May 31, 2015
First of all, I just want to point out that most of the time when the bible uses the term, last days, it’s actually just referring to anything after the time when the Lord, Jesus Christ came. Let’s look at a few scripts on that. Go to Acts chapter 2, first of all. Acts chapter 2. Let’s just first of all see what the bible defines as the last days. Acts chapter 2 starting in verse number 16. This is the event of the Day of Pentecost where this miracle is taking place where the apostles and the other members of the church there are able to speak in foreign languages that they had never learned before in order to get the gospel out to a whole bunch of people from various nations who had assembled at Jerusalem.
They’re able to miraculously speak in languages that they had not previously studied. It says in Acts chapter 2, verse 16, “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet, Joel and it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” Notice he is saying that this is the fulfillment of a scripture that said that in the last days God will pour out of his spirit and he talks about in verse 21, “That whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
That’s referring to that time that was a couple thousand years ago. They were already in the last days according to that scripture. Go to Hebrews chapter number 1, toward the end of the New Testament. Hebrews chapter 1. Now, it really makes sense that that would be the last days because if you think about it, the earth is approximately 6,300 years old. If there were about 4,300 years before the time of Christ and it’s been a couple thousand since Christ, it would make sense to call it the last days even though you might think, last days, that means any second now, it’s all going to be over.
No, because anything after the halfway mark could be considered the last days. Jesus Christ came after 4,000 some years of human history and it’s only been 2,000 years since he came. Look at Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1. The bible says, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.” He’s explaining how in the past God spoke through the prophets but that now in these last days, he’s spoken through his son, Jesus Christ.
Go to first Peter, just a few pages over there from Hebrews. Just flip a few pages to the right in your bible to first Peter, chapter 1, verse 18. The bible reads, “For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.”
Now flip to first John, chapter 2. The last place on this subject, first John, chapter number 2. We see that the time of Christ and thereafter is consistently called in the bible the last days or the last time. Look at what it says it first John, chapter 2, verse 18, “Little children, it is the last time,” and this is written almost 2,000 years ago. “Little children, it is the last time and as you have heard that antichrist,” that’s singular, “antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists,” plural, “whereby we know that it is the last time.”
“They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us but you have an unction from the Holy One and you know all things. I have not written unto you because you know not the truth but because you know it and that no lie is of the truth who is a liar but he that deneith it that Jesus is the Christ. He is antichrist that deneith the father and the son. Whosoever deneith the son, the same hath not the father but he that acknowledgeth the son hath the father also. ”
Here we see very clearly that they were already in the last time in the days that first John was being written and he says look at all the antichrists that surround us and he says those that are antichrist are those who deny that Jesus is the Christ and the word Christ simply means messiah. He is saying they’re denying that Jesus is the messiah meaning that they believe in a messiah but that it’s not Jesus. You can’t deny that Jesus is the messiah if you don’t believe in a messiah. These are atheists. Atheists aren’t saying that Jesus is not the Christ. Atheists are just saying that there is no Christ and they don’t believe in God. The fool had said in this earth that there is no God but these are talking about basically the Jews who said there’s a messiah coming, there’s a Christ coming but it’s not Jesus.
That’s the spirit of antichrist that even now already is in the world the bible says. Okay. Even now there are many antichrist. Turn to second Timothy chapter 3 and let’s talk about the last days as we would think of it because when we talk about the last days or the end times, we don’t normally mean anything after the coming of Christ. We don’t normally just mean anything in the New Testament. What we normally would mean by that when we say the last days, we would talk about just the very last days leading up to the second coming of Jesus Christ. The bible does have a lot to say about that subject as well.
I want to preach to you this morning about living in the very last days. What is it going to be like as we see the day approaching as Christ coming draws near? What are going to be the characteristics of the world at that time, the signs where we could look at it and say, “Wow, it must be getting close because I can see these characteristics of the very last days.” First of all, number 1, the bible tells us that sin will increase in the very last days as we approach the second coming of Christ.
You don’t have to turn there. Go ahead and be in second Timothy 3 but in Matthew 24 which is a passage about the second coming of Christ, it very clearly says in verse 12, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” According to the bible the last days, the tribulation, that is going to be a time when iniquity will abound, sin will increase and that’s exactly what we see here in second Timothy, chapter 3. The bible says in verse number 1, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,” and he lists all these different sins but jump down if you would to verse number 12.
It says, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution but,” watch this, “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” What’s he saying in this passage? He says in the last days perilous times will come, dangerous times will come and he talks about all of the sin there that’s going to abound in the last days. He says, “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse.” What’s he saying? That as we approach the end, the closer we get to the second coming of Christ, the bible says that wicked people are going to get worse and worse. Sin is going to abound in the last days.
Let’s look at the list here. It says in verse 1, “This know also, that in the last days perilous or dangerous times will come for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful and unholy.” We can see these characteristics in America today in 2015 abounding more and more. When you think about how people are lovers of their own selves. We live in such a self-absorbed society where people are constantly just thinking about themselves and looking within themselves and they’re so wrapped up in themselves where they can’t pay attention to what’s going on with the people around them. It’s just all about me and the decisions that they make.
