Revelation's Ancient Discoveries

Revelation's Greatest End-Time Signs

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: RAD

Program Code: RAD170003A


00:01 What does the future hold?
00:02 Where can we find certainty in a world of uncertainty?
00:05 The book of Revelation provides hopeful answers for today,
00:09 tomorrow, and forever.
00:11 Join Mark Finley, author and world renowned speaker
00:14 on a journey into the future with
00:20 Welcome back again to Revelation's
00:23 Ancient Discoveries.
00:24 I'm glad you've joined us on this journey through the book
00:27 of Revelation to discover God's plan regarding the future.
00:31 Let's pray together as we enter into the study tonight.
00:35 Father in Heaven, thank You so much for the clear light that
00:40 You've given in the book of Revelation.
00:42 Thank You that Jesus is the center of the book of
00:45 Revelation, and that we can find hope, confidence,
00:48 and courage for the future.
00:49 In Christ's name, Amen.
00:51 Our topic during this presentation is
00:57 As I travel the world, one thing becomes increasingly
01:01 clear to me, and that is that multiple people are confused;
01:06 confused about the future.
01:08 They wonder what direction is this world headed?
01:12 Can I have any confidence in bringing up my
01:15 children in the future?
01:17 Will tragedy strike us?
01:19 So the common theme in many people's minds is bewilderment,
01:24 it's confusion, it's, what's really going on in our world?
01:33 And it gives us hope.
01:35 It gives us confidence as we face the days ahead.
01:38 From the first chapter of the book of Revelation, to the last
01:43 chapter of the book of Revelation, we find this
01:46 hopeful message of the return of our Lord.
01:48 Revelation 1:7 puts it this way:
02:05 Notice the first chapter of the book of Revelation beats
02:08 with this expectation.
02:10 It beats with this enthusiasm.
02:12 It beats with this excitement.
02:13 Jesus is coming again!
02:17 When you go to the last chapter of the book of Revelation,
02:20 that describes the new heaven, the new earth, once again you
02:25 have this clarity of the return of Christ to the world.
02:29 Revelation 22:20 says,
02:36 Notice the word. What's the word?
02:38 What is it? Surely, certainly, definitely.
02:48 So the book of Revelation ends with a prayer,
02:51 and the prayer is the prayer of all humanity.
02:54 The prayer is that prayer that's deep within all of our hearts.
02:57 We long for a better world.
02:59 We long for a world where there is no sickness,
03:01 or suffering, or sorrow.
03:03 We long for a world where there is no aging,
03:05 and feebleness, and death.
03:07 We long for a world where there is no war,
03:09 there is no heartache, there is no terrorism.
03:12 We long for that new world.
03:13 And so Revelation ends with this clear Bible passage:
03:29 But that leads us to a question.
03:33 How soon is soon? To understand the book of Revelation,
03:38 it's necessary to go back and understand both the prophecies
03:41 of the Old Testament, particularly the
03:43 prophecies of Daniel.
03:44 We've looked at that in our last presentation.
03:47 And also to understand Jesus' statements
03:50 about end time events.
03:52 In Matthew, the 24th chapter, Jesus Himself met with the
03:58 disciples on the Mount of Olives.
04:00 And there, as He sat on the Mount, overlooking the
04:03 Kidron Valley down to Jerusalem, He looked at the temple
04:07 and He said, Not one stone is going to be left upon the other.
04:11 The disciples, thinking that the destruction of the temple
04:15 was the coming of Christ in the end of the age,
04:19 said this to Jesus. Matthew 24:3.
04:26 They thought that an event as cataclysmic as the destruction
04:30 of the temple must certainly be the end of the world.
04:34 They thought that Jesus was speaking about His return.
04:38 So in a masterful presentation in Matthew 24, that helps to set
04:44 the stage for the book of Revelation, in that presentation
04:48 Jesus outlines the signs that would proceed the destruction
04:52 of Jerusalem, and the signs that would lead up
04:54 to His second coming.
05:03 Let's look at those signs in this presentation,
05:06 and ask yourself the question, Are these events,
05:09 the events that Christ talked about, are they being fulfilled?
05:13 Are they taking place in our world today?
05:16 In these signs of Jesus' return, He gives signs in different
05:21 areas, different categories of life.
05:24 He talks about
05:31 He discusses
05:35 He talks about upheavals of nature.
05:37 We're going to look at each of these areas
05:39 in this presentation.
05:40 He talks about
05:43 What would be taking place in society
05:45 just before His return.
05:47 Let's go first to the signs in the area of religion.
05:51 What specifically did Christ say would be taking place in
05:55 the religious community, or the larger Spiritual
05:58 community before His return?
06:00 He made this prediction: Jesus said just before His return
06:06 that there would be
06:09 that would explode upon the scene.
06:11 In other words, false Spiritual ideologies,
06:15 false Spiritual philosophies.
06:18 He put it this way in Matthew 24:24.
06:28 He goes on. He said they could even deceive the very elect.
