Sermon Transcript

0:00:00.0

Well, road signs are an essential and important part of any travel experience. You've known that on your family vacations. Especially when you're driving, a road sign is very imp. It tells you where you are. It tells you how many more miles you have to go to get to your destination. A road sign will also tell you how fast you're allowed to travel by law, whether you acknowledge that or not and practice it. Some road signs fall into the category of what we call billboards. Billboards, like a road sign, will inform us, maybe invite us to come to a certain place. Some billboards put a smile on our face, don't they? I'm thinking of some billboards I'm aware of and maybe you're aware of as well. Whether you're traveling north or south on I-95, there are some signs that begin to appear for a place called South of the Border. And there is a mascot named Pedro who is kind of a Mexican bandito caricature that talks to us along the way and gives us some encouragement and marks down the miles along the way. South of the Border, well, their philosophy is "Take it easy on the road to life."

0:01:15.7

The attraction gets its name from the fact that they are just south of the North Carolina border into South Carolina in a place called Dillon, South Carolina. You ever hear of that? You only hear of it because of South of the Border, right? And it's a rest stop. It has all kinds of different things from restaurants and gas stations and video arcades. There's a motel there. There's a truck stop. There's a minigolf course. There's some shopping and fireworks stores. You kind of get the idea. But Pedro is the main event. Pedro loves to make us smile with these billboards.

0:01:56.1

I wrote down a few that I thought were pretty good. At the 10-mile marker out, Pedro advertises his great hot dogs on sale by saying, "You never sausage a place. You're always a wiener at Pedro's." You never sausage a place. If Pedro has to explain himself, it's not that funny. I get that. At 23 miles out, Pedro offers a weather report. He says, "Chili today and hot tamale." Oh, come on. That's really good stuff. It puts a smile on our face. All right, 29 miles out…this is the last one I'll share with you. My favorite is when Pedro says, "Keep yelling, kids. They'll stop." Now, I really have a bone to pick with Pedro on this one because, I mean, 29 mile out, Pedro? You want my kids to yell for 29 miles? Maybe 9 miles, maybe 9/10 of a mile. But not 29 miles. Okay, so Pedro doesn't put as big of a smile on your face as he does mine.

0:02:57.9

My son sent me a sign that he saw posted in the great state of Texas. Maybe this one hits home. "When this virus is over, I still want some of y'all to stay away from me." There we go. It's probably not right for a pastor to say amen to this one.

0:03:15.6

But signs are meant to grab our attention, aren't they? They're meant to inform us. They're meant to invite us to do something. That's true for Pedro's signs. It's also true for the signs that Jesus gave to His disciples 2000 years ago in response to the question, "What will be the sign of your coming of the end of the age?" What a great question. We're in this series of messages called "What on Earth is Happening?" And we're going to Matthew 24 and 25, known as the Olivet Discourse. This is a period of time in Jesus's life that we call Holy Week. It's just days before He goes to the cross for the crucifixion, and then three days later for His resurrection. Probably Monday night, most people say. Maybe Tuesday or Wednesday night. The other Gospel writers tell us that during Holy Week, that final week of Jesus's life leading His crucifixion, He went back to the Mount of Olives every night. One of those nights Mark tells us that four of His disciples ask Him questions about the end of the age. Peter, James, John, and Andrew sat down with Jesus on the Mount of Olives…I would have loved to have been there…and asked this question. "What will be the sign of your coming of the end of the age?"

0:04:42.7

Jesus didn’t give just one sign; He gave many. And we're going to talk about some of what we would categorize as the general signs that the end might be near. Signs that Jesus told us to look for. We've been looking at them for more than 2000 years, haven't we?

0:05:02.6

Before we get into the specifics of these signs, let me just tell you a little bit about the nature of these signs. First of all, Jesus says they're like birth pains. Every mother and grandmother understand the analogy. You know that as you get closer and closer to that child being born, the birth pangs will grow in frequency and in intensity. That's what Jesus had in mind here. There's one sense in which these general signs we'll look at today have been going on for 2000 years. But the idea is that as we get closer and closer to the end of the age, we will see them increase in frequency and intensity.