Don’t take into account how they affect other people but it’s just about their happiness. I just want to be happy. Our world even teaches us that this is a virtue to be true to your own self and to do what makes you happy and find happiness in this world. It’s all about you being fulfilled and happy. You know what, you find that these people are never fulfilled because anybody who lives a self-centered, self-absorbed, loving of your own self kind of a life is going to be miserable because you’ll never going to be satisfied.
You’re never going to achieve your state of fulfillment that you’re trying to reach but the bible tells us that people will be lovers of their own selves and what’s that going to lead to, being covetous, where you just desire more stuff for yourself, more money for yourself, more goods. Who cares about winning people to Christ? Who cares about helping other people or being a good example to other people? No, no. It’s just about how much stuff I can get. This is about how much fun I can have, how much pleasure I can enjoy and coveting everything that we can’t have.
He says, “Lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters,” just bragging about how great they are and how wonderful they are and how much money they have and how successful they are and how smart they are, proud, blasphemers and of course if you’re proud and if you’re self-absorbed, of course you’re going to be blasphemous. You’re not going to give God the respect that he deserves because the only one you have respect for is yourself because you think you’re so wonderful.
He says, “Proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,“ and of course we see that today in the United States where children don’t have the same respect that they had for their parents that they once did. A big reason for that of course the fact that less and less parents are spanking their children and so the children run rough shot over the parents because the parents have no recourse. The children rebel and spit in their face and all the parents can do is just, “Really? I don't know. What do I do? Kids are kids. I find that a better punishment is to take away the Xbox.” Is that even still the videogame system? What are we on, PS10000 by now? “Oh, I’ll just take away his PS2. I’ll just take away the Xbox.”
You know what, no. He needs his hide tanned. “I’ll just take away my 12-year-old’s cell phone.” It’s like, “Why does your 12-year-old even have a cell phone for you to take away as a punishment?” It’s like, “I’ll just take away their cell phone. I’m just going to take away my 11-year-old’s iPad. That’ll show him.” A bunch of spoiled brats today and that type of discipline does not work. You know what work? A spanking. What God said would work. The bible says, “Withhold not correction from the child for if though beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Though shall beat. Though shall beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell.”
Let those 3 words sync down into your ears my friend but the bible says that in the end, they’ll be disobedient to parents and think about this with spoiled brats, unthankful. Meaning that they have no gratitude for what they get because they’re giving everything and the parents never tell them no and so they’re ungrateful for it. They’re unthankful. They don’t even appreciate that which they do have. I just want my kids to be happy so I just give them whatever they want. That’s not going to make anybody happy, getting whatever you want makes you a spoiled brat, unthankful and unholy.
It says without natural affection. What does it mean to be without natural affection? Romans 1 used the term vile affections. Natural affection is basically when a man is attracted to a woman. That’s natural affections. Basically a man gets married to his wife and they too are 1 flesh and the man desires a physically union with his wife and the wife desires a physically union with her husband. That’s natural affection. That’s normal but without natural affection is saying that basically that’s not the union that they desire.
They desire anything else, all kinds of perverted unions. See Leviticus 18 and Leviticus 20 for a rundown of all the filthy imaginations of mankind. The bible says that they be without natural affection. Of course we see that truce breakers. These are people who would make an agreement. They would make a deal and then they would break that agreement. They would break their word. The bible says fall accusers and this a big one today where people just falsely accuse people at the drop of a hat without any evidence. You’re just this and you’re just doing this.
I mean, I can’t even count all the times I’ve been falsely accused where people would just make things up, just out of nowhere, just accusations fly and the bible said that in the last days there would be false accusers abounding. He says incontinent, that’s people who can’t contain themselves people who can’t control the lust of flesh and they just let their desires run ramping and whatever they want, they’re going to gratify their lust, fierce. Watch this, despisers of those that are good. He says in the last days people are going to hate those who are good. They’re going to hate you for being a good person. They’re going to hate you for being moral or righteous or godly.
He says that they are despisers of those that are good. He says traitors, heady, high minded. A heady and high minded are the same thing in a way. Proud, puffed up, vain in their own mind and then he says lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. What’s the bible describing here when it describes the last days? It describes a time when sin is going to abound and the bible says in the same chapter that evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse. They’re going to be just people abounding who hate God, who hate the people of God, who despise those that are good, who persecute the people of God and who just only care about themselves, their own lust, their own covetous desires and just about praising themselves, lifting up themselves.
Look, we live in that day if we look around where people are self-absorbed. It’s funny when we were interviewing these Jewish Rabbis for our Marching to Zion, we wanted to get the whole spectrum so we contacted every rabbi. We talked to the orthodox rabbi, the reformed rabbi, the conservative rabbi and 1 guy we talked to was a humanist leader, a humanist Jewish leader. I said, “What does that mean to be a humanist rabbi?” He said, “Here’s the thing, we basically don’t necessarily believe in God.” He said, “But we like all the religious services of being a Jew. We like to do the Hanukkah and the Bar Mitzvah. We like that. Here’s what we do, we go and we do a worship service where we replace God with ourselves.
