Seven Prophetic Events Before the Return of Jesus Christ

Please be seated. Towards the end of Christ's ministry and his time on the earth, he sat down with his twelve disciples on the Mount of Olives. Well, it says he sat down with his disciples on the Mount of Olives, and they asked him a question that we have recorded in Matthew chapter 24. We'll be flipping back and forth to Matthew 24 a little bit today at different times. But let's go ahead and turn there. Matthew 24, verse 1. Here at the very beginning of this account, in Matthew 24, verse 1, it says, When Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, 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. That must have been quite a shock to the disciples because they couldn't imagine what all these stones and the magnitude, all that's here to be destroyed. And then he says this on verse 3, it says, Now as he sat on the Mount of Olives, disciples came to him privately, saying, and this is the question that they asked, Christ, tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? The disciples wanted to know what they should be looking for as they continued to live their lives. What would be the signs or the markers before Christ would return? The ones asking the questions might have been thinking about the words of the prophet Daniel, which Daniel was inspired to capture in Daniel chapter 12. Let's turn back there. We'll also be spending some time in the book of Daniel to this afternoon as well. Daniel chapter 12, and we'll start at the beginning of verse 1. We know the disciples and many of the Jews were very familiar with Old Testament readings and scripture. This might have been one that popped up in their mind. Daniel chapter 12, the last chapter of Daniel, in verse 1. Prophet Daniel was inspired to capture, Some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. Obviously, we're referencing our opportunity and our destiny to be children of God.

Verse 4, If you remember all through the book of Daniel, there's prophecy after prophecy of current things that were going to happen a few short years ahead of the time where the disciples are asking Christ the question. Many years ahead of Daniel's time, we have all the prophecy. And when you get to chapter 12, he's inspired and told, close it all up. This is to be saved for future time when it will be understood what these words mean. He says, I think that's an aspect that we can see today, and we'll reference as we work through today's sermon. Verse 5, If you add all that together.

And he said, You and I, we know that God is in complete control of events that occur in this world. He does allow mankind, you and me, free moral agency that we can choose how we will live our lives. And the choices that we make does impact history to some degree.

But overall, God controls the outcome of historic events as it works and relates to his overall plan for mankind. God gives us prophecy to ultimately encourage us to draw near to him. But prophecy also serves other purposes. It gives us encouragement. Encouragement that what God says will happen when it actually happens. We can be encouraged that God is one who does not lie.

It also gives us comfort knowing that if God says that these things will happen and then they happen over time, when we get to the end of our lives, we can trust that he will honor that promise of the resurrections to those saints who have ran the race. We can be assured that as we read at the end of the book, who wins? All prophecy throughout Scripture, we see that God uses this for our benefit and for our edification, our encouragement.

Knowing that even if times get challenging and rough, that we know what he has in store for the end of those who continue to love him and follow through.

The Apostle Peter references the role that prophecy plays in the lives of the Christian believer in 2 Peter 1, verse 19. 2 Peter 1, verse 19.

We see the importance laid out of prophecy in the New Testament here by 2 Peter 1, verse 19. And he says, And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. It's an important reminder that we know that prophecy comes from God, not from man, and it's not of some secret interpretation where certain people say, Well, I understand what this means, and I'm the only one that can understand it. We've heard people maybe say that at different times in our church history, but God does not intend prophecy to be revealed only to one person, but it's here as a tool for all of us, and it's able to be understood by each of us. So today, I'd like to look with you at seven prophetic signs that must happen before the return of Jesus Christ. Now, of course, there are more than seven unique things that will occur before Christ's return, but we'll look at seven of them this afternoon. And let me just say at the beginning that we don't have time to dive into each one of these thoroughly. Each one could easily be its own sermon. The ones not mentioned here that I won't reference today could easily be blown out into their own sermons. So as we continue to go through this, no, this is not an exhaustive study of end-time prophecy, but it is a good place for us to go from time to time and to remember of what God says will happen. Prophecy is revealed to us in God's Word to inspire us to turn to God.

And God's hand is on history, and we must constantly be looking to build our relationship stronger with God. So as we look at passages from Matthew 24 today and Daniel and some other prophets, we can see signs that must take place before Jesus Christ returns. Let's look at 1 Thessalonians 5 before we get into some of these. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 1.

