SIGNS OF LAST TIMES 1. Many deceivers will spring up and deceive God's children. Mark 13:6. 2.

Wars and rumours of wars. Mark 13:7. 3. Nation and kingdom against Nation and kingdom. Mark 13:8. 4. There shall be earthquakes, pestilences, famines and troubles in diverse pla ces. Mark 13:8. 5. Delivering His true children to affliction and persecution. Math.24:9. 6. Many of His children will be killed. Math.24:9. 7. His children should be hated of all nations. Math.24:9. 8. Many shall be offended. Math.24:10. 9. Shall betray one another to death. Math.24:10. 10. Shall hate one another. Math.24:10. 11. Many false prophets will spring up to deceive His children.Math.24;11. 12. The love of many shall wax cold. Math.24:12. 13. The Gospel shall be preached unto all nations. Math.24L14 14. The abomination of desolation. Math.24:15; Mark 13;14. 15. Great Tribulation. Math.24:21. 16. There shall rise false Christs and prophets and do wonders and shows great signs - deceive the very elect. Math.24:24. 17. Immediately after the Tribulation, the sun shall be darkened.Math.24:29 18. The moon shall not give her light. Math.24:29. 19. The stars shall fall from heaven and Math.24:29 20. The powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Math.24:29. 21. Return of the Jews to Palestine (fig tree). Math.24:32; Isa.11:11,12; Mk.13:28. 22. As in the days of Noah and Lot - eating, drinking, etc. Luke 17:2630;24:38. 23. His children shall be brought before rulers and kings. 24. Brother x Brother; Father x Son; Children x Parents. 25. Seas and waves roaring. Luke 21:25. I Thess.5:3

26. They shall say peace and safety - sudden destruction - shall not escape.

27. There should come a falling away first (present day Churches). II Thess.2:3. 28. Perilous times should come. II Tim.3:1-5; Titus 1:16. 29. Rejecting sound doctrines. II Tim.4:3,4. 30. Giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. I Tim.4:1. 31. False teachers, they shall with feigned words make merchandise. II Pet.2:1, 2,3. 32. There shall come scoffers walking after their own lusts. II Pet.3:3,4. 33. There shall come mockers... not the spirit. Jude 18,19. 34. Prepare war .. let them come up. Joel 3:9. 35. Ethiopia - great pain. Ezekiel 30:3,4,9. 36. Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, according to prophecy. Luke 21:24. Sign of the second advent of Christ About three hundred prophecies were uttered through the word of God, concerning the first advent of Christ. And as a fulfilment of these prophecies, Christ cam e into the world in due time. But about his Second Advent more prophecies are uttered than about the first. If the first prophecies were fulfilled, the second also must be fulfilled, and the y are all almost fulfilled before us, and we are witnesses to them. His first advent was to save sinners; i.e., He came to be a ransom for the sins of the people. But His Second Advent will be to gather His saints together. Ch rist was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him s hall he appear the second time, without sin unto salvation" (Heb. 9:28). (But t o bring to full salvation - Philip translation). This full salvation work in the individual life is to prepare a Church or Body f or the Lord Jesus Christ. "And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Eph. 1:22,23). The building of such a Body was started on the day of Pentecost, by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul, writing to the Corinthian Church, explains this. "For by one Sprit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Genti les, whether we be bond or free: and have been all made to drink into one Spirit " (I Cor.12:13). This experience was repeated among the believers for some tim e, say, till the third Century and then ceased. This period according to the Bi ble is called the "former rain" period. Thereafter this doctrine on the Baptis m of the Holy Spirit as a definite and exclusive experience, ceased to be preach ed: and therefore people lost the experience and the knowledge of it. But God h as given us a promise that he would give us the former rain and the latter rain, "Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he h ath given you the FORMER RAIN moderately, and he will cause to come down for you

