Monday, June 26, 2010
A prophecy of burning fire and the resulting consequences
When the man who occupies the Oval Office was inaugurated in 2009, the national debt was at $10.626 trillion. According to the US Debt clock, today it stands at $13.113 trillion, a 23% increase in 18 months. The federal government is spending 2 1/2 times more money than it is taking in. Every man, woman and child's portion of the national debt is $42,356. Since his inauguration, he has directed an unprecedented spending spree that has redistributed taxpayer's dollars to take government positions in the financial industry, the auto industry, the healthcare industry, and the insurance industry. Deficits have been run up and debt establishes a new record every second of the day.
Democratic Congressional leaders Friday passed a wide sweeping financial reform law without one single Republican vote. The Washington Post reported that Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said, "No one will know until this is actually in place how it works. But we believe we've done something that has been needed for a long time. It took a crisis to bring us to the point where we could actually get this job done." These lawmakers, under the direction of the White House, used self-inflicted debt to create an economic crisis to establish a single powerful agency housed in the Federal Reserve to oversee all US financial transactions from banks to insurance to autos.
The president promised Americans that he intended to change America. Using crisis after crisis, he has run up the government's debt to such levels that it appears impossible to reduce it without every American man, woman and child becoming indentured to the federal government. Before the G-20 economic summit in Canada, the president said, "One of the interesting things that's happened over the last 18 months as president is for some reason people keep on being surprised when I do what I said I was going to do." He mentioned healthcare reform and promotion of the homosexual agenda in the military as two examples.
Then he fired a warning at the American people, saying, "People should learn that lesson about me because next year when I start presenting some very difficult choices to the country, I hope some of these folks who are hollering about deficits and debt step-up because I'm calling their bluff. We'll see how much of that, how much of the political arguments that they're making right now are real and how much of it was just politics." These "difficult" choices will be among the most gut wrenching in American history as Americans will see first hand the raw power of government. Proverbs 16:27 says, "An ungodly man digs up evil: and in his lips there is a burning fire." Beware of the consequences of this fire.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
Monday, June 28, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Obama internet 'kill switch' bill approved
Obama internet 'kill switch' bill approved
June 25, 2010
The Sydney Morning Herald reports: “The US senators pushing a controversial new bill that some fear would give President Barack Obama the powers to seize control of and even shut down the internet have rejected claims it would give Obama a net ‘kill switch’.
The bill, titled Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, has been unanimously approved by the US Homeland Security committee and will be put to a vote on the Senate floor shortly.
Lobby groups and academics quickly rounded on the bill, which seeks to grant the President broad emergency powers over the internet in times of national emergency.
Any internet firms and providers must ‘immediately comply with any emergency measure or action developed’ by a new section of the US Department of Homeland Security, dubbed the ‘National Centre for Cybersecurity and Communications’.
The critics said that, rather than combat terrorists, it would actually do them ‘the biggest favour ever’ by terrorising the rest of the world, which is now heavily reliant on cyberspace.
Australian academics criticised the description in the bill's title of the internet as a US ‘national asset’, saying any action would disrupt other countries as most of the critical internet infrastructure is located in the US…”
June 25, 2010
The Sydney Morning Herald reports: “The US senators pushing a controversial new bill that some fear would give President Barack Obama the powers to seize control of and even shut down the internet have rejected claims it would give Obama a net ‘kill switch’.
The bill, titled Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, has been unanimously approved by the US Homeland Security committee and will be put to a vote on the Senate floor shortly.
Lobby groups and academics quickly rounded on the bill, which seeks to grant the President broad emergency powers over the internet in times of national emergency.
Any internet firms and providers must ‘immediately comply with any emergency measure or action developed’ by a new section of the US Department of Homeland Security, dubbed the ‘National Centre for Cybersecurity and Communications’.
The critics said that, rather than combat terrorists, it would actually do them ‘the biggest favour ever’ by terrorising the rest of the world, which is now heavily reliant on cyberspace.
Australian academics criticised the description in the bill's title of the internet as a US ‘national asset’, saying any action would disrupt other countries as most of the critical internet infrastructure is located in the US…”
Friday, June 18, 2010
The prophetic example of how to change the condition of America
Friday, June 18, 2010
The prophetic example of how to change the condition of America
Upon hearing the news that the remnant in Jerusalem were under great affliction, the prophet Nehemiah prayed to the Lord. He confessed sins and reminded the Lord of the promise that "if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them...I will gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there." Nehemiah asked for mercy. The Lord made a way for Nehemiah to discuss his concern with the king that Jerusalem should be rebuilt. And that request was granted. But as the process of rebuilding began, those in Jerusalem were still not abiding in the word of God, which caused extraordinary problems.
Nehemiah Chapter 5 finds the people of Jerusalem in great distress. They began complaining against each other. Verses 5:3-5 say, "We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the famine. There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the kings tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards."
This oppression was the result of sin--because there was exploitation of misfortune, a lack of love for one another, as well as various other violations of God's word. The oppression stemmed from a system where the government over Jerusalem encouraged usury, and also partook of it. There was a famine, where just to eat the people mortgaged even their children, and could not redeem them. When society is tipped in the balance toward sinful ways, good people suffer along with the evil. And the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. America, with its debt and usury--both personal and national, may well be headed for a Nehemiah era if its people and its government do not repent from their wicked ways.
Nehemiah, however, also gives us an example of what to do about this. First, he called an assembly of the nobles and rulers and rebuked them and got them to agree to restore the usury and the food that was taken. And then, Nehemiah led by example. He writes that when he was appointed governor, "the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea even their servants bare rule over the people, but so did not I, because of the fear of God." A lesson for America before we get into such extreme condition--we need to repent, rebuke our rulers, and put those in place who fear God. Sooner than later.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
The prophetic example of how to change the condition of America
Upon hearing the news that the remnant in Jerusalem were under great affliction, the prophet Nehemiah prayed to the Lord. He confessed sins and reminded the Lord of the promise that "if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them...I will gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there." Nehemiah asked for mercy. The Lord made a way for Nehemiah to discuss his concern with the king that Jerusalem should be rebuilt. And that request was granted. But as the process of rebuilding began, those in Jerusalem were still not abiding in the word of God, which caused extraordinary problems.
Nehemiah Chapter 5 finds the people of Jerusalem in great distress. They began complaining against each other. Verses 5:3-5 say, "We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the famine. There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the kings tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards."
This oppression was the result of sin--because there was exploitation of misfortune, a lack of love for one another, as well as various other violations of God's word. The oppression stemmed from a system where the government over Jerusalem encouraged usury, and also partook of it. There was a famine, where just to eat the people mortgaged even their children, and could not redeem them. When society is tipped in the balance toward sinful ways, good people suffer along with the evil. And the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. America, with its debt and usury--both personal and national, may well be headed for a Nehemiah era if its people and its government do not repent from their wicked ways.
Nehemiah, however, also gives us an example of what to do about this. First, he called an assembly of the nobles and rulers and rebuked them and got them to agree to restore the usury and the food that was taken. And then, Nehemiah led by example. He writes that when he was appointed governor, "the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea even their servants bare rule over the people, but so did not I, because of the fear of God." A lesson for America before we get into such extreme condition--we need to repent, rebuke our rulers, and put those in place who fear God. Sooner than later.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Of Prophecy, Deception and the Gulf Oil Leak
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Of Prophecy, Deception and the Gulf Oil Leak
Revelation 8:8 says, "And the second angel sounded and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed." This is the judgment of the second trumpet. Many have compared this judgment with the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. This, however, is not the second trumpet judgment, although it does remind us of an end time judgment--the color of the coagulated oil is a deep red color, but it is not blood. And a third of the ships at sea have not been destroyed. Also, there was no mountain burning with fire cast into the sea.