The Apostle Paul speaks this about prophecy. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 1. The Apostle Paul says, 2 Concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 3 For you yourselves know perfectly that in the day of the Lord, so comes as a thief in the night, for when they say, 4 Peace and safety, then suddenly destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. 5 But then he says, But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. 6 You are all sons of light and sons of the day.

We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 We know he is referencing that those who do not study God's word, those who do not have their minds open, who do not have God's Spirit, struggle with understanding prophecy.

8 They will be shocked, they will be surprised, they will be going on with their lives, as we will see later on, and carrying on as they always have, only to be shocked of what the in-time events will be and how they transpire. 9 But Paul is saying, you do not need to be, because you will be able to understand these things. 10 So as we work through this, keep that in mind, that these are all seven aspects and other ones of in-time prophecy that we can understand.

11 Now, we may not know every dot and every I that gets dot and every T that gets crossed. God knows the final details. 12 But these things are discernible, and so we'll look at seven today. 13 The first being, mankind must have the ability to exterminate itself, to destroy ourselves.

Mankind must have the ability to destroy ourselves. 14 Let's turn again to Matthew 24, verse 6. 15 And as we look through these seven points, consider yourself whether or not they've been fulfilled. 16 Whether or not these prophecies have played out to the potential of what God describes here in Scripture. 17 Matthew 24, verse 6. Again, in the Ovelette prophecy, where they asked Him that question, what will be the signs? 18 Just a few verses later, we have part of the answer coming from Jesus Himself.

Matthew 24, verse 6. 19 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 20 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as not been since the beginning of the world, until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. 23 Almost on a daily basis in the evening news contains an article, sometimes a lead article, about war or the rumor of war going on in the world.

24 Whether it be rumors based on U.S. involvement or just the involvement of other nations outside of our nation here, these rumors often lead to our stories. 25 Whether it be on the evening news, on news websites, or even in our newspapers that we continue to receive. 26 A hundred years ago, it would have been hard for mankind to imagine a scenario where mankind could wipe out all life on this planet.

27 Just a hundred years ago, in the grand scheme of history, a hundred years is nothing. It's a drop in the bucket. 28 But think about that. A hundred years ago, it would have been hard for mankind to envision in their minds a scenario where all life could be wiped out on this planet. 29 In 1903, only 116 years ago, Orville and Wilbur Wright were the first men to achieve sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft. 30 Just a hundred and sixteen years ago.

But almost as soon as the aircraft was invented, airplanes have been used, and were used, for military purposes. 31 It's kind of funny how many...that's not funny, it's sad. How many good things are created by mankind only to shortly be weaponized, to be figured out how to use, to hurt, or to control others.

32 So that was only 116 years ago that flight, the first sustained, powered, and controlled aircraft, took flight. 33 The first war to see major use of aircraft was World War I, from 1914 to 1918. 34 In the 1930s, though, development...excuse me, I think I've skipped ahead. Oh, well, no. In the 1930s, development, as we continue thinking about aircraft and the development, 35 in the 1930s, development of the jet engine began in Germany and in Britain, as both countries would go on to develop jet aircraft by the end of World War II.

36 So in just a few short years, we went from just basic airplanes that could maybe drop a few little handmade bombs, or just be used for surveillance, to now jet aircraft being developed at the end of World War II. 37 And after the Second Great War, commercial aviation grew rapidly, as did additional military applications. 39 In 1945, the invention of the nuclear bomb happened, and its use was through the development of aircraft.

40 These bombs that were too big, too heavy, had to be dropped, and the only mechanism for doing so at that time was large aircraft that could carry these bombs, and they did carry them, and they did drop them. 41 Following the war, German scientists were relocated to the United States to work directly on creating the world's first practical design of an intercontinental ballistic missile. 42 So now we're just up to 1945 again.

From the early original flight back in 1903, the original flight in 1903 to 1945, those short years, now we have the ability to shoot nuclear weapons with missiles through space.

43 The ability to have this technology was predicted a few years earlier, in 1943, when U.S. Army General, Hap Arnold, wrote, someday not too distant, there can come streaking out of somewhere, we won't be able to hear it, it will come so fast, some kind of gadget, with an explosive so powerful that one projectile will be able to wipe out completely this city of Washington. This Army General predicted that in 1943, only for two years later, the development of the first intercontinental ballistic missile that could carry nuclear weapons.

Right now, as we look through just a hundred short years, how much history and technology has advanced. Right now, as it has been for many years, there are enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world many times over.

