|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Is the battle won then? Is this Prophecy untrue? Or is heart disease not a modern "plague"? It's responsible for 30% of all mortalities in the OECD countries(7). And now AIDS is here - horrible AIDS - a disease that perhaps many people sense we need God's AID if we are to grapple with and defeat it.
Let us recall again that WWII ended when the West dropped two atom bombs on Japan; these afflicted the survivors with radiation sickness, including cancers. One key to the Prophecy above has been given to us by the grievous state of the bombs' victims. They help us to see that the nuclear holocaust would be the ultimate Fulfillment of Jesus' Warning about "terrible ... plagues everywhere"!
Earthquakes, Famines and Diseases (our last three headings), are all ongoing causes of mortality. In the last 100 years, all have added further tragedies to the tragedy of war. Perhaps God is leading us up to the point where we know that war must be done away with? Can we say, "There is enough death, without war?" Given the courage always to shun war and to preserve life instead, wouldn't we be blessed?
Many people are recognizing that the way we live today is less than ideal. Crammed together in big cities or involved in long commutes, working for societies in which materialism is a key feature - this is not what we were created for! We do pay a price for the hectic way in which life is lived these days. We call this price "stress."
One book on stress(8) put this as follows:
The people in Jesus' audience at the time - were they very concerned about heart disease? Probably not - we see heart attacks today as a scourge of modern society, going along with industrialization, urban living, and a Western diet (a diet of high-sugar, highly-refined and processed food[9]). The difference between - a natural diet and traditional way of life, as against a Western diet and industrial living conditions - is made clear in a 1971 South African study(10). This showed that coronary heart disease (the condition that produces heart attacks), is virtually unknown in rural Africa. And diet, rather than stress, was shown to be the main cause.
The point is further underlined by the fact that people living in the USA are shown to be four times more likely to die of heart disease than are people who live in South Korea(11).
"Hold on now," you may say. "If most heart disease could be due to diet rather than stress, how can heart problems be counted as a Sign of the End-Time? We've been eating this way for a long time, surely?"
Well, no we haven't actually. The switch to a more-attractive-but-less-healthy diet only began toward the end of the 19th century. And in recent decades, high-budget advertising in the media has been responsible for creating a market for ultra-refined foods. So our diet too is a feature of the End-Time.
^ Once again, we see that Jesus gave us true Prophecy. And was He forewarning us about physical heart disease only? Because if we look at the other meaning of "heart" - our spiritual/mental heart - we can readily see that "heart failure" in this sense is an increasing problem today.
Alcohol, tranquilizers, and other drugs are used very often, sad to say, as ways of coping with the effects of stress. Those people whose "hearts" are more seriously affected by the difficulties of modern living need professional help. And it's clear that psychiatrists, psychologists and other workers in this field are fully stretched, meeting these needs.
Most experts point to stress in all its forms as having a great deal to do with reductions in our emotional health. This is the case whether we are talking about a mild effect, where a person simply feels "below par," or a worse condition, where they are habitually depressed, or more severe yet, definite mental illness.
Isn't there also an underlying fear - aren't we "looking after," or looking over our shoulders at, the nuclear danger? The thought of all those nuclear missiles sitting in their silos has provoked so much anxiety. Surely the threat to life on Earth which the nuclear holocaust presents, is the ultimate meaning of this Prophecy?
The point being made then, is that God - through our Savior - looked ahead almost 2,000 years, and warned, "You'll be having problems in this area of the heart." How right He was! Oddly, that's comforting, isn't it?
Is this what has happened? Empty pews in houses of worship say that it has. It seems that we tried to believe, tried God's Way, and found it too hard. Is it because of all that's happened since 1914 that unbelief has set in? Let's recall the scene before 1900 (that is, the Victorian Age in Britain). Though we may not agree with everything those people held to, we have to say that (on both sides of the Atlantic), they were great believers!
Must it be this way today? After all, for God's Standard to work, it must be attainable. Believers can affirm that God empowers them, enabling them to reach their respective goals.
Does today's scene fit Jesus' Prophecy? Bulging prisons are one indication that it does. Another is the lack of moral restraint - sex before marriage, even sex as a way of life - is now a common thing. This hits at the family and therefore at all of us.
^ Crime and immorality, surely these have a common source - in lives that are spiritually empty. In such a condition, rootless, seeking solace for ourselves, we can wander far from the right path.
Back to the Words of Jesus quoted above. If we're looking at other people only, and taking their idea of what is o.k. as our goal, we'll always finish up giving less love than we might have given. But God showed us a better Standard - by way of the Lamb of God.
There is also a hint as to why the rejection: Jesus can look weak to us today in that He did submit meekly to the Cross. As a competitive species we shun weakness. (Love often looks weak, though it's not - it can be the toughest thing in the world.)
And so Jesus' Values are rejected. His Principle of Give is not in harmony with the worldly idea of Get. Nor does His Way of being humble and kind accord with the idea: "Look after No. 1." Obviously, along with the current lack of interest in the Prince of Meekness, goes rejection of the beliefs of His followers.