06:33 Now books and magazines, and movies on the occult,
06:37 and false Spirituality are selling in the multi-millions.
06:42 Jesus said false Christ's and false prophets.
06:45 Jesus said deceptions in the area of Spirituality.
06:49 Here we see books, magazines, multiplied millions.
06:53 You may not be aware of the fact, but there are
06:59 in newspapers across the United States.
07:02 Many a person wakes up in the morning, they pick up the
07:05 newspaper, turn to astrology columns to try to discover
07:11 some pattern in the sky whether they're a Leo,
07:14 or whether they're a Sagittarius.
07:17 They look for their particular birth sign, and they have this
07:22 idea that the alignment of the stars is in some way
07:26 going to impact their life.
07:27 False Spirituality!
07:30 Many are turning to tarot cards.
07:32 They're turning to the occult arts and artists.
07:36 Some are turning to psychics.
07:40 Not long ago These Times magazine ran an article called,
07:45 The Supermarket Psychics Spin the Roulette Wheel Again,
07:49 and pointed out... The article took a look at all of the
07:53 psychic predictions in a given year.
07:55 These psychic predictions are made in January.
07:58 And they looked at the psychic predictions at the end of the
08:01 year, and saw how many of them were fulfilled. Quite amazing!
08:20 Now look, friend, I'm no prophet certainly,
08:24 but yet I think I could guess, by looking at world affairs,
08:29 maybe, just maybe, get 3% right.
08:32 97% of the psychics predictions were wrong.
08:36 You know, when you look at the Bible, over 800 predictions
08:42 that have been made very clear, some of them you have groupings
08:46 of predictions, but 800 different events predicted.
08:51 90% of them already fulfilled to 100% accuracy,
08:56 10% yet to be fulfilled.
08:59 So when you look at the predictions of the psychics,
09:02 and you look at the predictions of the Bible,
09:04 there just is no comparison.
09:06 The Bible is accurate when it predicts the rise and fall of
09:09 empires, when it predicts the rise and fall of kings,
09:14 when it talks, for example, about Jesus, and the predictions
09:18 of His birth outlined in advance in the Old Testament.
09:22 The psychics simply will let you down.
09:26 You know, there is an interesting
09:38 You say, What in the world?
09:40 Who? Who are those names?
09:42 They are supposed spiritual guides.
09:44 And, you know, you can call a certain number,
09:47 and I'm not going to put the 800 number on the screen tonight,
09:50 but it's an example of what's taking place in our world.
09:53 You see, if you turn away from the word of God,
09:56 you leave yourself Spiritually barren.
09:58 And when you leave yourself Spiritually barren,
10:01 you go drinking at another fountain besides the fountain
10:05 of life found in the word of God.
10:07 And so many people in Hollywood are turning to
10:10 these spirit guides.
10:11 And Laziris, can you believe this?
10:30 It's supposed to give you direction for the future.
10:31 Hearts are empty. Men and women's souls are barren.
10:37 They're looking for some certainty.
10:40 And Jesus, in His word gives us that certainty;
10:44 signs of the end, false Christ's, and false prophets.
10:48 According to the American Religious Identity Survey,
11:08 Can you believe that?
11:09 Paganism, Wiccan, is one of the ten largest
11:14 religions in America today. Continuing.
11:33 The interest in the occult, and spirituality through various
11:38 psychics is increasing day after day, week after week.
11:42 And you notice in the number of movies that have that occult
11:46 theme, or video games.
12:02 Cults are exploding!
12:03 Not only psychics, not only tarot cards,
12:07 not only spirit guides, but cult leaders are emerging.
12:31 Think of some of the cult leaders that have arisen,
12:34 not only in America, but around the world.
12:37 Time magazine features
12:43 in a gas sarin attack on a subway in Japan.
12:48 His followers believed that he was a messiah like figure.
12:54 Or think of Jim Jones.
12:56 A number of years ago, prominent minister in America who believed
13:03 that Christ was in him.
13:05 One of the reports indicated that Jim Jones was preaching
13:10 and he had a Bible in his hands.
13:12 And as people were opening their Bibles he became so angry
13:16 he said, Don't look at that book; look at me.
13:18 Then on a recording from Jonestown in the jungles of
13:24 Guyana, Jones said, I see Christ in me.
13:28 False Christ's, false prophets, led over 900 people to doom
13:34 in the jungles of Guyana.
13:36 Or you think of David Koresh who claimed that he indeed was
13:40 the Lamb of God, or had those qualities,
13:43 and the tragedy in Waco.
13:46 All around the world tonight, all around the world today,
13:50 we see the rise of false Christ's, false prophets,
13:54 false spirituality, exactly like Jesus Christ predicted. Africa
14:03 false Christ's, false prophets, claim to be the
14:08 Messiah like figures.
14:09 So what I'm describing to you is not taking place with some
14:13 wild-eyed fanatic here.
14:15 It seems to be pervading in the entire world;
14:19 the growing of the occult, growing of psychic phenomena,
14:22 growing of false Christ's, and false prophets.
