Bible
Jesus was so thoughtful of the sinners on this planet and had such tender pity for His erring creatures that He allowed the cruel tyrants possessed of devils to crucify Him.
Jesus is warning us in His Word of the soon coming end of this world and the things we are to watch for, and how to meet these situations with His help and power. He is the Infinite God so He is the only source of help.
There are many things that are foretold that will happen to show His return is very near. In Peter it says there will be false teachers.
2 Peter 2:1
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you,.”
Matthew tells us of many signs to look for.
Matthew 24:24, 1 John 4:1
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”
Matthew 7:15
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
Matthew 24:6
“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.”
Matthew 24:7
“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”
Matthew 24:9
“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.”
Matthew 24:14
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
Matthew 24:27
“For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Matthew 24:29
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:”
Matthew 24:30
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
Matthew 24:31
“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the fourwinds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Matthew 24:38
“For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,..”
Matthew 24:39
“And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
There are hundreds of different religions that are not following the Bible and are saying there is no law to obey anymore. Plenty of preachers are teaching contrary to scripture. Yes, lots of people say there is a God, but that is confessing with the mouth and not obeying from the heart. God means what He says. Many are the smooth, sweet talking preachers saying wonderful things and this is what a lot of people want.
All throughout history there have been wars but at the present there are horrible mass destructive elements being used that make man think he is really great and in control of things. Wars are going on all the time and soon we will see the whole world involved in the final battle.
Right now many places are in famine because of drought with no rain and other places have no food because they are in the floods and food has been destroyed or washed away.
Disease is rampant all over the world not only because of our own bad eating habits and other lifestyle habits but the world is sick as well as the animals with every kind of ailment you can think of. As if man did not have enough problems, scientists are making more pestilence in the labs and getting it out to the people in various ways.
The earth is literally shaking, there is always a quaking some-where, some of which are very devastating and can cause much flooding. When Jesus comes there will be a great final
earthquake.
From the time of Cain and Able, the people that did not want to do right have always brought persecution upon the people of God. In the Dark ages people were tortured very cruelly. At the present time is no exception. All around the world people are suffering for their faith in Jesus. Many are being put in prison and put to death. In North America you do not hear much about persecution because they do it in sly ways and are putting people to death secretly.
The gospel of Jesus is going around the world. There is hardly anyone who has not heard of a Christian or even knows what a Christian is supposed to live like. Even a person that does not claim to be a Christian will repeat the words–“that is not being like a Christian.” In dark jungle villages where no man has brought the gospel, the Angels of God have taught them the good news of salvation in various ways.
At the beginning of each persons life the Holy Spirit lightens each persons pathway and if they respond to the light in obedience then they are given more light, but if the light is put aside or neglected then the added light is with-held. As long as some ray is held onto the Holy Spirit keeps striving to bring them to repentance. But if we grieve the Holy Spirit too long it will eventually become the unpardonable sin. So we need to dig deep into the Word of God and obey it all. We need to know what the requirements are for eternal life.
Numerous people have ruined their lives mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually as well as their wives and children when drinking alcohol and being intoxicated so much. It has made them useless for doing a good job at work and has left them companionless with their children. Many times the family is hungry while the parents are indulging in liquor.
There is nothing wrong with getting married if the person is striving to serve the Lord. But what is wrong is all the broken homes and devastated children and the homes that leave the Bible and Lord out of their homes.
These events are fulfilling the prophecies of what God said would happen.
The Great Controversy
PG 308
“May 19, 1780, stands in history as “The Dark Day.” Since the time of Moses no period of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration, has ever been recorded. The description of this event, as given by eyewitnesses, is but an echo of the words of the Lord, recorded by the prophet Joel, twenty-five hundred years previous to their fulfillment: “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.”
Joel 2:31.
The Great Controversy
PG 307
The intense darkness of the day was succeeded, an hour or two before evening, by a partially clear sky, and the sun appeared, though it was still obscured by the black, heavy mist. “After sundown, the clouds came again overhead, and it grew dark very fast.” “Nor was the darkness of the night less uncommon and terrifying than that of the day; notwithstanding there was almost a full moon, no object was discernible but by the help of some artificial light, which, when seen from the neigh-boring houses and other places at a distance, appeared through a kind of Egyptian darkness which seemed almost impervious to the rays.”
Isaiah Thomas, Oracle of Liberty,
No. 472 (May 25, 1780)
“Said an eyewitness of the scene: “I could not help conceiving at the time, that if every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable shades, or struck out of existence, the darkness could not have been more complete.”-
Letter by Dr. Samuel Tenney,
of Exeter, New Hampshire,
December, 1785 (in Historical
Society Collections, p. 97).
“Though at nine o’clock that night the moon rose to the full, “it had not the least effect to dispel the deathlike shadows.” After midnight the darkness disappeared, and the moon, when first visible, had the appearance of blood.”
Maranatha PG 151
The Stars of Heaven Fall
“The stars shall fall from
heaven, and the powers of
the Heavens shall be shaken.”
Matt. 24:29.
“In 1833, . . . the last of the signs appeared which were promised by the Saviour as tokens of His second advent. Said Jesus, “The stars shall fall from heaven.” And John in the Revelation declared, as he beheld in vision the scenes that should herald the day of God, “The stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of amighty wind.”This prophecy received astriking and impressive fulfilment in the great meteoric shower of November 13, 1833.”
“That was the most extensive and wonderful display of falling stars which has ever been recorded; “the whole firmament, over all the United States, being then, for hours, in fiery commotion!
No celestial phenomenon has ever occurred in this country, since its first settlement, which was viewed with such intense admiration by one class in the community, or such dread and alarm by another.” “Its sublimity and awful beauty still linger in many minds. . . . Never did rain fall much thicker than the meteors fell toward the earth; east, west, north, and south, it was the same. In a word, the whole heavens seemed in motion. . . . The display, as described in Professor Silliman’s journal, was seen all over North America. . . . From two o’clock until broad daylight, the sky being perfectly serene and cloudless, an incessant play of dazzlingly brilliant luminosities was kept up in the whole heavens.”
“No language indeed can come up to the splendor of that magnificent display; no one who did not witness it can form an adequate conception of its glory. It seemed as if the whole starry heavens had congregated at one point near the zenith, and were simultaneously shooting forth, with the velocity of lightning, to every part of the horizon; and yet they were not exhausted-thousands swiftly followed in the track of thousands, as if created for the occasion.” “A more correct picture of a fig-tree casting its figs when blown by a mighty wind, it is not possible to behold.”
On the day following its appearance, Henry Dana Ward wrote thus of the wonderful phenomenon: “No philosopher or scholar has told or recorded an event, I suppose, like that of yesterday morning. A prophet eighteen hundred years ago foretold it exactly, if we will be at the trouble of understanding stars falling to mean falling stars, in the only sense in which it is possible to be literally true.”
Thus was displayed the last of those signs of his coming, concerning which Jesus bade his disciples, “When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” [Matthew 24:33.] After these signs, John beheld, as the great event next impending, the heavens departing as a scroll, while the earth quaked, mountains and islands removed out of their places, and the wicked in terror sought to flee from the presence of the Son of man.
Many who witnessed the falling of the stars, looked upon it as a herald of the coming Judgment,-“an awful type, a sure forerunner, a merciful sign, of that great and dreadful day.” Thus the attention of the people was directed to the fulfillment of prophecy, and many were led to give heed to the warning of the second advent.
GC88 332-334