Without question, a new horror and a new fear has seized the hearts of men today in our world. And it is the fear of extinction. For, really, the first time on a total basis, man lives in a constant fear that he may go out of existence as a species. The fear that, at any moment, man’s existence may come to a sudden halt. War, the bomb, polluted air, contamination, famine, earthquake, overpopulation – all of these things, have the world in the pall of a death fear that is inescapable.
And the kind of sad thing about it, as you look at men, is the fact that there are no answers. Things are beyond control and man is trapped unable to cope with his coming doom. The elite of philosophers and the cream of the crop of scientists are scurrying around as busily as they can, trying to figure out how to stop the total suicide of the human race. And they really haven't figured it out yet. They have some ideas but, unfortunately, they won’t work.
They've decided the only way to stop the extinction of man is to control man. And we've been teaching you, in recent weeks, that what is going on in our world today is an effort upon the parts of some elite and some top-drawer scientist to gain control over the minds of men, over the reproduction of men, over the wages of men, over everything. And we see, in our world, more and more controls being exercised.
We see that there’s going to be brain stimulation. Life magazine ran a large feature article on it. They've already figured out how they can do it using monkeys, of course, as test cases. We hear constantly and incessantly about daycare centers, which are already being subsidized by the government which are guaranteed efforts on the government’s part to take children and indoctrinate them aside from the home in order that they might recreate the human race, in a sense or create a new kind of people who don't have crime and who don't have greed and who don't overpopulate, etc., etc.
Birth control, the talk about putting sterility drugs in water, and then handing out fertility drugs to people who are designated by the government to have the right to reproduce. Money control, price control, wage control. All of this kind of control that you're seeing is man’s efforts to grab his Right now, there are over 100 Bills before the United States Congress under the category of changing human nature. One hundred of them. One of them provides that your infant would be taken out of your home and kept until five, then sent to mandatory government schools, and 186 congressmen voted for it. It would take $20 billion to implement it.
The panic is on, my friends, in our world, in every corner. The world must be changed. Man will never survive his own suicide, if it isn’t. but the dooms-day machine is already rolling and it’s a little bit late. And the heart of man is still deceitful, above all things, and desperately wicked. And my friends, no change is ever going to come in man. No change.
They can try every system they want but they will never stop man from greed, from crime, from lust, from all of these other things. Man will always kill. Man will always make war. He will always lie. He will always cheat. He will always steal. He will always over-indulge. He will always pollute. He will always make waste. He will always hate. He will always rebel because he is a sinner. He is depraved. He is deceitful, above all things. He is desperately wicked and he cannot change himself.
He’s racing to his doom. He has no power to stop it. Man will not get better. The world will not get better. My friends, it will get worse. You say, “You sound like a prophet of doom” and indeed, I am. The Bible tells us that the world is doomed. It is inevitable. Everything in man’s own sphere says it’s inevitable. Everything that man sees around him says it’s grinding to a halt and everything in the Bible says it. Not only is man saying the end is coming, and some scientists tell us we’ll never make the year 2000. But God says the end is coming. And God writes history.
The sun is setting. The Son Man’s day is already casting its red glow of wrath against the clouds and night comes very, very soon. The handwriting is, again, on the wall, “Thou hast been weighed in the balances and found wanting.” And a man who can’t see the impending doom isn’t really looking because it’s there.
Tonight, I want you to see some of the signs in the Word of God that tell us that the day of man is ending. And I want to give you four general – well, let’s say three general and one specific sign. Three general signs and one specific sign that the day of man is coming to an end. Now, there’s so much material that we should really stretch this out over months. But we're going to try to pick out the highlights for you tonight.
The first general sign that man’s day is coming to a close is lawlessness. Lawlessness. The world will not be peaceful. Rebellion and war will not end. And no peace will ever come until the Prince of Peace comes, who is Jesus Christ. And the age of man will end with the return of Christ, in a great holocaust and a great judgment like the world has never seen.
And the Bible tells us that a sign of the end, as it moves toward that judgment, and the coming of the Prince of Peace will be lawlessness. Turn in your Bibles to Second Thessalonians chapter 2. Second Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 3. Now here the apostle Paul is talking about the end and he says this. Second Thessalonians 2:3. “Let no man deceive you, by any means, for that day shall not come” – that is the final judgment – the end of man’s age – “shall not come except there come the falling away first and” – and I just want to deal with this – “that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” And he is called here the lawless one. The Antichrist.
Now go down to verse 6. “And now ye know what restraineth, that he might be revealed in his time, for the mystery of iniquity” – that’s the word anomia which means lawlessness, doth already work. Only he who now hindereth will continue to hinder until he be taken out of the way.
Now watch this. The Bible says that now there is a mystery of lawlessness at work. A mystery, in the Bible, is always something which is hidden and will someday be revealed. The total full – watch it – the total full expression of lawlessness is still hidden. It’ll be revealed during a period of time the Bible calls the great what – Tribulation – which comes when the church is taken out. At the end of man’s day there will be this horrible tribulation – this horrible time when lawlessness will be full blown and it won’t be a mystery anymore.
But the mystery of it now already begins to work. But God has moved into this world and he has set some restraints on lawlessness. And we believe that the restrainer here is the Holy Spirit. Now, watch that. The Holy Spirit is in the world now, restraining lawlessness from going full blown, see? But, someday it’s going to be fully and completely revealed. Verse 8. “And then shall that wicked one be revealed.” And then we find out about all of the horrors that are going to take place when he is revealed.
God has restrained lawlessness in the world but someday the restraint’s going to be taken out. The Spirit of God will leave as a restraining influence. The Bible tells us those who love Jesus Christ will be taken out of the world before all this stuff begins. That’s our hope, isn’t it? And at that point, when we're taken out of the world, the Spirit of God’s ministry of restraining lawlessness stops. It stops.