Basically, instead of praising God, this is what he literally told me, he said, “Instead of praising God, we praise ourselves.” In all their hymns, all their liturgy, all the praise, every time god is mentioned, they removed the name of God and they replace it with us, mankind, ourselves. Is that just amazing? I mean, I couldn’t even believe what I was hearing but isn’t that what the bible said would come, just lovers of their own selves, just covetous, boasting. I mean, how blasphemous. It’d be like if you took the hymns, right, and replaced them with yourself, “Praise me. Praise me. Tell of my excellent greatness. Sing, o, earth, my wonderful love proclaim. Hail me. Hail me. Highest archangels in glory. Strength and honor give to my holy name. I am coming over the world victorious. Power and glory unto myself belong.”
I mean, can you imagine coming to church and singing that? Wouldn’t that be just be bizarre and ridiculous, but that’s what they do. It’s real. It’s in Phoenix, humanist Jewish congregation. Isaac, can you give me some examples? He read me some liturgy where they praise themselves. What in the world? We live in this narcissistic, self-absorbed, self-glorifying society where it’s just all about us and just us living a wonderful life for ourselves and just having everything that we want instead of us laying down our lives for the brethren or enduring all things for the elect’s sakes that they may also obtain the salvation which is Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
Why don’t we do it for the sake of souls to be saved and live our life as parents for our children and live for our wife? Be willing to lay down our life for our wives and basically care about other people instead of just lifting ourselves up. Our own ambitions instead of furthering the gospel and helping other people achieve the things that God has for them et cetera, et cetera. This is what we see here, a time where sin abounds and people are very focused on themselves and they’re not giving God the glory, they’re worshipping and serving the creature more than the creator. That’s what we see.
Next, go to second Peter chapter 3. The first thing I want you to see about the last days in the bible is that number 1, it’s going to be a time when sin is going to increase. Sinners are going to get worse. Wicked people or reprobate people, they’re going to get worse and worse and people are going to begin to despise those that are good. I mean, wouldn’t you think that even worldly, sinful people would still like good people? I mean, even if they don’t want to be good themselves, you think they’d still look at somebody who’s good and respect that but they don’t. The bible says, “Not as Cain who was of that wicked one and slew his brother and wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you. ”
When someone else’s deeds are evil, they’re going to hate the righteous and despise those that are good because it makes them feel guilty. It shines the light on their own sinful heart but secondly not only will it be a time of great sin and iniquity and self-centeredness, selfishness. Number 2, it will be a time when the doctrines of the bible will be scoffed at in the last days. He says specifically that the second coming of Christ, the biblical creation and the flood, those 3 things specifically will be scoffed at in the last days.
Look at your bible there in verse 3, knowing this first that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lust. This ties in to the first point. You see it starts with point number 1. It doesn’t start with scoffing at the bible. No, it starts with being a very sinful person, a very covetous person. A person who’s filled with lust and self-centered desire and doesn’t care about anyone but themselves. See, that person who’s filled with lust is then going to find a doctrine to fit their lust. See, they don’t find doctrine and then decide okay how am I going to live my life. They decide how they want to live their life for them self and then they say, “Okay, now let’s find the doctrine to go with it.”
They start out with ungodly lust then they have the audacity to scoff at the promises of the bible because they don’t fit their lifestyle. Why do ungodly people hate the bible, because it condemns their lifestyle. The bible says, “This is the condemnation that light is coming to the world. Men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth truth cometh to the light.” It says, ”That his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God,” but it says, “He that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”
He doesn’t want his deeds to be reproved. Jesus said, “The world cannot hate you but me it hateth, because I testify that the works thereof are evil.” He said, “That’s why the world hates me because I’m testifying that the works of people are evil.” They don’t want to hear that. Therefore they scoff at it. It’s not that there’s just all these evidence for the big bang, there’s all these evidence fir evolution, there’s all this evidence that everything came from nothing. I mean, don’t you see all the evidence that everything came from nothing?
Did it all just exploded and here it is and guess what, if you don’t believe it, you’re an idiot. It’s all here by accident, okay? Just shut up and believe it because I said it. I mean, that’s what the world will tell you. Hey, just believe, just believe that everything came from nothing and if you don’t, you’re not scientific. How is it not scientific to say it from something? It can’t just be here from nothing but that’ what they’ll tell you. It’s not because of the fact that they just objectively … I mean, they just had no agenda. They just looked at the evidence and just came to the conclusion that everything just came from nothing by itself.
No, what it is that they decided I hate God. That’s the first step. I hate the bible, I hate God. I don’t want to obey God’s rules. I don’t want to live a clean life. I don’t want to get married to a woman and have kids and be godly and go to church and read my bibles. They say I want to go out and commit a bunch of sin. This book isn’t compatible with that. I’m going to write my own book and everybody that’s an atheist will say, “You’re just believing everything that’s written in that book.” “Who wrote your science textbook?”
“The bible is written by a man.” “Who wrote your science textbook?” They act like it’s written by the finger of God because if they pull out a science textbook literally, they will just say like, “Hey, every word of this is fact.” I mean, they’ll hold up a science book and tell you this is all true and then we hold up the bible and say, “Hey, this is all true.” You know what, I like the bible better. The bible makes a lot more sense than the book that says, “First, there was nothing and then it exploded.”
