7 Signs That We Live In The End Times

no you don't have forever you live on borrowed time you are not an earthly person having a spiritual experience you are a spiritual person having an earthly experience you are passing through and this world is passing away and i want to teach you out of the scriptures and convince you of this reality jesus is coming soon i had somebody talk to me after service they said pastor i've been in church full-time every sunday the last 15 years i have never heard a message on the return of christ on a sunday morning ever not once i want to let you know that this message was the central obsession of the church fathers it was written about by people like eusebius it was taught on by people like augustine it was authored by people like the apostle paul and the apostle john it was taught by jesus in his parables it was prophesied by ezekiel it was prophesied by isaiah it was taught by jesus in matthew 24 and matthew 25 and luke 21 over and over and over and over and over again jesus communicated to his disciples and by proxy communicated to all who would follow him that although i am seated at the right hand of the father my return is imminent and friend if they lived in the last days two thousand years ago then i would humbly submit to you that not only are we in the last days but we are in the last hour and jesus is returning soon i know that we don't like to talk about it because we have been so discipled by enlightenment that when it doesn't make sense on paper we rather not talk about it because it makes us look crazy friend the resurrection can't be explained but it will explain you we are people who have been crucified with christ and raised a new life this is the hope of the gospel that death no longer has the final say in your life for to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord and one day you will have a physical literal resurrection by which your body gets out of a grave it is transformed into his image and likeness you see the one who you pierce you see the nail prints in his hands you see the hole in his side the nail prints in his feet you see the one that we wounded resurrected and you live with him forever that is the reality of what it means to be a christian it's not make-believe it's not science fiction it's not star trek it's not a bad left behind movie with nicholas cage it is the reality of scripture jesus is coming soon it's not just to make believe it's not just to hope so it's not just a maybe if god's in a good mood no it is the promise of scripture that's why the bible calls it our blessed hope see when you're anchored in eternity it helps you manage the middle because you know the master is returning soon isn't that the parable of the wise servant versus the foolish servant one stewards their talent the other wastes it the one who stewards his talent well stewards it because he knows the master is returning soon see when you have a theology that places jesus at the center of everything and convinces you of his soon return it makes you a wise steward of the borrowed time that you've got left no friend you live on borrowed time and with the sound of a trumpet blast christ will descend and his descent will be so powerful that it literally shifts the landscape and for a final time breaks the curse of death over earth the seas will give up their lost the graves will open up and dead men and and women will walk around and those of us who are alive the apostle paul says will be caught up in the air with him and i know what you're thinking you've seen all the movies of all of a sudden just a pile of clothes laying on the floor and a body disappeared and kind of looks like a bad cgi a bad sci-fi effect and look i don't know how it's going to look or how it's going to work i just want to be ready for when the day arrives because scripture says this be watchful be hopeful and pray for his return is soon friend it's imminent it's not a maybe it's not i hope so it's not some sort of weird message to try to get you to tithe more because the end is tomorrow no his return is imminent and watch he's coming back for a glorious bride which is you and i without spot or without wrinkle hear me he's not coming back for a girlfriend he's coming back for a bride he's not coming back for people who date the church he's coming back for a bride he's not coming back for people who don't have oil in their lamps for they will miss the day of their appearing that's why right after matthew 24 jesus goes into a parable in matthew 25 the parable of the wise and foolish virgins and the wise ones had enough oil in their lamp because the bridegroom appeared when they least expected him he came at midnight this is the type of church that christ is returning for the bible says that he was taken up before their very eyes the disciples in a cloud hid him from their sight they were looking intently up into the sky as he was going when suddenly two men angels dressed in white stood beside them and they said this men of galilee why do you stand here looking in the sky the same jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way some translations say we'll come back in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven which means this his return will be personal it will be visible it will be glorious and it will be witnessed by all of earth in first corinthians 15 paul says this in a flash in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet the trumpet will sound the dead will be raised and we will be changed hear me on that day people who mocked will mourn people who doubted and disbelieve will be devastated people who thought it would never rain will knock on the door of the ark but it will be too late friend get ready jesus is coming soon can't you sense it when you look around these are birth pains that signal the end is near but about that day or hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven nor the son only the father as it was in the days of noah so it will be at the coming of the son of man from the days before the flood people were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that noah entered the ark and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away this is how it will be at the coming of the son of man two men will be in the field one will be taken and the other left two women will be grinding with a hand mill one will be taken and the other left therefore keep watch because you do not know on what day your lord will return but understand this if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming he would have kept watch he would have not left his house to be broken into so you must