Five Signs to End Times - Part II

Materialism: Perhaps the best way to sum up materialism is the understanding that more and more, people are spending money they do not have, on things they do not need, to impress people they do not like, and then paying total strangers to come into their homes to keep the things clean.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines materialism as “a preoccupation or stress upon material rather than intellectual or spiritual things”. People become focused on money because of the things it can buy. This inevitably leads to constantly upgrading possessions when the craving of more develops into a craving for better. Materialism is the enemy of contentment. Once the desire for financial stability is met, gears then change for a lifestyle of more and better. This often leads to substance abuse in an attempt to elevate bordun and to calm nerves. It can also lead to cripplingly debt. It is estimated that the average American family has a Mortgage Debt of 170K, Credit Card Debt of $7K, Auto Loan Debt of 30K and Student Loan Debts of 39K. Many people have little or no chance of paying of these depts except through the Rapture or death. America's Total Household Debt as of 2025 reached a staggering 18 trillion dollars! 

Let us be clear, the Bible does not state that money is evil. The Bible states that the love of money is evil. No one can serve two master (Matthew 6:24). Money is God's greatest rivel and it is not the paper or plastic that is to blame, its mankind’s love of things. Ownership of things is a way to escape relying on people and work to bring pleasure. Money can stave off pain, mental anguish and even death for a while. It allows one more control over their life. It is much easier to love things than to love people. You may or may not love people but you can love money. Money will not hurt or challenge you. This is all because money is dead. And after a while, a person of wealth may begin to feel numb, empty and unsatisfied as the days crawl by one by one. When Robin Leach, host of Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous show, was asked the one thing the world’s richest people had in common, he quickly replied, “They are all miserable!”. When asked why? He stated, “Because they all thought that with enough money in the bank, they would be happy. But they eventually came to realize that this was not true.” As it turns out, the rich have high suicide rates due to psychological pressures brought about by such issues as, social isolation, setting unattainable standards, fear of failure, loss of social status, harsh self-criticism, loneliness, lack of trust in friends and spouses, and often confusion between professional gain and genuine emotion. Studies show that once basic needs are met, more money provides diminishing returns on on happiness. But at the same time, individuals that make less than $10,000 annually have a 50% increase in suicide, and the unemployed have a 72% higher rate than those making $60K or higher. So what is the answer?  

Scripture tells us that at the end of this age, people will become lovers of themselves, focusing on money and the pleasures it provides rather than lovers of God and their fellow man (Matthew 24:37-39; II Timothy 3:1-5). This is not to say people will not appear Godly, but God will have no real effect on their lives. They will claim to love God and sit front row center in church, but their life style style will demonstrate a love for pleasure, power, possessions and a cavalier attitude concerning the poor and needy. A kind of, I got mine so you get yours attitude. 

The antidote of materialism is generosity. The idea of taking hard earned money and just giving it away is initially a hard pill to swallow. For many people, it is simply not an idea that has ever crossed their minds. These are not bad people, but people that are focused on making and accruing money not donating it to a cause. In the industrialized nations, how one uses money is directly related to how one views money. Instead of always think about money and what it can buy, one needs to reverse this natural tendency. Stop thinking of money beyond what is needed to cover basic expenses as yours. Instead, first understand that it was God who has given you the mental acumen necessary to earn more than enough money to provide for your needs. Through your God given earning power, He has provide you and your family with housing, furniture, cars and a secure retirement. Money beyond these necessities is now like water. It came up to you, filled your cup of needs to overflowing, and now is asking what do you want to do with this left over surplus? This is when a mature person has an opportunity to look, not at the immediate here and now, but instead at the bigger picture. They will understand that life is precious and could end at any time. While they could invest their excess wealth by buying more socks and bonds or a bigger house, newer car, or new wardrobe, they stop and ask a fundamental question? As a child of God, who exactly are they trying to impress. They now have learned that constantly upgrading one’s life style can bring immediate happiness, but the feeling is always short lived.

