Transcription

Chris
Okay, so you’ve watched The Office, right? Yes. Do you remember when, uh, Kevin was trying to say we have to come up with some kind of warning, and then, uh, then he comes, Robert, California comes walking in, and Kevin goes. Warning. Warning. Right. Yes. Well, that’s today we’re talking about warning signs before the end.

Jeff
Before the end. Well, he’s Chris and I’m Jeff and we’re the Bible guys. Okay, Chris. So you’re the movie guy. You’re the resident movie expert. I do like movies. And so, uh, we here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to give you three of the main characters in a movie, and you have to tell me what the movie is. And you haven’t seen any of these? Nope. So this is for. Okay. We never do. Here we go. Ready? Memphis Raines, Otto Halliwell, and Sara sway. Wayland.

Chris
Ooh, I got to confess. I don’t want to spend too much time on it because we have to go.

Jeff
Uh, so I would think Memphis Raines is the one that would remind you, I don’t know, gone in 60s.

Chris
Oh, yeah. That was, uh, Nicolas Cage.

Jeff
There you go. Okay, okay.

Chris
Memphis. I should have known, but you know what? I’ve only seen that movie once. Uh, and I’m not sure you only watched a Nick cage movie once. I’m not sure that the word Memphis stuck out in my mind. Okay, here we go. It wasn’t big enough.

Jeff
Here’s another good one. This is a good one. Yep. And I would know this one. Herman Boone, Bill Yoast, remember the Titans? Yeah. There you go.

Chris
Uh, come on, Coach Yost, you’re cooking my grits.

Jeff
Tyler Durden, Marla Singer. Oh, Robert Paulson uh, fight club. Fight club. There you go. Yeah, this is a good one. Of course. Uh, Ben gates, Abigail chase. Riley pool.

Chris
Oh, okay. Well, actually, Ben Gates, uh, I was going to say it could be any national treasure, 1 or 2, but, uh, the girl was only in one.

Jeff
In one. That’s right. So it’s national.

Chris
This national treasure, part one. There you go.

Jeff
Uh Ethan hunt, Jim Phelps, Luther Stickell.

Chris
Any any empire. Mission impossible. Yeah. That’s right. Yeah, yeah. There you go.

Jeff
Dude, you nailed it. So you were four for five.

Chris
Four for five. Wow.

Jeff
Pretty good job.

Chris
Um, well, I mean, you know Herman Boone, right? I mean, Tyler, uh, Ben Gates.

Jeff
Yeah, I would have gotten 4 or 5, two?

Chris
Yeah, four out of five.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah. Memphis Raines. I would have thought. I know that movie. I know that movie back, I couldn’t.

Chris
Oh, I never I still don’t even remember. Uh, I don’t think his character was big enough, you know. Yeah, sure.

Jeff
So, yeah, it’s just Memphis stands out. Right. That’s a. Oh, yeah.

Chris
For sure. Yeah.

Jeff
Okay. Anyways. Hey good job man. Thanks man. Very impressive. So there are a number of warnings in the Bible. So if you’re just now joining us, we are going through kind of on a devotional level, not on a seminary professor level discussion of the end times. Yeah. And no, which is what the Bible Guys is all about.

Chris
We should we should summarize this and say revelation for dummies.

Jeff
Yeah. Well or or for somebody who’s taking it in on a devotional level. Revelation by dummies. Yeah. Yeah, that’s that’s it. It’s not. We don’t want to go after our, uh, after our listeners entirely. We do question their judgment that the fact that they keep coming back and listening. But that’s a different issue. Um. That’s funny. So, uh, you know, the Bible guys were really built around the idea that we’re just a couple guys who like to talk about the Bible and fun and practical ways. Right, right. That’s really what we’re about. And so, hey, if you have differences of opinion, if you think some of the order is different, whatever, well, just join the club. There’s almost as many opinions about the of the end times as there are Christians on the planet. Uh, but we’re going to kind of give a summary that the high level stuff and there are warnings in the Bible that Jesus gives and Paul gives of what the world is going to be like before the end. And then there are warnings or indicators that it is the end. So, uh, the first one, you know, the warning signs before the end are really like highway signs, right? God’s kind of set up some clear signposts, uh, in our world, to tell us that Jesus is about to come. And that’s really what this is about. So these are signs pointing to the end. Um, it’s kind of like a knock in the engine, right?

Chris
When you’re driving down the road, all of a sudden your engine starts making weird noises and you’re like, you’re like, I probably should get that check because something bad’s about to happen.

