the bible is a history book but it is unlike any other history book available in any public library the history of the bible starts with the creation of the earth and ends with the end of the world no other history book has ever been published that covers such a broad range of events on planet earth partially because no one was present at the start to witness and documented and therefore no one can write the beginning of our world authoritatively we are the only folks in the world who know how it will all end that is
unique the lord did not reveal the future to his followers to satisfy their curiosity it was to prepare them for the future so that they would not be surprised when it arrived and that they would not misinterpret it be grateful that jesus was so forthright in sharing what the future holds for us people ask are we in the end times however the bible talks of the last days and we have been in the last days for two thousand years the last days started at pentecost where the first prophecy of the last days was fulfilled every
christian generation should live to be ready for the lord's return the bible is a book full of predictions its pages contain 735 predictions about the future a prediction can be found in one quarter of the bible's chapters from beginning to end it is basically a prophetic text though some books focus more on predictions than others 596 of the 735 predictions have indeed occurred and have literally come true according to the scripture prediction so 81 of all bible prophecies have already come true and some of those prophecies were made centuries before the case it doesn't take
much confidence to believe that the remaining 19 percent will happen as well that's a very high score the bible has proved 100 right for every prediction that could have been fulfilled by now of the rest most of them are concerned with the actual return of jesus and what follows after that how many of these predictions remain to come true before jesus returns the answer is about 20 and we are watching to see those happen first before we look for the lord's return jesus told us to watch and pray what do we watch we cannot stand
still and watch the clouds to wait for him to appear that is not what he meant he meant keep an eye on what's going on in the world and see what signs i gave you to help you prepare signals are the signs so let's look at matthew chapter 24 where the disciples asked him what will be the signs or signals of your return what would we do if we don't know when it's going to happen to their inquiry jesus gave a direct and unambiguous answer we can thank god that he responded in such a straightforward
manner in the book of revelation he gives a much more detailed and comprehensive response but here he gives a rundown of the signs that will precede his arrival the disciples approached jesus secretly as he was seated on the mount of olives matthew 24 3-36 later jesus sat on the mount of olives his disciples came to him privately and said tell us when will this all happen what sign will signal your return and the end of the world jesus told them don't let anyone mislead you for many will come in my name claiming i am the
messiah they will deceive many and you will hear of wars and threats of wars but don't panic yes these things must take place but the end won't follow immediately nation will go to war against nation and kingdom against kingdom there will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world but all this is only the first of the birth pains with more to come then you will be arrested persecuted and killed you will be hated all over the world because you are my followers and many will turn away from me and betray and hate
each other and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people sin will be rampant everywhere and the love of many will grow cold but the one who endures to the end will be saved and the good news of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world so that all nations will hear it and then the end will come the day is coming when you will see what daniel the prophet spoke about the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the holy place reader pay attention then those in judea must flee to the hills
a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack a person out in the field must not return even to get a coat how terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days and pray that your flight will not be in the winter or on the sabbath for there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began and it will never be so great again in fact unless that time of calamity is shortened not a single person will survive but
it will be shortened for the sake of god's chosen ones then if anyone tells you look here is the messiah or there he is don't believe it for false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive if possible even god's chosen ones see i have warned you about this ahead of time so if someone tells you look the messiah is out in the desert don't bother to go and look or look he is hiding here don't believe it for as the lightning flashes in the east and
shines to the west so it will be when the son of man comes just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby so these signs indicate that the end is near immediately after the anguish of those days the sun will be darkened the moon will give no light the stars will fall from the sky and the powers in the heavens will be shaken and then at last the sign that the son of man is coming will appear in the heavens and there will be a deep mourning among all the peoples of the
earth and they will see the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven now learn a lesson from the fig tree when its branch's bud and its leaves begin to sprout you know that summer is near in the same way when you see all these things you can know his return is very near right at the
door i tell you the truth this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place heaven and earth will disappear but my words will never disappear however no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen not even the angels in heaven or the son himself only the father knows now in that passage he gave four distinct signs of his coming so what exactly are these four signs he gave us the first is clearly disasters in the world and dimensions for example wars famines and earthquakes these are certainly happening
