Pastor Greg Laurie of California's Harvest megachurch is warning people that Armageddon is drawing near and that its "foreshocks" are already being felt.
During his Sunday message entitled "Antichrist, America, and Armageddon," Laurie said Rapture might be the next big thing in the prophetic calendar. Rapture refers to the "end-times event when all true believers who are still alive before the end of the world will be taken from the earth by God into heaven."
The pastor mentioned Bible verses Matthew 24:6 to 8 which says: "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."
Laurie then cited the Islamic State as an example of the "foreshocks," with ISIS militants creating chaos in the Middle East and other parts of the world. "They're barbaric; they set people on fire, they crucify people," he said.
"Iran is even a bigger problem," he added, because of its nuclear capability that threatens Israel and the US. Laurie also noted that Russia is becoming aggressive, too, while China continues to seize territory in Southeast Asia.
"The world is ripe right now for a charismatic leader, for a man of peace. He's the Antichrist, also called the man of sin, the beast, the wicked one... If Satan ever had a son, it would be like him, the Antichrist," he said.
Laurie said there are over 100 passages from the Bible describing the Antichrist. A lot of what the Bible has predicted has already come true, and Laurie said it's only a matter of time before other truths unfold as well.
"In my opinion, the next event on this prophetic calendar is the Rapture of the church," he said. "That's when all true believers are caught up to meet the Lord, in a moment, in the twinkling of the eye."
