We're gonna start a new series. I don't know how long it'll be. I don't think it'll be long, but yeah, right. You know how it is, right? A few weeks. It's been a while since we've done anything in prophecy, so I wanna do some large prophetic, I mean like the coming of the Lord, the kingdom aspect, the judgment, the future, that kind of thing. What does the Bible say? The Bible has a lot to say. About 25% of the scriptures are prophecy. But I thought to start out with, before I get into all the details and that kind of stuff, I want to talk about, if you have a handout sheet, with all that's going on today and all that's been going on in our lives, and every generation asks this same question. Are we near the end? Let's take a poll. Who thinks we're near the end? We're near the end. We're here. We're not in the beginning. Just talking to Shirley earlier, if you look at the news, it's just bad and bad and worse and worse. And it's easy to think that, and it's natural to think that. A simple answer to that question, are we near the end? We're closer now than we've ever been. Let's close in prayer. No, I'm kidding. That's the short answer. Now I'll remind you, as you already know, whenever anyone comes along and tells you, I know when the Lord's returning, you automatically know they're wrong. Why? It's on your sheet. Jesus said it, Matthew 24, 36. But concerning that day, meaning that day, he says this right after the coming of the Lord and the gathering of his people, but concerning that day and hour, no one knows. Not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. Now get that. Now I don't know how to explain exactly how Jesus doesn't know. He limited his divinity while he was on earth. This is part of that. But Jesus says very clearly, no one knows the day or the hour. No one. We've had several last, In my lifetime, how many times have some guys come out like Harold Camping, who's probably in heaven now, saying, it's this day. As soon as you hear it's this day, you know it's not that day, because no one knows. We're not going to know. Jesus said that. That's why the church, since the days of Christ, has been wondering, is it our generation? Is it coming now? And every time there's been a major war or a major catastrophe or calamity of some kind or other, it's right to wonder, is this going to lead up to that day? Because we know that there's terrible calamity right before the end. said in faith and never came. Yeah, they all do. Whenever you do that, you know they're wrong. They're just wrong. Now, while no one knows the day of Christ's return, God's word gives several indicators that it is near. We're told there are things to look for. There are things to watch for. Now, I've only picked out seven. You can probably think of more than I have. I spent some time putting this together, thinking this through. The big one, the main indicator I think leads us to believe, or at least we're getting near the end, is the rebirth of Israel. Now think about this. Just think this through. Israel as a nation was obliterated in A.D. 70. We're going to cover that in this Wednesday night in our study in the Book of Acts. They were obliterated. The Romans came in A.D. 70 because of Jewish rebellion and literally wiped out the nation of Israel. They leveled the city. 1.1 million Jews died in that battle. A couple hundred thousand were taken off into slavery and the rest scattered into the nations. And for the next 1,878 years, Israel didn't exist. Now, in our lifetime, I was born in 58. In my entire lifetime, Israel has been a nation. But for 1,800 plus years, there was no Israel. Think of this. Think of your Charles Spurgeon's day. In fact, I have a quote there from Spurgeon. You're debating with a skeptic. And he says to you, you think the Bible is the word of God? What about Israel? Because the Bible makes dozens and dozens and dozens of promises to Israel. And the skeptic will say, well, there is no Israel. They're gone. There's no nation of Israel. What would you say to that? Well, back in those days, that's all you could say. In fact, I have a quote in your pen on your finger from Charles Spurgeon. He says, when I find it, To Spurgeon, when Spurgeon was alive, there was no Israel. But he knew his Bible, so he says, I believe one day there has to be an Israel. I love Albert Barnes's commentary. He wrote around 1900, somewhere in that area. And whenever he talks about this, he says, the Jews will come back to their land. They weren't there then, but they had to. The land of Israel, there was no nation of Israel, period. Yeah, they were gone. Now think about that. Israel has been ruled by 27 different nations in her history. The city was leveled five times. Israel hasn't been an independent nation since 600 BC, when the Persians took them over. Think of that. But they stopped being a nation. They were wiped off the face of the earth in AD 70. There was no land of Israel anymore. Israel disappeared. But the Bible says, God says, I'm going to gather them again. Now remember, I have a few verses here in your sheet. You have to be careful with this. All throughout your Old Testament, there's promises, I will regather, but you got to be careful which gathering you're talking about. Remember that the Israelites, God sent them into Babylon for 70 years. And there's many, many of the prophets wrote that I will gather you from there and bring you back. There's many promises that say that. So you got to be careful that that's not the gathering he's talking about. That's what probably most of the Old Testament prophecies are about. They're being regathered from Babylon. But there are several. I have one on your sheet. Actually, I have several. Ezekiel 38, notice it. Here he's talking about this Gog and Magog army is going to come against Israel. And he says, after many days, you will be mustered in the latter years. Again, there's a time indicator. Actually, it means last days. In the last days, you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered, notice, from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been continual ways, the people were brought out from the peoples. Now get that. There are several major prophecies that speak of Israel being gathered from the nations, plural. When they went to, when they were captive in Babylon, that was one nation. When God says, I'm going to gather you from the nations, in