Some of you remember, as you're schooling, or as growing up, maybe you yourself practiced the duck and cover, the correct drills in school, because of the threat of nuclear war. That if something happened, if sirens went off, that the best option you had at school was to duck underneath your desk and to hide.

I think, as you remember that, the fear and the concern held by the American people was great at that time. I think for my generation, we have grown comfortable with the nuclear state of our world. But should we have ever been comfortable to start? We didn't practice these drills. We didn't have shelters, fallout shelters. We didn't have these things in my generation that we worried about. It was part of our life. But should I have ever been comfortable in this state? You may recall an event in Hawaii that occurred in January of 2018, January 13, 2018, so just last year. That set off widespread panic when a text message was accidentally sent to mobile phone users in that state. The message that was accidentally sent said, Emergency Alert. Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill. Could you imagine receiving, if all of our phones started bubbling right now and blinking and everything, and that was a text message that we all got at the same time, right here in the middle of services? Could you imagine the fear? For 38 minutes, people in Hawaii believed this message to be true until it was revoked by the Hawaii Emergency Management. Within minutes of the message being received, people rushed to shelters, crowding highways and scenes of terror and helplessness. Emergency sirens wailed and part of the state adding to the panic. As people sheltered in place or at recognized shelters, some called loved ones. Some cried. Some prayed. With the reality of a nuclear missile being launched towards Hawaii, many knew there was nothing they could do to protect their lives. And it was only time until the missile would arrive. Again, I ask, should we be comfortable in the state of our nation and our world today? Today, we live in the fear of a nation, of nation states that are under unstable leadership or unstable national laws and culture. These nations that produce and possess nuclear weapons pose a great risk to the whole world.

But with this first sign that we just looked at, we must remember that Christ Himself says again, And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, these days will be shortened. I think we can all agree that this sign has been fulfilled, but God will not allow man to completely destroy the creation that was made in His own image. He will intervene. He will prevail to stop this from happening. A second prophetic sign that we can look at is a Jewish homeland will be established in Israel. A Jewish homeland will be established in Israel. Why does the end time focus so much on the Middle East and on Jerusalem? Let's take a brief look at history.

Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac on Mount Moriah, which would later become the location of the Temple Mount. Today, the Dome of the Rock, which is the Muslim holy place built in 691 AD, stands over where the Holy of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant was at in that temple.

Not only do we believe that Isaac was almost sacrificed at that location, but then the temple erected in time, and the Ark of the Covenant would have been placed very close in that spot, which is now controlled by the Muslims with the Dome of the Rock being built in 691 AD.

From 1096 to 1291, Christian Crusaders sent by the Pope from Europe traveled to Jerusalem to drive the Muslims out. In doing so, the Crusaders massacred Jews and Muslims in retaking Jerusalem. Later, around 1517, the Muslims pushed the Christians out again. The Middle East was centered in Constantinople under the Ottoman Empire until after World War I.

Then, in 1948, after World War II, the modern State of Israel came into existence. I think we are each very aware of the constant threats and tension that exists in the Middle East today and with Israel. The State of Israel in Jerusalem matters because it has to exist at the end time with the Jewish presence in Jerusalem. The prophet Zechariah was used by God to reveal a great amount of end time events. Let's go ahead and turn to Zechariah 12 in verse 1 and read some of these events. Zechariah 12 in verse 1.

Second to last book in the Old Testament. Zechariah 12 in verse 1.

Here the prophet was inspired to write, Notice it says, Judah and Jerusalem. Not just Jerusalem, not just the people, but Judah being the Jews and Jerusalem. They have to be there together.

Speaking of the day of the Lord.

Let's look at verse 8.

Zechariah 14 in verse 1. A continuation of the thought.

The city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle. And in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem.

On the east and on the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the mountain shall move towards the north, and half of it towards the south. This, obviously, is another one of those in-time prophecies that has not yet happened.

But continuing in the second aspect, there is a parallel account to what we've already read in Matthew 24.

The parallel account is in Luke 21, and I'd like to look at verse 20.

Here in the parallel account, we can easily see that Jerusalem must exist at this end time.

Here again, a parallel account to what we started reading in Matthew 24. Christ says, But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.

For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

This, of course, is viewed as a dual prophecy because we know that it was first fulfilled in AD 70, when the Roman Empire destroyed and pretty much bulldozed the Temple Mount, destroying the Temple and all buildings that were on top of the Mount.