14:26 Heaven's Gate; this was rather fascinating with
14:29 Marshall Applewhite, with Heaven's Gate cult.
14:33 When his followers were discovered to have committed
14:38 suicide in a very wealthy, palatial estate outside
14:43 of San Diego, California.
14:45 When the police were notified, the police sent out a memo for
14:52 parents asking where they thought their children might be.
14:55 And more than 1500 phone calls immediately came in to the
15:01 police station thinking their children might be involved
15:04 in the Marshall Applewhite cult, because they knew their kids
15:07 were involved in cults.
15:09 Yet Jesus makes this amazing prediction about end times.
15:15 You know, talk about cults, some time ago I was speaking at the
15:21 About 18,000 people were coming out every night.
15:25 We had two sessions every evening.
15:27 And as I walked onto the stage for the opening night of the
15:30 meetings, I had preached in Moscow on numerous occasions,
15:33 and we had preached in Pahawny University, preached in the
15:37 Kremlin Auditorium, and hundreds, really thousands,
15:41 had come to Jesus Christ, and we had baptized hundreds of people.
15:44 Walked onto the stage, opening night in the Olympic Stadium,
15:48 and ladies got up out of the audience to bring me flowers.
15:51 I was taking the flowers.
15:53 Because they were so appreciative of coming to Jesus,
15:57 so appreciative of the Bible truths they had learned.
16:00 And I went down to get a bouquet of flowers,
16:02 and as I reached out I noticed the flowers were dead.
16:07 I should have known, because the lady who handed to me the
16:10 flowers grabbed the microphone out of my hand,
16:12 and she began shouting, Anti-Christ, Anti-Christ!
16:15 This man is the Anti-Christ!
16:16 Young men jumped up out of the audience.
16:19 They began running toward the stage.
16:22 Who was this woman?
16:26 Well, of course, that wasn't her birth name.
16:27 It was her assumed name.
16:29 One of the leading cult leaders in Russia.
16:31 She had 22,000 followers.
16:33 They were called the White Knights.
16:35 They believed that they were the good angels that were
16:39 cast out of heaven. Kind of strange.
16:42 The Bible says it was the evil angels cast out heaven,
16:45 but this is what they believed.
16:46 And that they had come to Earth to fight evil.
16:48 She called herself Mary, because she believed she was the mother
16:51 of the new Christ, who would establish a Davidic kingdom.
16:55 Well, when she made that cry, Attack!
16:57 These young men rushed the stage.
17:00 As they came, it was rather daunting as a speaker,
17:03 to see these young men running at you.
17:05 But here's the good news; we had led to Jesus Christ,
17:08 and baptized a number of former KGB agents,
17:13 a number of Russian soldiers.
17:15 But when they saw their old preacher getting attacked
17:18 on the stage, they hadn't forgotten their skills.
17:21 So they took care of these young people quite well.
17:24 For twelve nights in a row I was attacked on the stage.
17:27 But we finally took the stairs away from the
17:31 stage, and so forth.
17:33 But it really illustrates to me that this cult movement,
17:38 and these cult movements, are growing by leaps and
17:41 bounds around the world.
17:55 You take the Harry Potter series, selling multiplied
17:58 millions, but what's it about?
17:59 Wizards, the super natural, men and women, youth,
18:05 teenagers, turning away from the sacredness of the word
18:08 of God, turning away from the promises of God's book,
18:12 turning away from the clear prophetic messages,
18:15 turning to the occult; exactly what Jesus predicted.
18:20 Yet hearts that are unsatisfied.
18:23 It was quite surprising that a major television personality,
18:28 Oprah Winfrey, made this statement.
18:42 Very common television: spiritualistic themes, movies;
18:47 spiritualistic themes, books; spiritualistic themes,
18:51 men and women going worshipping at the
18:54 altars of the occult.
18:56 Take video games: Peter Lanz, a former member of the occult
19:01 Order of the Golden Dawn, the Golden Dawn is one of these
19:04 occult phenomena's.
19:06 And he said this,
19:18 Is there any question that we are living in the very
19:23 fulfillment of the prophecies that Christ has given;
19:27 false Christ's, false prophets?
19:29 If it were possible, Jesus said, they would deceive
19:32 the very, very elect.
19:34 Some movements are claiming the ability to work miracles.
19:40 Certainly the Bible teaches that miracles can be worked,
19:43 but not by an occult artist, but by men and women who have
19:47 strong faith in Christ, and lead men and women to
19:50 the truth of His word.
19:51 Can the Devil work miracles?
19:56 Commenting on the words of Christ.
20:00 What? What are they the spirits of?
20:02 What does Scripture say?
20:08 Some translations say miracles.
20:17 No, here's what the Bible predicts.
20:19 If you take the predictions of Jesus, you put them with the
20:21 predictions of Revelation.
20:22 And here's what it says: These false Christ's,
20:24 and false prophets will arise.
20:26 People will turn from the living word of God, then the world
20:30 will be descending into chaos, into famine, into bloodshed,
20:34 into terrorism, into war.
