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(Recorded Live @ GFAG, Ahmedabad http://gracejunction.com)

The GFAG team is very close to my heart and God has allowed us opportunities to work together to accomplish His glorious purpose. Looking back, I can only marvel and be grateful for the wonderful work our gracious Lord has done over the years in this church. The Holy Spirit is moving mightily even now in our land. Do pray for GFAG and many other such groups all over the nation, which I believe, God is using effectively to accomplish His plans towards the end of the age.

What is the plan of God for you? Do you know it? If you know it, what are you doing about it? If you don’t know it, what are you doing to know it? Listen to this message and I believe God will surely bless you to find your purpose in Him.

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However, Jesus did ask us to look out for signs for the end of the world. He assured us that there is no need to be troubled because these are the beginning of sorrows. In fact, when these things happen, He asked us to lift up our heads and watch out because your redemption is near. (Lk 21:28)

But that doesn’t change the fact that all over the world people who don’t have the blessed hope in Jesus Christ are really, really troubled. And they don’t know how it is going to end up for them. Their worst imaginations and more and going to come true after all.

Friends, are you ready to meet Jesus in the clouds when he comes again as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?

(Mt 24:4,8) Take heed that no man deceive you - All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Check out this article on Yahoo: Reasons why the world will end in 2012

This message is based on Luke 7:11-17 where Jesus was entering a town called Nain and at the gate of the town, He saw a crowd going out of the city for the funeral of a young man who had died. And his mother was a widow. Jesus had compassion on the woman and He said to her, “Don’t cry”. He touched the coffin and the people stopped. He commanded the young man to rise up and he rose up and started talking.

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The Bible warns us repeatedly: “Don’t be deceived”. It is the biggest snare of the Devil in the end times – Deception. The most dangerous thing about deception is that people who are deceived do not know that they are being deceived. Else it wouldn’t be deception, right? And they are also not willing to acknowledge the truth. The Bible also warns that in the end times people will want to hear and believe lies that sound comforting to them, rather than confronting the truth of the Bible.

However, for those who want to know the truth and stay in its light, the revelation in the Bible is of immense value. You shall know truth and the truth shall set you free (John 8:32). Those words are more true than ever in our times. What is written about the end of the world in the bible? Here is a video I came across which reminds us about the connection of the end of the world & natural disasters mentioned in the Bible.

A Christian message in Hindi language focusing the role and real meaning of repentance in increasing spiritual power. This is the first of many steps to be taken according to the Bible.

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Mat 24:7-8 – NKJV)

Context:

One of the end time signs that Jesus mentioned is pestilence or epidemics. Again these are just the “beginning of sorrows”. So that means the world will be facing increasing number of epidemics as the end draws nearer.

It really does not take much to understand this. The world has been plagued by horrifying epidemics in the 20^th century in spite of medical science growing by leaps and bounds. Here is a glimpse of epidemics which spread across several continents in the 20^th century.

Year	Epidemic
1899-1923	Cholera
1918-1920	Influenza, Spanish flu
1957-1958	Influenza, Asian flu
1968-1969	Influenza, Hong Kong flu
1960s	Cholera called El Tor
1980s – present	HIV
2009	Influenza, 2009 swine flu pandemic

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_epidemics)

The above is just a small list of epidemics which spread across the world. There are countless others which were regional.

Devastation:

I do not intend to give exhaustive statistics of worldwide devastation due to innumerable epidemics. However, some selected facts may help us to gauge the situation in the world today.

• A UNAIDS 2008 report on global AIDS epidemic has estimated that around 30.8 million adults and 2 million children were AIDS patients in 2007. This year also saw 2 million deaths due to AIDS despite the antiretroviral (ARV) therapy which reduced AIDS – related deaths among those who received it.
• AIDS is the second most common cause of death among 20-24 year olds. By the end of 2007, 15 million children were orphaned due to this disease. (Source: http://www.avert.org/worlstatinfo.htm)
• 250 million people in the world are diabetics. Diabetes or related complications kill about 3.8 million people every year which is about the same number as HIV/AIDS. Now they have termed it as the epidemic of the 21^st century.