But there is one thing for certain with regard to this oil leak: 2 Timothy 3:1 says, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." Verses 12-13 say, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." The people of the world are amid great deception. From the concept that the Islamists with a contemporary name of "Palestinian" only need a country of their own and they will cease their violence against Israel to the handling of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, deception has fallen upon the world.
Associated Press ran a fact check on the speech given by the man who occupies the Oval Office regarding the oil leak. AP found no less than six instances where the words did not match up with the facts--in other words, the issues were couched in ways that misled the public. The issues ranged from who is responsible to who is in charge to impressions that active oil rigs in the Gulf are being shut down. But the president used the speech to establish that this crisis should be exploited to create an entire new tax for clean energy that America might be more like China in "investing in clean energy jobs and industries that should be right here in America." China is notoriously the top polluter in the world.
This Administration has failed to make a case for open government and the oil leak is a prime example. The White House has repeatedly said that BP was the responsible party and that the federal government had taken over directing BP on stopping the leak and cleaning up the aftermath. Yet the federal bureaucracy has impeded the process and has not taken responsibility for its lack of response. Meantime, the Gulf leak has become political gamesmanship to exploit the American people through more debt, regulations, and a socialist redistribution of wealth through bogus climate control legislation. Jesus said in Matthew 24:4, "Take heed that no man deceive you." Can we believe anything these leaders say?
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
Of Prophecy, Deception and the Gulf Oil Leak
Revelation 8:8 says, "And the second angel sounded and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed." This is the judgment of the second trumpet. Many have compared this judgment with the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. This, however, is not the second trumpet judgment, although it does remind us of an end time judgment--the color of the coagulated oil is a deep red color, but it is not blood. And a third of the ships at sea have not been destroyed. Also, there was no mountain burning with fire cast into the sea.
But there is one thing for certain with regard to this oil leak: 2 Timothy 3:1 says, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." Verses 12-13 say, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." The people of the world are amid great deception. From the concept that the Islamists with a contemporary name of "Palestinian" only need a country of their own and they will cease their violence against Israel to the handling of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, deception has fallen upon the world.
Associated Press ran a fact check on the speech given by the man who occupies the Oval Office regarding the oil leak. AP found no less than six instances where the words did not match up with the facts--in other words, the issues were couched in ways that misled the public. The issues ranged from who is responsible to who is in charge to impressions that active oil rigs in the Gulf are being shut down. But the president used the speech to establish that this crisis should be exploited to create an entire new tax for clean energy that America might be more like China in "investing in clean energy jobs and industries that should be right here in America." China is notoriously the top polluter in the world.
This Administration has failed to make a case for open government and the oil leak is a prime example. The White House has repeatedly said that BP was the responsible party and that the federal government had taken over directing BP on stopping the leak and cleaning up the aftermath. Yet the federal bureaucracy has impeded the process and has not taken responsibility for its lack of response. Meantime, the Gulf leak has become political gamesmanship to exploit the American people through more debt, regulations, and a socialist redistribution of wealth through bogus climate control legislation. Jesus said in Matthew 24:4, "Take heed that no man deceive you." Can we believe anything these leaders say?
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
50 Reasons Why we are living in the end times.
Articles - Prophecy - Signs
50 Reasons
Why we are living in the end times.
by Dr. David R. Reagan
Lamplighter on 50 Reasons
[read in Lamplighter (pdf)]
The Bible says we cannot know the time of the Lord's return (Matthew 25:13). But the Scriptures make it equally clear that we can know the season of the Lord's return (1 Thessalonians 5:2-6):
"You yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night... But you brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night or darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober."
This passage asserts that Jesus is coming like "a thief in the night." But then it proceeds to make it clear that this will be true only for the pagan world and not for believers. His return should be no surprise to those who know Him and His Word, for they have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to give them understanding of the nature of the times.
Furthermore, the Scriptures give us signs to watch for — signs that will signal that Jesus is ready to return. The writer of the Hebrew letter referred to these signs when he proclaimed that believers should encourage one another when they see the day of judgment drawing near (Hebrews 10:25-27). Jesus also referred to the end time signs in His Olivet Discourse, given during the last week of His life (Matthew 24 and Luke 21). Speaking of a whole series of signs which He had given to His disciples, He said, "When you see all these things, recognize that He [the Son of Man — that is, Jesus] is near, right at the door" (Matthew 24:33).
A Personal Experience
Every time I think of "Signs of the Times," I am reminded of a great man of God named Elbert Peak. I had the privilege of participating with him in a Bible prophecy conference held in Orlando, Florida in the early 1990's. Mr. Peak was about 80 years old at the time.
He had been assigned the topic, "The Signs of the Times." He began his presentation by observing, "Sixty years ago when I first started preaching, you had to scratch around like a chicken to find one sign of the Lord's soon return."
He paused for a moment, and then added, "But today there are so many signs I'm no longer looking for them. Instead, I'm listening for a sound — the sound of a trumpet!"
The First Sign
One hundred years ago in 1907 there was not one single, tangible, measurable sign that indicated we were living in the season of the Lord's return. The first to appear was the Balfour Declaration which was issued by the British government on November 2, 1917.
This Declaration was prompted by the fact that during World War I the Turks sided with the Germans. Thus, when Germany lost the war, so did the Turks, and the victorious Allies decided to divide up both the German and Turkish empires.
The Turkish territories, called the Ottoman Empire, contained the ancient homeland of the Jewish people — an area the Romans had named Palestine after the last Jewish revolt in 132-135 AD.
In 1917 Palestine included all of modern day Israel and Jordan. In the scheme the Allies concocted for dividing up the German and Turkish territories, Britain was allotted Palestine, and this is what prompted the Balfour Declaration. In that document, Lord Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, declared that it was the intention of the British government to establish in Palestine "a national home for the Jewish people."
The leading Evangelical in England at the time was F. B. Meyer. He immediately recognized the prophetic significance of the Declaration, for he was well aware that the Scriptures prophesy that the Jewish people will be regathered to their homeland in unbelief right before the return of the Messiah (Isaiah 11:11-12).
Meyer sent out a letter to the Evangelical leaders of England asking them to gather in London in December to discuss the prophetic implications of the Balfour Declaration. In that letter, he stated, "The signs of the times point toward the close of the time of the Gentiles... and the return of Jesus can be expected any moment."
Before Meyer's meeting could be convened, another momentous event occurred. On December 11, 1917 General Edmund Allenby liberated the city of Jerusalem from 400 years of Turkish rule.
There is no doubt that these events in 1917 marked the beginning of the end times because they led to the worldwide regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland and the reestablishment of their state.
Since 1917
Since the time of the Balfour Declaration, we have witnessed throughout the 20th Century the appearance of sign after sign pointing to the Lord's soon return. There are so many of these signs today, in fact, that one would have to be either biblically illiterate or spiritually blind not to realize that we are living on borrowed time.
I have personally been searching the Bible for years in an effort to identify all the signs, and it has not been an easy task to get a hold on them. That's because there are so many of them, both in the Old and New Testaments.
I have found that the best way to deal with them is to put them in categories, and in doing that, I have come up with six categories of end time signs.
1) The Signs of Nature
"...and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven." (Luke 21:11)
This category of signs 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 and tornadoes and hurricanes." But those who have this attitude forget that Jesus said the signs would be like "birth pangs" (Matthew 24:8). That means they will increase in frequency and intensity the closer we get to the Lord's return. In other words, there will be more frequent natural disasters and more intense ones.
And that is exactly what has been happening. For example, between October of 1991 and November of 2004 — a period of 13 years — the United States experienced:
* 9 of the 10 largest insurance natural disasters in history.
* 9 of the 10 greatest disasters as ranked by FEMA relief costs.
* 5 of its costliest hurricanes in history.
* 3 of its 4 largest tornado swarms in history.
And keep in mind that these statistics were complied before the Hurricane Katrina disaster in August of 2005!
2) The Signs of Society
"Realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God..." (2 Timothy 3:1-4)
This passage sounds like a typical evening newscast today! Notice the three things it says people will love in the end times: self, money, and pleasure.