20:36 As that takes place false religious movements will take
20:41 place claiming miracles, and the kings of the earth will
20:45 look to those miracle workers, church and state will unite.
20:49 This will lead to earth's final battle between good and
20:51 evil, called Armageddon.
20:53 The stage is being set for that exactly like we see
20:57 it in Scripture. So
21:04 Beware of religious teachers who superimpose their own
21:08 opinions rather than the word of God.
21:11 The word of God is their only safeguard.
21:14 I love that old poem, What says the Bible,
21:17 the blessed Bible to me?
21:18 The teachings of men may often mislead me, but this my only
21:24 question be, what says the Bible, the precious Bible to me?
21:29 Jesus gives us signs of His soon return, signs in the religious
21:32 world, we see they're being fulfilled.
21:34 What about signs in the political world?
21:36 What would be happening in the world of government?
21:40 Well, first Jesus says there would be war and rumors of war.
21:44 Somebody says, Haven't we always had war down
21:47 through the centuries?
21:49 Indeed, we have, but notice our text.
21:51 It doesn't say there would be a war, not a single war.
21:59 Notice it's in the plural.
22:01 Notice it's multiple.
22:02 Jesus goes on to say, kingdom would rise against kingdom,
22:07 and nation would rise against nation.
22:10 So here you have this growing amount of war.
22:14 We've had wars down through the centuries, but may I remind
22:18 you that in the 20th Century we had the I and II World War.
22:24 The only World Wars in history.
22:33 He didn't say there'd be a war.
22:34 He said kingdom would rise against kingdom, famine's would
22:37 take place, yes, but there would be wars and rumors of wars.
22:43 In other words, these nations would enter into world war.
23:10 Think of the 21st Century.
23:12 Wars haven't stopped.
23:33 And we go on, and on, and on.
23:34 Right now tension in this world.
23:38 You look at the nations of the world: tension with Iran,
23:41 tension with North Korea.
23:42 What is on the horizon?
23:44 Jesus predicted there would be wars and rumors of wars.
23:48 Now in addition to wars, Christ said they would be arming
23:51 for war, but they would be talking about peace,
23:55 fragile peace agreements.
23:57 In Scripture, 1 Thessalonians 5:3, When they say...
24:03 What is it? When they say what?
24:12 So here's the picture that Jesus gives.
24:15 Nations rising against nation, wars and rumors of war,
24:19 but then Jesus says, that they'll be talking about peace.
24:24 He inspires the apostle Paul to write it down.
24:28 They'll say, Peace and safety.
24:29 Now another word for safety is security.
24:31 So they'll be saying peace and security, all the time
24:35 while they're arming for war.
24:36 Now think about the 20th Century for example.
24:39 You think about the
24:46 Supposedly a League of Nations united to solve
24:50 the problem of war.
24:51 But right on the heels of that we enter into the II World War.
24:57 And then the United Nations, established 1945, try to have
25:02 the war, the II World War to end all wars.
25:05 UN is established, but again after that, conflict and war
25:10 all around the world.
25:11 Now things have been becoming more serious.
25:14 If you look at the book of Revelation, for example,
25:17 it helps you to understand that Jesus talks about the
25:23 See, some people say, Well, you've always had war,
25:26 so why is that significant?
25:27 I've already pointed out that it's because it's on a global
25:30 international scale.
25:32 But here's a prophecy that could only be fulfilled
25:35 in this generation.
25:37 It's a prophecy based on the book of Revelation,
25:40 the 11th chapter, and the 18th verse.
25:42 The Bible says this:
25:50 So when's that? the time of the dead,
25:52 that they should be judged?
25:53 Well, when Jesus comes, of course, shortly before that
25:56 you've got the judgment, Christ comes, and the righteous
25:59 dead are resurrected, the righteous living caught up to
26:01 meet Him in the sky.
26:03 So, notice, this is end time.
26:04 Again, back to the text.
26:25 So Jesus is going to come at a time when the human race
26:29 has the capacity to destroy itself.
26:32 Christ is going to come at a time when the human race has
26:35 the nuclear arsenal that could destroy all of
26:39 life on Planet Earth.
26:41 Never before in history has that reality been true.
26:45 If you look down through the ages, men and women had
26:49 implements of war that could destroy thousands
26:53 in an individual battle.
26:55 But they could not destroy the entire human race.
26:59 We see today that with nuclear weaponry the entire human race
27:04 could be destroyed.
27:06 When the atomic bomb was exploded there in Hiroshima
27:10 and Nagasaki in 1945, William Ripley, of Believe It Or Not,
27:16 fame said this: He said, I'm standing on the place where the
27:21 end of the world began.
27:24 Charles Urey, nuclear scientist, said,
27:27 I write this to frighten you.
27:29 All scientists I know are frightened men;
27:31 frightened for their lives, and frightened for your life.
27:35 Today the designated nuclear weapons states are:
27:52 What would happen if there was an international conflagration,
27:57 and an international war with nuclear weapons being used?
28:01 It could destroy life on Planet Earth.
