Prophecies of End Times”
# 1 - “The Signs of His Coming”
Matthew 24:3-12
By Rev. John R. Hannem, Calvary Baptist Church, North Sydney, NS – May 3rd 2009
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Whenever something climatic occurs in our world; whether it be “The Persian Gulf War” in 1990, or the September 11 Terrorist Attack in 2001 we hear the question, “Do you think this could be the beginning of the end times?” The subject of the “end times,” or eschatology if you want to be technical, has always been an area of fascination. Tonight I would like to begin a short series entitled “ Prophecies of End Times.” It is my intention to give a broad overview of the scope of Biblical Prophecy as it pertains to the second coming.
Three pertinent warnings
I think that we have to begin our study with some words of caution. First, beware of losing your balance in the study of prophecy. I agree with Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of the foremost preachers of his day, when said: “Beware of losing your balance with respect to this doctrine (the study of the end times). Beware of becoming an exclusivist. There are some people who take it up as a study and it almost becomes an obsession to them so that they see nothing else in the Scriptures.”
Secondly, we must beware of setting dates for the second coming of Christ. Jesus warns in Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour no one know, no, not even the angels in heaven, but my Father only.” Yet at regular intervals throughout world history, fear of what might happen in the future has prompted many individuals to latch onto a particular date for Christ’s return and plan some radical action to take on or before the date. Some notable, examples are; back in 1843, William Miller came to believe that Christ’s coming was imminent. Using some dubious mathematical calculations he announced to his followers that the date for the Second Coming was to be March 21, 1843. At midnight on the appointed date he and his followers donned ascension robes, trekked into the mountains and climbed towering trees, to get as high as possible so they would have less time traveling through the air to be with the Lord. And they waited for Jesus. That date came and went so he (Miller) recalculated and set a new date exactly one year later. This date also came and went without the return of Christ, Miller’s followers quickly scattered.
Our own generation has seen it share of “date setters” as well; one such was a man named Edgar Whiseant, who sold 4.3 million copies of his book entitled “88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be In 1988.” In a particular mix of Old Testament feasts and mathematical formulation he concluded that Jesus would arrive in September of 1988. When that date came and went, he of course wrote another book entitled “Final Shout” of which he sold 30,000 copies, in which he predicted Christ return in 1989. He obviously was wrong again.
To reject date setting, however, does not mean that we should go to the other extreme and ignore what the Bible says about the future.
Third, beware of making agreement with your view of end times a test of fellowship. We need to remember that among genuine believers there will be differences on matters of eschatology. As Ed Hinson warns, “The facts of prophecy are clear, but the assumptions we draw from those facts and the speculations we make off those assumptions are another matter.”
Since much of the interpretation of prophecy rests on the symbolism in the books of Daniel and Revelation, and since we cannot know for sure if all our assumptions are right until they happen, we need to be cautious about assuming that we are completely right and that everyone who disagrees with us is wrong.
Tonight there are three things that I would like for us to understand about studying end times!
First, We Must Understand The Reasons To Study The Second Coming.
There are of course many good reasons that can be given for a study bible prophecy, but I just want to give three.
First, the study of bible prophecy is good because through it we see the reliability of the word of God. The Bible sets as a requirement for a prophet that he be 100% accurate. Deut.18:22 states “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumpt-uously; you shall not be afraid of him.”
Over the course of the centuries many people have set themselves up as people who can foresee the future.
We still hear of the predictions of Nostradamus, a French spiritist who lived in the 1500’s. Every so often they run a supposed documentary on his life and his predictions on one of the cable channels. But his predictions are so vague they could fit any number of situations while at the same time fulfilling none.
Jeane Dixon boasted that she was 80% accurate. But Dixon’s predictions are so vague that they fit many different events, so it is easy to see how she gained her level of accuracy. But even at 80% she falls far short of the Biblical requirement of 100% accuracy (Deut 18:22).
