10. Are the Signs Still Good?

LONNIE: Welcome to Exploring the Word. Thanks for joining us as we dig deeper into the richness of the Word. Today we’re going explore the timing of the second coming of Christ. We’re going to look at the signs that indicate its approach. The topic comes from a question a visitor raised, right Jeannie?

JEANNIE: That’s right, a man was here at the Media Center, where our Voice of Prophecy offices are located, here on business really. And he heard about some of the subjects we deal with, including, of course, Christ’s second coming. And so he said, “Haven’t people been waiting for Jesus to come back for a really long time? What makes you think He’s really on His way now?”

Well, that question really stuck with us.

LONNIE: I think maybe because it’s a question in the back of a lot of minds—not just secular minds.

JEANNIE: Yes, people in church who’ve been hearing that Christ is coming back soon—for decades. Or maybe even their fathers and grandfathers were hearing the same thing.

LONNIE: And it makes people wonder about the signs, are they still good?

JEANNIE: Right, if they were pointing to something forty or fifty years ago, what are they pointed to now?

LONNIE: Are the signs still good? Let’s try to answer that question.

If you want to check out the signs related to the second coming of Christ, there’s one place in the Bible you need to look into; there’s one good place to start. And that is Matthew, the gospel of Matthew, first book in the New Testament, chapter twenty-four.

That was our reading assignment from last week. I hope you were able to study it—and try to pick up on some trends in history that Jesus was pointing out.

Matthew 24 is the place where the signs are discussed at length. The whole passage is about the signs. And, it’s Jesus who is doing the talking.

Today we’re going to focus on something very important. The signs Jesus gives are both more general, and more pointed than people think. What do I mean? Jesus’ signs are general in the sense that they foretell trends in world history, movements in society. It’s a rather big picture He’s painting.
I think that’s where a lot of people have missed the mark. They’ve tried to tie the signs of Christ’s return to one specific conflict, or one specific world leader. And then that conflict dies out. That world leader passes from the scene. Or a fictionalized picture of the end times like “Left Behind” generates huge attention. It lays out a sequence of events that must precede The End. But what happens when the headlines take another direction? What happens when history has other ideas?

People looking on get disillusioned of course. They begin to think that all these end-time scenarios are a religious game, a rather morbid game.

Jesus’ signs foretell trends. That’s what we’re going to discover. But, we’re also going to discover that they hit the mark with impressive accuracy. They’re quite pointed. For example, Jesus sees history going one direction, when most all the other forecasters saw it going the other way. But He’s dead on. He hits the mark.

So open your Bibles. Find Matthew 24. And get ready for a birds-eye view of human history---written beforehand!

One afternoon Jesus’ disciples were walking with Him around the massive walls of Jerusalem’s great temple, exclaiming about its magnificent structures. They were understandably proud of Israel’s greatest monument. Bright sunlight bounced off the huge quarried stones used in the foundation, some 66 feet long.

Well, it was in this setting that Jesus began His discourse about the last days. And there’s a reason for that. Jesus actually showed us that He could indeed see into the future—at the very beginning of His sermon. He proved it.

Now think about this. How do you know if someone’s ideas about the end times, about the signs, are ultimately accurate? You can’t really test them, can you? The subject is the end of the world. By the time the end comes, and everyone can see which signs really did play out---it’s too late. It’s over.

Now is when it’s useful to know what’s coming. Now is when it would be nice to know which signs to look for. But how do you know who can predict the future—before the future happens! That’s our predicament.

Jesus understood that. And so He gave us something to go on—at the very beginning of His discourse. He gave us evidence of His hold on the future. Look at Matthew 24:2. In response to the disciples oohing and aahing about the temple, Jesus said this:

“Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

To the disciples, and to everyone else who may have overheard this statement, it seemed like sheer lunacy. First of all, no mountain seemed more immovable. Those enormous cut stones were chiseled to fit together virtually without a crack. The construction of the temple was a 50-year project. The whole complex wouldn’t be completed until 63 A.D.

It was like saying Egypt’s pyramids are just going to blow away.

Secondly, it was inconceivable that God would permit His own temple, the most sacred spot on earth, to be touched by an unclean hand, much less destroyed. It was like saying God was going to commit suicide. People accused Jesus of blasphemy for making this prediction.

Well, what happened in 70 A.D---just seven years after that great temple complex was finished? The historian Josephus tells us that Titus, a Roman general, marched an army to Jerusalem, laid siege to it, broke through the walls, and completely destroyed the city. What’s more, he burned and leveled the magnificent temple.

Roman soldiers even pried the stones apart. Why? To get at the gold that melted from the roof when it was set on fire. In 1968, excavations at the site uncovered large numbers of these stones, toppled from the walls by the invading army.

It happened exactly as Jesus predicted; the impossible happened exactly as He predicted.

So, today we can look back on history and conclude something. Jesus had a pretty good eye for the future. He knew where history was going.

And this prediction at the beginning of Christ’s discourse can give us some confidence about the rest of His predictions.

