Prophetic Signs That Must Precede Christ’s Return (Part 2)

Like I alluded to in the announcements a little bit, we're gonna... the last Sabbath I was with you, we began looking at some prophetic signs that must occur before the return of Jesus Christ.

I introduced that sermon with a passage from Matthew chapter 24, and we won't turn there. I'll try to just paraphrase parts of it. But the disciples are with their Lord and Savior in the city of Jerusalem, looking at the Temple Mount, and maybe the disciples are pointing out the magnitude of it, the significance of it. They're maybe even thankful to have a temple to worship God at. They know that they did not build it with their own hands, but they're recognizing the glory of it, the work that went into it, and to have a place to maybe even consider their home, kind of like we have in our congregation. And then Jesus said to them, though, and they're kind of pointing these things out, do you not know that all of this is going to be destroyed? All of it's going to be bulldozed over pretty much. It's not going to be standing very long. And they were bewildered by that. They believed their Lord and Savior. They believed their Master. But they were kind of just bewildered, just kind of beside themselves, trying to just wrap their mind around it. And the group walked a little bit further, and Scripture says when they arrived to the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately saying, tell us when these things will be. So they believed Him. They knew that there would come a time that the temple wouldn't be established anymore.

Their vision was even further, though. They thought maybe that would be the end of the world, that end of time, right, end of humanity's time. And so they said, tell us when will these things, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? The sign of your coming. So they were aware that there's things that will happen, things that will happen in the future that will be signs to predate His return. But they also talked about the end of this present age, this current age of humanity where Satan is free, as we already talked about, where he can destroy, to some degree, influence, and some degree have a hand in the destruction of what's going on in society. He's saying, when will this age come to a close and a better age open up?

The disciples wanted to know what they should be looking for, and as disciples of Jesus Christ ourselves, we should be aware of these signs, and we should be looking for them as well. Now, our role is not to figure everything out, right? We talked about how that could actually be a damage and a danger for us, because the reality is God has given us a glimpse of His future. He's given us a glimpse of things that will occur, but it's just a glimpse. If we then go and make a full doctrinal study on every aspect that He's going to do in the future, the likelihood of us either not understanding something perfectly or even being flat out wrong is high, because we're not God.

That's the thing I keep going back to as I consider the sermon and these topics of prophecy and different things. I'm not God. It's not according to my timing. It's not according to my way. It's His way, His timing, and the way that He wants to work it out. We could even deceive ourselves, potentially, because we're going to get into some things where it could go one way or it could go another, and if we fully say it has to be this way, and then God says in His wisdom, He's going to do it this way, we could actually be deceived and be like, oh no, that's not God, because He says He would do it this way, right? So when we dive into topics of prophecy, especially in time prophecy, of how it's going to unfold, how it's going to work out, we have to be careful we don't go too far. And I try to do that always in my life. I think we, most of us, do too. We haven't always done that perfectly in the church, but we have to remember that as we consider these signs, these events, that God has given us enough information to understand at a high level what's going to occur, we got to make sure we don't get locked in, that this is the only way, because mankind has made that mistake at different times in the past. The disciples wanted to know what signs, again, they should be looking for. In the first sermon, we looked at four different signs, and I'll just briefly, in case someone's online with us didn't hear that sermon, or wasn't present with us, but we know that four signs must occur, and there's many more than just the seven that we'll look at between last week and this week. But one is that mankind must have the ability to exterminate ourselves, to eradicate ourselves, and we know that we have that ability now. And it says that we would do that, Scripture does, say that we would do that if God didn't intervene and stop it. And so it shows just kind of another glimpse of what we witnessed this week, how far mankind will take these disagreements, these poise for power, how far we would take it to the point that we would destroy ourselves. And God says, I'm not going to allow that to happen, that our Savior's going to intervene before we get to that point. But that's one thing that must occur and could happen today. Another is that the Jewish faith would have to have a homeland in Israel. We see how significant a role that they play and the presence that the sacrifices and different things will play at that end time. And so we know that that has occurred as well because they currently have a homeland in Israel. We know that from the previous sermon we considered how there must be this king of the north and a king of the south who will come to power to rise up and to influence and to be able to actually control world events to a large degree from a military stance and a political stance. There will be a battle, there will be conflict in the end times, but there will be these strong powers. Who they are exactly, that's where God knows these things. And we should look for these powers to rise, but be careful that we don't put too much say into it. It has to be this group and it has to be done this way. We'll know it when it happens. God will make it abundantly clear through his Holy Spirit who these powers are. We just have to be looking for them. And then the fourth item we looked at in the last sermon is that a dominating Roman system will come to power.

