As the world gets ever darker and more desperate for change, what are the predictions? Well, change is coming! The only 100 per cent accurate prophecies are in the Bible and these point to tumultuous events in the fairly near future. In 2015? We don't know. But we do know, from many passages like Matthew 24, what to expect as the time draws close for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We set all this out in our book, Goodbye America, Goodbye Britain. These are the times of the signs. Here’s a sample from chapter one. The book is available from our web shop.
Why I believe These Are the End Times, by Pat Franklin
So-called psychics have satellite TV channels devoted to their deceptions; women’s magazines are full of columns inviting you to call a channeller for advice; the world is eager to find out the future. But it is looking in the wrong places.
There is one holy book, the Bible, whose 40 authors wrote over about 1,500 years. It is sprinkled with prophecy, the only prophecies which can be trusted. I believe we are living in that period of history which you could call the “end times,” when world events are winding up to a conclusion. I believe this because Bible prophecies made long ago are being fulfilled in our day. Here are just a few of the indicators which convincingly show that we are indeed living in the end times.
Deception. There is apostasy in many churches, a “falling away” from the fundamental truths of Christianity. Jesus said: “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come IN MY NAME…” In His name! Matthew 24:4,5. Take heed, folks! Paul warns in 1 Timothy 4:1: “In the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits…”
The very word “fundamental” has acquired a bad reputation, when all it means when applied to Christians is that you believe the fundamental truths of the Bible. Many ministers and bishops deny the most foundational truths of our faith - the virgin birth, the atoning death and the resurrection of Christ.
If you suspect you have a wolf in your pulpit, wearing sheep’s clothing, ask him privately just what he does believe. If he is a wolf, go to the leading men of your church and tackle them about it. If they won’t do anything, ask your minister outright at a public meeting: “Do you believe in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ?” and other essential questions. One brave lady I know did this at her church and the pastor admitted publicly that he did not believe in the virgin birth. He shortly thereafter left the ministry. Hallelujah!
Alan and I were once accused of being “fundamentalists” by someone trying to smear us. I took it as a compliment, a badge of honor, the only one I’m ever likely to get and the only one I want. A Christian fundamentalist is one who believes that the Bible is the Word of God, one who tries to follow the Lord Jesus. It has nothing to do with politics.
False Christs. There are false “Christs” deceiving many (Matthew 24:5). The Greek word “Christ” means “anointed one.” Jesus is the one and only anointed one, the true Christ, the only one who fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of Israel’s Messiah. He alone can baptize with the Holy Spirit. Yet there are men today standing on platforms in churches shouting: “I have the anointing!” No they do not. Only Jesus has the anointing. The closer we get to the Lord’s return, the more false “Christs” will come, and many foolish people will follow them.
Birth pangs. The birth pangs have begun, the “beginning of sorrows”(Matt 24:8). Jesus used the analogy of a woman in labor for the agonising time before His return. Labor pains are spaced out, and they get more frequent and more intense the nearer you get to the birth of the baby. Jesus said the birth pangs, or the beginning of sorrows, would begin with nation rising against nation.
Some scholars believe this was fulfilled by the two world wars, the first time in history that there was global conflict. The next three birth pangs of Matthew 24 are famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. When labor starts, it is painful, and it gets worse; it gets so bad you can hardly stand it. That is what will happen on earth. As the time gets closer to the Lord’s return, the convulsions and contractions will get worse.
The wars, earthquakes, famines and “pestilences” will get worse. The only good thing about labor is that you know that a baby is on the way, and the only comfort in the end times is that not a baby this time, but a King, is coming, the glorious Shepherd-King of Israel.
Israel. Israel is back in the land. Many prophecies in the Old Testament foretell that the Jews would disobey God and that they would then be scattered throughout the world, suffering terrible persecution, but that they would be re-gathered to the land God promised to the descendents of Abraham. That is precisely what has happened. They were exiled from their homeland after the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70A.D. and they suffered for nearly 1900 years.
Against all the odds, they survived many attempts to wipe them out, and they kept their identity as a people. The Bible accurately predicted that they would one day return to that same piece of Middle Eastern real estate. The milestone here is 1948, when the state of Israel was formed by a vote in the United Nations – even though that institution by and large hates the Jewish people. In other words, it was impossible, but God had said it would happen, and – praise the Holy One of Israel - it happened just as He said it would.
Roman Empire. The incredible has happened. The Roman Empire is also back. The nation states of Europe have banded together into the European Union, the EU, which began with the Treaty of Rome in 1957.
It was Rome which governed Israel in the Lord’s day and which destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. Rome will play a major role in the end of this present era as well. An art exhibition put on by the EU trumpeted “the revived Roman Empire.”
Daniel 9:26 speaks of “the people of the prince that shall come.” The “prince that shall come” is the Antichrist. The “people of the prince that shall come” were the Romans. True to the Bible, the EU, the revived Roman Empire, is extending its tentacles towards Israel now.
The book goes on to cover many other matters which should be of vital concern to the world as the time of man’s misrule of the earth comes to a close. The church- and world – should be yearning for His return. Instead, as our friend Dave Reagan says, it is mostly yawning. Help us to wake it up!
Alan will speak to any church in America or the United Kingdom which invites him. Time is short, especially if you want to book him this year. Contact him at alan@thefreepressonline.co.uk
