Signs of the Times

Part 1

Dr. Reagan: Okay, fellas I want to jump right into this discussion of the signs of the times. Now, last week we mentioned how the attacks are increasing on the Bible itself, but they are also increasing on signs of the times. I just find people mocking them all the time. Saying, “Oh, you guys are always setting dates, and you are always saying this, and you’re saying that.” And I just find people mocking increasingly. And it usually goes like this, they’ll say, “Well, we’ve heard that claim for the past 100 years. What else is new? Jesus will return when He wants to. There is nothing in the world that we can know about it. Jesus Himself said, ‘No one can know when I’m going to return.”

Tim Moore: It sounds to me like the fella whose wife was pregnant and he said, “You know she keeps saying there’s going to be a baby, but I just don’t know. You know nine months and I don’t know if there is a baby coming.” Well, yeah, there’s a baby coming. And the signs of that baby’s arrival becomes more and more apparent the further you get into the nine month development. You know this is a sad fulfillment, quite frankly of a Bible prophecy.

Dr. Reagan: That’s right, an end time Bible prophecy.

Tim Moore: End time Bible prophecy in 2 Peter chapter 3 Peter revealed and the Lord of course showed him this, “Know this first of all that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking following after their lust, and saying ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep all continue just as it was from the beginning of creation.” And that’s what’s happening. And sadly it is happening most of all within the Church, of people scoffing and mocking.

Dr. Reagan: I think a lot of it is due to people date setting. And I think Satan inspires people to date set, because when they set dates then the press focuses on it, and people sell their homes and give money. And then it passes and everybody mocks.

Tim Moore: Right.

Dr. Reagan: And Satan loves that.

Tim Moore: Yes, he does.

Dr. Reagan: Because it is like yelling wolf, and if you yell wolf, and wolf, and wolf until finally nobody pays any attention any more.

Nathan Jones: I think John, excuse me Peter had to deal with this, like you said same chapter, and he explained why we’re waiting for so long. “But beloved do not forget, that this one thing that with the Lord one day is a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” In other words we live finite lives, 70, 80, 90 years, for God a day to Him is like a 1,000, not is, but is like. And he says, “The Lord isn’t slack concerning His promise,” in other words His promise to return, “as some count slackness, but is long suffering towards us,” and this is His reason, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” What grace! What love!

Dr. Reagan: What patience!

Nathan Jones: What patience!

Tim Moore: Oh, I’m glad He didn’t come in 1972 just before I accepted Him. I’m glad He has given time for all of us to be Believers. And many of our watchers obviously are very grateful that He waited in His mercy and love.

Nathan Jones: I’m glad he didn’t come before 1972 because I wasn’t even alive yet.

Tim Moore: Well, here, here, there you go. That’s a good point.

Dr. Reagan: Well, you hinted at our next question and that is Jesus promised He would return soon but it has been 2,000 years. What did He mean by soon?

Nathan Jones: Well, that is one of the verses, or promises that He makes in Revelation not once, not twice, three times in Revelation, “I’m coming back soon. I’m coming back soon. I’m coming back soon.” We heard Peter say for God soon is a long time, but it is an interpretation thing I think we get wrong. I doesn’t mean soon as in it is going to be a certain amount of time–

Tim Moore: Immediacy.

Nathan Jones: Immediacy when He comes it’s going to be, that’s what it’s going to be.

Tim Moore: Be quick.

Nathan Jones: It’s going to be quick. We read in–

Dr. Reagan: Just like lightening.

Nathan Jones: Yeah, 1 Thessalonians 4, and 1 Corinthians 15 tell us when the rapture of the Church happens, I mean we’re here one second, and gone the next.

Tim Moore: I think it also deals with perspective. One of the things that as a pilot I appreciate is you know driving along a road, and we’ve all experienced this we don’t know what is coming around the next bend. There may be an accident, or a slowdown, or some kind of construction zone, and until we round that curve we don’t realize we’re going to be stuck in traffic for the next two hours. But, if I get in an airplane and get above all that I can see the road for many, many miles to come. Well, God in His perspective is able to see human history from the beginning to the end and beyond, He is infinite. And so, His perspective is far beyond our own. And what seems like just a plotting along of the timeline of history to God it is the next incident.

