Participants: Kenneth Cox
Series Code: GMTB
Program Code: GMTB000008
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00:19 Well it's my pleasure to welcome you to
00:22 this 3ABN Worship Center right here in Thompsonville, Illinois, 00:27 where we have the great pleasure 00:29 of presenting the series 00:32 by Pastor Kenneth Cox 00:33 Give Me The Bible. 00:35 And today the subject is 00:38 The Signs of the Coming of Jesus Christ. 00:41 Now Pastor Cox is a Bible scholar 00:44 and on top of that he's a historian. 00:47 But he's also one who is an observer of current events. 00:52 And today I know that he is going to be looking at 00:57 some current events and telling us how these things relate 01:02 to Christ's return. 01:04 We believe with all of our hearts that 01:06 Jesus Christ is coming soon. 01:08 And I know that sometimes people say: 01:10 "Well, He's delayed His coming. " 01:12 But I want to tell you, I'm so glad He has 01:14 because there are so many more 01:16 that are going to be in the kingdom as a result of that 01:20 delay. But one of these days He's going to say 01:23 "It's time, " and He is going to come. 01:28 And my friend we want to be ready for that. 01:30 And we are looking today at signs that tell us 01:34 that that is going to be very soon. 01:37 Before Pastor Cox comes, 01:39 Walter Arties is going to sing for us 01:42 My Faith Looks Up to Thee. 02:09 My faith looks up 02:14 to Thee. 02:17 Thou 02:19 Lamb of 02:22 Calvary, 02:28 Savior 02:30 divine! 02:39 Now hear me while 02:43 I pray, 02:48 Take all my 02:51 guilt away, 02:56 O let me 03:01 from this day 03:06 Be wholly 03:12 Thine. 03:18 May Thy rich grace 03:23 impart 03:26 Strength to my 03:30 fainting heart, 03:36 My zeal 03:40 inspire; 03:47 As Thou 03:50 hast died for me, 03:56 O may my love 04:02 to Thee 04:05 Pure, warm, 04:10 and changeless be, 04:14 A living 04:21 fire. 04:40 Amen. 04:43 Thank you very much, Walter. 04:45 Enjoyed that. 04:47 Faith in God is what counts in our experience day by day. 04:52 We're very happy to welcome all of you again to 04:55 Give Me The Bible. 04:57 Take a look at what the Bible has to say about the 04:59 coming of Jesus Christ. 05:02 That's what we're looking at... 05:03 different aspects concerning the coming of Jesus Christ. 05:07 And this morning we're looking at the signs 05:10 of Christ's coming and what we're talking about is 05:14 current-day signs that tell you and I 05:17 that Jesus is coming soon. 05:20 That's what we want to know... what the Bible says. 05:22 What says the Bible, the blessed Bible? 05:25 This my only question be. 05:29 The signs of the coming of Jesus Christ 05:32 are now all around us. 05:34 What says the Bible to me? 05:36 That's what we want to find out. 05:38 That's what we're looking at. 05:40 Uh, our next presentation is on the coming of Jesus Christ, 05:45 and we're going to take a look at the manner 05:47 of the coming of Christ. How Jesus Christ is coming back. 05:51 What the scripture says about the manner in which 05:54 He will be coming. 05:55 And so that's what our next presentation will be on 05:59 is the coming of Jesus Christ. 06:02 But this morning... what are you looking for? 06:05 What do you want to find in what we're talking about? 06:11 Uh, we want to look, folks, 06:14 at signs that as far as I'm concerned 06:18 are universal. 06:21 They don't just affect us here, they affect everybody. 06:24 Going to take a look at some of those signs. 06:26 And then we're going to look at some signs that the Lord 06:29 has given that deal with specific things. 06:32 And so those are the things that you want to look for 06:35 and understand about the time in which you and I 06:38 are living today. 06:40 Because without question, you'd pretty much have to 06:44 shut your eyes and not be aware of what's going on 06:49 to miss the signs that we see taking place today. 06:53 So I hope it will be helpful to you 06:55 as we take a look at some of these signs. 06:58 Look forward to the day when Christ will come back. 07:02 You know... Think! It says He will come back with a shout 07:05 and the voice of the archangel, and it tells us 07:09 that all the dead in the grave will hear His voice 07:13 and will come forth. Look forward to that day. 07:16 Walter is going to sing for you Hear The Trumpet Sound. 07:43 Father Gabriel in that day 07:45 he'll take wings and fly away, 07:48 for to hear the trumpet sound in that morning. 