As the season of Trinity winds down to the end of the Christian year, we are increasingly drawn by our readings into a discussion of the end times. The epistle today gives us an uncompromising view of the end as John describes greetings from the king of kings and lord of lords who is Jesus Christ, the firstborn of all creation, the head of the church and the author of our salvation . . .
“Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Look! He is coming with the clouds;
every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.”
It isn’t until this generation, our generation, the generation of information and of Ipads and Iphones that this verse has in anyway been remotely possible throughout the history of mankind . . . for in these last days it is now entirely possible for ‘every eye to see him . . . and that on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail’. For John’s vision was one of the far distant future where ominous happenings in the world would foretell the coming of the Lord from the highest heaven to reclaim his bride, who is the Church, the true church . . . the Church that has kept the faith and is waiting in prayerful expectation for the Lord’s return . . . who is the the King of Glory.
And as David, the proclaimed in Psalm 24 . . .
1The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
2for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.
3Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?
4The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.
5They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior.
6Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob.
7Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
8Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
9Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
10Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty—he is the King of glory.
And so today we celebrate the Christ – the King of Glory as we await his second coming and as the Jews await his first, for when the Jews see the marks of the nails on his hands and feet, the veil that has blinded them will be removed and they will see with second sight that which has been denied them throughout their generations, that is that Jesus Christ is in fact Yeshua Messhia, the messiah for whom they have been waiting for all of their generations.
And so the disciples’ question from last weeks gospel remains – “When will these things take place, and what are the signs that will accompany the end?”
There are today so many signs pointing to the end of the Age of Grace that we can hardly see the road upon which we are traveling as we move ever closer to Christ the King coming for his bride. I personally believe that something big is about to happen and it is going to be so spectacular that it is beyond our ability to comprehend. I can only give you in this sermon a hint of what is happening today (just from reading the newspaper last week) and what its consequences may be for the future of us all.
The earth has literally begun to groan as it longs to be free of the curse that was pronounced upon it when Adam and Eve first sinned again God. Strange unidentified sounds coming from no apparent source or direction continue to be reported all over the world today. The sounds are described as heavy scraping, to groaning, to booms or explosions, to a continuous hum.
Freakish weather has become the new “normal.” We are told by our government that we are experiencing global warming, however I can tell you unequivocally that the weather is not being caused by global warming. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that data actually shows we are now experiencing a cooling trend, and a recent report shows that global warming actually ended 16 years ago. The arctic this year saw the shortest summer in recorded history.
Rainfall in Iran has decreased by 58 percent as they continue to threaten to destroy Israel. There were 1,122, record cold temperatures recorded in the U.S. during a single week last winter. Natural disasters have displaced 34 million people since 2012 with concurrent years on track to be even worse. Last summer we experienced 34 major wildfires burning across 11 western states and staggering amounts of rainfall in 16 eastern states. Severe heat was felt across the entire nation. Dormant volcanoes throughout the world are coming back to life.
Earthquakes continue worldwide at an alarming rate and have become so common that they are seldom even reported in the news anymore. Just yesterday there were 32 earthquakes, over magnitude 2.5 in just one city in the State of Oklahoma alone.
In the Bible we are given a message of judgment in the last days. The prophet Hosea foretold how the land, itself would mourn: “Therefore the land mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes, along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky; and also the fish of the sea disappear” (Hosea 3:2). There have been 519 known mass animal die-offs that have occurred in 78 countries within the past three years..
Despite all of the current flooding this past year throughout the world fresh water is now becoming scarce. One-third of the world’s population has limited access to clean water. Egypt is ready to go to war with Ethiopia over the Nile. Pakistan is on the verge of a crisis over the lack of drinking water. Sub-Saharan Africa is in particularly dire need. In 20 African countries, more than 30 percent of the population does not have access to safe drinking water.
In chapter 24 of Matthew Jesus told us that there would be signs in the heavens of His Second Coming. This seems very logical since they will be visible to the entire world. There has been a huge up-tick in solar activity, especially in the southern hemisphere of the sun.
NASA tells us the sun will reverse its magnetic polarity within the next few years and the effects will be felt far beyond the orbit of Pluto, which is the farthest planet in our solar system. A high-speed solar wind buffeted the Earth’s magnetic field last summer and this is caused a G-1 geomagnetic storm around the Earth’s poles.
Jesus told us that there would be an increase of evil in the last days. We have witnessed first hand many of the horrible acts on our nightly new casts on the internet. As you know Islam continues to spread throughout the world with a rabid vengeance. The Militant Muslim world continues to demand that the rest of our planet accept Sharia Law with all of its horrors. Radical Islam hates Jews, Christians, and all other religions with a fanatical passion that can only be described as “supernatural.”
