The Times Before The Second Coming -- Part Ii Series

James O. Davis is the founder and president of Second Billion (TM). You are invited to learn more about Second Billion by visiting www.billion.tv.

INTRODUCTION

This is the second message concerning the times that will be present before the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is interesting, when God gets ready to do something on earth, He always forewarns us prior to that intervention. He sends some signals that are designed to prepare us for what God is going to do.

For example, God warned the world before He sent the flood—the ark was the sign. Before the Lord delivered the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage, He sent ten plagues upon the Egyptians—the plagues were the signs. Before He sent the Israelites into Babylonian captivity, He sent Elijah and Elisha—their miracles became the signs. Before He sent His Son to be born of a virgin, He put a star in the heavens—the star was one the signs. Just as the first coming of Jesus was preceded with signs, so will His Second Coming be preceded with signs.

There will be signs in the world that will correspond with the signs in the Word. Jesus said, “When these signs begin to develop, look up for your redemption draweth nigh.” We are living in the time when Jesus is going to return. There are several major signs I want to share with you. I also want to give you some facts and what Heaven is going to be like for you and me.

FIRST, NOTICE THE MULTIPLICATION SIGN

The Lord said it would be like the days of Noah when He comes back. In Noah’s day they were marrying and giving in marriage. There was a population explosion at that time. God had told Adam and Eve to fill the earth (Genesis 1:27), but He said nothing about overfilling it. Ecologists and sociologists are worried that the earth will soon be overpopulated. In China, for instance, the law states that each family is allowed only one child. To disobey is to invite prosecution and even persecution. Extreme populations are named as causes for serious economical and sociological problems, such as unemployment, crime, robbery, violence, hunger and starvation.

It is interesting that history reveals a population of 1 billion people from the time of Adam until the year 1830. One hundred years later, in the year 1930, there were 2 billion people on the earth. From 1930 to 1960, a period of thirty years, the world population stood at 3 billion people. Fifteen years later, in 1975, the population totaled 4 billion people. Eleven years later, in 1986, the number was up to 5 billion people. Eight years later, in 1994, there were 6 billion people. By the end of the decade, there were more than 6 billion people. Today, we are approaching nearly 7 billion people on this globe.

Jesus said prior to His coming it would be like the days of Noah. As there was a population explosion then, there will be a population explosion just before the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

SECOND, NOTICE THE MENTAL SIGN

A) The Progress of Knowledge -- The mental sign is seen first in the progress of knowledge. Man’s knowledge doubles in less than 6 years. By the time many medical students graduate, much of their earlier training is already obsolete. Printed material doubles in less than 15 years. Technology, for example, has developed the laser beam, a concentration of energy in a pinpoint of light. It is now used in various forms of surgeries, sometime requiring no incisions at all.

Computers now exist that can assimilate all 850,000 words of the Bible five times over in one second. Computer chips, no larger than the fingernail of a little finger, can store millions of items of information. There is a calculator that can make over 1 million calculations in one second. And who would have thought in the late 1970s that we could send a spaceship 35 million miles away to Mars that would be controlled in Houston? This is the technological sophistication of the era in which we live. In Daniel 12:4, the prophet announced that in the last days travel and knowledge would increase.

B) The Pressure on Men’s Hearts -- Not only is the mental sign found in the progress of knowledge, it is also found in the pressure on men’s hearts. The Lord said there would be distress of nations and perplexities. The word “distress” here means pressure from the outside. Perplexity means no way out. What a picture of people today who feel pressured from stimuli on the outside. They see no hope for the future. They see no way out of debt, problems, difficulties, or marital stresses. Men’s hearts are failing them because of the stresses, strains, struggles and the sins of life.