Daniel - shut up the words, and seal the book, until the time of the end. Close the book, because what I've revealed to you won't be understood by anyone, until the very end. Then suddenly… oh - that's what it means!
He says in that time (the End Times), many shall “run to and fro”. Travel will be incredibly widespread, with many running to and fro, all over the earth. Knowledge shall increase!
A lot of these things you can just check for yourself - Google them. They're all there - rumours of war, and wars, and how many people have been killed. You can look it all up and find for yourself what's going on. So, what's the story about the increase in knowledge, how has it been going?
In 1900, knowledge doubled every 100 years; but by 1945, it doubled every 25 years. In 1980, it's doubling now, because of computers, every 13 months. IBM has predicted that in 2020, knowledge will double every 12 hours! If knowledge is doubling that fast, you can't keep up with it! We have to learn how to live in a world where knowledge is changing so fast, that you have to build something different inside you.
12) The last sign, and the best one of all, is that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached globally.
Matthew 24:1 – “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world, as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached globally - with signs, and miracles, and wonders! There will be a massive End Time harvest! It's going to be an amazing time! That's why you'll find, increasingly, and globally, there will be an emphasis on the kingdom of God – preaching, of the kingdom of God. Churches have not taught enough on the kingdom of God.
Jesus' whole message was - repent, the kingdom is at hand!
The glory of God's kingdom - His rule, His dominion over nature, His culture, and values. The Sermon on the Mount is about the culture of heaven - what it looks like; and how, when heaven is on earth, how people live. How awesome is that!
So those are the signs, and I want to go back up to the seventh sign – “as it was in the days of Lot”.
Luke 17:28 – “Likewise, as it was in the days of Lot, they ate and drank, and bought and sold, and planted and built - until the day Lot went out of Sodom, and then it rained fire”.
I've never seen it raining fire before; but then with Noah, no one had seen it raining rain either. They hadn't seen it - it was something different. In the last days, there will be things that we've never seen before. The day he left, it rained fire and brimstone - destroyed them all; and so it will be, when the Son of Man is revealed. Now, Lot dwelt in the City of Sodom, and he was troubled all the time by what he saw.
It's quite interesting to watch his journey. He starts off walking with a man of faith, Abraham. He was his nephew. And then, because he's walking with a man of faith, who was in the anointing and purpose of God - he prospers; but when he prospers, he forgets to be grateful, and honour where his source is, so he ends up competing with Abraham. Now Abraham, was very gracious. When you're connected to God, and God is your source, you can be gracious. You don't have to fight over stuff, because God can get you more. He didn't fight. He said: listen, we want peace between us. So, you can choose whatever you want to do.
Abraham had every right to say: listen, I'm in charge here. This is my mission journey. I get the best piece... But instead he said: you choose whatever you want. He looked down - oh that land looks nice and flat. I can see some nice cities there, as well, so I'll choose that bit. What happened next is a gradual progression, where he dishonours the source, and starts to compete, and promote himself. Next, we find him camping outside the city; and then he's living in the city; and then eventually, he's in the gates of the city, meaning that he's now in a place of leadership and influence in the city. He's been submerged in the city, and in the culture; so, in his heart, he's troubled by everything that's going on.