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 (Galatians 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.
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, alcoholism, drug abuse and gambling.
Like the days of the Judges in the Old Testament, people are doing what is right in their own eyes, and the result is that people are calling evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).
3) The Spiritual Signs
There are more signs in this category than any other. Many are evil in nature, but there are also some very positive ones. Concerning the negative signs, a typical passage is the following one found in 2 Timothy 4:3-4:
"The time will come when they [professing Christians] will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths."
Some of the negative spiritual signs that are specifically prophesied include the following: false christs, cultic groups, heresies, apostasy, skepticism, deception, occultism, and persecution.
The one that Jesus mentioned most frequently was false christs and their cultic groups (Matthew 24:5, 11, 24). And in fulfillment of these prophecies, we have experienced an explosion of cults since 1850.
But, praise God, we are told that there will be some very positive spiritual signs in the end times. The most important one that is prophesied in many places is a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-29).
This outpouring began at the dawn of the 20th Century, and proved to be one of the greatest spiritual surprises — and blessings — of the century. You see, when that century began, the prevailing viewpoint among both Catholics and Protestants regarding the Holy Spirit was Cessationism. This view held that the gifts of the Spirit ceased when the last Apostle died. In effect, it was a belief that the Holy Spirit had retired in the First Century.
The 20th Century had hardly gotten started when a Holy Spirit revival broke out at a small Bible college in Topeka, Kansas in 1901. Three years later, a similar Holy Spirit revival swept Wales and began to spread worldwide. Then, in 1906, the Spirit fell with great power on a humble Black preacher in Los Angeles named William J. Seymour. The Azuza Street Revival, as it came to be called, continued for four years and gave birth to the Pentecostal Movement.
The Bible prophesies two great outpourings of the Spirit and symbolically pictures them as the "early and latter rains" (Joel 2:23), based on the two rainy seasons of Israel. The early rain occurred at Pentecost in the First Century when the Church was established. The latter rain was prophesied to occur after the Jewish people had been re-established in their homeland (Joel 2:18-26).
The latter rain began with the Pentecostal Movement, just as God began to regather the Jews to their homeland under the visionary leadership of Theodore Herzl. But the rain did not become a downpour until after the re-establishment of the state of Israel in May of 1948, just as prophesied by Joel.
First came the anointing of Billy Graham's ministry in 1949, followed by the Charismatic Movement of the 1960's. Today, most of Christianity, whether Pentecostal, Charismatic, or Traditional, fully recognizes that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is alive and well in Spirit-led worship, the continuing validity of spiritual gifts, the reality of spiritual warfare, and the importance of a Spirit-filled life in winning that warfare.
In addition to the rediscovery of the Holy Spirit, there are other positive spiritual prophecies being fulfilled today — like the preaching of the Gospel worldwide (Matthew 24:14), the revival of Davidic praise worship (Amos 9:11) and the emergence of Messianic Judaism (Romans 9:27).
Another remarkable positive sign is the understanding of Bible prophecy. You see, the Hebrew prophets often did not understand the end time prophecies that the Lord gave to them. A good example can be found in Daniel 12:8-9 where the prophet complains to the Lord that he does not understand the prophecies that have been entrusted to him. The Lord's response was, "Don't worry about it. Just write the prophecies. They have been sealed up until the end times."
In other words, the Bible teaches that many of the end time prophecies will not be understood until the time comes for them to be fulfilled. And that is exactly what has been happening in the past 100 years. Historical developments and scientific inventions are now making it possible for us to understand end time prophecies that have never been understood before.
Take Israel for example. All of end time prophecy revolves around the nation of Israel. But how could those prophecies be understood as long as Israel did not exist and there was no prospect that the nation would ever exist again?
This is the reason that Hal Lindsey's book, The Late Great Planet Earth, became such a phenomenal bestseller in the 1970's. For the first time it explained the events prophesied in the book of Revelation in natural terms that people could easily understand.
4) The Signs of World Politics
"You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars... for nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom..." (Matthew 24:6-7)
I taught international politics for 20 years before I entered the ministry full time, so this is an area that is particularly fascinating to me.
The Bible prophesies a very specific end time configuration of world politics. Israel is pictured as being re-established (Ezekiel 37:21-22) and surrounded by hostile Arab neighbors intent on its destruction (Ezekiel 35:1 - 36:7). This, of course has been the situation in the Middle East since the Israeli Declaration of Independence in May of 1948.
Daniel prophesied that the Roman Empire would be revived (Daniel 2:36-41), something many men — like Charlemagne, Napoleon, and Hitler — tried to do through force. But the prophecy had to await God's timing for its fulfillment, and that came after World War II, with the formation of the European Common Market that has since morphed into the superpower called the European Union.
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 (Zech. 12:2-3) — a prophecy being fulfilled today.
The magnitude of warfare in the 20th Century is another fulfillment of end time prophecy related to world politics. The 20th Century was one of unparalleled war. Like birth pangs, the frequency and intensity of war increased exponentially. It is now estimated that more people died in wars during the 20th Century than in all the previous wars throughout all of recorded human history.
5) The Signs of Technology
"Men will faint from fear over the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Luke 21:26)
The development of nuclear weapons seems to be foreshadowed by this prophecy in Luke 21 that speaks of people "fainting from fear" due to the "powers of the heavens being shaken." The incredible carnage of the Seal and Trumpet Judgments portrayed in chapters 6 and 8 in the book of Revelation indicates that the Antichrist will conquer the world through the use of nuclear weapons. We are told that one-third of the earth will be burned and that one-half of humanity will be killed. Further evidence that this is a nuclear holocaust is found in Revelation 16 where we are told that at the end of the Tribulation the survivors will be covered with sores that will not heal (Revelation 16:11).
As I pointed out earlier, there are many end time prophecies that simply cannot 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 look upon them (Revelation 11:9). How could anyone understand such a prophecy before the development of satellite television in the 1960's?
Likewise, how could the Antichrist control all buying and selling worldwide (Revelation 13) without the aid 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 that was produced by modern medical technology? How could the Gospel be proclaimed to all the world (Matthew 24) before the invention of motion pictures, radio, television, and the Internet? The list goes on and on.
6) The Signs of Israel
"And it shall come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it." (Zechariah 12:3)
The signs that relate to Israel are the most important of all because the Jews are God's prophetic time clock. What I mean by this is that the Scriptures will often tie a prophesied future event with something that will happen to the Jews. We are told to watch the Jews, and when the prophesied event concerning them occurs, we can be sure that the other prophesied event will also occur.
An example can be found in Luke 21:24 where Jesus prophesied that the Jews would be dispersed from Jerusalem and be led captive among the nations. But then He added that one day they would return to re-occupy Jerusalem, and when this happens, the end time events will occur that will lead to His return.
There are many prophecies concerning the Jews in the end times, many of which began to be fulfilled in the 20th Century, but there are four key ones. The first is their worldwide regathering in unbelief (Isaiah 11:11-12). In 1900 there were only 40,000 Jews in Palestine. By the end of World War II that number had risen to 800,000. Today, there are more than 5.7 million who have come from all over the world. Very soon there will be as many Jews in Israel as died in the Holocaust. The prophet Jeremiah says twice that when history is completed, the Jewish people will look back and conclude that their worldwide regathering was a greater miracle than their deliverance from Egyptian captivity (Jeremiah 16:14-15 and 23:7-8). We are truly living in momentous times!
The second key prophecy concerning the Jews is a natural consequence of their regathering. It is the re-establishment of their state which occurred on May 14, 1948 (Isaiah 66:7-8). The third key prophecy is the re-occupation of Jerusalem which occurred on June 7, 1967 during the miraculous Six Day War (Zechariah 8:4-8).
