“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” Matthew 24:36-39
Jesus is going to come back again and no one knows the day nor the hour, but we can prepare ourselves for that day. It does say that we are not to be ignorant of the season of His return. 1 Thessalonians 5:1. Did you know that there are lots of signs to show us that we are in the season of His return?
God is always into warning of trouble ahead of the time, as we see in the days of Noah. Noah prepared for the coming flood, but many others didn’t, and perished. The day of the flood begun like any other day, then suddenly the heavens were opened. The people of Noah’s day had been warned, but they took no heed to the signs. God is always giving us signs and He gave 3 signs of the coming flood.
1. God had allowed a man called "Methuselah" to keep living on and on as a "SIGN," to that generation until he was 969 years old. Genesis 5:27. His name means; "When I die shall be the breaking forth of the waters." (Schofield’s Bible.) The breaking forth of the waters was the Flood and the year Methuselah died was the year of the flood.
2. Another "SIGN" was the persistent preaching of Noah over 100 years. He preached through his word and deeds (The building of the Ark), regardless of public opinion. Imagine preaching for 10 years and having no converts. What about 100 years? He'd have to be a "SIGN".
3. Another great "SIGN" was the gathering of all the animals 2 X 2 into the ark. What a miracle to get every creature into the ark on their own accord, with any herding or netting.
THE SIGN OF THE COMING JESUS
When Jesus was about to be born in Bethlehem, God gave a sign that He was coming to the world, in the form of a ‘wonder’ in the heavens – a Star. The wise men in the east saw the sign and followed the star to Bethlehem. The sign was for all to see, but only the wise men knew what it meant. All the people in Jerusalem saw the star as well. Herod saw the star, along with the Pharisees and Sadducee's. The Levites and even the High Priest saw the star, but none of them knew what it meant either. It was a major sign. You would think that the High Priest would know what it was all about, but apparently not. They were all longing for the Messiah to come but were looking in all the wrong places. Here it was staring them in the face, but wasn’t quite the sign they were expecting.
THE SIGNS OF HIS COMING AGAIN
I believe we have major signs with us today that are not only in the heavens, but also on the earth, telling us that Jesus is about to come back. They are signs foretold by the Prophet Joel that would usher in the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.
“I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” Joel 2:30-31
These signs are staring us in the face, but seem meaningless to this generation. They have only been with us for the last 150 years and are increasing in number every day. Even Christians see these signs, but they don’t seem to realise what they mean either, nor the lateness of the hour.
WONDERS IN THE HEAVENS
Prophets would have visions of the future and then write down what they saw. If the Prophet Joel saw what we see every day, he would be amazed at what is going on in the heavens in our day. He would see vapour trails crisscrossing the skies, planes, jets and helicopters. He would see satellites blinking in the heavens at night feeding every household on earth with television signals. He would see men going back and forth into space and drones landing on the moon and even mars. Are these not ‘wonders’? But alas we don’t consider them to be anything that wonderful.
The signs and wonders in the heavens began in 1904 when man first took to the air in a flying machine. For thousands of years man had tried to enter the heavens but this feat was reserved for the ‘time of the end,’ mentioned in Daniel 12:4. The trouble is we are brought up in this generation and do not see these signs as anything meaningful. It’s only when you look at the end time prophecies and prayerfully consider God’s word, that the truth comes out. I believe that the hour is later than we think.
WONDERS ON THE EARTH
Not only are there wonders in the heavens, but there are also wonders on the earth as well. When I consider all the amazing inventions that are in my house today, it’s sad that I take them all for granted. Microwave ovens, the internet, wireless broadband. Mobile phones and electricity, just to name a few. Did you know that in 1925 only half the homes in the USA had electricity? That’s less that 100 years ago. Every year new things are invented that would seem impossible a decade ago. What I longed for in a computer 15 years ago, I now have on my mobile phone, and more today. It’s so amazing. I think you get what I am saying.
Isaiah the Prophet said that in the last days there would be no end of chariots. He would have no word to describe a car. Nearly everyone has a car now days, and considering that the automobile was only invented just over 130 years ago.
Isaiah chapter Two starts with the statement, “In the Last Days.” Then goes on to describe the state of man’s heart.
“You, Lord, have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and embrace pagan customs. Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots. Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.” Isaiah 2:6-8
It says that the land is full of horses and there are no end of chariots. This is prophetic language for transport. The Prophet would have no words to describe a ‘horseless’ carriage. It says that the land is also full of silver, gold, and endless treasures. A land full of idols and men worshipping the work of their own hands. Today man is so taken up with modern technology and pleasures that they have no time for God.
