SIGNS OF THE END TIME

These last few years the world has gone from one earth-shaking crisis to another. Many scientists warn that humanity now totters on the brink of unprecedented disaster and chaos. Day by day, the world’s problems grow more desperate and insurmountable. The question which must plague every think-
ing person is, “What lies ahead?” Almost two thousand years ago, looking into the future, our Lord predicted ex-
actly what our world would be like at the end of time. What events were to hap- pen before Jesus’ return and what would be the signs of His coming and the end of the world?

Increased Wickedness Christ predicted that wickedness would increase pri- or to His return. “And because wickedness is mul- tiplied, most men’s love will grow cold.” Matthew
24:12 (RSV). Jesus exemplified the pre-advent social wickedness by referring to “the days of Noah.” “As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of man.” Luke 17:26 (RSV).During the days prior to the world-wide flood, mankind rejected God and tended to violence. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” Genesis 6:5, 11.

In the last days of this earth’s history, there would be a repetition of the “days of Noah.” Vio- lence throughout the world would surge to unprecedented levels. We are all pain-
fully aware of today’s headlines full of tragic stories of senseless violence. Every day the stories get more gruesome and shocking, while people are getting more desensitized to acts of unbelievable cruelty and viciousness.

In the U.S., a teenager shoots his father because he wants to see someone bleed to death.
• In England, two ten-year-old boys kidnap and bru- tally murder a toddler.
• In Taiwan, four teenage boys incarcerate, rape and torture a fifteen-year old girl for a week and then kill her.
• In Kosovo, young and old were massacred and laid in mass graves.
• In the U.S., a six-year old boy kills another six-year old classmate with a hand- gun.
• “This was, after all, the third multiple homicide at a Southern school in the past six months. Each

week’s A been

ican history... When the fire
alarm went off shortly after
12:30 p.m. last Tuesday, teach- ers and students at Westside Middle School marched dutifully outside. Four minutes and
27 bullets later, 15 bodies lay bleeding on the pavement.” U.S. News, April 6, 1998.
• On April 20, 1999, the worst high school shooting in American history happened ......, when seniors Eric Har- ris and Dylan Klebold killed thirteen people, injured two dozen more and then turned their guns on themselves. Www.westword.com/issues/2002-10-31.
• In 2001, FBI statistics revealed that “U.S. crime rate is on the rise. The increase included a 3.1 percent rise in murders reported by police departments nationwide, along with sig- nificant jumps in the numbers of robberies, burglaries and car thefts....” Lawlessness, violence and crime are indicators or signs that
Jesus will be returning soon.

Wars and Rumors of
Wars

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars... For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom....” Mat- thew 24:6,7.
The world has never been completely free from the scourge of war, but no period in history has witnessed the escalation of wars as has the twen- tieth century. The International Red Cross estimates that over
100 million people have been killed in wars since the begin- ning of the Twentieth Century. Just think about the most re- cent conflicts: the Persian Gulf War, the Somalian Conflict, the bombing of Afghanistan, and the War in Iraq. All these have been a fulfillment of the prophecy in Matthew 24:7, “Nation shall rise against nation.”
Many see the prospects of another world-wide conflict. The threat of an all out nuclear war hangs over the world. Na- tions such as North Korea, China, and India have weapons of mass destruction. Will the world be wiped out by a chemi- cal, biological or nuclear war? Could this happen in our time? The Bible answer is,
“Absolutely NOT!” It will be Jesus who will destroy the wicked and then set up His kingdom on the New Earth.
Preaching of the Gospel

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness

unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Never has the gos- pel been preached in

all the world to ALL nations as it is right now. If not directly by missionaries, it is certainly being
preached through the modern media–radio, television, and the world wide web.
The gospel has been preached to over four billion people. Statistics on the translation and distribution of the Bible reveal the growth of the gospel witness. Over 50 million Bibles as well as nearly 80 million New Testaments are distributed every year. The entire Bible or parts thereof, having been translated partially or entirely into some 2,092 different languages and dialects, are now available to about 98 percent of the world’s population.
The world will end when every living person has heard the good news–the gospel of Jesus Christ. It won’t be much longer before 100 percent of the world will have heard the message of salvation.

Natural Disasters

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplex- ity, the sea and the waves roaring.” Luke 21:25.
“In the United States, over 200 tornadoes were observed in January, nearly 14 times the average number... Through No- vember, the U.S. experienced the second greatest number of tornadoes on record, following 1998’s recent year.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Cli- matic Data Center.
“After a string of tornadoes killed dozens and turned life upside down for tens of thousands of people in their path, residents of Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee try to clean up while bracing for the possibility of more twisters.” MSNBC, News, May 6, 2003.
“Large scale natural disasters are three times as common as they were in the 1960s experts said yesterday as they declared
1998 the most calamitous on record... Comparing the figures for the 1960s and the past ten years, we have established that the number of great natural catastrophes was three times larg- er...” The Times: World News, December 30, 1998.
Disasters appear to have increased significantly in recent years. Nature has gone ber-
serk. This clearly indicates that Jesus is coming again soon!