But, friends, the mystery of lawlessness already works. And as you look at your world today, you can’t help but see lawlessness everywhere. In Second Timothy chapter 3 – turn to it with me, please – and verse 1, we get a glimpse of this kind of lawlessness. And I don't need to tell you about lawlessness. If you look at the television or read any newspaper any day, that’s all you ever read about. Breaking the law, every kind of way possible. And every kind of law possible. It’s the new thing, you know?
Do your own thing. Hang the law. Who cares, right? Lawlessness. And the Bible says, as it we get closer to the end, lawlessness will become more rampant and it is. Notice in Second Timothy 3:1 this. “This know also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come.” Perilous times shall come. Now, I want to describe the perilous times. Verse 2. Here they come. This is the condition of the world at the end times. Watch it. “Men shall be lovers of their own selves.” You know what that means? Selfish? Look out for number one. Demand your rights. Do your own thing. Lovers of their own selves.
Secondly, covetous. That’s a desire to have what belongs to somebody else, whether it’s his possession, his position, his job or his wife. Boasters – egomania – promoting self. Exaltation of self. Ego. Boy, if that isn’t today. I think it’s mostly obvious to us in luxuries and clothes and so forth how people exalt themselves.
Other ways. Proud. That means no need of God. Self-sufficient independence. Blasphemers. Substituting natural philosophy for divine revelation. Watch this one. Disobedient to parents. Would you say that’s a picture of our age? Unthankful. Has there ever been a day in the world when more people thought everybody owed him a living? In gratitude. Unholy. And that’s the key to everything. That’s the problem. Without natural affection.
My friends, we live in a day when the natural course of love has been so messed up that you can hardly find a normal love relationship. Homosexuality, all kinds of perversions. Even people in a heterosexual love relationship are totally unfilled, and people jump from person to person to person to person and they can find for the normal satisfactions of love.
Trucebreakers. Nobody’s words are worth anything. Liars. False accusers, meaning liars. Incontinent which, of course, it follows an unrighteousness – unable to be trusted and so forth and so on. Fierce. Despisers of those that are good. Fierce means they can’t be harnessed. They can’t be restrained. Traitors. People sell each other off. Heady. High-minded. That means headstrong. Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.
Now, these are characteristics of the end time and certainly, we could pick up any paper and just in a very general way, we could see these as characteristics. And the interesting thing is in verse 5 where it says, “They have a form of godliness but deny the power of it.” In other words, with all of the things that are going on, they still maintain religion.
Forty-nine percent of the people in America go to church. And you could read clippings from any newspaper and you could see all of those things. They're obvious. But notice verse 13. That’s the one I really want to point to you. “But evil men and seducers shall become worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” Now, there’s always been lawlessness. And there’s always been these other things, but the point is, in the end time, it’s going to become worse and worse. It’s going to come to a place where it is completely out of control.
Now watch this. Backing up I’m going to pick up some of the pieces. God basically, according to Romans chapter 13, instituted human government. And he instituted human government to punish evildoers and to reward those that are good. That’s Biblical. Government is to punish evildoers and reward those that are good. My friends, you live in a day when that is in the process almost of being reversed.
With all of the things that are going on today, government is failing to punish evildoers, failing to stop lawlessness. And government is going to come to a halt and anarchy is going to result. And then Antichrist world and then Jesus is going to return. It’s all coming right to a head. Lawbreakers go unpunished. Courts won’t convict anybody. Police have a terrible time trying to do their job. They catch a criminal, turn him into the courts and the courts turn him loose.
Our own police chief wrote the governor a letter last week and he pleaded with the government to revoke a new law in California that permits prisoners 72-hour passes because already in the last month or so, two of those passes have murdered two people. A judge in Pasadena recently had a person brought before him who was a rapist. And the person told him that he’d never do it again. The judge let him go. He did it again only this time he murdered the little girl after he’d raped her.
And government, because of the tangling of law and all the other problems, sentences are commuted, juries are hung, probations are given early releases, police can’t get convictions, etc., etc. It goes on and on and on. Civil disobedience is in order. Everybody breaks the law. Do what you want. Burn the buildings. March, protest, and I’m not against a healthy, normal kind of political attitude that desires to see change, obviously, but there’s no place for disobedience and yet we see it all about us. And it’s a sign of the end.
The Bible says when you start seeing lawlessness on a worldwide scale, look at head. The end is near. You see, there’s only one way to deal with lawlessness. There’s only one way. That’s to create a police state. Only thing you can do. ultimately it drives itself to a police state. And that’s exactly what happens and you see that’s what Antichrist has when he comes. He sets up a total world rule. And why he’ll be such a hero, evidently, from the Word of God is that with all the lawlessness all over the world, lawlessness on a national basis and on an international basis and on a national basis, is that he is evidently going to be able to resolve this and get control of everything.
And I believe what the world is going to exist under, according to the Bible, is a Tribulation that is a police state. Why? If you don't take the mark of the beast, what happens to you? You get killed. That’s the only way he can control lawlessness. And that’s what’s going to make that great hero out of the Antichrist, possibly, the fact that he can resolve the lawlessness into a controlled situation.
Alright. That’s a general sign. Very, very general. Let me give you another general one. Not only is lawlessness a general sign of the coming of Christ, but so it false religion. False religion. Look at First Timothy 4. First Timothy 4 verse 1. “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly” – pointedly, specifically – “That in the latter times some shall depart from the faith.” Now, in the latter times, my friend. In the latter times, some shall depart from the faith. Boy, have we seen that. Liberalism – rampant everywhere. Whole denominations have rejected the faith that was once their tenets and their doctrine.
Whole churches, schools, seminaries, have kissed the whole thing good-bye for rationalism. “Depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.” In the last days, my friend, false religion sponsored by demons is going to reign.
