Jesus is Coming Soon!
We are Living on Borrowed Time
by Dr. David R. Reagan
 Many
people believe there is nothing that can be known about the timing of the Lord's
return because Jesus said He would return like a thief in the night (Matthew
24:42-44).
But Paul makes it clear in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 that
Jesus' statement does not apply to believers: "But you, brethren, are not in
darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief. . ." He then
proceeds to explain why: "for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We
are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let
us be alert and sober." Paul is referring, of course, to the light of the
Holy Spirit who indwells all true believers and who can enlighten us through our
study of Scripture to know the season of the Lord's return (1 John 2:27).
God's Attitude
As a matter of fact, God is obligated by His character to
warn the world of the imminent return of His Son. The reason is that Jesus is
returning in great wrath to "judge and wage war" (Revelation 19:11), and
God never pours out His wrath without warning.
God does not wish that any should perish, but that all
should be brought to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Therefore, God always warns before
He executes His wrath. He warned the world through Noah for 120 years. He warned
Sodom and Gomorrah through Abraham. He sent Jonah to warn the pagan city of
Ninevah, and He sent Nahum to the same city 150 years later.
Likewise, God is warning the world today that His Son is
about to return. He is calling the world to repentance. The message of the hour to
unbelievers can be summed up in these words: "Flee from the wrath that is to
come by fleeing into the loving arms of Jesus now." Jesus came the first time
as an expression of God's love; He came to die for the sins of Mankind. But when
He returns, He will come in vengeance to pour out the wrath of God on those who
have rejected God's love and grace.
The soon return of Jesus also carries with it a message
for believers. Lukewarm Christians and carnal Christians are being called to
commit their lives to holiness: "The night is almost gone, and the day is at
hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of
light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not
in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its
lusts." (Romans 13:12-14)
God's Method of Warning
God is alerting believers
of the soon return of His Son through what are called "signs of the
times." These are prophecies concerning world events that we are told to
watch for, prophecies that will identify the season of the Lord's return.
The Bible is full of these signs. There are about 500
prophecies in the Old Testament that relate to the Second Coming of the Messiah.
In the New Testament, one out of every 25 verses is concerned with the return of
Jesus.
In fact, there are so many signs that it is difficult to
grasp all of them. The best way I have found to do this is to put them in
categories:
1) The Signs of Nature — We are told to watch for
earthquakes, famine, pestilence, and signs in the heavens (see Matthew 24:7 and
Luke 21:11).
This is the least respected category of signs for several
reasons. For one thing, many people simply shrug their shoulders and say,
"There have always been natural calamities, so what else is new?" Note
that Jesus says these signs will be like "birth pangs" (Matthew 24:8)
— that is, they will increase in frequency and intensity as the time draws near
for His return. In other words, there will be more intense earthquakes and more
frequent ones. That is exactly what is happening today.
Another reason these signs are given little respect is
because most Christians are so rationalistic that they do not really believe in
the supernatural, and they therefore find it difficult to believe that God speaks
to the world through signs of nature. Yet, the Bible teaches this principle from
start to finish.
God dealt with the world's sin through a great flood in
the days of Noah (Genesis 6). He called the nation of Judah to repentance through
a terrible locust invasion (Joel 1). In like manner, He called for the nation of
Israel to repent by sending drought, wind storms, mildew, locusts, famine and
pestilence (Amos 4:6-10). The prophet Haggai pointed to a drought as evidence that
God was calling the people to get their priorities in order (Haggai 1:10-11).
The New Testament begins with a special light in the
heavens marking the birth of the Messiah (Matthew 2:2). On the day that Jesus was
crucified, there was three hours of darkness and an earthquake (Matthew 27:45-51).
And when Jesus returns, the earth will experience the greatest earthquake in its
history as every mountain is lowered, every valley is raised, and every island is
moved (Revelation 16:17-21).
God has always spoken through signs of nature, and He
continues to do so today. We had better pay close attention to them.
2) The Signs of Society — Jesus said that society
will become increasingly lawless and immoral as the time approaches for His
return. In fact, He said it would become as evil as it was in the days of Noah
(Matthew 24:12,37-39).
Paul paints a chilling picture of end time society in 2
Timothy 3:1-5. He says it will be characterized by three loves — the love of
self (Humanism), the love of money (Materialism), and the love of pleasure
(Hedonism). He then points out that the payoff of this carnal lifestyle will be
what the philosophers call Nihilism — that is, a society wallowing in despair.
Men's minds will become depraved (Romans 1:28), and people will call evil good and
good evil (Isaiah 5:20).
We are seeing these prophecies fulfilled before our eyes
today as we watch our society reject its Christian heritage and descend into a
hellish pit of lawlessness, immorality, and despair. Even worse, we are exporting
our nihilism around the world through our immoral and violent movies and
television programs.
