Understanding the Signs of the Times

Mar 16, 2022

The Natural Consequence of Fundamental Opposition to God and His Law – Romans 3:11

(There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God)

· Western societies have become increasingly secularized while Arab/Middle Eastern societies have become increasingly religious with a desire to have western societies “submit” (ie the literal translation of Islam) to its ideas and the primacy of the Qu’uran. Islam is a religion that promotes violent overthrow of western society yet paradoxically, is embraced and supported by many atheists. It is a religion completely opposed to the God of the Hebrew and Christian bible. As increasing numbers of Muslims infiltrate Western countries, the impact of Islam will be apparent not just in terrorist attacks but also in opposition to basic ideas of freedom.

· The foundation of law in Western societies, based on the Bible is under challenge and nation groups like the EU have asserted a secular understanding of society in their founding documents.

· The Judeo-Christian heritage is one whereby the concepts of the inalienable rights of the individual, freedom, sanctity of life and the rule of law have been enshrined in various constitutions – notably the US Constitution.

· Universities around the world have been dominated by collectivist and “social justice” teaching, with Christian groups being hounded off campuses for being intolerant. A view with man at the centre of everything is the foundational idea of the humanities and even science has been overtaken by politics, evident in the coronavirus pandemic. One of the basic ideas in opposition to God’s Word is that there is no truth, everything is relative and the post-modernists have overtaken the education system.

· Fundamental biblical views such as the sanctity of life and opposition to homosexuality have been overturned in legal cases and even the mainstream church denominations are supporting “social justice”. In the last 30 years, abortion, euthanasia and homosexual lifestyles have been upheld in legal cases.

· In summary – the idea that there is a God, He created all things, He has revealed Himself through Jesus and He is a righteous and jealous God with His own standards, has been thrown out by western society and even many churches. The fact that this Christian foundation, which was widely accepted for many hundreds of years, has now been destroyed, provides a basis for views opposed to God, rushing in to fill the resulting vacuum.

· Everything that is happening can be more easily understood through the lens of Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Without a fear of the Lord – anything goes – the prizes go to the strongest, most aggressive and most vocal (particularly on social media). According to the Bible, to even begin to have wisdom, we need the fear (reverence) of the Lord and this link is worthwhile reading to understand more of the Hebraic concept of “fear of the Lord” - Fear of the Lord

The Replacement of God with The “New God” – Earth and The Climate – Romans 1:25

(who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.)

· If God has been rejected then mankind needs something to worship apart from himself.

· Climate change has been seized upon as a narrative and a focus for saving “mother earth” and the solutions involve a unified global “one world” approach. The ideas always promote the precedence of the collective over the individual.

· In every country there has been the rise of the “Greens” as a political force and this group has been particularly effective in Europe and European policies and drives thinking at the COP UN Climate Change Conferences, most recently in Glasgow - UN Climate Change Conference - UK 2021

· It is acknowledged even by the climate activists that if the climate change narrative is real, nothing that we do now will have any impact (given the significant role of China and India in emissions). Nonetheless, there is widespread acceptance that policies that cripple our economy (stopping mining, fuel exploration etc) need to be implemented.

· The “green” policies have been embraced on the left and the outcome is undoubtedly economic disaster as cheap energy is rejected for “climate friendly” energy policies. The impact will be severe on the economies of western societies as the funds spent to “mitigate” the impact of climate make economies unproductive.

· Green policies also involve a redistribution of wealth and control of the means of production – in other words a socialist system where the rights of the collective are more important than the rights of the individual.

· “Protection” of Gaia – “mother earth” means that population control is a natural consequence. The evil of the Chinese government’s former one child policy and the forced abortion of millions of babies around the world is a consequence of this new religion.

Education and The Media – Only One Acceptable Viewpoint – Isaiah 59:14

(Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter.)

· The preparation of a whole population for a godless, man-centred view could not have been accomplished without formation of the minds and hearts of several generations.