Did you know that all false religion is demon worship? Did you know that? We taught that several weeks ago, didn't we? All false religion is demon worship. All idolatry is demon worship. Paul said, in First Corinthians chapter 10, “The Gentiles sacrifice to devils.” All other religion than that which is true is demon worship.
And, my friends, we are in the heyday of false religion. In the heyday of it. Never been like it is now. Four hundred and fifty-five Muslims, 400,000,000 Hindus, 350,000,000 Confuscianists, 250,000,000 Buddhists, 100,000,000 Shinto and Taoists and in all of those religions there’s demon and spirit worship. Seven hundred and fifty million who have no religion or are in primitive kind of animism. Thirteen to 14,000,000 Jews, 200,000 Zoroastrians, and 1,000,000,000 atheistic Communists. The world is full of false religion. It’s dominated by the doctrines of demons.
And demons are behind cultures as we know it. And the cultures are growing at a rate that’s unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. Some of the cultures have tripled and quadrupled in recent days. And people have even gone so far that it’s not only necessarily a religion or a culture but they're actually worshiping directly demons and even the devil himself. You know about Anton LeVey and the Church of Satan in San Francisco. Mediums, séances, horoscopes, Ouija boards, ESP and whatever else. Ten million Americans subscribe to horoscopes.
Typical demon work can be seen in the pseudo Christian literature, for example, of Jeanne Dixon, Edgar Casey, Ruth Montgomery, Arthur Ford, etc. All over America we have witches’ covens. All this to an extent never known in the history of the world. And the Bible says that in the end times – watch it – the doctrine of devils. It’s all over the place.
And the doctrine of devils in an organized religious way will come to a head in Revelation chapter 17 in that false world church. We’ll look at that a little bit later.
Alright. Let me give you a third general sign. Apostasy. Not only lawlessness and false religion, but apostasy. Apostate is one who knows the truth and rejects it. Religious liberalism. And by that, I mean those who have departed from the truths of the Word of God. Preachers and teachers who teach less than the inspiration of scripture, the deity of Jesus Christ, his virgin birth, substitutionary death, atonement, resurrection and coming again. Anybody who teaches less than that’s an apostate.
And the tragic thing about apostasy is it finds itself in denominationalism, in church pulpits, in colleges “of a Christian nature” and in seminaries. And most seminaries and most so-called Christian colleges in America are producing liberals who are apostate.
The rise of liberalism in colleges, seminaries and churches gives abundant evidence that men are departing from the faith, fast. I've told you many times about the time I went to seminary to finish up the year on my doctorate. And they told me that my problem was in a seminary – religious seminary. I think it was a Methodist-sponsored seminary. They told me your problem is you've got too much Bible – to get a degree in Bible.
False teachers are everywhere and Paul tells us in Second Corinthians chapter 11 that they are dressed up like angels of – what – “of light.” “Dressed up like angels of light.” Yes, some shall depart from the faith.
People say to me, “You know, I’m in a church where the pastor doesn’t believe in these things. What should I do?” And I say, “Get out!” That kind of stuff is damned, my dear friend. No Christian sits under the doctrines of demons and prospers. You say, “Well, how can you tell an apostate?” Two ways. Number one, he denies the deity of Jesus Christ – that he’s totally God. Number two, he denies his Second Coming. Always.
Number one, denies Christ’s deity. So, this is what Peter says, just as clearly as possibly can be said. Second Peter 2:1, “False teachers even denying the Lord that bought them.” And over in chapter 3 they say, “Where is the promise of his coming and they laugh.” See? They always deny two things. The deity of Jesus Christ, that he’s God in human flesh. And the Second Coming. Always. Because the Second Coming is tied with judgment and they are subject to God’s damnation.
But you know, they're going to be busy. They're busy fellows, the apostates. Very busy because they're building a great church. They really are. The only problem is, when the true church is gone, they'll just get going. The Bible says in Revelation chapter 17 that when the true church leaves, they just begin to really move on their church. The true church in the Bible is called the Bridge. Their church is called the horror. Revelation 17.
They're building a church, all right. It’s the devil’s church. Revelation 17 is a fantastic prophecy that bit-by-bit describes the church of the Tribulation. The church that’s here on earth after the true church is gone and it’s being built today by the apostates.
Friends, you and I are seeing it being built. Now, there’s only two things necessary for the apostates to build the church that’s the horror or the harlot. Only two things. Number one, a lot of apostates to do it. Number two, a drive for all the apostates to get together and build one church. Have you been watching your papers? Have you heard about ecumenism? Have you heard about COCU? Not cuckoo, COCU which is the Council on Church Union. Have you heard of the World Council of Churches? The National Council of Churches? These are apostates banding together to build their church. They're going to be successful because it’s energized by Satan.
There’s a new step every hour toward a world unified church uniting under not doctrine. Not Jesus Christ. Social action. Civil rights. Anti-war. Housing. Welfare. You know, whatever. A recent article in the paper said this, “Sixty Protestant Roman Catholic and Jewish religious leaders have announced the convening of an emergency religious convocation in Washington to mobilize support to end the war in Indochina.”
UPI Washington said, Dr. Cynthia Waddell, President of the National Council of Churches, has predicted that the National Council of Churches will be replaced by a new and stronger ecumenical organization within 18 months or 2 years at the most. They know where they're going.
And they're getting together on everything but the truth. They're getting together and all kinds of things. They're getting together on social action. I believe in some cases, they're getting together on experience. Falsified spiritual experience that’s ingenuine. It’s a sad thing to look around world and see all these apostates.
I come out of a denominational background. So do many of you. And I look back at the denomination that I was raised in and I shake. The Glock and Stark Survey of 1970 asked a couple of questions. One of them was this, “Are the scriptures the inspired and inerrant Word of God?” Seventy-seven percent of the American Lutherans said “no.” Sixty-seven percent of the American Baptists said “no.” Eighty-seven percent of the Methodists said “no.” Eighty-eight of the Presbyterians said “no.” Ninety-five percent of the Episcopals said “no, the Bible’s not the Word of God.”