Dr. Reagan: A good illustration that I use a lot is just draw a line and put a dot on it, that’s where we are. That’s the past, that’s the future. But God is above and He sees the whole thing.

Tim Moore: We call it a God’s eye view. And that is what scripture gives us. That is what Bible prophecy gives us is glimpses of that God’s eye perspective of all of human history. And why would we not thrill to have that kind of revelation? And He’s given it to us.

Dr. Reagan: Well, let’s go to the next question. A person says, “Some say Jesus cannot return until the Church takes over the world and reigns for a 1,000 years. Is that correct?”

Tim Moore: Well, clearly we do not believe so. The Church is not doing a very good job of reigning, even in this country that was founded on Christian principles we seem to be straying very quickly. And so the Church has not taken over in any kind of sense of reigning on the earth. We have a role to fulfill, and the Lord has called us to serve until His coming and certainly we must do that.

Dr. Reagan: This is called the Post-Millennial viewpoint where the Church is going to take over the world, and there are different views about that. Some believe it is going to be by the Gospel, people will respond to the Gospel all over the world. Others believe it is going to be primarily through political activity that the Church is going to take over the world. But the thing about that is that if the Church is going to take over the world, the Church is not doing a very good job of that because things are disintegrating before our very eyes. This is a kind of view that says that things are going to get better, and better, and better. And things are not getting better, and better, and better.

Tim Moore: No.

Nathan Jones: Well, it was a real popular view that fueled the great missionary activity of the 1700 and 1800’s. And then we get to the 1900’s and world wars and it is like the idea just died. And now, all of a sudden we are seeing this great revival, I don’t say great, I think it is sad, of a revival of Post-Millennialism where these churches now are building these little kingdoms and satellite campuses and things like that, and it’s exciting it’s all great stuff, but they believe then that it will keep growing, and growing and eventually take over the world. And it’s an idea that’s been tried and died.

Tim Moore: I think that there’s an essence of, or element of humanism; thinking that we as human beings can aspire to greatness, and we can do these great things. Obviously the Church we believe that the Spirit is indwelling through us, but still when humans are involved there is going to be a lack of perfection in terms of the outcome. And so I have no faith that we as human beings can hand over to the Lord the world restored to some kind of perfection. Oh, only He can make all things new.

Nathan Jones: And it flies in the face of the verses that talk about His return. There are 500 verses in the Old Testament and 1 in 25 verses in the New Testament are about Jesus’ Second Coming. And it gives us details what His Second Coming will be like. To say that the Church will, everyone will get saved and then Jesus comes and we enter an eternal state is–you can’t find that in the Bible.

Dr. Reagan: Yeah, you never see the Church presenting the Kingdom to Jesus. No, it is Jesus is coming and establishes the Kingdom.

Nathan Jones: When the world is at its worst.

Dr. Reagan: Yes, that’s true. In fact there are people who argue, Amillennialist argue that Jesus is actually the Millennial Kingdom is going on right now. It began at the cross and it continuing to this day, and that Jesus is reigning over all the world through His Church. All I’ve got to say is if He is doing that He is doing a very bad job of it because the whole world is falling apart before our very eyes.

Tim Moore: Yes.

Dr. Reagan: And Satan is not in the picture for the last 2,000 years?

Tim Moore: Satan is very rampant.

Dr. Reagan: Well, they argue that Satan was, he was bound by the cross because we received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit today. But the Bible says he’s going to be bound in a special way, that he can no longer deceive the nations. Well, every nation on planet earth including the United States of America is deceived today.

Tim Moore: The Scripture calls Satan the ruler of the world.

Dr. Reagan: That’s right, he is.

Tim Moore: He certainly is ruling today.

Dr. Reagan: Alright, Jesus said in Matthew 24 that He would not return until the Gospel has been preached to the whole world. Doesn’t that mean it’s going to be a long, long time yet before Jesus comes back?

Tim Moore: No, I don’t think so. And I agree with what Nathan said, there have been great motivation in the past for people to go out preaching the Word. Even just in recent news we have a story of man who tried to go to an island that had been isolated to preach the Word of God to them, and he was tragically killed. We have folks who are motivated by a desire to preach the Word. But we don’t understand exactly how this will take place in the very end, but we know that God says the whole world will have a presentation of the Gospel.