At some point, it will occur to most people that when they die two things will happen. Their estate will be divided among family members and they will meet their maker. The children of the people of wealth are usually doing well on their own. Therefore, estate or insurance monies is just more money to them. Welcomed but not a necessity. Then there is the issue of meeting God. At this meeting, all people will stand before Him with only their past deeds to show. Those who have faith in Christ will receive eternal life. But eternal life doing what? The governance duties assigned to believers at the Bema Seat Judgement is directly related to the random acts of kindness a person performed to benefit their fellow man. It is these outward acts that show the inner love a person has for God. Not self-serving good deeds for oneself, family or friends, but good deeds for strangers. Sadly, this is when most people will realize two things. All the money they spent on themselves is in the past, and all the money they saved is in a bank. And second, they now understand that they had many chances to make a difference in the lives of so any needy people through philanthropic acts, but they were distracted by a focus on making, managing and spending money on themselves and family. So how does one start the transition from investing money to divesting money? 

The change can be quick and easy once there is a change in mindset. First, a person has to decide that they want to regularly give time and or money to worthy causes. Now one might think, Isn’t that what the government is for? Isn’t this why I pay my taxes? Yes, this is in part true, but there is always more need than money. And, God wants to see his children personally involved in contributing to the betterment of mankind. One may rightly ask, Suppose my moneys it not spent on the needy but is wasted on some frivolous thing? This should not be a concern. God knows that you donated your hard earned money for the right reasons. If a person or organization does not spend your money wisely, God’s blessing is still on you, but His condemnation is now on them.

A person can begin to donate to worthy causes in small but direct ways by simply increasing the amount of tips left to people that provide services such as waiters, car wash staff, cleaning service staff, hair dressers etc. If you pass a person with a Help Me sign, buy a bag of burgers or sandwich and give it to them. They cannot spend this on drugs or alcohol. Pay your toll and then the one for the car behind you. You see a street vender selling a rose for a dollar, give the person a $20 bill and tell them to give them to people who are passing by and look tired or worried. Volunteer to work a half a day a month for a worthy cause like food banks, shelters, or tutoring children. Statistically, people who regularly volunteer live longer than those who do not. Donate household items to charities, give blood (it only takes 30 minutes), set up an auto donation with your employer, see if your employer has a matching donation plan, say yes to merchants Keep the Change programs, donate to a friend’s charity, and best of all, teach your children and grandchildren to donate. For those who are shy about witnessing for Christ, donating money to a church will produce fruit that will be credited to them. Working through a financial advisor or bank, a person could create a Certificate of Deposit with a duration of 5 or 10 years and a guaranteed return of say 5%+. If the person puts $10,000 in the account, they would get a check each year for $500 (5% of $10K) that they could then donate to a charity. Then, at the end of five or ten years, they would get their original $10,000 back. There, that was easy! 

In short, the idea is to spend a little less on yourself and donate that amount to God. Jesus said, do not bother to store treasure on earth where rust can rot and thieves can steal, but instead in Heaven where it is safe. For where your treasure is, there will your heart also be (Matthew 6:19-21; I Timothy 6:17-19). When you see the rich and famous remember, just like you they came into this world broke, and just like you they will leave broke. The only riches a person will have in the life to come are those good fruits of kindness they stored in Heaven during their lifetime.  

A person should take care of their immediate needs, set aside some money for retirement, and then make their lives one long gift to others. And by others not just family and friends, but more importantly, total strangers who may never know it was your generosity that made a huge difference in their lives through an act of pure generosity (Matthew 6:1-4). Scripture is clear, all you leave behind that is of worth in the eyes of God, are acts of kindness towards your fellow man. 

Immorality: Jesus said that at the End of the Age, immorality would be as rampant as it was in the days of Noah before God sent a flood to destroy that culture (Genesis 6:5; Timothy 3:1-5). Today, sex is the number one most searched topic on the internet. There are 30 million pornography web sites and 60% of all websites include some form of porn. Seventy two million Americans and four out of five sixteen years olds regularly visit porn sites. 35% of all internet downloads contain some form of pornography. 70% of divorces occur because one partner found another love interest on line. And 60% of divorces involve a partner described as being obsessed with pornography. The newest media technology trend is the Virtual Reality (VR) head set. It is self-contained eyewear that allows a person to see movies that are three dimensional. Meaning, you appear to be in the room with the actors and if you walk around, you appear to be actually moving around the room. If the movie is pornographic, then you are in the room with the actors. This technology and movies are available today for any person of any age to wear and watch. Further, millions of Adult Dolls are being legally manufactured and sold in America. Remarkably, state and federal law to date only band the sale and possession of Dolls that resemble children. The governments also seem to have no problem with adult bots. Animated Sex Robots are currently in the trial stages of development. 