the rain, THE FORMER RAIN, and the LATTER RAIN, in the first month" (Joel 2:23 ). "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husba ndman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it , until he receive the early and latter rain" (James 5:7) Baptism of the Holy Spirit is spoken of as a rain, because with this experience God reveals, through the Spirit baptised individuals, the doctrines or the truth s of Christ (Read Deut. 32: 2,3). "My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the due, as the small rain upon the tender herb; and as the sho wers upon the grass; because I will publish the name of the Lord. As He revealed Himself fully in the early days by the baptism of the Holy Spirit or former rain, He is again revealing Himself fully to a people of this generat ion, by another outpouring which is the latter rain, according to the word of Go d. This outpouring started with the 20th century, and now it has become univers al. The purpose of this outpouring: It is to prepare a people or the Church for His Second Coming. This Church is in two parts. (1) The dead (2) The living (see I Thess. 4:16,17). "The dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are ALIVE and remain shall b e caught up together with them in the clouds". So to have a living people to be translated at the coming of the Lord, they should have all the spiritual experie nces of the people who have gone before them. (Read also I Cor. 15:51,52). "Be hold I show you a mystery we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed...and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed". Ministry: The New Testament Church, which is the Body of Christ, cannot be buil t without God- appointed servants and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. So with the baptism of the Holy Spirit or by the anointing He sets apart ministers for the C hurch. And he gave some apostles, and some, prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the body of Christ" (Eph. 4: 11, 12). These offices are determined by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are di stributed according to one's calling (Read Rom. 12:6-8). "Having then gifts diff ering according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us proph esy according to the proportion of faith...he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfuln ess". The ministers of the Church must maintain their ministries by consecration . Unless a man forsakes his all he cannot be God's disciple" (Luke 14:33). A se rvant of God should be wholly given to the Church, and he should have nothing to call his own. He should not be bound or confined to one place, country, langua ge or people, because the Church is universal. The purpose very man in Col. 1.28). of Christ. y of Christ of the ministry: "Whom we preach warning every man, and teaching e all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus" ( This preaching should be according to the revelation of the mystery "That God would open unto us a door of utterance to speak the myster (Col. 4:3 also Rom. 16:25).

This work is called the resuscitation of the Church; or bringing the Church back to its pristine glory. People could not believe that such a thing could ever t ake place; but thank God He is fulfilling His promise. As it is told "Not by mig ht, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 4:6). God i s doing what is impossible with man. So let us get ready for the coming of the L ord by receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He is coming for a people who a re sanctified by the Holy Spirit. "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly ; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thess. 5:23)

Return of the remnant of Israel: "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again t he second time to recover the remnant of His people" (Is. 11:11). Here the prophecy is concerning THAT DAY. It is not a day of 24 hours that he s peaks of. If we read the previous verses in that chapter we shall understand tha t he is speaking about the thousand year's reign of peace and righteousness on t his earth. Before it starts Israel will have to be gathered a second time form the four corners of the earth (Is. 11:12). This, as the prophet says is an ensig n for the nations of the earth; an ensign to us that the time for the millennium is at hand, and before that Christ should return. Here it is good for us to stu dy in brief the history of Israel. God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the land of Canaan for an inheritance (Deut. 6:10). But this promise was on a covenant that Israel, their children, kept the commandments of God. (To be contd.)

Signs of the Second Advent of Christ (Contd. from Dec. 71 & Jan. 72 issue) Later, God brought Israel into Canaan and made them a kingdom. But when they di spleased God by their lives, He divided their kingdoms into two and named them I srael and Judah. Israel, the larger of the two, consisted of ten tribes, and Ju dah of two tribes The ten tribes, Israel, turned out to be more ungodly than the other two, and therefore God gave them to the Assyrians. This is called the Ass yrian Captivity. The remaining two tribes called Judah too followed suit with th e others in their wickedness, and they were later taken captives by the Babyloni ans. The glorious temple which King Solomon built was destroyed and all the trea sures of the house of the Lord and those of the king's house were taken away to Babylon. But after a period of seventy years' stay in exile they returned to Ca naan, being delivered from their captivity. All the belongings of the temple wer e also restored. When they returned they built a second temple at Jerusalem by the hand of one Ze rubbabel and this temple, therefore was called Zerubbabel's temple, these two te mples in Jerusalem are very significant and they reveal the wonderful truth of t he two spiritual Churches in the New Testament. The captivity and the return of Judah speak of the backsliding of the early Church and its resuscitation now. " The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former" (Hag. 2:9). It means that the glory of the Church to be caught up (raptured) should be grea ter than the glory of the Church that shall be resurrected at His coming. Coming back to Israel again, the two tribes, who returned from Babylon were aga in conquered and taken captives to different parts of the world about seventy ye ars after Christ, according to His own prophecy (Read Lk. 21:24). "And they sha ll fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations : and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the time of the Gen tiles be fulfilled." Since the fulfilment of this prophecy, for years Jerusalem was in the hands of t he Gentile kings, first of Rome, then of the Turks and last of the Arabs. But n ow the time of the Lord is come. Some time close to the beginning of the 20th ce

