S>f th e times
by A l Sanders Romans 13:11, 12
M ore than three hundred times, the New Testament specifically refers to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ — this means that one of every twenty-five verses, f r o m Matthew through The Revelation, tells assuredly of the coming again of our wonderful Saviour. There is not one remaining prophecy which needs must be fulfilled which would prevent the Son of God from returning immediately. There are seven succinct, timely rea sons why the return of the Lord seems nearer to the “hour” today than it did even twenty-five years ago: First: as prophesied in Daniel 2 and 7, there is the consolidation of the United States of Europe, leading to ward the establishment of the revived Roman Empire, over which the anti christ w ill rule. , Second: Certainly we are seeing the consolidation of the nations to the north of Palestine, foretold in Ezekiel 38 _ the portion which also describes the world conflict when the Russian bear trvs to devour the Holy Land. Third: Then there is the Far East awakening after slumbering for mil lenniums. China, fof*' the first time, is laying aside her garments of back wardness and striding forth to become one of the world’s great powers— (fore told in Revelation 16:12). Fourth: Of significance is the fact that the Jews are going back to their own land, and this after having been dis persed for 2500 years. This is under the prophecy of Isaiah 11:11 and many
other verses. Fifth: The atomic age is upon us; in II Peter 3:10 ff, we have a picture of what might well be such devastating warfare. As to the teaching of nuclear destruction, we shall not be dogmatic — but the blast at Hiroshima now brings these verses into the field of literal fulfillment, which is thrilling to see under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit. Sixth: A point which captures our interest in this group of- reasons is the effort being given to consolidating ecclesiastical powers, all of which is focused toward a world church. This was also done by an archbishop of the Protestant faith about a year ago, with the profound declaration, “History is being made today!” He was more ac curate than he realized, perhaps. In the past few weeks another leading American churchman has had a similar meeting. A study of Revelation 17 and 18 will give the enlightened Bible stu dent the meaning of such terminal trends. Seventh: There is a marked depar ture from the faith once delivered unto the saints. Some who formerly held to the infallibility of God’s Word are now saying, “Yes. the Bible does con tain the Word of God.” Menare fell into the category of “questioning,” also. As Dr. Charles Woodbridge put it, “The flag which was formerly at the top of the mast, has been lowered, and such men are theologically and ethical ly lowering themselves as well.” The 30
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