CONCLUDING PROPHETIC MESSAGE
O n e of th e most thrilling aspects of prophecy is the study of inter esting signs relating to the Church. They deal with the consummation of God’s plan centered around the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This may be His coming as Messiah at the restoration of Israel, or His coming as the Son of Man to judge the nations, or His coming for the Church at the rapture as its Lord. There are at least three great signs to be taken into consideration concern ing the Church and the coming of Christ. It will be a time of a false ministry and leadership. It will be a time when many will depart from the faith and it will be a time of peril, tragedy and terror. First of all let us look at 1st Thessa- lonians 5:1-3. Here the apostle Paul sets before us a definite sign concern ing the last days prior to the Lord’s return for His own. “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For your selves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” This particular sign is addressed to the world, not to the Church. The Lord Jesus could come at any moment for actually there are no more prophecies awaiting fulfillment which would pre vent His return. A question was once asked by a theological seminary pro fessor of his students, ‘Ts there any sign you know of that is yet to occur
before the coming of the Lord?” He fully expected to hear a resounding “No.” But every class has a student who invaribly sits on the back row and raises his hand at the most inop portune moment. The student an swered, “Sure, it’s the shout.” Tech nically he was correct. The Bible says, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout” (I Thessa- lonians 4:16). But strictly speaking there are no signs to be fulfilled in relation to the church. The signs we mention are shadows which the church has the privilege of seeing. They will, however, occur and be fulfilled after the church has been removed. This portion tells us that one of the cries the world shall hear is, “Peace, peace peace.” This is true on every hand today. The world desires peace more than anything else! It is a right thing to desire. But there will no peace and safety simply because the hearts of men are not able to bring it about because of their own sinfulness and selfishness. All we need to do is to read our newspapers, listen to our radio and to view television reports, seeing the scenes of anguish as men prey upon one another. They feed upon each other as animals of the jungle world do. In our legislating halls we can pass reso lutions but not one of these can change the hearts of men. A second sign is observed in I Timo thy 4:1-3 where we read, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience 20
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