Jeff
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So that’s what this is. So, um, let’s just we’re going to go through a few of these in the book of Mark, chapter 13, Jesus says, the disciples say, tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will show us that these things are about to to be fulfilled? And Jesus replied, don’t let anyone mislead you. For many will come in my name, claiming, I’m the Messiah, and they’ll deceive many. And you’ll hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in many parts of the world as well as famines. But this is only the first of the birth pains with more to come. Yeah. So first of all, Jesus said, don’t be misled that that’s really the big the big point there.

Chris
Right. And by the way, you know, uh, I would venture to say that all of the things that he’s mentioned, uh, happened in the first century. Yeah. And the second century and the third and the fourth and the fifth. Right. So wars and rumors of wars, kingdom going against kingdom nation against nation, earthquakes, famines. Uh, this has been a part of every generation. Yeah.

Jeff
The difference would be and this could be a hint that he’s making as well. The difference would be if you lived in South America a thousand years ago and a war broke out in Southeast Asia, you wouldn’t have ever heard about it, right? If a famine was happening in Africa and you lived in Scandinavia, you wouldn’t know about it, right? Right. Earthquake happened somewhere. You wouldn’t have known about it unless it happened close to you. So the difference is now that whole idea of wars and rumors of wars, knowledge that the world is just coming apart at the seams will continue to increase towards the end. And I think that that’s one of the things that, you know, it’s it should kind of give us more confidence today even than those readers knowing man alive. It just seems to be bigger. We know everything happening all the time. And, you know, uh, there’s a lot of people screaming about the end of the world all the time because of, you know, different, uh, calamities or things happening on the planet.

Chris
And think about the time how much time has passed since Jesus gave this morning. Don’t be misled. Yeah. Uh, from that time until this time. So it’s 2000 years. Yeah. And then think about this. Uh, remember the movie back to the future? They were excited for the very first television. Oh, right. Right. They rolled out the TV. Yeah. And Marty says we have two TVs. Don’t be silly. Nobody has two TVs.

Jeff
That’s right.

Chris
Okay. And then think about when you and I were in college, the internet didn’t exist.

Jeff
That’s right. Yeah, right.

Chris
So. So we’re talking about, like, just 30 years ago. No internet. Right. You know, uh, 70 years ago, no TV. And believe it or not, this is probably the hardest to believe. But the first iPhone, do you know when it came out in the 2000, 2007.

Jeff
Yeah. Wow

Chris
Which means, like we’ve only had the iPhone for not that long.

Jeff
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Chris
What’s that been 16 years.

Jeff
Yeah 15 years.

Chris
So so that I mean. And you can’t even imagine a world without such a device.

Jeff
No. Yeah, yeah.

Chris
A computer in your pocket. Uh, so, so it’s so it’s definitely, uh, you know, just a just our generation. All we’ve known is, is we’re aware of all the wars and rumors of wars. Yeah, right.

Jeff
So I stay up, pretty much. I stay current on what’s happening around the world as much as possible. I usually read a lot of headlines from multiple sources, not just one source know what’s going on. But I’ve been amazed lately how quickly my daughter comes and tells me something that happens in the world before me, and I go, oh really? What news source? And it’s like TikTok, right? That something happens around the world. Bam! It just flies through TikTok and all the 20 year olds know about it, right? Just immediately. And then I’m like, what? And I got to go look up headlines, you know, to to go figure out what’s happening. So, uh, the pace of news and information is going faster. That’s really one of the things. But Jesus really makes a big deal here He said, really? Here’s the thing. Don’t be misled. That’s the warning. I think, that we need to take into this, um, when it comes to people who are claiming they know everything or that they have all the answers, you know, it’s easy to get drawn in by somebody who claims that they know the future, right? Right. And, uh, false teachers, uh, tell us all kinds of things, and they tell us that we can know things that other people don’t know. And they’re really, you know, appealing to our pride.

Chris
And so one of the things that we talked about before the podcast was the National Enquirer. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, uh, even today, right now, uh, it’s not as popular as it used to be. But when you check out at Kroger or any supermarket, usually the National Enquirer is right there, right? Right. And they have the most ridiculous headlines and even I pulled some up, even though, you know, it’s a lie, it still draws you in.

Jeff
Yeah. You know, it’s a lie. But you’re like, oh, I gotta read that article. Right. So here’s one that says, uh, alien Bible found. Turns out they worship Oprah.

Chris
Wow.

Jeff
Um, man’s 174 mile per hour sneeze, blows wife’s hair off Saddam and Osama adopt shaved ape baby. Oh my goodness.