Consumerism is the driving force behind all technology. Whatever a person might want, technology can give it to them. This is the root cause of America’s moral decline. Americans are drawn to whatever stimulates the senses and feels good in the moment as opposed to what is good in the long run. Immorality can blur the line between what is right and wrong and leads to emotional stress. In the past fifteen years, suicide among White youths (10-24) is up by 62%. Suicide among Black youths(10-17) is up 144%. While the divorce rate in America has dropped, this is due to who is getting married. People with college educations are getting and staying married. Many people with high school educations tend to partner. This helps explain why 25% of White children are born out of wedlock as opposed to 77% of Black children. With no marriage agreement, this leaves many mothers with poor educations struggling provide the income necessary to provide for their children’s needs. Additionally, boys that grow up without a male role model are 30% more likely to experience incarceration. 29% of Black males have been incarcerated as opposed to 16% Hispanic and 4% White males. America has 4.2% of the world’s population, but 25% of the world's prisoners (1.8 mil). The same number as Russia and China combined. Nearly 70% of the homeless population have substance abuse issues. Each year approximately 50,000 Americans die from firearms, 50,000 from alcohol abuse, 50,000 from car accidents and 110,000 from drug abuse. 

While there are many sociological theories on how America came to be this way, the Bible is clear that all people have been endowed with a basic knowledge that there is a righteous God (Roman 1:18-20). Whether a person wants to acknowledge God is a personal decision. But if they knowingly reject God, they are without excuse concerning judgement. People reject God because they have the inalienable right to believe in Him or not to believe. The problem about a belief in God is that it starts a series of mental deductions that inevitably lead to the understanding that God has a set of moral values He wants all people to follow. So, if a person agrees to believe in a God, this means they may have to uphold a moral standard of conduct. To escape this conclusion, society at large has become humanistic. This is a focus on human potential, human reasoning and this life as opposed to the next one. Society has chosen to believe a scientific theory that creation came from nothing. It was random chance that the Earth and its oceans developed over time. Then through billions of years of heat, electrical storms and naturally existing proteins, green slime developed and evolved into plant life. At this time, amoebas also formed and evolved in to jellyfish then amphibians who later developed a backbone and became reptiles who later became warm blooded, stood on their two hind legs and eventually evolved to became the human race. Therefore, man is nothing more or less than billion year old carbon. Destine to live and die without any real purpose in a cold universe that will eventually shrink, implode and the Big Bang will start the process all over again.  

With this idea in mind, one can see why many people do not believe in a Creator God, and are not particularly happy about being born only to die (Romans 1:21). Paul was inspired to write, “Professing to be wise they became as fools (Romans 1:22-23). So, many people have decided that because there is no purpose to life, one might as well enjoy life while they can. Through a disbelief in God, and a natural propensity to focus on the desires of the flesh, people have turned themselves over to pleasure which invariably leads to immorality (Romans 1:24-25). So, while God does not give up on people, people give up on God. Thus, these people will ultimately be judged according to the natural laws of consequences. We can know this because we read that God abandon His own Son on Calvary when He took on the sins of the world. God simply cannot abide in the presence of a person knowingly committing sin (Romans 1:26-27). Mankind has abandoned God through disbelief and instead would rather worship human reason. In doing so, man has believed the “Great Lie”, man as his own God (II Thessalonians 2:11-12).  

God continues to offer amazing grace. Grace means unmerited favor or kindness shown to one who is utterly undeserving. It is not actually a free gift as it cost God the torturous death of His only begotten human Son. Jesus suffered to make the grace of God possible. It is a free gift to those who deserve the exact opposite.   