fact, there's a verse in Isaiah says from the north, from the south, from the east, from the west, I'm going to gather my people. That's talking about a greater gathering than just what happened at the end of the Babylonian captivity. And that, I believe, are these prophecies of Israel being gathered from the nation. Now, again, at the time the prophets wrote, it's either before the captivity or during the captivity, or even shortly after some of the minor prophets. But several of them speak of a great gathering of Israel from all the nations. Well, when was Israel scattered to all the nations? AD 70. So I believe those prophecies are talking about one day, God says, even though you're scattered throughout the world. When AD 70 happened, the Jews scattered all throughout Europe and now they're all over the world. And up until 1948, there was no nation of Israel. Jews were just scattered all over the planet. But God says in these prophecies, I'm not going to read them all. There's a list of them there. You're going to check them out. I will gather from all the places where I've scattered you. He mentioned many nations around the world. I'll gather you back into your land. That's happened. That's one of those signs. In fact, several of those passages, God says, in the last days, I will gather. That's one of those signs. That's one of the signs that you're near the end. Not that it is the end, but you're near it. The end can't come. Christ can't return unless Israel is once again a nation. Well, they are. In fact, last year, Israel celebrated their 70th anniversary as a nation. 70 years they've been the land. So I don't know. I can't. I won't say that. Christ is coming next week, but that's definitely a sign. You know, that is coming. If you lived back in the 1800s and there was no Israel, you could say to yourself, well, Christ can't return anytime soon because Israel's not here. But now that Israel's here again, that's a definite sign. Also, a few other things. Zephaniah, again, speaks of, when I bring you back, I'll give you pure language. And he speaks about the language you're going to have, the revival of the Hebrew language. Well, in Israel, one of the things they did when they incorporated as a nation, part of their charter is that this nation will speak Hebrew. Now, until that point, no one in the world spoke Hebrew. In fact, even the Jews themselves spoke what was called Yiddish. They revived a dead language. It's now taught in all the Israeli schools. They're taught to read and speak Hebrew. If you go to Israel to learn a language, you have to learn Hebrew. Again, that's never happened. No nation has ever brought back a dead language, but they did. I don't know if this is right. Some think Ezekiel 45, I won't turn you there for the sake of time. Ezekiel is talking about this future temple, this glorious temple. And some think it's symbolic. I tend to go that route. But whatever it is, it's in Israel. This future, glorious, spectacular, almost unimaginable temple. But it mentions there about the shekel that they're going to bring back that was lost. Revival of the shekel. Today, the currency in Israel is a shekel. They brought back their ancient money. Now, I don't, well, you can read into that what you want. What I'm saying is, Israel is a major, major sign that things are moving towards the end. Now, how close are we? I can't say, but if Israel weren't a nation, we'd have to wonder, when's it gonna happen? It has to happen first. And when we get into our studies next week and following, we'll see all those many, many promises made to Israel in the Old Testament that have yet to be fulfilled. Well, in order for that to be fulfilled to the nation of Israel, Israel has to be a nation. Now they are. That's something you can point your skeptic to. In fact, that's a great way to ruin a skeptic's argument. There they are. How do you prove that? In fact, think about this. I think I have it in your sheet. Where today are the Amorites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Canaanites, all those ites, where are the Philistines today? Where are they at? There are many, many ancient nations, ancient biblical nations who have disappeared, many of them. Who today can say they're a Cushite, Mike? I think the Philistines are the Palestinians. Well, the word is. Because there is a future prophecy towards the Philistines. That may be the word Palestine comes from Philistine, but doesn't mean they're the people. But there is a prophecy for them. What I'm saying, when has a nation ever returned? from the Old Testament. Now, Egypt's been a nation forever. They never stopped. But many of these old nations never come back. Here, an ancient nation that was destroyed almost 2,000 years ago has returned. In fact, a secular historian calls that a modern miracle. It doesn't happen that an ancient nation returns. Well, they have. Israel's back. That's, knowing who Israel is and God's promises to Israel, I mean, if the nation of the Hittites came back, you would think, that's interesting, but what does it mean? But the fact that Israel came back, the only one that ever did, I think that's one sign that yes, we are somewhere near the end. And again, I talk about those skeptics. We just ruined it for the skeptics. Scripture also says Israel in the future. This is from Zechariah. It won't take time to go there. Zechariah 12, Zechariah 14. We saw this the other week in our Wednesday night service. He says, in that day, and he's speaking of in that day, culminating with Christ returning to the Mount of Olives. That's Zechariah 14. In that day, he says, Jerusalem will be surrounded by all the nations. God says, I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem in that day. In the day when Christ returns, I'm going to gather all the nations against Jerusalem, he said. Now that's, I believe, Revelation 16, talking about the Battle of Armageddon. But again, look at the landscape today. Israel is absolutely surrounded by enemies who wish her destruction. Is that a sign we're near the end? I don't know. But I'm saying everything is in place now for Zechariah's prophecy. In fact, several times since 1948, all the nations around Israel have tried to destroy her already. They failed every time. It's interesting. In fact, if you think about it, if you go into your Old Testament and read all those prophecies, we'll get to some of that