We haven’t even touched upon the people killed due to influenza (more people were killed by this disease during World War I than war wounds, an estimated 20-100 million deaths worldwide), small pox, cholera, tuberculosis, bubonic plague, dengue, malaria, hepatitis B, chikungunya, avian flu, swine flu and many others.

In the 20^th century, medical research and health care have cost the world government billions of dollars. There have been amazing drug discoveries and new treatment methods. In spite of it all, it seems that mankind is losing its grip with overall health deteriorating rather than improving. The medical fraternity is faced with newer and tougher challenges every day without the earlier problems being solved.

Where is all this leading to? When Christ shall reign on earth, the Bible says:

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev 21:4 – NKJV)

Maranatha! Our Lord is coming soon.

The God of the Bible has used earthquakes to send a lot of messages to mankind. We see a lot of earthquakes in the Bible and each time they signify a message from the Almighty God.

Earthquakes have been used by God to signify His awesome presence and to bring the power and glory of His presence in a thunderous way to mankind. Let us see a list of earthquakes mentioned in the Bible and see what message they hold.

1. Mount Sinai:

God’s presence was so awesome and dreadful that the Israelites said they did not want to meet Him again. God came down from heaven on Mount Sinai to give the covenant to His people.

God descended in a fire, the mountain was on smoke as if a furnace was burning on the mountain top and the whole mountain quaked greatly.

2. Calvary

When Jesus died on the cross at Calvary, the veil of the temple was torn into two from top to bottom, the earth SHOOK and the rocks split. The centurion and his men who were with him saw all this and said, “Truly this was the Son of God”.

Again, God used an earthquake to deliver a message to man.

3. Resurrection of Jesus

Mary Magdalene came to see the dead body of Jesus at the tomb. They were worried about how they would remove the heavy stone in front of the tomb. But when the angel of the Lord came from heaven, there was a great earthquake. The angel rolled back the stone and sat on it.

God used an earthquake to show the power of His resurrection.

4. Apostles’ Prayer Room

The apostles were praying for boldness to preach His word in the wake of persecution. In response, the Holy Spirit came down on them mightily and the place they had gathered together was shaken.

5. Paul & Silas in prison

Even after enduring heavy torture and being bound, Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God at midnight. I believe they were not able to sleep considering the heavy beating they had and the way they were chained. So they began to pray and sing at midnight. So God could not keep quiet either and He came down to free them. There was a great earthquake and the foundations of the prison were shaken. All the doors were opened and their chains fell off.

There are many more instances of earthquakes in the Bible. To know more about it you can read this article. But for the purposes of this article we will look at what Jesus said about earthquakes being the sign of the end times and His second coming.

6. Sign of the end times and the coming of Christ

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Mat 24:7-8 – NKJV)

Jesus was answering the questions of His disciples about the signs of the end of the age and His coming. Of the many signs He mentioned, earthquakes are one and mark His words – all these are the beginning of sorrows. When we see earthquakes, famines and pestilences happening all around us, we need to understand clearly that all these are merely the Beginning of Sorrows or the Beginning of Birth Pangs (NASB).

So we understand that there is much more horror yet to come. Just as a woman suffers birth pangs with increasing frequency and intensity as she nears the time of child birth, similarly the sorrows are going to be much more frequent and intense before the end of the age and before His coming.

So do we know for sure that the earthquakes are increasing in our time? Let us take a look at the statistics given out by USGS National Earthquake Information Center.

Magnitude	1990-1999	2000-2008	% Increase
8.0 to 9.9	6	12	100.00
7.0 to 7.9	147	115	-21.77
6.0 to 6.9	1339	1303	-2.69
5.0 to 5.9	13276	13734	3.45
4.0 to 4.9	62354	95014	52.38
3.0 to 3.9	45703	74522	63.06
2.0 to 2.9	36044	44511	23.49
1.0 to 1.9	6958	7064	1.52
0.1 to 0.9	69	257	272.46
No Magnitude	30879	20833	-32.53
	196775	257365	30.79

Let us look at the chart for a pictorial representation of the data and for a better understanding of comparative figures.

These are comparative figures of the number of earthquakes across the world from 1990 – 1999 and from 2000 – 2008. We do not have the complete data of 2009 and 2010 obviously at the time of writing this post.