The fourth key prophecy is the one whose fulfillment we are witnessing today — the re-focusing of world politics upon the nation of Israel (Zechariah 12:2-3). All the nations of the world, including the United States, are coming against Israel over the issue of the control of the nation's capital — the city of Jerusalem. The Vatican wants the city put under its control. The United Nations wants it to be internationalized. The European Union is demanding it be divided between the Arabs and the Jews. The Arabs want all of it.
Summary
And so you have it — six different categories of signs, each category containing many prophecies concerning the end times, all of which are being fulfilled before our very eyes. Let me conclude by specifically listing 50 of those prophecies.
1) Increasing instability of nature.
(Matthew 24:7 & Luke 21:11)
2) Increasing lawlessness and violence.
(Matthew 24:12)
3) Increasing immorality.
(Matthew 24:37)
4) Increasing materialism.
(2 Timothy 3:2)
5) Increasing Hedonism.
(2 Timothy 3:4)
6) Increasing influence of Humanism.
(2 Timothy 3:2)
7) Depraved entertainment.
(2 Timothy 3:4)
8) Calling evil good and good evil.
(2 Timothy 3:3 & Isaiah 5:20)
9) Increasing use of drugs.
(2 Timothy 3:3)
10) Increasing blasphemy.
(2 Timothy 3:2)
11) Increasing paganism.
(2 Timothy 3:1-4)
12) Increasing despair.
(2 Timothy 3:1)
13) Signs in the heavens.
(Luke 21:11,25)
14) Increasing knowledge.
(Daniel 12:4)
15) Increasing travel.
(Daniel 12:4)
16) The explosion of cults.
(Matthew 24:11)
17) The proliferation of false christs.
(Matthew 24:5)
18) Increasing apostasy in the Church.
(2 Timothy 4:3-5)
19) Increasing attacks on Jesus.
(Romans 1:18-19)
20) Increasing attacks on the Bible.
(Romans 1:18-19)
21) Increasing persecution of Christians.
(Matthew 24:9)
22) Increasing occultism.
(1 Timothy 4:1)
23) Wars and rumors of wars.
(Matthew 24:6)
24) Weapons of mass destruction.
(Luke 21:26)
25) Increasing famine.
(Luke 21:11)
26) Increasing pestilence.
(Luke 21:11)
27) Computer technology.
(Revelation 13:7)
28) Television.
(Revelation 11:8-9)
29) Satellite technology.
(Revelation 11:8-9)
30) Virtual reality.
(Revelation 13:14-15)
31) Unification of Europe.
(Daniel 2 & 7)
32) Far Eastern military powers.
(Revelation 9:16 & 16:12)
33) Movement toward world government.
(Daniel 7:23-26)
34) Regathering of the Jews.
(Isaiah 11:10-12)
35) Re-establishment of Israel.
(Isaiah 66:7-8)
36) Reclamation of the land of Israel.
(Ezekiel 36:34-35)
37) Revival of Biblical Hebrew.
(Zephaniah 3:9; Jeremiah 31:23)
38) Re-occupation of Jerusalem.
(Luke 21:24)
39) Resurgence of the Israeli military.
(Zechariah 12:6)
40) Re-focusing of world politics on Israel.
(Zechariah 12:3)
41) Russian threat to Israel.
(Ezekiel 38 and 39)
42) Arab threat to Israel.
(Ezekiel 35 and 36)
43) Denial of the Second Coming.
(2 Peter 3:3-4)
44) Denial of creation by God.
(Romans 1:18-22)
45) Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
(Joel 2:28-29)
46) Translation of the Bible into many languages.
(Matthew 24:14)
47) Preaching of the Gospel worldwide.
(Matthew 24:14)
48) The revival of Messianic Judaism.
(Romans 9:27)
49) The revival of Davidic praise worship.
(Amos 9:11)
50) The understanding of Bible prophecy.
(Daniel 12:8-9)
This list could be greatly expanded, but the 50 examples above should be sufficient to show that we are living in the season of the Lord's return.
The Bible clearly teaches that God never pours out His wrath without warning for He is a just and loving God who does not wish that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). That's why He has provided so many signs to alert us to the fact that we are living on the threshold of the Tribulation.
The Message
The bottom line message of the signs is that we are living on borrowed time. And the crucial question for every human being is "Are you ready?" Are you ready for the return of Jesus? Will He come as your Blessed Hope or your Holy Terror?
It will be one or the other, for God is determined to deal with sin, and He does so with either grace or wrath (John 3:36). If you have put your faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you are under God's grace. Your sins have been forgiven and forgotten, and you can look forward with confidence to that glorious day when Jesus will appear in the heavens.
But if you have never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are under the wrath of God, and you have nothing to look forward to except the terror of His wrath.
The choice is yours. I personally cannot understand why anyone would turn their back on God's free gift of grace through faith in His Son. I have placed my faith in Jesus, and I therefore am able to look forward to His soon return with great anticipation and expectation. All that is within me cries out, "Maranatha! Come quickly Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 16:22).
50 Reasons
Why we are living in the end times.
by Dr. David R. Reagan
Lamplighter on 50 Reasons
[read in Lamplighter (pdf)]
The Bible says we cannot know the time of the Lord's return (Matthew 25:13). But the Scriptures make it equally clear that we can know the season of the Lord's return (1 Thessalonians 5:2-6):
"You yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night... But you brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night or darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober."
This passage asserts that Jesus is coming like "a thief in the night." But then it proceeds to make it clear that this will be true only for the pagan world and not for believers. His return should be no surprise to those who know Him and His Word, for they have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to give them understanding of the nature of the times.
Furthermore, the Scriptures give us signs to watch for — signs that will signal that Jesus is ready to return. The writer of the Hebrew letter referred to these signs when he proclaimed that believers should encourage one another when they see the day of judgment drawing near (Hebrews 10:25-27). Jesus also referred to the end time signs in His Olivet Discourse, given during the last week of His life (Matthew 24 and Luke 21). Speaking of a whole series of signs which He had given to His disciples, He said, "When you see all these things, recognize that He [the Son of Man — that is, Jesus] is near, right at the door" (Matthew 24:33).
A Personal Experience
Every time I think of "Signs of the Times," I am reminded of a great man of God named Elbert Peak. I had the privilege of participating with him in a Bible prophecy conference held in Orlando, Florida in the early 1990's. Mr. Peak was about 80 years old at the time.
He had been assigned the topic, "The Signs of the Times." He began his presentation by observing, "Sixty years ago when I first started preaching, you had to scratch around like a chicken to find one sign of the Lord's soon return."
He paused for a moment, and then added, "But today there are so many signs I'm no longer looking for them. Instead, I'm listening for a sound — the sound of a trumpet!"
The First Sign
One hundred years ago in 1907 there was not one single, tangible, measurable sign that indicated we were living in the season of the Lord's return. The first to appear was the Balfour Declaration which was issued by the British government on November 2, 1917.
This Declaration was prompted by the fact that during World War I the Turks sided with the Germans. Thus, when Germany lost the war, so did the Turks, and the victorious Allies decided to divide up both the German and Turkish empires.
The Turkish territories, called the Ottoman Empire, contained the ancient homeland of the Jewish people — an area the Romans had named Palestine after the last Jewish revolt in 132-135 AD.
In 1917 Palestine included all of modern day Israel and Jordan. In the scheme the Allies concocted for dividing up the German and Turkish territories, Britain was allotted Palestine, and this is what prompted the Balfour Declaration. In that document, Lord Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, declared that it was the intention of the British government to establish in Palestine "a national home for the Jewish people."
The leading Evangelical in England at the time was F. B. Meyer. He immediately recognized the prophetic significance of the Declaration, for he was well aware that the Scriptures prophesy that the Jewish people will be regathered to their homeland in unbelief right before the return of the Messiah (Isaiah 11:11-12).
Meyer sent out a letter to the Evangelical leaders of England asking them to gather in London in December to discuss the prophetic implications of the Balfour Declaration. In that letter, he stated, "The signs of the times point toward the close of the time of the Gentiles... and the return of Jesus can be expected any moment."