Another one of these mighty influences coming from the European area that has continually over many, many different thousands of years risen up and had power over not only Europe, but the Middle East. We looked at some of those examples and there's many others we could look at as well, but they'll have to be a strong Roman system again that would come to power at that time.

So let's pivot into three more that we will look at today at a high level, looking at the scriptures at that point and begin to paint a picture of these, but also recognizing that God sees much more clearly and bigger and understands. The fifth item that will have to occur before Jesus returns is that the United States and Great Britain will fall with the state of Israel in a powerful way, meaning that our power will be diminished. How exactly that looks? Well, this is where God gets to make these decisions. Collectively, we believe that in the church that the English-speaking nations of the world will fall, will lose our influence over world events. That would include the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, these different countries that represent people who speak a very similar language, and we relatively share the same values and cultures, including being historically a God-respecting and fearing nation. When we consider not only our own constitution and our own Bill of Rights on a national level, but we even start looking into the state levels back when those state constitutions were established, those original early states, a lot of there was a lot of religious influence. There was a lot of religious and godly values that were painted in. It goes back to that same idea that we've shared and we've talked about before, that if someone had no belief in God, but all they did was honor the Ten Commandments and obey them, how different would their life be? They would live a better life simply because of the values that they practice, because these values are not for man, they're from God. They're timeless, they're effective, they bring more peace and more harmony between not only ourselves, but then our relationships with others. And so when we consider that the way that these ideals were worked into our different state constitutions and even our national constitution, it was because of God's blessing that was poured out and the influence it's had. Why is this that we have this belief in this feeling? We have to go all the way back to when the patriarch Jacob was given a new name of Israel. From him, twelve sons were born who each became one of the twelve tribes or nations of Israel. And as God's people, these twelve tribes were united under the kingly rule of David, and then his son Solomon, but then Solomon's sons, Rehoboam, divided the kingdom. And we know about the ten northern tribes, the bad kings that they had, the changes that they made, they moved the holy days to a different day. They set up other temples or places of worship and sacrifice, which God never authored or approved of. And it led them down this path of going further and further and further away from God. And he sent prophet after prophet to warn them time after time, saying, you don't want to go down this way. If you continue down it, it's not going to be pretty.

And they said, oh, we're good. We're fine. We know better. And eventually, because God will not be mocked, those ten northern tribes, and then later the tribes of Judah went into captivity. And those ten northern tribes were scattered. They were absorbed by the nations, by the Assyrian nation, and then pretty much scattered to other places. There's been books written on where they ended up and who's who. I'm not going to get into that, because that's not in Scripture. God did not feel that that was important enough for us to be aware of this. But we can't forget that he also made promises to Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh. He gave them a special blessing when Joseph brought his two sons, because before that they didn't know their grandfather. And so, when they met their grandfather and Joseph brought his two sons, Jacob or Israel blessed them. And we believe that those blessings have been continued to be poured out, because God is not one who says, I'll do this and then lies. And so, we see that most likely these English-speaking nations have been the recipients of God's blessings to Ephraim and Manasseh. And if this is where, like, if it's not the United States and Great Britain who's been able to be these powers, to be these influences over nations, then who else is it? Like, who else has been able to receive these blessings and to be these powers at the time? And then you understand the foundation of our country, you understand the morals that it was established on, on a large part, but then you see how we, as time has gradually and very quickly, over a series of a couple hundred years, gone off the rails to where people say, there is no God, or I have no belief in God, or there is no morality that is from God. I can have my own morality, whatever I think, whatever I want to believe. And we see the destruction that that has led to this nation. There's a proverb, proverb, you can put just in your notes, Proverbs 14 verse 34, but I believe it fits wonderfully for what is happening in today's society. It says, righteousness exalts a nation, righteous living, doing things, living the way that God wants us to live. We'll lift up a nation. Then it says, but sin is reproach or a disgrace to any people.