28:05 In fact a team of scientists at Rutgers, the State University of
28:09 New Jersey, and the University of Colorado at Boulder,
28:13 and UCLA said this:
28:32 This is not some wild-eyed fanatic preaching.
28:37 It is rather a group, a consortium, of scientists.
28:43 And these scientists are making all the difference in the world,
28:49 as they're talking to men and women, pointing out that
28:52 there's incredible fear in our world.
28:55 They are making this amazing difference. You know,
29:01 What if terrorists got the uranium?
29:03 What if terrorists cold go nuclear?
29:04 What, indeed, would happen if that ever, indeed, took place?
29:20 Men's hearts, women's hearts terrorized,
29:24 failing them for what? for fear.
29:27 When you think about nuclear weaponry, when you think about
29:30 nuclear war, men and women's hearts indeed are shaking.
29:35 Thank God there's an answer.
29:37 These signs need not frighten us.
29:39 These signs need not trouble us.
29:42 These signs need not grip us with fear, because we know
29:46 that they're sign posts that Jesus is coming.
29:49 In fact Jesus talks about His return as the blessed hope.
29:53 There is hope on the way.
29:55 This old earth is groaning with pain; longing to be delivered.
30:00 And soon Jesus will come.
30:08 But yet this is a sign of the coming of Christ.
30:12 Signs in the area of religion, signs in the area of politics,
30:15 signs in the area of nuclear war.
30:18 What are these signs telling us?
30:21 They're telling us that Christ is on the way.
30:23 They're telling us that one day Jesus will stream down the
30:26 corridor of the sky in glory.
30:28 They're telling us that we're on the verge of the eternal
30:31 world; that Jesus Christ is soon to come. Let's look at
30:36 What would take place?
30:38 Now mark this carefully.
30:40 No one sign indicates that Jesus is going to come soon.
30:45 No one sign reveals that Christ is here at the doors.
30:51 Now the Bible doesn't tell us the day or the hour of Christ's
30:53 coming, but when you see all of the signs taking place
30:56 all the time, you know that Jesus' coming is near.
31:00 Jesus talks about famine. He says in
31:11 There'll be famines.
31:13 We've always had famines in somewhat of an isolated way.
31:17 We've always had famines in somewhat of a limited capacity.
31:21 But before the end of time there would be worldwide hunger,
31:25 children and adults starving to death, becoming
31:30 very, very commonplace.
31:32 The United Nations reported that there's a food shortage
31:35 in 38 different countries in the world today.
31:40 1/6th of the population of the world is malnourished,
31:46 in fact, 10,000 people every day, 3.5 million a year.
31:51 It's staggering. We can often sit in our Western homes not
31:56 sensing the starvation around the world.
31:58 We sit gorging ourself with gourmet foods when the world
32:03 is... many children are dying of starvation.
32:06 This is a sign. How much longer will Jesus delay?
32:10 Every starving child, every momma that's thin,
32:14 and run out of her breast milk to feed the child, every hungry
32:19 man cries out, Oh, Jesus, come quickly to our world!
32:31 Around the world we see the signs Jesus
32:34 Christ is to come soon.
32:36 The Bible says there'll be famines and pestilences.
32:39 What is a pestilence?
32:41 A pestilence is a strange disease that affects either
32:44 crops or human beings.
32:47 Here's what Jesus says,
32:55 Pestilences. It's kind of a big word, strange word,
32:58 and an unfamiliar word to some.
33:00 Pestilences; we get the word pesticides from it.
33:12 The World Health Organization, 2016, talks about how these
33:17 pestilences are affecting all humanity. And it says:
33:44 One billion cases of diseases that were unknown centuries ago.
33:54 A group of scientists got together, they issued what
33:57 they called a Warning to Humanity.
34:12 What were they talking about?
34:14 They were talking about the pestilences in our world.
34:16 They were talking about the pollution of the waterways,
34:20 the pollution of the atmosphere.
34:22 They were talking about human manmade
34:26 disasters that are occurring.
34:28 Jesus said false Christ's and false
34:31 prophets, psychic phenomena.
34:34 We see that taking place all around us.
34:36 Jesus said wars and rumors of wars, international conflict.
34:40 We see that taking place.
34:41 Jesus said peace movements, peace and security,
34:45 peace treaties being signed.
34:47 And I should say this: as Christians we applaud
34:50 the best efforts for peace.
34:52 We are people of peace.
34:54 Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
34:56 But yet we recognize that the human solutions for peace
35:00 will never accomplish their ultimate goal, because of the
35:04 degenerate, corruptive nature of human beings' hearts
35:07 until Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace comes.
35:10 But Jesus goes on, He says, there'll be famines.
35:14 We see worldwide hunger.
35:15 He says there'll be pestilences, pollution of the environment.
35:19 All of these signs are taking place; not one, not two,
35:22 but all of these signs taking place at the same
35:26 time around the world.
35:27 Jesus says there'll be famines, there'll be pestilences,
35:30 and there will be earthquakes. Notice...
