David Reagan - Living in Biblical Times
I was recently having lunch with a gentleman, and we were discussing the First Coming of Jesus. He suddenly leaned forward, and he said, “David, wouldn’t it have been exciting to live in Bible times?” My response was, “Sir, we are living in Bible times.” For an explanation of what I meant by that remark, stay tuned.
David Reagan: Greetings in the name of Jesus our Blessed Hope and welcome to Christ in Prophecy. As you can see I have two of my colleagues in the studio with me today. On the far end down there, the other bookend is Nathan Jones, who is our co-host, and also our Internet Evangelist. And next to me is Tim Moore, my designated successor who will be taking over this ministry on June the 1st.
Well, this is the next to the last program that I will be hosting before Tim takes over. And I thought I would dedicate it to the fundamental theme that God established for this ministry 41 years ago, in April of 1980 when the ministry was established. The theme was, and still is to proclaim to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible that Jesus is returning soon.
Fellows, people often are mystified when I tell them that we are living in Bible times right now, as I mentioned at the first of the program. And why don’t you take a moment, both of you, to explain to our viewers what I mean by that statement that most people find very mysterious: How are we living in Bible times now?
Tim Moore: Well, we are living in Bible times because all the signs prophesied throughout the Bible, the Old Testament and the New are coming to pass right before our very eyes. People for centuries have looked forward to seeing things that would indicate we are living in the season of the Lord’s return, and took by faith that He could return even during their lifetime, let’s say our grandparents, great-grandparents, or even hundreds of years prior to that. Well, today we see the signs multiplying around us right now that prove that we are living in the season of the Lord’s return.
David Reagan: Well, I think that most of our viewers are probably familiar with the signs of the First Coming of Jesus; He is going to be born in Bethlehem, be born of a virgin, and so forth. But because Bible prophecy is so seldom taught in churches today I think a lot of our viewers are probably astounded that there are signs about the Second Coming, because they’ve been told there is nothing you can know about it. It is going to be a total surprise. You shouldn’t even worry about it, be concerned about it. So, what do you mean when you are talking about signs of the Second Coming?
Nathan Jones: There’s a big disconnect I think for many of us growing up in Sunday School, we read about the Bible and it happened 2,000 years ago, and all of a sudden the Bible ended, and nothing’s happened for 2,000 years except Church history, and one day Jesus is going to come back and we will move on into the Eternal State. And that Amillennial type of view robs you of the fact that we are living in Bible times, because the Bible has prophecies that lead up. Chapter 2 and 3 of Revelation is Church history, it covers the stages of Church. And then we know that when the revelation happens, and the different judgments come, the Rapture of the Church happens before that, and we’ve got signs that lead up to the Rapture, but we also have signs leading up to the Second Coming of Jesus, a Millennial Kingdom. So, there is so much more history in the Bible that we have ahead of us that’s ignored from the Amillennial point of view. But when you take the Premillennial point of view, like we do, you realize that we are living in Bible times.
Tim Moore: We certainly do. And you realize too, as you have discussed many times, Dave, that there are signs of nature, that point to the soon coming of Christ, those will be like birth pains. Whether it is increase in storms, in earthquakes, and all the natural calamities, and we have seen evidence of that just in recent years, and we’ve documented that here.
We see signs of society, and we have documented that extensively and people only have to turn on the news or read the newspaper to see how even our formerly Christian nation is declining at an accelerating pace, and those are signs of society.
There are spiritual signs.
There are signs of world politics, how the nations are coming into alignment. You know just about 12-16 years ago President Obama discounted the idea that Russia would ever be a threat in the Middle East or in the world. And here again Russia has emerged as a threat just on the northern doorstep of Israel as predicted by Bible prophecy.
We have signs of technology, and how technology is quickly enabling the fulfillment of various Bible prophecies.
And of course, we have the signs of Israel.