The Mount still exists today, where the Dome of the Rock was built on top, and we know where the Jews go to the western wall of the Mount of the Platform. But it was pretty much bulldozed on top. But we understand that the end time nations will come together and do battle again around Jerusalem, which we'll see in our next prophetic sign that must occur before the return of Jesus Christ.

This is the third sign.

Throughout history, there have been clashes between kings and nations that were geographically located both north and south of Jerusalem. And because Jerusalem sits between these historic powers, and because the city is located along trade and local road routes, the city has been dragged back and forth and trampled by multiple invasions and by multiple kings and rulers. Daniel 11 has a long and detailed prophecy of kings of the north and the south coming together to do battle.

At times, they would create treaties. They would give of their daughters to marriage to the other kings in order to create what they thought in their minds would be peace, only then to do battle again in time. Daniel lived and prophesied about events that would occur for not another 200 years after when he prophesied these things. But the events I'd like to focus on today are found late in chapter 11. So let's turn back to Daniel 11.

We'll start in verse 36.

Previous to verse 36, Daniel 11, verse 1, up to 35, we can see that historically it has happened and occurred.

Multiple kings of the north and kings of the south have risen up and have gone to battle. But in verse 36, we see a change in tone and we believe that this is presenting a future time. Obviously, when we get to chapter 40, verse 40, it speaks of that future time, but 36 ties it together. This is Daniel 11, verse 36, and then it says, Then the king shall do according to his own will. He shall exalt and magnify himself above every god. He shall speak with blasphemies against the god of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished, for what has been determined shall be done. He shall regard neither the god of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god, for he shall exalt himself above them all. But in their place he shall honor a god of fortress, and a god which his fathers did not know, he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones, and with pleasant things. Then he shall act against the strongest fortress with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge and advance its glory, and he shall cause them to rule over many and divide the land for gain. And then we get to verse 40, and we get to the phrase again, at the time of the end, so we know this signifies a future time. It says, The king of the south shall attack him, and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships. And he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. He shall also enter the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown. But these shall escape from his hand, Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Amun. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. So who is the king of the north referenced here? To begin answering this, it brings us to the fourth prophetic sign. The fourth prophetic sign is a dominating Roman system will come to power.

A dominating Roman system will come to power. In order for the king of the north to become established, there will have to be a revival of a dominating Roman system, a new Roman Empire. Let's flip back a few chapters to Daniel 7 and read about this revival of the Roman Empire. Daniel 7 and verse 1.

Daniel captured the writing here and saying, In the first year of Belshazzar, the king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts. Daniel spoke, saying, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. That's moved to verse 7. Skip through a few of these. Verse 7 says, After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast.

This is speaking of that revival of the Roman Empire. Dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth. Remember in the statue before Nebuchadnezzar, what would you call it? Just a statue. Made of the head of gold and the upper arms and torso of silver, the thigh and upper legs of bronze, and then the legs of iron. Remember that aspect? That fourth aspect, the leg of iron, represented the original Roman Empire. And here we see it had huge iron teeth.

Symbolic of the revival of that empire had huge iron teeth. It was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up from among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots, and there in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth-speaking pompous words.

Throughout history, there has been multiple attempts made to revive the Roman Empire. Those who have tried are Justinian, then Charlemagne, then Otto I, then Charles V, then Napoleon, and then more recently, Italy and German leaders who initiated the World Wars. In Revelation 17, we find a more detailed read of a final attempt to revive the Roman Empire. Revelation 17 and verse 12 will happen just prior to Christ's return. Revelation 17 and verse 12. Here the Apostle John captured, as he recorded what was before him and what he saw. Revelation 17 and verse 12 says, Then ten horns, which you saw, are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour, meaning in prophecy a short amount of time, one hour, as kings with the beast.

These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them. Of course, speaking of Jesus Christ. For he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful. Revelation 17 suggests that this will be a voluntary union with these ten leaders when they receive their power, and then they'll give their authority to a single leader.

In 1957, the Treaty of Rome was signed by six European nations that formed the European Economic Community, the EEC. Today, the EEC has grown into the European Union with 28 member nations. Of these nations will likely come the ten kings or ten leaders that form the final resurrection of the Roman Empire.