It’s like, “Okay. What are we doing here?” They love to show you a drawing of a monkey. [Inaudible 00:24:01] a monkey. It was like, “Shut up.” It doesn’t matter whether it was an ape, a monkey an orangutan, a chimpanzee. It doesn’t matter what it was. It’s just stupid. It doesn’t matter what it was. Gorilla for crying out loud. They love to show some monkey or ape or whatever the stupid thing is slowly turning into a human being. I want to see nothing slowly turning into something. I’d rather see nothing turn into the first living organism because it all started from a single cell. Yeah, except a single cell organism is really complicated.
Hello? Do you remember in science when you’d study the paramecium and the amoeba? Remember the paramecium. It looks like a shoe footprint and the amoeba is a little more of this round blob. You look at the amoeba and the paramecium. They’re pretty complicated, actually. I want to see the diagram where nothing or just primordial soup or whatever liquids or gasses or whatever just the early sludge of the earth, I’d like to see those components, the proteins or the whatever. I’d like to see all that stuff just form itself into that amoeba. Where’s that chart? Where’s that poster? Where’s the poster how DNA formed?
I mean, DNA is really complicated and every living thing has DNA. Where did it come from? How could it evolve? Show me the chart. You don’t have a chart but what you do have is a big paycheck, a fancy car and the respect of all your students who think of you, “O, though great ponytailed one, you know every …” Down at ASU, when you’re teaching the science class, but you know what it’s not fact friend, it’s fiction. It’s fables. The bible says, “Knowing this first that there shall come in the last days scoffers,” scoffing is something when you would make a mockery at it, “scoffers walking after their own lusts,” what’s the motive to scoff? Your own lust, “saying where is the promise of this coming? For since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this day willingly are ignorant of.”
Again, this is something where they decided that they didn’t want to believe in it, not because of the evidence. It says they’re willingly ignorant. They purposely blind their minds to the truth. He says, “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water perished but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men, but beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” Christ coming is a certainty. It’s going to happen. The bible says, “Though he tarry, wait for it because it will surely come and will not tarry.” This here says that people will scoff saying where is the promise of his coming?
Now a lot of people will look at these scriptures that I showed you about being the last days and try to say [inaudible 00:27:53] and they would try to say that, “Oh, well they thought it was going to happen in their lifetime.” Everybody in the bible, the whole New Testament acts like it was going to happen in their lifetime but in reality it says here, that people are going to scoff and then God’s explanation to the people that are scoffing is that with him a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day. Doesn’t that seem to indicate that more than a thousand years are going to go by before they’re going to start saying …
If Christ where to have come a hundred years after the time of the apostles would it really make sense to say, “Where is the promise of his coming?” Since the beginning of the creation, all things continue as they were. Then for him to say, “A day is like a thousand years. A thousand year is like a day.” That makes it sound like it’s going to be a thousand of years before Christ would return to where people would think it’s been a really long time and he says, “Hey, there’s a reason why he’s waiting. What’s the reason?” The bible says, “The Lord is not slack,” verse 9, “concerning his promise.” It’s not that God is just slacking.
One of these days I’m coming back. Some people will keep saying they’re going to do something and they just can’t and never get around to it. God is not like that. He’s not up in heaven just slack about it and just, “Oh, I guess I got to return sometime but later.” No, it says, he’s not slack concerning his promise that some men count as slackness but he says, “But is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” I believe that what he means by that is that basically he’s waiting and giving more people a chance to be saved.
If he were to return, before people could get saved, then they miss out. My third point is going to touch on that as well. “But is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance,” and it says, “but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.” Why does he compare it on to a thief in the night? He says, “Because when they shall peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.”
The thief in the night analogy is that he said, “Look, if the watchmen would have known at what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.” He’s saying, “If a thief is going to be successful, they come at an hour that you think not.” They don’t let you know, ”Hey, I’m going to break in your house at 1:30 am,” because then you’re going to be ready at 1:30 am with the shotgun cocked and loaded and ready and you’re not going to suffer your house to be broken up but he says, “That the thief comes in an hour that you think not. He comes in the night,” and that’s what Christ coming will be.
He said, “At such an hour that you think not, the son of man cometh.” That’s why when you see people predicting it, you know it’s false because he says it’s going to be an hour that you think not that he comes. When you see people sitting in there and saying, “Oh, this blood moons, John Hagee is telling us all about it. It’s going to happen in September because the blood moons. The Jewish calendar. Rabbi [Hakflem 00:31:14] told me that …” Here’s the thing, then I can tell you … I cannot tell you when Christ will come because no man know the day or the hour only the father know it but I can tell you certain days that he will never come because any day where a preacher comes out and makes a date, I promise you he will not come on that day for sure, fact.
We could make a calendar of all the days he’s not going to come because any prediction where somebody comes out says, “He’s coming in 2017, September 21st.” It’s just like cross that date off the calendar. It’s not going to happen because then it would make God a liar when he sits there and says, “Hey, nobody knows,” and it’s like, “Oh, I figure it out. I did the math.” You don’t think Jesus knew math? He even said, “The son doesn’t know only the father know it.” In Mark 13, he said, “Neither the son by the father only.”
