It’s Tony Pearce giving the prophecy talk.
I missed one last month so we’re doing this for May and June and it’s July the 6th.
I’m going to start with a reading from the book of Luke. Jesus is speaking about the signs of His Second Coming verse 7 of chapter 21:
7 So they (the disciples) asked Him, saying, “Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?” 8 And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them. 9 But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.”
Luke 21.7-9
Praise the lord! Our redemption does draw near, but we also see all kinds of signs taking place in the world which are pointing us to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Some of them may be quite alarming, some of them may fill us with fear but Jesus says: when you see these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads because your redemption draws near.
Well, a lot of people are looking towards some kind of hopeful situation. I read an article in the Daily Mail by a man called Dominic Sandbrook on Saturday. The headline was:
Apparently, the mood of optimism was fuelled by the fact that England beat Germany in the Euros and reached the quarter-finals. They have now beaten Ukraine and reached the semi-finals.
Also, that Sajid Javid has replaced Matt Hancock as Health Secretary and said he will lift the lockdown regulations on July the 19th and will not go back to lockdown again in the winter.
It’s been said that we have a booming economy with soaring output; even getting the better of the European Union through a new trade deal, and that we have a new Nissan plant to be opened in the Northeast which are all signs of business confidence returning to post-Brexit Britain.
Boris is also promising to ‘build back better’ in a new fairer and greener Britain. So, all those things mean that everything’s going well and it’s going to get better.
I hope you all agree or, perhaps you don’t. Maybe you don’t want a bit of ‘doom and gloom’ from Tony Pearce in this Month in Prophecy talk but there are many things which actually point us in the opposite direction.
The ‘build back better’ programme may not work out so great for all of us, the vaccine may not save us from the virus, and the promise of freedom on July the 19th of July is already turning into a false storm.
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 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. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Luke 21.20-24
The economy may not turn out so well in the long run and, if you look around the world, the bad guys are winning, wherever you look, almost everywhere.
And England may lose the football match tonight – you’ll know by the time this message gets out.
But it’s a pity that in every match the players have to ‘bow the knee’ or ‘take a knee’ to a foreign Marxist movement that wants to destroy Western society, and we have a kind of worship developing, or, as one newspaper headline described, footballers have become ‘semi-gods’ after they beat Ukraine.
And the government minister Nadim Zahawi said “England is now in heaven” after we won a football match.
Well, if winning a football match puts you into heaven then, probably, you don’t have much idea of what heaven is about. And if the football players are semi-gods then, you probably don’t know much about who the real God is.
And, actually, if we’re trusting in anything in this world, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment. We may have moments of happiness, moments of despair but only in Jesus can we have any real cause for happiness, and for trust, and for a hope for the future.
10 Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. 13 But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. 14 Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head shall be lost. 19 By your patience possess your souls.
Luke 21.10-19
My reading from the Bible this morning was from 2 Corinthians chapter 4, and I’ll just read verses 16 to 18 again:
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4.16-18
If we have a hope in Jesus, we have got hope in something which is eternal and is not fading away.
If we’re hoping in the things of this world, you can be up one day and down the next day, and, as things are going, it’s more likely that you’re going to be down because I don’t think things are going to get better.
I’m afraid that things, according to the Bible, are going to get worse as we get nearer to the Second Coming of Jesus.
Jesus said in the passage I just read but also in Matthew 24:
7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Matthew 24.7-8
And in the passage we did read in Luke 21 it says it’s going to conclude with:
25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.
Luke 21.25-28
The word which is used for the distress of nations with perplexity is ‘aporia’ which, in Greek, means with ‘no way out’.
So, when you see a lot of crises coming on the world with no way out, you know that it’s a sign of the soon Coming of Jesus Christ. And, in this situation, the only hope you’re going to have is the hope of Jesus’ return.
If you have that hope, you’ve got hope for the future. If you don’t, actually, you’re going to be plunged into more and more despair as you see what’s coming on the World.
Basically, the cause of all the crisis which is coming is human sin and rebellion against God. And the only solution is repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the hope that He’s coming again to judge the world in righteousness.
The crisis with ‘no way out’ really typifies the world situation.