3) The Spiritual Signs — There are both positive
and negative spiritual signs that we are to watch for. The negative ones include
the appearance of false christs and their cults (Matthew 24:5,11,24), the apostasy
of the professing church (2 Thessalonians 2:3), an outbreak of Satanism (1 Timothy
4:1), and the persecution of faithful Christians (Matthew 24:9)
These negative spiritual signs began to appear in the
mid-19th Century when Christian cults started forming. First came the Mormons,
then the Jehovah's Witnesses, and then a great variety of spiritualist groups like
the Church of Christ Scientists and the Unity Church.
The apostasy of the mainline Christian denominations began
in the 1920's when the German school of higher criticism invaded American
seminaries and undermined the authority of the Scriptures, teaching that the Bible
is Man's search for God rather than God's revelation to Man.
During the 1960's Satanism exploded on the American scene
and has since been exported worldwide through American movies, books, and
television programs. Dabbling in the occult has become commonplace in the form of
astrology, numerology, crystal gazing, transcendental meditation, and channeling.
The whole trend has consummated in the appearance of the New Age Movement with its
teaching that Man is God.
As society has secularized, true Christianity has come
under increasing attack. Judeo-Christian values, once the foundation of Western
Civilization, are now openly mocked, and those who still adhere to them are
castigated as "intolerant fundamentalists" by the media.
The positive spiritual signs include the proclamation of
the Gospel to the whole world (Matthew 24:14), a great outpouring of the Holy
Spirit (Joel 2:28-32), and spiritual illumination to understand prophecies that
have been "sealed up" until the end times (Daniel 12:4,9).
As with the negative signs, we are seeing these positive
signs fulfilled in our day and time. Through the use of modern technology, the
Gospel has been proclaimed throughout the world in this Century, and the Bible has
been translated into all major languages.
The great end time pouring out of the Holy Spirit that was
prophesied by the prophet Joel has also begun. Joel called it "the latter
rain" (Joel 2:23), and he said it would occur after the Jews had returned to
their land. The state of Israel was re-established in 1948. In 1949 God anointed
two ministries that would have a worldwide impact — the ministries of Billy
Graham and Oral Roberts. Then, in the 60's, came the Charismatic Movement which
prompted renewal in worship and gave emphasis to the continuing validity of the
gifts of the Spirit.
The acceleration in the understanding of Bible prophecy
began in 1970 with the publication of Hal Lindsey's book, The Late Great Planet
Earth. It seemed to open up to popular understanding many prophecies that had
been "sealed up" until the end times (Daniel 12:4, 9). Remarkably, it
became the number one best seller in the world — with the sole exception of the
Bible — for the next ten years!
4) The Signs of Technology — The book of Daniel
says that there will be an explosion of knowledge in the end times and that people
will move about quickly (Daniel 12:4). There are many Bible prophecies that cannot
be understood apart from modern technology. For example, how can the whole world
look upon two bodies lying in the streets of Jerusalem (Revelation 11:8-9)? Modern
television satellite technology makes it easy. How can the False Prophet build an
image of the Anti-Christ that appears to be alive (Revelation 13:15)? The answer,
of course, is the science of robotics. How can the False Prophet require all
people on earth to take the mark of the Anti-Christ in order to buy and sell
(Revelation 13:16-17)? It would not be possible apart from computers and lasers.
Jesus said that the Tribulation will be so terrible that
all life on earth would cease to exist if He did not cut the period short (Matthew
24:21-22). How could all life be threatened prior to the advent of nuclear
weapons? Another reference to nuclear power is likely contained in Luke's
statement that men in the end times will "faint from fear" because
"the powers of the heavens will be shaken" (Luke 21:26). That certainly
sounds like a reference to the splitting of the atom.
5) The Signs of World Politics — The Bible
prophesies that there will be a certain pattern of world politics that will
characterize the end time geopolitical map.
The focus will be the re-established state of Israel
(Zechariah 12:2-3). It will be besieged by a menacing nation from the "remote
parts of the north," the nation of "Rosh" — or modern day Russia
(Ezekiel 38:2,6). There will also be a threatening nation to the East that will be
capable of sending an army of 200 million — namely, China (Revelation 9:13-16
and Revelation 16:12-13). A third source of danger to Israel will be the Arab
nations that immediately surround it. They will covet the land and will try to
take it from the Jews (Ezekiel 35:10 and 36:2).
Another key player on the world political scene in the end
times will be a coalition of European nations that will form a confederation
centered in the area of the old Roman empire (Daniel 2:41-44, Daniel 7:7,23-24,
and Revelation 17:12-13). This confederation will serve as the political base for
the rise of the Anti-Christ and the creation of his worldwide kingdom (Daniel
7:8).