Before Meyer's meeting could be convened, another momentous event occurred. On December 11, 1917 General Edmund Allenby liberated the city of Jerusalem from 400 years of Turkish rule.
There is no doubt that these events in 1917 marked the beginning of the end times because they led to the worldwide regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland and the reestablishment of their state.
Since 1917
Since the time of the Balfour Declaration, we have witnessed throughout the 20th Century the appearance of sign after sign pointing to the Lord's soon return. There are so many of these signs today, in fact, that one would have to be either biblically illiterate or spiritually blind not to realize that we are living on borrowed time.
I have personally been searching the Bible for years in an effort to identify all the signs, and it has not been an easy task to get a hold on them. That's because there are so many of them, both in the Old and New Testaments.
I have found that the best way to deal with them is to put them in categories, and in doing that, I have come up with six categories of end time signs.
1) The Signs of Nature
"...and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven." (Luke 21:11)
This category of signs 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 and tornadoes and hurricanes." But those who have this attitude forget that Jesus said the signs would be like "birth pangs" (Matthew 24:8). That means they will increase in frequency and intensity the closer we get to the Lord's return. In other words, there will be more frequent natural disasters and more intense ones.
And that is exactly what has been happening. For example, between October of 1991 and November of 2004 — a period of 13 years — the United States experienced:
* 9 of the 10 largest insurance natural disasters in history.
* 9 of the 10 greatest disasters as ranked by FEMA relief costs.
* 5 of its costliest hurricanes in history.
* 3 of its 4 largest tornado swarms in history.
And keep in mind that these statistics were complied before the Hurricane Katrina disaster in August of 2005!
2) The Signs of Society
"Realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God..." (2 Timothy 3:1-4)
This passage sounds like a typical evening newscast today! Notice the three things it says people will love in the end times: self, money, and pleasure.
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 (Galatians 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.
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, alcoholism, drug abuse and gambling.
Like the days of the Judges in the Old Testament, people are doing what is right in their own eyes, and the result is that people are calling evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).
3) The Spiritual Signs
There are more signs in this category than any other. Many are evil in nature, but there are also some very positive ones. Concerning the negative signs, a typical passage is the following one found in 2 Timothy 4:3-4:
"The time will come when they [professing Christians] will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths."
Some of the negative spiritual signs that are specifically prophesied include the following: false christs, cultic groups, heresies, apostasy, skepticism, deception, occultism, and persecution.
The one that Jesus mentioned most frequently was false christs and their cultic groups (Matthew 24:5, 11, 24). And in fulfillment of these prophecies, we have experienced an explosion of cults since 1850.
But, praise God, we are told that there will be some very positive spiritual signs in the end times. The most important one that is prophesied in many places is a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-29).
This outpouring began at the dawn of the 20th Century, and proved to be one of the greatest spiritual surprises — and blessings — of the century. You see, when that century began, the prevailing viewpoint among both Catholics and Protestants regarding the Holy Spirit was Cessationism. This view held that the gifts of the Spirit ceased when the last Apostle died. In effect, it was a belief that the Holy Spirit had retired in the First Century.
The 20th Century had hardly gotten started when a Holy Spirit revival broke out at a small Bible college in Topeka, Kansas in 1901. Three years later, a similar Holy Spirit revival swept Wales and began to spread worldwide. Then, in 1906, the Spirit fell with great power on a humble Black preacher in Los Angeles named William J. Seymour. The Azuza Street Revival, as it came to be called, continued for four years and gave birth to the Pentecostal Movement.
The Bible prophesies two great outpourings of the Spirit and symbolically pictures them as the "early and latter rains" (Joel 2:23), based on the two rainy seasons of Israel. The early rain occurred at Pentecost in the First Century when the Church was established. The latter rain was prophesied to occur after the Jewish people had been re-established in their homeland (Joel 2:18-26).
The latter rain began with the Pentecostal Movement, just as God began to regather the Jews to their homeland under the visionary leadership of Theodore Herzl. But the rain did not become a downpour until after the re-establishment of the state of Israel in May of 1948, just as prophesied by Joel.
First came the anointing of Billy Graham's ministry in 1949, followed by the Charismatic Movement of the 1960's. Today, most of Christianity, whether Pentecostal, Charismatic, or Traditional, fully recognizes that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is alive and well in Spirit-led worship, the continuing validity of spiritual gifts, the reality of spiritual warfare, and the importance of a Spirit-filled life in winning that warfare.
In addition to the rediscovery of the Holy Spirit, there are other positive spiritual prophecies being fulfilled today — like the preaching of the Gospel worldwide (Matthew 24:14), the revival of Davidic praise worship (Amos 9:11) and the emergence of Messianic Judaism (Romans 9:27).
Another remarkable positive sign is the understanding of Bible prophecy. You see, the Hebrew prophets often did not understand the end time prophecies that the Lord gave to them. A good example can be found in Daniel 12:8-9 where the prophet complains to the Lord that he does not understand the prophecies that have been entrusted to him. The Lord's response was, "Don't worry about it. Just write the prophecies. They have been sealed up until the end times."
In other words, the Bible teaches that many of the end time prophecies will not be understood until the time comes for them to be fulfilled. And that is exactly what has been happening in the past 100 years. Historical developments and scientific inventions are now making it possible for us to understand end time prophecies that have never been understood before.
Take Israel for example. All of end time prophecy revolves around the nation of Israel. But how could those prophecies be understood as long as Israel did not exist and there was no prospect that the nation would ever exist again?
This is the reason that Hal Lindsey's book, The Late Great Planet Earth, became such a phenomenal bestseller in the 1970's. For the first time it explained the events prophesied in the book of Revelation in natural terms that people could easily understand.
4) The Signs of World Politics
"You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars... for nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom..." (Matthew 24:6-7)
I taught international politics for 20 years before I entered the ministry full time, so this is an area that is particularly fascinating to me.
The Bible prophesies a very specific end time configuration of world politics. Israel is pictured as being re-established (Ezekiel 37:21-22) and surrounded by hostile Arab neighbors intent on its destruction (Ezekiel 35:1 - 36:7). This, of course has been the situation in the Middle East since the Israeli Declaration of Independence in May of 1948.
Daniel prophesied that the Roman Empire would be revived (Daniel 2:36-41), something many men — like Charlemagne, Napoleon, and Hitler — tried to do through force. But the prophecy had to await God's timing for its fulfillment, and that came after World War II, with the formation of the European Common Market that has since morphed into the superpower called the European Union.
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 (Zech. 12:2-3) — a prophecy being fulfilled today.
The magnitude of warfare in the 20th Century is another fulfillment of end time prophecy related to world politics. The 20th Century was one of unparalleled war. Like birth pangs, the frequency and intensity of war increased exponentially. It is now estimated that more people died in wars during the 20th Century than in all the previous wars throughout all of recorded human history.
5) The Signs of Technology
"Men will faint from fear over the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Luke 21:26)
The development of nuclear weapons seems to be foreshadowed by this prophecy in Luke 21 that speaks of people "fainting from fear" due to the "powers of the heavens being shaken." The incredible carnage of the Seal and Trumpet Judgments portrayed in chapters 6 and 8 in the book of Revelation indicates that the Antichrist will conquer the world through the use of nuclear weapons. We are told that one-third of the earth will be burned and that one-half of humanity will be killed. Further evidence that this is a nuclear holocaust is found in Revelation 16 where we are told that at the end of the Tribulation the survivors will be covered with sores that will not heal (Revelation 16:11).
As I pointed out earlier, there are many end time prophecies that simply cannot 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 look upon them (Revelation 11:9). How could anyone understand such a prophecy before the development of satellite television in the 1960's?