ntury, a few outstanding Jews in Europe were fired with an ambition to get Pales tine back to the Jews. For this they formed a movement called "Zionist Movement ." At first they could think of no other means but to send willing Jews to Pale stine, so that they might buy the land from the then occupants and settle down t here. This was a long and hazardous process. They could achieve very little b y this method. Many of the people who went there to settle down, were badly aff licted by various diseases and their labour brought forth little reward. But t he time of the Lord had come, and there broke out the First World War 1914-1918. This was an opening for the Jews. As an organised group they joined the side of the Allies, and as a reward for their contribution to the war efforts, the Briti sh Parliament by a declaration promised the Jews Palestine as a national home, i f and when they won the war. By providence the Allies were victorious and the Tu rks who were occupying Palestine were defeated and driven out, to make the decla ration possible. Thus the doors were opened for the Jews to come back, and the prophecy in Ezek. 37 started its fulfilment. The dry bones of the Jews received life, and sinews and flesh came upon them. Ezek. 37:1-14. Israel began to flow into Palestine. Not only the two tribes called Judah, but also the ten tribes who were earlier taken captives by the Assyrians began to flow in. Of course th is was not without difficulty. They faced severe opposition from the Arabs and t he Britishers themselves. They had much fighting with the Arabs. But the time of the Lord had come and the Second World War of 1939-45 broke out. We are awar e how Hitler, the Chancellor of Germany, and the cruel initiator of this Second World War tried to annihilate the Jews in Europe. Although he managed to destro y millions of them under tragic circumstances it was God's way of driving the Je ws to Palestine. Thus the end of the Second World War found nearly 29 million J ews in Palestine. Their number is steadily on the increase. As a result of the Six Days' historic war in 1967, between the Jews and the Arab nations, today th e whole of Palestine is back in the hands of the Jews. The prophecy our Lord th at "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of gentiles b e fulfilled", Lk. 21:24, is now almost fulfilled. "He shall assemble the outcast s of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth" of Is. 11:12 is also fulfilled. This is an evidence that Jesus is coming soon Rev. 21:20. Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come" (Rev. 22: 17). (To be contd) Signs of the Second Advent of Christ (Continued from Feb. March '72) 3. Fig tree and all the trees: Behold the fig tree, and all the trees, know o f your ownselves that summer is nigh at hand so likewise know ye that the kingd om of God is nigh at hand (Lk. 21: 29-31). The fig tree is a parable for the Jews. As we saw before, they are flour ishing now. All the trees speak of the various nations of the world. It is a mar vellous sight to see that a great effort is being made to build up all the downt rodden nations of the earth. The United Nations Organization which came into exi stence in 1945 had then only 51 nations in it's membership. But today it has 130 free nations in its roll. "When ye see things come to pass know ye that the Kin gdom of God is nigh at hand". The Lord Jesus is coming soon; let us get ready to meet Him. 4.. Kings of the East coming to power: "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and th e water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be pre pared. (Rev. 16:12).