Chris
And the pictures are excellent.

Jeff
Yeah, fat Cat owns 23 old ladies.

Chris
Oh, jeez.

Jeff
And this one was so funny. Christmas miracle severed leg hops to the hospital. Oh, and then the other headline was Cannibal Chef gets his own TV cooking show.

Chris
Do you know that? I actually remember seeing severed leg hops to the hospital. I remember seeing that. Yeah. That’s hilarious.

Jeff
The one I remember, all the batboy. Remember all the bat boy ones?

Chris
Bad boys. Yeah.

Jeff
So anyways, you know, even though. So sometimes you’re flipping through the channels and you see on TV somebody that’s waxing eloquent and acting like they know every detail. Just don’t be misled. It’s it’s kind of one of those things. It’s hard to look away. Right? Right. Just don’t get sucked into it. Um, so there are a number of signs preceding the end, right? He’s literally saying it’s just around the corner. He doesn’t tell us exactly when, but just that it’s getting close. It’s kind of like when they dim the lights in a theater. Yeah. Right. Yeah.

Chris
And you know it’s coming. You know, the lights dim and then I get all excited, you know? And I like the previews. Yeah, yeah. And you don’t know how long the previews are going to be, because on new releases, sometimes they can go 25 minutes. Oh yeah. Yeah. But if their movie’s been out a while, previews are like seven minutes. Yeah. Right. And so my wife joined me for the we just went and saw the flash and she, and she, uh, she joined me and she said uh, well, I’m late. And I sat down and I said, it’s okay. It’s a brand new release. I said, it’s going to be 25 minutes for the previews. Yeah, yeah. So in other words, the point is you don’t know when the show is going to start, but they’re dimming the lights now. But you know it’s coming.

Jeff
So here’s a few things. Um, apostasy is is one of the big ones, uh, increasing evil in the world. Scoffers many false prophets. Right. Let’s just read through a few of these passages. Uh, he says for a time is coming when people will.

Chris
This is second Timothy four.

Jeff
Yes, second Timothy four, chapter three or, uh, chapter four, verse three, for a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching, they’ll follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear, they’ll reject the truth and chase after myths. But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering, for the Lord. Work it telling others the good news and fully carry out the ministry God has given you. Yeah, so isn’t that something? Here he is again. He’s telling you a little bit about the end times. But keep working. Keep telling people about Jesus.

Chris
Right.

Jeff
Um that’s really amazing.

Chris
Yeah.

Chris
And, you know, it’s, uh, it’s easy to recognize that, you know, people who tell say things that you want to hear and they chase after myths. Uh, naturally, people are going to be attracted to that because I think that, uh, you know, it’s it’s the same reason why we’ll go to a church. That’s just a feel good church. Yeah. You know, and we have to recognize. Hey, wait a minute. This church doesn’t preach enough of the truth, right? Right. Because, I mean, I’ve actually been a, you know, I’ve tuned in on TV and seen a lot of those. Sure. It’s like, this is really good, but where’s the where’s the hard truth?

Jeff
Yeah, it is, it is the nature of humanity to want to go find a religion that matches up with what they believe, rather than choosing to believe what the Bible says. Right. So I want to find preachers who agree with me, rather than me deciding I’m going to agree with what the Bible says. And so he said, that’s going to become more and more and quite honestly, that that leads to apostasy. The other one is, uh, increasing evil. In Second Timothy chapter three, he says, you should know this Timothy that in the last days there will be very difficult times, for people will love only themselves and their money. They’ll be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving. They’ll slander others and have no self-control. They’ll be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends. They’ll be reckless. They’ll be puffed up with pride and love, pleasure rather than God. They’ll act religious, but they’ll reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that. Yeah. So he says, in the end times, it’s going to get pretty crazy.

Chris
And you know what, by the way, I I’m just gonna say two things about this. Number one, uh, every generation would say that about the next generation. No. No doubt. Yeah. But then also, we have to consider that it always gets worse with every generation.

Jeff
Every generation gets worse. So.

Chris
So even though that, you know, three generations ago they said that about, you know, our grandfathers, uh, the hippies Yeah.

Jeff
The hippies. Hippies.

Chris
Yeah. They would say that, you know, they would say, well, Jesus is coming back because this is true. Right? Um, we have to recognize the fact that, like, there is no other generation that fits this description in a worse way than than our current generation.

Jeff
Our current generation especially, they will be cruel and hate what is good.

Chris
Yes. Right. Oh yeah.