And so, it goes. Apostates everywhere and all of them getting together to build their great church. Twenty-five million people in America belong to COCU. The United Methodists, the episcopal church, the United Presbyterian and Presbyterian USA, United Church of Christ, and Christian churches, etc., etc., etc. The African Methodist Church and whatever else.
Revelation 17 says a very interesting thing. It says it’ll all be centered in the City of Rome. Read it in verse 4 and verse 9 of Revelation 17. You say, “Well, maybe it’s not talking about Rome.” Well, then take the Catholic Bible, 1963, Confraternity version. Read that chapter and see who they say the city is in view in chapter 17. In the Confraternity Catholic Bible, it says the city here is Rome. It’s obvious who it is. City on 7 hills.
And since Pope John the 23rd died, there has been a growing movement toward this one-world church. Pope Paul at Vatican II plead for the worldwide union and forgiveness for the inequities of the Roman Catholic Church. In the past, they exonerated the Jews from crucifying Christ, etc., etc.
Jean Dixon had a vision in the cathedral in Washington which became very important to all these people in this effort. In the vision, she said a remarkable peace came over me and I know that a council of our church would soon bring together, under the roof of Rome, “the religions and nationalities of the world.” That’s what she saw in her vision. Four years later, the Council met and it began. You say, “Does she get supernatural visions?” I believe she does, but not of God.
So, lawlessness, false religion, and apostasy are signs of the end of man’s age. Now, I want to give you specific signs. Specific signs. Hang onto your seat. I just have got to lay a little groundwork very quick. Man’s day goes along.
Watch it now. It goes along. Incidentally, there’s some little charts in the back. If you want one when you leave, you can pick them up if there’s any left. It’ll give you a little diagram of the plan of the end that we worked out for you. It’s back there if you want.
We're living in this age but goes along. Jesus comes down. Not to the earth but to take his own. Gathers us and we meet him where? In the sky. It’s going to be great. God turns off gravity for all Christians. Whew! You know? And there we are, right? And the ones in the grave go first because they have six feet further to go and we want to meet together, see? So, the ones in the grave, and we meet – except in New Orleans where they're buried above the ground.
We meet – we meet in the air with the Lord. We go to be with the Lord. And when we're gone with the Lord, then seven years of Tribulation comes on earth as God judges all the unbelievers. And at the same time, he’s going to work with Israel. And at the end of seven years, he comes back and we come with him. That’s how it goes.
Now, when we go, all that horrible thing is going to happen. The Tribulation. The Tribulation happens after we've been taken out of the world. But watch this. We can already begin to see Tribulation events happening, forming. And we're going to go before they happen. But we can already see them beginning. I don't think we have very much time.
I’ll never forget, I preached this message and a little girl ran to me one time at a camp. She said, “I’ve got to go home. I’ve got to go home.” It was only the first day of camp. I said, “Why?” She says, “My mama doesn’t know the Lord.” She says, “Do I have time to get home before Jesus gets here?” I said to her, I said, “Honey, I don't know if you do but pack up your stuff and get out of here.”
And you know, that sweet little gal went home and Jesus didn't come, but I know one mother that got the love of her daughter’s heart as she presented to her the claims of Jesus Christ.
I don't know how much time we have. We may not even make it till tomorrow. Praise the Lord. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Can you say that? But there are some events happening. Let me give them to you.
Number one, the rebirth of Israel. The rebirth of Israel. You want to know what Israel is, my dad just wrote a book and he entitled it, Israel, God’s Clock. You just watch them and you know what time it is. The Old Testament clearly and repeatedly foretold that Israel as a nation would be reborn. All over the Old Testament. Ezekiel chapter 20, and let me just read you a couple of verses there.
Ezekiel chapter 20 verse 42, for one, and there’s so many of them but this is just one. Twenty verse 42. “And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I shall bring you into the Land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers. And there shall you remember your ways and all your doings in which you have been defiled. And you shall loathe yourselves and your own sight for all your evils that you have committed. And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways.”
No, no. Grace. “Nor according to your corrupt doings, oh ye house of Israel, saithe the Lord God.” God said Israel, you're scattered all over the world but I’m going to bring you back.
And old Ezekiel, you know, over there in chapter 37, God took him out on the valley. Verse 1. “The land of the Lord was upon me and carried out and the Spirit of the Lord” – verse 1 says – “He set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.” Ezekiel is having a vision. God puts him in a valley. Bones everywhere. He looks around and sees all the bones.
“And he caused me to pass by around about, and behold, there were very many bones in the open valley and lo, they were very dry.” The valley of dry bones. And he said unto me, ‘Son of Man, can these bones live?’” And Ezekiel answers, “Hum.” You know, you brought me here. I don't know. “And he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones and say unto them, oh ye dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord,” see?
“Thus saithe the Lord God unto these bones, “Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you and bring up flesh upon you and I will cover you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live and you shall know that I am the Lord.” So, God says they're going to live. That whole valley of bones is going to come together – flesh is going to get on them. They're going to breathe. They're going to be alive.
And Ezekiel, verse 7, “So I prophesied as I was commanded.” See? “And I prophesied, behold there was a noise and behold, a shaking” and the head bone connected to the neck bone and the neck bone and away it went. See? And bone connected to bone. And that whole thing came together.
Verse 8, “And when I behold, all the sinews and the flesh came upon them and the skin” – and pretty soon breath comes into him. And old Ezekiel says, “Lord” – verse 11 – “Who is this? What does this mean?” Verse 11, “And then he said unto me, son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.” Wow.
Do you know that nation has been scattered, that’s never possessed its own land and controlled its own land for 2,500 years, has been regathered? Have you ever met a Hittite, Amorite, Jebusite, Hivite? You say, “Huh? There aren't any!” But there are Israelites all over the world. God has preserved the Jew.