07:53 He will blow it in the east, 07:56 he will blow it in the west, 07:58 and we'll hear the trumpet sound 08:01 in that mornin'. 08:03 In that mornin', my Lord, how I long to go 08:09 for to hear the trumpet sound 08:11 in that mornin'. 08:26 Talk about me as you please, 08:29 I'll talk about you on my knees, 08:32 for I want to hear that trumpet 08:34 in that mornin'. 08:37 Just a while down here below 08:39 then to glory I will go 08:42 for to hear the trumpet sound 08:44 in that mornin'. 08:47 In that mornin', my Lord, 08:50 how I long to go 08:52 for to hear the trumpet sound 08:55 in that mornin'. 09:22 Oh I love to shout and sing 09:26 praises to my Heavenly King, 09:28 for He'll make the trumpet sound in that mornin'. 09:33 Then on the wings of love I'll fly 09:36 to the paradise on high 09:38 when I hear the trumpet sound 09:41 in that mornin'. 09:43 In that mornin', my Lord, 09:47 how I long to go 09:49 for to hear the trumpet sound in that mornin'. 09:54 In that mornin', my Lord, 09:57 how I long to go 10:00 for to hear the trumpet 10:03 sound 10:07 in that 10:11 mornin'. 10:27 Amen. 10:43 Father in Heaven, we look forward to hearing 10:47 that trumpet sound! 10:49 We ask that each of us may place our lives in Your hands 10:55 that we might anxiously, longingly, 11:00 look forward to that day when You're coming back. 11:03 Bless us today. Give us Your Spirit, Lord. 11:07 Give us understanding 11:09 that we might prepare our hearts... 11:12 that we might look forward to that day when You return. 11:17 For this we pray in Christ's name, Amen. 11:26 Christ had some very clear and direct words 11:32 concerning His coming. 11:34 And He told us some things that's rather interesting. 11:38 Notice what He had to say here: 11:49 Now we have a saying that goes along with that, don't we? 11:51 We say: "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. " 11:57 So we... we understand that. 11:59 Red sky at night, sailor's delight. 12:01 Christ goes on, and He says here: 12:10 And we have a saying that goes with that. 12:12 Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning. 12:16 So we understand that. 12:18 We've grown up with that. 12:20 We understand that those are signs that if the sun 12:24 is setting, it's bright red and clear, 12:27 we know we're going to have a nice day the next day. 12:29 We understand that. 12:31 Christ mentioned those. 12:32 Now listen to what He says: 12:44 He said: "You can look at the sky and you know what's 12:47 going to happen, but you can't discern 12:49 the signs of the times? " 12:51 If anybody ever in the history of this world 12:56 should be able to discern the signs, 12:59 it's you and I today. 13:01 I mean they're there. They're clear. 13:03 We're going to look at them this morning. 13:05 Signs that God has given us concerning His coming. 13:09 We need to understand that. 13:11 We need to make sure that our hearts are right 13:15 and that we are prepared for His coming. 13:18 Now He says: "When you see these things" - or when these 13:21 things happen, or begin to happen... 13:31 So He said: "When you see all these signs that are happening 13:34 and taking place today, 13:36 then you ought to rejoice. 13:41 You ought to be happy 13:43 because your redemption is drawing near. " 13:45 And I hope by the time we're through at the end 13:48 of this presentation that you will understand 13:52 that the signs that are taking place are definite 13:55 indications that you and I need to be prepared 13:59 for the Lord's coming. 14:00 That needs to happen. So we're going to go 14:03 to a sign that I believe definitely affects us today 14:07 in a very, very real way. And it says here 14:13 in Revelation 11 verse 18: 14:26 Said: "That time's come. " 14:40 That's the sign I want to look at here. 14:42 "Shall destroy those who destroy the earth. " 14:47 We need to take a close look at that. 14:49 These are signs, folks, that I'm sharing with you 14:53 that are, as far as I'm concerned, universal. 14:56 They affect everyone. 14:59 They affect you; they affect people on the other side 15:02 of the world. Throughout our listening audience 15:06 by television or by radio no matter where you are 15:09 any place in the world, these signs affect you. 15:14 Now, I know we live in a time when there's a lot being said 15:18 about global warming and what's going on there. 