Hal Lindsey: These Are The Times
These are times of brutality, vulgarity, rage, and recklessness. We live in an age of pestilence, earthquakes, extreme weather, and signs in the heavens. This is the era of humanism, dark arts, floods of pharmaceuticals, and spiraling levels of mental illness. We are entering a season of uncertainty, fearfulness, and escapism. The spring of pride is fast becoming the winter of despair.
Everything on the list above is a sign that we are approaching the last of the last days. And it’s a list that could go on for pages and pages. For those of us who love our fellow human beings and our country, seeing these biblical signs play out is not pleasant. But we must remember where we’re going. This road travels through tough terrain, but it’s headed for glory.
I don’t know how long the world can go on in this condition. But I do know that things could fall apart in short order. The moral foundation of the world’s leading nation has, in only a few decades, been largely abandoned. The resulting chaos prepares the whole world to follow Antichrist and the False Prophet. Our society worships technology, honors blasphemy, rejects truth, believes lies, and is becoming progressively more violent. Those are the Antichrist’s main attributes.
As you read these words, I hope you will not despair. Instead, I hope they will encourage you to remember where your hope and security really lie. They are not in this world or the institutions of this world. They are in Jesus Christ and His kingdom.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 says, “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
Markets are rattled by a looming trade war with China, a Fed that seems determined to relegate prosperity to America’s rearview mirror, and a level of instability in Washington rivaled in American history only by the runup to the Civil War…. Any of these things could translate into a full-blown recession…. Meanwhile, the rest of the world remains dependent on the teetering American economy for their prosperity.
The North Korea denuclearization deal seems to be falling apart before it even begins…. China is building weapons designed to destroy US aircraft carriers…. The overall buildup of the Chinese military is one of the largest ever undertaken. It includes a heavy emphasis on space weapons and the destruction of the digital infrastructure that America and the West depend on for their very survival…. Russia remains a nuclear superpower, and its President, Vladimir Putin, seems determined to build a new generation of exotic superweapons.
In Washington, a power base entrenched for generations is intent on bringing down this President. They may or may not have legitimate legal arguments against him. We will see as reports finally surface in 2019. But instability in Washington — with fault on both sides — was the hallmark of 2018 and looks to grow even worse in the new year.
Bible prophecy is being fulfilled in dramatic, even spectacular ways. That’s good news because it means that the return of Jesus is getting closer. But the Bible makes it clear that the buildup to Christ’s return will be anything but pleasant. At some point, those of us who are in Christ will be raptured out of here. But between now and the rapture, difficulties will increase. America’s power and influence may be destroyed even sooner than we had imagined.
What about you? What about your family, neighbors, and friends? What about your church and community? What happens now? What happens to you and those you love?
Here’s the thing to remember. Psalm 23 still applies. “The Lord is my shepherd.” He’s still my shepherd, even in the end times. “I shall not want.” He still provides for my needs even in economic hard times. “He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.”
It’s all still true. And if things become extremely bad, remember verses 4-6. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life.”
I don’t know what will happen in 2019. But I know goodness and mercy will follow me. And if you’re in Christ, they will follow you, too. I believe we will continue to see a fulfillment of the general trends laid out in scripture. Yet, even with that, Jesus said there would be an ebb and flow like with the labor pains of childbirth. That means we can’t make precise, year-by-year predictions.
But if you are in Christ, I know a great deal about your future. The big one is this. You’re headed for heaven! The 23rd Psalm ends with an eternal beginning. “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
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