SIGNS OF THE TIMES ACCORDING TO JESUS

The Signs of the Times according to Jesus

Matthew 24:32–35

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

INTRO: Some preachers have tried to sensationalize this text with wild predictions about our Lord’s return; but there is a Sound, Since able, and Scriptural way to approach this subject. From Genesis to Revelation, the scriptures are full of the promises of His coming.

Our text is just one of many in the word of God!Our text say’s

THE GENERATION that sees the Sign of the Fig tree fulfilled—shall see all the signs fulfilled in their entirety including the personal appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds of glory.

The signs which we will look at in this message started taking place in the 20th Century—IN OUR GENERATION.

#I. MORAL DECLINE OF SOCIETY

A. Jesus said in Matthew 24:37–39

37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

Our ark is Jesus Christ for we have entered into him by faith.

For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Ac 17:28.

And when he returns for his church we will all go to be with him forevermore.

We will ride out the flood of the tribulation period safely above what is happening on this earth!

Just like Noe and his family did!

Christ our ark of safety!

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

B. Look at the record of Noe’s day. It Reads like current events

Genesis 6:5–6

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

C. Men and Women are Obsessed with sex.

1. One of the greatest evidences of moral decay in this age is the obsession of sex.

2. Radio and television commercials—everything from cars to cosmetics; hose to hair tonics; soap to swimming suits, they are saturated and with charged sex appeal.It is getting harder to watch even the commercials on TV. You have to be careful what your eyes see !

“There has been a growing preoccupation of our writers with the social sewers of our generation.”

THEY WRITE ABOUT:

1. Broken homes of disloyal parents and unloved children.

2. The bedroom of the prostitute.

3. A den of criminals.

4. The ward of the insane.

5. A street corner gang of teenage delinquents.

6. The sex adventures of urbanized cavemen or rapists.

7. The loves of adulterers and fornicators and sadists, prostitutes, mistresses and playboys.

E. We are living in the days described by Paul in;

2 Timothy 3:1–5

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

F. And what is the church doing?

1. In many cases the church is cold or lukewarm and they have left their first love.

2. Instead of amazing the world with the display of God’s power,

The church is entertaining the world with her arrogance and self righteousness.

3. Feasting instead of fasting—is the order of the day.

4. The church is going through a deep-freeze era in most places.

Like the ten virgins they are all asleep and many may not be prepared when Jesus comes

5. Worn out cliches and internet sermons are not sufficient to meet the challenge of this generation. We need Holy Ghost filled men of god to stand up and call the sinner and backslider to repentance.Preaching the uncompromised word of God thru the convicting power of the Holy Ghost!

6. The church world is plagued with:

a. Too many dead seminaries,

turning out too many Dead preachers

controlled by

c. Dead Deacon Boards,

d. Preaching dead sermons to

e. Dead church members. (Anything dead ought to be buried because it begins to stink!

G. This is the day of which Paul spoke of in;

2 Timothy 4:3–4

3 For 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;

4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.(stories)

H. The handwriting is on the wall. Jesus said: “When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.”

II. UNREST + STRESS

A. Matthew 24:6–8 says: “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilence, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

B. Jesus said that there would be earthquakes in many different parts of the earth.

1. Their has Always been earthquakes—but they are on the increase and are becoming more intense as the years go by.

2. Britannica Yearbook—1961, said, “During the year, seismic activity was above normal and earthquakes of cataclysmic proportions caused a greater loss of lives and property than had been experienced in previous ten-year period.”

C. FAMINES: Millions go to bed hungry every night in India, Pakistan, China, and other parts of the world. Pestilences are happening in the entire world. We are plagued with tornadoes,

freak Snow storms, Hail the size of grape fruit, floods in strange places.

D. Oh Yes! The Stage is set for our Lord’s appearing—“Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (Revelation 22:12).

III. SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS another sign

Daniel 12:4 “But thou, O 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.”

A. For nearly 6000 years each generation remained much the same.

1. Illiteracy prevailed.

2. Very little progress was made in the field of knowledge.

3. Scientific progress moved at a snail’s pace.

B. Then suddenly, IN OUR GENERATION, every field of science began to increase.

1. We Graduated from the ox-cart to supersonic airplanes.

2. Intercontinental ballistic missiles.

3. Internet satellites—spaceships—25,000 to 30,000 miles per hour. (This Huge acceleration of knowledge and travel is another indication pointing to the soon return of Jesus.)

IV. DISTRESS OF NATIONS

Luke 21:25- 26 “And 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 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 shall be shaken.”

A. Above scripture is a perfect portrait of present-day frustrations both nationally and internationally.

B. Pressure from every side—nowhere to turn: Luke 21:28

“When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh”

V. THE REBIRTH OF ISRAEL #1 SIGN

The most forceful and dramatic sign of the soon coming of Christ is the restoration of the Jews to their homeland.

A. The Jews dispersed and persecuted was foretold by Moses.

Deuteronomy 28:63–66

63 And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.

64 And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.

65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:

66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:

B. Moses said: “The Lord shall scatter them among all nations.” There is no country where the Jew is unknown. (Go to Europe, Asia, Africa, America, you will find the Jew. They are a people of the world.)

C. A.D 70.—conquest lasted four months—one million killed, 97,000 captive.

D. A.D. 135, Hadrian completed prophecy. Battle lasted 3½ years. Killed 580,000. Jerusalem plowed up—prophecy fulfilled which was given 885 years prior. Micah 3:12 “Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps.…”

E. This was only the beginning of sorrows.

1. In 1264–1,500 were slain in England. England seized their property for taxes; ordered all Jews out; 16,500 fled to France.

2. In 1306—all the Jews in France; 100,000 were stripped of all possessions and shipped out.

3. In 13th century—2,000 (whole community in Germany) were burned alive as they stood in prayer in Synagogue.

4. Six million gassed during World War II in Europe.

F. Jews return to homeland. God not only foretold of dispersion and persecution, but RE-GATHERING.

1. Isaiah 11:12 “And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”

2. Ezekiel 36:26: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”

G. Jews around world touched by God began to return to Israel in—1948.

1. God brought them back.

2. Protected them—1956, June, 1967, “Six-Day War.”

H. God has brought them back—they are back to stay.

Amos 9:14-15 “And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.”

I. If anyone has thoughts about destroying the Jews, they need to read;

Jeremiah 31:35–37

35 “Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name:

36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.

37 Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.”

CONCLUSION: Matthew 24:32–35

“Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

EVEN SO, COME, QUICKLY LORD JESUS!