next week starting. It mentioned Egypt, Syria, Ethiopia, Persia, and all those nations who are enemies of Israel. Today, every one of them is a Muslim nation who hate Israel's guts because the Quran says you have to hate the Jews. I'm just saying that's a sign. I believe that the stage is being set. Now, how close is it? I don't know. It could be 100 years from now. I don't know. But the truth is, These are indicators the Bible gives. Israel will be surrounded by enemies. Well, that's true. In fact, Netanyahu recently said, if we lay down our weapons, we'll be overrun in a day. Because there's about a dozen Muslim nations who want Israel wiped off the face of the earth. In fact, if you go in places like Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, and like Jordan, there are schools on their maps. Israel's not even there. It's called Palestine. They don't recognize Israel's right to exist. Our United Nations. Most of them don't recognize Israel's rights. Just something to think about. Turn to Matthew 24. You know if you gotta look at this. I spent the last two or three weeks looking at this all again. It's been quite a while since I've studied some of this. Matthew 24. Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21. It's called the Olivet Discourse for Jesus. Remember he says how the temple won't have one stone left upon another and they say, Lord, when's this gonna be and what are the signs of your return? So he answers that question, and there's a lot of talk on this. Let's just overview some of this. All I wanna read today is starting at verse 29. Matthew 24, starting at verse 29. I believe here our Lord is laying out indicators. When you see these things, he actually says that. When you see these things, you know that it's getting nearer. Now let's look at some of this. Matthew 24, 29. But immediately after, get that word, after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and glory. Now you all agree that's the second coming, that's the Lord's return, right? And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet, that's the same trumpet mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4 and in Revelation, with a great trumpet. And they will gather together as elect from the four winds from one end of the sky to the other. He goes, now learn the parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So you too, when you see notice, all these things, all these things, recognize that he is near. Remember their question was, when is this temple going to be destroyed? And when are you coming again? Well here he describes the second coming. He describes our being gathered to him at the second coming. And he says, he gives this parable of the fig tree. And notice what he says there. When you see all these things, plural, all what things? Well, it didn't take time to read it, but have it on your outline. All through this chapter, he gives all these different things that are gonna happen leading up to his return. For example, he says, it's on your sheet there, wars, verse six and seven, famines, earthquakes, verse seven, global Christian persecution, verse nine, how you'll be hated or every nation is my namesake, he says. Verse 10, there'll be great apostasy. Many will fall away and betray each other. That's the sign. 11, he mentions false prophets, meaning false teachers. Verse 12, lawlessness, lawful decrease. He said, when you see all these things, plus other things he mentioned, the abomination, desolation, don't time into that right now. When you see all these things, and I'll read it again now, verse 33. So you too, when you see all these things, recognize, notice he says, that he is near, right at the door. Jesus gives us a sound, and you see this happening. Remember he said, and we talked about this before, remember he said, he called it, I have it in your sheet there, Matthew 24 verse eight, all these are but the beginning of birth pangs. All these signs he says are just the beginning. Think what birth pangs are. Mom, when you think of birth pangs, what do you think of? Pain. But birth pangs, how do they act? I'm talking about pure ignorance here. They start small and get worse and worse and worse. They start far apart. In fact, you can tell the baby is near when they get closer together. Many think that that's what he means here, that these things are going to happen and they're going to get worse and worse and more and more frequent. These are just the beginnings. Now, again, you could say, well, there has always been earthquakes. There always has. And famines and pestilences and wars. I did some research this week. Just looked some things up. I won't sell my house to prove this, but I look at sometimes things up. Birth pangs increase in frequency and increase in pain. Are earthquakes increasing in the modern age? I found several sites that say no. I found several sites that say yes. One site, I actually put the reference on your sheet there for the internet. They showed this chart, just put me on that chart. It said in 1970 there were under 4,000 major earthquakes all over the world. In 1995, it spiked to 10,000. And by 2005, they increased to 16,000. And according to that chart, they've been steadily increasing ever since. What's that? All over the world. All over the world. There's several earthquakes every day somewhere. Now, does that mean anything? I don't know. They are increasing. I don't know. Are famines increasing? Jesus said, you'll see famines. Well, again, the figures I was able to look up, while there's less countries today that have famine, those countries that do are major. There are millions of people today starving. Millions. In Sudan, in North Africa, in places in the Middle East, and even in the Philippines, and places like Indonesia, people are starving. There's less nations that have food shortages. But those that do are severe. I mean severe. I was shocked some of the numbers I read. Is that an indicator? I don't know for sure. Are wars increasing? I think that's obvious, right? I couldn't find the number. I had it a couple years ago. Since 18-something, there's been like nine years where there's been no war on planet Earth. I have some figures on your sheet there. The 20th century was the bloodiest ever, and it was. Wars have been increasing steadily by 2% every year since 1870. and we've had some of the worst wars of plants I've ever seen in the last 