The reality is, if we want to make our homes, our lives, our nation better, then righteousness is the avenue. But we don't see very many people prescribing to this, wanting to bring righteousness in. They're like, no, I like my sin. I'm okay with my decisions. And it leads to destruction, God says. He won't, he will not be mocked. If God has sent prophet after prophet as a warning, and then nothing was heated, he's not going to just be like, well, I tried. He's going to let there to be punishment come forth because of a nation's snubbing their nose at God.

And as this nation and as other nations who God has blessed continue to snub their nose at him, we all will have to at some point face the wrath of God, especially how much more these nations that received his blessing and well of wealth and prosperity. Let's turn to Hosea 5 in verse 3. I sometimes lose Hosea, so I put in my notes Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea. So maybe that'll help you too. So after Ezekiel, after Daniel comes the prophet Hosea.

Hosea 5 in verse 3. And this is a prophecy that applied to Israel at the time, this warning that was given. But it's also of a future time prophecy that we can apply towards those who remain dedicated and those who receive God's blessings, but did not honor him the way that they were supposed to.

And this is where we can see and understand a decline that will occur in these nations of Ephraim and Manasseh who received those blessings. Hosea 5 in verse 3, God himself says, I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me, saying I see the events going on in society. So it's not like anybody's hiding or what's happening. The sins are being hidden from God. He says, for now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry.

Israel is defiled. They're bringing in these mixtures. They're not honoring God the way that God said I should be honored. He goes on to say they do not direct their deeds towards turning to their God for the spirit of harlotry is in their mind, and they do not know the Lord.

So they're losing this relationship. They're not turning towards God as a source of strength, of guidance, of direction. They're just saying, well, there is no God. I know better. Verse 5, the pride of Israel testified to his face. Therefore, Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity. And so many times it feels like we are stumbling as a nation.

We don't feel like we're running like an Olympic athlete with sure footing and quick feet. It feels like we're just stumbling almost in darkness, like from tripping on one root, tripping and stumbling over a rock. We just feel like this this nation that just can't get it back together, can't get it on track. And he's saying, therefore, Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity. Judah also stumbles with them with their flocks and their herds. They shall go and seek the Lord, but they will not find him.

He has withdrawn himself from them. They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children. And now a new moon shall devour them and their heritage. So a new moon, a month's time, a short amount of time, it seems like that this will occur, this downslide. We can't help today but to see the decline in how Great Britain and the U.S. are viewed by other nations. Nations are very quick to point out and to critique every action made or every word uttered by people in power here in the U.S.

And sometimes, rightly so. As other nations become more powerful and as we decline in standing, some of these other nations are now starting to flex their muscles politically and with their war machines even a little bit more powerfully. We see even Europe beginning, and there's, I think I shared this in the last sermon or maybe two sermons ago, how Europe in news articles are recognizing we need to unify ourselves from a military standpoint.

We need to have our own military a stronger presence, a stronger ability to respond ourselves. And so we see these other nations become more powerful and as they prepare to challenge America's superpower status. I'm kind of a navy, in the small sense, a navy junkie in the U.S. Navy. I don't know why gray, battleship gray is just an amazing color.

But I've always just loved, my dad was always into and we'd go to different places. You could tour a battleship or you could tour something that was in the Navy. I grew up going on battleships and stuff and walking through the hatchways and stuff. And so maybe that's why I kind of like it. But we've always had a very strong and either the top or as far as size or the top as far as strength navy, a military presence that can go quickly through the seas and cover the world.

But China has a larger navy presence than the U.S. does now. They have physically more ships, more submarines. Now, the state of our military is still from a technology stance better, but it's like anything else. If you throw enough people at something, it's harder to battle back, right? If they can keep throwing maybe less accurate ships or maybe smaller ships, maybe not as powerful ships.

But if they've got a lot more, and for those of you who have studied World War II and you realize how many planes we are cranking out, how many ships we are cranking out, and all these things, because they realize we've got to keep this flow going. And China has more ships than our own U.S. Navy now. And so there's these nations that are vying for superpower status and you could easily see where at some point we're not that superpower status anymore. Now, does that occur because we implode from within? That's a high likelihood of happening, right? When we look at the state of our nation, the state of our politics, the state of things happening, we could remove ourselves from the superpower status because of an internal conflict of ourselves.