15:22 And I find people on both sides of the fence concerning 15:26 global warming. These signs have nothing to do 15:29 in a sense with global warming. 15:33 These are signs that affect us today and will continue 15:37 to affect you and me. 15:39 1. World population. 15:42 That definitely affects all of us. 15:46 What's happened there? 15:47 If you take the chart we've got here... 15:50 If you start way back in the beginning 15:52 and you just come down, 15:53 that bottom line is talking 15:55 about years, OK? 15:58 And the line that goes up, 15:59 that's talking about the number 16:01 of people - billions. 16:03 And so if you take a look at it, 16:05 it works like this: 16:06 it took us 1800 years 16:11 to reach 1 billion people. 16:15 OK? 16:17 1800 years 16:20 to reach 1 billion people. 16:24 OK? 16:27 Watch. 16:28 This is what's happening, folks. 16:30 This is what's happening now, 16:32 today. 16:36 That's what the population is doing. 16:40 I mean, when we hit 1 billion 16:43 and made that curve, 16:44 it's gone straight up since then. 16:48 Right on up till today 16:50 we stand at 6,750,000,000 people 16:56 and it keeps going all the time. 16:59 Growing every, every day. 17:02 What does that mean? 17:04 That means that the population 17:06 is exponentially growing like you and I 17:10 don't even understand. 17:13 Give you an idea. 17:16 By the year 2050 - 17:20 that's basically 41 years away - 17:23 the earth's population will be 17:26 9.5 billion people. 17:30 You understand what that means? 17:32 That means in basically 40 years 17:37 you have a 50% increase 17:40 in population. 17:42 A 50% increase. 17:44 Now that may... You say, "Well, so... so what? " 17:51 Well, if you have more people, folks, 17:56 you have more mouths to feed. 17:59 That's just a simple fact of life. 18:02 And this is what we're doing. 18:05 This is what we're affected with. 18:07 This reminds me of what Jesus 18:09 said in Matthew 24 verse 22. 18:11 He said: "Except those days be shortened, 18:15 no flesh would be saved. " 18:19 And we're coming to that. 18:21 I want to show you what that's doing to us. 18:23 Land. 18:25 Now, any way you want to look at it, folks, 18:31 there's just only so much land. 18:33 That's not something that we can grow. 18:36 You can't... can't grow land. It's there and that's it. 18:42 So what has happened to our land? 18:44 Watch what's happening. 18:46 I showed you the population. 18:48 The population here. 18:49 I showed you how it went just like that. 18:51 The top line there 18:54 has to do with pasture and farmland. 18:57 That's where we get our food. 18:59 That's what grows food for us. 19:01 OK? As you can look there, 19:04 it was fine... went along just fine. 19:08 Nothing changed; everything worked fine 19:12 until we hit 1900. 19:16 And then all of a sudden it starts dropping. 19:20 So by the time we hit 2009, 19:24 those two lines cross. 19:27 You understand what that means? 19:32 When those lines cross, folks, 19:35 that means there are places now 19:39 that can't... we cannot produce 19:42 enough food for the population. 19:46 That means famine. 19:49 And that's where we are today! 19:52 We're... we're faced with that today 19:55 because those lines have crossed. 19:58 It makes a tremendous amount of difference. 20:10 OK? 20:12 To feed an American 20:15 it takes 3 acres of land. 20:17 To each one of you 20:20 it takes 3 acres of land 20:23 to feed you. 20:26 For a Chinese it takes 1 acre. 20:30 And by the way, China has used up 20:35 almost all of their land... farmland and all... 20:41 it's all being used today. 20:45 America? Yes, we still have land, 20:48 but just remember... the ole population is rising 20:52 and it takes 3 acres to feed you. 20:57 Also, not only takes 3 acres to feed you 21:00 but it takes another acre of land just to take care of you 21:05 as far as urban and highways and all. 21:10 Do you realize that every year - 21:15 listen to me - every year 21:18 a piece of land the size of the state of Maine 21:22 turns to concrete. 21:27 Every year that happens in this country. 21:30 And so our land, little by little by little, 21:35 is being used up. This is true all over the world. 21:41 Now face that. However you want to look at it, 21:44 something has to happen. 21:47 Something happens to take place. 21:49 Water? You've got more people, 21:54 you have to have water for them to drink. 