Dr. Reagan: Well, this is certainly not a prophecy that has to be fulfilled before the Rapture.

Tim Moore: No, not at all.

Dr. Reagan: It could occur at any moment. But it certainly one that has to be fulfilled before the Second Coming of Jesus. And we are seeing that before our very eyes. I mean in our lifetime the Gospel has gone out all over the world through the Jesus Film. Through satellite television. All kinds of ways, through the internet. The internet today is all over the world, people are getting the Gospel.

Nathan Jones: We had a great show years back where we brought on somebody who was involved in Bible translation and he was telling us about how much of the Bible is out there. It was like 90% of the world has Bibles in their own languages, and the rest is just little 300-400–

Dr. Reagan: Tribes of 100,000 and less.

Nathan Jones: Yeah, real tiny. So, it is going out in the whole world, but certainly that’s not what then has to happen for Jesus to come back.

Dr. Reagan: And actually this is not going to be fulfilled until the end of the Tribulation.

Nathan Jones: Second Coming, right, not the Rapture.

Dr. Reagan: Because right at the end of the Tribulation before the final pouring out of God’s bowls of wrath, He’s going to send forth what I call a Gospel Angel who says He is going to circumnavigate the globe and preach the Gospel to every last person on planet earth.

Tim Moore: Exactly so.

Dr. Reagan: One last chance God is going to give. Isn’t that amazing?

Tim Moore: Always, always demonstrating His mercy, and His love. But here once again we see within the lifetime of many of our viewers a fulfillment of this kind of prophecy, with the technology, with the outreach, and yet we take for granted. People hundreds of years ago would not have taken for granted the things that are able to happen to today to spread the Word of God.

Dr. Reagan: Well, I remember a few years back when Billy Graham gave a sermon from Puerto Rico. Why Puerto Rico I don’t know, but from Puerto Rico, it went out to over 150 nations of the world by satellite. Many in the native translations. I was in Poland at the time and watched it on the street. They had big television sets that you could watch, screens and followed up to 500 million pieces of literature in many different languages. They said that sermon was heard by more people than had heard the Gospel in the entire history of Christianity.

Tim Moore: And in spite of that we have people that scoff that we are living in the time of the Lord’s return. I mean, please.

Nathan Jones: And it doesn’t–you hear that they are scoffing because they believe the Church needs to evangelize the world before Jesus comes. Now, the Church is doing a great job. The Church doesn’t need to be in the Tribulation. Like you said Dr. Reagan, we’ve got the Gospel Angel. Jesus also will–being raptured will be a great proof. The literature we leave behind.

Tim Moore: The two witnesses.

Nathan Jones: The two witnesses that He is going to leave in Jerusalem for the first half of the Tribulation.

Dr. Reagan: The 144,000.

Nathan Jones: 144,000, Apostle Pauls running around the world. Matter of fact God makes it so by the end of the Tribulation, not only does every person know about Jesus Christ, but they’ve made a decision for Him or not.

Tim Moore: Ah, yes.

Dr. Reagan: Well, the grace of God is unfathomable, and the message of the book of Revelation is that even when God is pouring out His wrath, His fundamental purpose is not to punish, but to bring people to the end of themselves so they will believe in Jesus as their Messiah.

Tim Moore: Amen.

Part 2

Nathan Jones: Welcome back to Christ in Prophecy and our responses to questions about the signs of the times. Okay, Dave, we’re ready. Give us another.

Dr. Reagan: Alright, next question.

Nathan Jones: Give us another.

Dr. Reagan: People keep on saying that the re-establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 is the end time cornerstone prophecy that points to the Lord’s soon return. Why do they say that? Why is what is happening among the Jewish people so important?

Tim Moore: Well, you touched on it earlier the regathering of the Jewish people to the State of Israel would be a fulfillment of prophecy so magnificent that it would make even the deliverance from Israel pale in comparison, and we are seeing that in our very lifetimes. And the Lord also talked about the tree that would come back to life. And so, people say that Israel coming back to life is fulfillment of that prophecy, and really starts that final clock ticking towards the Lord’s return.

