Good News Press - 4
Signs Cont’d from Page 1
God does not wish that
any should perish, but that
all should be brought to
repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
Therefore, God always
warns before He executes
His wrath. He warned the
world through Noah for
120 years. He warned Sodom and Gomorrah
through Abraham.
He sent Jonah to warn the
pagan city of Ninevah, and
He sent Nahum to the
same city 150 years later.
Likewise, God is warning
the world today that His
Son is about to return. He
is calling the world to repentance. The message of
the hour to unbelievers
can be summed up in
these words: "Flee from
the wrath that is to come
by fleeing into the loving
arms of Jesus now." Jesus
came the first time as an
expression of God's love;
He came to die for the sins
of Mankind. But when He
returns, He will come in
vengeance to pour out the
wrath of God on those
who have rejected God's
love and grace.
The soon return of Jesus
also carries with it a message for believers. Lukewarm Christians and carnal Christians are being
called to commit their
lives to holiness:
The night is almost gone,
and the day is at hand. Let
us therefore lay aside the
deeds of darkness and put
on the armor of light. Let
us behave properly as in
the day, not in carousing
and drunkenness, not in
sexual promiscuity and
sensuality, not in strife and
jealousy. But put on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and
make no provision for the
flesh in regard to its lusts. Romans 13:12-14
God's Method of Warning
God is alerting believers of
the soon return of His Son
through what are called
"signs of the times." These
are prophecies concerning
world events that we are
told to watch for, prophecies that will identify the
season of the Lord's return.
principle from start to finish.
God dealt with the world's
sin through a great flood in
the days of Noah (Genesis
6). He called the nation of
Judah to repentance
through a terrible locust
The Bible is full of these
invasion (Joel 1). In like
signs. There are about 500 manner, He called for the
prophecies in the Old Tes- nation of Israel to repent
tament that relate to the
by sending drought, wind
Second Coming of the
storms, mildew, locusts,
Messiah. In the New Testa- famine and pestilence
ment, one out of every 25 (Amos 4:6-10). The prophverses is concerned with
et Haggai pointed to a
the return of Jesus.
drought as evidence that
God was calling the people
In fact, there are so many to get their priorities in
signs that it is difficult to
order (Haggai 1:10-11).
grasp all of them. The best
way I have found to do this The New Testament beis to put them in categogins with a special light in
ries:
the heavens marking the
birth of the Messiah
1) The Signs of Nature (Matthew 2:2). On the day
We are told to watch for
that Jesus was crucified,
earthquakes, famine, pesti- there was three hours of
lence, and signs in the
darkness and an earthheavens (see Matthew 24:7 quake (Matthew 27:45-51).
and Luke 21:11).
And when Jesus returns,
the earth will experience
This is the least respected the greatest earthquake in
category of signs for sever- its history as every mounal reasons. For one thing,
tain is lowered, every valmany people simply shrug ley is raised, and every
their shoulders and say,
island is moved
"There have always been
(Revelation 16:17-21).
natural calamities, so what
else is new?" Note that
God has always spoken
Jesus says these signs will
through signs of nature,
be like "birth
and He continues to do so
pangs" (Matthew 24:8)
today. We had better
that is, they will increase in pay close attention to
frequency and intensity as them.
the time draws near for
His return. In other words, 2) The Signs of Society there will be more intense Jesus said that society will
earthquakes and more
become increasingly lawfrequent ones. That is ex- less and immoral as the
actly what is happening
time approaches for His
today.
return. In fact, He said it
would become as evil as it
Another reason these signs was in the days of Noah
are given little respect is
(Matthew 24:12,37-39).
because most Christians
Paul paints a chilling picare so rationalistic that
ture of end time society in
they do not really believe
2 Timothy 3:1-5. He says it
in the supernatural, and
will be characterized by
they therefore find it diffi- three loves the love of self
cult to believe that God
(humanism), the love of
speaks to the world
money (Materialism), and
through signs of nature.
the love of pleasure
Yet, the Bible teaches this
continued on Page 6
Fathers Day, June 21 Thanks, Dad,
we know how important you are
There's more to
being a dad than
earning a living
and being an advisor to teenagers. According
to researchers in
the Fatherhood
Project at the
Families & Work
Institute, interacting with dad
is crucial for
child development. Researchers now know
that even interactions with
your infant or toddler
influence how your kids
will relate to other
people later in their
lives and how they will
view the world at
large. A study at the
University of Regensburg, Munich, Germany, shows that children
whose fathers played
with them in a sensitive, supportive and
challenging way at age
two tended to form
closer, more trusting
relationships with others at ages 10 and 16.
By age 16, fathers' play
proved even more
powerful and predictive than the motherchild bond. The researchers found that
dads' play makes a pivotal and unique contribution to kids' growth.
Telling stories of family
history and how your
parents and grandparents overcame adversity has an influence on
how kids handle difficult times. An Emory
University study
showed that the ability
of children, ages 14 to
16, to retell parents'
stories is linked to a
lower rate of depression and anxiety. Your
stories, told with eye
contact about how you
and others overcame
problems, can help
your children view the
world with optimism.