"The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, "When evening comes, you say, `It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' and in the morning, `Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Jesus then left them and went away."                                                                                  

                                                                                             [Matthew 16:1-4]

Jesus said, "You can read the signs of the weather in the sky, but because of spiritual blindness you cannot read the signs of the times." Our Lord was saying the Jews of that day were blind to the signs of their time. He indicated that only those who have spiritual illumination and discernment from the Holy Spirit can hope to understand the trends and meanings of history. This explains why so many people haven't got a clue about what's going on and why most of our political leaders are taking us down the path to destruction.

The twenty-first century is proving to be a century of Biblical fulfillment. At no time in history have more changes occurred in science and in the political structure of the world. More changes occur in science in a single year than formerly occurred in a century.

     Consider the following:

          -The crumbling of the Eastern Bloc of Europe and the Communist

            Empire.

          -The unprecedented vote by the Soviet communist party to relinquish

            its absolute    

            hold on power for the first time since it seized power 70 years ago.

          -The opening of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of a divided

            Germany.

          -Events transpiring in the Middle East.

          -Growing Islamic - Zionist jihad

          -The failing ecology of Planet Earth.

          -Changing weather patterns worldwide.

          -The breathtaking pace of technological advancements.

          -The collapse of ethical and moral values.

          -The weakening influence of our churches and their leaders.

With Israel restored as a nation in 1948, the panorama of end-time prophecy came into a focus in which Israel will be a prominent player. Commencing the last day forecast before the Lords return according to the Prophet Daniels.

The introduction of the concept of a world government, made real by the United Nation, and the birth of the European Union, World Bank, Global Marketing, and the Ecumenical Movement forming the One World Religion, paints a scenario that is in harmony with prophecy concerning a future world government.  

The world has entered a time of dramatic and ominous change. At the present moment of history, the planet Earth is in grave crises. This celestial ball that we call Earth is on a collision course with its Creator.

Never before in American history have Christians experienced being hated for following Jesus Christ as they are today.

Here in America the persecution of Christians has not yet reached the feverish pitch as in other parts of the world. There is still a Constitution that protects them and allows them to freely practice their faith. But, broiling beneath the surface, the same hatred of God that exists in other parts of the world is festering in all our institutions. Slowly, methodically, and incrementally the anti-God forces are working to remove that Constitutional barrier.

In countries near and far, people are being persecuted simply because of their faith. Hundreds of men and women are in prison serving sentences that range from a few months to life. They are not criminals who have robbed or murdered other citizens but Christians who were put on trial for their faith in Christ and found guilty. Christians are beaten, tortured, imprisoned, and murdered by those who are hostile to their faith in Jesus Christ.

Because of the increase of wickedness,
the love of most will grow cold. [Matthew 24:12]

There is a pattern of lawlessness dominating our society today that throughout history was found in civilizations in the process of decline. It is a pattern evident in nations that rejected God's Word as ultimate authority in their lives and is a pattern prevailing in many Americans today.

I believe America's rejection of Christ's lordship is the reason behind all the bloodshed, violence, racial hatred, moral decay, drug abuse and outbreak of deadly sexual diseases in our society. Lawmakers, educators and the media have made God an unspeakable subject. Even in prisons, there is a ban on religious mottos, including the Ten Commandments. Even worse, many of our churches no longer exalt Christ as Lord and king.

More and more people are haunted by a loss of safety and hope in a world where stability and certainty are vanishing. Carjacking, drive-by shootings and random violence have shattered the security families once had of being safe in their own cars and neighborhoods. People are accosted at traffic lights, when they're pumping gas, and when they're bumped and pull over. Schoolchildren are no longer sure which of their classmates may be carrying a gun. American youths are being swept up by a wave of violence. Gang violence, rapes, murders, and violent crimes make our even our nation's capital one of the most dangerous cities in the world. The headline in the Philadelphia Inquirer said, "A new generation of killers, feeling no blame and no shame."

The Apostle Paul said that in the last days man would be "brutal." The Greek, 'anemeros' literally means "untamed, savage, or brutal." He also said that the last days man would be not be lovers of the good - possibly better translated as "haters of the good."

“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind; to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. “

                                                                                                                  [Romans 1:24-32]

There is a storm coming!

The faithful, as they see the intensification of the signs around us, will know that the day of the Lord's return for them is quickly "approaching" (Hebrews 10:25) and will be those who stand firm in their faith through all the end-time distress (Matt. 24:13).

They will be the ones who have applied the power of Scripture to all the little problems of daily living: anger; frustration with employment; parenting; marital relationships; forgiveness; etc. The Scriptural teaching is that we must faithfully surrender to God in the small things of life before we graduate to the next level of experiencing God's provision:

"Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things." [Matthew 25.21]

For others they will have become so comfortable with their life of tolerance, compromise, convenience and appeasement that to accept the lies and deception of an Antichrist will not be difficult for them.

If we cannot believe Him and surrender to His power in the daily frustrations of life, how can we have faith and receive His power in the big problems of life? Our lack of faith (acting upon our trust in God's Word and provision through the Holy Spirit) in the small things prohibits us from maturing and growing in faith for the large problems. Thus, when the storm beats against our house, will we have the faith to stand firm?

