The Signs of the Times
Tish
While we cannot name the exact date of the Lord's Return its nearness
may be known by the character of the Times. As to this the New
Testament gives no uncertain sound. In Dan. 12:4, 9-10, we read, "But
thou, 0 Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the Book, even to the
'TIME OF THE END': many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be
increased. . . . Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and
sealed till the 'TIME OF THE END.' Many shall be purified, and made
white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the
wicked shall understand; but the WISE SHALL UNDERSTAND." These words
declare that the prophecies of Daniel were to be "shut up" and
"sealed" until the "TIME OF THE END." This expression does not mean
the "end of Time," but is the angelic messenger's way of referring to
the "Last Days" of the "Times of the Gentiles." At which time he
declares that the Book will be "unsealed," and "knowledge shall be
increased." What is here meant is "prophetic knowledge" of the things
recorded in the Book of Daniel and other prophetic writings of the
Scriptures.. This is made clear by the statement that only the "wise"
shall understand. That is, those who are enlightened by the Holy
Spirit, and not those who merely have intellectual knowledge, for the
wicked SHALL NOT UNDERSTAND. How wonderfully this is true of these
days. The Higher Critics have labored hard to discredit the Book of
Daniel, but without avail, for the Book is more studied than ever, and
is being "unsealed" by Holy Spirit enlightened students of the Word of
God, who clearly see that we have reached the "Time of the End," and
are living in the closing days of the "Times of the Gentiles."
For centuries while the Bridegroom tarried the Wise and Foolish
virgins "ALL slumbered and slept," and the Church lapsed into a
condition of spiritual apathy, and "The Blessed Hope" was eclipsed.
But now all over the world the Blessed Hope has emerged from the
shadow, and the virgins are "trimming their lamps" preparatory to
going out to meet their Lord, but only the "wise" have oil in their
vessels and in their lamps. We are now living in the "Fourth Watch of
the Night," soon the "MORNING STAR" (Christ. Rev. 22:16) will appear
and we shall be caught out at the Rapture to meet Him and go into the
Marriage Feast.
Let us take a hasty glance at the "Signs of the Times."
1. SCOFFERS
In II Pet. 3:3, 4 we read: "That there shall come in the 'Last Days'
SCOFFERS, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the
promise of HIS COMING? Since the fathers fell asleep, all things
continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."
How true this is of the present day. The Doctrine of the Second Coming
is "scoffed" at, and those who hold it are looked upon as deluded
fanatics, and sad to say, this opposition comes from prominent
religious leaders of the Day.
2. APOSTASY
In II Thess. 2:3, we are told "THAT DAY (the Day of the Lord) shall
not come, except there come a `FALLING AWAY' first." This "Falling
Away" is evidenced on every hand.
3. FALSE TEACHERS
Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy (II Tim. 4:3, 4), saying: "The time will
come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own
lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: and
they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned
unto FABLES." This "turning away" is evidenced on every hand. There is
a "turning away" in doctrinal standards, in the demand for a
regenerated church membership, in church and Sunday school attendance,
and in Sabbath observance. Many church goers will not endure "sound
doctrine." They will not go to hear those who preach the "total
depravity" of man, the necessity of the "New Birth," and the conscious
and endless torment of those who reject Christ as a personal Savior.
They demand teachers who will "itch" (tickle) their ears with
pleasing, novel and
sensational doctrines.
4. SPIRITUALISM
In I Tim. 4:1 we are warned of a departure from the faith. That in the
"Latter Times" (the Last Days of this Dispensation), some shall
"depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines
of devils." This is being fulfilled in the increasing number of those
who are forsaking their Christian belief to become followers of
Spiritualistic. Mediums and to dabble in Psychical Research.
5. PERILOUS TIMES
Of these times Paul told Timothy. "This know also, that in the `LAST
DAYS' Perilous Times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own
selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection (for their own
offspring), truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,
despisers of those who are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers
of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a FORM of godliness, but
denying the POWER thereof." II Tim. 3:1-5. We have neither time or
space to enlarge upon the above, but what a catalogue we have here of
the "perilous conditions" of the times in which we live.
6. HEAPED UP TREASURE
In James 5:1-6, we are told that in the "LAST DAYS" there shall be a
class of "rich men," who shall have "HEAPED treasure together," and
that by "FRAUD," and who shall use their ill-gotten gain in the
pursuit of "pleasure" and "wantonness," and that God will hear the cry
of those who have been cheated of their just share of the profits, and
will send a sore judgment upon the guilty. What a description we have
here of the unprincipled speculative and profiteering spirit of the
days in which we live, when men become millionaires, and multi-
millionaires, in a few years. Truly we are living in the "Last Days"
of this Dispensation.