Trust me, this is Mike Phelps, right? So don't go and put it into any type of books or think too much of it. But you could see how God can allow these things to happen because he says, you look for me, but I'm not there. You can't find me. And many people profess to believe in Jesus Christ and profess to be Christians, but they're not changing their way.

There is no truth in some of their words in the lives that they live. Let's look at an example in some excerpts from Deuteronomy chapter 28. Deuteronomy chapter 28 is not what we would consider a prophetic in what we consider prophetic and like as considered other prophetic passages. But when God says, I'm going to do something, or if you do this, this is what is going to happen, you could see where almost the entire Bible could be considered in a small sense prophecy, right?

Because God says, if you do these things, then this is what you'll get. So he's foretelling the future based on events or our action. So Deuteronomy is not necessarily what we'd consider prophecy or prophetic passage, but I think you'll see as we read through this and consider where we are as a nation, where we are as a society, a lot of this applies. And Deuteronomy 28 is what we typically consider the call of the blessings and cursing chapter. And the first Deuteronomy 28 for the first 14 verses opens up with these blessings. But then if you notice from 15 all the way to 68, I didn't do my math if anybody's really good at doing math quick.

What is that? About 53? If I'm, I kind of just winging it. So 14 scriptures on blessings, 50-something scriptures on cursing. So God is making a point that, listen, this is what you get if you follow me, but let me give you a strong warning. Let me not sugarcoat this. If you go this direction, it is not going to be good. And so we don't have, I'm not going to read through all of this.

But let's start in verse 15. Deuteronomy 28 verse 15, it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all of his commandments and his statutes, which I command you today, that all of these curses will come upon you and overtake you. He says, curse shall you be in the city, and curse you shall be in the country. Curse shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Curse shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land and the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

Verse 20 says, the Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken me. Verse 24, the Lord will change the reign of your land to powder and dust from the heaven. It shall come down on you until you are destroyed. The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies.

You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them, and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. Verse 27, the Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch from which you cannot be healed. The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart.

You shall grope at noonday as a blind man gropes in darkness. You shall not prosper in your ways. You shall only be oppressed and pondered continually, and no one shall save you. Verse 38, you shall carry much seed out in the field, but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it. You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of their wine nor gather the grapes, for the worms shall eat them.

You shall have olive trees throughout all of your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olive shall drop off. Verse 43, the alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and he shall come down low, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

Moreover, all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes, which he commanded you. And then continue in verse 47, and this just speaks in so many ways to our society and where we're at. I mean, the others did as well, but consider verse 47 in these next passages, just the state of our country today. He says, because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, God has poured out so much to the United States. He says, therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you in hunger and thirst and nakedness in need of everything. And he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar and the end of the earth as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. Verse 64, then the Lord will scatter you among all people from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known, wood and stone. And among these nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the soul of your foot have a resting place. But there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul.

Your life shall hang in doubt before you, and you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life. In the morning you shall say, Oh, that it was evening, and at evening you shall say, Oh, that it was morning, because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see. Is this prophetic? I'll let you make that decision for yourself. But God is not one to be mocked. Obviously, this applied to Israel and to His people. It's in Deuteronomy, before they inherited the Promised Land. We know that it fulfilled itself, because they went against God, and He's not to be mocked. But could this also be the state of other countries that have received God's blessing, even leading up to the end times? I believe it could. I believe it accurately will reflect what will happen to nations that God has blessed, and has said, You are to be a witness, a banner, a better way to follow, and I'm going to give these blessings to you. But what have we done with it? I find it interesting, because some will argue this and say, Well, you have one passage, or you just have these limited passages that talk about the demise of the United States or other English-speaking nations. But when we look at the end time prophecy, and this is another just this is a personal feeling. This is a personal proof that I believe is valid. You look at the end time, and Scripture and Daniel and Revelation, it talks about a king of the North and a king of the South. We know that these powers will rise up. It talks about kings of the East having an influence and coming over. There's never a mention of a king of the West.