0:05:39.7

The other thing to keep in mind is that the nature of Bible prophecy is such that, whether it's in the Old or New Testament, oftentimes there's a near-term fulfillment to the prophecy, and there's a longer-term fulfillment to the prophecy as well. That's why sometimes Bible students and Bible teachers and even Bible scholars get confused on whether even Matthew 24 was fulfilled in 70 A.D. at the destruction of the temple and the destruction of Jerusalem and that all of Matthew 24 and 25 refer to that time period. It's a little bit harder to fit some of the later things that Jesus says into that time period. But there is and was a near-term fulfillment. But there is a much longer-term fulfillment as well.

0:06:25.9

The other thing I want you to keep in mind is that Matthew 24:4-14, many people see a parallel to Revelation 6 and 7. Now, follow me here. Revelation 6-19 reveals the cataclysmic and apocalyptic destruction that comes to the earth during what is known as the Tribulation Period, a seven-year period of time also known in scripture as Jacob's Trouble, a period that I believe follows the rapture of the church. There are three phases of judgements- the seal judgements (seven of them), followed by the trumpet judgements (seven of those), followed by seven bowl judgements. Many people see the language that Jesus uses in Matthew 24:4-14 as parallel to Revelation 6 and 7, which detail the arrival of what is called in the book of Revelation "the four horsemen of the apocalypse," four horses of different colors with different riders. And if you understand these general signs as intensifying like birth pangs during the Tribulation Period, well, there are some parallels to Revelation 6 and 7. I'll allude to that a little bit as time goes on here, but I encourage you read that in parallel to Matthew 24:4-14.

0:07:58.5

With that in mind, let's talk about some general signs that the end is near and look around the world in which we're living today and see if we see any of this coming up. I've categorized these general signs seven different ways. First, Jesus talks about false Christs and false prophets. Verse 4, "And Jesus answered them, 'See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, "I am the Christ," and they will lead many astray.'" Now, scroll down to verse 11. "And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray."

0:08:42.1

Has that been true for 2000 years? Sure it has. I remember when the apostle Paul left the church at Ephesus, a church that he planted, a church where he stayed for three years, longer than he stayed at any of the churches that he had planted. And as he was leaving, as he was departing, he gathered with the elders there on the seashore before he was going to set sail. There was weeping. There was sadness that Paul was leaving. But one of the things he said to the elders there at Ephesus, he warned them that savage wolves might come into the church and distort the gospel and deceive them. There had been false Christs and false teachers and false prophets and deceivers who are wolves in sheep's clothing claiming to be prophets of God and preachers of God's Word for 2000 years. The idea is that as we get closer and closer to the end of the age, this will increase, and certainly during the Tribulation Period when these birth pangs are right at the midnight hour, so to speak, and their frequency and intensity increases. The Bible says that even the devil himself will fill a character known as the antichrist, even the false prophet, and give them signs and wonders to perform that might even deceive the very elect, the Bible says.

0:10:07.4

It's all just a reminder to know your Bible and know it well. I'm concerned that we're living in a biblically illiterate time. This book we call the Bible is the best-selling book of all time. Unfortunately, it's also the least-read. And there are people who are sitting in churches today that don't know their Bible. They don't know it with a discerning heart and mind enough to be able to detect a false prophet, a false teacher. They will use Christian language that you might be familiar with, but they'll redefine it and twist it just that much to lead you astray. That's number one.

0:10:51.1

Second category is wars. Let's read on in verse 6. "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed," Jesus says, "for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom," He says. Wars and rumors of wars. Has that been true for 2000 years? Sure it has. Again, general signs of the times that will increase with frequency and intensity and we get closer and closer to the end of the age.

0:11:27.6

Interestingly enough, the New York Times says that of the past 3400 years, humans have been entirely at peace on planet earth for only 268 of them. That's only 8% of the recorded history during that time. For 92% of the times there has been wars and rumors of wars on planet earth.

0:11:52.6

When we go into the Tribulation Period, there are two major wars that are prophesied about in the pages of scripture. You might want to write this down. The first is Ezekiel 38 and 39. You ever heard about the war that involved Gog and Magog? Bible scholars and teachers are sometimes not in agreement in terms of exactly when this war might take place. Some say prior to the rapture of the church. I think the best scholarship probably places it just inside the Tribulation Period after the church is raptured out of this world, but probably in the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation Period. Ezekiel 38 and 39 speak of nations to the northernmost parts of the earth, probably a reference to the north of Israel because the Bible always thinks of geography in terms of north, south, east and west of Israel. And those nations to the northernmost part of the earth involve Russia. Again, a lot of discussion and debate about that among Bible scholars. But I think the best scholarship really does point to Russia and a coalition of other nations that attack Israel in the early parts of the Tribulation Period. That's one war that is prophesied that is yet to come. You can read about it in Ezekiel 38 and 39.