And so, for believers these are not things that we should just be ignorant of. As a matter of fact, Paul when writing to the church in Thessalonica, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, said, yes, the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, but it will not come as a thief for you. He said in chapter 5, verse 4, “But you brethren are not in darkness that the day would overtake you like a thief.” In other words, he indicated that we should recognize the signs of the times and realize that the coming of the Lord, the Rapture of the Church was right upon us.
Nathan Jones: And with all these signs, they are all happening at the same time. It’s not just a few here, and a few there. But they are all happening all at the same time, and that’s this term, when we had Ron Rhodes on a few years back and he said that word convergence, it was a lightbulb went off over my head.
David Reagan: Yes.
Nathan Jones: It was like, that’s true, it’s a sign in of itself when all these signs come together, and they increase in frequency and intensity as Jesus compared to birth pains. When a woman goes into labor the contractions get closer, and closer, and the pain gets stronger and stronger, and we are seeing that a great increase in these birth pains.
David Reagan: You know that passage that you referred to there is very important in my life. I grew up in an Amillennial church, and if somebody went off to a conference and heard something about the return of Jesus and came back and was enthusiastic that maybe Jesus would come in our day and time. The preacher would always get up and he would preach a sermon putting that down, and he would always use that text and say, “There is nothing that we can know, He’s coming like a thief in the night.” And he would stop reading there.
And I’ll never forget when I read the whole thing and I thought, yeah, but it says in the next verse, “That’s not for you brethren.” He’s going to come like a thief in the night for the world. He’s going to come like a thief in the night for Christians who don’t know anything about Bible prophecy.
Tim Moore: That’s right.
David Reagan: But not for those of us who study Bible prophecy; it’s not going to be a surprise.
Tim Moore: My favorite passage out of Hebrews talks about how we should not forsake the assembling together but should encourage one another, and all the more as we see the day drawing near. So, the writer of Hebrews presumed that we who are believers and who are looking forward to Jesus Christ will recognize that this Day of the Lord is approaching, and we will redouble our efforts to encourage one another. And that’s really what we’re doing through our television program.
David Reagan: And once again Amillennialist always explain that passage away. They say, “Well, we are to make sure that we get together, as we see the day drawing near.” And they say, “That’s Sunday.” But it actually identifies the day in the next few verse as the day of judgment.
Tim Moore: Yes, exactly.
David Reagan: So, there is something we can see. We can say, “Well, you see that? You see that? You see that? Hey, we are living in the season of the Lord’s return.”
Nathan Jones: And one of the things that you can see is that Postmillennialism which seems to get more, and more popular, the earth will get better, and better and the Church will finally overcome the whole world and give the keys of the kingdom to Jesus, is that the world is not getting better and better.
David Reagan: No.
Nathan Jones: Jesus prophesied that in the last days the world would be getting more like the times of Noah, and the times of Lot. Now, it doesn’t mean it’s going to rain and flood the earth like some of the global warmest would say. But no, what he is saying is that society will get more and more evil. And when you talk about giving sex changes to children, and all the evil that is pouring out of society left and right that boggles the mind, we are truly living in that type of evil society that Noah lived in.
David Reagan: Well, it said it would be like Noah’s society. And if you go to Genesis chapter 6 and read about Noah’s society there are two characteristics, violence, and immorality, and that is where we are today. I mean our society is engulfed in violence and immorality.
They are even talking today about trying to legalize pedophilia for children who are consenting. As if a child knows what he is consenting to.
Tim Moore: I tell you what, you use the phrase earlier to describe Nathan sitting on the opposite end of the three of us as a bookend. And really a lot of folks think that we focus on Revelation because there is so much that we are looking forward to with the return of Jesus Christ, the Rapture of the Church, and Revelation focuses on that. But really there is a bookend to the Bible that provides a foundation for all the other understanding we have, not only of the Gospel but of God’s promises to send His Son, and then to send a Messiah at the very end of time.