The Bible is not clear on exactly which regions or nations will configure this final revival, only that this new superpower will indeed emerge just before Christ's return. As we can see, this prophecy has not yet been fulfilled, but it seems that it is well underway.

The fifth prophecy that we'll look at this afternoon is that the United States and Great Britain will fall with the state of Israel. As we looked at the beginning, understanding Bible prophecy, understanding the times that we live in, and seeing it with our eyes wide open is important. As we continue through these last three, it's important that we continue to realize that these are backed by Scripture.

They're not just man's ideas. They're not just things that we have created in our own minds, but we have Scripture and tying it all together, which we can't do all today. As you know, the Church has study guides that help tie all this together in a more complete fashion that I'd encourage you.

If some of these intrigue you, you want to study in more detail, please consider those study guides. But collectively, we understand in the Church that the English-speaking nations of this world will fall, those nations being, for the most part, the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. These nations represent people who speak the same language and have very similar and relatively share in the same values and cultures, including being historically a God-respecting and fearing people. But why is this? Well, we have to go all the way back to the Patriarch Jacob when he was given his new name of Israel.

From him, twelve sons were born who would each become one of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel. As God's people, these twelve tribes were united under the kingly rule of David and Solomon, but then later divided under the rule of King Rehoboam. At this point, the majority of the tribes became scattered when they were taken captive by Assyria many years later.

As these tribes became scattered over the many years, two of the tribes became the world powers of Great Britain and later the United States. Again, nations had a Christian religious background and were recipients of God's tremendous blessings. But what have these and other English-speaking nations done with these tremendous blessings? As residents and citizens of one of these nations, do we see our homeland drawing closer to God?

Do we see our nation more closely following His ways? Or are we continuing a severe drift away from God?

Let's look at Proverbs 14, verse 32, to see wisdom that was shared by King Solomon on those people and those nations that seek after God. This is Proverbs 14, verse 32. There's many places we could turn to this afternoon to see what God has inspired the writers to capture when it comes to wisdom, of ascertaining the knowledge of God and His way of life and then applying it and the blessings that come from it. But here's a proverb that we can perhaps put to memory. Proverbs 14, verse 32.

It says, The wicked is banished in his wickedness, but the righteous has a refuge in his death. Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding, but what is in the heart of fools is made known. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is reproach to any people. My last aspect is the key part. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. God will not be mocked. All nations that snub their noses at God and refuse to repent and walk in His ways will have to face the wrath of God. How much more are those nations that have received God's blessing and His wealth and His prosperity?

All those things that God has given to this nation, to other nations of the English-speaking, to other nations of the world that God has blessed. How much more will they be held accountable?

There's another prophet, the prophet, Hosea. Let's go ahead and turn there. Hosea 5, verse 3.

Hosea is found after Ezekiel and Daniel. Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea.

The prophet Hosea was inspired to capture a prophecy about the nation of Great Britain and the United States. Hosea 5, verse 3.

Here the prophet captures, I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me. These two sons of Joseph, Ephraim, and then Israel often is a reference to Manasseh. We know from here that we can dive into Scripture and understand that he says, I know Ephraim, and I know Israel is not hidden from me. For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry. Israel is defiled. They do not direct their deeds towards turning to their God, for the spirit of harlotry is in their midst. And they do not know the Lord. The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore, Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity. Judah also stumbles with them. So speaking of the Jews as well, Judah also stumbles with them. With their flocks and herds, they shall go and seek the Lord, but they will not find him. He has withdrawn himself from them. So easily to see our society today, how we have God's hand stabilizing so many things. How quickly in a financial situation would we have no stability? How much food is in the stores that if we needed to go and buy food, whether the reserves that we have in this nation? I think it was kind of eye-opening this winter when we had that super-cold spell, and then that whatever problem happened at the natural gas plant here in Michigan, that when it failed, and how the governor had to go on that night and ask us all to turn our thermostats down.

Because the whole southern part of Michigan was at risk of running out. How the automotive manufacturers shut down their plants for a couple days. Which, for those of you who have worked there, is pretty much unheard of, if I understand things right. But we were running that thin of a margin on something as simple as natural gas, things that we take for granted. It's one of the most stable things that we have in our homes and in this state. And yet, for those super-super-cold days, that was even deemed as unstable. Not sure if some areas would run out of natural gas. We need God's hand to support us. We need His hand to stabilize us and to be that strength that we need. But it says here, they'll go and look to seek the Lord, again in verse 6, but they will not find Him. He has withdrawn Himself from them. There will come a time where God will withdraw His hand from this nation.