Islam: At its most fundamental core Islam, by way of the Qur’an, is a blending of Old and New Testament doctrine along with the Jewish Midrash, popular seventh century pagan practices and harsh seventh century, Arab civil law. In this way, the moral teachings of the Qur’an include legal punishments for infractions. While it is universally agreed that Sharia law is based on horrific ancient torcher, physical mutilation and public execution by beheading, it is impossible to separate the law from the religion. Therefore, according to the Qur’an, there is no such thing as Radical Islam. You are either a Muslim working on behalf of Allah according to his explicit dictates, or you are an infidel deserving of punishment and/or death. You either live a life under the teachings of the Qur’an and corresponding Sharia laws, or you do not and thus you are a non-practicing Muslim. All Muslims believe their god Allah has made himself know through a self-ordained prophet named Mohammad. According to his pronouncements (c.600 AD), Allah demands that all the people of the earth practice the Muslim religion and pray only to him. The first prayer ever created was personally dictated by Mohammad and reads, “There is only one god and he has no son”. He also declared that there were three acceptable ways to spread the Muslim religion to other nations of the world. It can be accomplished peacefully through "Treaties", or violently through "The Sword” known as Jihad. However, if a country cannot be defeated by treaty or war, then Muslims are to immigrate into these countries and breed them and their religious culture out of existence. This is known as "Intifada". So, there is actually no such thing as Radical Islam. There is only Islam and its Qur’an, Sharia Law, and three ways to conquer all people of all religions. So, what is commonly referred to as Radical Islam or an Islamic terrorist is actually a fully committed Muslim. According to the Qur'an, every other Muslim should be ashamed of themselves for not also being fully committed and punished according to Sharia Law. While 90% of Muslims can recite some passages in the Koran, only 20% have actually read the Koran and 40% of Muslims are illiterate. Also, 80% of Muslims are non Arab and thus are not able to fully understand the language. So, most Muslims do not realize that the religion they practice contains theses draconian doctrines. 

With this in mind, a true devout Muslim will not be stopped by appeasement but only take advantage of it. They are not interested in political solutions or peace treaties that do not lead to the exclusive adherence to the dictates of the Qur'an. They do not want welfare, pity or to be thought of as a Third World people. Their animosity towards the world is not caused by hunger, poverty or lack of education. In fact, 69% of Muslims who follow the laws of Allah unto death, have High School educations and 49% had obtained university degrees. Their animosity against all non-Muslims is twofold. First, infidels (those who practice other religions) are an abomination in the eyes of Allah. Therefore, they must either be converted to Islam, or be eliminated. Second, the Qur’an teaches that if a person drinks alcohol, has sex outside of marriage, or eats pork, they have lost their right to enter Paradise at death. Because many if not most Muslim men have broken one or more of these laws, Muhammad create a Golden Parachute. He stated that anyone who was literally killed while defending or spreading the one true religion of Allah would immediately go to Paradise. Muslims understand and expect infidels to fight against their world domination goals. But whether they or the infidel dies in this Allah ordained struggle of wills, the Muslim always comes out on top. Unlike the rest of the modern world, they do not see their doctrines as raciest, homophobic, misogynistic, genocidal, inhumane, superstitious and driven by hatred and revenge.  

The rise of a religion like Islam is a direct sign of the End of the Age. And Muslims believe that it is only through their religion and themselves serving as agents of destruction and chaos that the 12th Imam will reappear. Muslims believe that in c.900 AD the 12th and final Imam, in order to prevent his imminent assignation, hid down in a well. He will remain there until a time of worldwide mass chaos during which he will reappear with Jesus {go figure?} to usher in a time of resurrection, justice and equality. Muhammad apparently also took this idea from the Old and New Testaments references to the End of the Age when there will be a general resurrection of the dead, the return of Christ, and a Paradise on earth.  

Those resurrected will also include the Jinn believed by Muslims to be shapeshifting spirits. While mostly unseen, they can be good or evil. They influence human thought, indwell humans and or animals, but generally prefer to exist in a parallel dimension. There they eat, drink, marry and have children. Well finally, a Muslim belief we can all get behind! 