Jeff
That is that that is you just described our society right now. Our society straight up.

Chris
Yeah. Right.

Jeff
Cruel and hate what is good. Yeah. And so there’s a then, uh, second Peter. Peter tells us in the last times scoffers are gonna come. Scoffers are those that mock the teachings of God or the things of God. So Peter says in Second Peter three three, most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. Yeah, right. Uh, mocking the truths of God, uh, flaunting their sin publicly out in the dude. Again, that’s a descriptor of our society today, right? Uh, Isaiah says they will call evil good and good evil. That’s what Peter’s talking about. Not only that, they’ll live it out in front of you and throw it in your face all the time. Yeah, right.

Chris
Yeah. I was just going to say and also, uh, in Matthew 24, another indicator is many false prophets.

Jeff
Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Chris
And Matthew 2411 says, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Yeah. And, uh, you know, I just have to say this, but like, on the news I just saw, I guess in Jerusalem, they feel like they found the Messiah.

Jeff
Yeah. There’s a new one.

Chris
Yeah, there’s a new one. And this one isn’t just a new one. Like he’s here and gone in five minutes. This this is thousands upon thousands of people. And just like you said, TikTok. Right? I’ve seen him on TikTok. Yeah. And he is. He is. You know, it’s just crazy. Yeah.

Jeff
It’s crazy. There’s, uh, I was just in Israel, uh, a couple weeks ago and on the backs of a lot of road signs all throughout the country are these huge posters of a messiah that died a couple years ago, and his people are waiting for him to resurrect. Right. And so they’re convinced that that’s the Messiah, and they’re trying to highlight the fact that this other guy that they found, um, now is not the Messiah. Right? So they’ve got posters all over the country. So there’s kind of an argument in Israel over who actually is the current messiah, the one who just died, who’s going to resurrect, or the one who’s teaching now, who needs to die and resurrect.

Chris
Wow. Right. Sounds like the beast in the second beast. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jeff
It’s pretty, pretty amazing. Uh, what’s what’s happening? But this happens all the time. Uh, it doesn’t have to only be in Judaism, though. There’s people all over the place who say, hey, we found this guru, we found this great teacher, we found this this guy who, uh, you know, can teach us how to tap into our spirit guides or whatever and have these spiritual engagements and all these kinds of things. And so there’s it doesn’t have to only be a Jewish messiah. It’s this is the person who has all the answers is what he’s really talking about there. So it makes sense to me, as you look at these things, that the lines would be drawn at the end, right? Either for God or against God. And there aren’t going to be any fence sitters, you know, right? When Jesus returns and the world’s going to be divided into two different groups, either you’re for Jesus or against Jesus. And right now there’s not a lot of people who go, yeah, you know, I’m kind of neutral with regard to Christianity. People love Jesus or hate Jesus. That’s that’s really how it works around the world. Um, so those are kind of some of the warning signs, you know, you’re hearing the the noise in the engine Something bad’s about to happen. Uh, now there are other signs that accompany the end times, right? This is the end is near. The end is here.

Chris
This is after the engine falls out.

Jeff
It literally falls out. It’s smoking all over, and you’re pulled over on the side of the road, and then you’re like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. By this time, everybody’s going to know for sure that the end is here and it’s stuff like this. He says in Luke chapter 21, there will be great worldwide distress, uh, he says, and there will be strange signs in the sun, the moon and the stars. And here on Earth, the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and the strange tides. And people be terrified at what they see coming upon the earth. For the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up for your salvation is near.

Chris
Well, there’s no doubt about something will be happening if, if if something happens with the sun, the moon and the stars. Right? So when stars start falling out of the sky. Yeah. And the sun starts scorching people because it’s so hot and killing them, that’s probably a good sign that something supernatural sees strange tides.

Jeff
Yes. All those kinds of things. Yeah, it’s it’s pretty, pretty crazy stuff.

Chris
Well, because it says that the sun is going to go I mean, we haven’t read that yet, but the sun is going to go dark and then the moon, the moon will stop reflecting the sun. It’s crazy. And of course, we know that the moon is connected to tides, right?

Jeff
Yeah.

Chris
So that’s that’s probably what, what that’s referring to.