21:57 You have to have water to sustain life. 22:00 That's necessary. 22:01 So where are we in that respect? 22:04 Every individual uses about 4 quarts of water a day. 22:10 That's drinking water and that's water that's in your food 22:15 and so forth. That' what we use: about 4 quarts. 22:18 Notice... 2000 quarts. 22:23 It takes 2000 quarts of water 22:27 every day just to care for you. 22:34 I'm talking about it takes 2000 quarts of water 22:37 to grow the food and that type of thing that you eat. 22:40 Each one of you use about 2000 quarts of water 22:45 every day. 22:49 All over the world. 22:53 So when we're looking at water, 22:54 this is basically what happens. 22:57 Of the water that's used throughout the world, 23:01 about 70% of it is used in irrigation. 23:05 That's the greatest use of water there is is irrigation. 23:09 Industry uses about 20%. 23:12 Residences use about 10%. 23:16 That is how the water's used. 23:18 Now, what does that mean? 23:21 Every American... every American 23:24 uses 500,00 gallons of water 23:30 a year. 23:31 Every American uses 23:34 500,000 gallons of water a year. 23:39 So what... what is that doing to us 23:43 when we talk about it? What's happening? 23:46 I... I hope you can see this, 23:48 and I hope you can visualize it. 23:50 I'll try to help you understand 23:52 what's happening here. 23:54 It's taken the world and just divided it up into 4 groups. 23:57 And this represents how much land... 24:01 excuse me, how much water is being used 24:04 in each one. And the dark blue, 24:08 the very dark blue, 24:09 is where the least amount of water is being used. 24:15 The light blue... People living there are 24:18 using about 20% 24:21 of the water that's available. 24:24 OK? 24:25 The tan... they use about 40% 24:30 of the water that's available. 24:33 And the dark uses above that. 24:36 Now, what I want you to look at, 24:38 look at North America up there. 24:41 Kind of the light blue. 24:43 You can look at different countries of the world 24:45 that are in light blue. 24:46 This is 1995. 24:50 Let me show you what it's going to look like in 2025. 24:58 That's the way it'll look. 25:00 United States will have gone from light blue to tan. 25:04 Many countries will have used up 25:08 much more water than they are receiving. 25:12 That's what we face. 25:14 That affects every human being, folks. 25:17 I can tell you. They talk about shortage of oil, 25:21 that doesn't start to compare with the problem that we have 25:25 with water. 25:26 And so we need to understand what's happening, 25:30 what's taking place in this old world as far as the water supply 25:33 is concerned. It's not until the well runs dry 25:36 that we know the worth of water. 25:39 That's what Benjamin Franklin had to say. 25:46 Well, let's talk a little bit about the rainforest. 25:51 You don't hear much about it. 25:54 At one time, the rainforest covered 14% 26:00 of the world. 26:03 Today it covers 6%. 26:09 That much of it's been used. 26:12 Now, you say: "Well, so what? 26:14 Cuttin' down trees and using them? So what? " 26:18 Well folks, the rainforests are referred to 26:23 as the lungs of the planet. 26:26 See, that's the greatest source that we have 26:31 of turning carbon dioxide into oxygen. 26:36 What's happening to it? 26:38 Look at this: 27:07 That... that's doing away with the greatest source that we 27:12 have of oxygen. 27:14 That's what we're doing to the planet. 27:19 That's why the Bible says: 27:33 The perplexity... what do you do? 27:37 How do you handle when the land is being used up? 27:42 Disappearing? How do you handle when the water 27:46 is being used up? 27:48 The oxygen supply is disappearing. 27:51 What are you going to do with that? 27:54 Perplexities. 28:09 That's where we stand today. 28:11 Those are universal signs 28:14 that affect every man, woman, and child 28:17 on the face of the earth. 28:22 Natural disasters. 28:24 Have you? Have you noticed? 28:28 Has it? I mean, has it come to your attention any? 28:32 Have you noticed what's happening 28:34 as far as natural disasters are concerned? 28:48 That's what's happening in your lifetime, my lifetime, 28:52 right now. Natural disasters that are taking place. 28:58 Tornadoes. I was raised, folks, 29:03 in Oklahoma. 29:05 Oklahoma is tornado alley. 29:08 OK? Let me tell you something. 