· Expansion of the higher education system has meant the ability for a great level of indoctrination of the population with fashionable views about identity, gender theory, white privilege, and revision of historical events as racist and imperialist. These views have impacted several generations and are widespread throughout the education system.

· Post-modernism, has been a foundational philosophy now for 50 years and its central thesis is that there is no truth.

· Media schools have sprung up in universities which promote an extreme left-wing view of the world and these graduates then amplify the messages they have learnt through a range of media organisations.

· Increasingly, freedom of speech is being denied in all major institutions as claims of micro-aggression, the patriachy and other destructive ideas gain currency.

· Social media has come to the forefront of harassment of people with “unacceptable ideas” with not only individuals being “outed” but various individual’s views being deemed “hate speech” and then advertisers targeted to try to silence these viewpoints. It has been particularly notable with the Black Lives Matter movement where anyone who expresses concerns about the Marxist foundations is then said to the “racist”.

· The basic right of freedom of speech is being lost and it is evident that Christian viewpoints will soon be seen to be destructive to harmonious society.

The Destruction of the Family – 2 Timothy 3:1-5

(But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!)

· God’s work and His purposes from the first have been through families. He created a family and then saved a family (the family of Noah) and then set apart a family (the family of Abraham) and from many families he chose a people (the Hebrews) for Himself. His purpose was for all families to be saved as children come under the influence of their parents and learn the law of sowing and reaping The Inescapable Law of Sowing and Reaping

The inbuilt differences and then consequential potential enmity between husbands and wives used to be offset by societal pressures to stay together. This was dramatically changed with the arrival of “no-fault” divorce laws, making divorce easier and the women’s movement highlighting the rights of women, including the right to do whatever they wanted and to be “free”.

· The rise of the LGBTQ+ agenda has been a fascinating study in how a fringe ideology has been able to gain central ground and now dominate society completely. What started as small group asserting various rights has now moved to the mainstream so that anyone who opposes homosexuality in any way, can be taken through a variety of legal processes to bring them into line with modern human rights. It is interesting that this ideology has now moved on to opposing any concept of biological gender, against the whole work of God’s creation of male and female. Witness the vitriolic attacks on J.K. Rowling, a once darling of the left, because she opposes transgender people calling themselves women.

· At the heart of all these issues is the destruction of the concept of family and gender and the differences between men and women as “equality” is sought in all areas.

The Rise of Lawlessness – Matthew 24:12, 1 John 3:4

(And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold; Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.)

· The foundation of western society is the rule of law, founded in private property rights and individual liberty within the constraints of laws with their underpinnings in the 10 Commandments.

· The Black Lives Matter movement is one of a long line of Marxist/Anarchist movements whose fundamental ideology is the overthrow of western democratic society.

· George Soros’ Open Society Foundation (Open Society Foundation ) is one of a variety that seek to eliminate national borders and bring about equality for all. The foundation supports various Marxist causes including more recently Black Lives Matter. After all the violence in the US in 2020, BLACK LIVES MATTER has gained financial support in the billions through various individuals and large companies (eg Google, facebook, Amazon, Apple, Walmart, Target). These aim of these groups is to create change through lawlessness, looting and destruction of society so that a new order can be brought about. Interestingly, these aims have strong support from the current Democratic Party in the US.

· Lawlessness is being supported by the Democratic Party in the US where there was failure to condemn rioting and looting and even the police were ordered to vacate their precincts. There have been well-organized attempts to defund the police in various states.

· The lack of response by authorities in Democratic cities in the US to lawless acts will lead to further lawlessness. The end result will be the need for martial law to be imposed and then the only solution – a man of lawlessness, the Antichrist, will arise at some stage to provide a solution.

Christian believers need to be as “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16) with an understanding that the challenges for the church and for people of faith are going to get more difficult. Our assurance is the Jesus will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail (Matthew 16:18). Our role is to “watch and pray always” (Luke 21:36) and understand the signs of the times, like the sons of Issachar (1 Chronicles 12:32) and be ready for the return of the King!

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