You maybe saw The Day After, a movie on the nuclear holocaust(13)? There was a scene in which the bombs exploded one after another. They looked just like so many suns (or "stars") coming to Earth. Recalling that the same fusion reaction that powers the Sun has been exploited to produce the terrible force of the H-Bomb, we see that the above Prophecy is chillingly exact.
Warnings about nuclear bombs and what they would do to a rebel world are throughout the Bible. But this doesn't mean that God has long had a plan to kill us off! God is Creator not Destroyer. No, if we continue on down the primrose path, we'll do ourselves in! Sooner or later some fallible human will press the button. Can there be any doubt?
There is one Ray of Hope. If we put down our "over-indulgent uncle in the sky" image of God, and turn to the Lord Jesus in all humility, then we are safe.
^ If we go back to 1917, we find evidence of this. Because in that year Jerusalem was freed from the Turks (who had ruled there for four centuries). This event - coupled with the Balfour Declaration of the same year - opened the door to the Jewish hope of a large-scale return to their original Land. Please note this key event took place during WWI - a war itself cited above as being a Sign of the End-Time.
In 1970 Hal Lindsey's book The Late Great Planet Earth was published(14). And Christians reading it began to say, "Israel the Fig Tree has sprouted? That's right! It must be the End-Time!" Now we see another, delightful, Fulfillment of the Prophecy. It was not until the 1970's that people were sure about the identity of the sprouting Fig Tree, yet a major growth step took place in WWI. And Jesus said we would not recognize that the (painful) process of "becoming tender" was underway until much of it was over!
So Winter, and much of Spring have already gone.
Lightning is a vivid demonstration of the natural power of electricity. But what else "flashes across the sky" these days? At the speed of light: the invisible signals from TV and radio transmitters. We should remind ourselves that these signals are not themselves electrical - they're part of the broad spectrum of electromagnetic radiation (a spectrum which also includes light, by the way). But TV and radio signals are, as the reader is no doubt well aware, both generated by electrical power, and received by TV/radio sets that likewise run on electricity.
So the parallel between lightning "flashes" and TV news "flashes" is pretty close. And can anyone doubt that if there is the slightest hint of Jesus' Return at a certain time and place, those camera crews will be ready and waiting?
Was our Lord saying something about broadcasting and His Coming?
Doesn't this confirm the Power of the Gospel? It would be natural to think that, as the wars and other trials of the End-Time aimed blows at people's faith, the Gospel would suffer. But when the outlook is at its worst, that's when people need something solid to hold onto. Jesus is there - He does not let us down.
^ One shining example: during the darkest days of WWII, God ministered through Corrie ten Boom and others as they shared their love of Jesus with their fellow-prisoners, in Ravensbrück concentration camp(15).
The Bible Societies and other agencies are very hard at work today translating the Word of God into the remaining tongues. These languages do not belong to whole nations but to tribes and other "people groups" throughout the world. The problems of distance are being overcome - there are satellite dishes in African villages, bringing the Gospel message to these people, via community TV receivers.
What about the traditional Christian lands? Here folks have tried unbelief - it didn't seem to work. The Life that Jesus extends to us, giving purpose where before there was emptinesss, is being received with joy in many hearts. And there are new tools to help spread the Truth. The Bible in modern versions - more accessible Scripture, Bible study guides on computer, Christian tapes, records, magazines, books, radio, TV (and of course the Internet). All these are playing a part in getting the Message out. Even in that once closed region - the former USSR - there is new hope. Evangelists are bringing Bibles in Russian and other languages, and the Gospel is being read there avidly.
The result of all this? New vigor in the Church! People talking about Miraculous answers to prayer! People seeking out the Truths in the Bible. A fresh interest in putting Scripture into practice, including sharing the Word with others.
This Prophecy is in process of being fulfilled - the whole world will be reached, before long. Then, in accordance with His Word, Christ can return!
Some of you will remember the excitement of 1969 when Neil Armstrong and team made it to the Moon. How beautiful the Earth looked, viewed from that perspective! Down here though, there were quite a few problems yet. The president who had set the target of reaching the Moon by 1970 had been assassinated, there was all the unrest about Vietnam etc, and a large part of the world was short of food.
God said it! God knew we would be given something to compensate for all our troubles: we would start to overcome the limits of Earth. Then we'd be very interested in the Sun, Moon and "stars." However there would be "dismay" about things still not sorted out on Earth.
The final Sign is the best news of all!
^ By the way, a Christian - David H. Janzen - fasted and prayed; he received the Word from God (if you care to believe it - this writer does) that we have already been saved from nuclear war, on more than one occasion!
This Scripture gives us absolute certainty that God wants to rescue the world from the disaster that humans are now able to engineer. Jesus stands ready to save - "for the sake of the elect." We have to do something: we have to demonstrate that we care to receive God's Blessing. If we continue to show that we're not bothered, why should God bother? Yes, in a sense, we must elect God!
Provided we do make this response we have GOD's Assurance that we will be saved!
You may now feel (as the writer does) that the above Signs taken together, point absolutely to us being in the End-Time. If not, then the next chapter - on other Signs given to us - could be of special interest to you!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|