The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel and the Book of Psalms prophesize an Endtime mass invasion into Israel by the Arab forces of Islam along with Russia. Some will say this event is impossible as Islam is a religion of peace. Yet their history shows that Muhammad personally engaged in 47 battles and Islamic law sanctions the slaughter of innocent men, women and even infants as shown most recently in Oct 7^th 2023 massacre. Muslim Hamas forces murdered over 1,200 Jewish adults and infants through gunfire and beheadings. If Islam is a religion of peace, why are there 123 verses instructing followers to fight and kill non-Muslims? If Islam is peaceful, why does every Muslim country not allow freedom of speech? And why is the Christian Church persecuted in every country dominated by Muslims? Why do Muslims refer to America as the Big Satan and Israel as Little Satan? Why is Islam the only major religion in the world that contains doctrines that approve acts of violence to spread its beliefs and culture? An honest reading of the Qur’an revels a brutal theology. This is exactly what we see playing out in Iran where between December 2025 and January 2026, this Islamic theocracy put down public protests by arresting and executing over an estimated 36,500 people as prescribe by Sharia law.   

Today, those who practice Islam have become the world’s fastest growing population. However, this is not though conversions but instead because of high Muslim birth rates. The Qur’an allows Muslim men to have as many as four wives, and today Muslim women will, on average, give birth to three children. A recent Pew survey on Muslim birth rates from 2010 to 2020 show that births rose by 16% in Asia, and 16% in Europe. But in the US, Muslim birth rates rose by an astounding 52%. And it has been estimated that by the year 2040, France will be 80% Muslim. Thus the saying, “Immigration without assimilation is an invasion." However, the Pew Report’s summery goes on to state that not only are Muslim immigrants assimilating well into the US culture, but many report that they have set aside traditional Islam religious practices and customs in order to better relate to their Judeo-Christian colleagues and neighbors. Still others, once allowed to study the Bible, are converting to Christianity. However, many of these converts cannot return to their countries of origin because conversion, according to Sharia Law, carries the death penalty. So maybe there is hope of a much needed reevaluation of outdated seventh century Qur’an values concerning human rights, race and gender equality. 

The god of the Koran is not the God of the Bible and a Muslim would be the first to tell you this. The name Allah is the name Muhammad gave to the god of Islam. It was originally the ancient name of the Arab moon god, and the god favored by Muhammad’s tribe. In fact, Mohamad’s father was named Abd-Allah. This is why there are flags with a crescent moon flying above all mosques. The Qur'an states that Allah cannot be known as He is in no way like a human. He is not part of a Trinity and has no son. Allah does not have any emotional feelings towards mankind. Allah has provided mankind with no saviour therefore, all mankind is unemotionally judged according the number of good works verses bad works committed over a life time. This is why most Muslims fear death as they are told they should expect to be confined to Hell.  

AI has scanned the pronouncements of Muhammad and has concluded that he borrowed liberally from the Old and New Testaments, the Jewish Midrash commentaries, and non-conical fictional texts concerning the childhood of Jesus written for profit in the third, fourth and fifth centuries. While Muhammad was illiterate, he had many Biblical sources from which to obtain information. For example, Muhammad had a Christian concubine named Mary that he is said to have loved above his other twelve wives. He had close ties with a Christian Monk named Bahira of Syria. He was also close with a Christian Greek slave named ‘Amir ibn Nawfal and a Christian friend named Yasara. These are just a few of the sources Muhammad would have used in compiling the Qur’an. AI shows that the Qur’an references 130 verses (about 30% of the Qur’an) from the Old and New testaments including commentaries straight out of the Jewish Talmud. Muhammad wrote in the Qur’an that even though Jesus was not the Son of God, He was virgin born and a great prophet whose pronouncements were to be followed. 

Persecution: The Christian religion is the most persecuted religion in the world. Approximately 400 million followers are currently experiencing extreme persecution through government oppression, societal hostilities and religious extremist groups. The majority of persecutions occur in North Korea where Christians are executed, Africa and Asia. While America was founded on Christian principals, today its adherence to Biblical morality is at odds with the philosophy of unrestricted moral freedom that dominates America and the world’s cultural landscapes. Christianity has been steadily declining a in America over the past several decades. Recent Supreme Court rulings, governmental legislation, multi-cultural educational considerations, the entertainment industry and social media all no longer support many traditional Biblical values. Today Christians are stereotyped as poorly educated, intellectually stunted, homophobic and intolerant of other religions. Movies and tv shows portray Christians as psychotic and antagonistic bigots who judge others harshly. Hypocrites who do not practice what they preach. Because of this, laws have been created to forbid prayer in schools, and civic events. Traditional Christian holidays have been secularized and merchandised. It is no longer politically correct to use the term Christmas, instead it is now referred to as the Holiday Season so as not to publicly shame other religions.