150 years. Is that what Jesus is talking about? Maybe, it looks that way. He said, you'll see these things, but notice what he does say, and be careful, I have on your sheet there, verse six and verse eight. But this is not yet the end. You can't say because there's more earthquakes, the end is here. He said, no, that's not yet the end. He said, these things are merely the beginnings. But this could be. leading up to that. It certainly fits the scriptures, I don't know for sure. Another sign, number three, the sign of the gospel. You're in Matthew 24, well 14, I have it on your sheet. Jesus said, and this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, notice, and then the end will come. Not until this gospel is preached throughout the entire world, Jesus says, then the end comes. That bears in mind, I think, very well with what 2 Peter says. God is patient. Why? Towards you. God is patiently waiting till all the elect are called in. But think about it. Again, look this up. Several different websites. One's on your sheet there. How are we doing with this? We've had almost 2,000 years. How much of the planet has the gospel? That depends on what figures you check. I have your sheet there. Right now, there's not a single spot on Earth where the gospel isn't being transmitted in some form. You could stand in Antarctica at the South Pole. If you have an internet connection, or if you have access to radio, you can hear the gospel. Does that mean every nation, every ethnic group has it? No. Some tribes have it. Yeah, and many, many ethnic groups do not have the scriptures in their own language, haven't heard the gospel in their own language. But every single nation on Earth, according to the world, like global world that puts out all those stats, Every single nation on earth has some kind of gospel work going on within it. But as every tribe, every ethnic group, no they don't. There's still several thousand that don't. Now how the Lord is tracking this, I don't know. He says this gospel will go to every nation. Did he mean every ethnic group? I tend to think so, but I don't know for sure. Every nation has it, but the point is we're getting there. We're close. At the rate things are going on, one website said within 50 to 80 years, they should get this done unless something sets them back in a big way. They're working hard at this. You should pray for it. Remember Jesus said pray for the harvest. Pray for the workers of the harvest. Pray especially like throughout the whole Middle East now. You can hear the gospel beamed in by satellites. It's illegal. Iran tries to block it. But all throughout Iran, you see these little satellite dishes at night that go up on their roofs to hear these gospel messages. And the gospel's having inroads in Iran in a big way. As much as they try to stop it, China, Indonesia, all these places, if you have any kind of internet access, you can get it. Even in places like Vietnam and Thailand and Cambodia that are communist-restricted nations, they're hearing the gospel through the airwaves and through TV channels. So we're getting there, it's happening. Now, does that mean it's next week? No, it doesn't. God knows when that is, but I think that's an indicator. If you think about it, as we're gonna cover this Wednesday night in Wednesday night Bible study, from the time of the apostles in the book of Acts, the gospel has literally gone completely around the globe. It started in the Middle East. All those countries that today are Muslim is where the church started. And it spread west, it spread east, around the world, it has. So it hasn't reached every single ethnic group. I kind of think that's a requirement. I don't know for sure. I think it is. But that's one of those signs. We're getting near. We should pray for this. Hasten the day, Lord. Bring in the elect, Lord. Send missionaries. That's why it's so important to support missionaries, to pray for missionaries. Because they're doing the work that Jesus says that then comes the end. He's waiting on them, if you want to put it that way. That's something to pray for. That's a sign, I believe. Number four, Daniel. Daniel 12 verse four ends with this. This is the last chapter of Daniel. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. At the end of Daniel, Daniel, if you read it, has a lot of these complicated prophecies and visions. And Daniel doesn't get a lot of it. In fact, he's so distressed over it, he said he was sick. God sends an angel to Daniel to try to tell him some of this. But at the end of the book, he says, Daniel, seal this book up. It's not for you. It's not for your time. But he does give an indicator there. Many will run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. Many believe, and I think they're right, though again, some disagree, this is a prophecy of when these things are going to happen. Remember, Daniel's talking about this antichrist, the coming of the Lord in chapter seven, the whole world being crushed under his heels, and the Lord coming and giving the kingdom to the saints of the most high. That's the basic theme of the book of Daniel. How the kingdoms of the world, the times of the Gentiles, come to an end. And this rock, human without hands, this Messiah who Daniel sees in chapter 7, comes and rules. The nations are given to him. Well, Daniel's wondering, well, when is this? And Michael, the archangel, says, Daniel, it's not for you. It's not for your time. Seal up this book. Later, this is going to be true. It's not until later times that this book could even be understood. I don't know if that's true or not. Many think this describes our age with instant access to global information and abundant travel. Try to imagine, for instance, what life was like in Daniel's day. You ever think about that? Or even in Jesus' day, what life was like. You had no idea what was going on in even the next country. You've never seen it. You've never been there. You can't picture what's the other side of the ocean. Most people never got more than 50 miles or so past where they live for thousands of years. You had no idea what the world was like. You had no clue what the sky was all about, what the space was like. You had no idea. Even news. You could live, say, in Israel. There could be a war, a major war down in South Africa. You'd never know about it. At least not for years later, you might hear about it. You