Intro by Albert Hull, Truro, Nova Scotia
In a crazy world with so much speculation and uncertainty we have recently been informed that 2012 is the set-date for a world-wide catastrophe and once again such speculators take advantage of the common folks with their 2012 predictions. We should have learned by history that many predictions have been made but never materialized, the world goes on! However we are assured from the Bible that the prophets in the 0ld Testament made definite predictions that came to pass as foretold, this is indisputable!
Take the following examples:
1) Where Christ would be born approx. 750 years before the event, Micah 5:2;
2) Christ was born of the virgin, approx 700 years before the event, Isaiah7:14;
3) How Christ would die, approx. 1000 years before the event, Psalm 22:16;
4) Christ’s resurrection, approx. 1000 years before the event, Psalm 16:10.
There are at least 300 prophesies in the Bible fulfilled exactly as spoken hundreds of years before they came to pass, the evidence is beyond doubt. However the recent forecasts relative to the end of the world in year 2012 is totally unreliable and should not be taken seriously.
The following article was printed in the USA Today and in another reputable newspaper in the USA and is worthy of your attention. Check it out! Read it carefully! Note that in the article there is no date-setting. Signs yes! But it is totally unacceptable and unbiblical to set dates. After the Lord’s return, there will be a least 1000 years before the final renovation and restitution takes place on this planet.
Be careful what voices you listen to! Revelation 20: 6-10; 21:5
The evidence for the soon return of Jesus Christ is overwhelming. It could be any moment. One scholar lists 67 converging clues just in the last few years. The following are eight:
1. Israel rebirth.
As Jesus prophesied, the Jews were scattered during the Jewish-Roman war of A.D. 70 (Luke 21:24). Also prophesied to occur before Christ’s return, the nation of Israel was miraculously reborn on May 14, 1948. Israel is a miracle nation, called “God’s time clock.”
2. Plummeting morality.
Studies show a shocking breakdown just since mid-century (2 Timothy 3:1-4).
3. Famines, violence and wars.
Jesus said the signs before His return would come as intensifying birth pangs, seeing increased famines, violence and wars, a clear picture of our planet (Matthew 24:6-8). One of six people on earth suffers from hunger.
Violence is epidemic. A study of wars since 500 B.C. shows a recent dramatic increase. More than 100 conflicts have erupted since 1990, about twice the number from previous decades.
4. Increase in earthquakes.
Also prophesied to be as ‘birth pangs’ (Matthew 24:7), a recent study shows a dramatic increase in earthquakes worldwide, just since the decade of Israel’s rebirth. There were two major earthquakes between 1920 and 1990, a 70-year span. But there were 13 major earthquakes between 1990 and 2005, just a 15-year span. (In more recently in early 2010 – Haiti, Chile and many others not so high profile. http://earthquakes.tafoni.net/)
5. Explosion of travel and knowledge.
Two key conditions described about 2,500 years ago for the Second Coming are that “many will go back and forth and knowledge shall increase ” (Daniel 12:4, NASB). In all of history, the vast increase in travel has come
just since mid-century with the explosion of both ground and air transportation; in education, with the advance of science and computers knowledge has increased.
6. Explosion of cults and occult.
Counterfeit spirituality is everywhere with cults and false christs (Matthew 24:24), psychic phenomena, spiritism, Satan worship, witchcraft, nature worship and the New Age movement (1st Timothy 4:1).
7. The New World Order. 666
Increased centralization of world financial and political power is a prelude to the soon coming world power system in the hands of “Antichrist,” who will be the incarnation of Satan and who will deceive most of the world (Daniel 7-12, Matthew 24:15, Revelation 13).
8. Increase in both apostasy and faith.
The Bible predicts in the last days “A form of godliness, although they have denied its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). Today many churches deny the eternal truths of Scripture and power of the Holy Spirit, replacing them with ungodly, temporal and “politically correct” values. But we are thankful that God’s Spirit is causing many worldwide to come to true faith in Christ, virtually unnoticed by the media.
The Escape Plan
Christ’s death and resurrection has opened the way to heaven (1 Corinthians15: 3-8). All who put their trust in Him and His great sacrifice are ready when Christ comes and rescues His people from the approaching “Great Tribulation” (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 4:13-18). He will later rule and bring peace on earth – after He judges the world and every person (Matthew 25:31-46).
God’s judgment is, indeed, coming on a world in rebellion. His attributes of perfect holiness and justice demand judgment for sin, of which we are all guilty. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). The result of sin is death, or separation from God. “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)Wages are something we earn, or deserve. But “God is love.” (1 John 4:8)
Is “love” in conflict with “judgment”? Answer: God’s wisdom reconciled the dilemma – The Son of God would take all our judgment upon Himself! “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) To escape God’s judgment, we each must receive His free gift of forgiveness, “But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). A gift is something we do not earn, or deserve.
How to receive Him?
In any gift there has to be giver and receiver. God has already given us the gift. His Son; now we must receive Him. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12).
We receive Him by faith.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8, 9)Trust personally as a sinner the “Lord Jesus”, believing that the Son of God died on the cross for my sins to save me from eternal death. Galatians 2: 20; ‘The Son of God loved ME and gave HIMSELF for ME.”
