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This program is made possible by the giving of the God called Partners of Renner Ministries. Get ready for a teaching that feeds your spirit and your mind, where the Word is the anchor in uncertain times. And doctrine doesn't bend to culture. We keep it simple, but dive deep, revealing a truth that strengthens us, a love that emboldens, and a mission that touches the world. Let's join Rick Renner. Welcome to today's program, my friend. It is already the end of the week. It seems like this week just went like that. But that's what happens when you're having fun. And I've been having such a good time with you as we've been discussing the subject. How close are we to the end? People really ask that question. Maybe you've been asking that question, how close are we to the end? This 10 part series is so rich and so packed and it comes with a wonderful study guide that has all the material in the study guide. Because I really believe, and it's scientifically proven that when you read the material while you're seeing or hearing it, it really gets the material deeper down inside you. And of course I'm really thrilled about my book. Signs yous'll see just before Jesus comes, where we really go through all the signs Jesus enumerated that would be indicative that we've sailed to the end of the age. And right now, for free, for everyone who calls us or goes online, we want to give you an end times timeline, my friends. It is just wonderful and we designed it specially for you because we want you to know prophecies that are already fulfilled, prophecies that are being fulfilled, prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled. We want you to be able to see right in front of you where we are in time. And this is our gift to you. And you can get yours by going online and just downloading it. Or if you want a hard copy, call us and we will get one in the mail to you. And please, when you reach out to us, would you let us know how to pray for you? We believe in prayer. We are praying people. And if you've ever called us for prayer, you know you don't get away from us without really being prayed for. And we believe. 1 John 5:14, 15 it says that if we pray anything according to God's will, God's will is his word. That's what his will is. And when we pray for you, we will pray scripturally. And when you pray scripturally, it opens the ears of God. God says, ah, there's my word. And the Bible says we know that if he hears us, we have the petitions that we request of him. So we will pray for you scripturally, biblically, and Jesus will do what needs to be done. But just call the number on the screen and please, would you write that number down and save it. And that way the next time you're in a fix, if you need somebody to pray with you, you have a number that you can call and friend, I promise you we're confidential and we will really pray sincerely for you. But hey, I want you to reach for your Bible. And we're going to continue to our subject about how close are we to the end of the age? And we're going to go back to Matthew 24:3, which really is the foundational verse for this series. And in Matthew 24:3, Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, which is so beautiful. And from the Mount of Olives, you can look across the Kidron Valley and there in the distance is the beautiful Temple Mount. It is such a panoramic, prophetic view. It is just amazing. And Jesus and his disciples were sitting with that behind them. And the Bible tells us in verse three, and as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, tell us, when shall these things be? What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the age? And we've seen over and over that in these verses, the disciples were speaking about things which were very indicative of that time. At that particular moment, there was a lot of talk about the end of the age and things having to do with eschatology. The people of God in Israel were really fixated and really focused on the end of the age, just like people are today. And once again, we're getting ready for the coming of Jesus. And God's people are asking, lord, when are these things going to be? What is the sign of thy coming at the end of the age? People are nearly asking the same identical questions. And we've already seen that Jesus gave them a list of answers. They asked for one sign, but because they came to Jesus privately, nobody else was there. Jesus gave them the one sign, the foremost sign, which was worldwide deception. Jesus said, hey, when you see this, you have come to the very close of the age. But then he gave them more. And in fact, Jesus gave them more than 20 signs. In this series, we're looking at 19 of them because that's all we have time to cover. But the first sign Jesus gave was worldwide deception. The second sign, Jesus gave was wars. The third sign Jesus gave was rumors of wars. The next sign was commotions. We covered that in the last episode. The next sign was nations rising against nations. The next sign was kingdoms rising against kingdoms. My friend, if you missed that in the previous episode, either order the series or go back to the archives because you need to know what the Bible's talking about when it speaks of commotions and nations rising against nations and kingdoms rising against kingdoms. We're seeing all of that in our time. But today we're going to look at the next signs sign numbers 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. And they are famines, scarcities, economic woes, pestilences and diseases. Jesus said these would be indicative that you've come to the end of the age. Now, there have always been these things in the human race, but when we come to the end of the age, these things are going to be amplified and magnified. So let's begin in Matthew 24:7, where Jesus continued to say, for nation shall rise against nation. We saw that in the previous program. And kingdom against kingdom. We saw that also in the previous program. But then Jesus adds, and there shall be famines. Famines. Well, what do we mean by famines? Well, I'm going to come to the board because I want you to see this. The word famine. Let's look at it here. Famine in Greek is very important and it means much more than what you think. Usually when you hear the word famine, you think of a lack of