Dr. Reagan: Anything you want to add to that?

Nathan Jones: I want to give you a few verse if I may that talk about how amazing Israel becoming a nation again. The fact Isaiah 11:11-12 prophesied that Israel would be gathered not once from Babylon, but a second time. That is happening today. That the nation itself, Isaiah 66, would be re-established. That the Jews would have control over Jerusalem again, that is Zechariah 8. Ezekiel 36 tells us that the land would go from desolation to bounty, it is like a garden over there. That the Hebrew language that was a dead language would come back again, that is Zephaniah 3:9. And then Zechariah 12:1-3 that all the world would be focused on Israel. You only have to look at what the UN is doing to know the whole world is obsessed with Israel right now. All these are happening in our day and time, and that means Jesus Christ is coming soon.

Dr. Reagan: I think you just gave a summary of my book, Israel in Bible Prophecy: Past, Present, and Future.

Tim Moore: Yes, he does.

Nathan Jones: Yeah, if you want to know the details that is a fantastic book for that.

Dr. Reagan: Alright, you mentioned something that I want to come back to because it is very important and I want us to focus on it for just a moment. In Matthew 24 Jesus gave the parable of the fig tree to indicate when He would return. In fact that is very interesting He is very specific in what He says about the end times; there will be this sign, this sign, this sign, this sign, this sign, this sign. Very easy to understand. But when it comes to the timing of His return He suddenly moves to mysterious language, parable language and says, “Watch the fig tree.” What is that all about?

Tim Moore: Well, I believe the fig tree, it is almost uncharacteristic people think that Jesus is walking along in a season when some teachers will tell you there shouldn’t have been figs and certainly there were not figs on the tree, and He curses the tree. Which probably took His apostle aback, well, that was kind of different. But later He explains that curse will last until you see that fig tree come back to life, and then it points to a timing issue.

Dr. Reagan: Well, actually the cursing of the tree was a symbolic prophecy.

Tim Moore: Yes.

Dr. Reagan: It was symbolic of the fact that because Israel had rejected Him as Messiah, God was going to pour out wrath on them and set them aside for a while under discipline.

Tim Moore: Yes.

Dr. Reagan: And so, it is what we call symbolic prophecy.

Tim Moore: Because they were not bearing fruit at the time.

Dr. Reagan: The very next day He comes along and sees that tree and says something else about it.

Tim Moore: He says, “Watch the tree.” And so, that is why we who have been studying Bible prophecy recognize that Israel being a manifestation of that parable tree has come back to life fulfilling those ancient prophecies that were repeated over, and over again in the Old Testament. And so, certainly that gives us a sense that we are living in the season of the Lord’s return.

Dr. Reagan: You know 400 years ago the Puritans who really got involved in Bible prophecy were talking about the fact that God was going to regather the Jewish people, He is going to re-establish the state. People just wrote them off as stark raving mad crazy. In 1909 when C.I. Scofield wrote the “Scofield Study Bible” he got to Ezekiel 38 & 39 he said, “I don’t understand it. Can’t explain it but the Bible says it, I believe it. In the end times Russia is going to invade Israel.” Well, Israel didn’t even exist. There was no prospect they were going to. And yet here was, a Russian Orthodox nation, it was a Christian Orthodox nation at that time. He couldn’t explain it but he said, “I believe it.” And today we don’t have to stop to explain.

Tim Moore: Exactly.

Dr. Reagan: What an amazing thing this is. For years people have looked forward to the re-establishment of the nation of Israel, and everybody said, “Crazy.” Then it is established, and what does the world say? “Well, it is a coincidence.”

Tim Moore: Well, the significance is so dramatic. That is why we host pilgrimages to Israel.

Dr. Reagan: Yes.

Tim Moore: If you want to see with your own eyes what the Lord is bringing about even in our lifetime come to Israel, see the fulfillment of these ancient prophecies before your very eyes. And that is why so many people who come with us come back shouting, “Hallelujah” and bearing testimony to their absolute conviction that Jesus is at the very gates of Heaven.