Secondly, the study of bible prophecy is good because believers who understand prophecy will not give in to fear as the world situation seems to get worse and worse. In John 14:1-3 Jesus connected His ascension and return, both future events, to the disciple’s current experience of peace. "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (2) In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
Later in John 16:1 Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.” In other words Jesus said “Men, if you are able to understand what I am telling you about the future, you will not panic when you see these things happening.”
In John 16:4 Jesus said, “… these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them….” In effect Jesus said, “I have told you about these things so that when they happen you will not be blown off course.”
Prophecy has been given so that the believer does not give in to fear because of what is happening in the world, because we have a sense of what God is up to.
Third, the study of bible prophecy is good because it leads believers to live a holy life. You may not have stopped to think about it but almost without exception, New Testament references to the coming of Christ are followed by an exhortation to godliness and holy living. In Titus 2:11-12 Paul warns, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, (12) teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age”
Although the study of prophecy will prove the reliability of God’s word and give us peace in the midst of frightening world, we have missed the whole purpose if it does not produce in us a holy life.
Secondly, We Must Be Able To Distinguish Between The Rapture and the Second Coming.
We must understand at the outset when we speak of the second coming that it can be divided into two very distinct stages!
First, Jesus will come for his saints in the clouds and take them to heaven. (1 Thess. 4:16-18). “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. (17)Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (18) Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
This of course refers to the “rapture” of the saints.
Secondly, according to Rev. 19:11-16 Jesus will come with his saints to the earth to establish His kingdom.
Jesus will also return to the earth with the armies of heaven which will include the saints. He will defeat Satan and establish a kingdom on the earth that will last for a thousand years.
We need to make no mistake about it according to Isaiah 46:9-11 there is a divine plan and an orderly process to the events the unfolding history. God has declared, “...I am God and there is none like me, (10) Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done…. (11) … Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.”
In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus reveals the signs of his coming and gives us a basic outline of future events leading to his return. Though we cannot know every detail, it is evident that we are expected to discern the basic time frame of Bible prophecy.
Third, We Must Comprehend The Signs Of The Second Coming. (Matt. 24: 3-18)
In verse three of Matthew 24 the disciples asked the same question that man still wants answered today, “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
When the disciples heard Jesus’ teaching concerning the destruction of the temple it is clear that the disciple’s interpretation of what Jesus had said about the destruction of the temple (v. 2) was synonymous with the end of the world
In answer to the disciples question Jesus then gave five signs that would precede His Coming (the number of signs of course is determined by the way they are divided).
1. The Sign of Deception Among the Saints. (vv. 4-5) “And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. (5) For many will come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ,' and will deceive many”
Toward the end of the age, Jesus has warned us that there will be an increase in deception and a tremendous potential for people to be deceived. One of the definite signs of Christ’s coming is that in the last days there will be more and more false teachers. These false teachers will propagate their own version of the truth rather than the truth as revealed in Christ. Taking advantage of people they will use their teachings to control others and to enrich themselves.
Foolishly accepting their teachings many will be led astray. Paul warns the young pastor Timothy in 1Timothy 4:1-3, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, (2) speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, (3) forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”
One Christian leader claims that since 1900, over 1,100 people have claimed to be Christ. I’m not sure where he came up with the number 1,100. But there have been scores of people this century who claimed to be the Messiah including Charles Manson, Jim Jones of the People’s Temple, David Koresh of the Branch Davidians and Marshall Applewhite of the Heaven’s Gate UFO Cult.
Bible believing Christians believe that the presence of these false Christs (of which I have mentioned only a few) will culminate in the appearance of one final Anti-Christ who is mentioned in 1 John 2:18. With breathtaking advances in mass media, it becomes increasingly more feasible for false Christs to disseminate their messages on a world-wide scale. And one day the ultimate false Christ – the Anti-Christ step out and will be widely accepted on a world-wide scale.