Other international political signs include wars and
rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6), civil wars (Matthew 24:7), and general
international terrorism and lawlessness (Matthew 24:12).
6) The Signs of Israel — The signs related to the
state of Israel are prolific and very important.
The most frequently repeated prophecy in the Old Testament
is the prediction that the Jewish people will be regathered from the "four
corners of the earth" in the end times (Isaiah 11:10-12). The Bible states
that a consequence of this regathering will be the re-establishment of the state
of Israel (Isaiah 66:7-8). The Scriptures say that once the Jews are back in their
land, the land itself will experience a miracle of reclamation (Isaiah 35). The
desert will bloom and people will exclaim, "This desolate land has become
like the garden of Eden" (Ezekiel 36:35).
Another end time miracle will be the revival of the Hebrew
language (Zephaniah 3:9). Most people are not aware of the fact that when the Jews
were dispersed from their land in 70 A.D., they ceased to speak the Hebrew
language. The Jews who settled in Europe developed a new language called Yiddish
— a combination of German and Hebrew. The Jews who migrated to the Mediterranean
basin created a language called Ladino — a combination of Hebrew and Spanish.
Other significant signs of Israel that we are told to
watch for in the end times include the re-occupation of Jerusalem (Luke 21:24),
the resurgence of Israeli military strength (Zechariah 12:6), and the re-focusing
of world politics on Israel (Zechariah 12:3).
All these signs have been fulfilled in this century. The
nation has been re-established, the land has been reclaimed, the ancient language
has been revived, the Jews are back in Jerusalem, and Israel is the focal point of
world politics.
Jesus says in Luke 21:28 that when these signs begin
to happen, we should "straighten up and lift up our heads" because
"our redemption is drawing near."
The Key Signs
The most important signs are the ones that relate to Israel
because God uses the Jews throughout the Scriptures as His prophetic time clock.
By this I mean that very often when the Lord is revealing an important event that
will take place in the future, He will point to the Jewish people and state that
when a certain thing happens to them, the important event will also occur.
A good example of this principle can be found in Daniel 9
in the famous "Seventy Weeks of Years" prophecy. The prophet tells us to
watch for a decree to be issued that will authorize the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
He then says that the Messiah will come sixty-nine weeks of years (483 years)
after that decree is issued to the Jewish people.
There are two key prophecies which relate the return of
Jesus to events that have occurred in Jewish history since 1948. These two events
clearly established the period in which we are now living as the season of the
Lord's return.
The State of Israel
The first is the
re-establishment of the state of Israel which occurred on May 14, 1948. Jesus
singled out this event as the one that would signal His soon return.
His prophecy is contained in the fig tree parable (Matthew
24:32-35) which He presented in His Olivet Discourse. The day before He delivered
this speech, He had put a curse on a barren fig tree, causing it to wither
(Matthew 21:28-29). This was a symbolic prophecy that God would soon pour out His
wrath upon the Jewish people because of their spiritual barrenness in rejecting
His Son.
The next day Jesus reminded His disciples of the fig tree.
He said to watch for it to bloom again. In other words, He said watch for the
rebirth of Israel. He indicated that when the fig tree blooms again, He would be
at the gates of Heaven, ready to return (Matthew 24:33).
Equally significant, He added an interesting observation:
"Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these
things take place" (Matthew 24:34). What generation? The generation that sees
the fig tree blossom.
We are that generation. The fig tree has blossomed. Jesus
is at the gates.
The City of Jerusalem
The second key event was
prophesied by Jesus in the same speech, as recorded by Luke: "[The Jews] will
fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and
Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:24).
The first half of this prophecy was fulfilled in 70 A.D.,
forty years after Jesus spoke the words. In that year the Romans under Titus
conquered Jerusalem and dispersed the Jews among the nations. Jerusalem remained
under Gentile occupation for 1,897 years — until June 7, 1967, when Israel won
the city back during the Six Day War.
The Jewish re-occupation of the city of Jerusalem is proof
positive that we are living in the season of the Lord's return. Jesus said it
would mark the end of the Gentile Age.
A Call to Action
There is no way to escape
the conclusion that we are living on borrowed time. The signs of the times are
upon us, and they are shouting for our attention.
Are you ready? If Jesus were to return today, would He be
your "Blessed Hope" (Titus 2:11-14) or would He be your "Holy
Terror" (Revelation 6:12-17)? If you have never received Him as your Lord and
Savior, now is the time to act. Repent of your sins, and call upon the name of the
Lord that you might be saved (Acts 2:14-39).
And if you are a Christian, are you living as if Jesus
might return any minute? Have you committed your life to holiness? Are you praying
for the lost and witnessing the Lord when you have an opportunity?
Are you yearning for the Lord's return? Can you say with
Paul that you are a candidate for a "crown of righteousness" because you
have lived your life "in the love of His appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7-8)?
Note: This message is available free of
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