Time Is Running Out

TIME IS RUNNING OUT

SCRIPTURE: Romans 13:11, 12

INTRODUCTION

Paul declared many years ago, "Time is running out." Looking back over history, there are some startling signs that point to the end of this age. Look at the following sequence of events:

-From the sailboat to the steamboat-5,000 years

-From the steamboat to the airplane-10O years

-From the airplane to the satellite-52 years

-From the satellite to Star Wars-25 years

-From Star Wars to ? ? ?

Could this valuable thing called time be running out for Planet Earth? Are we reaching the culmination of all things? Are we close to the time

(1) when we hear the whole creation groaning and travailing in pain until now (Romans 8:22),

(2) when "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout" (1 Thessalonians 4:16),

(3) when we shall hear the heavens pass away with a great noise and the elements melting with the fervent heat (2 Peter 3:10),

(4) when we hear the sounds of Armageddon (Revelation 16:16), and

(5) when the Lord shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley9 so that one half of the mount shall withdraw northward and the other

half southward (see Zechariah 14:4).

There are some things that are happening now that give us a real feeling that time is running out and the blessed hope will appear.

THE INCREASE OF VIOLENCE AND LAWLESSNESS

There is a bombardment of violence and lawlessness that the earth has never witnessed. The disciples asked Jesus, "What shall be the signs of Thy coming?" Jesus said, "There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea (Luke 21:25, New International Version). Paul said there would be worldwide lawlessness: "There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them" (2 Timothy 3:1-5, NIV).

In the United States, there are 35 million victims of crime annually; 20 percent of all murders are family-related-crimes of passion. Violent crimes are on the increase. One out of 12 women will be assaulted or have attempts made against them; five out of six children will be assaulted during their lifetime. One third of all female homicides are committed by husbands or partners.

Not long ago a woman in our area murdered several of her husbands. She cleverly fed poison into their system. Finally, after several husbands had died, autopsies revealed the poison. Her motive was unknown. She later repented, but she went to her death in the state prison in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In another incident, a quiet, retired couple was murdered in the privacy of their home. Two young military men slipped into their home through an open window, caught the couple by surprise, and cut their throats. After the murderers were arrested, they showed no remorse. They simply said they were following Satan’s orders. The father of one of the boys later said his son was greatly influenced by a game called Dungeons and Dragons.

A young man in the high school my daughter attends shot another student while walking in the hallway. On another occasion, a carload of young people pulled up beside another car, opened fire with a shotgun and struck the driver in the head. A 17-year-old high school senior was instantly killed. Paul said, "abusive . . . disobedient . . . without love… without self-control . . . brutal."

Crimes against children is another indicator of the final times in which we’re living. Reported cases of child abuse doubled between 1976 and 1981 and, according to Pat Robertson, had gone up 400 percent by 1984. The treatment of little children is appalling! Children are being taken and sold into slavery. Authorities have discovered that some of these children are victims of demonic worship. Phil Donahue interviewed children who told of being taken captive by people who sexually abused them during Satan worship. The children were threatened and were afraid to mention it for fear of their lives and their parents’ lives.

Bizarre tales are told by children who have been made to drink the blood of animals or have been forced to watch other children being beaten, sexually molested, and even dismembered. The Buffalo News, Buffalo, New York, told of a telephone number one can dial to listen to a bizarre pornographic message. Parents were warned by the newspaper, "Check your children’s calls." Is it any wonder we are reaping a whirlwind of psychologically impaired children?