29:10 You do not have... listen to me... 29:14 you do not have tornadoes in Oklahoma 29:19 in the first part of February. 29:25 You don't have those. 29:29 And we just did. 29:31 Tore up cities and killed people. 29:35 That's totally out of order. 29:39 Just doesn't happen; doesn't take place. 29:42 But it did. 29:45 Something is out of order. 29:49 Natural disasters are taking place like we have never 29:53 experienced. I have people say: 29:55 "Oh, we've had these for years. We've had all those things. " 29:58 Not in my lifetime! 30:01 Tell you for sure. 30:04 No! The natural disasters we are seeing today 30:08 are totally different 30:10 than they were 30, 40 years ago. 30:22 We are to the place today where we kind of... 30:25 we stand and wait and wonder 30:29 what the season's going to bring 30:31 when it comes to hurricanes. 30:34 They've increased so much. 30:38 Earthquakes. 30:59 And by the way, the old King James version 31:02 says in devious places... or in diverse places... 31:08 it speaks of. Which it means places where 31:12 you normally don't have 'em. 31:15 And today we have earthquakes in places that we didn't think 31:20 would have earthquakes. 31:21 Someone was just telling me that we even have an, uh, 31:25 something that gives us indication on the moon 31:29 that are taking place. Earthquakes that are happening, 31:33 indications of where we are. 31:44 Quarter of a million people perished 31:47 in a matter of a few minutes. Gone. 31:53 I'm talking about natural disasters that are happening 31:56 today, folks. 31:58 I'm not talking about something that happened 100 years ago. 32:01 I'm talking about what you've seen in the last couple years. 32:05 Whoever thought? 32:10 Whoever thought of fires as a natural disaster? 32:16 You know? 32:19 We didn't think that way. 32:20 We didn't think of fires... 32:24 You never heard about a fire being, you know... 32:29 such as we had in California 32:31 when they had to evacuate 1,000,000 people. 32:35 I mean... Yes, they've always had fires in California. 32:38 That's kind of a natural thing, 32:40 but NOT LIKE THIS! 32:42 Folks, I've walked through where those fires were. 32:48 Those fires were so hot 32:51 that they took refrigerators and just melted 'em down. 32:57 There were balls of fire in those fires that would just... 33:03 the heat was beyond anything that anybody has described 33:07 or known about. 33:10 Australia? Worst fires ever. 33:15 Over 200 people have lost their lives. 33:18 This has... this has just happened. 33:21 These are signs. You and I must wake up. 33:25 We mustn't continue on and say: 33:27 "Well, this has just been there. " 33:29 NO IT HASN'T JUST BEEN THERE! 33:32 Those are signs of the times in which we are living. 33:36 Famines. 33:38 I'm talking about right now. 33:41 I'm not talking about a year ago. 33:44 I'm not talking about two years ago. 33:46 I'm talking about right now 13,000,000 people 33:51 face starvation. 33:55 13,000,000 face starvation. 34:01 Not enough food to eat. 34:05 Hard to comprehend. 34:11 I remember when I went over to the country of Haiti. 34:20 Stood there and watched 34:23 two little girls running their hands through the sewer 34:28 trying to find something to eat. 34:33 Depressed me so bad I went back to the room 34:36 and wouldn't even come out for a couple days. 34:39 Just couldn't stand the thought. 34:42 13,000,000 people 34:46 that are dying 34:49 because they don't have enough to eat. 34:54 I'm talking about the condition today that we live in. 34:59 What's happening in our old world. 35:03 Paul wrote to Timothy and he told him certain things 35:07 that were going to happen describing the last days. 35:10 I want you to listen to them. 35:19 Now he's talking about the time in which you and I are living. 35:23 Perilous times shall come here, II Timothy the third chapter. 35:32 Very true today... but listen to the next one. 35:38 Does that strike any chord with you? 35:41 I mean... I stand there in amazement 35:46 that Wall Street and what is taking place there 35:52 totally from the love of money. 35:55 And even... even after Congress 36:01 was hard enough on them to tell them 36:03 "Leave, you don't need anything" 36:06 and had them come back 36:07 in which they were supposed to have done some housekeeping, 36:12 you know, and straighten things up, 36:15 got rid of some things that they had 36:18 and their bonuses and all that 36:21 and sat there and listened to them go down the line 36:24 after the housekeeping's been done. 36:28 And they say: "Oh well, my salary's not been $1,000,000. " 36:35 Time in which we are living... the love of money. 