Why? because God says I’ll bring him back to his land. They’re his people. God chose to work his redemptive act through one nation. That’s his nation. They forsook him and he scattered them. But in your lifetime, beloved, and in mine, he has regathered them. Boy, it’s a fantastic thing to realize.
Since 586 BC when Nebuchadnezzar conquered the land, Israel hasn’t been in power. Twenty-five hundred years. Now, watch this one. In Luke 21:24 it says, “Jerusalem” – meaning the whole land of Israel” – shall be trodden down by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
Hey, you mean Jerusalem is going to be – and Israel is going to be under Gentile control until the times of the Gentiles are over? That’s the end of man’s day. You mean that the Jews aren't going to control their land until it’s the end of the Gentile day? That’s what the Bible says. Luke 21:24. Listen, friends, in your lifetime Israel has begun to gain control over her land. You know what that says to me? Fast closing are the times of the Gentiles. It’s almost over.
A miracle. 70 AD, 1,100,000 Jews were killed by Titus Pispassia. In a single day, 10,000 throats were cut in Damascus. In 115 AD, Hadrian destroyed 985 towns and killed 500,000 Jews. In the Crusades, they slaughtered them all over Europe. For thousands of years they've been massacred, but in 1873 they came back. First settled. In 1914, 90,000 of them. In 1935, 300,000 of them. In 1945, 6,000,000 dead. In 1948, they were a nation. Controlling their own country, a part of it, for the first time in 2,500 years.
The miracle of history. No nation in history has ever done that. They did. And you have seen it happen. God has regathered Israel because once the church is taken out, those seven years he deals with Israel. And they've got to be in the land to be dealt with, and they're in the land.
Let me shock you. Matthew 24. Matthew 24 verse 32. Now Jesus, in this whole chapter, is talking about the end times. Listen to verse 32. “Now learn a parable of the fig tree.” Jesus is going to speak a parable here, or an illustration. “When its branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So, likewise, ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” In other words, he’s saying now, there’s an end coming to everything. The great end is coming.
Now he says, in terms of a fig tree, when the branch begins to put forth a little leaf, you know that summer’s near. So, he says now, you watch. “When the fig tree begins to put forth its branch, the end is coming.” In the Old Testament Israel is a fig tree. So, Jesus says, folks, watch because when you see the fig tree bud – 1948, May, this is what this prophecy means and this is a possible interpretation, obviously. The fig tree budded. He says now watch it, the end is near.
Verse 34, “This generation, Ganae, shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.” What does he mean? Many Bible scholars feel he means this. Listen, the generation that sees the fig tree bud will not die off till all the events of the end come to pass. Did you get that? The generation that sees the fig tree bud will not die off till all the events of the end come to pass. Guess whose generation saw the fig tree bud?
You say you mean this is the last generation? In my heart, I believe that. I may be wrong, but I believe there’s evidence from the Word of God that that’s very, very possible. I would never set a date. But as I read it, if Israel is the fig tree, its budded and the generation that sees that will not die off till all these things come to pass.
You've seen it, friends. You've seen God bring his people back. And if you don't think God did it, ask the Arabs. One little incident out of the war, the Israeli Air Force took off. Remember this? And the Arabs had a plan. They put dummy airplanes on the runway. Six-day war – ’67. Put dummy airplanes on the runway. They flew over. They Arabs figured they’ll drop their pay load on the dummy airplanes and we’ll take off and beat them back and we’ll destroy Israel.
One thing they didn't realize, the Israelis had developed a homing bomb. It only homed in on live targets. They flew over the runways and they dropped the bombs. Hum, hum, hum. Destroyed 90 percent of the Arab Air Force in less than a day. Never got off the ground.
I’ll never forget, my wife and I running along in the bus with Michaelson’s and those that were on the trip with us to Israel. And Lynn and Joe, and we went down the Golden Heights and they said, “You know, this was possessed by the Arabs up there. And they would sit up on the Golden Heights and shoot at everybody down below and it wasn’t fair, you know? You can’t fight somebody that’s way up above you. So, they couldn't do anything.
So, they had manned every possible place with Arab forces where the Jews could possibly get up there. And they thought they were secure. There was one area that was too steep for anybody to climb so they left that alone. And that’s what cost them because the Israeli Army got all their tanks and pushed them up the Golden Heights with bulldozers and they all came over the top. And they came in with an air strike and wiped out that whole thing and moved the line back 10 miles. They said, “That’s fair. We can fight on flat ground.”
The girl who drove the half-track that led the largest column of troops said she saw before her a pillar of fire, one reporter said. He didn't know what the pillar of fire is but it sounds like somebody we know. And she said, “When I saw the pillar of fire I diverted the whole column. A couple of vehicles were late and they didn't see the pillar of fire. They went straight ahead into a minefield and blew into bits.”
God is superintending the recovery of Israel to the land. And Israel, you just can’t believe what you see. You can’t believe it. It looks like a large construction zone, like they should put a wooden wall around the whole city. You know, construction zone. It’s the fastest growing city in the history of the world. It’ll double in ten years. People are coming back.
Let me give you a second one. A second specific. The rise of the United Nations. In Revelation 13, Revelation 18, Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Daniel 9, Daniel 11, every place in those passages, prophecies are concerning the political picture at the end of the age. And the political picture is that there’ll be a one- world government with one-world ruler. And the whole thing will eventually disintegrate into a total war among all these big powers in the world.
But the Bible says there will be one man, one world ruler. Well, you know up until a month ago, or so, that wasn’t possible. Do you know that? Because up until a month ago, all the nations in the world weren't under one umbrella. You happen to see the inclusion of Red China into the United Nations which means that, as of now, all nations in the world – significant nations, are in the United Nations.
