California megachurch pastor Greg Laurie recently shared several key signs that the return of Jesus Christ is imminent with his congregation.
During a July 30th sermon titled Is Jesus Coming Back Again?, Laurie noted that Christ's return is mentioned over 300 times in the New Testament, about one in every 13 verses. Throughout the Bible, 27-33 percent of prophecies are about Christ's return, many of which have already occurred.
"We can look in retrospect at prophecies that were once in the future but are now in the past and realize that God predicted those things with 100 percent accuracy. Therefore, we can be safe in concluding that He will fulfill the other prophecies that are yet in our future," Laurie, the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, said.
Laurie also pointed to several "signs of [the] times" of Jesus' imminent return, including "the emergence of China as a superpower," "the lessening of the United States as a superpower," "the repeated threats against Israel spoken of in the Bible" and "statements from our world leaders about a potential Armageddon" amid the war in Ukraine.
"I would add to this the explosion of technology, especially artificial intelligence, increasing government overreach in our lives, where the government is seeking to gain more and more control of what happens to us.
"I would also add the dramatic increase of drug use decimating American cities, international financial instability, mass shootings, the disintegration of the family, the calculated attacks against the family," Laurie said.
"The Bible says, 'In the last days, there will be satanically energized times, and things will go from bad to worse," he added.
Laurie also encouraged Christians confused about global events in the past 15 years, especially the last three years, as more signs of Jesus' return.
"Things that are happening right before our eyes, the blatant pushing and promotion of immorality on every single platform, the redefinition of what a man and a woman are, including child gender mutilation, where young children think that they're transgender and the parents actually encouraging these surgeries," Laurie said.
"I would add to this the aggressive marketing of this evil on mainstream platforms, including stores and streaming services. It's just crazy. These are signs of the times," he asserted.
The Christian Post reported that Laurie also pointed to positive signs of Christ's return. He cited Acts 2:17, which states that in the last days, God "will pour my spirit out on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions."
"When I came to Christ during the Jesus Movement, I was dreaming the dreams. Now, I'm the old man seeing the visions. But it's on all flesh, the Holy Spirit being poured out. So many exciting things," Laurie said.
He listed several recent examples of this outpouring, such as the Asbury University revival in Kentucky and the impact of the Jesus Revolution film, which has resulted in multiple conversions and spontaneous baptisms.
Laurie challenged Christians to ask themselves two questions: "What does this all mean to us?" and "How should we be impacted by this teaching from Scripture that Christ could come back at any time?"
"It should have an impact on us," he insisted. "It's a blessing to study Bible prophecy. Some people say, 'Well, you can't understand it, and it's too hard to sort out.' I beg to differ. It is not God's desire to conceal but to reveal. And the very word 'revelation' means the 'unveiling.'"
The pastor further stressed that "there's a blessing attached to the person who studies the book of Revelation, in particular, and Bible prophecy in general."
Laurie also warned that "people sometimes go to extremes," particularly those who say when exactly Christ will return. He referred to Matthew 24:36: "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
"We don't know the day or the hour.' I don't believe in date-setting, but I do believe we're getting close," he added. "This is something God wants us to know about. And this is something that as we study it, should impact us personally."
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Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