It’s such an hour that we think not that the son of man is coming. It’s going to come upon them suddenly in other words but he says into as Christians, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” It’s not going to be a thief in the night to believers because he says, “When you see these things began to come to pass, look up, lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh.” Under those that are sleeping it will come as a thief in the night but he tells us, his believers, not to sleep as do others but let us watch and be sober.
He is allowing time to go by to the tune of thousands of years before the second coming but it is still certainly coming yet in these last days people scoff at the bible and they scoff at the second coming of Jesus Christ and they scoff at the creation and the flood and they teach this myth of the big bang and evolution, et cetera. It’s according to their own lust. This is why they don’t get wrapped up in a big thing of hey, let’s prove evolution false and let’s spend our days and nights researching and doing science and digging up and excavating because if we could just prove evolution false we get so many people saved because here’s the thing people are dying and going to hell before evolution was ever invented.
Evolution is new. Do you think everybody was saved before evolution came out? No, they weren’t. Not only that but the bible says that they’re willingly ignorant. Why would I show evidence to somebody who’s willingly ignorant? That sounds like a waste of my time. They’re doing after their own lust. They want to believe that there’s no God. They’re going to believe that no matter what you show them and that’s why we need to focus on the gospel because the bible says the gospel is the power of God and the salvation.
We didn’t focus on preaching the gospel and not on if we can just prove to science. They’re never going to see it. They’re never going to believe in it. They won’t be persuaded even if one rose from the dead. They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. If they won’t hear God’s word then they cannot be saved. I always tell people when I’m soul-winning and they want to see the proof. They want the evidence. I say, “You know what, if you’re waiting for the evidence, if you’re waiting for the proof, then you will die and go to hell and you will never be saved because there is no evidence because faith is the substance of things hoped for and faith is the evidence of things not seen.
You have to believe. Without faith, it’s impossible to please him. He said, “Faith in what? Blind faith?” “No, faith in the word of God.” The most amazing book on this planet. It’s been translated in every language that has power in every page and anybody can read this book and see, “Never a man spake like this man.” The words of Jesus Christ are not like the words of Mohammad. They’re not like the words of Joseph Smith or like the words of Buddha or anybody else. The words of Jesus Christ are unparallel. The words of God in this book have power and the bible says, “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”
I don't know about you but I find that the vast majority of people when I’m out knocking doors and soul-winning, evolution is not even their hang up unless you’re on the university where everybody is professing themselves to be wise and they become fools but if you go to the actual normal people, in this world just living in neighborhoods and houses and apartments, most people don’t believe in evolution and big bang and all that. They just need to be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ so that they can believe on it.
Thirdly this, go to Daniel chapter 11. We’re talking about the last days. What’s it going to be like in the last days? How do we know if we see the day approaching. First of all, God said it would be a time when sin would abound and evil men and seducers would get worse and worse. It would be a time when people would just love their own selves and just sin and do all kinds of wickedness with no regard for parents, no regard for the Lord or his word or anything like that. Number 2 we saw, there would be a time when they would scoff at and mark the bible. They’d make fun of creation, make fun of the flood, make fun of the fact that Jesus Christ is coming again.
Of course, we see these things around us today in modern America but thirdly this, according to the last days, there will be God’s people in the last days. This is another characteristic of the last days in the bible is that God’s people will do great works for God. I believe that the greatest works for God will be done in the last days. I think that the most souls will be won in the last days. This is what I firmly believe. Let me show you some scriptures here. This is Daniel chapter 11 which is about the tribulation. It’s about the very end and it says in Daniel 11:31, “And arms shall on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength that shall take away the daily sacrifice and they shall place the abomination that make it desolate.”
Now, the reason I read that verse is because this is an event that Jesus Christ talks about because he says, “When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet who so read that let them understand. That’s what he says in Matthew 24, a chapter about the tribulation. That’s what he says in Mark 3 and here it is. It says right here the abomination of desolation. That gets our bearings of where we are in the timeline, “And such as do wickedly,” verse 32, “against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries but the people that do know their God,” are going to be weak and lukewarm and watered down. Is that what it says about God’s people in the last days?
They’re going to be helpless. They’re going to be weak. They’re not going to be as great as previous Christians. No, it says the people that do know their God shall be strong and shall do exploits. Great works. That’s what an exploit is. It’s some great works, some great achievement is known as an exploit. It says in the next verse and they didn’t understand among the people shall instruct many yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by spoil in many days. Oh, there’s going to be persecution, make no mistake but doesn’t the bible clearly say that in the last days God’s people will do great exploits and will instruct many.
Now, this is something that’s often overlooked. People are often preaching. I’m sure I’m not the only passer this morning who’s getting up and preaching about how wicked the last days are going to be. I guarantee you there are other passes across America right now that are in second Timothy chapter 3 right now talking about, “Hey, look. This is the last days. Look what it’s going to be like.” I’d guarantee you that there are a multitude of pastors in second Peter 3 right now talking about how in the last days people scoff at the second coming. They’ll scoff at the creation they’ll scoff at the flood.