So let’s check them out. In verse 3, of Matthew 24, the disciples ask a question: “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

Jesus answers the question. He lists a few signs for us to keep an eye on. Let’s go to verse seven and look at a few of them:

“And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.” Matt. 24:7

Now this list may not seem very remarkable at first glance--famines, pestilences, and earthquakes.

But think about all the progress we’ve made in the last couple of centuries. Think of agricultural revolutions, for example. New miracle grains have dramatically increased crop yields in developing countries. Anyone with any idea of our technological advances would say, “Surely we ought to be able to feed ourselves in the twenty-first century.” And it’s true; the world produces more than enough food to go around. We should feed ourselves.

And yet this year, over 4 million people will die of starvation. Four million starve every year! The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed, and one-third is starving!

This boggles the mind. How is it possible? It happens because of political corruption, because of economic oppression, and because of ethnic conflicts.

Now consider pestilences. That’s another word for plagues. Again, think of all the advances in medicine in the last 100 years. We’ve managed to wipe out horrible killers like smallpox and polio. Anybody looking at our long list of powerful drugs today would think surely we’d be able to immunize ourselves from plagues, at least from the terrible epidemics that once decimated entire populations. Yes, immunize ourselves.

But that prediction would be dead wrong. AIDS has become a world-wide plague. Tens of millions have succumbed to the disease. AIDS, in fact, threatens an entire continent, the continent of Africa. A huge population of orphans is trying to survive there, robbed of their parents by this deadly virus.

What about earthquakes? Earthquakes in various places. What would scientists predict about that natural phenomenon? Well, you’d think that the earth’s crust, and the forces within it, wouldn’t change that much over the centuries. The earth is the earth is the earth. Fault lines aren’t going to change because of technology or culture or anything else. We should just be able to predict them a little better. Earthquake rates should be stable.

Well, here’s something to consider. Do you remember the devastating earthquake in Alaska that struck in 1964? It measured 8.4 on the Richter scale. In the 30 years since that quake, there have been as many major earthquakes as in the entire previous 2000 years of history!

Hard to believe? This is from the World Almanac. Take the years 1000 to 1800. There were 21 earthquakes of major strength in those 800 years. Between 1800 and 1900, just 100 years, there were 18 major quakes. During the next 50 years, 1900 and 1950, 33 major quakes struck. And between 1950 and 1991, 93 major quakes rumbled around the world. That’s triple the number of the previous half-century. The rate is tripling.

I have a simple question to ask you. Does Jesus know where history is going? Does He have a clue? I think He has a remarkable grasp of our present times, of present trends---even when it goes against the grain of human prediction.

Now these signs are rather sobering, a little scary. Let’s look at one that’s about good news. Look at Matthew 24:14:

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

The gospel is going to be preached in all the world. After that, the end will come.

From a human man point of view, there’s a problem with this prediction. There’s been a problem for a long time. Simply this: generations are constantly passing away—and being born. History doesn’t stand still. Humanity doesn’t just freeze at a certain point and wait for Christian missionaries to get around to everybody—so everybody finally has a chance all together to hear the good news. No, grandmama dies. Babies are born. We may reach a lot of people with the gospel, but a new generation is coming up that needs to hear too.

In other words, from a human point of view, presenting the gospel to all the world just is not possible. Or at least it’s not meaningful. History moves too fast; the generations cycle through too fast, for there to be a meaningful global presentation of the gospel—so the end can come.

Well, believe it or not, even that is changing. I believe it began changing with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the fall of communism. Suddenly, almost half the population of the world, a population that had been shut away from the gospel—opened up to the gospel. In fact, millions of people behind the Iron Curtain were starving for the gospel. And the gospel raced through, in all kinds of ways. It’s been my privilege to be part of ministries that proclaimed the good news inside the former Soviet Union. And I can tell you there was an incredible response there.

But what’s especially significant is that it happened in just a few years. At a certain point, shortly after communism collapsed, entire societies were confronted with the gospel. Grandmama heard about it. Little children heard about it. Mom and Dad heard about it. All at once. It was a phenomena that swept through country after country.

That my friends, has given us a glimpse of how this prophecy is going to be fulfilled, how it’s being fulfilled.

Today we can indeed have a global presentation of the gospel. Here’s where all this new technology comes into play. Here’s where the communication revolution does factor in. We can now use satellites to beam evangelistic meetings from one location to cities on every continent. It’s happening. Millions of people in scores of cities can now participate in one event, taking in the gospel simultaneously, moved by the Spirit in one moment. That’s global outreach.

Nothing remotely like this has been possible before. Worldwide communication on the World Wide Web is incredibly instant today. The message can flash around the globe in ways our missionary forefathers could hardly dream of.

The gospel to all the world. That’s where Jesus said history is going. And we’re seeing it happen. We’re seeing an explosion in gospel outreach. You are part of it right now, sitting there, taking in this message, a message that’s repeated all over the world via satellite. You’re a witness of last-day events. You’re a participant in the most wonderful sign of all.

