Good News Press - 6
Signs Continued
During the 1960's Satanism exploded on the
American scene and has
since been exported
Paul paints a chilling picworldwide through Ameriture of end time society in can movies, books, and
2 Timothy 3:1-5. He says it television programs. Dabwill be characterized by
bling in the occult has bethree loves the love of self come commonplace in the
(humanism), the love of
form of astrology, numermoney (Materialism), and ology, crystal gazing, tranthe love of pleasure
scendental meditation,
(hedonism). He then
and channeling. The whole
points out that the payoff trend has consummated in
of this carnal lifestyle will
the appearance of the
be what the philosophers
New Age Movement with
call nihilism that is, a soci- its teaching that Man is
ety wallowing in despair.
God.
Men's minds will become
depraved (Romans 1:28),
As society has secularized,
and people will call evil
true Christianity has come
good and good evil (Isaiah under increasing attack.
5:20).
Judeo-Christian values,
once the foundation of
We are seeing these
Western Civilization, are
prophecies fulfilled before now openly mocked, and
our eyes today as we
those who still adhere to
watch our society reject
them are castigated as
its Christian heritage and
"intolerant fundamentaldescend into a hellish pit
ists" by the media.
of lawlessness, immorality,
and despair. Even worse,
The positive spiritual signs
we are exporting our nihil- include the proclamation
ism around the world
of the Gospel to the whole
through our immoral and world (Matthew 24:14), a
violent movies and televi- great outpouring of the
sion programs.
Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-32),
and spiritual illumination
3) The Spiritual Signs to understand prophecies
There are both positive
that have been "sealed up"
and negative spiritual signs until the end times (Daniel
that we are to watch for.
12:4,9).
The negative ones include
the appearance of false
As with the negative signs,
christs and their cults
we are seeing these posi(Matthew 24:5,11,24), the tive signs fulfilled in our
apostasy of the professing day and time. Through the
church (2 Thessalonians
use of modern technology,
2:3), an outbreak of Satan- the Gospel has been proism (1 Timothy 4:1), and
claimed throughout the
the persecution of faithful world in this Century, and
Christians (Matthew 24:9) the Bible has been translated into all major lanThese negative spiritual
guages.
signs began to appear in
the mid-19th Century
The great end time pourwhen Christian cults start- ing out of the Holy Spirit
ed forming. First came the that was prophesied by the
Mormons, then the Jehoprophet Joel has also bevah's Witnesses, and then gun. Joel called it "the lata great variety of spiritual- ter rain" (Joel 2:23), and
ist groups like the Church he said it would occur afof Christ Scientists and the ter the Jews had returned
Unity Church.
to their land. The state of
Israel was re-established in
The apostasy of the main- 1948. In 1949 God anointline Christian denominaed two ministries that
tions began in the 1920's
would have a worldwide
when the German school
impact the ministries of
of higher criticism invaded Billy Graham and Oral
American seminaries and Roberts. Then, in the 60's,
undermined the authority came the Charismatic
of the Scriptures, teaching Movement which promptthat the Bible is Man's
ed renewal in worship and
search for God rather than gave emphasis to the conGod's revelation to Man.
tinuing validity of the gifts
of the Spirit.
The acceleration in the
understanding of Bible
prophecy began in 1970
with the publication of Hal
Lindsey's book, The Late
Great Planet Earth. It
seemed to open up to popular understanding many
prophecies that had been
"sealed up" until the end
times (Daniel 12:4, 9). Remarkably, it became the
number one best seller in
the world with the sole
exception of the Bible for
the next ten years!
4) The Signs of Technology - The book of Daniel
says that there will be an
explosion of knowledge in
the end times and that
people will move about
quickly (Daniel 12:4).
There are many Bible
prophecies that cannot be
understood apart from
modern technology. For
example, how can the
whole world look upon
two bodies lying in the
streets of Jerusalem
(Revelation 11:8-9)? Modern television satellite
technology makes it easy.
How can the False Prophet build an image of the
Anti-Christ that appears
to be alive (Revelation
13:15)? The answer, of
course, is the science of
robotics. How can the
False Prophet require all
people on earth to take
the mark of the AntiChrist in order to buy and
sell (Revelation 13:16-17)?
It would not be possible
apart from computers and
lasers.
Jesus said that the Tribulation will be so terrible that
all life on earth would
cease to exist if He did not
cut the period short
(Matthew 24:21-22). How
could all life be threatened
prior to the advent of nuclear weapons? Another
reference to nuclear power is likely contained in
Luke's statement that
men in the end times will
"faint from fear" because
"the powers of the heavens will be shaken" (Luke
21:26). That certainly
sounds like a reference to
the splitting of the atom.
5) The Signs of World Politics - The Bible prophesies
that there will be a certain
patte