A close look at the figures says that the earthquakes with magnitude 8.0 and above have doubled since the past decade and we have two years data still to be added to complete this decade. There has also been a significant increase in the earthquakes with magnitude 3.0 to 3.9 with a 63% rise and 4.0 to 4.9 with a 52% rise. In some of the categories there has been a decline but if you look at the earthquakes with 0.1 to 0.9 magnitude, (which are too small for us to notice) it has increased by an astounding 272% in the last decade which indicates the tremendous increase in earthquake activity all over the world. Overall, there has been an increase of around 30% over the last decade. Please bear in mind that this data is only up to 2008 which means there are still data of 2 more years to go till we complete this decade and obviously the figures are going to be much higher. Another factor to be borne in mind is that we are not comparing today’s figures with those of 100 years before, rather with the previous decade and still the earthquake activity shows a significant increase.

So are earthquakes really increasing? Many geologists say they are not. Earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.0 and above have remained fairly constant and maybe even declined over the past century. Moreover the increase is attributed to the number of earthquakes the geologists have been able to identify compared to previous centuries. In 1931 there were about 351 seismograph stations in the world and today there are more than 8000 stations plus the rapid advancement in communication with internet and satellite. So today we have many more earthquakes identified and accurate data is received. This could explain the rise in the earthquake numbers over the last 100 years.

So as a believing Christian, what do we understand? Is Jesus’ prediction of increasing earthquakes really being fulfilled? Yes, of course.

While the above argument of the geologists is true for the past 100 years, it does not imply that earthquakes have decreased; rather it merely says that we cannot prove beyond doubt whether there has been an increase or decrease. Besides, the data we have compared in this article shows the figures for the past decade since 1990 and not the past century. And even then, we see heavy earthquake activity with an overall increase of 30% and a drastic increase of 272% in the 0.1 to 0.9 magnitude and a 100% increase in the 8.0 to 9.9 magnitude with 2010 yet to come.

However, what is even more significant for a Christian is that increasing earthquakes are not the only sign happening. In fact, it is accompanied by many of the other signs that Jesus predicted and that is why it is all the more important. We will study the other signs of the end times in the forthcoming weeks.

“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift your heads, because your redemption draws near.” (Luke 21:28 – NKJV)

Maranatha! Our Lord is coming soon.

Malachi is the last of the great succession of prophets who for over one hundred years foretold the coming of Messiah. Malachi ministered in the time of the governorship of Nehemiah. It is clear that he ministered after the captivity. He prophesied about a century after Haggai and Zephaniah.  Malachi’s ministry dates from about 460 B.C. during the period of Israel’s Persian subjugation.  In that time, the temple had been rebuilt for some forty years, but is a rather mean dwelling compared to its former glory.

Malachi’s message is, for the most part, rebuke and condemnation. The sins of Israel that provoked Nehemiah were the same that stirred up Malachi. Their failure was defilement of the priesthood, divorce of Israelites wives for marriage with foreign women and neglecting tithe and offerings.  According to Malachi they have despised Lord’s name (Mal. 1:6), they have been indifferent towards the worship (Mal. 1:6), they were wrongly instructed by the priests (Mal. 2:7-8), they became faithless to the covenant (Mal. 2:10), followed foreign gods and divorced their wives to marry foreign women (Mal. 2:13-16), did evil (Mal. 2:17) robbed God (Mal. 3:8-9), and spoke against the Lord (Mal. 3:13-14).

Reference:

“Behold I will send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming, says the Lord of hosts.” (Mal 3:1 – NKJV)

Message:

Malachi has used the question and answer method to probe deeply into Israel’s problems of hypocrisy, infidelity, mixed marriages, divorce, false worship and arrogance. Is this list of problems not familiar to the church in modern times?

But the people are not ready to accept their wrongdoings and would rather justify themselves.

They question God and He answers:

How has God loved us?

Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? Says the Lord Yet Jacob have I loved

How have we (priests) despised God’s name?

By sacrificing what is blemished and even their human governor wouldn’t have accepted

How have we (people) profaned the covenant?