You say, “What does that mean?” That simply means that if one man were to rule the United Nations, for the first time in history, he would rule the world. Now, are you saying the United Nations will be the vehicle of Antichrist? No. I’m just saying that the mind of men is collectively to get together for a common rule. And they are, for the first time in the history of humanity, under one umbrella. And, theoretically, if a man could get control of the United Nations, he’d rule the world. It’s never been possible before. You've seen it in the last couple of months.
Recently, Belgian-premiere Spock said, “The truth is that the method of international committees has failed. What we need is a man. Someone of the greatest experience, the highest order of great authority, of wide influence, of great energy. Let him come, and let him come quickly.” They want a man. They're going to get one. They're going to get one.
Jeane Dixon, who has had many demon-inspired visions says this. “Strange things began to occur in Mrs. Dixon’s house.” This is the writer commenting. “As she gazed toward the east before sunrise, she saw an Egyptian pharaoh and Queen Nefertiti. And cradled in the queen’s arms was a baby in rags. The couple advanced toward here” – that is, toward Jeane Dixon – “extended the baby whose eyes were full of wisdom, as if offering it to the entire world. Soon the baby grew and became a man before Mrs. Dixon’s eyes. A small cross which had formed above him began to grow in size until it extended over the earth. Then people of every race were seen kneeling and adoring this man.”
Her interpretation was that a child was born into the world who would revolutionize the world. And before the close of this century he will bring together all mankind in an all-embracing faith. This will be the foundation of a new Christianity with every sect and creed united through this man who will walk among the people to spread the wisdom of almighty power. Where do you think she got that vision? That’s a perfect description of Satan’s man – the Antichrist.
It’s a shocking thing to realize the day in which we live. Shocking. He’ll come. He’ll be here. The man the world wants. And when he comes, he will come to establish peace. What is it the world wants more than anything else? Peace. Peace. Peace. Peace. You hear it all the time. They're going to get a man who’ll bring peace.
Revelation 6. I’ll introduce him to you. Here’s the man. Revelation 6 verse 1. Well, now here you have the four visions of what happens in the Tribulation. Four opening visions. Verse 2. Let’s just look at verse 2. We’ll skip some of the preliminary. Verse 2 says, “There’s going to be a conqueror that’s going to conquer. And he has a bow.” And notice, he doesn’t have any arrows, which is an indication he conquers by peace. This is a picture of the Antichrist, as he’s commonly called.
And in Daniel 6:4, Daniel 9:27, Ezekiel 38:8-12 we have the same description of the same guy and all of those places tell us he’s going to conquer by peace. This guy moves in and he’s accepted as a world leader and he brings peace.
My friends, what is it the world wants? Peace. And they're going to get just what they want, only it’s not the Prince of Peace. It’s this Antichrist and he brings peace, but it’s a phony peace. It’s a phony peace.
In First Thessalonians, don't look it up. Just listen to this. In First Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 2, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night” – final day – listen to this – “For when they shall say peace and safety, then cometh sudden destruction.”
The world’s going to be in a situation of false peace and it’s not going to last. Look at verse 4. Another comes – another horse in the vision comes and power was given to him that sat on it to take peace from the earth.” Peace is short and he rips it from the earth, and what happens? “And men kill” – what – “one another and it was given unto him a great sword.”
Ezekiel 38:21 says, “Every man’s sword will be against his brother.” They kill each other. This is inter-country revolution. And the word for sword is not rhomphaia the big sword, it’s machaira the assassin’s dagger. Men are going to turn each other and assassinate each other all over the world. And you know, this is the thing we fear so much even in our own country is civil war. The slaughter is infused in the men by Satan himself.
In America, for example, we have 200,000,000 guns and we sell 3,000,000 every year. Pistols, revolvers, shotguns, rifles, uncounted machine guns, bazookas, hand grenades, mortars, anti-tank guns. One ad in the paper said, “Buy your father a machine gun for Father’s Day.” There are more guns in Los Angeles than there are in Saigon.
In the last 70 years, nearly 800,000 Americans have died at private guns; 630,000 by war. One hundred seventy-thousand more we've killed ourselves. We're an armed camp, my friends. And when the breaks loose after peace is gone, men are going to kill each other. And we're ready for that. It can happen. The tension is right for it. When peace gets ripped from the earth, men are going to turn on each other.
The results are staggering. The results are shocking, in verse 6. Famine. And he goes to describe famine by talking about the terrible price for wheat and the terrible price for barley. And they won’t be able to touch the oil and the wine, which will belong to the rich people. Famine is going to hit our world. That kind of war and that kind of slaughter, and everybody fighting and nobody producing and famine is going to hit.
The Bible tells us elsewhere that famine is going to be a part of the end times. Do you realize that 400,000,000 people are starving in our world right now? Ten thousand drop dead every day by starvation. A hundred thousand a month died of starvation in Biafra. That many are dying in India. And it can only get worse. It can only get worse.
But my friends, it’s not only going to be that personal assassination, but the Bible says in Matthew chapter 24 that “There will be wars and rumors of wars” on a national basis. There’ll be internal revolutions and there’ll be massive wars. Now think of – these are staggering thoughts. Staggering. Look how many people are going to die in verse 8. “Power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth.” One-fourth of humanity will die.
Later on, the Bible tells us, in a few chapters – I think it’s chapter 9 verse 15, that a third will die. Put that together and you've got over half the earth. The population of the world today is about 3.5 billion. Can you imagine 1.7 or 1.8 billion people dying in 3-1/2 years? Shocking. Only 62.5 million people have died in all the major wars.
One point six billion, at least, 1.8 billion, perhaps, dying if Jesus were to come now in 3-1/2 years. And the shocking thing about it is, my friends, that would have been a mathematical impossibility 50 years ago. You couldn't have killed them that fast. can you imagine using that many arrows? Can you imagine? Can you imagine using that many single shots bullets? There’s only one way to do it. That’s in germ warfare, chemical warfare, poisonous gas and bombs. And we can kill them a lot faster than 3-1/2 years.