36:38 I don't think there's ever been a time 36:42 in which it's more true than today. 36:45 Try to convince you, try to convince me 36:49 that the problem we're having with oil is shortage. 36:55 Try to convince me of that! 36:57 Wish somebody would. 37:00 Because, I mean, when you're talking about it and here 37:05 the price of oil per barrel drops in January 37:11 and the price at the pump goes up. 37:13 And they tell me that's shortage? 37:16 Just doesn't fit. 37:19 It does fit one thing: the love of money. 37:23 That it fits. 37:35 Describes the condition. 37:37 Do you understand, folks, the moral condition of today? 37:42 That one... listen to me... 37:45 one out of every 100 Americans is in prison. 37:53 Think that! 37:55 One out of every 100 are in prison. 38:13 Right down the list you could spend a whole 38:16 morning just on one of those things. 38:20 That's what's happening. 38:32 Certainly the time we are living today. 38:36 "Lovers of pleasure more than the lovers of God... " 38:47 That is the condition we're in. 38:50 What has it done to us? 38:53 Well, at the present time... 38:57 or I shouldn't say at the present time... 38:58 the latest statistics I could get was 2007... 39:03 2007: 36.1 million people 39:09 in this world have AIDS. 39:12 36.1 million people. 39:16 And, you know, I appreciate very much all that's being done 39:22 to try to meet that problem. 39:26 Trying to find out a cure of some kind. 39:31 And then to have them come on the television and say 39:35 that the cure they were trying to do wasn't helping anybody... 39:39 it was probably hurting them. 39:41 And so we face that kind of a situation. 39:45 What is that doing to the world? 39:48 When you have 36.1 million people affected 39:53 with AIDS, what does that do to us? 39:56 I'm going to explain this graph to you. 40:00 The light blue - or green - is women. 40:05 Excuse me... get it right: are males. 40:08 And the dark blue are women. 40:11 These represent deaths. 40:15 Dying... people that are dying, listen to me, 40:21 people that are dying between the ages of 15 and 49. 40:27 15 and 49. 40:29 Do you understand what that means? 40:31 Those are the people that work! 40:36 Those are the people that are those that bring bread 40:41 to the house. 40:42 OK. 40:45 Look at 'em. 40:47 1900 up to 2000. Folks, 40:53 80... a little better than 80% 40:57 of those that are dying of men 41:01 are between the ages of 15 and 49 years of age. 41:06 So that means that the working force is dying off. 41:11 The working force is dying off. 41:14 See if I can go back to this. I want you to look at something. 41:19 Look here at the Southern Hemisphere. 41:21 Latin America you have 1.4 million people with... 41:26 with AIDS. 41:28 You come here to Africa. You have 25.3 million 41:33 and you go into... basically, 41:37 into South and Southeast Asia 41:42 you have 5.8 million. 41:44 Now what I'm trying to tell you, folks, 41:46 is those countries are in problems 41:50 because their working people are dying off. 41:56 They're dying, and there's not anybody left to sustain life 41:59 for them. 42:02 Facing a tremendous problem here. 42:08 Look at it just a little bit here. 42:22 Now like I said, I appreciate 42:24 them doing everything they can to help these people physically 42:29 with medicine or whatever they can provide. 42:32 What bothers me is you don't hear anything being said about 42:37 changing lifestyle. 42:40 They want to bring the epidemic to a stop? 42:43 Then change a lifestyle. 42:45 But nevertheless it continues on. 42:47 The number of people living with AIDS, as I told you, 42:51 are 36,000,000. Deaths... 42:54 those that died in 2007 were 3.1 million. 42:59 We've had 21,000,000 people... 43:04 21.8 million people... 43:06 that have died from AIDS. 43:11 It talks about pestilence? 43:13 That's what it's talking about. 43:24 All that is going to happen. 43:25 Now listen to me carefully 43:27 because Revelation the 18th chapter... 43:31 the other evening I told you... 43:32 that's where we're living today is in the 17th and 18th chapter. 44:19 OK. Where do we stand today? 44:24 Well, at the present time 44:26 the U.S. national debt 44:29 is 10.6 trillion dollars. 