This speaks of the kings of the east marching against Palestine to fight against it. East means east of Palestine or the Asiatic countries. In Asia, Chi na has become the most powerful nation; the Chinese are exerting their influence over all the other nations in the east. Eventually, China will capture all the eastern countries, and will become one mighty kingdom. We find the signs of it a lready before us. China's policy as Russia spoke out sometime back, is to wipe o ut the nations that they capture, and fill that place with their own people as t hey have done in Tibet. Oh God! Save us from these people. The coming of the Lor d is very near and let us get ready to meet Him. 3.Gog and Magog power coming against Israel: Son of man, set thy face against G og, the land of Magog the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy agains t him (Ezek. 38:2). Gog is the chief prince of the land of Meshech and Tubal. Meshech is Mos cow and Tubal is Tobolsk of Russia. Chief prince need not be a particular man. It could be the evil power or devil that rules over that land, as we read of the prince of Persia in the book of Daniel. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but lo, Michael one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia(Dan. 10:13). Here the prince of Persia is the evil spirit that controls the kingdom of Persia and Mich ael is one of the chief princes of the angelic host. We read of three appearances of Gog against Israel and Palestine in the Word of God. They are in Ezekiel 38, 39 Revelation 20:8. The 38th chapter speaks of Gog coming against the mountains of Israel. Af ter many days thou shalt be visited in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, a gainst the mountains of Israel, which have always been waste; but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them (Ezek. 38:8). This shows that Russia will join hands with the Arab nations as they are now doing and go against Israel to battle. But they would be withstood by the I sraelites, with the help of certain other nations. Read Ezekiel 38:13: Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish with all the young lions thereof. The mercha nts of Tarshish are the Britishers and the young lions thereof are the Americans . America was part of the British Empire and therefore the Americans are called the young lions thereof. God has revealed this through the prophet long beforeha nd, even long before these countries came to power. We can see shadows of these happenings in the air today. Sadat, the Egyp tian President challenged in 1971 the Israelites, saying that they would decide their own destiny and fight against Israel that year itself. This war should take place just before the coming of the Lord; because i n this war Israel will get help from Britain, America etc. This may be called a war by proxy because although this is a war between the Israelites and the Arab nations, there are secret mighty powers behind them; Russia and the Eastern Euro pe with the Arabs and Britain and America with Israel. In this war Russia on the side of the Arabs will surely be defeated, as we read in Ezekiel 38:13. Nevertheless, Christ will come somewhere about this ti me and take His Church unto Him, so that Satan may be cast into the earth (Read Revelation 12:7). Unless Satan is cast into the earth the Antichrist cannot be r evealed. The Antichrist is an individual, in whom Satan will enter and make him extraordinary. Read Revelation 13:2. And the dragon (Satan) gave him, his power a nd his seat and great authority. He (Antichrist) will become ruler over the whole world. And all the world wondered after the beast (Rev. 13:3).

This beast or Antichrist, shall also be called Gog the chief prince of M eshech and Tubal. Read Ezekiel 39:1. Therefore thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I am against thee, Oh Gog, the chie f prince of Meshech and Tubal. Israel will make a covenant with this beast for seven years, but in the middle of the seven years, they will fall out with him, and there will be terrib le persecution and tribulation for them for 3 years (Read Daniel 9:27). At the e nd of this period, the beast the Antichrist who is also called Gog, will march a gainst Israel and Palestine. This time will not get help from any other nation. It is here that the 144,000 Jews who are sealed on their foreheads, will cry to God and God Himself will fight for them. Thus battle is called the battle of Arm ageddon. This is described in Ezekiel 39, Revelation 19 and Joel 2. Here the b east and his associate, the false prophet will be caught and cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20). This takes place at the end of the tribulation or before t he Millennium starts. The final appearance of Gog is at the end of the Millennium when Satan i s left loose. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations, which are in the four qu arters of the earth, Gog and Magog (Rev. 20: 7-8). Satan works again as the chief prince; but is finally judged. And the devil that deceived them was cast into th e lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and sha ll be tormented day and night for ever and ever (Rev. 20:10). The coming of the L ord is very near. (To be contd.) `````` Signs of the Second Advent of Christ (Contd. from April-May '72 issue) Kingdom of Rome coming to power: " And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never all be destroyed." (Dan. 2:44). "In the days of these kings" is o therwise in the days of the ten toes; rising out of the Roman Empire. "And as th e toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken." (Dan.2:42). The same thing is defined in Re v.17:12. "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have receive d no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast." Rome is coming to power in the name of Gog or Russia. After the Second World War , the whole of Eastern Europe fell into the hand of the Russians. Now the Wester n Europe is forming a European Economic Society or Common Market consisting of t en nations. They are France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Italy, West Germ any, Britain, Ireland, Norway and Denmark. There were only six nations in confed eration, the first named six; but there is a great move to unite the other four also. These ten nations are otherwise ten kings. They want to remain as one nat ion or kingdom. But after the return of Christ, when the antichrist or Gog come s to power, they will join hands with him. Read Rev. 17:13. "These have one mi nd, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast." Rome is coming bac k to power. So we can already see the ugly head of the antichrist peeping through the troubl ed sea of nations. The Lord's coming is very near - let us get ready. 7. Signs in the sun and the moon: " And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon, and in the stars; and upo n the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring. " (Lk. 21:25). On July 14th 1969 the first-ever manned satellite landed on the m oon and since then, there were other explorations and probes made on the moon. W hat else is going to take place we do not know. These are signs of the return o