In the United States, USSR, Red China and Europe has 50,000 atomic devices. The United States has 30,000 atomic devices with 25,000 mega tons of power. And listen to this, one megaton equals 50 A-bombs like we dropped on Hiroshima. We've got 25,000 of them stockpiled. We could do more damage with 1 missile, with 1 nuclear warhead than all the bombs combined dropped in World War II. And we could do it half an hour. The world is ready for war like it’s never dreamed could exist. We're an armed camp.
And when you think about that many people dying, it’s shattering. It’s shocking. Terrifying. Terrifying. It’s coming. It’s coming. And for the first time in the history of the world, we have that kind of kill power where it can happen. Do you see? Do you see what we're saying, friends? This can happen.
Oh, there’s so many other prophetic things. We think about the revival, for example, of the Roman Empire. Daniel chapter 2. Daniel said there’s going to be a revival of the Great Roman Empire in the last days. People used to say, “Oh boy, Daniel.” Can you see everybody going around with a little tin hat saying, “heresies?” You're out of your mind. Nobody is going to go around and revive the Roman Empire but Daniel prophesied it because God told him. it’s repeated in Revelation very clearly.
They said there’s going to be ten nations. Ten toes on the image. Remember the prophecy? There will be a ten-nation confederacy of those nations that once were in the Roman Empire. You say, well, that’s not happening my friend. That’s happening right before your very eyes. Have you looked at your newspaper in recent days and read about the European common market? There are now seven nations in the European common market. All seven of them were at one time territorially in the old Roman Empire. There are three making application and all three of them were, at one time, in the old Roman Empire.
God says, in the end time there’s going to be a great power in the West – a confederated Europe, under the old Roman Empire territory. Europe is getting together, my friends. You watching that? Finland, Norway and Denmark have made application. If they get accepted that makes ten. That’s what the Bible said.
December 27, 1971, KFWB news reported. This was a couple weeks ago. The biggest event to look for in 1972, here it is – the rise of the European common market which will become the greatest single economic power in the world. You think Daniel knew what he was talking about?
The Los Angeles Examiner – are you ready for this shock? The Los Angeles Examiner October 29, that lasted – 1971, was “The British decision to join the common market has brought western Europe to the threshold of its strongest union since the nations involved were tied together as part of the Roman Empire 15 centuries ago.” God said the Roman Empire would be revived in the end days. You are seeing it happen.
I’ll give you another one. The rise of Russia. Ezekiel 38. God says there’s going to be a great nation from the “uttermost part of the north.” Listen, friends, everything is in relation to Israel. You go uttermost from Israel and you're only going to wind up one place. That’s Russia. And it’s called Gog and Magog and if you trace through the meaning of Gog, Magog, Michele, Meshech and Tubal you will find that those are ancient tribal names for Russian settlers. It’s Russia.
And the Bible says in Ezekiel 38 that Russian will descend on Israel and make war. Would you say that’s a possibility? It couldn't even happen until 1948 because Israel wasn’t even there. It is now. And the Bible also says, and you can read it in Ezekiel 38. It says it will ally with Kush and Putnam and names of a whole lot of other nations that are ancient names for the now territories that are occupied by the Arabs. Russia’s allies will be the Arabs. Who are their middle east allies? The Arabs. Twenty-six hundred years ago, Ezekiel said it would happen.
Let me give you another one. The rise of Egypt. Daniel 11:40 and following says that “The king of the south” – Egypt – “will fight Israel in the last days.” Would you say that’s a possibility? Egypt fight Israel. Now let me just double the power of that thought.
Daniel 11 says this, “The king of the south will ally with the king of the north” – Russia and Egypt – “against Israel in the last days.” Have we seen that? Let me give you some shocking things. November 1971, in the Jerusalem Post, listen, Soviet missiles in Egypt have tripled. They have 523 Soviet fighter planes, 150 Russian pilots, 250 Soviet tanks, 20,000 Russian advisors working in the Egyptian army. That’s end time stuff, friends. Happening.
Daniel chapter 9, Matthew chapter 24 indicate that in the end times the temple will be rebuilt. You can go there now, as we did this past summer. You can see that there’s no temple there now. And so, we asked the guide and said, “Well, when are you going to rebuild the temple? It’s got to be rebuilt for the tribulation.” “Ah, nobody wants to rebuild the temple. We don't care about that. That’s a lot of bologna. We don't care about that.” I said, “Come on, you care about it.” It has to happen. Not before we leave, because they build it so fast you couldn't believe it. They could build it in a day.
They say, “We don't want to rebuild it. We don't want to rebuild it.” I got back home. I got the Jerusalem Post in the mail. It says this, “Temple mount blocked. A number of Bitar -affiliated youngsters were removed by force from the temple mount – the ground there – compound – after they tried to recite Psalms near the Aqsa Mosque. The demonstration was part of Jabinski Day demonstration. A large force of police was called in to disperse the Bitar youth.
One person was injured when he was toppled by police and his head struck a stone. Shouting am Yisral hai, “the Jewish people live,” the group was forcibly removed from the temple mount and a Bitar representative told Atim that his people would continue to pray on the mount in hopes of stirring opinion in favor of turning it over to Jewish hands and permitting Jewish services there.”
Don't tell me the temple won’t be rebuilt. You say more? Well, let me just give you a couple. Two more. The rise of a power in the east. Revelation 9:15, says this, “And the four angels were loosed who were prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year to slay the third part of men.” It’s going to be a terrible slaughter. Here comes the army.
Listen to this in verse 6. “And the number of the army of the horsemen were 200,000 thousand.” Alright. We know from Revelation 16:12 that it’s an army from the east, and from the Euphrates as the angels were by the Euphrates there in verse 14. Here comes an army from the east numbering 200,000 thousand. That’s 200 million. Did you say an army of 200 million? Are you kidding?