Likewise, how could the Antichrist control all buying and selling worldwide (Revelation 13) without the aid 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 that was produced by modern medical technology? How could the Gospel be proclaimed to all the world (Matthew 24) before the invention of motion pictures, radio, television, and the Internet? The list goes on and on.
6) The Signs of Israel
"And it shall come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it." (Zechariah 12:3)
The signs that relate to Israel are the most important of all because the Jews are God's prophetic time clock. What I mean by this is that the Scriptures will often tie a prophesied future event with something that will happen to the Jews. We are told to watch the Jews, and when the prophesied event concerning them occurs, we can be sure that the other prophesied event will also occur.
An example can be found in Luke 21:24 where Jesus prophesied that the Jews would be dispersed from Jerusalem and be led captive among the nations. But then He added that one day they would return to re-occupy Jerusalem, and when this happens, the end time events will occur that will lead to His return.
There are many prophecies concerning the Jews in the end times, many of which began to be fulfilled in the 20th Century, but there are four key ones. The first is their worldwide regathering in unbelief (Isaiah 11:11-12). In 1900 there were only 40,000 Jews in Palestine. By the end of World War II that number had risen to 800,000. Today, there are more than 5.7 million who have come from all over the world. Very soon there will be as many Jews in Israel as died in the Holocaust. The prophet Jeremiah says twice that when history is completed, the Jewish people will look back and conclude that their worldwide regathering was a greater miracle than their deliverance from Egyptian captivity (Jeremiah 16:14-15 and 23:7-8). We are truly living in momentous times!
The second key prophecy concerning the Jews is a natural consequence of their regathering. It is the re-establishment of their state which occurred on May 14, 1948 (Isaiah 66:7-8). The third key prophecy is the re-occupation of Jerusalem which occurred on June 7, 1967 during the miraculous Six Day War (Zechariah 8:4-8).
The fourth key prophecy is the one whose fulfillment we are witnessing today — the re-focusing of world politics upon the nation of Israel (Zechariah 12:2-3). All the nations of the world, including the United States, are coming against Israel over the issue of the control of the nation's capital — the city of Jerusalem. The Vatican wants the city put under its control. The United Nations wants it to be internationalized. The European Union is demanding it be divided between the Arabs and the Jews. The Arabs want all of it.
Summary
And so you have it — six different categories of signs, each category containing many prophecies concerning the end times, all of which are being fulfilled before our very eyes. Let me conclude by specifically listing 50 of those prophecies.
1) Increasing instability of nature.
(Matthew 24:7 & Luke 21:11)
2) Increasing lawlessness and violence.
(Matthew 24:12)
3) Increasing immorality.
(Matthew 24:37)
4) Increasing materialism.
(2 Timothy 3:2)
5) Increasing Hedonism.
(2 Timothy 3:4)
6) Increasing influence of Humanism.
(2 Timothy 3:2)
7) Depraved entertainment.
(2 Timothy 3:4)
8) Calling evil good and good evil.
(2 Timothy 3:3 & Isaiah 5:20)
9) Increasing use of drugs.
(2 Timothy 3:3)
10) Increasing blasphemy.
(2 Timothy 3:2)
11) Increasing paganism.
(2 Timothy 3:1-4)
12) Increasing despair.
(2 Timothy 3:1)
13) Signs in the heavens.
(Luke 21:11,25)
14) Increasing knowledge.
(Daniel 12:4)
15) Increasing travel.
(Daniel 12:4)
16) The explosion of cults.
(Matthew 24:11)
17) The proliferation of false christs.
(Matthew 24:5)
18) Increasing apostasy in the Church.
(2 Timothy 4:3-5)
19) Increasing attacks on Jesus.
(Romans 1:18-19)
20) Increasing attacks on the Bible.
(Romans 1:18-19)
21) Increasing persecution of Christians.
(Matthew 24:9)
22) Increasing occultism.
(1 Timothy 4:1)
23) Wars and rumors of wars.
(Matthew 24:6)
24) Weapons of mass destruction.
(Luke 21:26)
25) Increasing famine.
(Luke 21:11)
26) Increasing pestilence.
(Luke 21:11)
27) Computer technology.
(Revelation 13:7)
28) Television.
(Revelation 11:8-9)
29) Satellite technology.
(Revelation 11:8-9)
30) Virtual reality.
(Revelation 13:14-15)
31) Unification of Europe.
(Daniel 2 & 7)
32) Far Eastern military powers.
(Revelation 9:16 & 16:12)
33) Movement toward world government.
(Daniel 7:23-26)
34) Regathering of the Jews.
(Isaiah 11:10-12)
35) Re-establishment of Israel.
(Isaiah 66:7-8)
36) Reclamation of the land of Israel.
(Ezekiel 36:34-35)
37) Revival of Biblical Hebrew.
(Zephaniah 3:9; Jeremiah 31:23)
38) Re-occupation of Jerusalem.
(Luke 21:24)
39) Resurgence of the Israeli military.
(Zechariah 12:6)
40) Re-focusing of world politics on Israel.
(Zechariah 12:3)
41) Russian threat to Israel.
(Ezekiel 38 and 39)
42) Arab threat to Israel.
(Ezekiel 35 and 36)
43) Denial of the Second Coming.
(2 Peter 3:3-4)
44) Denial of creation by God.
(Romans 1:18-22)
45) Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
(Joel 2:28-29)
46) Translation of the Bible into many languages.
(Matthew 24:14)
47) Preaching of the Gospel worldwide.
(Matthew 24:14)
48) The revival of Messianic Judaism.
(Romans 9:27)
49) The revival of Davidic praise worship.
(Amos 9:11)
50) The understanding of Bible prophecy.
(Daniel 12:8-9)
This list could be greatly expanded, but the 50 examples above should be sufficient to show that we are living in the season of the Lord's return.
The Bible clearly teaches that God never pours out His wrath without warning for He is a just and loving God who does not wish that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). That's why He has provided so many signs to alert us to the fact that we are living on the threshold of the Tribulation.
The Message
The bottom line message of the signs is that we are living on borrowed time. And the crucial question for every human being is "Are you ready?" Are you ready for the return of Jesus? Will He come as your Blessed Hope or your Holy Terror?
It will be one or the other, for God is determined to deal with sin, and He does so with either grace or wrath (John 3:36). If you have put your faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you are under God's grace. Your sins have been forgiven and forgotten, and you can look forward with confidence to that glorious day when Jesus will appear in the heavens.
But if you have never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are under the wrath of God, and you have nothing to look forward to except the terror of His wrath.
The choice is yours. I personally cannot understand why anyone would turn their back on God's free gift of grace through faith in His Son. I have placed my faith in Jesus, and I therefore am able to look forward to His soon return with great anticipation and expectation. All that is within me cries out, "Maranatha! Come quickly Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 16:22).
Monday, June 14, 2010
The Straw That Breaks The Camel's Back
After the game
The Daily Jot
Daily reporting and analysis of current events from a biblical and prophetic perspective.
Monday, June 14, 2010
The Straw That Breaks The Camel's Back
The man who occupies the Oval Office has pleaded with Congress to approve another $50 billion in emergency aid. In a letter that went out to mostly Democratic members of the House of Representatives, he wrote, "If we allow these layoffs to go forward, it will not only mean hundreds of thousands fewer teachers in our classrooms, firefighters on call and police officers on the beat, it will also mean more costs helping these Americans look for more work while their lost paychecks will mean less tax revenue and less demand for the products and services provided by other workers." At this point, one has to ask 'what's another $50 billion to bail out even more fiscal irresponsibility?' The answer is: a lot.
What would the Founding Fathers say of all this? Thomas Jefferson said, "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take everything you have." Jefferson also said, "I place economy among the first and most important of republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." Benjamin Franklin was quoted as saying, "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. Sell not liberty to purchase power." It is obvious that those who wrote the Constitution, voted on it and established it, would consider this government's actions a threat to your liberty.