0:13:16.6

The other, of course, is the Battle of Armageddon, which is at the other end of the seven-year Tribulation Period. It's the final consummation of the age. If you go to Israel with us, we go to the Valley of Jezreel and look out over that battlefield that Napoleon once looked at and said it's the greatest battlefield on planet earth. And there the Bible describes a great war of all the nations on the earth as they come against the nation of Israel toward the end of the age. And it's the second coming of Jesus Christ that stops the war and wins the war for Israel and then ushers in His millennial reign.

0:14:03.6

So, wars and rumors of wars. They'll always be with us. I know there are people who work on peace treaties and peace arrangements, but they'll just be short. Even the antichrist will negotiate peace in the Middle East in the front half of the Tribulation Period, but that peace will be short-lived. And we'll get to more of that next week.

0:14:25.4

Third category is natural disasters. Look at it in the middle of verse 7 where Jesus said, "And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places." Now, hold your place here in Matthew 24 and go with me to Luke 21, one of two parallel passages in the Gospels, the other being Mark 13 where the Olivet Discourse is laid out. I like Matthew 24 and 25 because it's the most expansive. But in Luke 21:11, Luke says that Jesus added, "There will be great earthquakes in various places, famines and pestilences, and there will be terrors and great signs from the heavens." All of these what we might called natural disasters or things that are happening in the world around us.

0:15:25.6

Let's just break it down a little bit. Earthquakes. We could go back in time as early as the 20^th century, and you would see earthquakes around the globe increasing with intensity and frequency, and in place that nobody would imagine an earthquake would ever be. We all hear of the San Andreas fault in California, and we expect the big one to come at some point, right? Californians live with that. But what about earthquakes in a place like, well, Alaska. Just a few weeks ago a 7.8 quake rocked just off the cost of Alaska. We might expect one up there. I don't know. That seems a little bit odd. Just last week…did you hear about this…a 5.1 earthquake struck near Sparta, North Carolina. Are you kidding me? Jesus said as we get closer and closer to the end of the age earthquakes will happen in various places. I remember years ago when we were living in Washington, D.C. and serving a church there, Cathryn and I were awakened in the middle of the night to what we learned the next morning was an earthquake in the nation's capital. Not a place that most of us think as earthquake prone.

 0:16:41.5

All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Again, we could go back just a century or two and trace, you know, an increase in the frequency of famines all over planet earth. Just recently I read that experts say that COVID-9, the pandemic, has put 265 million people at risk of famine on planet earth right now.

0:17:02.0

And then Jesus adds pestilences. What's a pestilence? Well, it's a viral disease. It's the coronavirus and things like that. I made the bold statement last week that I was going to place the coronavirus, COVID-19, right in the middle of Bible prophecy, and here it is. Jesus said these kinds of diseases and pestilences and global pandemics will increase in frequency and intensity as we get closer and closer to the end of the age.

0:17:33.5

Let me just take you back to the early 20^th century, where deadly pandemics have come upon our planet starting with the Spanish flu in 1918. Some believed as many as 1/3 of the world's population at that became infected with the Spanish flu. Fifty million people died in 1918, making it the deadliest pandemic in modern history. Others since the beginning of the 20^th century include cholera (800,000 deaths), Asian flu (2 million deaths), Hong Kong flu (1 million deaths), HIV/AIDS (36 million deaths worldwide). In just the last few years we have endured again, kind of like birth pangs, many more dangerous pathogens, including SARS, swine flu, Ebola, avian flu, MERS, West Nile virus, and now the coronavirus. I kind of get the sense that this isn't going to be the last global pandemic we're going to face in our lifetime if I understand the nature of the birth pangs as we get closer and closer to the end of the age.

0:18:47.4

By the way, I was thinking. During the HIV/AIDS epidemic, where were the public demands for citizens of the world to practice social distancing? Oh yeah, that's called… (0:19:00.0) well, not having sex before marriage, right? It's called abstinence. But you never heard any of that during AIDS or any of these other pandemics, this cry for social distancing. We could go on to talk about terrors in the heaven and in the skies, changes in the celestial makeup of the universe above us.

