The Shepherd's P.O. Box 416, Gravette, AR 72 Chapel 501-787-6026 Dr. Arnold Murray, DRE Newsletter #224 = June 1997 ©1997 scn Signs af Christ's Beturn One of the most asked ques: tions is, "When is Christ going to return" There are many prophecies, ot signs, that musi come to pass before Christ will return, The better understanding you have of these signs, the better you will be prepared for this wonderful event, Let's turn fo Lukeas we begin our study, 21 And when He was demanded of the Foarizoee, when ihe kingcom of God should come, He answered therm and said. ‘The kingdom af Gad comein fot with observation; 25 Neither shall thay say. Lo. here! cr, Te there" for, behold the kingdom of God is watnin you." Christ will rewen without a lotof outward show, Especially, for those that don't know enough about the Bible tounderstand the signs. The kingdom of God is, sealed in your mind, within you, LUKE $7.22 And He sald unlo the disciples, "The days ‘nll come, hen ye shall desire 10 se8 one af the days of te Son of man, and ye shall ol soe it Christ is preparing the disciples for the day He would 10 Jonger be with them. IKE 17-23-24 And they shat say to you, ‘See here,’ Gr, 860 there: go not sitar them, nor fallow them. 24 For a8 tho sighting, that Jighteneth out of tho ane part under heaven, shineth unto ine other part under heaven; 50 shall also the Son of man be in His day. Don't be deceived by antichrist. As sure as the suf comes up in the moeing, the Trve Christ will turn al the appoinied time. You can sount on ik, LUKE 17:25 But fret must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. Jesus did suffer, and He was rejected. LUKE 17.2027 And as it was in the days of Nos, $0 shall f be alto. i the days o/ the Son of man. © nay did coh they ora ey mated wives, "hey ven in mariage emit tho day that Now entered it ark, and the cod came, and dosteyed them Noe is the Greek for Noah, Who married wives? You pow tava the phil, ofan anges as is ecard in KE 17:28 Likewise alco as it was in tho days of Lot fey oid eat, they arank, they bought, they sald, they plamted, they builded: Tuey bought and gold sodovny. They planted oception and false religions. What did they build? We will Tarn, LUKE 17-2990 But the same day wnat Lot went out of Sadom i rained fire and brimstone trom heaven, and Gestreyed them all. 30 Even thus shall be in tho day then the Son of man is revealed. kis intevesting to note that Lot in Hebrew means a veil, or covesing. When Christ returns, He ‘vill be revealed, AUKE 17:31 In that doy, he which shall bs upon the houseiop, and his stuff in the house: let him net coma ‘Gown (0 take Ht sway: and he that is in the fold, lot him ikewise not setura back. ‘You should recognize this Seripcure from Matthew 24 ‘und Mark 13. The reason T am covering theve verses is $0 You have the time being diseussed fixed in you mind, We are talking about Christ's return, Remember Lot's mite. 23 Whosoever shall ‘Save his life shall fosa it; and whosoever shall ese his lle shall preserve it ‘Those that try to sive the dhings of this ward shall lose them, LUKE_17:24 J tell you, ia that night there shall be two men ig ene bed: the one shall be taken, and tho ether Shall ba Taft Be the one left, Dao't follow the false messiah, UKE 1735436 Two wemen shal be grinding fogethort ihe one shall be taken, and the other loft 28 Twe men hal be In he fet the one shat bs taken, and the other Lets do a litle math. We have six persons discussed in the last three verses. Thres aro deceived and three are not I ‘wonder if that percentige would Bold today. As Tloak around this world, [think a let more than Fifty percent srll he de- ceived. Christ told us His retum wauld be as in the days af Lot. ‘What was ecing on then? GENESIS 18:1:2 And there came two angels 10 Sodom ‘at avan, and Lot sat fn the gate of Sodom: and Lot seein them rose up io meet them; and ho bowed. hinsolt wil his face towaed the ground, 2 And he said, “Behold cow, my fords, tun tn, J pray you, inte your servant's house, nd tary all night, and wash your fast, and ye shal 186 yp early, and ge! on your ways." And they sae, "Nay? But we" wilh able in Ihe street all nigh.” Lot knew what would happen io them in the sirecis of Sodom at night GENESIS 193-4 And he pressad ypon them greatly: and They tuned ia_unta. him, and entered into. Ris house: and hho made them a feast, and cid bake unloavenad broad, and oy dd eat, 4 But betoro they fay’ down, the men Sf tha ety. aven tha men of Sodom, compassed tne house ound, Beth ofa and young, all ins. people Wom every quater: ‘This is what it was ke in the days of Lot, GENESIS 19:6. And they called unto Lat, and said unto im, “Where are the men which came in to thee thie ight? bring them out unto us, Mal we may know then.So there is no coor for doubt, the Sodomites wanted to have homosexual elations with the two vistors, Are-you beginning to see the picture? Could some of the diseases of this generation point to the days of Lot? GENESIS 19:6:8 And Lot wont out at the door unto them, and shut the door sfier him, 7 And said“) pray ‘you, brethren, do not 50 wickeoly. 