We have heard these tactics before. Whenever there is fiscal irresponsibility the first threats of the crisis try to scare the people into believing that their children will not be taught in school; that police will not be stopping crime and that fires will burn out of control. Maybe this is not a bad thing. If the government got out of the public school business, kids would get a better education for less money in private schools, and there would be more resources for police and firefighters. In fact, the federal government is not supposed to be involved in any of these services as they are reserved to the state. Problem is state and local governments are also bankrupt because of their irresponsible spending.
This is what one gets when voting in those who believe that government is the answer to all our problems. This is what one gets when people run government who have no sense of who God is in their lives. Psalm 14:1 says, "The fool hath said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that do good." Jesus said in Matthew 7:16, "Ye shall know them by their fruits." When a leader sees as the only way to solve a problem is to take the hard earned money away from the responsible man and give it to the irresponsible, then we have an ungodly leader who can do no good." And in a representative republic, we the voters, share the ultimate responsibility.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
The Daily Jot
Daily reporting and analysis of current events from a biblical and prophetic perspective.
Monday, June 14, 2010
The Straw That Breaks The Camel's Back
The man who occupies the Oval Office has pleaded with Congress to approve another $50 billion in emergency aid. In a letter that went out to mostly Democratic members of the House of Representatives, he wrote, "If we allow these layoffs to go forward, it will not only mean hundreds of thousands fewer teachers in our classrooms, firefighters on call and police officers on the beat, it will also mean more costs helping these Americans look for more work while their lost paychecks will mean less tax revenue and less demand for the products and services provided by other workers." At this point, one has to ask 'what's another $50 billion to bail out even more fiscal irresponsibility?' The answer is: a lot.
What would the Founding Fathers say of all this? Thomas Jefferson said, "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take everything you have." Jefferson also said, "I place economy among the first and most important of republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." Benjamin Franklin was quoted as saying, "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. Sell not liberty to purchase power." It is obvious that those who wrote the Constitution, voted on it and established it, would consider this government's actions a threat to your liberty.
We have heard these tactics before. Whenever there is fiscal irresponsibility the first threats of the crisis try to scare the people into believing that their children will not be taught in school; that police will not be stopping crime and that fires will burn out of control. Maybe this is not a bad thing. If the government got out of the public school business, kids would get a better education for less money in private schools, and there would be more resources for police and firefighters. In fact, the federal government is not supposed to be involved in any of these services as they are reserved to the state. Problem is state and local governments are also bankrupt because of their irresponsible spending.
This is what one gets when voting in those who believe that government is the answer to all our problems. This is what one gets when people run government who have no sense of who God is in their lives. Psalm 14:1 says, "The fool hath said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that do good." Jesus said in Matthew 7:16, "Ye shall know them by their fruits." When a leader sees as the only way to solve a problem is to take the hard earned money away from the responsible man and give it to the irresponsible, then we have an ungodly leader who can do no good." And in a representative republic, we the voters, share the ultimate responsibility.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
The Straw That Breaks The Camel's Back
After the game
The Daily Jot
Daily reporting and analysis of current events from a biblical and prophetic perspective.
Monday, June 14, 2010
The Straw That Breaks The Camel's Back
The man who occupies the Oval Office has pleaded with Congress to approve another $50 billion in emergency aid. In a letter that went out to mostly Democratic members of the House of Representatives, he wrote, "If we allow these layoffs to go forward, it will not only mean hundreds of thousands fewer teachers in our classrooms, firefighters on call and police officers on the beat, it will also mean more costs helping these Americans look for more work while their lost paychecks will mean less tax revenue and less demand for the products and services provided by other workers." At this point, one has to ask 'what's another $50 billion to bail out even more fiscal irresponsibility?' The answer is: a lot.
What would the Founding Fathers say of all this? Thomas Jefferson said, "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take everything you have." Jefferson also said, "I place economy among the first and most important of republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." Benjamin Franklin was quoted as saying, "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. Sell not liberty to purchase power." It is obvious that those who wrote the Constitution, voted on it and established it, would consider this government's actions a threat to your liberty.
We have heard these tactics before. Whenever there is fiscal irresponsibility the first threats of the crisis try to scare the people into believing that their children will not be taught in school; that police will not be stopping crime and that fires will burn out of control. Maybe this is not a bad thing. If the government got out of the public school business, kids would get a better education for less money in private schools, and there would be more resources for police and firefighters. In fact, the federal government is not supposed to be involved in any of these services as they are reserved to the state. Problem is state and local governments are also bankrupt because of their irresponsible spending.
This is what one gets when voting in those who believe that government is the answer to all our problems. This is what one gets when people run government who have no sense of who God is in their lives. Psalm 14:1 says, "The fool hath said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that do good." Jesus said in Matthew 7:16, "Ye shall know them by their fruits." When a leader sees as the only way to solve a problem is to take the hard earned money away from the responsible man and give it to the irresponsible, then we have an ungodly leader who can do no good." And in a representative republic, we the voters, share the ultimate responsibility.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
The Daily Jot
Daily reporting and analysis of current events from a biblical and prophetic perspective.
Monday, June 14, 2010
The Straw That Breaks The Camel's Back
The man who occupies the Oval Office has pleaded with Congress to approve another $50 billion in emergency aid. In a letter that went out to mostly Democratic members of the House of Representatives, he wrote, "If we allow these layoffs to go forward, it will not only mean hundreds of thousands fewer teachers in our classrooms, firefighters on call and police officers on the beat, it will also mean more costs helping these Americans look for more work while their lost paychecks will mean less tax revenue and less demand for the products and services provided by other workers." At this point, one has to ask 'what's another $50 billion to bail out even more fiscal irresponsibility?' The answer is: a lot.
What would the Founding Fathers say of all this? Thomas Jefferson said, "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take everything you have." Jefferson also said, "I place economy among the first and most important of republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." Benjamin Franklin was quoted as saying, "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. Sell not liberty to purchase power." It is obvious that those who wrote the Constitution, voted on it and established it, would consider this government's actions a threat to your liberty.
We have heard these tactics before. Whenever there is fiscal irresponsibility the first threats of the crisis try to scare the people into believing that their children will not be taught in school; that police will not be stopping crime and that fires will burn out of control. Maybe this is not a bad thing. If the government got out of the public school business, kids would get a better education for less money in private schools, and there would be more resources for police and firefighters. In fact, the federal government is not supposed to be involved in any of these services as they are reserved to the state. Problem is state and local governments are also bankrupt because of their irresponsible spending.
This is what one gets when voting in those who believe that government is the answer to all our problems. This is what one gets when people run government who have no sense of who God is in their lives. Psalm 14:1 says, "The fool hath said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that do good." Jesus said in Matthew 7:16, "Ye shall know them by their fruits." When a leader sees as the only way to solve a problem is to take the hard earned money away from the responsible man and give it to the irresponsible, then we have an ungodly leader who can do no good." And in a representative republic, we the voters, share the ultimate responsibility.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
Monday, June 7, 2010
Questions We All Should Be Asking Ourselves
Daily reporting and analysis of current events from a biblical and prophetic perspective.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Questions We All Should Be Asking Ourselves
Iran Offers Escort for Next Gaza Convoy...Debt Poised to Overtake GDP...7 Killed in Heavy Storms Sweeping Through Midwest...Credit Rating Cut on Connecticut, Wealthiest State in America...Stimulus Billions Going To Low Income Students For Massage Schools...Arrested Islamic Radicals Wanted To Be World's Best Known Terrorists...These are just a few of the headlines of Monday, June 7. This amid one of the most public meetings in history of the Bilderberg secret society in Stiges, Spain. Did you know that heads of many US government agencies, the CEO of Microsoft, leaders at Harvard University, and the CEO of The Washington Post were among the attendees at this one world order meeting?