44:40 I haven't been able to figure it out. 44:42 Maybe some of you in the television or radio audience 44:46 can help me sometime figure it out. 44:49 But I haven't figured out 44:51 how you pass a stimulus package 44:57 of almost 900 billion dollars. 45:04 Where do you get the money? 45:09 I mean, as best I can tell, 45:12 folks, you only have 2 choices. 45:15 You either have to print it 45:16 or you have to borrow it. 45:21 Maybe there's a way I don't know, 45:23 but that's the only two ways I know to get it. 45:25 You've either got to print it or you've got to borrow it. 45:28 If you print it, 45:32 then you fire inflation like you can't believe. 45:38 And if you borrow it, 45:40 you just put us deeper in debt. 45:44 And we're already at $10.6. 45:48 Do you know what that means to you? 45:50 Huh? Do you know what that means to you? 45:52 Let me show you what that means. 45:56 Back in 1900 we had a debt... 46:00 national debt... of $1.2 billion. 46:02 That cost every one of you $16. 46:07 Now you probably could handle that. 46:10 Well, by the time we hit 1950, 46:15 our national debt had risen to $256 billion 46:20 that meant it cost each of you $1700. 46:28 By the time we reached 2009, the national debt 46:31 is $10.6 trillion. 46:34 That means that it costs each one of you 46:37 $34,795. 46:44 That's the national debt. 46:46 Now that really doesn't worry me too much. 46:51 I believe that we probably could handle that. 46:54 One fellow said if you just... if all the women 46:58 took the change out of their purses we'd probably cover that. 47:02 But nevertheless, that doesn't worry. 47:06 Do you want me to tell you what worries me 47:09 when we talk about national debt and what we're faced with? 47:14 Well I'll tell you what worries me. 47:15 This is what worries me. 47:16 It's not public debt that worries me, 47:19 it's private. 47:20 This is the private debt: 47:23 $53 trillion. 47:27 We are a nation of debt. 47:33 That's what we are... 47:35 a nation that operates by debt. 47:40 That's the reason it says that in one hour 47:43 all gone. 47:46 Over. 47:47 Dear friend, maybe you can say what you want to, 47:53 but I can tell you right now 47:55 it's not like being in debt as we once were. 48:01 Today it is totally different. 48:08 Let me mention just a couple things further. 48:10 Bird flu. 48:14 I'm talking about something that affects the whole country, 48:16 the world. 48:18 You can see the spread of it. 48:20 That in red is where bird flu... 48:24 Last week we found out that now 48:27 India has become affected with bird flu. 48:31 And then of course other countries like the United States 48:35 and Australia and others will eventually have that. 48:41 And I can tell you, if that isn't handled some way 48:45 we can have a pandemic that will be unreal 48:50 as far as the world is concerned. 49:21 I think of all the scriptures in the Bible 49:26 that bother me most is the one where it says 49:29 "Did not know. " 49:34 That they had just gone about life... 49:37 weren't concerned, didn't know. 49:40 And here, Christ has given all the signs 49:45 that you and I should know. 49:47 There shouldn't be any question. 49:49 We should know. 49:50 And yet it says: "As it was in the days of Noah, 49:54 so will it be the coming of Jesus Christ. " 49:58 Years ago, there was a city 50:04 in Italy called Pompeii. 50:09 Pompeii 50:12 is a very, very nice area. 50:16 The climate is just wonderful. 50:19 And this city in Italy 50:22 was known as a very, very special place 50:26 and people came there, and it was kind of a resort 50:31 because just outside the city a little ways 50:35 was a huge volcano called Vesuvius. 50:40 Now that volcano was there, 50:45 and, oh sure, it spewed out a little bit of lava 50:50 you know, every so often 50:53 but nothing that really frightened the people too much. 50:56 But that volcano provided some very nice things for them 51:01 because all around Pompeii they had hot mineral springs. 51:08 And people would come in from everywhere 51:10 to bathe in the spas in Pompeii. 51:13 It was wonderful. 51:15 Marvelous. 51:16 They enjoyed it immensely. 51:18 Oh, yes. There had been some people that had told them 51:22 "You've got to get out of here. 51:23 This volcano's going to erupt 51:25 and you need to get out of here before it erupts. " 51:27 But... it was nice! 51:31 It was nice living in Pompeii. 51:34 I mean the climate was ideal. 