And so, going back to the beginning, I think it is important to recognize that some of the societal downfall that we are witnessing today is a renunciation of everything God revealed at the very beginning. So, He provided the distinction between God and His creation. In Genesis 1:1, God created everything we see. And then in the first chapter of Genesis in verses 26-28 He established that man would be distinct from the rest of the animal kingdom, set apart as being created in the image of God, in a special relationship with God.
In the same chapter just the next verse, verse 27 He talked about a man and a woman, distinct from one another.
And then of course right into chapter 2 verse 24, He said that a man and woman would create a relationship, a marriage that would be distinct from every other kind of relationship man would have in this world.
Well, in our society we have people that deny that there is a God, or that He created. Deny that man is any different than the animals. Deny that men and women have a distinct role created by God, equally but distinct. And of course, deny the relationship of marriage as being special and set apart.
So, in our own day and age we are witnessing our society renounciating the very foundational truths established in Scripture, and this is another sign that Jesus indicated would tell us we are living in the last days, and we certainly are.
Nathan Jones: It boggles my mind that Peter prophesied that people would deny the Creation and the Flood. What is that? That is the teaching of Evolution. Evolution was prophesied in the Bible.
Tim Moore: Yes.
David Reagan: Well, yes, and he talked about how they said that things would just continue to go on and as it always has.
Nathan Jones: Uniformitarianism.
David Reagan: Yeah. And that’s not going to be true. God has intervened in history in the past, and He’s going to intervene in history in the future.
Many years ago, I spent seven years studying the First Coming prophesies of Jesus, and I identified 109 separate and distinct prophecies, we always talk about over 300, well there are over 300 but many of them are repetitious, so 109.
But then after that I started studying the Second Coming prophecies and I noticed that there are so many more Second Coming prophecies then there are First Coming prophecies. And I think the reason for that, and I’d like to get your reaction on this, I think the reason is because God never pours out His wrath without warning. Jesus came the first time in love, and grace, and mercy, to die for the sins of mankind. But it says when He returns He’s returning to pour of the wrath of God upon those who have rejected the grace, mercy and love of God, and then He’s going to reign in glory from Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Well, since God never pours our His wrath without warning He is determined to give us many more signs to indicate that we are in the season of the Lord’s return.
Tim Moore: He certainly does. And I heard an analogy the other day. People sometimes will get angry, well, why would God pour out wrath? And the fact is wrath is abiding on us. We are creatures of sin, it’s a sin nature. We are not sinful because we are human, we are sinful because that is the way that we as humanity are. In other words, we sin because we are sinful. And so, we are on a sinking ship, but God has provided a lifeboat. All we have to do is accept His Son and we will be relieved of that wrath and of that judgment that we are deserving of.
David Reagan: Well, you know one of our favorite interview people on this program is Mike Gendron. And Mike gave a very insightful idea recently. He said, “That at the end of 2,000 years of history God judged sin with the Great Flood. 2,000 years later He judged sin on the cross with Jesus taking the sins of the world.” And he says, “Another 2,000 years,” which we are in right now, “He’s going to judge sin in the Tribulation.”
Nathan Jones: But that’s all leading up to the point of why God puts wrath is to get people to get on their knees and repent. And that’s another sign of the end times, a great evangelistic effort. Not everybody will be evangelized before the Rapture of the Church, but during the Tribulation everybody on the planet earth will get the chance to choose Jesus or not, and that’s a loving mercy of God.
David Reagan: Boy it sure is. Even when He pours out His wrath His fundamental purpose is to bring people to repentance so that they can be saved.
Nathan Jones: Absolutely.
David Reagan: I mean His fundamental purpose is not just to punish, but to bring people to the end of themselves because God does not wish that any should perish, but all should come to repentance and to salvation. What a God we have! What a God of glorious grace we have! Hallelujah!
Nathan Jones: And that gives us a chance as Christians to live holy lives, and lives dedicated to evangelism, because we know the time is short, Jesus is coming soon, we want to bring as many people as possible, as quickly of possible to know Jesus Christ as Savior.