By saying that the table of the Lord is defiled and its fruit, its food is contemptible and by saying, Oh what a weariness!

How have we wearied God?

By saying that everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord and He delights in them

How have we robbed God?

By not giving tithes and offerings

How have we spoken against God?

By saying It is vain to serve God

Do all these words sound vaguely familiar? Are they not similar to what we say about Jesus and His church today? We are tired of all these seemingly meaningless rituals and say, “It is vain to serve God”. It is time to get over with the rituals and get close to God with a genuine and repentant heart.

Lesson:

“For behold, the Day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes all who do wickedly will be stubble; and the Day which is coming shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that will leave them neither root nor branch.

But to you who fear my name, The Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings…” (Mal 4:1-2 – NKJV)

“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.

So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew (spit or vomit) you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:15-16 – NKJV)

The Day of Judgment is coming and it is as true for the church today as it was for Israel in the days of Malachi. The hypocrites and the wicked will be burnt in the fierce wrath of God while for those who fear God there will be an everlasting healing. The words of Jesus in Revelation are filled with the same kind of warning. He wants us to be piping hot for Him or frozen cold and forget Him altogether and go your way. The lukewarm hypocrites will face the most fearful judgment. May we not be in the “Vomit List”.

The name Zechariah means the Lord remembers. He was the great prophet of the days of the restoration from Babylonia captivity, with Haggai and Malachi he was a post exilic prophet. He was born in Babylonia when some 50,000 people who were in exile trekked their way home under the reign of King Cyrus.  Zechariah began his ministry two months after Haggai had commenced his prophetic ministry. It was in the second year of the reign of Darius Hystaspes (521-485 B.C.).  The first prophetic message of Zechariah comes in the second year of Darius’s reign. He was also a contemporary of Zerubbabel the Governor and Joshua the High Priest.

The reconstruction work of the temple was stopped due to opposition for more than a decade and was then resumed in 520 B.C and completed in 516 B.C. Zechariah encouraged the people to complete their unfinished task. Rather than rebuking them, he encourages them by pointing out the future importance of the temple. The temple had to be built because one day the Messiah’s glory will inhabit it. Sadly, the man who encouraged the temple building was murdered between the temple and the altar (Mat 23:35).

Reference:

“Thus says the LORD; I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the LORD of hosts, the Holy Mountain.” (Zech 8:3) – NKJV

Message:

Zechariah has given very clear messianic prophecies depicting both the first and the second coming of Christ. He has portrayed Christ as Servant and King, Man and God. In the first eight chapters, he frequently refers to the temple encouraging his people to complete the building of the temple because the Messiah will bring His glory into that same structure. The last six chapters were written after the completion of the temple and they anticipate the coming of the Messiah.

Zechariah ends his book with an exciting climax in the fourteenth chapter describing the final siege of Jerusalem, the initial victory of Israel’s enemies, the division of Mount Olives, Jesus’ visible appearance on Mount Olives and defending Jerusalem, judgment on all nations who opposed Israel, and the final restoration under the Messiah’s reign.

Zechariah vindicates the stand of the pre-exilic prophets by saying that the judgment prophesied by them came upon Judah because ‘the Lord was very angry with your ancestors.’ He exhorts the people to return to the Lord. Finally he describes the ‘Day of the Lord’ as being a day when the Lord will judge the wicked among Israel and preserve a holy remnant. He will judge the surrounding nations and all the enemies of Israel and He will usher in the Messiah’s golden reign. There is physical salvation to Judah as well as a spiritual salvation in that day.

Lesson:

Though the Lord has glorious plans for the salvation of His people, the unrepentant are doomed to God’s wrath and judgment. Zechariah describes such as the people who refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders and stopped their ears so that they could not hear (Zech 7:11). Sadly, sometimes God’s messengers have to face the brutality of the wicked. The very prophet who encouraged the completion of the temple was murdered between the temple and the altar. How ironic!

Today, God is asking us to return to the Lord and build His temple. The Bible says that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). We are also collectively the Body of Christ, the Church or the temple of God. So God is asking us to build ourselves up in Him and to work for building His Church because He is going to come again as King and inhabit us with all of His glory.