Apathy: Today, most people are apathetic and not expecting the Rapture. That said, once it occurs it will be all they talk about…along with questioning why they were not also taken away. Apathy is defined as, “the feeling of not having much emotion or interest”. An apathetic Christian is a cynical person who simply does not care any more about the signs of the times. Talking about the return of Christ is not relevant to the day-to-day struggles to make financial ends meet, job security and the possibility of business failures. The Rapture is irrelevant as it is a supernatural event in the distant future as opposed to the harsh realities of the here and now. 

The disciples asked Jesus when would the End of the Age occur? He gave them, and us, a lengthy list of events in the order of their occurrences. He did not give the disciples all they wanted to know, but He gave them what they needed to know. Reading the Gospel of Matthew Chapters 24 and 25, one learns fascinating and exciting events destine to happen. But all too often, the excitement is drowned out by not knowing exactly when the events will occur. It reminds one of the old question about the difference between ignorance and apathy. The answer is, I don't know and I don’t care.

That is how most people now feel about the Rapture. The pre Rapture events are starting to occur, but they are being tuned out by job pressures, politics, wars, protests, crime, computers, phones, movies, world events, social media, and mass consumerism. People are not entranced by the idea of the appearance of Christ, but instead the next video game, movie star divorce, fashion fad, or electronic device. But the reality is, the only hope for the human race to survive is the Second Coming and rule of Christ. When was the last time you heard this truth on the news? Never! 

Jesus specifically said that just prior to His Second Coming, the world would be like the times of Noah before the flood. No thought or concern about an invisible Holy God. The focus was only on the preoccupations of work, family, relaxation.  In other words, the here and now. Working hard and playing even harder. Making money and spending it. All people were not necessarily caught up so much in evil, but in completely ordinary life to the point that God and His plans did not fit into their plans. Nobody could see the forest for the trees. A storm was coming, but nobody had the time nor inclination to look up. They were not aware that the end was literally at their door. Noah understood and preached the end was near for 120 years. He even built a ship one hundred and fifty yards long in a desert. But the people simply drifted along with the cultural trends of the day oblivious to Noah's supposed folly and his prophecy of doom and gloom. The Flood was a shadow prophecy of the coming Tribulation Period. Nobody had time for religious prophecy then, and nobody has time for it today. They were completely caught up in day to day life and looking forward to a planned and predicable future of retirement and grandkids (II Peter 3:3-6). 

Today, talk of an End Time event is unbelievable, boring and politically incorrect as it will benefit only the people of one religion and not everyone else. So, when the Rapture does occur, most people will not immediately notice. It will take an hour or two for the world to put down their phones, computers, to-do-lists and realize that a worldwide panic is growing. Jesus was right on the money when He said, while you do not know the time of the Rapture and My return, it will be like the man who did not know the time his house would be robbed. If he had known, he would have been on guard and prepared. So a person of faith is supposed to be looking for the signs, excited and ready for the trip of a lifetime. Jesus said He would be coming at a time when you least expect Him (Matthew 24:42-44).

This warning is true both for Jesus’ coming at the Rapture for His followers, and seven years later at His Second Coming with His followers to purge the Earth of the wicked then ruling for the next one thousand years. Jesus' coming is the blessed promise for some, and a terrible warning for others. He said, behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments {faith}, least he walk naked and they see his shame {lack of belief}. The word "garment" mean faith in Christ. So those of great faith will be recognized and raptured while others of little or no faith will remain on Earth and have their faith strengthened during the Tribulation Period. People of no faith {false religions, atheists, agnostics etc.} will be found spiritually naked and all will see their shame as they are left behind in the Rapture, or later struck dead at Jesus’ Second Coming due to a willful disregard towards their Creator. This is like the person who says, I have never been robbed, so I do not believe I will ever be robbed. Therefore, I think I will turn off my alarm system. This is a careless, reckless, self-deceptive attitude. That of, while I know it has happened to other people, I honestly do not think it will ever happen to me! How many times have we heard this expression from a person only to find that it did happen to them?

In Part III of this study we will take a close look at the Resurrection, Rapture, Heaven, the Bema Seat of Christ, Rewards and Worship.