
Reagan would not have been surprised if all had chosen the reestablishment of
Israel as a nation as their most profound; he was surprised, but yet not really
overwhelmed, by the responses of the twenty-two gurus.
The
overwhelming majority of the Bible prophecy experts focused on one word – convergence. In other words, they felt, or believed, that
the reason for believing we are in the season of the Lord’s return is not
because of any one particular sign, but because we see so many signs converging
and coming together at the same time.
As a child
it was not unusual to hear a pastor preach on the Second Coming and that the
signs all point towards that event happening in their lifetime. But, as we will see when we get to the ten
prophetic points that are the most profound to me, we will see several that
have become reality only in the last several decades. But, as I looked at the words of Jesus and
His prediction of things to come, I found that every single item He presented
is alive and very well in our world today.
In a recent ‘man
of the street’ poll involving a couple hundred people, the largest percentage
of people, when asked what they felt was the most profound sign of the times,
did not have a clue what the questioner
was talking about. The majority, who knew there was an Israel and
where it was, said that was the most profound,, but there were a few that
mentioned the decay of society and the upheaval in the Middle East and the
upheaval in nature that we have seen on an ever increasing basis in the past
decade or so.
In Dr.
Reagan’s research with the 22 gurus there was no question, even though
convergence was given the top billing they all agreed that the number one
fulfilment of a sign of the time is the re-establishment of the nation of Israel.
Soooo, Dr.
Reagan rephrased his question, “What is the second most profound sign of the
times that you have seen fulfilled in your lifetime?” I will address the answer to that question in
the next blog. Before closing this
epistle I want, once again, to send out a word of caution. A wonderful elderly grandmother, who spent
many hours sharing her knowledge of the Word, gave me a piece of advice that
has kept me on track these many years since.
She said, “When you are studying God’s Word you must put total faith in
the teacher, who is the Holy Spirit, and not lean on your own understanding of
what you think God is saying in His Word.”
The word ‘literal’ became a
very important word in my seeking God’s guidance, as I study His Word.
Jesus, the
one true Prophet who knows the history of the universe from creation to
condemnation and replacement by the New Jerusalem, knows every iota about the then, the now and the coming days. The foundation of prophecy is found in Jesus’
words in the Olivet Discourse. Notice,
he began His description of what was to come with a warning, “See to it that no one mislead you, for
many will come in My name saying, I am the Christ and will mislead many”
()Matt. 24:4-5). Be advised my friends, there
is whole barn full of misleaders out there traveling the earth seeking who they
can devour.
The armor of
God, your protection, does not do much good in the closet.
Blessings,
Gramps
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