Why do I believe Jesus is coming again, when people have been waiting for so long? Because Jesus knows where history is going. We can be confident of that. We can be as confident that Jesus is going to appear in the sky as we are that the mighty stones of Jerusalem’s ancient temple lie scattered in the ground.

JEANNIE: Lonnie, about what we’ve seen today in Matthew 24, it is good to sort of grasp the big picture of what Jesus saw coming. Too often people get lost in all the details about the end times.

LONNIE: Creating these elaborate scenarios about how every sign, every event, is going to stack up at the end.

JEANNIE: And then when the details don’t quite match. . .

LONNIE: People’s faith suffers.

JEANNIE: The thing that encourages me the most is, like you said, Jesus does see the direction of history. It’s sort of like we can know that things are going His way—even though there’s tragedy in the world---He’s at the end of it.

LONNIE: When I read about those earthquake statistics—that gave me pause. I mean, even though they’re often pretty destructive events, it’s almost like this mathematical countdown to the Second Coming, as they double and then triple.

JEANNIE: So Lonnie, now that we’ve looked at the signs, let me ask another question, what does it mean to believe that “Jesus is coming soon.” How soon is soon?

LONNIE: OK, let me try to tackle that.

I believe there’s a reason that so many people have affirmed the fact that Jesus is coming “soon.” We certainly have affirmed that at the Voice of Prophecy. But of course we’ve been affirming that for 75 years. That’s a long time. Doesn’t that sort of take the wind out of “soon?”

Let me ask you to imagine something. Imagine that you are running to meet a loved one, running to meet your spouse perhaps, after a long separation. Now if this person is, say, a hundred yards away, they’re pretty small in your field of vision. They’re tiny. But, if this person is two feet away, about to fall into your arms, they’re very big; they fill up your field of vision.

I believe the writers of the New Testament are trying to give us a certain perspective by asking us to see the Second Coming as near, as “soon.” They’re trying to make Jesus Christ big enough in our field of vision. If He’s near, He appears big enough. If He’s coming in the distant future; He appears too small.

And this is why that’s important. The second coming of Christ is the biggest event in human history. It is so big, so important, so earth-changing, that it’s almost impossible for human beings to really grasp. It’s hard for us to picture the heavens splitting open and this glorious figure swooping down in a cloud of angels.

The only way we can get the Second Coming in proper perspective is to see it as near, as soon. It’s a huge event. It’s an all-important event. And if we put it too far away we just can’t retain its real importance.

But there’s a second reason the New Testament emphasizes “soon.” It’s also true in a very literal sense. Right now, for thousands of people on this planet, the second coming of Jesus Christ is not years away, not months away, not days away. It’s seconds away. Why? Because they will be passing away in a few seconds. They will fall asleep, as the Bible says. Time will cease to exist.

And what’s the next thing they know? A trumpet is waking them up. The sky is blazing. There’s a glorious figure in the sky.

Christ’s return is seconds away for countless individuals right now. For others it may be days away. For others it may be weeks away.

In other words, the second coming of Christ could come at any moment—for any of us. A swerve on the freeway. A blood vessel bursting. A stray bullet. And the next thing we know. . .

So yes, it makes a whole lot of sense to talk about the “soon” return of Christ—even if we’ve been talking about it for a long time. It makes sense because it’s the only way we human beings can put it in proper perspective. It makes sense because it could happen in the next minute for some of us.
Now I happen to believe that history just can’t hold out much longer. My conviction, as I look at how the gospel is spreading on this planet, is that we are rushing toward a rendezvous with eternity.

For me, it certainly seems soon, period. But I’d like to appeal to you simply on the basis of the importance of this event. It can’t be over-estimated. And so the question, “Are you ready for Jesus to come?” is a question we should all face, and we should all settle, right now. Let’s settle it before the swerve on the freeway, before the blood vessel bursts.

I want to be ready for the soon return of Jesus Christ. How about you? Is your history going in the right direction? Are you headed for the right rendezvous?

I urge you to settle up with the One who purchased you on the cross at an infinite price. I urge you to make things right with the One who is coming to claim His children.

Will you resolve with me to be ready when that last trumpet sounds? Will you determine to place your faith, and your life, and your future, in Christ’s nail-scarred hands? Please do that, as we pray.

Dear Father, thank You that You will send Your Son for us, once again. Thank You for calling us out of a world headed for destruction, a world where human sin is the real pestilence. We place our faith in You alone as Savior and Lord. We place our hope in You as the soon-coming King. We want to start looking up now, and we want to keep looking up into Your loving face until the end. In Jesus’ name, amen.

JEANNIE: OK, it’s time to get ready for next week’s topic. We’re going to be talking about what the Holy Spirit can do in your life.

LONNIE: And so you can be ready, we’d like you to read a passage in John chapter 16. Read verses 5 through 15. That’s where Jesus Himself talks about what the Spirit He will send can do in the lives of His followers.

JEANNIE: Don’t forget. John 16:5-15 for next week.

LONNIE: Until next week, God bless you and yours. And remember, never stop exploring the Word.