but they have been happening for over thousand years they are getting more intense so we certainly are in this first sign there are already wars rumors of wars earthquakes and famine jesus says don't be deceived he says that again and again all the way through as we get nearer to the end the danger is deception both inside and outside the church in this case he says from false christs false messiahs people who will take advantage of the turmoil of natural disasters to present themselves as saviors there are well-known examples of people who pretend to be
saviors and lead people into desert locations only to end in tragedy however there are many false christs false saviors who claim to be the promised deliverer from all our troubles the more problems there are the more false deliverers there would be but as jesus advises us don't be alarmed don't be worried when you learn of a new war a new tragedy or a new famine breaking out he said something astonishing these are painful events but they are not pangs of death they are birth pains so when you read of disasters in the media these are
the pains that mean something new is about to be born this should completely change our attitude we know what the world is coming to we should not be alarmed or dismayed not as worried as the world will be about these things disasters in the world are the pain of birth in a new world that is to be born therefore we are very different we have sympathy for those who are suffering disasters and hopefully we express it and help but in our hearts we are not alarmed we are hopeful we are looking for a new birth
of a new world and therefore we are not dismayed or depressed by all the problems in the world in short jesus's advice to us would be not to panic not to be disturbed but even to rejoice and say these are all signs of something new happening the second sign of his coming is not in the world but in the church disasters in the world are the first sign the church not the world is the second sign of his coming the first warning is disasters around the world the second is changes in the church just as
he divided the first sign into three parts wars earthquakes and famines he divides the second sign into three parts all of which occur within the church the first is persecution that we will be hated in every nation the second aspect of this sign would be a significant reduction in the church's size most people's love will grow cold when the whole church is under strain many nominal christians if not all true christians would leave under the burdens of universal persecution their love would grow cold that's a very depressing sign the big surprise in the third part
of the sign is that the gospel will be preached to every racial group the third part of the sign is that the gospel will be proclaimed a smaller purified church would have a greater impact on the planet that is exactly what jesus is implying false prophets can be a source of deceit in all of this we are aware of the teachings of false prophets when there is no peace they teach peace rather than being a source of challenge their message is one of comfort it's all right it won't happen they'll say all now jesus's advice
is to keep going don't give in to these false prophets whoever perseveres to the end will be saved when that sign occurs when all aspects of the church are despised by the world that is jesus's advice to all christians why should that be the case the answer is that wheat and tares grow together and the closer they get to full maturity the more tension there will be between them so it's only natural that christians will be under a lot of pressure in the end christians are social misfits so there would be hatred the world does
not belong to us our citizenship is in the heavenly realms we are unique and it is because of our uniqueness that hate can arise since jesus was so different from everyone else he drew hate against himself john 15 19 if you were of the world it would love you as its own instead the world hates you because you are not of the world but i have chosen you out of the world it's not fun to be despised that takes us to the third sign of the end times which is jerusalem's distress geographically it will be
very limited in this passage jesus quotes daniel's prophecies and there is a character in daniel's prophecies who is referred to as the abomination of desolation daniel mentions it three times what does it all mean what's the big deal it's about a human being a man who establishes himself in the very city of god calls himself god and refuses to accept anyone else's will above his own a tyrant whose arrival will have global ramifications but who will be centered in jerusalem the city of god the holy place then jesus says that the fourth sign of his
coming will come immediately after that so we shall know when he is coming we shall be ready when that sign comes there will be no danger of false prophets or false messiahs there will be no deception it will be too quick what will happen is that all natural light will be switched off the sun will go dark the stars will fall there are many predictions of this all the way through the bible isaiah says the heavens will be rolled up like a carpet all the stars of heaven will be dissolved the skies will be rolled
up like a scroll and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine like foliage from the fig tree the natural light will be gone leaving only artificial light to illuminate the earth what is happening what is going on people may ask this is it christians will exclaim the sun stars and moons stop shining right before that happens god turns off the lights of heaven to prepare for the blaze of light from the lightning that will mark his return then he comes on the clouds back to the planet earth and we meet him
we are not meeting in an earthly stadium because there isn't one large enough to accommodate such a large crowd we'll reach him in the air and that'll suffice isn't that a fantastic prospect when you see all these things you know he is at the gates just about to walk through he says then jesus gives a very simple statement about a fig tree and this is where many christians have gone astray he says now learn this lesson from the fig tree as soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out you know that summer
is near jesus is telling us that when you notice all these events happen you know that we are there now that analogy of the fig tree is not an allegory it is a straightforward analogy from everyday experiences such as jesus often presented in his teaching you see the fig tree doing this you say the summer is coming and it will come in the same style when you notice these four signs you know that summer is coming sadly people have read it as an allegory in closing our question for the day what's a worship song that
has helped you feel closer to god you