0:19:27.8

I've got to move on to the fourth category. This involved persecution. Jesus says in verse 9, “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake." If you ever thought that being a follower of Jesus was just a tiptoe through the tulips, you haven't read the Bible. Jesus said to His (0:20:00.0) disciples, "If they hated me, they're going to hate you." And we could go all the way back 2000 years ago to Acts 7, where Stephen was the first martyr of the church, where his blood spilled because of his faith in Jesus Christ. We could read the Foxe's Book of Martyrs that takes us back to the early church and all the way up to the time of the Reformation. There are many people who spilled their blood and lost their lives because they were faithful to proclaim Jesus Christ and not deny Him.

0:20:41.4

But even up to our time, you know, there's a lot of discussion about the persecuted church today. Did you know that there is more persecution of Christians around the world today than at any other time in history? Open Doors is a ministry that serves the persecuted church. They say that in just the last year alone there have been over 260 million Christians living in places where they experience high levels of persecution. Two thousand nine hundred and eighty-three Christians were killed for their faith just last year. Nine thousand four hundred and eighty-eight churches and other Christians buildings were attacked just last year. Three thousand seven hundred and eleven believers were detained without trial, arrested, sentenced or imprisoned. You don't see it and I don’t see it on the daily news cycles. There's not much attention given to it. Once in a while, maybe. But this is happening right here in our world today. We’re beginning in even the West, in America to begin to sense that the attitude and the culture is changing for people who profess to be believers in Jesus Christ, who are willing to stand up and say that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by Him. We're labeled as bigoted and intolerant and every other word that can be imagined. The heat is being turned up. And as we get closer and closer to the end of the age, just expect it more. Don't expect the world to be a friend of your faith but remain faithful to the end.

0:22:22.3

A fifth category is apostacy. Jesus says in verse 10, "And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another." The falling away from the faith known as apostacy. The movement away from that faith "that was once delivered to the saints," as Jude says 2000 years ago. It really ramped up in the early part of the 20^th century, the early 1900s, with liberalism and liberal theology that came into the mainstream churches. Most of the mainstream denominational churches today have divided over orthodoxy and the liberalism of the day. You name the denomination. They've split over those matters.

0:23:15.7

When you get into the Tribulation Period in Bible prophecy, following the rapture of the church and the revelation of the antichrist when he comes on the stage, there is parallel to that a major falling away from the orthodoxy of the faith. A major apostacy. One of the other major characters during the Tribulation Period is known as the false prophet. He is another beast in the book of Revelation. He is a religious leader who probably tries to bring all the world religions together into one. It's a religious move as well as a political move, and the false prophet adds to the power and the strength that the antichrist coalesces for himself on earth.

0:24:17.5

But it's coming. I'd like to believe that there is another revival in the church coming and a spiritual awakening in America from sea to shining sea. We need another spiritual awakening. We need a revival in the church. And maybe God by His grace still has one in mind. There's nothing prophesied about that. What is prophesied is that as we get closer and closer to the end of the age, well, the difference between a true follower of Jesus Christ who endures to the end and one who probably was never a true believer to begin with but goes the way of the false teachers and the false prophets and the apostacy, that will increase as time goes on.

0:24:58.0

A sixth category is lawlessness. Jesus refers to it in verse 12. He says, "And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold." Do I need to convince anybody today that we're living in a time when lawlessness seems to be the rule of the land, at least in some of our major cities across the United States? This idea of defunding the police. Whose bright idea was this? And yet we see anarchy and lawlessness running amok in major cities like Seattle and Portland, New York, Chicago, and the politicians in those cities making deep, deep cuts in the police budgets. The latest one I read this week is one of my beloved Texas cities. Austin, Texas is the latest to "defund the police." One hundred and fifty million dollars cut from the police budget. That's 34% of their budget. Read the details. They are redistributing that money to all these other services, including abortion. Now, whose bright idea was that? We'll defund the police, but so we can kill more babies.