8 Behold, ow, | have tho daughlers which have not krown man: let me, 1 pray you. briog them out unio you, and da ye te them ae Is 'good in your eyes: only unie these mon do nothing, for"thevofore camé they under the chadow of my rack! Thave always had a problem with this last verse. IPL were in Lot's place, the war would have already been on Perhaps, Lot knew the Sodomites wouldn't bother his daughters. They wanted men GENESIS 19:9 And they said, "Stand back' And they ‘Sait again, “This ane fellow came In {0 sojoum, and Ke wil needs be a Jude: now wil we doal worse ih tee, {tran wilt them.” And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lol, and came near'te braak the door ‘The Sodomitas are calling Lota foreigner and ques: Lioning his right to set himself up as a judge BENESIS 19:10 But the men put iorth thelr hand, and Pulled Lot info the house to ther, and shut to the doar, ‘The men in this verse are the two angels. They are about tado something very righteous, C wonder if they will be gentle? GENESIS 19:11 And they smote the men that were at tho door of the haves wih Bindness, Bol srnall and great: so thal they wearied thameoivos’ to tnd the aser, ‘Young und old were struck blind by God. In their porversion, they still wore themselves out scratching to find the door. The tira angels then. led Lot, his wife and his daughters out of Sodom and Gommorah. Lots wife would took back and become a pillar of salt, This ig what vas happening in the days of Lot.1 want you co Keow wat the Soddomites were building, Remember, itis a sign. ILKINGS 23:5 Ang he pul down the idolatrous priests, Whom the Ritgs ef Judah had ordained 0 Duin incense in’ tho ‘high places ‘in iPe aiiea af dudeh, find nis places round about Jerusalem: then also that bumed incense unto, Baal, (2 the sun, and 10 the moon, and {9 the planots, and to all the hast of heaven Yes, God placed the heavens for signs, Be careful ‘There are many false religions based on the Reavens, Unfortunately, we have seen recent exaniples of wha these false religions are capable of doing, The “he” is Hilkiah the priest. {LHINGS 23:6 And he brought out the grove fram tha house of the LOMO, without Jerusalem, unio tne brook Kicion, and bummed ft at the brook Kidron, and stamped small to ponder, and cast the ponder thorea! upon the graves “of the’ ehulsren of the people. What was this grove in the house of the Lord’? When 1 think of grove, Think of stand of trees. Not so inthis HRINGS 28:7 An Do brake down the houses. of the sodomites, thst were by the Nouso of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove. ‘The grove that was in the house of God is fidm the Hebrew word “ashersh” (ash-ay-taw), This ward is mascu line. tas also from the prime word meaning straight, of eect Stay with me here, You must know. The Sodomites but a phallic symbol and placed it in the house of God to worship. JInstead of worshipping the Creator, they worshipped a symbol of reproduction of fife. You see now why God. destroyed Sexdom and Gomortha, They were an abomination. ‘That is how it was in the days of Lot. What ahout inthe days of Noa? Lets go to Jude WWDE 16-7 | And the angels which state, but felt their enn habitation, in evenasting chains under darkness unio the judgement Of the great day. 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorsha, and the cies about them, in dike manner giving themselves over ta fomicalian, and going after sirange flesh, are set forth fer an example, sufferiag th vengeance of etamal’ te, ‘The fallen angels of Noab's day were also gotng after sirange flesh. Going after strange flesh is the eause af aids {oday. Pather does fac like perversion, Am I teaching hate toward certain groups of people? Nof What they do behind closed deors is their business; however, they had better nol bering their perversion in front of my faily, or worse into the House of God. IF they went to dic of aids fine have a good tip, Would I rather see them change tir lie siyke and ‘et into God's Word? Yest But remember, Chrast told us it ‘would be as in Lot's day, when He returns, In conclusion, lets go to the two witnesses in Revelation 11, REVELATION 11:7 And when whey shall havo finished their testimony, tho beast that ascendetn out of tho bottomless pit ‘shall make war against then, and shall overcame them, and ill them, Aapt ot their frst Ee hath ‘sored When the to witnesses are killed, we know one of the very lastsigns of Christ's retura has been fulfilled REVELATION 118 And thelr dead bodies shall lie in ihe street of te great ily. which spintually 1s called Sovom and Egypl, where als our bord was cruciiod. Chriss teachings come to pass just as they are written, ‘As He told ws in Luke, it willbe just asin the days of Lot Jerusalem will be spiritually ealled Sodom. What happens. theee and one-half days later? Skip to verse fifteen. HEVELATION 1:18 And the seventh angel sounded: and there ware qreat voices in heaven, eaying,. "The kingdoms of this ‘world are become the kin of cur LOR, and of His: Christ; and Ho shalt r2ign for ever ‘Why is iL important that we know these things? This year we have seen one of ovr stiles pass laws honoring same Sex marriages, Other slates are considering doing the same, ‘What happens when you honor same sex holy maseimony in God's house? They are bringing perversion right back inca God's house just the same as the Sadomites built a phallic symbol ta place near the alta. Friends, these days are not ‘much diffecent than the days of Lot. The signs and prophe- cies of Christ's return are coming to pass. In His Service,