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your Name, and in your Name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

[Matthew 7:21-27]

You see, there will be two kinds of Christians in these last days: the wise and foolish. There will be one group of believers who will not fall - they will be able to withstand every demonic assault that comes on them. Nothing will be able to move them when the storm comes. There will be another group of Christians whose fall will be great - total, complete, devastating collapse of everything. 

They built two different kinds of houses. And the only thing that will hold up in the coming storm is to be the house established on a rock foundation.

Many Christians may say, "I'm a believer. I've built on the rock." Yet they don't truly understand what this phrase means. And they will have a great shock and surprise when their relationship with Jesus does not endure the storm. They will be exposed as having no foundation.

What are you building your house on now? What is its foundation?  Is it Faith, Hope, Love, Trust, Commitment, Perseverance, Truth, Honesty, Integrity, Sacrifice, and Obedience to the Lord and His Word. These things will build your faith to have certain characteristics that will determine how you react under pressure in the future. 

Why do only a few people follow Christ for a lifetime? Why do some appear to follow for a time and then fall away? What prevents us from following Jesus wholeheartedly? Why do many of us prefer to build on the sand rather than the rock?

With all the technology available today, the archaeological research confirming the people and places of the Bible, the immense volumes of writings of believers explaining their faith, and the exegetical study of the words of the Bible - it's as if we know so much, yet believe so little.

I have come to learn there are two Kinds of Obedience:

Legal obedience - a cold, technical formality, based on fear of consequences. They obey because they are afraid to go to hell. They fear the Fathers wrath. Their obedience is "legal" only - they have no genuine desire to please Him. They do not obey out of pleasure or because they love Jesus - on the contrary they are angry at him for restricting their freedom and life-style.

These people will stand before God's throne someday and say, "Lord, in You name we cast out devils, we healed the sick, we did many wonderful works for You." But they built their houses on sand. They cried, "Lord, Lord!" throughout their lives - coming to Him for relief, for power, for rewards. But they never stopped long enough in His presence to get to know Him. They were busy for Him - but they don't obey Him with a love that flows from a totally abandoned heart.

They perish because they refused to love the truth. [2 Thessalonians 2:10]

Loving obedience - "I do it because I want to please my Lord - to bring Him great pleasure." These people don't need the "law" because they wouldn't do things that would hurt their Father because of their love for Him. Their every action and desire is to please God and willingly forsake the world and its lusts.

The popular church of the 21st Century pretends to adhere to the truth, yet quietly undermines it. Experience and emotion are substituted for the Word of God as its basis of faith. Any time we make emotional "religious experiences" or various signs and wonders the criterion of our faith, we thereby open the floodgates to every sort of delusion. If experience or emotion becomes the standard of our faith, then we must accept the validity of any experience from which someone gains a "religious" sensation: the ancient ritual prostitution at pagan temples; the frenzied worship of Bacchus; the Moslem dervishes and followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini and his successors.

In fact, all religious experiences must be tested for agreement with Scripture before they can be accepted as genuinely from God. Scripture is the objective criterion which permits us to separate true experiences of God from delusions of the evil one. All of our religious experiences must be verified by Scripture; Scripture is not proved by them. “Test everything. Hold on to the good.” 

                                                                                                  [1 Thess 5:21]

Without a love for truth and a mental storehouse filled with God's Word, people cannot discern error. Many are drawn to the self-focused empowerment of goddess-philosophy, Christian cults, and psychological-spiritual imitations. Like rudderless boats in the night, they cascade down the rapids trapped in a raging social current headed for destruction. You can clearly see this operating today in "multiculturalism" and "political correctness" where we are told to embrace, accept and tolerate things the Bible clearly condemns.

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”                                            

                                                                                          [Colossians 2:8]

The average American Christian defines God as Love, a word which is understood from a "feelings" humanistic and temporal viewpoint. This definition does not cause any problems to a sinful lifestyle, for the concept of tolerant love does not include the reality of a HOLY God, a JUST God, and a TRUE God.

The Love of God is also Just, which is not concerned with our comfort and feelings, but with what is Right. The Love of God is HOLY, which is destructive to sinful living and the carnal nature and is not tolerant toward rebellion and willful ignorance.

The question is, do you KNOW God in Christ Jesus ... as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures? Have you read His Book? Have you studied it? How can you be sure you know the real God in Christ Jesus if you have not studied what He has said about Himself?  I believe it is time for us to do our homework  and seek the Lord while He still could be found.

The prophets Ezekiel, Joel, Haggai, and the writer of Hebrews all concur that God is going to literally shake the earth one more time! See Ezekiel 38:20-23; Joel 3:14-17; Haggai 2:6-9 and Hebrews 12:25-29. He will shake our economy, the stock market, Fortune 500 companies, banks, insurance companies, our education system, our government, our families, our churches - everything we put our trust and confidence in, everything that seems safe and secure.

We must be willing to abandon everything else that has given us security and not allow anything to distract us from the calling He has made in our lives.

Maranatha!