f Christ. Distress of nations - since the last world war, the nations of the wo rld are in increasing distress. The greatest problem of the nations is the mill ions and millions of uprooted people called evacuees or refugees, such as, the P alestinians, the Pakistanis, Tibetans, etc. They are helpless and without the necessities of life, and subject to all kinds of sicknesses, and privations. And it has great distressing effects on the nati ons of the world. 8. Civil wars in diverse places; famines: Labour strikes, labour against the employers and employees against their managements. Student strikes, social uprisings, Black power movement, Hippy movements, the te enagers problems; these are giving great perplexity to the nations. Jesus is com ing soon! Let us get ready to meet Him. ' 9. Flood destructions, earthquakes and typhoon destructions are inn umerable all over the world. What about accidents of automobiles, air crashes, etc., in diverse places? By sea erosions there are immense losses to property and people. In certain pla ces, islands have vanished with their inhabitants. Jesus is coming soon! Let us get ready to meet Him. 10. Unprecedented discoveries: " But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book even to the tim e of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." (Da n. 12:4). 1. Electricity 2. Electronics 3. Atomic energy or nuclear power 4. Automobiles crowding the streets " The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall *justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like lig htnings." (Nah. 2:4). 5. Aeroplanes 6. Computers 7. Laser beams There are innumerable other wonderful discoveries in all the walks of life. They are both constructive and destructive, but they will be used more fo r destruction than construction in the last days as it is said, "Beat your ploug hshares into swords, and you pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say I am st rong." (Joel 3:10). Innumerable destructive weapons are discovered so that nations and their existen ce itself can be destroyed in a short time. "Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea; for the devil is come down unto you." (Rev.12:12). Jesus is co ming soon! Let us get ready to meet Him. 11. Population increase:

This, they say, is the greatest problem of humanity. If the population grows at this rate, they say within another ten years, the earth will sink under the bur den of it; people may have to eat one another for mere existence. The prophecy i n Deut. 28:52 will be fulfilled. Under the pretext of population curb, they have relaxed all moral laws, such as abortions, sodomy, use of cosmetics, sterilizat ion, family planning, etc.

12. Pollution of air, water and land : This is causing great anxiety in the hearts of the leaders of the world. As indu stries grow, pollution also increases and the same is the effect of the increase of population. If air, water and land are polluted, then existence will be impo ssible. This is a foretaste of the great tribulation, as we read in Rev. 16:1-7 . (To be contd. ) Signs of the Second Advent of Christ European Economic Society or Common Market: This was at first formed of six Nations, as explained before, viz., France, Belg ium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy and West Germany and four more will join the m and become one united state like that of America. The other four are Ireland, England Norway and Denmark. This union will take place by the beginning of 1973, in spite of opposition in England and in Europe. This is a fulfilment of the w ord of God (Read Rev. 17:12-13). "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten ki ngs...these have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beas t". It means they will play themselves into the Communist group of Eastern Euro pe and Russia. That time is drawing nigh. Jesus is coming soon! Let us get r eady. People losing natural affection: Children against parents, brother against sister, sister against brother, etc " This know also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their ownselves... without natural affection... traitors...having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away" (2 Tim . 3:1-5). If we carefully consider the above verses we shall see that never in the history of humanity did people come to this state of degradation as we see t oday. At the close of the last Great World War with the loss of so many men in the bat tle, there was a very large majority of women left in the countries of Europe an d Asia and most of these lost their sense of morality. A new generation with ve ry little sense of morality has since risen up. Permissiveness is the law of thi s society. Everything is permitted and no check is made. This results in their moral, spiritual and physical destruction. The coming of the Lord is at hand, l et us get ready. (15) Apostasy in Christendom; R. C system coming to power again: Although this is mentioned last it is not the least. "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on earth?" (Luke.18: 8). ''Let no man deceiv e you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling awa y first" (2 Thess. 2:3). Although apostasy set into the Church of God by the second or third century, yet God sent revivals into it from time to time. The Lutheran revival of the 16th c entury is the most noteworthy, and widely spread. The awful persecution and the resultant death of millions of Protestant believer s are historical facts. But through sufferings and very cruel deaths they establ ished the Protestant truths which were apostolic truth, which was lost to the ap ostate church. Thereafter God raised up many other noble reformers, to fight aga inst the Roman Catholic errors and its teachings. But with the start of the 20 th century, God is pouring out His Holy Spirit, and bringing to light all the ap ostolic doctrines as a climax of the revival. But side by side, with this revi

