50 Reasons Why We Are Living In The End Times: Part 1

Lamb and Lion Ministries Blog ^ | 13 JULY 2009 | Dr. David R. Reagan

[Quix]

The Bible says we cannot know the time of the Lord's return (Matthew 25:13). But the Scriptures make it equally clear that we can know the season of the Lord's return (1 Thessalonians 5:2-6):

"You yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night... But you brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night or darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober."

This passage asserts that Jesus is coming like "a thief in the night." But then it proceeds to make it clear that this will be true only for the pagan world and not for believers. His return should be no surprise to those who know Him and His Word, for they have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to give them understanding of the nature of the times.

Furthermore, the Scriptures give us signs to watch for — signs that will signal that Jesus is ready to return. The writer of the Hebrew letter referred to these signs when he proclaimed that believers should encourage one another when they see the day of judgment drawing near (Hebrews 10:25-27). Jesus also referred to the end time signs in His Olivet Discourse, given during the last week of His life (Matthew 24 and Luke 21). Speaking of a whole series of signs which He had given to His disciples, He said, "When you see all these things, recognize that He [the Son of Man — that is, Jesus] is near, right at the door" (Matthew 24:33).

A Personal Experience

Every time I think of "Signs of the Times," I am reminded of a great man of God named Elbert Peak. I had the privilege of participating with him in a Bible prophecy conference held in Orlando, Florida in the early 1990's. Mr. Peak was about 80 years old at the time.

He had been assigned the topic, "The Signs of the Times." He began his presentation by observing, "Sixty years ago when I first started preaching, you had to scratch around like a chicken to find one sign of the Lord's soon return."

He paused for a moment, and then added, "But today there are so many signs I'm no longer looking for them. Instead, I'm listening for a sound — the sound of a trumpet!"

The First Sign

One hundred years ago in 1907 there was not one single, tangible, measurable sign that indicated we were living in the season of the Lord's return. The first to appear was the Balfour Declaration which was issued by the British government on November 2, 1917.

This Declaration was prompted by the fact that during World War I the Turks sided with the Germans. Thus, when Germany lost the war, so did the Turks, and the victorious Allies decided to divide up both the German and Turkish empires.

The Turkish territories, called the Ottoman Empire, contained the ancient homeland of the Jewish people — an area the Romans had named Palestine after the last Jewish revolt in 132-135 AD.

In 1917 Palestine included all of modern day Israel and Jordan. In the scheme the Allies concocted for dividing up the German and Turkish territories, Britain was allotted Palestine, and this is what prompted the Balfour Declaration. In that document, Lord Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, declared that it was the intention of the British government to establish in Palestine "a national home for the Jewish people."

The leading Evangelical in England at the time was F. B. Meyer. He immediately recognized the prophetic significance of the Declaration, for he was well aware that the Scriptures prophesy that the Jewish people will be regathered to their homeland in unbelief right before the return of the Messiah (Isaiah 11:11-12).

Meyer sent out a letter to the Evangelical leaders of England asking them to gather in London in December to discuss the prophetic implications of the Balfour Declaration. In that letter, he stated, "The signs of the times point toward the close of the time of the Gentiles... and the return of Jesus can be expected any moment."

Before Meyer's meeting could be convened, another momentous event occurred. On December 11, 1917 General Edmund Allenby liberated the city of Jerusalem from 400 years of Turkish rule.

There is no doubt that these events in 1917 marked the beginning of the end times because they led to the worldwide regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland and the reestablishment of their state.

Since 1917

Since the time of the Balfour Declaration, we have witnessed throughout the 20th Century the appearance of sign after sign pointing to the Lord's soon return. There are so many of these signs today, in fact, that one would have to be either biblically illiterate or spiritually blind not to realize that we are living on borrowed time.

I have personally been searching the Bible for years in an effort to identify all the signs, and it has not been an easy task to get a hold on them. That's because there are so many of them, both in the Old and New Testaments.

I have found that the best way to deal with them is to put them in categories, and in doing that, I have come up with six categories of end time signs. We will explore these catetories beginning in Part 2 of this series.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Then you should be correcting Mark.

[netmilsmom]

>>You seem awfully familiar with this antipsychotic drug. This is the second time you’ve mentioned it.