It says in verse 7, they have dealt treacherously with the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children. Speaking of how we have idolized other things of this world instead of looking to God as our only God, we've raised up other gods within our nation, whether it be superstars, whether it be money, could become a god, seeking after health, seeking after power, all these things can become pagan gods to us. For they have begotten pagan children. Now a new moon shall devour them and their heritage. Today we can't help but see the decline in how Great Britain and the U.S. are viewed by other nations. Nations are extremely quick to judge and to critique every action made or every word uttered by people in power here in the U.S. and often rightly so. As other nations become more powerful and as we decline in standing, some of these other nations are starting to flex their muscles as they prepare to challenge America's superpower status. Again, as we've already read in Matthew 24, verse 21, For then there will be great tribulation, such as not been since the beginning of the world until this time, nor, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened.

We don't have time to turn to and read through Deuteronomy 28, but I'd encourage you to specifically read through that chapter and the aspects that speak to the curses for disobedience. Deuteronomy chapter 28, a long chapter, starts out with the blessings for following God, but the lengthy part of that chapter is on the curses for disobedience.

If you read through that, see that it does not describe the current state of our nation. And that chapter, God states, what will become of a nation that disobeys God's instructions. And again, God will not be mocked, and God will not allow this nation to avoid the punishment deserved for disobedience.

The sixth prophetic sign that we'll look at is the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the entire world.

Again, Matthew 24, verse 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. We have a responsibility as Christians and followers to preach that gospel message, and we do both in our lives. And as a church organization, what is the gospel? It is the announcement of the coming rain on earth of Jesus Christ as King of Kings. It's a message that Jesus brought to this world when he was God in the flesh. And it's his overall plan to bring peace to the world, a peace that has not existed since God created mankind in the Garden of Eden.

This is as a reference the message that we work to share in the world today as we do this work in the church. It's what we use our internet sites, our TV programs, our study guides that we freely share. And it's a message that we work to bring to you each Sabbath here in our congregation.

You can put in your notes Revelation 11, verse 15, that ties into this. It says, Then the seventh angel sounded, and there was a loud voice in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. That gospel message, that his kingdom will be established, his peace will spread throughout the world.

While the internet has transformed the way information can be shared across continents, I don't believe this sign has been fully completed, as there are still many areas of the world that cannot receive the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This then leads us to the seventh sign we'll look at today. The seventh sign is, Instant Worldwide Communications will be possible at the time of God's final two witnesses.

Instant Worldwide Communications will be possible at the end time, and as God's final two witnesses. Let's turn to Revelation 11 and verse 3.

Revelation 11 and verse 3. Revelation 11 and verse 3.

John again captures this image. It says, Revelation 11 and verse 3. And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. And 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 waters to turn them to blood and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

These are parts of being a kid who grows up in the church imagining what these two witnesses will do. The wonders, the works, the power in which God will enable them and give them to do these things. These sights, these sounds, these images will be displayed because of the magnitude of what they do.

Everybody around the world will want to see. It won't be ignored. These will be miracles unlike ever seen done by men on this planet. Something of this magnitude would be impossible to ignore. Continuing on in verse 7, it says, And when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of that great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

So we know that's Jerusalem. And here's the key. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations, who does that not include worldwide? Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see. They have to be able to visually see their dead bodies in three and a half days and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth, including everyone that can capture everyone, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

It says, again, in verse 9, we see that the entire world will have to see what these two witnesses do. For the time period, the three and a half years, as they testify and they share and they perform these miracles and they do these works, that the whole world, that it says, that the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see. Therefore, there has to understand if this sign and the previous one have been completed. We must consider where things stand today in regards to technology.

Over the past many years, advances in technology has been made at a staggering pace. I know this month, and maybe some of you did as well, I watched several documentaries, most of them on PBS, about the moon landing, being the 50th anniversary of that. And you consider the amount of technology that they had in 19, was it 69, to be able to not only shoot rockets and then send men to outer space, but then to land on the moon is just a fraction.

It's an miniscule amount of the technology that we have today. Even the space program, or the shuttle program, when it started, and they put computers into the space shuttles, and they seem like these huge, wonderful machineries. And then by the time they retired them, they said the amount of computing power that each shuttle had was less than our cell phones that we were carrying around at that time. Consider that something of that magnitude, and where technology had grown in such an amount of time.