David Reagan: Well, folks, what we are going to do is take a brief break for an announcement, and when we come back I’m going to ask these guys to go into more detail about some of the most important signs of the time that indicate we are truly living in the season of the Lord’s return.
Part 2
Nathan Jones: Welcome back to Christ in Prophecy and our discussion of why we are currently living in biblical times.
David Reagan: Well, fellows, what I want to do in this segment, is take a moment for you to go into one, or two, or three of these signs in detail that indicate truly that we are living in the season of the Lord’s return. Maybe a sign that has never been on the scene before, except in recent years. So, I am going to turn it over to you, and let you explain to viewers why you believe from particular signs that we are living in the season of the Lord’s return.
Nathan Jones: Okay. Well, I guess I can start. Okay.
Tim Moore: Go right ahead.
Nathan Jones: Well, I love to preach on Luke 21 with it’s parallels in Matthew 24 and Mark 13, because Jesus gave ten specific signs that answer the apostles’ questions. They asked three questions, but what they wanted to know was what were the signs that would lead up to Jesus’ return? And Jesus said again, they would increase in frequency and intensity the closer we got to the Lord’s return. The number one, He started off with this one, is false messiahs. And the verse goes, “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them,” Luke 21:8. So, right off the bat the number one sign was that we would have a proliferation of false christ, false teachers. I mean we live in an age of constant cults. I went to watchman.org, 1,200 false religions in the United States, 500 cults.
David Reagan: Yes. And incidentally that is the only sign that He mentioned more than once.
Nathan Jones: Three times.
David Reagan: In the Matthew version of this, He mentioned it three times. And the explosion began in the middle of the 19th Century. Well, there have always been cults, but the explosion occurred with the formation of the Mormons, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and today you’ve got a cult on almost every corner in Los Angeles.
Nathan Jones: And that to me says that Satan knows that we are getting close to the end times too, because he’s trying to flood the market, so to say, with false christs and false teachings. The internet especially, we have seen church membership, we’ve seen belief in Jesus Christ, continue to plummet as the internet goes because now we are filled with all these new ideas, and false religions constantly permeating, especially our youth.
David Reagan: Okay.
Tim Moore: I think one of the signs that I harken to is one that everybody can recognize. For many years people always assumed that our children would live better lives. Society would improve, technology would improve, and we would progress. Well, I’m reminded that sometimes progress is not always in the right direction. There was a great example in Warren Smith’s book, but I have a personal experience.
One day I was at a one day conference over in western Kentucky, and a friend had ridden along with me. And coming home we were driving, having a great time, just enjoying the beautiful day and conversing. And pretty soon we realized we’re not heading in the right direction. We had missed a turn on the interstate, and we were heading toward Nashville, instead of back toward Louisville, near where I lived because we had not been paying attention to the signs of the times, and we were going in the wrong direction. And I think too many times today our society is going in the wrong direction. There are people who proclaim themselves to be Progressives, but the progress they want to make–
David Reagan: Is regression.
Tim Moore: –is in the wrong direction. And sadly, we see this in our society, again, our formally Christian society is now embracing secularism. It is renouncing God. We were talking this morning about a very famous actress who decided she wanted to be Hindu because she saw some Maharishi’s picture and decided, well, that’s what I’ll embrace. And there is so much confusion and we are not going in a proper direction.
Yeah, we are making progress technologically, but some of that technology is horrific. They are even scientist today creating blended human/animal embryos, they are called chimeras. This is just in the last few weeks announced as a heralded new advance for mankind, but really it is a horrific move in the wrong direction.