food, and certainly that is true, but it's much more than that. In Greek it is the word limos lemas. However, in Greek it is plural, so it's actually limoi. So it's not just a famine, but a time of famines. If you want to spell this in English, it would be spelled like this. Or in plural it would be spelled like this. Limoi. Now, what does it mean? Well, let me read to you directly from my notes. This word limas, here, translated, famines is plural and it describes multiple famines. It is a scarcity of grain, or it depicts deficits of all types, including. Listen to this. Financial deficits and shortages. But let's just stop for a moment and think about famines in the typical sins, which is a lack of food resulting in starvation. And I want to read to you from pages 72 to 73 of signs just before Jesus comes. Listen to this. According to a report from World Hunger and Poverty Facts and statistics, more than 250,000 people die every year around the world from hunger and hunger related Causes. Another shocking report is that between 250,000 to 500,000 children. Children become blind each year due to vitamin deficiencies caused by extreme undernourishment. And half of those die within a year of their blindness. Think of the famines that have purged millions of people from the planet. In various parts of the world in our lifetimes, the images of starving children and adults had been paraded before us on television and other media to bring the stark reality of this suffering to the forefront of our minds. Let's pause just for a moment. I want you to remember all the wonderful ministries and charitable organizations that are providing food to the hungry all over the world and many parts of the world they have no access to. Several of my friends have major television ministries that are geared to helping people that are starving or who have no access to water. My friends, you have access to water. You have access to food. You may not have access to everything you want, but you've got water to drink. You've got food, at least in some measure, to eat. But there are people in other parts of the world who have no water and they have no food at all. And we need to remember that there are people that are suffering from malnutrition and starvation in other parts of the world. And as a whole, there are more corporately right now suffering than ever before. It is off the charts. So let's go back to my notes. Think of the famines that have purged millions of people from the planet in various parts of the world in our lifetimes. The images of starving children and adults have been paraded before us on television and other media to bring the stark reality of this suffering to the forefront of our minds. And in many parts of the world, the lack of food and clean water, or the lack of any water at all, is an unimaginable crisis. Despite the wonderful efforts by many charitable organizations, the problems associated with hunger, malnutrition, disease as a result of no water or dirty water has grown worse in recent years. And currently our planet has a population of over 8 billion people. And according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Listen to this. Approximately one in nine suffer from chronic undernourishment. That means all these people lack the food necessary to maintain normal health. To help you understand the approximate size of that number, think of the populations of the entire European continent. But that's not enough. You've got to add to that number the populations of California and Texas combined. That is how many people are suffering from undernourishment, starvation, Lack of water. That is just unthinkable. Now, when you're living where you live, and you go to work every day and you go out to restaurants, and then you run by the store and get some food to take home, you don't really think every day about people that have nothing to eat and no water to drink. But Jesus said at the very end of the age, this would be amplified. And, my friends, it really is being amplified. And it brings to my mind the words of Proverbs 19:17, which is which says, he that has pity upon the poor lendeth to the Lord, and that which he has given, will he repay him again. Which means when you give to those that are destitute, you're lending to the Lord, and the Lord will repay you for that. We're also told in Proverbs 21:13, Whosoever stops his ear at the cry of the poor, he shall also cry himself, but shall not heard. Which means when we don't pay attention to the poor and to those that are suffering, it gets us in trouble later when we need help. And listen, I want to read a verse to you that really means a lot to me. And I live my life by this verse. And it is Proverbs 11:24. There is he that scatters and yet increases, and there he is. He that withholds more than is meat and attends to poverty. But the liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that waters shall be watered also himself. And I have really taken these verses very seriously in my life and financially, I want to scatter everywhere I go, whether it's giving a really good tip to a waiter or a waitress, or whether it's giving to another ministry or giving to those that are in financial need. I want to be one that is constantly scattering. And the Bible says, if I'll do that, God will see to it that I increase. And the Bible says the liberal soul shall be made fat. Which means, when you take care of others, God's going to see to it that you're taken care of. And particularly in this time when starvation and hunger and famine is so intense around the world, we as Christians need to be mindful of others and do what we can to help. This is an opportunity. Wow. But this word famine, the Greek word limos, that's singular. But here we find limoi, which is plural. It describes multiple famines. It also carries another important idea. The Greek word by itself actually describes a scarcity or a lack of grain. Grain. Well, in the first century, when Jesus was speaking, guess what? Economies were based on grain. If you had a lot of grain, then you were going to have a good financial year. If you had a shortage of grain, then as a whole, you were going to have a really bad financial year. And when there was a deficit of grain and it caused real scarcity on every level. And this is the reason why Rome always wanted to have a good