2. The Sign of Disputes Among Nations. (vv. 6-7a) “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. (7) For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”
Historians all agree that the 20th century was unparalleled in the scale of its human misery created by other humans. No period has witnessed the escalation of wars as has the the past 100years. The Red Cross has estimated that over 100 million people have been killed in wars since the 20th Century began. This is not including genocide of Russians opposed to Stalin, the Jews exterminated during the Holocaust, nor the bloodthirsty regimes of Idi Amin’s in Uganda, Pol Pot’s in Cambodia, or Mao Tse Tung in China.
Up until 1914, war had never been universal, but in both World War I and II, total war was waged.
Since World War II, there have been numerous major wars and hundreds of rebellions and revolutions. The death toll in conflicts since the end of World War II has topped 23 million.
3. The Sign of Devastation Around the World. (v. 7b) “… And there will be famines, pestilences….”
Harvard University scientists estimate that there are over 25 million people worldwide who have full-blown AIDS, and an additional 100 million people will be infected with the HIV virus. However, AIDS is not the only modern plague to afflict mankind. Virtually unheard of among our ancestors, over 100 different kinds of cancer now kill over 5 million people every year. The depletion of the ozone layer, which blocks much of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, is thought to be responsible for a dramatic rise in melanoma, a deadly skin cancer.
“….and earthquakes in various places.”
The World Almanac tells us that there were only 21 earthquakes of major strength between the years 1000 and 1800. But between 1800 and 1900 there were 18 major earthquakes. In the next 50 years, between 1900 and 1950, there were 33 major quakes, and between 1950 and 2009 there were over 125 major earthquakes, almost quadrupling the number of the previous half century, and claiming the lives of 1.7 million people around the world. This dramatic increase of severe quakes has led many scientists to predict that we are entering a new period of great seismic disturbances.
Beginning in verse eight Jesus corrects the mistaken impression of the disciples that “everything that seems to be a sign of the end of times is in reality such a sign.” It is a mistake to take these separate happenings as infallible indications that end of the age is immediately in sight. But in spite of clear warning found here, there are modern day prophecy experts who speak on “The Signs of the Times” and on the basis of some earthquake or war or threatening comet predict this is “the infallible sign” of Christ’s imminent return.
In verse eight the Lord summarized all of the above signs as merely “ … All these are the beginning of sorrows (“sorrows” is literally- birth pangs).” The distinction of labor pains is that as the time of the birth gets closer the pain increases, the intensity grows and the frequency grows. The point being made is that although the characteristics that Jesus points out can be seen in every age they will increase and intensify as the time of Jesus’ coming draws near.
4. The Sign Of Intense Persecution (v.9)
"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. (10) And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.”
According to International Christian Concern (@ www. persecution.org), “more Christians are persecuted and martyred for their faith in this past century than all previous centuries combined.”
5. The Sign Of Apostasy and Falling Away
(vv. 11-12) “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. (12) And because lawless-ness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”
Some believers will fall away, because of the trials and testings of life. Unable to answer “why” specific injustices and inequalities exist, why tragedies and suffering occur, many will turn from the faith. Some will fall away because “lawlessness” or “inquity” abound, in other words because they have a desire to do that which is wrong they turn their back on the faith. Enamored with the sinful pleasures of the world, many people who once professed faith have been lured away from the LORD and they are no longer living for him.
The George Barna Group has uncovered some of the ways people in North America are being deceived today.
59% do not believe in Satan
51% believe praying to dead saints is beneficial
35% believe you can communicate with the dead
50% believe salvation is earned and not a gift.
75% believe people are born neither good nor evil—they make a choice between the two as they mature.
44% believe the Bible, the Koran and the Book of Mormon are all different expressions of the same truth.
54% believe truth can only be discovered through logic, human reasoning and personal experience.” (See www.barna.org “North Americans Draw Theological Beliefs From a Divers Point of View”)
All these are signs of His Coming, But Thank the Lord, He is Coming!!!! Next week we examine “The Rapture.”
#239 – Jesus Is Coming Again