Sermon Central
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Signs Of The Times Series
Contributed by Larry Sopchak on Sep 20, 2011 (message contributor)
Summary: This is the third in a series on The End-times looking at : 1) The Signs of Nature 2) The Signs of Society 3) The Spiritual Signs 4) The Signs of World Politics 5) The Signs of Technology 6) The Signs of Israel
Signs of The Times
Sunday, April 3, 2011
End-Times Series : Sermon Three
TEXT: 2 Peter 3:3-4
[VIDEO]
INTRODUCTION
For those who may not have been with us the past couple of weeks,
we've already preached Two Messages in this Series on "The End-times"!
Week 1 - "What On Earth Is Going On?"
In light of recent events around the world, there is obviously
a renewed interest in Bible Prophecy...
a) The disaster in Japan
b) The un-rest and turmoil in the Middle East, including the
over-turning of various governments...
In Week 1, we looked extensively at the signs that Jesus
spoke about in Matthew 24 and Luke 21...conditions that He said we would see on this earth in the End-times!
Last week,
Week 2 - "The Rapture"
In that Message, we looked deeper into the next big event
on God's Prophetic Time-table, "The Rapture" of the church...
We looked at "The Parable of the Ten Virgins" in Matthew 25,
and saw a picture of The Church in Jewish Wedding Customs!
[EXPOUND]
Today, I want us to look deeper into "The Signs of the End-times"...
Let me preface everything else we will look at this morning with this:
THE COUNTDOWN TO ARMEGEDDON began on MAY 14, 1948...
Jesus, in "The Parable of the Fig Tree", in Matthew 24:34, said this:
"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass
away till all these things take place"
[EXPOUND]
"The Signs of The End-Times", can be basically broken down into Six Categories :
1) The Signs of Nature
2) The Signs of Society
3) The Spiritual Signs
4) The Signs of World Politics
5) The Signs of Technology
6) The Signs of Israel
While Matthew 24:36, lets us know that no one can know the day or the hour of the Lord's Return...
We can certainly know the season...
HOW? Once again, the words of Jesus in Luke 21:28,
"Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your
heads, because your redemption draws near"
[EXPOUND]
1) THE SIGNS OF NATURE
Luke 21:11, "...and there will be great earthquakes in various places, and
famines and pestilences, and there will be fearful sights and great
signs from heaven"
Luke 21:25, "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars...the sea and the waves roaring..."
This category is probably the least respected, because there have always been earthquakes, floods, and so forth...
But listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 24:8 - "All these are the beginning of sorrows..."
Here's another interesting reference...
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3, "For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman..."
Labor Pains, over time, increase in Frequency and Intensity!
[EXPOUND]
That is happening now concerning "signs of nature"...
Increased Frequency and Intensity!
You'll remember the statistics I gave on Earthquakes in the first message...
[EXPOUND]
Here's some other statistics that support what we're saying...
-Between October of 1991 and November 2004, the United States experienced:
* 9 of the 10 largest insurance disasters in history
* 9 of the 10 greatest disasters as ranked by FEMA relief
* 5 of its costliest hurricanes in history (this was before Katrina)
* 3 of its 4 largest tornado swarms in history
Tsunamis...nothing of the likes of what we've seen in the past five years!
2) THE SIGNS OF SOCIETY
[EXPOUND]
There's basically three words that define our Society and Culture today:
1) Humanism
2) Materialism
3) Hedonism
Humanism is essentially "the love of self"..."it's all about me"!
Humanism defined: "A system of thought that rejects religious beliefs and centers itself on humans and their values, capacities, and worth"
[EXPOUND]
Materialism is "the love of money" and things that bring personal pleasure!
1 Timothy 6:10, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil..."
[EXPOUND]
When "Humanism" is your religion, your God will always be money!
Hedonism defined: "the doctrine that moral value can be defined in terms
of pleasure; indulgence in sensual pleasures"
[EXPOUND]
[EXPOUND]
[EXPOUND]
Our society has lost its sense of decency...
Our society has lost its reverence for God...
Our society has lost its sense of reverence and sanctity for human life:
Abortion is a plague of our times...
Life begins at conception...abortion is murder!
Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you..."
Psalm 139:16, "Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed, and in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them"