7. A LAODICEAN CHURCH
In the Message to the Church of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22) we have a
description of the last stage of the professing Church on earth. It is
described as neither "hot" nor "cold," but nauseatingly lukewarm, so
that Christ says He will "spew it out of His mouth." It boastingly
will claim to be "rich" and "increased with goods," and to have "need
of nothing," not even of Christ, for He will be excluded and will have
to knock for admittance, and it will be ignorant of its true
condition, that it is wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind,
and naked. Unspeakably sad it is that this is the condition to a large
extent of the professing Church of today.
8. THE FIG-TREE SIGN
When Jesus' Disciples asked Him, after He had foretold the destruction
of the Temple: "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be
the SIGN of THY COMING, and of the end of the world (Age) ?" (Matt.
24:1-3), Jesus gave as a "Sign" of His Coming the "Fig-Tree Sign." The
"Fig-Tree" symbolizes the nation of Israel, and it’s "budding" the
revival of Israel as a nation.
9. THE DISTRESS OF NATIONS
In Luke 21:24-27 Jesus tells us that as the "Times of the Gentiles"
come to a close, "there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon,
and in the stars; and upon the earth DISTRESS OF NATIONS, with
perplexity; the sea and the waves (the peoples of
the earth) roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for
looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the
'Powers of Heaven' (the Principalities and Powers of Evil, Eph. 6:11,
12), shall be shaken. And THEN shall they see the Son of Man coming in
a cloud with power and great glory." In the prophecy of Haggai 2:6, 7,
we read: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; yet once, it is a little
while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and
the dry land; and I will SHAKE ALL NATIONS, and the DESIRE (Christ) OF
ALL NATIONS WILL COME." This has never been fulfilled as yet, and the
present "Distress of Nations," the uprising of the masses in "National
Revolutions," the "Tottering Thrones" and other indications that the
nations are Being Shaken, is still further proof that we are living in
the times just preceding the appearing of the Son of Man, the "DESIRE
OF ALL NATIONS" who will bring peace to this troubled earth.
10. NOAH DAYS
The last "sign" that we would mention is the "sign" of the "Noah
Days." Luke 17:26-30. As it was in the days of Noah, they did eat,
they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, they
bought, they sold, they planted, they built, so shall it be in the
days of the Son of Man. Where you say is the sin in doing these
things? They are not only commanded, they are necessary. That is true.
The sin was not in "doing" them, but in doing them "UNTIL the Flood
came." That is, they did nothing else. They forgot to worship their
Maker. So today men and women are so busily engaged in doing the good
things of life that they have no time to worship God. They are so busy
building homes for themselves on earth that they are neglecting to
secure a home in heaven. They are more anxious that their children
should make a good match on earth, than that they should be united to
the Lord. They are so much concerned about their case in Court, that
they have forgotten that they must stand at the Judgment Bar of God.
For a fuller description of these "Noah Days" see my larger work on
Dispensational Truth.
11. LOT DAYS
In the same connection with the "Noah Days" is classed the "LOT
DAYS." Lot was Abraham's nephew. Gen. 12: 5. The herdsmen of Abraham
and Lot could not agree, and to prevent a quarrel between them, which
would have been a scandal in the eyes of the heathen in whose land
they dwelt, Abraham suggested a separation. Gen. 13: 5-13. Lot, with
the thought of worldly advantage for himself and family, first
"looked" toward Sodom, then "pitched his tent" hear it, then became a
"dweller in Sodom," and though he was a 'righteous man (not a holy
man) and daily vexed his soul with the
filthy conversation of the wicked (IT Pet. 2: 6-10), he entered into
the ) political life of the city and became a judge. The result was
that Lot lost his "TESTIMONY." And when he made a plea to the
Sodomites to save his "Angel Visitors," and to his "Sons-in-Law" to
flee, with their wives, with him, they "MOCKED" him. Gen. 19:1-38.
Nevertheless, because he was a child of God, though a backslidden one,
he was saved "out of Sodom." So today there are many true Children of
God who have become entangled in the world, of which Sodom is a type,
and have "lost their TESTIMONY," and as a result will lose the
salvation of their loved ones even though they themselves, like Lot,
shall be "saved by FIRE." 1 Cor. 3: 11-15. But while Lot was saved
from being consumed in Sodom, Sodom could not be destroyed until Lot
was taken out. So the Wrath of God cannot fall upon a wicked world
until the Church is "caught out." 11 Thess. 1:7-10. There are many
Lots in these days.
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