There's no place in Scripture. Now, some will say, Well, where was Jerusalem? Okay, it was on the Mediterranean Sea. What is west of Jerusalem? An ocean, right? A big body of water, the sea, the Mediterranean Sea. So, it can't, there is no nation that can come from that direction. God is bigger than the Mediterranean Sea. If people were in Jerusalem today and said, Who is the power of the West? They would not look out to the Mediterranean Sea and say, Nobody. They would look over that sea. They would look over the Atlantic Ocean, and they would look at the United States and say, They're the power of the West.

I find it interesting that when you consider biblical prophecy, and you consider what this nation that God has blessed for many years has done in international conflicts, wherever there's been an international conflict, there's been a U.S. presence, right? I think we can look at so many examples because we have the military, we have the power, we have the numbers we've been able to influence. Now, some could argue for our own benefit, right? Our own greed. I'm not going to go there, right? But we've always been involved. If there's going to be this magnitude of a conflict at the end time, and we are still a world power, why would we not then be involved in some degree?

This is Mike Phelps logic, okay? So take it for what it's worth. But when God is silent, saying there is no power of the West, I don't believe there's going to be a power from this nation at that time. Now, will there be a presence? Possibly. I'm not saying we're just going to go into captivity and be destroyed. But we could be caught up in such a degree of internal conflict, or other means, or other national control that we don't have the influence that we do still today.

And we could see where this could be a prophetic sign that will happen before the return of Jesus Christ. So that's one of the signs I wanted to share with you today. The sixth sign is that instant worldwide communication will be possible at the time of God's final two witnesses. Let's turn to Revelation chapter 11 for this sign. Revelation 11. Here we see described two witnesses that God is going to bring on the scene. And I'll just be up front. I'm not one of them.

Just so you guys don't think I'm going off the rails, or Mike Phelps said, I'm just being very clear. I am not one of the two witnesses. Just so that on any recordings, anything else. But we see these two people, or these two witnesses, who will be given power by God to be a witness of His way and of His correction. Like God always sent a warning. God always sent a prophet. They will have not only a message to share, but also be hated for this message. Revelation 11 and verse 3. It says, And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy 1260 days clothed in sackcloth. And so if you do the math, divide that number by 360 days, it comes out to about three and a half years. So this end time period for about three and a half years, they will be witnesses of God.

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before God of the earth. We know that olive trees, olive oil represents God's spirit, His power. We know that lampstands represent a light to beacon God's way. And so these are God's representatives. And it says, If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven so that no rain falls on the days of their prophecy. And they have power over water, so turn them to blood and to strike the earth with all plagues as often as they desire. And the reason that there has to be some sort of global international worldwide communications is because this event is going to be so, so powerful that everybody's eyes are going to be focused on it. And everybody will want to know what is happening where these two witnesses are, because it's going to change world events. Eventually, they're going to be hated for this message. They're going to be hated for the words. They're going to be hated for these actions that they do to the point that we'll see in a moment. They'll be killed.

And the world will celebrate their death. And it doesn't say just one nation is going to celebrate, or just the Middle East, or just Europe, or just whoever. It says the world will celebrate their death. That means the world has to hate them. That means all of society has to see these events unfold. And there has to be some way that everyone can see this.

That's continuing in verse 7. It says, when they finish their testimony, the beast that it sends out of the bottom was pit, will make war with them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Now, there's some semblance. Is this a literal? Will they literally be in Jerusalem? Or is there a a figurative sense to these cities?

Because Jerusalem is not also called Sodom. It's also not called Egypt. We know Egypt is further south. Two totally different cities. So is there a symbolic understanding with this? Some of the commentaries point that direction, saying that Sodom represents sin. Obviously, that's an easy one. That Egypt represents captivity or oppression. And so, if the society is prevalent in sin, prevalent in occupying or capturing other people, and then we get into the other aspect of the significance of the city of Jerusalem, being where our Lord and Savior was crucified, just on the outside of the city walls. And so, could this and could that be symbolic of God's presence, of persecution against the church? Now, see, this is where we got to be careful we don't go too far, because it could be literal sense of the city of Jerusalem. But could it also be in another city in the world? A city that is full of sin? A city that is full of oppression? A city that is going after and crucifying the church, trying to kill the church and trying to kill Christians, believers? So this is where we can't just say, well, if it doesn't happen, these witnesses don't show up in Jerusalem. It can't happen anywhere else. Well, let's let God figure that one out. But when we see these events unfold, we won't be able to deny that what God said would happen, what these witnesses would be able to do, will actually occur. Because go on in verse 9, notice what it says. It says, then those, and notice the groups, and notice the plurality of these groups, then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days and not allow their dead bodies to be put into the graves.