35:40 There's a whole lot of shaking going on. You know...
35:54 But somebody says, Wait a minute, it's just that we have
35:57 more measurable devices today.
35:59 We can measure them a lot better. Not so.
36:02 The earthquakes that are taking place, and the magnitude that
36:06 they're taking place, don't need some device that
36:10 measures a mild earthquake.
36:12 We are talking about significant earthquakes that are
36:14 pretty easily visible.
36:27 See Jesus is talking about natural disasters.
36:30 It seems that this whole earth is longing, it's convulsing,
36:34 getting ready for the coming of Jesus Christ.
36:44 Great earthquakes, the Bible says, not minor earthquakes.
36:51 Now notice what else.
36:53 There'll be, what does it say?
36:55 Notice it on the screen.
37:04 Tornados, hurricanes, natural disasters that are
37:10 unprecedented in our day.
37:14 We see a rapid increase in these natural disasters.
37:19 This is no accident.
37:22 What is God saying to us?
37:23 He's saying it's time.
37:25 It's time; it's time to get ready for My return.
37:30 It's time to open your heart.
37:32 It's a time to make a full commitment to Jesus Christ.
37:36 It is indeed time. When you look at these natural disasters,
37:40 you know what else they say?
37:42 There is no security in anything earthly.
37:44 You can spend your whole life to buy a home,
37:49 and have it washed away quickly.
37:52 You can spend your whole life training for a particular job.
37:56 You can have your dream house, and your dream job,
37:58 and it can be gone instantly.
38:00 There is no security in our wealth, no security in
38:05 material possessions.
38:06 There is one that is secure.
38:09 Remember that parable that Jesus told: build your house,
38:13 that is your life, on the solid rock of Christ.
38:16 A commitment to Christ gives you security in the trials,
38:21 in the difficulties of life.
38:23 You know, these natural disasters are signs.
38:26 They are really signs of the return of our Lord.
38:29 Think of the natural disasters in America recently.
38:32 There's Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria.
38:35 You look at the Hurricane Harvey, you see Houston, Texas,
38:40 a third of it under water.
38:43 You see Florida devastated, Southern
38:45 Florida by the flooding.
38:47 You see Puerto Rico, power out, lights out.
38:51 You see the island of Dominica, and Barbuda trying to
38:56 recover from the tremendous hurricanes that
38:59 devastated those islands.
39:01 Natural disasters are all around us.
39:03 But the Bible says
39:08 In other words, social values will be falling apart.
39:12 Things that we used to once be able to count on,
39:15 things like morality, things like sexual purity, things like
39:21 honesty, things like integrity.
39:24 These things will be, in many areas, many venues,
39:30 they will be a thing of the past.
39:33 There would be moral decay in our society.
39:36 The moral values that we find in Scripture, God leading one
39:42 man, and one woman in the sacred state of matrimony.
39:47 Today marriage is under attack.
39:50 Divorce is rampant.
39:52 Men with men, women with women;
39:54 the moral decay is prolific in our society.
39:58 Notice what the Bible says:
40:19 Notice two things about the text: first, they were unaware.
40:23 They were living on the knife edge of that flood, living on
40:26 the verge of destruction of this planet by water.
40:29 But they went on eating and drinking, marrying and
40:32 giving in marriage.
40:33 So the first emphasis in the text was that life seemed
40:37 to be going on as normal.
40:38 People felt that Noah was a crazy man.
40:41 Next they're eating and drinking.
40:42 What's wrong with that?
40:44 Nothing, if you eat and drink the right things.
40:45 The eating and drinking: gluttony.
40:49 Drinking alcohol is prolific.
40:52 Marrying and giving in marriage, not only marrying, but divorce
40:55 becomes commonplace.
40:58 You see, in the Bible this description of the social
41:01 condition of our time, people trying to find some kind of
41:05 peace and tranquility, some kind of relief from the stress
41:08 of their lives, and drowning themselves in alcohol,
41:11 only to destroy their brain, and destroy their bodies.
41:12 Like it was in the days of Noah, we find today our society
41:18 on the verge of moral decay.
41:22 is commonplace in our society.
41:24 More children are being raised in one parent homes,
41:28 absent of a father.
41:29 Drug culture is prolific, rampant in America today.
41:33 Crime in many of our inner cities is out of control.
41:38 Many children are constantly being bombarded with
41:42 the arguments of their parents.
41:44 And they are living in homes that have gone through the
41:47 trauma, the tragedy, the heartache of divorce.
41:50 Yet Jesus has a solution.
41:53 Christ says, Come to Me and find hope, find security
41:59 find new life, find a rekindled love in your marriage,
42:04 find new joy, and new purpose, new meaning in living.
42:07 When we see these signs what thoughts come to our mind?
42:12 Not thoughts of fear, but thoughts of hope.
42:16 We sense that our Lord is soon to come.
42:20 The Bible talks about
42:23 as it was in the days of Noah.
42:25 What was it like in Noah's day?
42:34 What two words do you see in the text?
42:36 What are they? That's right.