Time magazine, November two years ago, said this, “The Chinese Red Guard now numbers 200 million.” You say, “Why Red China?” Russia’s arch enemy in the world is Red China. Russia moves to take over the control of the Middle East. I’m not too sure Red China’s going to like that. And the Bible says an army of 200,000,000 and Time magazine says the Red Chinese army now numbers 200,000,000.
Revelation 16 verse 12 says, “That the Euphrates River will be dried up so that that army can march to Israel to get in on the great final Armageddon.” You say, “The Euphrates will be dried up?” “Yes, it will.”
Well, let me give you this thought. Oh. December 9, 1971, Los Angeles Times whole feature article on the Russian’s new dam project on the Euphrates. They're cutting new canals. And it’s all getting ready for Armageddon, the great western power, the king of the south, the king of the north, and the power of the east.
The final dissolution of Antichrist kingdom into a great holocaust of war, all to be fought on the plains of Megiddo. And when Israel moved into the land in 1948, the plain of Armageddon was a swamp and nobody would have fought a battle. But they didn't know what they were doing. One of the first things they did when they became a nation was drain it and make it one of the most fertile valleys in the world. A perfect place to fight a battle.
Last one. Revelation 11. My two favorite characters in the Bible and I don't even know who they are. Revelation 11 verse 3. “And I will give power unto my witnesses” – and see, during the Tribulation when all the church is gone – all of us Christians are going to be gone – God’s got to have a witness, right? He’s got to have somebody down here to tell him the truth. God would never be without a witness in the word, would he?
So, he’s going to have two super witnesses. Now, I don't know who they are but I’m volunteering. Verse 3 – I would love to get in on this. “And I will give power unto my two witnesses and they shall prophesy a thousand, two hundred, three score days.” That’s 3-1/2 years or half of that tribulation. For the 3-1/2 years they're going to be the preachers in the world. They're going to be preaching.
Now you know that, in a world where there’s only two believers, they're not going to be real popular. And everybody in the world is going to try to kill them, so God has to protect them, right? Now watch this in verse 5. “Now, if any man will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies.” Can you imagine that?
Now, I don't know exactly how that’s going to work but anyway. If any man will hurt them, he must, in this manner, be killed.” God’s going to keep his two witnesses and they're going to do their job for 3-1/2 years and nobody’s going to get rid of them till their done. Anybody tries, they're going to die on the spot.
Verse 6. “These have power to shut Heaven that it rain not on the days of their prophecy. They have power over waters to turn into blood and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will.” Ho, oh. I mean this is in our world. Can you imagine the news every night? Just think about that. Can you imagine on the evening news, “Well, they're at it again. All of the water in Cincinnati’s turned to blood. Everything in Hartford, Connecticut’s got boils. Everybody in San Francisco has got lice. The plague has hit Denver.”
Why this? Because God wants to get the attention of the people to hear their message, and boy, he’s going to get their attention. They're going to go through the world with these abilities to make plagues. I love verse 7. “When they shall have finished their testimony the beast that ascends out of the pit shall make war against them and overcome them kill them.”
Finally, Antichrist and his forces are going to kill them. They're going to kill them. And boy, is it going to be a great day for the world to get rid of those two. Can’t you imagine how that’ll dominate television? I mean the news, every night! And we can’t get rid of them and anybody who tries, huh, you know?
But then once they die, and this is pagan. You can’t even believe it in our age but it’s going to happen. In verse 8, “Their dead bodies shall in the street of the great of city spiritually called Sodom in Egypt where our Lord was crucified” – that’s Jerusalem. Their bodies are going to lie there. And they're going to let them lie there.
You know, when a person gets assassinated in our age they take the body away immediately, they don't let it lie around. But they're going to be so glad these guys are dead they just want to exalt over their death. They just let the bodies lie there and decay so they can look at it and be happy about it. You see what I mean? They're really happy about that happy! They're so excited they can’t stand it.
Verse 9, “And they of the peoples and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies.” You know what to know something, friends? Fifty years ago they who are the people of kindreds and tongues and nations couldn't see their bodies. Why? No television. They can see them now. Everybody all over the world can see that. It’ll be there every night.
Can you imagine how – when somebody dies – when somebody gets assassinated or something, how they dominate television for three or four days? You ever notice all that happens? And all of that stuff they talk about – all the endless, palaver day after day after day and this is the third aunt of the fourth cousin and this is little Tommy and he’s got a green sock on and on and on and on, see.
And it just – it goes on and on and on and on and they just keep talking about stuff that is to insignificant and it just drains – well, you can imagine. When these two are dead it’s just going to on and on and there they are. They've been lying there two days. Yes, and the world’s so glad to get rid of them. And this, this, this, this and this. Television. The world’s going to watch. The whole world’s going to see.
In fact, the world’s so happy, verse 10, “They that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, make merry and send gifts one to another.” Happy dead witnesses’ day, you know?
Handing our presents. So, “Not permit their dead bodies to be put in graves.” They are so happy about this they make it a holiday. But my dear friends, watch this. Verse 10. Verse 11. “After three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood on their feet.” Now, I don't know who the reporter is going to be that happens to be there at that moment, but I can imagine him saying, “Well, they've been – they're getting up!”
Then the Bible says, “They stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon them who saw them.” I can imagine. Can you imagine the instant replay? And they heard a great voice from Heaven saying unto them, “Come up here. And they ascended up to Heaven in a cloud and their enemies beheld them.” The world will see them ago. “In the same hour, there was a great earthquake and the tenth part of the city fell. In the earthquake were slain men of renown, 7,000, of the world leaders. And the remnant were terrified and gave glory to the God of Heaven.”
Television makes that not so unreal, doesn’t it? You see, friends, and this is just a little tiny touch of what’s happening. When you begin to put the pieces together of prophecy, you begin to see that it isn’t very long until Jesus is coming.
Oh, my friends, I hope you catch that. I hope you catch that.
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