So to me, there's no question that it's saying that everyone, because he didn't just say a few of the nations or some peoples, he's saying peoples, tribes, tongues, nations. To me, that's all inclusive of the world. Every, and these events that will unfold are so significant that who would not be captivated to their screens, whether that's in their living rooms or in their mobile phones, watching these events unfold. And it says, and those who dwell on the earth, again, the inclusiveness of this term, those who dwell on the earth, that's everybody, will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on this earth.

To understand the prophetic aspect of this and the magnitude of what we see here, we have to understand where technology has come and where it continues to move. When we considered in the last sermon, the Wright brothers creating the airplane, I think I said what was it, 1903? I don't have it in my notes, but it was within about 120 so years before today. It's not the longevity of humanity's time on this earth. That's a very small amount of time that we have had the airplane. And then we've since then have set people into outer space to walk on the moon to do all kinds of these other things that are so significant. And with that, technology has just exploded to the point that when that first computer that was really started to be manufactured and used by business filled an entire room, this size, one computer, and then now we walk around with so much more computing power than existed at that time, probably completely, all the rooms of computers in one phone. The amount of processing power, the amount of ability to do things with, the leap that we have made, and that leap keeps moving so powerfully forward. There's a group, the ITU, the International Telecommunication Union, is an aspect, a subgroup of the United Nations, that specializes in information and communication technologies. And from their own website, they have some strategic goals that they are working towards. One is that they're working towards harnessing innovation and connecting everyone to ensure a better future for all. That's one of their goals.

Another one of their goals or strategic goals is to enable and foster universal access to affordable, high quality, and secure telecommunications, and to also foster equitable inclusive use of telecommunications to empower people and societies for sustainable development.

So there's movements, there's groups behind getting phones, getting technology, getting access, getting the internet into everyone's hands because they see the significance and the power that that provides humanity. From their own website, they've shared some stats. It says a milestone was reached in 2018, so just what, six, seven years ago? When the first, for the first time, over half of the world's population had access to the internet as compared to 2010, so about eight years earlier, again, when this figure was less than 30%. So in 2010, 30%, 2018, 50%.

As of 2024, 5.5 billion people are now online, which represents 68% of the world population. So we have another 18% more in just, what, eight years? So we see this jump about every eight years. Another 10, 15, 20% of people are becoming online, that they have technology that they can get online with and see things and to get news updates, to watch videos, to communicate with one another. It goes on. I'm going to, for the sake of time, skip through some of these other stats. I think you see, like, the significance of this movement.

Many of us are also familiar with Elon Musk, who is the founder of SpaceX, and who is also the founder of Starlink, which is a satellite internet company that he founded. Since they started launching satellites, these communication satellites, in 2019, in the space, so again, six years, they've now got 8,000 of these telecommunication satellites that are circumventing and spinning around this earth, providing communication through the internet, primarily internet access, to open doors for communication.

So, that just kind of boggles my mind. 8,000. I can't even really count that high, I don't think. But that's how many of these satellites are out there. Their goal, and they've been approved, is to expand this constellation out to 12,000 satellites here in the next few years. And then, they've applied for a second-level license, which, if they are approved for, will grant them the ability to put 30,000 of these satellites out into space for communication purposes. That's primarily, from what I understand, all that they serve is to just provide communication and access to the internet. As of August of this year, Starlink has over 7 million global customers.

So, that number is very small compared to the number of people. But their large part of their future growth plans is to expand their subscription base to connect previously underserved areas with an aim for near-global coverage. And so, you could see where it's so it will Starlink be the conduit to allow the world to watch all these in-time events. I don't know. But it seems like there will be some sort of telecommunications that will be accessible to everyone globally. That's not going to require a landline, not going to require a cell phone tower.

That could even just be through telecommunications from space. That will provide the ability for everyone on this planet to see these in-time events. I go back to Jesus Christ's return. He's not going to show up into Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives, and business is just going to go as normal. It's not like everybody's going to be like, wait, wait, he arrived? I didn't get the memo.