val there is an evident move of apostasy. The Protestant and the Orthodox Ch urches which stood for a measure of truth are giving up their faith and are join ing hands with the Roman Catholics. People are giving up their faith in the fun damental doctrines, and are joining hands with the R.C. group to form one associ ation. This is what is exactly predicted in Rev. 13:11-16. There will be an ec clesiastical group which will be the state religion during the seven years' trib ulation. That will be an apostate Church with a leader called the false prophet. The same thing is predicted in Rev. 17 also. "So he carried me away in the Sp irit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast fu ll of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns." (Rev.17:3). The wo man here is the fallen, apostate Church, and the scarlet coloured beast is the s tate or kingdom ruled by the antichrist. They will work together to persecute the remnant of the Church, which will be left behind at the coming of Christ. Both the kingdom and the Church are taking shape now proving that Jesus is comin g soon. Let us get ready. (Concluded)

SIGNS OF THE LAST DAYS Incidents all around the world indicate the imminent return of the Lord Jesus as foretold by Him centuries ago. Citing three immediate visible signs, the autho r admonishes people of God to watch and be ready for the coming of the Lord lest they find themselves a victim of the Tribulation As He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately , saying, Tell us when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?(Matt. 24:3). In answer to this query of His disciples, Jesus listed out a number of signs that would herald His secret and i mminent return, some of them being wars and rumours of wars, famines, pestilence s and earthquakes which are the beginning of sorrows. Are we at this moment taking time to consider our own preparation to mee t the Lord when He appears? No man knoweth the day or the hour of His coming, n o, not even the angels in heaven, or the Son, save the Father. The day of redem ption, the final salvation of the perfected saints is drawing nigh, for the curr ent events of the world prove the veracity of this unique phenomenon. Matthew 24:7,6 read: For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom aga inst kingdom. all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet, the trut h of which is evident in the following distinct signs observed in the world toda y. Revival of the Roman Empire The European Community leaders held an emergency summit meet at Rome on 28.10.1990 and they decided in favour of an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) wh ich will have effect from 1.1.1994. They also decided to reform the EC treaties to take the major new community changes into account. Although the former Brit ish Prime Minister expressed dissent, all the leaders agreed on a political unio n, which will follow the Economic Union. As a pace setter, a similar development took place in Germany. East Ger many and West Germany first agreed on an Economic and Monetary Union and soon af ter, they were united politically. The Germany that was divided after the Secon d World War was united again after a lapse of 45 years, on 3rd October, 1990. A fter having succeeded in uniting both Germanys, Chancellor Koh declared that the

