THE TEN SIGNS OF THE END TIMES

1. POST-MILLENNIAL SCOFFERS. In 2Pet. 3:3-4 we read: "That there shall come in the 'Last Days' SCOFFERS, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of HIS COMING? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." How true this is of the present day. The Doctrine of the Second Coming is "scoffed" at, and those who hold it are looked upon as deluded fanatics, and sad to say, this opposition comes from prominent religious leaders of the Day.

2. APOSTASY. In 2Thes. 2:3, we are told that "THAT DAY (the Day of the Lord) shall not come, except there come a 'FALLING AWAY' first." This "Falling Away" is evidenced on every hand.

3. FALSE TEACHERS. In 2Pet. 2:1-2 we are warned against "False Teachers" who shall privately bring in "damnable heresies, " even denying the Lord that bought them, such as Christian Scientists and Russelites, and that many shall follow their "pernicious ways, " and sad to relate these "followers" are recruited from the orthodox church members, of whom the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy (2Tim. 4:3-4), saying: "The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto FABLES." This "turning away" is evidenced on every hand. There is a "turning away" in doctrinal standards, in the demand for a regenerated church membership, in church and Sunday school attendance, and in Sabbath observance. Many churchgoers will not endure "sound doctrine." They will not go to hear those who preach the "total depravity" of man, the necessity of the "New Birth, " and the conscious and endless torment of those who reject Christ as a personal Saviour. They demand teachers who will "itch" (tickle) their ears with pleasing, novel and sensational doctrines

4. SPIRITUALISM. In 1Tim. 4:1 we are warned of a departure from the faith. That in the "Latter Times" (the Last Days of this Dispensation), some shall "depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils." This is being fulfilled in the increasing number of those who are forsaking their Christian belief to become followers of Spiritualistic Mediums and to dabble in Psychical Research.

5. PERILOUS TIMES. Of these times Paul told Timothy. "This know also, that in the 'LAST DAYS' Perilous Times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection (for their own offspring), truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those who are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a FORM of godliness, but denying the POWER thereof." 2Tim. 3:1-3. We have neither time nor space to enlarge upon the above, but what a catalogue we have here of the "perilous conditions" of the times in which we live.


Our minds cannot begin to comprehend what God is planning on doing very shortly
 

6. HEAPED UP TREASURE. In James 5:1-3, we are told that in the "LAST DAYS" there shall be a class of "rich men, " who shall have "HEAPED treasure together, " and that by "FRAUD, " and who shall use their ill-gotten gain in the pursuit of "pleasure" and "wantonness, " and that God will hear the cry of those who have been cheated of their just share of the profits, and will send a sore judgment upon the guilty. What a description we have here of the unprincipled, speculative and profiteering spirit of the days in which we live, when men become millionaires, and multi-millionaires, in a few years. Truly we are living, in the "Last Days" of this Dispensation.

7. A LAODICEAN CHURCH. In the Message to the Church of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-16) we have a description of the last stage of the professing Church on earth, It is described as neither "hot" nor "cold, " but nauseatingly lukewarm, so that Christ says He will "spue it out of His mouth." It boastingly will claim to be "rich" and "increased with goods, " and to have "need of nothing, " not even of Christ, for He will be excluded and will have to knock for admittance, and it will be ignorant of its true condition, that it is wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind. and naked. Unspeakably sad it is that this is the condition to a large extent of the professing Church of today.

8. THE FIG-TREE SIGN. When Jesus' Disciples asked Him, after He had foretold the destruction of the Temple: "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the SIGN of THY COMING, and of the end of the world (Age)? " (Matt. 24:1-3), Jesus gave as a "Sign" of His Coming the "Fig-Tree Sign." The "Fig-Tree" symbolizes the nation of Israel, and its "budding" the revival of Israel as a nation. Here again we have evidence of the nearness of the Lord's Return for the revival of Zionism, and the passing of the Land of Palestine into the hands of a Christian nation, opens the way for the restoration of the Jews to their own land, and the fulfillment of the Fig-Tree Sign. The fact that the City of Jerusalem surrendered without the firing of a shot is significant. Jesus said that Jerusalem was to be trodden down of the Gentiles until "The Times of the Gentiles" should be fulfilled (Luke 21:24), and the taking of Jerusalem at this time may signify that "The Times of the Gentiles" is drawing to a close.