I didn't see it. It's going to be so aware, and these in-time events, these three and a half years of tribulation, people are not going to be oblivious to what's going on. We see that there has to be some form of telecommunications that will allow these events to completely be seen. Are we there yet? I don't believe we are.

Not just yet, but I don't think we're very far. Like, you could see how quickly things could change in, let's say, the next eight years, five years. I don't know. I'm being careful. I don't want to put times out there, right? Because that's what gets somebody in trouble. But you could see where jumps in communication, these jumps can happen relatively quick.

Who would have ever thought in the 50s that we would put a man on the moon? Who would have ever thought that we would be in airplanes flying across the world in a little over 100 years ago? Like, these things have not taken that much time to occur, and we've gone even further and further and further. And so this is one of those prophetic things that have to be returned before—have to occur before the return of Jesus Christ.

Let's look at the last one, which is a famine of the hearing of the Word. As we looked at—just looked at—Scripture reveals that in the end time, we all will be able to see the events that unfold around the world prior to the return of Jesus Christ. And we may be just watching real time in how this will take place in the future. But Scripture also reveals a time when it appears that the hearing of the Word will cease. This famine will not occur due to lack of technology or access to the Internet, but rather for other social and spiritual reasons that will be behind it.

Considering the Bibles that we have in our laps or on our phones, it remains the most translated, the most best-selling, and most freely given book in the world. There's no absence of Bibles in God's Word around the world. This is why we sometimes struggle to understand how the words in Amos chapter 8 could come to fruition. So if we turn to Amos 8 and verse 9— My Bible lessons are going to have to come in.

Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah. Amos, Obadiah. See, all those youth lessons, learning the Bible, learning the 12 tribes of Israel, I can still recount those. See, it's coming in handy now. So if you've taught your kids the books of the Bible, they probably still know them someplace in their mind.

Amos chapter 8 and verse 9 says, "...and it shall come to pass." And there's a dual prophetic—there's a dual prophetic reference to the end time events here. And so this prophecy has occurred once. We believe that there's also an end time fulfillment of this to come. When we see phrases like, in that day, and I believe we'll see it twice here in this passage, it almost always refers to that end time event. So Amos 8 verse 9 says, "...and it shall come to pass in that day," says the Lord God, "...that I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentations. I'll bring sathcloth on every waste and baldness on every head, and I will make it like mourning for an only sun." So sadness, like the death of an only sun, and it's end like a better day.

"...And behold, the days are coming," this reference again says the Lord, "...that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.

They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east. They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it." What is this famine of the hearing of the word?

Will Bibles be taken from us and from others and taken out and burned? Probably not. But the ability for a person or an organization to teach or expound on Scripture is more likely the type of famine referenced here in Amos. Teachers have always been a conduit that God has used to help people learn and understand more about Him. Turn with me to Romans 10 and verse 14. Paul speaks to this concept about how teachers or preachers or ministers have always been apostles. You could talk about the prophets. They've always been a conduit. God has used mankind to be the conduit that shares His message from one person to another. He's given us His written word, but He's also given us teachers to understand these words, to be able to apply it for our life, for our time today. And so this is something that has always existed. Will this stop at some point? Will there not be teachers? Will there not be a conduit for the teaching to go out? This is what it seems to allude to. Amos chapter 8 alludes to more than just our Bibles are going to be burned and disappear because to just get rid of the Bible from the internet, I mean, it just, I don't see it going that way. Notice what Paul says about the importance of teachers and sharing of God's Word. Romans 10 and verse 14. He says, How then shall they call on Him, on whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him, of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And he says, How beautiful, how, excuse me, and how shall they preach unless they are sent, as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report? So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

This conduit that God has used for thousands of years has always been under attack.

God's messengers have not always been welcomed into the cities and into the towns they went into. Even we know the disciples being sent out as apostles all were martyred, most likely except for the Apostle John. His message has not been well received always. And it seems like there may come a time because of Satan's attacks that it will be slowly silenced again. The ministry of Jesus Christ today preaches the words that we have in our Bibles and warns of the consequences of sin and the need for repentance. And through our media department, this gospel message that Jesus gave goes out to many parts of the world and reaches millions of people. But today, as in Amos's time, so few will heed the words written in our Bibles and the instructions God gives to live a strong and fulfilling life. And in some circles, it goes as far as even hatred towards these words.