relationship with Egypt, because Egypt was the breadbasket of the Roman Empire. And as long as Rome had access to the grain of Egypt, Rome was in good shape. But if Egypt had a plague or if Egypt had a famine and there was no grain, it shook the finances of the whole Roman Empire. So this word famine has hidden within it also the idea of financial deficits and shortages. And here Jesus used this word famine to forecast a scarcity of grain or widespread hunger in the last days, but also shortfalls or financial deficits in world markets that would affect the whole globe. It was a prediction of financial instability at the very end of the age. But this word, this word limas, can also describe financial woes, financial woes, such as financial shakings that would be repeated again and again and again. And the reason I say again and again and again is because in Greek, it's limoi. It is plural. It describes an event that happens again and again and again. And here Jesus was forecasting financial instability that would become more and more pronounced as we come closer to the end of the age. But then Jesus continues, and in Luke 21:11, he says, and there shall be pestilences. Pestilences. What do we mean by pestilences? Well, let's look at that. And if you're taking notes, I want you to write this down. The word pestilences in Greek, it is plural. It is. The word loimos looks very similar to this, but is not the same. Except here it is plural. Now, if you want to spell this in English, the first spelling would be loi mas. The second would be loi moi. It's plural. And here it doesn't just mean one pestilence, but multiple pestilences. Multiple. Well, what do I mean by pestilence? Well, let me read to you from my notes. In Greek, it is plural and it describes pestilences. And the Greek word literally depicts old diseases being reactivated or newly emerging diseases never before seen. And I want to read to you from pages 83 and 84 to 85 in my book Signs. You'll see just before Jesus comes. The planet is being hard hit with multiple diseases that are decimating populations all over the world. Even if cures exist, medicines and supplies to deal with the avalanche of disease spreading throughout the human race are often in short supply. In addition to normal strains of disease that medical science regularly combats. Today, science is struggling to fight the onslaught of newly emerging infectious diseases. These are often actually old diseases that have had life breathed into them again. And such emerging diseases have the potential to affect massive populations across the earth. Cures for these are frequently more difficult to find as new strains of the disease become more powerful, and as a result, larger numbers of people are put at risk. The World Health Organization states that many potential epidemic and pandemic pestilences already exist in latent states. This means many life threatening diseases are lying dormant and could be awakened at any moment to swiftly invade the human race. If one or two of these epidemics become activated and find a way into the world's population, what would happen in a very brief period of time is unthinkable. The mere thought of this possibility has scientists and the medical world in a constant state of urgency. Professionals predict that before us will be the re emergence of new infectious diseases, and that the re emergence of old diseases will have a significant impact on health. A number of factors will influence this. Travel and trade, microbiological resistance, human behavior, breakdown in health systems, increased pressure on the environment, Social, political, and economic factors that cause the movement of people will also increase contact between people and microbes. And environmental changes caused by human activity will all contribute to the spread of disease. The overuse of antibiotics and insecticides, combined with inadequate or deteriorating public health infrastructures will hamper daily responses to increasing disease threats. Ay, ay yai. Now that, my friends, is not the word of a theologian. That is the word of medical professionals and scientists. And it agrees with what Jesus said. He said, in the very end of the age there will be loi moi, the plural form of loi mas, which means pestilences, old diseases and new diseases, old diseases that are being reactivated. And Jesus said, it will happen more and more and more plural toward the end of the age. It's a good reason for us to live. In the 91st Psalm. And in the 91st Psalm, verse 1, it says, he that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. And when you get down to verse six, it says that we do not need to fear for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. And verse 10 says, There shall no evil befall Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. Verse 16 with long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation. My friends, we need to live under the shadow of the Almighty where we have protection. Protection both from famine and from financial hardship, and also from disease. Living in the shadow of the Most High is the safest place for us to live. Amen. Hey, but when we come back in the next episode, we're going to pick up here and see the next signs that Jesus gave us that would be indicative that we've come to the close of the age. I'll be back in just a moment and I'm going to pray for you. Someone has asked the question, Brother Rick, I'm believing for victory in my life, but when I look at everything around me, all I see is defeat. So what should I do? Well, James tells us in James Chapter one, verse three and four that you need to let patience have its perfect work. One man has translated this. You need to let patience run full course. It's like a woman that is perfect pregnant. She's not going to have a baby in 24 hours. She's got to go full term before she gives birth to that child. And it may be that you're right on track for the victory that you're waiting for, but the moment of its delivery has not come yet. And also remember that 1st John 5:4 says, whoever is born of God overcomes the world. You are a world overcomer, so don't throw in the towel or give in to what you or to what you feel. You stay in a place of faith and let your faith run full course until you finally receive the manifestation and the victory that you're waiting for.