One that you don’t hear as much about I’m sure that there’s another preacher right now somewhere in the world preaching about Daniel 11 also but I just don’t hear as much about the great things for God that are going to be done in the last days. You hear more about the fact, “Hey, the world is going to get bad but how about the fact that God’s people are going to do the greatest works?” I think that’s something that we need to pay attention to.
Also this is taught in the New Testament. Now, first of all, we see it right there in Daniel chapter 11 but if you go to Matthew 24, because remember Matthew 24 brings up the abomination of desolation and then right after, it says the abomination of desolation in the next breath, he says, that those that know God are going to be strong in this time and that they’re going to do exploits and they’re going to instruct many. What does the bible say in Matthew 24 in the same scripture about the abomination?
It says in verse 15 when you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, who shall read it let them understand. Okay, but what’s the verse right before that? Look at verse 14, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come.” Now isn’t that interesting that he brings that up? Now, I personally believe and I don’t have any doubt about this, I personally believe that the gospel is already been preached on to every nation of this world at some time or another.
In fact, repeatedly throughout history. I think if you look back over the history of the world over the last 2,000 years, multiple times the gospel has come even places where we would think that’s a really non-Christian place. That’s a place where the gospel is not being preached but throughout history the gospel has gone into these places not once, not twice but repeatedly. I don’t care what place you want to talk about whether it’s Korea, China, Japan, Mongolia, India, the gospel has circled the globe and then circled it again and then circled it again.
What about the jungles of Africa? Look, there’s probably even more missionaries in African than any other place. Don’t tell me about some guy in Africa who hasn’t heard about the gospel. Good night. There have been more missionaries to Africa probably than anywhere. I mean, that’s the classic place that if you’re going to be a missionary, you better be going to Africa, right? I mean, that’s like the most classic place to be a missionary. The bottom line is that throughout history the gospel has gone to all these places but here’s the thing, in a lot of places the gospel hasn’t been there a while.
There have been generations and generations where there’s been almost nobody preaching. They might still have heard of Jesus but there are places where the gospel was generations ago and where it’s been forgotten. There are also many places where even though the name of Jesus’ name, it doesn’t mean that’s the true gospel because there’s another gospel and another Jesus. There’s another gospel that says that salvation is by works. There’s another Jesus who’s not the son of God. There are a lot of people who have a corruption of perversion.
Obviously, a lot of these Africa missionaries are preaching a false gospel. There’s no question about that. I’m not saying that everybody has a clear presentation of the gospel. I’m not saying that people don’t need to go because listen, we need to go and we need to get the gospel to all nations. That’s what the bible teaches and people are dying to go to hell because no one has given them a clear presentation of the gospel.
In many places that once had even the word of God in the New Testament, they don’t even have the New Testament anymore but they had it in the past but they don’t have it anymore. What I believe that this is saying in Matthew 24, I don’t think he’s saying, “This gospel of the kingdom, shall be preaching all the world for witnesses in all nations.” That means that once it gets to the last nation, once that last language hears the gospel, then Christ can return. You know what, that’s already happening in my opinion.
Look, they may not have it today but I believe that the gospel has circled the globe and circled the globe and circled the globe and that these people in the past have heard it even if they’re not necessarily hearing it today. What I believe that this is saying in Matthew 24 if you actually look at the verse there in verse 14 where he says, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come.” I believe is saying that in the last days at the very end, it’s going to go to all nations.
Again, everybody is going to get a final chance. I think that that’s what he means when he says people are going to instruct many and they’re going to do great exploits and they’re going to be people in every nation that hear the gospel then the end comes. It sounds to me like a succession right there. It’s preached in all the nations and then the end comes that in the least days there’s going to be more soul-winning and more preaching of the true gospel of Jesus Christ than ever in the history of mankind. That’s what I believe the bible teaches.
The reason I bring this up and if you would flip over to Revelation chapter 3. The reason I bring this up is because a lot of people who come under the influence of this false doctrine of dispensationalism have gotten this warped view of the end times and here’s what their view of the end times is. Their view is that basically in the end times God’s people, Christians are going to be lukewarm. They call this the Laodicean Church Age. We are living in the Laodicean Church Age. There is no such thing as the Laodicean Church Age. It’s a lie, it’s a fraud and what they do is they say, “The reason God’s people are so lukewarm is because we’re living in the Laodicean Church Age.”
Speak for yourself if you want to be lukewarm. There are people in this world today that are red hot, soul-winning, fired up, servants of God that want to be strong, that want to do exploits, that want to instruct many, that want to preach the gospel to every creature and is down in the mile defeated just waiting for some preacher to rescue you and say, “We’re living in the Laodicean Church Age.” It’s a lie. It’s false. It’s not true today. It comes from this fraud, the Scofield Reference Bible written by a man who is corrupt, fraud. A man who left his wife and married somebody else and then wants to pastor a church.
A man who is so fraudulent as a lawyer he has to keep moving around and stuff because he keeps being sued as lawyer. He’s a corrupt man who hang around with a bunch of corrupt businessmen who put a bunch of money in his pocket to teach lies for the Zionists. This Scofield Reference Bible, if you open it up to Revelation 2 and 3, it’ll tell you that these are 7 church age and it even gives you the years. It gives you the different years and so what they have down for us is of course we’re Laodicea.