Dr. Reagan: And one of the things about that is that 95% if not more of all the tours that go to Israel they land at Ben Gurion Airport, put people on a bus who are dead tired. Drive for 4-5 hours to the Sea of Tiberius, or up to Herzliya, and Netanya, and never spend one moment in Tel Aviv. But why is it important to spend some time in Tel Aviv?

Tim Moore: We go to Tel Aviv because that’s where Israel’s Declaration of Independence occurred. That is where the modern State of Israel was established.

Dr. Reagan: That is where Bible prophecy was fulfilled.

Tim Moore: Exactly. And so we focus on the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Not just ancient sites where Jesus was, and where the Catholic Church built a facade, but where we witness Bible prophecy being fulfilled before our very eyes.

Dr. Reagan: To me that has always been one of the highlights of my whole trip to Israel to go into that little tiny hall, where maybe 100 people, 150 people were crammed in there where David Ben Gurion read the Declaration of Independence on May the 14th, 1948 fulfilling Bible prophecy.

Tim Moore: And this is the 70th year anniversary of that great event.

Dr. Reagan: Amen, amen. Okay, well besides Israel what would you say are one or two of the most major signs that we are living in the season of the Lord’s return?

Tim Moore: Well, we touched on it earlier with the preaching of the Gospel all around the world. I think the acceleration of technology both for good in the case of sharing of the Gospel, but also for bad. We’ve seen where many of us talk about our children and grandchildren using devices and often times being able to access things that are harmful. But the acceleration of both of good and bad via technology has to be one of the leading signs. And I call something else, social entropy, we are witnessing the breakdown even of our society founded on Christian principles and it seems to be accelerating. How much longer can we go on, a lot of people would ask given the breakdown of societies?

Dr. Reagan: Now, in regard to the breakdown of society, what’s his name the famous pastor who said, that the world is growing gloriously dark?

Nathan Jones: Oh, Adrian Rogers.

Dr. Reagan: Adrian Rogers. The average person has no idea what that means. The average Christian has no idea what that means. What does it mean when he says the world is growing gloriously dark?

Nathan Jones: Well, it means that each of the signs that Jesus gave in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 when He said that wars, famines, pestilence, fearful events, signs in the skies, the world focused on Jerusalem, the breakdown, all of these things would increase in frequency and intensity the closer we got to His return. The world would get darker. So, Adrian Rogers, I don’t know what was in his mind, but I believe he was saying that the world is getting darker just as prophesied, but it is glorious because it means Jesus Christ is coming back.

Dr. Reagan: And Jan Markell has a saying similar to that. Do you remember what it is?

Nathan Jones: She does.

Tim Moore: Things aren’t falling apart, they are falling into place.

Dr. Reagan: They are not falling apart, all the pieces are falling in place.

Tim Moore: Yes. Well, even magazines, you talked about “Newsweek” in a couple episodes ago, but we have a magazine that legislatures get called, “Governing Magazine.” And just a couple years ago they had a headline on the cover talking about the increase in the severity, the intensity, and the frequency of disasters like hurricanes, and floods, and natural disasters. They have no idea that that is a demonstration of a fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

Dr. Reagan: Right. You’re our tech guy. Anything you want to say about the technical signs of the times?

Nathan Jones: Well, I think it’s one of the biggest prophecies. I’m glad you brought it up, because you’ve got to go back to Daniel 12, and Daniel was given this prophecy about all these empires in the end times. And he was given all this information and he is kind of scratching his head, he doesn’t understand. And the angel’s like, “Don’t worry. You won’t understand this until two thing: knowledge will increase, and travel will increase.” You know they say that the information that we consume in a day is what most people consumed in a lifetime just 100 years ago. We’ve seen computer technology, travel. You’re a pilot.

Tim Moore: Yes.

Nathan Jones: I mean goodness you see the whole–

Tim Moore: I get on an airplane and go.

Nathan Jones: We are seeing that. Which then means Jesus Christ is coming soon.

Tim Moore: Yes, it does.

Part 3

Tim Moore: Welcome back to Christ in Prophecy and our discussion of the signs of the times. Dave, I understand you have one more important question for us today.

