The Future Foretold: Part 3 In this article we continue our study of Jesus' amazing predictions of the events that will occur shortly before His return to Earth! The "Me" Generation "Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold" (Matthew 24:12, KJV). This is how Jesus described the callous condition of people's hearts in the days just before His return. One of the more dramatic manifestations of humanity's increased selfishness is in the "missing children." A United Nations study concludes: "The size of the family is shrinking all over the world because women in most countries want fewer children." (1) Worldwide, over 30 million abortions are performed every year, and more than a quarter of all pregnancies end in abortion. (2) Previous generations would be appalled by such statistics, but not ours. Surely the predicted days have arrived when hearts would grow cold and natural affection would fade away. Sodom and Gomorrah revisited "As it was also in the days of Lot ... even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed" (Luke 17:28-30). Another modern trend foretold by Jesus that again underscores how much today's world is "without natural affection" is the prevalence and acceptance of male homosexuality, or sodomy. The Good News goes global "And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the End will come" (Matthew 24:14). Unlike the rise in wars, famine, plagues, earthquakes, etc., Jesus said that this particular sign would indicate when the actual End--Christ's Second Coming--would be upon the world. The entire Bible or parts thereof are now available to about 98 percent of the world's population, having been translated partially or entirely into some 2,092 different languages. (4) According to The Almanac of the Christian World, (3) Christians and Christian churches now exist in every country of the world. Four billion Gospel tracts are printed each year. Never before has the Gospel been preached "in all the world" as it is today via the modern mediums of radio, television and the Internet. Globe trotters and jet-setters "Many shall run to and fro..." (Daniel 12:4). In 534 B.C., the prophet Daniel received an outstanding revelation, which God later told him was for those living in the Time of the End: "Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" (Daniel 12:4). As these awesome final events of the Endtime begin to unfold, you don't have to be in fear or confusion. Many running to and fro literally means "speeding about, here and there," or as The Living Bible renders this verse, "travel shall be vastly increased." When you consider that people's means of transportation--horse and buggy, wagons, camels, sailboats, etc.--did not change substantially for thousands of years until just over one hundred years ago, you can appreciate the significance of this prophecy. Today we drive and fly at speeds unimaginable to our ancestors. Travel and tourism is now the biggest and the most energetic industry in the world. (5) Info overload "In the time of the end ... knowledge shall increase" (Daniel 12:4). It is with good cause that the term "information overload" was coined in recent years. Consider these facts: * Every minute 2,000 pages are added to man's scientific knowledge. * Every day, the equivalent of hundreds of millions of pages of text are sent over the Internet. * The most basic building block of computer technology, the transistor, was invented only 50 years ago. There are now wristwatches that wield more computing ability than some 1970s mainframe computers, and ordinary cars today have more "intelligence" than the original lunar lander. (6) * Human knowledge is currently doubling approximately every eight years. At that rate, by the time a child born today would be fifty years old, 97 percent of everything known in the world would have been learned in his lifetime. (7) Sympathy for the Devil "The Holy Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons" (1 Timothy 4:1, NIV). In Jesus' discourse about the signs that would precede His return, three times He told His disciples that numerous false prophets would arise on the world scene, and that they would attract huge followings. (See Matthew 24:5, 11, 24.) Of course, the Devil doesn't always show himself to be the evil and destructive spiritual force that he is. Quite the contrary. He and his agents frequently portray themselves as messengers of light and goodness: "Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness" (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). He is the arch-deceiver. Not only are many people unknowingly falling for Satan's deceptions, but increasing numbers are following rank Satanism. Witchcraft is flourishing to the point where it's being called a "renaissance in witchcraft," and open schools in witchcraft have been founded. (8) The most shameless acts of blasphemy and desecration are now socially acceptable in the name of audio-visual entertainment and "freedom of expression." Footnotes:
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