They put down these other years and they’ll put down that Philadelphia that one that comes right before Laodicea, they’ll put down Philadelphia is like in the late 1700s, early 1800s or whatever, there’s all this revivals going on, all the missions movement and everything and they say that was the great door and effectual to spread the gospel. Then they’ll put from such and such the year until the present is Laodicea, lukewarm, God wants to spew it. God wants to spew you out of his mouth but he doesn’t want to spew everybody out of his mouth.
See the truth of the matter is that there’s no such thing as the universal church. To sit there and say, “The Laodicean Church is made of all believers.” No, it’s made up of a bunch of losers and here’s the thing, every church has a different personality. See, those 7 churches are not 7 church ages. Those 7 churches are 7 example churches and any church could go through stages where it’s like any of those churches. I mean, if you’ve lost the first love, you’re like Ephesus. If you’re lukewarm, you’re like Laodicea.
If you’re being persecuted, you’re like Smyrna. If you have the Doctrines of Balaam you’re like Pergamum Pergamos. If you have fornication, being allowed and women preachers, you’re like Thyatira. If you have a name that you live but you’re dead, if you’re living in the past, you’re like Sardis. If you have a great door open and effectual under you, and you have the synagogue of Satan breathing down your neck, you’re like Philadelphia. If you’re lukewarm and you think that you’re so rich and you think that you’re so cool, then you’re like Laodicea but any church could go through phases where they let sin come in or where they lose the first love or they do whatever.
It’s examples. These are example churches. They’re not church ages and this doctrine is so damaging to God’s people because it teaches a defeatist mentality where we approach the work of God as you know what, we just got to hang in there until he comes. I mean, we can’t really expect to do anything great for God because Philadelphia is over. We just go to hang in there through this Laodicean Church Age. I can’t really preach hard because I’m dealing with a bunch of Laodiceans here so I can’t really preach hard.
I can’t really expect people to do a lot of soul-winning. I mean, it’s Laodicea folks. That’s a really damaging doctrine because what we ought to do is say I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me and the last days, God’s people will be strong and do exploits and instruct me. I want to fulfill that prophecy. I want to be a part of it. I want to be one of those people or we could just sit there and say, “Oh, it’s Laodicea.” Go to John chapter 14. It’s a false doctrine, my friend. It’s false for a lot of reasons.
A lot of things is wrong with this church age and it’s funny because when you look at it, I wish I had a Scofield Reference Bible. Maybe I do have one. Let me see. What do you know, it’s right here. Let me pull this thing out. The message to Laodicea, the final state of apostasy. Here’s what I think is funny about this too is that when he’s teaching these church ages, he says, “Ephesus is the apostolic age.” Then he says, “The message to Smyrna is the period of great persecutions up to AD 316.” The message to Pergamum, listen to this, “The church under imperial favor settled in the world AD 316 to AD 500.”
Here’s what he’s basically saying that the Roman Catholic church is the true church. That’s basically what he’s saying here because he’s saying that the church, because he thinks that the church is made up of all Christians. He doesn’t believe that it’s a local congregation of believers assembled. He says that the church is under imperial favor. What empire? Rome? This is when the Roman empire loves the church. The Roman empire never loved the real God’s people because God’s true people have never been loved of the world.
He said they hated me, they’ll hate you. He said the disciple is not above his master and neither the servant above his Lord. If they called the master the household above, how much more should they call him of his household? How can you sit there and say, “Oh, up until 500 AD, they’re under imperial favor.” They would be persecuted for hundreds of years and then for hundreds of years it’s just relax and the world loves you. This is a fraud. The Catholic Church shouldn’t even be factored in.
Here’s the thing, God’s writing the 7 churches, these are actually churches that actually preach the gospel. All 7 of them or you wouldn’t even be writing to them. He wouldn’t be saying, “Hey, I’m going to remove the candlestick if you don’t repent,” because they never even had the candlestick. When you’re a Roman Catholic church, you never had the candlestick. You’re not a church of Jesus Christ and God’s not even talking to you except to just say come out of you. Except just to say, “You’re a whore.” I mean, he’s not talking to you and saying, “You know what, I know your works. I know the good things you’re doing but I have a few things against you.” Few things against you?
They don’t even believe that salvation is by faith. They’re bowing down and worshipping a statue of a woman. “Oh, Mary. Help us. Hail Mary, full of grace. Swings those beads all over the place.” They’re basically worshipping idols, worshipping a woman. Teaching, “Hey, baptism saves. Hey, the sacrament saves.“ It’s nothing to do with Christianity and the true word of God. Kissing the popes big toe and saying he is the Vicar of Christ on earth? They weren’t as bad back then but here’s the thing though, they were lying heretics who started the Roman Catholic church even in 313 AD with Constantine and all these different guys.
To sit there and take this seriously and think yeah, these are the 7 church ages and we’re in Laodicea, the final state of apostasy, Laodicea because people who are apostates are not even a church that Christ would even have anything to do with. The Laodicean Church is not an apostate church, the Laodicean Church is a lukewarm church but they still believe the gospel otherwise why would they even be talking to them. I mean, you think Jesus is like, “Okay Mormon church, I have a few things against you. All right, Buddhist temple, I have a few things against you. Okay Jehovah’s Witnesses … “ No, because they’re not even on his radar.