When considering the advances of technology over just the last 50 years, 1969 to today, it's almost like comparing travel by horse and buggy and travel by automobile. It's almost that stark of a contrast between our horse and carriages being out in the parking lot, and us taking them home today, or versus the cars that we're able to drive. And we're only talking 50 years. That's really not much time, but how much has changed? Even in the last 25 years, we've seen the invention of the Internet of mobile phone use, and of smartphone development, of broadband usage on our cell phones, that we can stream videos from our cars, from our homes, on our smartphones, on our tablets, on our devices.

Just the last 25 years, this has been made possible. The ITU, which is the International Telecommunications Union, the ITU is the United Nations Specialized Agency for Information and Communication Technologies. From their website, the ITU says that they are committed to connecting all the world's people wherever they live and whatever their means. From their website, they shared these stats. It says a milestone was reached in 2018 when, for the first time, over half of the world's population has access to the Internet, as compared to 2010, when this figure was less than 30%.

So, last year, we're now crossed over to the 50% mark of all people having access to the Internet. Another stat, it says, growth in mobile, and this is from the same site, growth in mobile cellular subscriptions in the last five years was driven by countries in Asia Pacific and Africa regions.

We know that those are historically the underdeveloped nations, and now they are starting to develop and have access to the Internet. It says, nearly the entire world's population, or 96%, now live within reach of a mobile cellular network. So, 96% now live within reach of a mobile cellular network. Furthermore, 90% of the global population can access the Internet through a 3G or high-speed network. As you know, maybe you need higher speed in order to stream live video or any type of video. And so, it's not just enough that you can pull up a website and read an article, but to be able to see the two witnesses, their acts, the things that they're going to do, to be able to see it live time, to be able to have a video of that, you need 3G Internet speed, you need broadband access, and now 90% of the global population can access the Internet through a 3G or higher speed network. They go on with additional stats. The growth of active mobile broadband subscriptions, so you and I, if we have a smartphone, we have an active mobile broadband subscription.

It says the growth of it has increased from four subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, so four out of 100 in 2007, which was 12 years ago, to almost 70 per 100 in 2018. So you go from four per 100 in 2007 to almost 70 per 100 in 2018. So those who have active mobile broadband subscriptions. The actual numbers of these active mobile broadband subscriptions have increased from 268 million in 2007, so 268 to 5.3 billion in 2018. So in just, what is that, 11 years? It's gone from 268 million to 5.3 billion.

In less developed countries, rates went up from virtually zero in 2007 to almost 29 subscriptions per 100 in 2018. So in just from 2007 to 2018, it went from practically zero in less developed countries to now almost 29 per 100. So you can see that the majority of the developed world has access. UNI, we have access. The majority of the developed world does have access today. But it's these less developed nations that are starting to catch up. And where this group, the ITU, the International Telecommunications Union, is committed to connecting all the world's people, wherever they live, in whatever their means. So I think you can see that we're well on our way to completing this last aspect as well, but there's still growth that needs to be done. As we wrap up today, again, these are just seven signs that we have recorded in Scripture that must occur before the return of Jesus Christ. And as I mentioned, this sermon just scratches the surface on these seven points and doesn't even touch the other ones that have to happen as well. As we've talked quite a bit about lately in sermons, we must be using discernment today as we go through our lives. We must discern those things, those attitudes, those choices that you and I make that go contrary to God's Word. We must use discernment as we watch the news and as we take in outside information.

And I hope that today you see that we must use discernment in the current times of life that we live today and understand what Jesus Christ Himself said about the sign of His coming and of the end of the age. Satan wants us to relax. Satan wants us to say these things that we see going on around us. It's just not that big of a deal. Satan wants us to become distracted with the events in our lives and the events in our nation.

The fact is, Satan wants us to miss out on the amazing opportunity that God has for each one of us and all of humanity. It's important from time to time that we consider what Jesus said about the signs of His coming and to consider the events going on all around us.

So we close. Let's turn to Matthew 24 and verse 32.

Again, going back to the Ovelette prophecy captured in Matthew chapter 24.

This time we will pick up the story or the passage in verse 32. A parable within a parable, you could say. Matthew 24 verse 32, he says, Now learn this parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near at the doors.

Verse 36, But of 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 will be the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of man be.

Finally in verse 42, he says, Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.