Dr. Reagan: I do but before I ask that question there is an observation I want to make and that is that one of the signs we have not mentioned is a very, very negative one, and that is growing apostasy in the church. Now, there is a positive sign of the end times and that is preaching the Gospel all over the world. But it’s just terrible to think of the apostasy in the Church today. I mean 20 years ago, even 20 years ago if you had mentioned to me that churches would be performing same-sex marriages, and ordaining homosexuals, I’d say you’re crazy. But, it’s not only that the Church is growing in apostasy, but at an exponential curve.

Tim Moore: Yes, and celebrating some of those very apostasies.

Dr. Reagan: And celebrating some of that stuff. Okay, the question that I wanted to ask you, a very important one is this: What should we be doing as we wait for the return of the Lord?

Tim Moore: Well, I had a friend who half-jokingly said, “The Lord is coming soon, look busy.” And I don’t mean to scoff at this but the point about it is we do need to be about His work. You know it was posed the other day a question: What if the moment we were saved we were translated into Heaven? And literally there were no Believers. The Lord leaves us here because we are to be the Lord’s workers here on earth. And until He comes we should be about His business. So, I believe until He comes we should be preaching the Gospel. We should be encouraging fellow Believers, and helping the lost to find the Lord Jesus Christ. And so all of those things should take on an even heightened fervor as we recognize that He is coming any time.

Dr. Reagan: Nathan?

Nathan Jones: Well, that is for the Believer, let’s talk about the unbeliever they need to know Jesus as their Savior.

Tim Moore: Today.

Nathan Jones: You don’t want to stay behind after the Rapture and have to live through the Tribulation, you don’t want to have to go to Hell. You want to be reconciled with Your Creator.

Dr. Reagan: Look into that camera there and tell an unbeliever what they need to do.

Nathan Jones: Jesus Christ died for your sins, believe in Him that He is the Son of God and your Savior. Pray from your heart, “Dear Jesus, please forgive me of my sins and be my Savior.” And He promises to forgive you of your sins, clean the guilt, and you inherit the promises of eternal life with Him.

Tim Moore: We don’t have the promise of another day. So, you cannot wait to make that declaration, and that decision to accept Jesus Christ.

Nathan Jones: Amen.

Dr. Reagan: I would like to respond to the question I asked about what should we be doing as we wait for the Lord’s return by just reading a scripture. This is in Titus chapter 2 beginning with verse 11, “The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men.” Folks, that’s the First Coming of Jesus. Then it jumps to the Second Coming, next verse, “Instructing us,” now here’s what we are to do as we wait for the coming of the Lord, “deny ungodliness, deny worldly desires, live sensibly, live righteously, live godly in the present age,” and then one final thing, “live looking for the blessed hope, and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.”

Tim Moore: Exactly.

Dr. Reagan: Live with an eternal perspective. Don’t get so caught up in this world that your focus is on the world, but have an eternal perspective. One final question: When you look at all the signs of the times most people would say the most important is Israel, but there is really one sign that is more important than all that, one sign that is now upon us for the first time ever, what would that be?

Nathan Jones: That would be convergence; the fact that all the signs are happening at the same time.

Dr. Reagan: Yes, for the first time. There has been time when we say well, this is happening, and that is happening and this is happening, but this is the first time where we see all the signs converging and that is a clear indication that we are living in the season of the Lord’s return. We want to make it clear to our viewers that we are not date setters. We do not say we know what date Jesus is returning. What date the Rapture is going to occur. We don’t know that. But what we do know is that we are living in the season of the Lord’s return because the Bible gives us signs to look for. And the Lord does that because He does not wish that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. So, He wants us to know the signs. And we should pay attention to those signs, they are shouting from the heavens that Jesus is returning very soon.

Tim Moore: Dave said it best: Understanding the Signs of the Times gives you a much greater hope for the future. We pray that this episode—and each of our programs that proclaim Jesus is coming soon—offers you strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. That hope is not something nebulous or hard to grasp. It is grounded in the Truth of our great God and Savior—our soon-returning King—Jesus Christ. Join us next week for another episode of Christ in Prophecy. Until then, I’m Tim Moore for Lamb & Lion Ministries saying, “Godspeed!”

End of Program