God rained His judgment down on Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness...our generation is exactly like theirs what.
So what should we expect?
 

9. THE DISTRESS OF NATIONS. In Luke 21:24-26 Jesus tells us that as the "Times of the Gentiles"come to a close, "there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth DISTRESS OF NATIONS, with perplexity; the sea and the waves (the peoples of the earth) roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the 'Powers of Heaven' (the Principalities and Powers of Evil, Eph. 6:11-12), shall be shaken. And THEN shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." In the prophecy of Hag. 2:6-7, we read: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will SHAKE ALL NATIONS, and the DESIRE (Christ) OF ALL NATIONS WILL COME." This has never been fulfilled as yet, and the present "Distress of Nations, " the uprising of the masses in "National Revolutions, " the "Tottering Thrones" and other indications that the nations are Being Shaken, is still further proof that we are living in the times just preceding the appearing of the Son of Man, the "DESIRE OF ALL NATIONS", who will bring peace to this troubled earth.

10. NOAH DAYS. The last "sign" that we would mention is the "sign" of the "Noah Days." Luke 17:26-28. As it was in the days of Noah, they did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded, so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man. Where, you say, is the sin in doing these things? They are not only commanded, they are necessary. That is true. The sin was not in "doing" them, but in doing them "UNTIL the Flood came." That is, they did nothing else. They forgot to worship their Maker. So today men and women are so busily engaged in doing the good things of life that they have no time to worship God. They are so busy building homes for themselves on earth that they are neglecting to secure a home in heaven. They are more anxious that their children should make a good match on earth, than that they should be united to the Lord. They are so much concerned about their case in Court, that they have forgotten that they must stand at the judgment Bar of God.

THE SIGNS OF THE END TIMES1

While we cannot name the exact date of the Lord's Return its nearness may be known by the character of the Times. As to this the New Testament gives no uncertain sound. In Dan. 12:4, Dan. 12:9-10, we read, "But thou, 0 Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the Book, even to the 'TIME OF THE END': many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.. Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the 'TIME OF THE END.' Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the WISE SHALL UNDERSTAND." These words declare that the prophecies of Daniel were to be "shut up" and "sealed" until the "TIME OF THE END." This expression does not mean the "end of Time, " but is the angelic messenger's way of referring to the "Last Days" of the "Times of the Gentiles." At which time he declares that the Book will be "unsealed, " and "knowledge shall be increased." What is here meant is "prophetic knowledge" of the things recorded in the Book of Daniel and other prophetic writings of the Scriptures. This is made clear by the statement that only the "wise" shall understand. That is, those who are enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and not those who merely have intellectual knowledge, for the wicked SHALL NOT UNDERSTAND. How wonderfully this is true of these days. The Higher Critics have labored hard to discredit the Book of Daniel, but without avail, for the Book is more studied than ever, and is being "unsealed" by Holy Spirit enlightened students of the Word of God, who clearly see that we have reached the "Time of the End, " and are living in the closing days of the "Times of the Gentiles." The unsealing of the book of Daniel The "unsealing" began about 100 years ago, when the "Midnight Cry, " "Behold, the Bridegroom Cometh, " was heard in the "Revival of Premillennial Truth." For centuries while the Bridegroom tarried the Wise and Foolish virgins "ALL slumbered and slept, " and the Church lapsed into a condition of spiritual apathy, and "The Blessed Hope" was eclipsed. But now all over the world the Blessed Hope has emerged from the shadow, and the virgins are "trimming their lamps" preparatory to going out to meet their Lord, but only the "wise" have oil in their vessels and in their lamps. We are now living in the "Fourth Watch of the Night, " soon the "MORNING STAR" (Christ. Rev. 22:16) will appear and we shall be caught out at the Rapture to meet Him and go into the Marriage Feast. Let us take a hasty glance at the "Signs of the Times." A careful study of the Chart will reveal "Ten Signs."
......to be continued
Be rapture ready!

THE FINAL DAY

Watch this exclusive video on the end times., Carlos Sarmiento was caught up to heaven to hear God the Father speak to Messiah Jesus about the end times — with instructions for us on how to prepare for the coming of the Lord.

Kindly make comments below.
Be rapture ready!

