The 'perilous times' warned of in the Bible - are we in those times? by Pat Franklin

The perilous times at the end of the age were the subject and the speaker for our telephone lockdown service of Tongham Christian Fellowship, July 5, 2020, was Colin Le Noury, head of the Prophetic Witness Movement International, based in England.

Colin focused on three end time scriptures:  Luke 21 (Olivet Discourse); 2 Timothy 3; and Revelation 6 (the terrible seal judgements of the Great Tribulation).

He said the ‘perilous times’ that the apostle Paul warned of in 2 Timothy 3 meant hard, difficult, sometimes life-threatening times and Paul described in detail what society would be like.  He thought that Covid was part of the ‘perilous times’ warning.

It could also be part of the fulfilment of Jesus’ prophecy in Luke 21:11 that there would be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences (contagious diseases), he said.

He turned to Revelation 6:8, the fourth seal opened by Jesus, the Lamb of God, in heaven.  When this seal is broken, a pale horse rides out.  The rider is Death and Hell follows with him.  Power is given them to kill ¼ of mankind with the sword (war), hunger (famine), and with beasts of the earth.

Colin thought (and he is not alone in this) that the ‘beasts of the earth’ might well refer to viruses infecting humans.

Worldwide, he said, there were 10 million cases of Covid, and about 500,000 deaths, and he believed that this foreshadowed what was to come.

Before Covid hit, he said the big subject was climate change, and our weather is dictated by the sun and the moon (tides).

He said the Lord Jesus may have been referring to that in Luke 21:25 when He warned of signs in the sun, the moon and the stars ‘and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring’ and men’s hearts failing them for fear of what was coming on the earth (Luke 21:26).

The Covid epidemic had almost eclipsed the terrible storms that have hit the world , but there was something going on with climatic conditions that was disturbing.

And 2 Timothy 3 exactly described our end times society conditions, with its list of horrible characteristics.  This is a description of the generation just before the Lord comes back, and we can tick off every point. 

Paul said people would be increasingly selfish, the ‘me’ generation.

They would be blasphemous, and now in fact it is the age of great blasphemy, with the Lord’s name constantly used by people with no understanding of who God is.  The name of Jesus is used as a swear word, and this is commonplace.

‘It was not so 50 years ago,’ he said.  ‘We have become a blasphemous world.’

And what dreadful news - he said that humanists had established Sept 30 as the International Day of Blasphemy, when people are encouraged to be as vulgar and blasphemous as they like.

Perhaps some of us could hold a day of prayer, thanking God and praising His holy name on that day in particular, he suggested.

Another horrible characteristic on the blacklist is ‘disobedience to parents’.  Colin said there was a lack of discipline in homes and schools.  He did not blame the children, but said it was the fault of our generation, which had failed to instill discipline and this culminated in our children being disobedient.

He particularly cited sex education in schools which rejected previous social values.

Hard to believe it could get worse than that or go lower, but it does, because Colin told us of a new book, ‘The Children’s Book of Demons’ targeting  5-10 year olds.

He said the book invites children to summon up demons, ‘so much fun’!

Another characteristic of the end times in 2 Timothy 3 was verse 3, people with ‘no natural affection.’  He said this referred to homosexuality and quoted Romans chapter 1.  It was not God’s design, but man’s rejection of God’s design.

Despite all this catalogue of depressing things, Colin said we were not to worry or be cast down by Covid or climate change or anything else. 

‘The perilous times should not alarm us, but alert us,’ he said.  As a believer in the pre-Tribulation rapture of the church, he said we should not lose our hope because followers of Jesus would be caught up to join Him in the air (1 Thes 4:16-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:51).

That is our blessed hope and we should live in the expectation of Jesus coming soon.

To which we say:  Amen!  Come soon, Lord Jesus!

Here are a few things different people prayed for in our prayer time:

  • Drive the false leaders out of our pulpits

  • Keep us strong in the Lord to work together for His glory

  • Thank You for keeping Boris Johnson strong on Brexit and for virus numbers going down

  • Help for Christians persecuted in countries including southern Sudan, northern Nigeria and North Korea

  • Help for us to get out and be better witnesses of the gospel

  • Forgiveness for our nation which has become a reprobate society following other gods, even praying with other faiths to their false gods

  • For revival, that God would pour His Spirit on our nation, even as millions round the world are apparently being reached now on the Internet

  • That God would illuminate the people in Boko Haran, who had killed 32 more Christians in northern Nigeria

  • For funds so that Marvin and Orit Kramer in Haifa, Israel, could continue to help mothers of babies who would otherwise have been aborted.  https://afutureandahope.org.il/about-us/ They provide baby cots, clothes and help to get mother and baby through the first year at least.  They have a gallery of baby pictures!  And sometimes they get phone calls thanking them from people who would not be alive today but for their ministry.

  • For divine guidance for President Trump and the leaders of Israel

  • That the threats against Israel would be just hot air and not lead to war

  • That the dangerous drug cannabis would not be legal.  (I know of a 16-year-old who smoked it for the first time, ran out and threw himself in front of a train.  His grandma begged me to publicize this, which I tried to do when she told me about 20 years ago.)

  • Prayers for the sick, including my beloved brother-in-law Kevin in St. Louis, a committed Christian and a carpenter.  His open heart surgery is tomorrow.

 

 *Tongham Christian Fellowship is in Poyle Road, Tongham, Surrey, England  Website is https://yeshuaspeople.com/tonghamcf/

 

 


05/07/2020

 
 
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He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalm 126:6

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