Famines and Pestilences

“And there shall be famines and pestilences.” Matthew
24:7.

Famines have oc- curred many times in the history of this world, but they have not occurred on the scale with which they have in the Twentieth Century. Never before has the world had mil- lions of people suf-
fering from starvation or malnutrition.

Jesus predicted that there would be an abundance of plagues and diseases mark-
ing the time of His return. The medical community is now warning that not only are bacterial plagues on the rise, but viral killers like HIV and Ebola are occurring more fre- quently than ever.

The World Health Organization states,
“Around the world, more than 6,000 people every day are infected with the HIV and the epidemic is getting worse.” Research- ers have not found a cure for HIV. “Crisis looms in Africa–Mulomba, Malawi. Malawi, like many African countries, is on the cusp of
famine and every day new graves are being dug for those who have died of hunger. The combination of severe food short- ages and the killer HIV is set to destroy many communities across southern Africa unless help arrives soon. Nearly 13

Mention must also be made of the deadly SARS (Se- vere Acute Respi- ratory Syndrome). This epidemic has caused panic, mis- ery and death in various parts of the world, and it is still not contained.

Are not the frequent famines and the incurable diseases indicators that this generation is living in the end times? Religious Decline
The widespread proclamation of the gospel does not neces- sarily mean a massive growth in genuine Christianity. Instead, the Bible predicts a decline of true spirituality toward the end of time. Apostle Paul wrote that “in the last days perilous

times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, dis- obedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural af- fection, truce break- ers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,
despisers of those that are good, trai- tors, heady, high- minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; hav- ing a form of god- liness, but denying the power thereof:
from such turn away.” 2 Timothy, 3:1-5. So today, love of self, material things and the world has
supplanted the Spirit of Christ in many hearts. According to Bible prophecy, the signs of the times clearly and boldly declare the greatest event in history– second com- ing of Jesus–to be imminent. Are we preparing ourselves for
this momentous event?
“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.” Matthew 24:42, 44. Now is the time for us to go to Jesus and let Him purify our sinful hearts. “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
John 6:37.

Henry Dering, USA, SW

How to Educate Children Successfully

To have children is a privilege. I remember a married couple who chose not to have children in or- der to better their economic situation in the first years of their marriage. They made a fortune, but they were not happy. They felt that they were missing some- thing. Many times the wife cried in the solitude of her home. One day while the husband was in his secretary’s office, he answered the phone. He heard a child’s voice coming through the phone that made him tremble when it said “dear daddy!” This was of course his secre- tary’s daughter. While he dried his tears, he thought that that man with less riches
was definitely happier than he… This is how it is dear friends, just as the famous proverb says, “Nobody is complete, until he has written a book, planted a tree and raised a child.” Life

teaches us that our happiness is extend- ed in time through our children. The psalmist David expressed it well: “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man: so are children of the youth. Hap- py is the man that has his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” Psalm 127: 3-5.
Of course, there are also people that desire to have children but cannot for some reason or other. Perhaps they can adopt one of the many that have been abandoned and are suffering. Moreover, we should also keep in mind another proverb that states: “It is easy to have children, the difficulty lies in raising them.” This is what worries every true father and mother. There will be sleep-

less nights, anguish and problems. There shall be days of cares and of deep anxiety for the future of their babies. The mother who is about to have a child asks herself repeatedly:
How shall I raise him up? The Bible teaches us that we are liv- ing in difficult and perilous times. That is why it says: “Redeeming the time, be-
cause the days are evil.” Eph 5:16. The loss of moral, ethical, and spiri- tual values causes this world to sink lower and lower with time into a deep hole, that at times it seems as if there is no clear and promising exit for our children. Drugs with all of their hallu- cinatory properties, the struggle for survival, the urgent search for
safety and peace, the relentless and selfish complacency of plea- sure and choosing to forget the love of God, are the challenges that the millions of youth that populate the earth face day af-
ter day.
Parents who are tired of struggling and are made bit- ter by the conduct of their chil- dren and the things they con- stantly do should take their tri- als and tribulations to God, and try to find out what causes their children to become so rebellious. The children that are failures and are beset by vice, drugs, laziness, negligence, perhaps in jail due to a lack of honesty or because of corrupt actions have ruined lives and may be in embarrassing situations like: an unmar-