0:26:20.0

I'll tell you whose bright idea it was. The devil himself. Look behind the veil, friends, and let me show you what I mean here because this idea of lawlessness points to none other than a future character that appears on the stage known as the antichrist. Scripture makes it very clear that as we grow closer and closer to the end of the age, lawlessness will prevail. Law and order are out the door. Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians says this in 2 Thessalonians 2- "Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day [that is, the day of the Lord] will not come," he says, "unless the rebellion comes first."—that's the apostacy. That's the falling away—"and the man of lawlessness if revealed." Now he's talking about the antichrist. He calls him the "son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God." There is a world leader that will appear on the stage of world history soon after the rapture of the church and will be on that stage for a seven-year period of time known as the Tribulation. Paul refers to him as "the man of lawlessness," and that is none other than the antichrist. To the Thessalonians Paul also says very pointedly—here it is—"The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan."

0:28:13.2

Now, we're not there yet. I believe it is my understanding in the flow of Bible prophecy the next event is the rapture of the church, something Jesus doesn't mention in Matthew 24 and 25 because he is speaking about Israel's future, not the church. He alludes to the rapture in John 14. The apostle Paul expands it in his letter to the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 4 and Romans 15, that event that will take place in the twinkling of an eye, Paul says, where the church is raptured. Shortly thereafter, the man of lawlessness appears like a peacekeeper and a peace negotiator for the first 3½ years. We're not there yet. But Paul goes on to say, until the man of lawlessness actually appears, he says, "the mystery of lawlessness is with us." Well, you're seeing the mystery of lawlessness on full display in America today in this "defund the police" thing. It's a birth pang. It's a birth pang. Lawlessness will increase with intensity and frequency as we get closer and closer to the end of the age, and law and order will be pushed aside.

0:29:33.9

Now, when lawlessness is running amok in our streets and in our neighborhoods, what happens? Well, Jesus says "the love of many will grow cold." And you can almost sense a little bit of that right now in our culture. These are challenging times. "Love thy neighbor" kind of gets tossed out the door when, no, this is all about protecting my family in a lawless city where lawlessness has run amok. Just understand, behind all of that ultimately is the activity of Satan himself, who will bring his lawless one onto the world stage in the early stages of the Tribulation.

0:30:20.4

The final category is the worldwide preaching of the gospel. Verse 14 of Matthew 24, "And this gospel of the kingdom," Jesus says, "will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." I love the fact that we have the technology that we have today that can take the gospel around the world and impact people in just remarkable ways. It's one of the reasons we keep Something Good Radio going. We're literally…as I speak from this platform in time, people around the world are hearing this message. And we hear from people in places that I've never visited before. It's exciting to be living in this time- radio, television, all the technology of our day. But there still there are places in our world that are unreached. I suspect that there will be technologies available to fulfill this part of the prophecy where Jesus says, "This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." He's well into the seven years of tribulation. But certainly, as we get closer and closer to the end of the age, our ability to get messages out to the entire world in a nanosecond…it's hard to imagine when you go back two or three decades ago. None of us imagined the ability to communicate like we communicate today. But I think that'll even grow in significance.

0:31:54.8

That's a lot to digest, isn't it? These aren't like Pedro's billboards and signs that put a smile on our face. No, this creates some seriousness and somberness in our spirit. So, let me just leave you with some ways to respond to these signs. What do we do with a message like this and with warnings like this? Do we crawl under our bed and ring our hands in worry and just say, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus"? No. I say, first of all, follow the evidence. Why do I say that? Because in Matthew 24:4 Jesus begins with these words. "See that no one leads you astray." These are dangerous times. These are also deceptive times where it's easy even for God's people to be led astray. That word astray kind of reminds me of what Isaiah said about us centuries ago. "All we like sheep have been led astray."

0:33:03.8

And fortunately, by God's grace, maybe you're among those who came to faith in Christ and came home to follow the Good Shepherd. But there is a little bit of residual sheep in all of us, isn't there? The hymn writes said, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love." We've just got a little bit of residual sheep in us. Jesus said, "See that no one leads you astray." When a false prophet or a false Christ, as persuasive as he or she might be, comes along, first of all, know your Bible well and follow the evidence. The evidence is in the pages of scripture. Be like the Bereans who check the scriptures to make sure that what he or she is saying live and in person or on radio and television, where you might hear the teaching, is giving you the truth. Follow the evidence.