42:37 The earth was what? corrupt.
42:39 That is moral decay.
42:41 And the earth was filled with violence.
42:42 We live in a violent society.
42:45 We live in a crime riddled society.
42:59 If God does not resurrect Sodom and Gomorrah
43:03 and apologize to them, He, indeed, is going to have to
43:10 keep from destroying this world.
43:13 Because the sins of our world are worse than
43:16 Sodom and Gomorrah.
43:17 The sins of our world are coming up before God in judgment.
43:22 The handwriting is on the wall.
43:24 Soon Jesus Christ is indeed going to come. Here is the
43:42 Talk about a corrupt, violent world!
43:48 The figures are absolutely staggering.
43:51 Now you add to that the
43:56 of our world. America particularly has borrowed,
44:00 and borrowed, and borrowed, till the debt is in the
44:03 multiplied trillions of dollars, you know,
44:05 16 trillion, 17 trillion.
44:06 Some economists predict that it will go to 20 trillion.
44:10 How can we continue to live on this slender thread
44:15 of economic uncertainty?
44:17 James 5:1-3 predicts something about the
44:22 economy in the last days.
44:46 What does the text say?
44:47 It's saying there'll be a rapid, sudden economic collapse.
44:53 Now if you add to that
45:03 So the Bible predicts that there will be a sudden, rapid,
45:07 economic collapse just before the coming
45:12 of our Lord Jesus Christ.
45:13 We see the table being set for that in the
45:18 rising debt of nations: in America the
45:21 rising debt of states, and you think of Europe,
45:24 and the accumulated debt in countries that are
45:27 declaring bankruptcy.
45:28 We see these prophecies being fulfilled all around us.
45:34 We see all around us earthquake, famine, fire, flood.
45:38 We see all around us war and violence.
45:41 We see these signs being fulfilled right before our eyes.
45:46 You take the Bible, and you compare the Bible to what's
45:50 taking place in the newspaper today.
45:52 And you begin to look at the newspaper in one hand,
45:55 the Bible in another hand.
45:57 And you see the prediction: false Christ's, false prophets.
46:00 That, indeed, is being fulfilled.
46:03 Rise in psychic phenomena fulfilled, rise in the occult
46:07 fulfilled, movies, books, filled with these themes fulfilled.
46:11 You see wars, and rumors of wars, international conflict,
46:15 read it in the newspaper, fulfilled.
46:18 You see cries of peace, but no peace.
46:20 Read it in the Bible, read it in the newspaper.
46:22 Peace treaties barely dry when another conflict breaks out.
46:26 Famines, pestilences, earthquakes, all around us
46:31 these signs are being fulfilled.
46:33 Sexual immorality constantly being fulfilled.
46:37 Not a distinction in marriage between the sexes.
46:42 When you look at homes that are falling apart in divorce.
46:46 You see violence filling our land.
46:48 You see economic uncertainty right around the corner.
46:52 Indeed, these prophecies are dramatically being fulfilled
46:57 before our very eyes.
46:59 But there's one final prediction, one amazing
47:03 prediction that will take place before the coming of Jesus.
47:07 And one of the reasons that I personally believe that
47:11 we are on the verge of eternity, and Christ is coming soon is
47:14 because of this: Jesus predicts that before His return the
47:21 It will go rapidly through radio.
47:24 It will go rapidly through television.
47:26 It will go rapidly through Internet.
47:28 It will go rapidly through the printed page.
47:30 It will go rapidly through believers who are
47:32 witnessing of Jesus Christ.
47:34 Here's what the Bible says:
47:47 We see that prophecy of Jesus Christ,
47:51 this final prophecy being fulfilled all around the world.
48:00 In other words a heavenly messenger with a message
48:04 to go to the ends of the earth, flying in the middle of heaven.
48:06 The angel does not float, he flies.
48:09 Flying indicates rapidity.
48:20 The gospel will leap across geographical boundaries.
48:24 The gospel will penetrate into the darkest,
48:28 remotest jungle areas.
48:29 The gospel will go into the great cities of our world.
48:33 The gospel will touch hearts all around the world.
48:37 Countries closed will be opened.
48:39 Totalitarian regimes will crumble.
48:43 And we will see powerfully, the gospel going.
48:46 I know that to be true.
48:48 Soon after the fall of Communism we had the opportunity to go
48:53 to the former Soviet Union.
48:54 I stood on the platform there in the Kremlin and opened the
48:59 word of God to over 13,000 people, 6,500 in the first
49:04 session, 6,500 in the second session that night,
49:08 and we saw the moving of the Holy Spirit
49:10 travel around the world.
49:12 Come with me and watch what God is doing.
49:15 Come to Asia and hear as we preach the word of God.
49:20 Thousands and thousands came to Christ.
49:23 The gospel is going around the world.
49:25 Men and women are accepting the living Christ.
49:28 Or come with me to the amazing continent of Africa
49:31 and see more than 20,000 baptized on a single day.
49:36 It's Pentecost all over again!
49:38 God is on the move!