next attempt would be to unite Europe. Most of the European countries formed part of the mighty Roman Empire wh ich dominated the world for many centuries. The Roman Empire became powerful af ter the fall of the Greek Empire in B.C.167. When our Lord was on this earth, i t was at the peak of its power and glory. The Roman Governor Pilate condemned J esus to be crucified. It continued to be mighty till A.D.395 when it was divide d into two - the Western Empire and the Eastern Empire. The Western Empire came to an end in A.D.476 and the Eastern Empire in A.D.1453. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe remained divided as several c ountries, which fought among themselves. Two World Wars have been fought in the first half of this century. It is significant to observe that they want to unit e into one economic power which will be followed by political union. This histo ric process of unification of Europe commenced with the signing of the signing o f the Treaty of Rome on 25th March, 1957 by six countries, viz., Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. Now they have decided in fav our of a complete Economic and Monetary Union with effect from 1.1.1994, which w ill be followed by a political union. Political unification of the European cou ntries will be precisely the revival of the old Roman Empire. The revival of the Roman Empire in the last days is as foretold in the w ord of God. The antichrist (Beast) who will rule the whole world for seven years during the Tribulation Period has to come from the revived Roman Empire. He wi ll exercise diabolical powers and many will worship him and others will be afrai d to fight him. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast a nd they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? (Rev. 13:4). The Return of the Jews Israel which was a glorious nation in the days of David and Solomon, cea sed to exist as a nation when it was defeated and destroyed by the Babylonian Ki ng Nebuchadnezzar in B.C. 606. They were scattered all over the world due to r epeated persecutions when they were ruled by different world empires. It is in the word of God that they will be gathered together and revived as a nation in t he last days. Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the children of Israe l from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every si de, and bring them into their own land(Ezek. 37:21). 'This prophecy began to be fulfilled when Israel became a nation again in May 1948. The children of Israel are returning to their homeland and becoming prosperous as foretold in the word of God. The deserts are blossoming and there is phenomenal, technological and in dustrial growth. The leaders of Israel have decided to build up the nation on t he basis of the laws and commandments as given by Moses and the prophets of the Old Testament. However there is one important thing that they lack - the temple and worship. They are eager to rebuild the temple and are making all-out prepa rations. The location of this temple has to be Mount Moriah where Solomon's tem ple stood. The only remnant of the Jewish temple is part of the outer wall whic h is known as the wailing wall. The Word of God gives the indication that the tem ple shall be built soon. During the days of the antichrist, he will make a cove nant with Israel and be favourable to them for the first three and a half years. But after the temple is completed, the antichrist will demand worship at the t emple and this will break his relationship with Israel and the great tribulation for Israel will start. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolatio n, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy placethen shall be great tr

ibulation, such as was not seen since the beginning of the world to this time, n o, nor ever shall be(Matt. 24:15-21). Vultures in Israel It is reported that a new breed of vultures has appeared in Israel, a br eed never seen before. These vultures are multiplying at three times the normal rate. This appears to be a preparation for the great battle at Armageddon. Th e armies of many countries will march against Israel under the leadership of the antichrist (Rev. 16:13-16). A decisive battle will be fought at Armageddon whe n the Lord will fight the battle for Israel. A great judgment will come upon th e armies of the nations and many will die and that will be a feast for the fowls of the air. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud vo ice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yo urselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men(Rev. 19:17,18). These developments in Europe and Israel are a definite indication of the last days. The surest way of knowing that Christ is coming soon, is by watching and praying. But what are we to WATCH? We ought to watch our actions and reactions . Do we really love Jesus, and if so, are we ardently waiting to meet Him? God has chosen us to be a peculiar people unto Himself, His own treasure, to grow i n His divine nature and be conformed to His own likeness and image and thus be m ade partakers of all His heavenly riches. Many of us are at ease and blissfully unaware that there remain but 'sec onds' before the Rapture. Therefore, we must take heed to seek His presence and sanctify ourselves. If there is anything that is delaying our preparation for the Lord's coming, it is our deferring to forgive, to sanctify ourselves, and to seek the face of the Lord. If we continue to delay, we will be lost in the Tri bulation to come. Let not that day come upon us unawares as a snare, for then w e shall not escape the Tribulation that will follow - a period of tribulation su ch as was not heard of till now, nor ever shall be. The Lord Jesus, in His exho rtation in Luke 21:34-36, cautions that our hearts at no time should be overchar ged with surfeiting, drunkenness, and cares of this life. Spiritually too we sh ould not be worried or anxious about anything. If we watch and pray, and keep o urselves from these mundane cares, we can certainly escape the tribulation that is looming large upon this world. In every century, the faithful of the Lord have suffered tribulations an d persecutions, but that tribulation under the antichrist will be fierce, cruel and unbearable; abominable atrocities such as was never heard of from the time t he world began, will be committed (Matt. 24:20-23). Hence let us endeavour to r estore a spiritual revival in our own lives. May the Lord help us watch and pra y and prepare our hearts and lives for the coming of the Lord (Lk. 21:36). The day is not far off when God the Father shall send His beloved Son to the earth to gather His Bride. At the echoing sound of the trumpet, the Bride adorned and ardently waiting to meet her Bridegroom, shall be gathered unto Him in joyful ecstasy. Child of God, are you prepared to meet your eternal Bridegro om, if He would appear today?