So, all of these things, people can witness the downfall of our society. And I have come to realize that this is what I call social entropy; society isn’t improving, it’s degrading constantly. And that’s what the Bible proclaimed in Romans chapter 1, it said that society would grow darker and darker. Which goes back to your comment in the very opening, Dave, Adrian Rogers said, “It’s getting gloriously dark.” Those of us who have eyes to see recognize that the Bible proclaimed and prophesied all of these different signs. And they are evident to even the spiritually blind because most people realize our society is not getting better, it seems to be degrading. We are at each other throats. We have racial strife and other social strife that had already begun to wane, but it is creeping back in as a fulfillment of these end times.
David Reagan: You know at the end of the 19th Century, right on the verge of the beginning of the 20th Century nearly all the Church, Catholic and Protestant was caught up in Postmillennialism, the belief that the Church was going to take over the world, reign over the world for 1,000 years, then Jesus would come, and we would give Him the Kingdom.
Tim Moore: Yes.
David Reagan: In fact, nearly all the writings in the 1890’s were about the Christian century. They referred to it over and over, the 20th Century is going to be the Christian century. Well, World War I and World War II took care of that. Of course, there is no view that is more unbiblical than Postmillennialism, because the Bible says that the majority of people will always reject the Gospel, and the Church is never going to take over the world. Yet, we see that coming back today. Some of the most prominent evangelicals are not getting into Postmillennialism. And I think it is the old idea that, well, we can do it. You know, we are smart enough now. We are clever enough now. We can do it. We can take over the world and reign for Jesus Christ.
Tim Moore: And they are even abandoning the Gospel for another Gospel, which really is a secular humanism view, and elevating man above God. I mean renouncing even core doctrines of the faith, and they are still calling themselves Christians.
David Reagan: When I asked you for signs of the times, and neither one of you mentioned the one that most prophecy scholars call the cornerstone of end time Bible prophecy, and that has to do with Israel.
Tim Moore: Israel, yes, sir, we were getting there because it is the most important. It is the most exciting.
Nathan Jones: He couldn’t wait. That’s his favorite sign. Really your definition of signs it always ends back to Jerusalem.
David Reagan: Well, end time Bible prophecy focuses on Israel.
Tim Moore: It certainly does. That is why we love taking people on pilgrimage trips to see with their very eyes what the Lord is bringing to pass right in their own day and time.
David Reagan: Yeah, just the regathering of the Jewish people, what a miracle that was. Their preservation for 2,000 years.
Tim Moore: Exactly.
David Reagan: No other nation has been scattered all over the world and been able to keep their identity, yet, they were. And they come back, they reestablish their nation. They are back in their city. And that’s the reason that the Orthodox Jews now feel that the Messiah is coming any moment, and they are preparing. In fact, our latest magazine, that are we are just getting ready to mail our right now, has to do with the Jewish signs. How God motivated the hearts of the Jewish people after 1967 to go back to Israel. And they began to come from all over the world. And then in addition to that they are beginning to do the plans for the Third Temple. I mean there is feverish activity. They are not going to be surprised by the return of the Messiah. They are going to be surprised by His identity.
Tim Moore: Yes, as one of our Jewish friends likes to say, when Jesus comes again his question will be: Have you been here before? Well, yes, He obviously has been. But the Jews got that even in 1967. I love the fact that during the Six Day War when they recaptured the Old City and were able to go again to the Western Wall, the chief Rabbi of the Israeli Army, Shlomo Goren, his name meaning Solomon, very wise, went and blew a shofar and proclaimed the beginning of the Messianic Age. Because they understood the prophetic significance of the Jews once again possessing their capital city.
Nathan Jones: And that was Jesus’ ninth sign of the ten He gave in Luke 21. He said, “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies you will know that its desolation is near. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles are fulfilled,” Luke 21:22-24. So, the Jews had to control Jerusalem. They had to live in Jerusalem. And the whole world had to be against Jerusalem. We see constantly the UN making resolution, after resolution against the Jewish people. The Jewish people can’t build an apartment complex without the whole world going nuts. I mean the whole world is focused on Jerusalem, just as the Bible prophesied.
David Reagan: Well, anti-Semitism is just going berserk all over Europe and all over the world.