When the restraining influence of Christianity is snatched away from the world in the Rapture a single worldwide religion will form in which I believe Islam will play a very major role. Even the leaders of Islam can sense this. Leaders in Iran are, once again, loudly proclaiming that Armageddon is at hand and to prepare for war because the arrival of the Mahdi (the Anti-Christ) is imminent.
Christianity continues to spiral out of control toward extinction in the Middle East and the rest of the Muslim world. Churches, homes, and businesses of Christians in Egypt and Iraq have been stormed and burned.
Christianity is becoming an endangered species in Nigeria where over 100 Christians are murdered each month. Jihad is emptying entire towns in Syria and Iraq. Christian students in Eritrea have been beaten and imprisoned for refusing to renounce Christ. In India five women were publicly beaten for sharing the gospel.
Persecution of Christians here in the U.S. continues to grow in intensity. Ever since the June 26th pro-gay rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, religious persecution of Christians within the United States has increased dramatically. One example would include people who provide services for weddings and have been particularly targeted with horrific fines and even jail time for refusing to provide services for same-sex weddings.
A major sign that the end of the Age of Grace has to be near is the crumbling of fundamental Christian doctrines. Episcopal Church clergy are seen blessing Planned Parenthood abortion clinics and the name of Jesus has become a dirty word in politically correct America as well as the rest of the world.
President Putin of Russia has called for an end to worldwide persecution of Christians, while President Barack Obama has publicly declared that the United States is not a Christian nation and remains silent about worldwide Christian persecution. On July 31st a Muslim Imam opened a session of the United States Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. with an Islamic prayer. A few months ago I watched a story on Fox News showing a small child praying to Obama and praising him for his greatness. I also saw an article about a Facebook post titled, “the Virgin Mary Should Have Aborted.”
Wars and the rumors of wars are one of the major signs we were told to watch for as a sign of the end of the age. Russia recently held the biggest war games in decades, involving 160,000 troops. Well over 4 million people have been displaced, by the fighting in Syria, as the civil war in that nation lingers on. Chemical weapons have been used in the conflict. The fighting in Syria is becoming global as more and more nations send weapons and troops to participate in the fighting.
Last week of course Paris, France suffered immeasurably from multiple attacks on its citizens by ISIS and only yesterday Brussels, Belgium was completely shut down due to an Islamic threat against the people living there.
Signs of an imminent worldwide economic collapse also point to the Rapture occurring at any moment. All of the nations of the world are now bankrupt to one degree or another. Each nation holds the others up in a worldwide Ponzi scheme that could have only existed this long through divine intervention.
When the restraining force of our Lord is removed everything will collapse. The only solution will be a worldwide currency with a mandatory and infallible means of personal identification, such as a biometric scan or an RFID chip.
Right now over 97 percent of the money in the world exists only in the electronic memory of the worlds banking computers. Less than 3 percent of the money in the world is in the form of paper, coins, or bars of precious metal. Traders are talking about a worldwide gold conspiracy and there is evidence to back that up.
In the end times, in order to take over the world: The Antichrist will need to know as much as possible about every single individual. Our government is currently building a mega-data-base on not only all of its citizens, but all of the people of the world. You’ve probably never heard of XKeyscore, but it definitely knows you.
Jesus told us that the Great Tribulation would start at the three and a half year-point of Daniel’s 70th “week” when the Antichrist stands in the Temple and declares himself to be god. Therefore, there will have to be temple for him to stand in. The discussions on rebuilding the Temple are starting to get serious despite severe Islamic objections. The Israeli government is now funding the Temple Mount Institute and other organizations in their efforts to someday very soon rebuild the Temple.
In Revelation Jesus commanded us to watch for His return. He also warned us that if we do not watch He will come upon us as unexpectedly as a thief in the night and if we do not watch, we will not know the day or hour of His return.
Paul told the Thessalonians in his first letter to them to watch for the Lord’s return in the clouds, when the dead in Christ will rise first when the trumpet blows.
The bulk of chapter 24 of the book of Matthew deals with Jesus answer when asked what the signs of his return will be. Chapter 25 contains the parable of the 10 virgins and the importance of watching and being prepared for His return.
Over the centuries there has been much debate as to whether or not we can know the day or hour, but we can certainly know the season. We have that on the highest authority.
Never before in history has there been such an incredible number of signs that something big is about to happen, especially when all of these signs are occurring simultaneously. Many in the unbelieving world react with anger whenever the Rapture is mentioned because it is becoming increasingly impossible to deny.
All of humanity can sense it. Something really, really big is about to happen and it is going to happen very soon. Stockpiling water, food, medicine, and ammunition sounds like good advice, but it is not the answer.
The answer lays in your own heart and where you stand with God. Amen