When Jesus' disciples asked him what would be the sign of his coming, he mentioned pestilences in Matthew 24 verse 7:
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
As I have said in previous blogs, "pestilences", an old English word means our present day word "epidemics". In a word, Jesus said epidemic outbreaks would be prevalent during the time of his return to Earth. We live in the fulfillment of this prophecy!
In previous blogs, I have focused on Bubonic Plague and Measles. But the most devastating of all epidemics in our generation is of course, AIDS!
The Wikipdeia Encyclopedia, the free on-line encyclopedia has this to say about HIV/AIDS:
"The AIDS pandemic can also be seen as several epidemics of separate subtypes; the major factors in its spread are sexual transmission and vertical transmission from mother to child at birth through breast milk.
...the AIDS pandemic claimed an estimated 2.1 million lives in 2007 of which an estimated 330,000 were children under 15 years. Globally, an estimated 33.2 million people lived with HIV in 2007, including 2.5 million children. An estimated 2.5 million people were newly infected in 2007, including 420,000 children.
South Africa has the largest population of HIV patients in the world, followed by Nigeria and India. South & South East Asia are second worst affected; in 2007 this region contained an estimated 18% of all people living with AIDS, and an estimated 300,000 deaths from AIDS.
Approximately 1.1 million persons are living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, and more than 56,000 new infections occur every single year."
Wow, these are horrific statistics indeed! But miraculously, Jesus the Savior predicted the conditions we presently live in 2000 years ago! He must indeed be the Son of God!
So what must we do in such perilous times? Jesus knew these times would come. But because of his love for us, God has provided a way of escape:
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but the world through him might be saved. John 3:16-17
And again, "...whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:21)
The Lord's name is Jesus. And he is waiting for you to call upon him this very moment. Ask him to forgive you of your sins. It doesn't matter what kind of life you are living. He died on the Cross for you for this very reason. So call upon him while there is still time. He's ready and willing to save you now!
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