Jeff
And it literally says for the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then he says, everyone is going to see the Son of Man come. Then that’s when you’re gonna see. So, hey, if you want to know if is it going to happen? Well, these these sun, moon and star stuff. Tides all those things. So here’s what happens. By the way, I just want to point this out. Old Christians will argue, uh, when they read about these kind of prophetic things. Um, and they’ll use all these complex words post-tribulation mid-tribulation, uh, Pre-tribulation kind of arguments. But new Christians just look up. Right? And that’s what he says when you see these things happen, look up. So a newer Christian, somebody who has maybe a simpler view of these things, which I think is a good place to be on this, uh, when you read it and you start to see these things, you just look up, hey, Jesus is coming. Oh, good. Jesus is coming. And then the longer you go, if you’re not careful, you get sucked into the arguments about these things. So, dude, I don’t know the specifics about every one of these things, but I can tell you, when the stars start falling and the tides start rising, look up. Jesus is coming back. Right? And that’s really the best way, I think, to to take that. So he wants us to see both something terrible and something wonderfully real and that’s that. This world won’t last. Right. So we tend to put our our hope and our trust in what we can accomplish and have on this world. And one of the things is you study the end times. You just come to the understanding that this world is not going to last. And and it’s it’s terrifying on one side, but on the other side, knowing what he offers next is incredible. And so it’s going to be okay.

Chris
And keep in mind that all of this is written by the apostle John, which, by the way, we forgot to mention. Yeah, yeah. So John is is banished, uh, to the to an island. It’s an island. The book of Revelation, uh, called Patmos. Right? Yep. And so he is he’s writing a vision. And, uh, this is a vision that was God given. And so he’s the one who, you know, we’re talking about the apostle who’s, uh, he’s he’s the I think he’s he may be the last one left alive.

Jeff
He was the oldest. He was 110, I think 110.

Chris
This was written about 95 A.D.. And so, uh, quite a few years after and, uh, and God gave him the privilege of seeing the future in some pretty radical ways. Yeah, yeah.

Jeff
So when people begin to, the world begins to go into chaos. When when people begin to believe they’re about to lose everything that they’ve been trying to build, and it becomes clear and clear that this world isn’t going to last. Those people who’ve placed all their hope in this world, and our heart is set on the things that they can accomplish and achieve and acquire in this world. When they begin to lose those things, they’re going to become more and more and more angry with God, right? So this is why Paul and Peter and even Jesus tells us, don’t lay up treasure here on earth. Lay it up in heaven. This isn’t going to last, right? It’s going to rust out. The moths are going to eat it. Uh, Paul tells us we’re just travelers living in temporary tents. Uh, the writer of Hebrews talks about how we are are, uh, temporary citizens on this planet, but we are permanent citizens in heaven, always telling us to look towards eternity, because this isn’t going to last. But the people who only have this are going to get more and more angry towards God. And so you’re going to see this stronger and stronger hatred against God and God’s people during this time. Yeah.

Chris
And in the book of revelation also says that, you know, when these things happen and they’re so incredible, you know, like, uh, a star is going to fall and poison the waters. And we haven’t mentioned that yet. But like, all these strange things are happening, it says that some will see it as a sign and turn to God, and then there will actually be some who would do the opposite. Yeah. In that moment when confronted with all of this, they’re not going to they’re going to think that the fanatics, the fanatic Christians are trying to connect the dots. And somehow this is related to the Bible. Yeah. When, when actually they’ll do is they’ll pass it off as like, you know, sort of like a, uh, Bruce Willis and the comet. Right. Which was. Which was what? Armageddon.

Jeff
Armageddon?

Chris
Yeah. You know, like, they’re like, oh, it’s just a just an evolution thing. A comedy hit the earth and all the, you know, all these things are happening. And we all knew that global warming and the sun and the moon and the sun is going to burn out and all these different kind of things. And so they’re going to pass it off as having nothing to do with God. And it’s just hard to believe. But at the same time, I guess it’s not right.

Jeff
I mean, God told us these things, but either you believe him or you don’t, right. Uh, you know, I have a recent acquaintance that was talking, uh, we were talking about the podcast, and he just said it wouldn’t matter to me whether it was true or not. I still wouldn’t believe it or obey it.

Chris
Wow.

Jeff
Right. That’s that’s a pretty strong statement.

Chris
Yeah, that’s a very.

Jeff
And all I can say is there will. The Bible said that there would be both sides. Right. God’s really, really clear what’s going to happen. And either you’re going to choose to believe and obey or you’re going to choose to reject and not obey. That’s it. So, um, you know, God doesn’t tell us these things to scare us again. What what is Jesus solution? Jesus says, stand and look up for your salvation is near. That’s right. This isn’t to scare us. It’s to say Jesus is coming.

Chris
That’s awesome. Yeah, well, great place to end and hopefully we’ll see you next time on The Bible Guys.