51:36 The spas... all the things there. 51:40 In fact, even back then 51:42 they had hot running water in their homes. 51:46 Everything was there. 51:50 And then one day Vesuvius 51:55 erupted 51:59 and the city of Pompeii disappeared. 52:04 I mean in a matter of minutes 52:08 the whole city disappeared. 52:13 In fact, it so thoroughly wiped out Pompeii 52:19 that it was forgotten 52:22 and for 1700 years 52:26 it was not known of. 52:29 And a German archaeologist 52:31 was reading in the library and came across 52:35 where it mentioned Pompeii. 52:37 And taking a group of scientists they went over 52:41 and they began to excavate. 52:43 And today they have excavated Pompeii. 52:47 You can go there today and you can walk down the streets. 52:52 And you can look into the houses and the shops 52:54 and everything that's there. 52:56 It's interesting... 52:59 because you see the lava came in so quick and so fast 53:05 and covered that city that it caught the people exactly 53:09 where they were. 53:10 And they found out that as they were excavating 53:14 they would come to places where there was a hollow spot. 53:19 And they found out that they could tap into that 53:22 and pour plaster of Paris in there 53:25 and they could break it open and they would get a mold 53:28 of the people just exactly like they were. 53:31 Because when the lava caught them, 53:34 it covered them and their body cooled the lava down 53:38 and it made that cavity. 53:40 And so as you walk down the street, you can see 53:44 a whole family sitting around the supper table eating. 53:49 You can see this man pushing this little cart 53:54 running down the street 53:55 just exactly where the lava caught him. 53:59 You can see this woman with her jewels in her hand 54:03 running down the street trying to outrun the lava. 54:07 Were not ready. Did not know... 54:11 when all of a sudden it came to an end. 54:15 Dear friend, for you and for me 54:19 let's not miss God's final call. 54:26 Someday you'll hear 54:30 God's final call to you. 54:37 Someday you'll hear 54:41 God's final call to you. 54:49 This could be it, my friend, 54:56 if you but knew. 55:03 God's final call, 55:08 God's final call. 55:16 If you reject 55:19 God's final call of grace, 55:26 you'll have no chance 55:30 your footsteps to retrace. 55:37 All hope will then be gone 55:43 and doom you'll face. 55:53 More than 2,000 years have passed 55:55 since Jesus promised to return. 55:58 And through the centuries, the hearts of His faithful ones 56:02 have clung to those precious words. 56:04 But His promise has not yet been fulfilled. 56:07 The Lifegiver's voice has not yet called the sleeping saints 56:11 from their graves. 56:12 Each day many more Christians fall asleep in Jesus 56:17 clinging to the Blessed Hope 56:19 and believing that the next thing they'll see 56:21 is their Savior coming as He promised 56:24 in the clouds of glory. 56:26 But my friends, there are so many who do not have 56:30 this Blessed Hope. And many of them would 56:34 if they just had the opportunity to hear about Jesus. 56:39 That is why we are producing these programs. 56:42 We want to tell them about God's amazing love. 56:46 About our Savior, Jesus Christ. 56:48 About His second coming. 56:50 We want to give each one of them that Blessed Hope. 56:53 Think of it. Even now all of heaven's astir 56:56 preparing for that great day. 56:58 The Lord is waiting for us 57:01 to join Him in spreading the good news. 57:03 Praise God! The time of waiting is almost over. 57:07 Light is gleaming upon the clouds above the mountaintops. 57:11 Soon there will be a revealing of His glory. 57:14 The Son of Righteousness is about to shine forth. 57:17 NOW is the time to prepare for the coming of the Lord. 57:21 Readiness to meet Him cannot be attained 57:24 in a moment's time. 57:25 Each member of our ministry team has focused on doing all we can 57:31 to spread the good news, 57:32 but we cannot do it alone. 57:34 We need your help. 57:35 Each of us must prepare, watch, and wait. 57:39 But we also must work earnestly 57:42 for the salvation of souls. 57:44 Please consider what you can do 57:46 for those who still don't know about Jesus. 57:48 As the Holy Spirit impresses, 57:50 you may send your tax-deductible gifts to: 58:05 Thank you for helping us to bring the Blessed Hope 58:08 to millions all around the world. |
Revised 2014-12-17