That would explain a lot.<<

Sure does! Worked for years as the Office Manager for two Psychs and 3 therapists connected to a hospital in Cleveland.

So when I give an opinion about Psych meds, it’s pretty sound.

[netmilsmom]

Mark didn’t say this...

“The statement stands as fact in opposition to the fiction Rome spins. “

[Judith Anne]

When a nurse has orders to give a drug, she is required to know the action and side effects, in addition to the indications for it, as well.

When a nurse works on psych, she gets a lot of experience with the good old standby meds.

You may not have been aware of that.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Anyone reading this thread can see Protestant posters disagreeing with Rome and her errant doctrines, while several Roman Catholic posters make things "personal" with snide remarks about individual FReepers and antipsychotic drugs.

I could stoop to that level and say anyone so familiar with that drug must have ingested plenty of it, but THAT would be making it personal.

Get the difference?

[netmilsmom]

It’s been fun, my FRiend, but I have to get the kiddies to bed.

Night!!!!!

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Mark defended the sentences and didn’t find anything untoward about them. Your quibble is with him.

[netmilsmom]

>>while several Roman Catholic posters make things “personal” with snide remarks about individual FReepers and antipsychotic drugs.<<

Where? It was a very general statement. Made specifically that way.

And bozo is so..........

[netmilsmom]

I’m jumping off now.

Sweet Dreams!

[Religion Moderator]

Drop the psych med chatter. It leads to flame wars.

[Judith Anne]

Please do not make personal remarks to me.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

If it's "part of the Vatican" you want, how about this from the RCC catechism via vatican.va...

964 Mary's role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. "This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death";504 it is made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion:

Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross. There she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, joining herself with his sacrifice in her mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim, born of her: to be given, by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross, as a mother to his disciple, with these words: "Woman, behold your son."505

So...

1) Mary is in union with Christ at the cross and in union with Him in the work of salvation.

2) Mary joins herself with Christ's sacrifice.

3) Mary consents to the crucifixion, the "immolation."

Blasphemy. Mary would be appalled to see what's written about her. And however much Mary is appalled, God must be more so.

[GinaLolaB]

According to this website Calvin sounded like one nasty dude: http://www.1timothy4-13.com/files/bible/calvin.html

I think the website is a Baptist website.

[Judith Anne]

Blasphemy. Mary would be appalled to see what's written about her.

And what is the authority for that conclusion?

[Dr. Eckleburg]

From this Roman Catholic website comes a new twist in "Who's on the Crucifix Today?"

"Photo taken in Cuenca, Ecuador by Fr. James Manjackal rHere Fr. James Manjackal meet a Missionary Carmen Patricia and saw the crucifix and the statue of the Mother of God in her room weeping, which also today still cries tears. In the photos you can see the tears flowing of both eyes. Patricia lived in the world with completely lay life change. She worked as a Model for folklore dresses. That was 16 years ago on August 29, 1988 then the Mother of God appeared to her. Fr. James Manjackal meet a Missionary Carmen Patricia and saw the crucifix and the statue of the Mother of God in her room weeping, which also today still cries tears. In the photos you can see the tears flowing of both eyes. Patricia lived in the world with completely lay life change. She worked as a Model for folklore dresses. That was 16 years ago on August 29, 1988 then the Mother of God appeared to her."

Weird, huh? Look whose head in now above Christ. "Another Christ."

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Scripture that says God alone deserves the glory. All of it.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

We’ve established there are a variety of Protestant websites out there that do not appreciate Calvin. No surprise there.

[GinaLolaB]

2) Mary joins herself with Christ's sacrifice.

We as Christians, all join ourselves with Christ's sacrifice at Baptism and the Sacraments. We Catholics call it "Sharing the sufferings of Christ." More importantly we share in the glory of Christ. We have access to the grace that he acquired at His Passover. It all has to do with the "power of the keys." Jesus gave St. Peter the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and told him that whatever he bound on earth would be bound in Heaven and whatever he loosed on earth would be loosed in Heaven. Therefore, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI has the power to dispense indulgences and we have access to the treasury of the never ending grace that Jesus earned when He died and the cross and rose from the dead. Everything is described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It really is worth reading. I would highly recommend it to you.