BLOOD, FIRE & PILLARS OF SMOKE
As far as the ‘Blood, Fire and Pillars of smoke is concerned, I feel it can be taken in two ways. Both in a negative and in a positive sense. Negatively it could be speaking of all the wars that have taken place in these end times. The first and second world wars plus many more. There is so much blood being shed now days along with accelerating violence world wide. With ‘climate change’ there has been a dramatic increase in fires all around the world, and whole towns being wiped out, even here in New Zealand. The Pillars of Smoke could be speaking of bombs. The word in Hebrew for ‘pillars’ is ‘palm trees’ of smoke, which could be speaking of the nuclear bomb which was used in 1945 thus ending WW2. In a positive sense the blood could be speaking of the blood of Jesus being available for the cleansing of our sins. The fire would be the Holy Spirit poured out on all flesh and the Pillars of Smoke would be the concentrated manifestations of God’s presence - Revival.
THE SUN DARKENED AND MOON TO BLOOD
The sun turning dark and the moon to blood is a bit trickier to understand and could still have a another fulfilment. In 1780 there was a day recorded in New England where the sun refused to shine all day. The day was as black as night and there is no known explanation. It was even recorded in Webster’s dictionary, but has now been omitted. It was called the ‘Dark Day,’ and I have a copy of the dictionary to prove it. This event was very significant for the Church, for it woke her up to the possibility of the lord’s imminent return and triggered End Time teachings which had been virtually ignored previously. We have recently had a series of blood moons in the heavens that many theologians believe are those mentioned in the bible.
These are all signs that the Lord is coming soon but so many Christians seem to be ignoring them. They act like the Lord’s return is still a long way off. This could be influenced by two teachings which I feel are putting us in the wrong head space.
The 2 teachings that bother me are, that Jesus isn’t coming back yet because the Antichrist hasn’t appeared on the scene and also the Temple hasn’t been rebuilt yet for him to be seated in it. Just say we could be wrong in our interpretation of these two events? It could be that the Devil has used these teachings as ‘red herrings’ to distract us from the imminence of the Great and Terrible day of the Lord.
Many theologians believed (including Spurgeon, Hudson Taylor, Bunyan and Finney) that the Antichrist is not just one man but a system that has been with us now for centuries. The whole fabric of the future Antichrist teaching and the rebuilding of the Temple has come from a ‘futurist’ view of Bible prophecy which can be easily dismantled. It’s because of this view that every American President has been accused of being the Antichrist. Including Saddam Hussein, Kissinger, Hitler and Napoleon to name a few.
Say we have been wrong about these two End Time teachings, then the Return of the Lord could be a lot closer than we think.
In the Parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25. Five virgins were wise and 5 were foolish. They were all ‘virgins’ which speaks of them being Christians, yet only 5 were focused on preparing for their beloved’s return and were allowed to enter into the Marriage Supper. The other 5 missed out.
I believe that we are all made righteous through the blood of Christ and can all enter into heaven. We Christians are all ‘virgins’ so to speak but not all are ready. In fact I would dare say that only 50% of Christians will be ready when Jesus returns, if the 5 out of 10 ratio is anything to go by.
We cannot be made any more righteous than being a new creature in Christ, but we can receive a better reward. It tells us that there are some Christians who will only enter heaven by the skin of their teeth.
“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.” 1 Corinthians 3:10-14
Will those mentioned here receive the same reward as the Apostle Paul? If the parable of the 10 Virgins is anything to go by, then some of the Virgins are excluded from the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? This great event is reserved for the’ Lovers of God.’
At midnight the cry went out yet all the 10 virgins were asleep, even those who were prepared and everything happened so suddenly. What I am trying to say is, that there are signs shouting at us right now that we are in the season of the Lord’s return, but are we ready? The world wide pandemic is another sign that the end is near.
In the messages to the 7 Churches in the Book of Revelation, it tells us that there will be an ‘hour’ of temptation that would come on the whole earth. In prophetic language an ‘hour’ is not very long, as opposed to a ‘day’ or a ‘year.’
I believe that these letters are messages to 7 Church Ages that have been since the Churches conception in 33AD. The Last Church Age is the Laodicean Age which I believe we are in right now. The coming of the Lord is very close as Jesus says He is knocking at the door of this Church. It says that the previous Church Age of Philadelphia would be kept from the ‘hour’ of temptation that would come on the whole earth. Has there ever been such a time of temptation as we are in today? To give you just one example; With the internet now in every home you can look at pornography with ease in the privacy of your bedroom. In Paul’s day you would have to go to a Pagan Temple to experience such temptation. Even Children can be exposed to such evils today.
There are so many other signs that indicate that we are nearing the end of all things. Let us not be as the unwise virgins but be prepared for His coming, as a Bride prepares herself for her wedding. The hour is later than you think.
“So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Matthew 24:44
If you would like to know more on this subject, download this pdf and click on the links at the end of the message. The video below is an audio of the message on ‘Time is Running out.’