0:34:01.5

Secondly, act with assurance. Why do I say that? Because Jesus says in Matthew 24:6, "See that you are not alarmed." There will be wars and rumors of wars, and kingdoms will rise against kingdoms, and nations against nations. But don't be alarmed. Don't run and crawl under your bed and wring your hands in worry. A little bit later in the week He said to His disciples in the upper room, "Let not your heart be troubled. If you believe in God, believe also in me," He says. Stay calm, we said last week. Act not in arrogance, but with an assurance that you've read the whole story and your redemption draws night. Is it going to get worse and worse on planet earth? Oh, yes. We'll talk next week about the worst of times on planet earth because Jesus takes us into the midpoint of the Tribulation and forward, and it really gets bad then. But don't worry. Don't be alarmed by it. Be informed by it and respond accordingly.

0:35:13.7

In the parallel Olivet Discourse in Mark 13:11, Jesus said, "And when they bring you trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say but say whatever is given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit." There may come a time even prior to the rapture where things get so bad that even Christians are…as many are persecuted around the world today. But even in the west it could go that way where you're brought to trial for your faith. Don’t be brought to trial because you're a jerk for Jesus, but for living out your faith, as consequence. It's not time to lawyer up and get your response and your defense all planned out. Jesus says, "Don't be anxious beforehand because the Holy Spirit will tell you what to say in the moment." Isn't that pretty cool? I like that.

0:36:13.0

Thirdly, run with endurance. Follow the evidence, act with assurance, and then just an encouragement to run with endurance. Again, Matthew 24:13, Jesus says, "But the one who endures the end will be saved." That is not to suggest that some would lose their salvation because they didn't endure to the end. No, the reformers used to take phrases like this in the scripture, and they built their understanding of what they called the perseverance of the saints. This was the idea that a true believer in Jesus Christ would endure to the very end. If they didn't endure to the end, then they probably weren't a true believer to begin with. They bought into a false gospel or followed a false teacher. This is why the New Testament always tells us to examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith. And if that comes back in the affirmation, then run this race called the Christian life and run it with endurance. The writer of Hebrews says, "And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." How do we do that? He goes on to say, "By fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross and despised the shame and sat down at the right hand of the Father." Jesus is our ultimate racerunner, and He sets the pace for us.

0:37:41.3

This word "endurance" is that great New Testament word hupomone. It's the idea of persevering under intense stress and struggle and enduring to the very end. I know these times are hard. I know sometimes you read passages like this, and it seems a little bit scary. Or you watch the news at night, and you say, "I just can't take this anymore." That's the time to pray to the Lord, "Give me one more lap of faith. One more lap of faith, just one more day to endure." I know the challenges are difficult. They may even get more difficult, especially for those who are willing to stand up and go public with their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus told us this ahead of time that it would be challenging, and it would be difficult.

0:38:33.4

But the good news is we know how the end of the book ends, right? These are all signs that our redemption draws night. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus," the apostle John prayed at the end of the apocalypse of Jesus Christ known as the book of Revelation. And we pray that way as well.

0:38:55.3

It's a time to examine yourself to see whether you're in the faith, because as I understand the pages of scripture and Bible prophecy, the church will escape the wrath to come. The judgement of God that will fall upon this earth during a seven-year period of time that we'll talk about more next week, the church will escape that. That's my understanding of Bible prophecy. That's the rapture of the church. Are you ready? Matthew 25, Jesus tells some stories, some parables, one of which simply says, "Are you ready?" are you ready? Or will you be caught asleep? Because the rapture will happen in the twinkling of an eye. The Son of Man will come at the end of the seven years like a thief in the night. The warnings and the preparation come by reading the pages of scripture, and then just being ready, preparing yourself day in and day out living out your faith.

0:39:53.9

For some of you it may start by coming to the cross of Christ for the very first time. Maybe you've just bene deceived into believing some kind of a false gospel. No, come back to the faith that was once delivered to the saints- that Christ died for your sins according to the scriptures, that He was buried, that He rose again on the third day according to the scriptures, that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." I could go on and on and on. The faith that was once delivered to the saints is calling for you to respond today if you've never responded, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's calling for all of us as believers in Jesus Christ to live faithfully, to endure to the end, to understand the times in which we are living. Not in a way to be alarmed or panicked, but just to live with enough realization that today could be the day. Tomorrow could be the day, and I want to be prepared. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

0:41:22.3