He’s going to say to them, depart from me. I never knew you. He’s not going to say, “Hey, I know your works. I know you. No, he doesn’t even know you. If he knew you, you’d be saved. Look at John chapter 14, verse 11 because I want you to understand this powerful truth that is found in John 14:11 through 13, “Believe me that I am in the father, and the father in me or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, that works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go on to my father and whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the father may be glorified in the son.”
Don’t miss this powerful statement in verse 12 where he is says, “He that believeth on me, that works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do because I go on to my father.” Now listen, you can’t do anything better than Jesus can you? Whoever thinks they’re better than Jesus. Goodnight but yet Christ is saying that those who believe on him would do greater works than he did. How can that be? Here’s the thing, it cannot mean quality because no one can do greater works as far as a better quality than Jesus because Jesus was perfect.
Jesus went about doing good. They said he do with all things well and so no one could excel Christ’s works for quality. When it says, “The works that I do shall he do and greater works.” He’s not saying that they’re better. Greater in the bible, usually the words great or greater are referring to size or quantity. When the bible used the word great, that’s how it usually being used. Size, quantity. When the bible says, “The works that I do shall he do in greater works.” If you think about it, the apostles did greater works than Jesus. Not better than him but they just did more. They’ve accomplished more.
They preached the gospel to more people than Jesus Christ did. Now, that right there shows us that God desires us to do great works and that we have the capability to do great works and that the sky is the limit. We need to get off this Laodicea mentality and we need to get on the Daniel 11 mentality and the Matthew 24 mentality and the Mark 13 mentality that says that the gospel must first be published among all nations and note publish does not mean like publishing books and tracks. Published means preached, proclaimed.
We need to understand that today in 2015 we are ready to do the greatest works that this world has ever seen. Why don’t you get excited about that? Why don’t we go out there and preach the gospel to more people and get more people saved than have ever been saved in the history of mankind. I don’t want to read somebody from the 1700s and read about somebody from the 1800s. I don’t want to be said of us like it was said of David’s mighty men where he said, “Yeah, David’s mighty men were great.” Those 3 guys were great but he said, “They weren’t like the previous 3 though. You remember that? He said, ‘The 3 men, they were mighty. They did great exploits but they attain not under the first 3.”
Basically the author there is lamenting and saying, “You know what, the good old days.” I mean, yeah, these mighty men today but let me tell you something. The mighty men back when I was coming up, were greater than.” I don’t want to hear that. I don’t believe that. I think that we have the capability to be the greatest generation. Look, not as America. Goodnight, this is the filthiest, most wicked generation America has ever seen but as God’s people. The true story about the end times, it’s not about the world getting real wicked and about God’s people getting lukewarm and watered down.
No, here’s the true story. God’s people are going to do the greatest works of all time and the world is going to get really wicked and they’re going to get more different than they’ve ever been which explains all the persecution because when you got people that are rising up and doing the greatest works and then you got a world that’s more wicked than ever, that’s where the clash is going to come from. Be inspired my friend, be motivated and there are great works to do and we all need to get involved in doing it.
It starts right here in Phoenix, Arizona we have more people to preach the gospel to right here in Phoenix, Arizona than lived in Jerusalem or anywhere else because this city is bigger than any city that even existed back in those days. There was no city of 4 million people back then. We have a city of 4 million people right here that we can preach the gospel to and get them saved and knock doors and win souls to Christ. You know what, there are other cities all over America where men need to be trained in this church and sent out to start churches in other cities in America and do great things.
Even men who would come out of our church and go start church in a foreign country and do great works for God and reach a nation or reach a city or reach a state with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The sky is the limit. We can do greater works. We can do great. It’s already been prophesized. I mean, look God knows the end from the beginning, somebody is going to do it. Someone will do it or the bible is not telling the truth. He said, the gospel is going to be preached to all nations then the end is going to come. He is saying that because he already … He’s already seen it all.
In Revelation it’s already happened. It’s done but the question is are we going to be part of it, number 1. Question number 2, how great is it going to be? We know that some great work is going to be done for God in the last days. We know that many people will be saved but here’s the thing, if we get involved then even more will be saved. I don’t believe it’s just, “Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. I don’t believe in Calvinism. No, it’s up to us to get on board with God’s glory.
God has already predicted and said, “Hey, I already know. Some people will do it. There will be strong people who do great exploits,” but you know what let’s make sure that we’re a part of it and that we push it and that we ride that wave and that we participate and get more people saved than any generation in the history of mankind. Let’s bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord and we thank you for the shining light that it is in a dark world and in a crooked and perverse generation, Lord.
Help us to stand in lights in the world. Help us not to get down in the mouth and say, “Oh, how can we raise our kids? How can we live?” Lord, help us not just try to maintain or hang on for dear life but help us to take it to the enemy, Lord. Help us to go on the offense, Lord and help us to go out and say, “Not only are we going to just exist and survive but we’re going to thrive and do great exploits for God, greater than ever in the history of mankind, Lord.” Help us to be inspired as your people. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