didn't know news. You didn't know much of anything. I mean, they weren't stupid. They knew what they could know in their day. But think about travel back in those days. Travel was difficult. You didn't have cars. You didn't have planes. You didn't have trains. Traveling was a major event. In fact, it was mostly only soldiers who traveled extensively. And even that was very difficult. Again, I saw the stats this week. The average person back in those days rarely traveled more than 50 miles to where he lived. And this earthly soldier never traveled more than 50 miles from where he was born. That was true of most people. You didn't know other cultures. You didn't know other things. You didn't hear the news. How could you? Today, every one of you has a little magic wonder boxes in your hands. You get instant news from South America instantly. There were riots last night in Atlanta. How do I know that? As soon as I turn on the news, bang, there it is. We know instantly now just about everything. There almost are no secrets there. Now, is that what Daniel's talking about? I don't know. Sure seems that way. He's talking about when these prophecies of Daniel will happen. They'll happen during this time when knowledge shall be increased and many, he says, run to and fro. It's hard to imagine. I'm not picturing our modern hectic, hectic day. It may be. Again, it may not be, but I think it may be. I saw a report on IQs. Even though we're acting more and more stupider, And that phrase shows how stupid I am. Even though we're acting more dumber every year, IQs have been steadily rising since the early 1900s. Because of all the stimulation, because of all the information we have. The more you read, the more you hear, the more you know, the more your IQ expands. Some figures there for you. IQs have been steadily increasing for 100 years. The top 10% IQs in 1900 would be in the bottom 5% today. Our capacity for learning has so expanded since those days. We know a whole lot more information. We're not increasing in wisdom, but we're increasing in information of what they're saying. And the average child today has a much higher IQ than the average child 100 years ago because of everything he's exposed to. Does that have anything to do with this? I don't know. It's just interesting. The people today have access to information people 500 years ago could only imagine. Think of it. That may be what he's talking about here. And he says, Daniel, seal up these visions. They're not for you. They're for the day, when knowledge increases and people run to and fro. Well, that sounds like today. We could be getting there. Turn to 2 Thessalonians 2. Paul gives some definite signs by the aid of the Holy Spirit. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Remember, all your T's are together. I'm echoing, right? Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus. Let's just read the first three verses. Paul's answering some questions they had. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 1. Now we request of you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you. It will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed. Now Paul says, Apparently, someone had written a letter. Remember, every place Paul went, these Judaizers and others came in behind him, corrupting what he said. Paul clearly taught them about the return of Christ. He said, I told you these things. Remember, we discussed this, Paul says. But someone has written a letter, apparently claiming to be the apostle. Paul's saying that that's already happened. Paul says, don't believe them. And he gives them here two signs. Two things have to happen first. Now, let's understand what he's talking about. Turn back to 1 Thessalonians quickly, verse chapter 4. Notice the phrases. Paul uses the exact same phrases in chapter four as he does in 2 Thessalonians chapter two. Notice, for example, chapter four, verse 50. This is that classic passage teaching on the rapture, the gathering of the church, Christ calling people away. Notice verse 14, verse 15. For we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive remain until what? the coming of the Lord. If you notice chapter two, verse one, the coming of the Lord. Same phrase, Paul means the same thing. If you notice, again, back in chapter four of 1 Thessalonians, I'm sorry, chapter five. Remember, your chapter divisions aren't there. Chapter four and chapter five continue the same thought. He says in chapter five, verse one, now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anyone to be written to you. For you know full well that the day of the Lord, that day of the Lord, which he's describing here back in chapter four, again, back in 2 Thessalonians chapter two, he says there, verse two, the day of the, it's about the same thing. The return of Christ, the gathering of his people to him, the day of the Lord, when Christ returned and gathers his people. But notice what he says here. Because someone was telling them, it's already happened. Notice what Paul says, the day of the Lord, the coming of the Lord. He says there are being gathered to him in verse one. That's the rapture, that's Christ gathers his people. Notice Paul here says our. Paul expects to be a part of this. If this would happen in Paul's day, Paul would expect that to happen. Our gathering to him when the Lord returns. But notice he says here, let no one, verse three, deceive you. It will not come unless, he says two things have to happen first. The Lord will not return. This gathering to him won't happen until first of all, notice he says, the apostasy comes first. Now there's a lot of talk on apostasy. I grabbed every commentator I could find, look up this phrase, the apostasy comes first. Christ won't return, the rapture won't happen, our being gathered to him, the day of the Lord won't happen until an apostasy happens. Now what does apostasy mean? I have it in your sheet there. Apostasy means literally rebellion, forsaking, a falling away, Now, in order to fall away from something means you have to have been somewhere in the first place to fall away from. I'm smart, aren't I? You can't depart from something unless you've been there. Now, Paul's speaking in a Christian context. In fact, here he's not talking to Jews. He's talking to the Thessalonians. So apparently this falling away, as I understand it, means a falling away from Christ, a