There are some who hate the Bible. They hate Christianity. They hate what we expound and what we share. Many people feel it's divisive or divisive. Many people feel it's contrary to what a mature society should be today. But this is why they dislike it. Because God says there's a way to operate, there's a way to behave, there's a way to live, and it goes against many people's lives. And so he says there will come a time when he'll send a famine of the hearing of a word, when people will go looking for it. Because they'll say, I remember hearing that someplace. Who was it that taught that? And it seems like God is going to remove that teaching presence. He's going to remove that ability to expound, to understand. This is why it's so important for us to be learners today, to become students, to understand this. Because we are not only to utilize it in our life today, we're to teach it in the kingdom. We are to make this part of who we are. But we don't know how exactly this will unfold. This is where we can see these signs, but we can't read in too much into them. But it looks like there'll be a time, most likely, when preaching ceases, as does a wider sharing of the truth of Scripture.

As we wrap up today, again, we've looked at three more signs that we have recorded in the Scripture, that by all accounts appear that they have to appear and be fulfilled before the return of our Lord and Savior. As I mentioned in the last message and earlier, this just scratches the surface on many other things we could dive into and look at. But God has asked us to be students of His Word. He's asked us to look to His words, just as the disciples said, Lord, show us these signs. What should we be looking for? We are to watch. We're to be aware of this. We're not to put too much thought into it as far as figuring it all out, right? Because even Jesus Christ said, no one knows the time, the day, or the hour, right? Except for the Father. So we can't figure these things out or go too far with it. But He says, be knowledgeable and aware enough that as these times happen, you're aware that I said they were going to occur. Now, this gives us comfort. It gives us encouragement. We don't have to be fearful. We don't have to run around wondering, oh no, the world's ending. And where am I going to be? Because He says, you're going to be okay. But He says, recognize the significance of the times you live and the events that I've told and said are going to happen. When there's more passages, we could keep reading through Matthew chapter 24. We could look further into where Ty talks about how fathers will be against sons and sons against fathers. And the world will just be the lack of love that will be abound in the world and the hatred that will just continue to strife the problems. I know it's very negative, right?

But it's the reality of what must come to be before things change. And that's, again, wrapping back around what I shared during the announcements. That's why these times that we're in this week, these next four weeks, let's celebrate. Let's rejoice. Let's get feast fever. Let's focus on the positives that Christ will bring with Him, because that's what's going to give us the strength to keep on keeping on. That's what's going to give us the strength that when tragedies occur in the world or in our country, that we can see it, we can look at it, we can acknowledge the tragedy, but then we refocus our vision back on the kingdom of God and His righteousness to keep moving down the right path and to keep the framing of our mind right.

Because we see that these hard times are going to come. And for many people, it's going to be a shock like they've never felt before in their life. But we won't be as shocked because God has said these things are going to happen. But He also says, I'll look after my people. I'll provide for you. I'll shepherd you. I'll provide a way of escape. And at the end of the day, even if our lives are counted as part of the cost, we know that there's a resurrection. We know that there's a future. We know there's an opportunity for us to be God's spiritual children for all of eternity. So let's take this knowledge. Let's put it into our minds. Let's understand what God has said. But let's also then pivot and focus on the future that's coming up here and that we're going to be rehearsing and practicing here in just a short few weeks. And the excitement that that fills our hearts with because those are the better times to come. Those are the times that God has made promises that will not ever be broken and that we'll be able to lean on for the rest of our life.

Satan wants us to fall back and to relax. He wants us to be distracted. He wants us to be discouraged. He wants us to doubt that God is good and that he will fulfill everything that he says he will fill.

But that's our enemy, and we have to recognize him as our enemy. And then again, pivot our thoughts back to the promises and the plan of God. Let's close in Matthew 24 and verse 36 again. We closed the last sermon here, but I want to just make sure our eyes focus on this and the reality of what we are asked to do here in the end of these times. Matthew 24 and verse 36, Jesus himself says, But that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also were the coming of the Son will be the coming of the Son of man. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark. People were acting normal. And he says, And they did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will be the coming.

So also will the coming of the Son of man be. And then verse 42, we get this admonition, Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. So let us watch.