49:40 The Holy Spirit is working!
49:42 Doors once closed are being miraculously
49:45 opened to the gospel.
49:46 God is doing something, whether it's in the remotest
49:49 jungle areas where God is giving primitive tribes dreams.
49:53 Missionaries come and the tribe leaders say to them,
49:57 We saw you coming in our dream.
50:00 Around the world God is moving.
50:03 Whether it's Asia, whether it's China, where we were recently
50:06 and preached the living word of God,
50:08 and saw hundreds come to Christ; whether it is Africa,
50:13 Inter America, South America.
50:15 Recently I was Argentina and saw 16,000 people at our
50:19 meetings, with 1600 making decisions
50:21 to accept Jesus Christ.
50:23 Something unusual is happening around the world.
50:26 God is on the move.
50:28 But you say to me, I sense, Pastor, that these signs are
50:33 being fulfilled all around us.
50:35 I sense that we're living on the knife edge of eternity.
50:39 I sense, yes, false Christ's and false prophets.
50:43 That's being fulfilled.
50:44 Wars and rumors of wars, peace movements,
50:48 famines and earthquakes, and floods and pestilences.
50:52 I see that, Pastor.
50:54 Crime and violence on every hand, disintegration of the
50:58 family unit, economic uncertainty, the gospel going
51:04 to the ends of the earth.
51:05 But I want to know one thing; I want to know how can I be
51:10 ready for the coming of Jesus?
51:12 Without Him, without Him, there's no way that
51:20 you and I can be saved.
51:21 But with Him there's no way that we can be lost.
51:27 In Jesus, and by Jesus, and through Jesus,
51:33 and because of Jesus, we need not fear.
51:37 Listen as Tim sings, Without Him.
51:40 Without Him I could do nothing.
51:49 Without Him I surely fail.
51:58 Without Him I would be dying, like a ship without a sail.
52:15 Without Him I would be dying.
52:24 Without Him I'd be enslaved.
52:33 Without Him life would be worthless, but with Jesus,
52:44 Thank God, I'm saved.
52:52 Jesus, Oh Jesus, Do you know Him today?
53:05 Please don't turn Him away.
53:10 Oh Jesus, my Jesus, without Him how lost I would be.
53:32 Without Him how lost I would be.
53:44 You and I need not be without Him.
53:56 Did you notice the words to the song, Without Him,
54:01 I would be enslaved.
54:03 Without Jesus Christ all of us live in the bondage
54:08 of sin and are enslaved.
54:11 If we're going to be ready for the coming of Christ,
54:15 to live in His kingdom tomorrow, His kingdom must reign
54:22 in our hearts right now.
54:25 Would you like to open your heart to this Christ?
54:30 Maybe there is something in your life that's keeping you
54:35 from being ready for His return.
54:37 Maybe, just maybe, you've never fully accepted Him before.
54:44 This is your night.
54:46 This, for you, is decision night.
54:49 God did not lead you to this telecast by accident.
54:54 In the divine providence of God He brought you to this station
55:01 this night to make an eternal decision
55:05 for Christ for all eternity.
55:07 You say, But how do I make that decision?
55:10 It is a simple act of the will.
55:13 It is simply saying, Jesus, I am Yours.
55:16 Jesus, I accept You.
55:18 Jesus, I want You to come into my life.
55:21 Jesus, I give You my life tonight.
55:24 Would you like to make that decision right now as I pray?
55:27 Father in Heaven, right now hundreds, thousands of people,
55:35 are opening their hearts to You.
55:38 Many are accepting You for the first time.
55:42 Come, Lord, hold them in Your arms, whisper in their ears,
55:48 give them hope and encouragement.
55:51 Help them to know that You are the living Christ.
55:53 Help them to know that You can forgive their sins.
55:56 Help them to know that there's peace in Christ.
55:59 Help them to know that we need not be enslaved.
56:02 We need not be shackled with the habits of life.
56:05 May the power of the living God come down right now and touch
56:09 somebody for Your kingdom.
56:11 And Father, Thank You that we need not fear.
56:16 Thank You that the signs of the times need not trouble us.
56:20 That they are signs of hope that our Jesus is soon to come.
56:24 And may our hearts be filled with that hope.
56:27 In Jesus' name, Amen.
56:30 Thank you for joining us for Revelation's
56:35 Ancient Discoveries.
56:37 We're setting the background in this series, so you're not
56:40 going to want to miss one of these programs.
56:43 Each program is like a link in a connected chain that links
56:48 to the next program.
56:50 Every presentation shares another one of the Biblical
56:56 prophecies from the book of Revelation.
57:00 Remember Revelation's central theme is Jesus,
57:05 and Jesus is coming again.
57:09 From the first chapter of the book of Revelation.
57:11 to the last chapter of the book of Revelation.
57:14 I look forward to seeing you on the next presentation of
57:19 Revelation's Ancient Discoveries.
57:23 Be sure to mark your calendar and join us then.
57:25 Good night, and God bless you.


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Revised 2018-03-01