falling away from God, a falling away from the scriptures. Paul says, the day of the Lord, when he comes and gathers his people together, will not happen. until a great falling away happens. Now, what's he talking about? Well, there's been many apostasies throughout history, many times. Look at Europe. We're in a great apostasy, and I often wonder when I see what's happening now, is this it? It sure looks like it, but I don't know, is this it? The Western world, well, let's back up in history. The Middle East was Christianized many centuries ago. Now it's overspread with the plague of Islam. That's a great apostasy. Massive apostasy. Think of nations like Egypt and Syria, where the gospel was. North Africa was the home of the gospel. Turkey, all those seven churches were in Turkey. Turkey today hates Christianity. That's a great apostasy. That's one of them. You can list several. But in our modern day, now, the whole Western world was Christianized at one time. You go back 100 years, 150 years ago, Look at us now. Is this it? I don't know. Now let's be realistic here. Our Lord could send great revival if he chooses to. That may yet happen. We're to pray for that. These terrible calamities around the world, who knows? God may pour out his spirit yet again and cause great revival and reverse some of this. I don't know. He could do that. But if things keep going the way they're going, we're in great apostasy, aren't we? You know, America, this once Christianized nation, look at us now. Look at Europe, look at Germany. Look at the gospel thundered out of Germany years ago. Look at England. The gospel was spread around the world through missionaries and the churches in England. Look at it now. Is that this great apostasy? I don't know. But Paul says, the day of the Lord, when Christ comes and gathers his people, that won't happen until some great apostasy happens, a great falling away. Well, we're sort of seeing that. I wonder. But notice what also he says. Verse three again. The apostasy comes first, and I believe his language here says, then next comes the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, Antichrist. Antichrist will arise before the Lord returns. That's a definite sign. That's a definite sign. When you see Antichrist, you know Christ isn't far away. The coming of the Lord, the day of the Lord, when he comes and gathers his people to him, Paul says that won't happen. until the Antichrist rises. If you read, there's a document called the Didache, Didache, I think I'm pronouncing that right, which was a statement of faith written right after the Apostle John died. And it says there, in a long paragraph, how Christians must realize that the apostles taught we must prepare to face Antichrist. And Paul here says, the coming of the Lord, our gathering, being gathered to him, the day of the Lord won't happen until this great apostasy happens, and I believe that apostasy leads up to the day of the Lord. I'm sorry, the Antichrist. That has to happen. So there's two definite signs. Let me tell you my heart on this, and people think I'm a little strange when I say this. I say bring it on. When I see these riots, this wasn't really a pandemic, it was a disease spread, but when I see these terrible things happening, I often wonder, is this how it starts? And I say, oh, bring it on. I don't want to see people die. I don't want to see Antichrist do anything. But if that means Jesus is near, then it's actually bring it on. Every time I see the news, something looks terrible. I think, Lord, could this be it? The Middle East right now is a powder keg. At any moment, war could break out over there, massive war, which I believe brings in the Antichrist, according to Revelation chapter 6. We'll talk about that later if you want. But every time I see some rumors of war in the Middle East, Lord, is this it? Could this be it? Of course, every generation thinks these kind of things. But I say, Lord, may it be soon. And if it means Antichrist has to rise and great apostasies, as you've said would happen, if it means you're coming soon, then bring it on. I don't think this anarchy we see in America today is going to last all that long. Who knows? But if it spreads, it continues, it gets worse and worse and worse. Who knows? That could be the start that brings in Antichrist. Who knows? It's spreading across the world. If that were true, as much as I hate the fact that this is going on, If that's what's leading up to my Lord coming back, bring it on. That sounds callous. I don't mean it callous. I just say, Lord, I want you to come back. Come back, Lord. Come back. But again, that's the signs Paul gave. They're definite signs. In fact, Revelations 13 tells us that not a single elect person will ever fall for the Antichrist. We'll recognize him. The church will know who he is. In fact, Paul says he's Thessalonians. The world will be asleep when this happens. They won't see it coming, but we will. When you see these things happen, remember Jesus said, you see all these things happening, remember the abomination that makes death so lit? When you see this, he says, you know it's coming. I'm skimming over a lot of material here, just to get the points out. Number six. Turn to Revelation, it's on your sheet, you can interpret it. Revelation 13 is the one place that describes the Antichrist in great detail, as does Daniel 7, Daniel 8, Daniel 10. But when this Antichrist does arise, I'm not saying it's next month, it could be 100 years from now, I don't know. But when he does, there's certain things he's gonna do. Notice on your sheet there, first of all, global government. Some verses on your sheet. Revelation 13.3 says, the whole earth, get that, the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. It doesn't say a whole world, a whole earth. The whole planet worships this antichrist. Verse seven and eight. Authority was given it over every, get that, every tribe and people and language and nation, and notice, and all who dwell on earth will worship. There's no exceptions there. The whole planet's gonna worship this guy. Now think about that, get that in your head. Verse 12 says, the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast. Daniel said, Daniel 7.23, unless he said as for the fourth beast, There shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms. It shall devour the whole earth, trample it down, and