Hell: Not A Figment Of Your Imagination

Hell: Not A Figment Of Your Imagination Hell. The Lake of Fire. THE place where those that have died in their sins, that rejected Christ as their Lord and Saviour go for all eternity. Suppose for a moment one could stand at one of it's shores... Standing on the shore, you can feel the heat from the flames; it is uncomfortable as it is, searing and scalding hot. A veritable cauldron of fire and burning. You would venture closer to the edge to peer down, but the flames and common sense, not to mention a good healthy fear of falling in accidentally, keep you at a safe distance from the roasting heat. You can hear the crackle of the flames below, as they sizzle and hiss away in the seething pit beneath you. Above, it is utterly dark despite the flames. In fact, it is darker than any night you have ever seen on earth. Pitch black would be a nice warm cheery shade compared to it. Why am I describing this place to you so vividly? Because if you are NOT saved, this WILL be your destination! In the Bible, Jesus Christ talked more about hell than he did about heaven. A couple of examples: "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." (Mark 9:43-48, KJV) "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28, KJV) In these passages of scripture, Jesus makes it VERY clear what hell is. He never ONCE candy coats it or tries to make it palatable for his audience, nor does he try to chase after people should they become offended by it. Jesus stood his ground on this subject because he knew all about hell.... ...He CREATED it. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:1-3, KJV) Originally, we were NOT meant for hell: that blazing inferno was prepared for Satan and his minions: "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:" (Matthew 25:41 KJV) Unfortunately, when mankind sinned against God by disobeying him at the Garden of Eden, God had no choice but to consign rebellious man to the same punishment as the angels who rebelled against him. In fact, due to man's tragic error, hell had to expand: "Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it." (Isaiah 5:14, KJV) The tragedy of hell is that no one HAS to go there. God sent his only son Jesus to die on the cross at Calvary so that whoever believes on him and accepts the precious gift of life he offers does NOT have to burn in the lake of fire: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16, KJV) God doesn't WANT anyone to go to hell, which is why he sent his son to die for us. Jesus didn't want us going there, which is why he took our place and took the punishment we so justly deserved upon his shoulders. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9, KJV) Now, at this point, I would like to speak to those who have read this that are not saved, and are scoffing at the idea of hell: You may think hell does not exist; that it is made up by us Christians to scare people into our ranks or that the bible was only written by men who wanted to gain control over the majority of people that they considered feeble-minded and stupid. But the scriptures are more than capable of defending themselves if you will look for yourself with an open mind and an honest heart. I don't have to try to justify the bible to you; that's not my job. My assignment is to preach the word of God to those that will hear. But to those that will not hear, consider this: if hell does not exist and we are wrong, then we have lost nothing but a little time on this planet. But if we are right, then we stand to gain heaven, and you are in GRAVE danger of burning in a pit that makes the hottest inferno on earth look like a penguin's paradise. 120 souls slip into eternity every minute and find out all too late that hell is real, and plead with the almighty for another chance. (Yes: Pascal's Wager; the BANE of atheists everywhere. They groan at it, because they heard it so much...) You may say "a just God wouldn't put people into hell." You may say "a loving God wouldn't do that. to people." Well, his love does NOT prevent his justice, and when man sinned against God at the garden, the only alternative God had to putting man into hell was if man accepted the gift of salvation that the blood of Jesus Christ bought. Not to mention that God has done everything possible to keep us from going to hell without violating his holiness. In short: God doesn't send people to hell: they send THEMSELVES. A man trapped in a burning building does not question the ladder the firefighter brings; he uses it. A person trapped on a mountain does not question the rope used to rescue him; he takes the rope and is pulled to safety. So why do we question the rescue that God has offered us when we deserve NO SUCH rescue?! Consider the tragic story of one man who found out all too late: "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire. But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us. He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment. Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent. He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." ( Like 16:19-31, NIV) Your fate does NOT have to be his. I pray that you take the gift that is offered. And as to those who are saved, we should keep all of this in mind; this world desperately needs the gospel, and it is up to us to bring it to the world. I bid you all peace.

50 Reasons Why we are living in the end times part2

  by Dr. David R. Reagan

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.

NOTE: Where will you be if the world comes to end today? Are you  prepared for eternity? Make a decision today.Give your life to Jesus Christ.I care where you spend eternity!

50 Reasons Why we are living in the end times part1

50 Reasons Why we are living in the end times

by Dr. David R. Reagan

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)

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.