Nathan Jones: Even in the United States now.
David Reagan: It’s like a new plague.
Tim Moore: It is.
David Reagan: It is really unbelievable.
Nathan Jones: And the Lord’s doing that to get the Jewish people to go back to Israel, which is their calling.
David Reagan: Yeah, they are leaving France like mad right now, just trying to get back to Israel.
Tim Moore: It goes back to what you said about wrath. Wrath is not designed just to be a punishment. Wrath is designed to motivate. Let’s face it, when I punish my own children, or did when they were growing up, it wasn’t just to be vindictive toward them, it was to discipline them, to correct their behavior. To lead them to a rightful behavior and mindset and grow them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. The Lord uses wrath and uses judgment to motivate people, as they come to the end of themselves, to turn back to Him in repentance and to reenter into a relationship. So, it is mercy as He pours out wrath, and it is a merciful loving God who is calling us to Himself.
David Reagan: We only have about a minute left in this segment, but one thing I wanted to mention was growing apostasy in the Church. People are talking about a great revival is going to occur in the Church. Well, there is no evidence of that in Bible prophecy. Instead, Bible prophecy says it is going to get worse, and worse, and it is pretty bad today.
Tim Moore: It certainly is. As I said many denominations, individual pastors, and even some very famous ones are embracing another Gospel, denying the very tenents of the faith.
David Reagan: Well, and one of the wildest things that is sweeping through Christianity today is the teaching that there are many different roads to God. Who are we to say that Christianity is the only road? We don’t say it, Jesus said it.
Tim Moore: Jesus did.
David Reagan: If you say there are many roads to God, you are saying that Jesus is a liar.
Tim Moore: Yes, sir.
Nathan Jones: John 14:6.
David Reagan: Because He made it just as clear as He could that there was only one way to God and that was through Him.
Tim Moore: Amen.
David Reagan: Okay.
Closing
David Reagan: Well, folks, that is our program for today. I hope it’s been a blessing to you. But before we sign off I want to give my two colleagues here an opportunity to share some final thoughts with you.
Nathan Jones: Well, I want to share the final thought of the Bible. And the whole Bible ends with a promise and a prayer. Jesus says, “Surely, I am coming quickly.” And John responds, “Even so, come Lord Jesus.” So, the entire Bible points to the fact that we should be excited about the Lord’s soon return because it is a given.
Tim Moore: Amen. And, Nathan, most of the signs we’ve been discussing are foreboding or represent a rise of evil. And yes, our message is dark and full of warning to those who have rejected Christ. In fact, we cannot adequately convey the horror that awaits every person who perishes outside a relationship with Him. The wrath of God Himself abides on that person. And He will judge those who reject Jesus in anger and righteous indignation. So, do not accept such a horrible and eternal fate. But please realize that ours is a message of promise and hope for all who have put their trust in Jesus Christ.
While there is time, today, right now, accept God’s free gift of salvation. Then all the signs you discern will merely affirm the trustworthiness of God’s Word and fill you with excitement that we are living in the season of Jesus’ return.
Our God is a God of signs. He put the rainbow in the sky to remind Himself and us of His promise to never again destroy the earth with a flood. He commanded blood to be smeared on the door of enslaved Israelites as a sign of their trust in and obedience to Him. And, He has given us signs pointing to Jesus’ return.
We pray that you have eyes to see, ears to hear, and the inclination to heed those signs. Scripture says that the heavens declare the glory of the Lord. And that is certainly true. And the signs of the times and their convergence before our very eyes are shouting that Jesus is coming soon. Maranatha!
David Reagan: My final thought is that we are living on borrowed time, so let’s all start living like it. Folks, I want to urge you to be back with us next week for one of the most important programs we have ever broadcast. If you can’t join us live, set your TV recorder to record the program. Until then, this is Dave Reagan speaking for Lamb & Lion Ministries saying, “Look up, be watchful, for our redemption is drawing near.”