break it to pieces. There's a ruler coming, Antichrist, who, at least for a time, is going to have the entire earth worshiping him, following him, conquered by him. Now think about it. When John wrote those words, that wasn't possible. It wasn't possible in John's day. There's no way the Caesars could control South America or Africa or North America or Canada. It wasn't possible. It just wasn't possible. Only in recent times, in fact, in many of our own lifetimes, has this become possible. Through modern weaponry, through modern electronics, through modern technology, through modern satellites. Today, it would be possible for a ruler to actually rule the world from one spot. That wasn't possible even 200 years ago, that wasn't possible. So I'm saying the stage is set. It could happen now. It could happen 100 years from now. But the stage is set. This wasn't set before. In fact, in our lifetimes, most of this became possible. Secondly, chapter 13, Revelation tells us he's going to control global finance. Again, the verses, verse 17, that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark. That is the name of the beast. That beast is the Antichrist. He controls somehow the entire planet, and no one can buy anything or sell anything unless you're in league with this Antichrist. That wasn't possible in John's day. That wasn't possible even 100 years ago. It's easy today. With the push of a keystroke, you can make that happen today. All I'm saying is these things are now in place. What the Antichrist, according to scripture, needs to rule the world, we have now. Didn't have this 100 years ago, we do now. Is that an indicator we're near the end? Quite possibly. This has just become possible recently. Another one, verse seven, number seven. And there are more of these I could have given. These are the ones I tend to look towards. Paul says this, 2 Timothy, it's on your sheet. Understand this, that in the last days, now it's interesting, because what Paul describes here was going on in his day too. But here he is describing what the last days will be like. And get this description. Read this carefully. There will be times of difficulty. People will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy. Note these next two words, heartless. Doesn't that describe our day? Heartless. I mean, you can't reason with them. You can't sit them down and say, hey, Antifa, let's talk. You can't do that. You can't reason with a lot of these people in the world. I've seen videos of people trying to reason with some of these homosexual activists, and they just scream in your face. They're unreasonable, unappeasable, Paul says, slanderous, without self-control. Boy, is that true. Brutal. Look at that word, brutal. In just my lifetime, I've seen this stuff. Either I notice it more now, or it seems to be getting worse. not loving good, verse 4, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness but denying its power. That's most of our modern churches today. Avoid such people for among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Boy, is that true. Just as Janus and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men opposed the truth. Men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith." Now get that. Again, that was true in Paul's day. But boy, is it true today. And Paul says, the Spirit expressly said to the Apostle Paul, here's what the last days are going to look like. Well, folks, our world looks like this. Now again, could God send great revival on the planet? Sure he could. He's gracious and kind, and God has said, how many times has he surprised us when things look so bad, revival breaks? Look at New England or Jonathan Edwards. Could he do that? Sure he could. Could he turn us around for a while? Sure he could. Who knows? There may be yet some great insweeping of the gospel and people get swept into the kingdom. Who knows? But if things continue as they are, this is what you see. In my mind, in my humble opinion, for whatever it's worth, when you add up all seven of these, it does seem that if nothing changes, if God doesn't intervene and do something, we're nearing the end. Could it be in our lifetime? I don't know. Could be 100 years from now. I don't know that either. But everything's in place. These things are all in place. Israel's a huge one. Huge sign. Jesus talked about all these signs leading up to this, the beginnings of birth pangs. They seem to be here. Society is getting corrupt. The gospel is spreading throughout the planet. That's really the one to watch. Anybody disagree? Disagree with me? Am I making sense here? That's my thoughts. Again, you can find lots of good, solid biophysicists who say, Rick, you're crazy. Maybe I am. This is what I see. This is what I look at. This is what I think are the indications. Some thoughts. And I have to end with this. The proper attitude towards the second coming. I know a lot of you love prophecy. That's good. I do, too. But if your love for prophecy doesn't lead you to live a more holy life, you're not studying it right. If your love for prophecy is, what's the antichrist grandmother's name? People do that stuff, believe me. When I was still working, late at night I'd hear these guys on, Brother Stair was one of them, and all these other guys, they'd get down into the weeds of all this, like you can't be seriously saying that. Some do. If your study of prophecy doesn't make you hungry for the Lord's return, eager for his coming back, and eager to be pleasing to him when he comes back. Remember, Jesus gave all those warnings about, you don't know when this is gonna happen, therefore what manner of person ought you to be? Be ready for your Lord's return. If you're studying prophecy, he doesn't put that fire in you, you're not studying it right. Some verses on your sheet. Jesus said, Luke 21, 28, and I love this. This is all of that discourse. This is the same thing as Matthew 24. He says in Luke 21, Now when these things begin to take place, when you see this stuff happening, which we may be, straighten up. Don't walk around, oh no, the end's coming. Straighten up. Raise your heads, why? Because your redemption's drawing. That's what I was saying. When I see these evil things happening, I hate this stuff. I think, Lord, if this is hastening your return, then bring it on. If Christ is near, then I'm for it. Be ready, be ready. Spurgeon said, I said this before, he said, that quote was, my dog shamed me. I have two, I know what he's talking about. He said, when I leave the house, he said, my dogs wait at the doorway, longing for their master's return. And he says, when my carriage pulls into the driveway, they hear the first sound of my carriage wheels, my dogs, of course, typical Spurgeon, up and rejoice. My dogs do rejoice. But they get so excited at the first sign that the Master is coming. Spurgeon says, that should be our attitude towards our Lord's return. At the first hint, Lord, could this be it? Oh, Lord, please come back. That's what the Bible teaches. Mike? Your dogs do that when I pull them. Oh, yeah. They'll accept any Messiah. Yeah, you're right. But you see the attitude there. He's absolutely right. Prophecy should lead you to long for your Lord's return. and to long for holiness. 