In the 8 1/2 years that I have been writing The Daily Jot, I have not seen so many satan-advancing headlines in so many different areas at once, as I have in this past six months. These are events occurring around the world that have prophetic implications. They relate to the type and shadow of the coming one world government, the coming one world religion, the wars against Israel, the moral decay of the once strongest Christian nation on earth. We live in the most exciting times in the history of the world because these are the days that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24:8, "All these are the beginning of sorrows."
In these days, there will be nothing that can prevent us over the long term from experiencing the march of prophecy. It is in these days that we are not only going to see wondrous things, but also be tested to our limits in standing for our Christian beliefs. And we do not want to be like the handwriting on the wall in the book of Daniel where verse 5:27 says, "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting." These are the days when we must be that light to a dark and dying world. And as the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 6:13, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
In this, we must be equipped with the full armor of God in order to withstand in the evil day. Are you right with God? Do you know the will of God for your life? Do you have a personal relationship with the Lord? Do you pray, do you talk to Him without ceasing? Do you understand that being tossed to and fro with the latest doctrine or Christian fad is distracting you from God's purpose for your life? Our lives as Christians and the demonstration of our faith by our works begins with our relationship with God. And as with any relationship, such as friendship or marriage, it cannot stand the tests of the times unless it is strong. The only way we are going to change the world for Christ is to know Him, love Him and do His commandments.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
Monday, June 7, 2010
Questions We All Should Be Asking Ourselves
Iran Offers Escort for Next Gaza Convoy...Debt Poised to Overtake GDP...7 Killed in Heavy Storms Sweeping Through Midwest...Credit Rating Cut on Connecticut, Wealthiest State in America...Stimulus Billions Going To Low Income Students For Massage Schools...Arrested Islamic Radicals Wanted To Be World's Best Known Terrorists...These are just a few of the headlines of Monday, June 7. This amid one of the most public meetings in history of the Bilderberg secret society in Stiges, Spain. Did you know that heads of many US government agencies, the CEO of Microsoft, leaders at Harvard University, and the CEO of The Washington Post were among the attendees at this one world order meeting?
In the 8 1/2 years that I have been writing The Daily Jot, I have not seen so many satan-advancing headlines in so many different areas at once, as I have in this past six months. These are events occurring around the world that have prophetic implications. They relate to the type and shadow of the coming one world government, the coming one world religion, the wars against Israel, the moral decay of the once strongest Christian nation on earth. We live in the most exciting times in the history of the world because these are the days that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24:8, "All these are the beginning of sorrows."
In these days, there will be nothing that can prevent us over the long term from experiencing the march of prophecy. It is in these days that we are not only going to see wondrous things, but also be tested to our limits in standing for our Christian beliefs. And we do not want to be like the handwriting on the wall in the book of Daniel where verse 5:27 says, "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting." These are the days when we must be that light to a dark and dying world. And as the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 6:13, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
In this, we must be equipped with the full armor of God in order to withstand in the evil day. Are you right with God? Do you know the will of God for your life? Do you have a personal relationship with the Lord? Do you pray, do you talk to Him without ceasing? Do you understand that being tossed to and fro with the latest doctrine or Christian fad is distracting you from God's purpose for your life? Our lives as Christians and the demonstration of our faith by our works begins with our relationship with God. And as with any relationship, such as friendship or marriage, it cannot stand the tests of the times unless it is strong. The only way we are going to change the world for Christ is to know Him, love Him and do His commandments.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Deception at the White House--Priceless?
The Daily Jot
Daily reporting and analysis of current events from a biblical and prophetic perspective.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Deception at the White House--Priceless?
The New York Times reports that the man who occupies the Oval Office "logged three golf games in four days, appearing at one island course after another. He spent five hours on Monday afternoon playing 18 holes at the Farm Neck Golf Club here, two and a half hours on Tuesday playing nine holes at Mink Meadows Golf Club in Vineyard Haven, and several hours playing Thursday afternoon at the Vineyard Golf Club in Edgartown." By Saturday, he had played two hours of basketball at the University of Chicago Lab School. The Washington Times reported in April that he had played golf some 32 times since taking office--his immediate predecessor played golf only 24 times in eight years.
So who is fooling who here? All the grandstanding quotes in the news media about doing everything he can to stop the oil leak, to mend the economy, and on and on. Here's one from May 29: "As I said yesterday, every day that this leak continues is an assault on the people of the Gulf Coast region, their livelihoods, and the natural bounty that belongs to all of us. It is as enraging as it is heartbreaking, and we will not relent until this leak is contained, until the waters and shores are cleaned up, and until the people unjustly victimized by this manmade disaster are made whole." This after he had spent about 14 hours of the previous week playing golf and basketball. Can anyone say NERO?
And now the new twist--investigations. Certainly, it is not unreasonable to investigate what happened with the BP oil rig. But the president announced Tuesday that he was initiating a criminal investigation into BP. He said, "If our laws were broken, leading to this death and destruction, my solemn pledge is that we will bring those responsible to justice on behalf of the victims of this catastrophe." Why not try to fix the leak first? And what about him calling for an investigation of Israel for protecting its sovereignty against terrorist blockade runners? No investigation, however, of the White House offering Congressman Joe Sestak a job to drop out of the Senate primary against Arlen Specter--a possible impeachable felony.
The very fact that this administration didn't acknowledge the 11 deaths resulting from the oil rig explosion on April 21 until June 1 is very telltale. Amid playing golf and basketball and having state dinners where leaders are allowed to insult Americans while the president agrees is all very time consuming--Apparently at the expense of what the people voted this man into office to do. No, check that. He is doing exactly what he told us he would do--remake America. 2 Timothy 3:13 says, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." Here we have a person who is deceiving the American people everyday. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24:4, "Take heed that no man deceive you."
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
Daily reporting and analysis of current events from a biblical and prophetic perspective.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Deception at the White House--Priceless?
The New York Times reports that the man who occupies the Oval Office "logged three golf games in four days, appearing at one island course after another. He spent five hours on Monday afternoon playing 18 holes at the Farm Neck Golf Club here, two and a half hours on Tuesday playing nine holes at Mink Meadows Golf Club in Vineyard Haven, and several hours playing Thursday afternoon at the Vineyard Golf Club in Edgartown." By Saturday, he had played two hours of basketball at the University of Chicago Lab School. The Washington Times reported in April that he had played golf some 32 times since taking office--his immediate predecessor played golf only 24 times in eight years.
So who is fooling who here? All the grandstanding quotes in the news media about doing everything he can to stop the oil leak, to mend the economy, and on and on. Here's one from May 29: "As I said yesterday, every day that this leak continues is an assault on the people of the Gulf Coast region, their livelihoods, and the natural bounty that belongs to all of us. It is as enraging as it is heartbreaking, and we will not relent until this leak is contained, until the waters and shores are cleaned up, and until the people unjustly victimized by this manmade disaster are made whole." This after he had spent about 14 hours of the previous week playing golf and basketball. Can anyone say NERO?
And now the new twist--investigations. Certainly, it is not unreasonable to investigate what happened with the BP oil rig. But the president announced Tuesday that he was initiating a criminal investigation into BP. He said, "If our laws were broken, leading to this death and destruction, my solemn pledge is that we will bring those responsible to justice on behalf of the victims of this catastrophe." Why not try to fix the leak first? And what about him calling for an investigation of Israel for protecting its sovereignty against terrorist blockade runners? No investigation, however, of the White House offering Congressman Joe Sestak a job to drop out of the Senate primary against Arlen Specter--a possible impeachable felony.
The very fact that this administration didn't acknowledge the 11 deaths resulting from the oil rig explosion on April 21 until June 1 is very telltale. Amid playing golf and basketball and having state dinners where leaders are allowed to insult Americans while the president agrees is all very time consuming--Apparently at the expense of what the people voted this man into office to do. No, check that. He is doing exactly what he told us he would do--remake America. 2 Timothy 3:13 says, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." Here we have a person who is deceiving the American people everyday. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24:4, "Take heed that no man deceive you."
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
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