2 Peter 3, Peter says this, verse 11, on your sheet. Since all these things are to be dissolved, here he talks about that incredible destruction of the heavens and the earth. Since all of these things are going to be dissolved, he says, what sort of people ought you to be in the lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for, notice, and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt. All these things are gonna happen. Have you read Revelation lately? Have you read Daniel lately? That's all gonna happen. Peter said, what kind of people want you to be? Holy and reverent and longing for his return. I find the older I get, the more I long for his return. I'm tired of being a pilgrim. I'm tired of being an outcast. I'm tired of not being home. Aren't you? Are you getting there? Lord, I wanna go home. I'm tired of being in exile. Peter says, seeing these things are coming, should spur us to pray. Pray for the missionaries. Pray for the gospel. Pray for the world. Pray for the Lord's return. Should spur us on to say, Lord, I don't want to be this sinful mess when you come back, Lord. I want to repent of my sins. I want to be something that when you come back, you find me, as Luke 12 says, so doing when he returns. Occupied till he comes. Revelation 1, here's John's attitude. Behold, he's coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. That's Israel. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn, will wail. What a sad day. What does John say? Maranatha, Lord, come. When he comes in, when Jesus appears, the earth is gonna mourn and wail for what's coming. Remember, Revelation 6 says they're gonna pray for the rocks to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. What does John say? Come on, Lord. Come on, Lord. Don't you feel that way? When I think of human trafficking and the horrors of that, I say, oh, Lord, we're never going to stop that. Oh, Lord, come on. When I think of all the Holocaust of abortion, oh, Lord, come on, Lord, come, don't you? You see all this horror in the world, the atrocities of Islam and all this murders and hatred. Oh, Lord, come on, Lord, come on, Lord. That's John's attitude. Come, Lord Jesus, come. You often think you've seen the worst, and then you see tomorrow's news like, whoa, they did what? Dean? That's what the martyrs under the throne are saying. Exactly. How long? You're right. Good point. How long, Lord, are you going to let this go on? Lord, please put an end to this. And of course, the book of Revelation, the Bible ends with this thought I'm telling you right now. Revelation 20 through 20. It's on your sheet. The Bible ends this way. He who testifies to these things says, surely, I'm coming soon. Remember, Revelation is full of all these horrors. What does he say? Maranatha. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Oh, Lord, come. That should be your prayer. When you see all this stuff going on in the streets today and all this, whatever it is, tomorrow the news will be something even worse and different. Lord, come on, please. Even if it's 100 years from now. Everyone in this room is going to see him before that. You have an appointment. It seems to me most modern churches, now I may have been painting with too broad a brush, most modern churches today believe this heresy. As long as you believe in your head things about Jesus, it doesn't matter how you live. I've been counseling people just this last several weeks who believe that. As long as I have Jesus in my head, it doesn't matter if I sleep with my girlfriend, take drugs, lie in steel, that's crazy. But there's a whole lot of churches now that are teaching that. We're gonna do several weeks on this kind of stuff, though not quite as speculative. I encourage you, beware of speculation, beware of rumors. And somebody said, I heard somebody on the radio say, whatever it is you're going to believe, that's a tie to the scriptures. And again, even these have to be interpreted. And there will be differences among us. That's fine. But in my humble opinion, I think if God doesn't intervene and bring us great revival soon, I think we're heading that way. I think we're getting close. How close is close? I don't know. Maybe 100 years. I don't know. Maybe 10 years. Maybe next year. I don't know. I don't know. But I know that these signs seem to be in the world today. Let's close in prayer. Our Lord, we thank you for your word, Lord, but help us to accurately handle it. We thank you, Lord. You haven't left us without witness. You haven't left us without truth, Lord. The world around us would seem so disturbing and disquieting were it not for your word, were it not that we have your assurances that you are going to come back, as Kenny said, and finally put everything right. Oh, Lord, may it be soon. Maranatha, come, Lord Jesus. We thank you for these truths. We thank you for these indicators. Lord, we know that you are keeping us, and you've promised us we will not fall away. You've promised us we will not be deceived. The church will know. So Lord, we thank you. We have your word. We have your spirit. Lord, we can rest in that. Even though the world falls apart, Lord, your kingdom does not. And we belong to you. We are safely in your hand. Even though the whole world lies in the lap of the evil one, Lord, we are of the Lord. And we thank you for that. Help us, Lord, to have confidence, not to be afraid, to know our Bibles well and to look at the world around us and interpret it through your scriptures. We ask it all for his glory in his name.