also be ready because of the son of man who will come at an hour when you do not expect in titus 2 the bible says this for the grace of god has appeared that offers salvation to all people it teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions to live self-controlled upright and godly lives in this present age while we wait for the blessed hope the appearing of the glory of our great god and savior jesus christ sometimes because of the world that we live in especially the area of the world in which we live in we have so overvalued intellectualism education and enlightenment you know what i found most people in this area have been educated out of their own usefulness they become wise in the eyes of man and fools in the eyes of god even people who profess faith in christ who mock things like the return of the son but sometimes in our effort to make the gospel more palatable more appropriate more relevant we strip it of its supernatural nature well i don't really know if christ is going to return you know it kind of sounds like a fairy tale and i don't really know if god still moves today in healings and signs and wonders and miracles and you know i don't know if we really need that stuff in the west you know really it's other people in other third world nations they're the ones who really need miracles not us over here oh yeah because we're doing real hot yeah because we're really headed in the right direction you're right we've totally graduated out of our entire need and dependence on god to be god but in our effort sometimes to reduce scripture to the level of our understanding we've kicked out everything that doesn't make sense in our enlightened mind the foolishness of god is more wise than the most wisest of men there's a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to destruction but all those who put their hope in the lord will not be set to disappointment friend i'm not living paranoid hear me i'm living prepared knowing that i operate on borrowed time now i'm not just waiting for the big bad world to finally go away for god to be able to take me home no he's put the hope of glory inside of you he's put the answer inside of you he's made you a kingdom ambassador on purpose he gave you the authority of heaven for a reason and for you and i we operate with a mandate not of fear but of boldness and courage even like it said of the disciples who are these men who turn cities upside down friend the most important thing that you will ever prepare your life for your kids for isn't that new job it's it's not that college career it's the return of christ and jesus in matthew 24 and in chapter 25 he talks about several signs that point to the return it's a prophetic discourse he's sharing with his disciples things that they won't readily understand in fact even at one point the disciples turned to him when he's speaking in parables and they say can't you just tell us in plain language what you mean and jesus is intentionally using parables and analogies as a way to develop the hearer and the seer in all of us he's saying there are things that are hidden right in front of you but it's going to require some digging to get there we want everybody else to develop our faith for us we want everybody else to develop our gift for us we want every other leader in our life to function as our spiritual puppet master and then blame them when our life doesn't go well but jesus has hidden truth oftentimes right out in the open just in places that we've overlooked it's the wisdom of god to conceal a matter and scripture says but it's the wisdom of a king to search it out there is something in your life spiritually that begins to be developed when you search these things out i know there's a lot of competing opinions and it's not my heart to try to convince you to see things exactly the way that i see them however i want every bible-believing christian to leave this place today convinced you live in the last hour of the last day of his imminent return now we don't put a time or a date because jesus says not to and that would be foolish to do so and people get into all sorts of air and heresy and just craziness when they try to attach all these kind of conspiratorial dates to the return of christ we have seen that over and over and over again in our culture see you've got to be anchored in scripture you've got to be anchored in what god says and what god declares jesus says i don't even know the date of my return nor the angels in heaven only the father does so if only the father knows then let's just leave it with the father but let's also be aware of what jesus teaches because he says when you see these signs you know the end is near in fact earlier in the book of matthew i believe it's chapter 16 jesus criticizes the pharisees and sadducees he says you know more about the shifting weather than you do about the shifting spiritual climate you're in we know more about what the weather report says about how next week is going to look then we are aware of the signs in our culture that are pointing to his return friend get this in your spirit today look i'm not trying to scare you i'm not trying to hype you up there's no hook at the end of this message outside of an invitation to put faith in jesus christ but what i found is that every time i teach on the return of christ the aw fear and reverence of the lord fills the place because all of a sudden we begin to shift into the way he thinks about this place and can i tell you one of the only things that is preventing christ from returning even in this moment is the desire of the father for more to know him we live in the last days let me give you seven signs number one lawlessness wars and rumor of wars this is from scripture watch matthew 24 you will hear 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 oh friend you can't even turn on the news today without going into a panic attack about the nations that are raging and that's why even the old testament says of god while the nations rage he laughs because he knows how it ends let me just read to you a list of nations right now that are engaged in massive war and conflict let me just give you a few afghanistan libya somalia syria yemen sudan lebanon venezuela cuba ethiopia iran russia turkey palestine israel china the president of both haiti and the nation of chad were just assassinated riots are breaking out across the european continent as more restrictions and lockdowns are coming friend the nations are shaking and this is a sign you might say well pastor come on the nations are always shaking there's always different wars going on no i agree but we are seeing a tenfold increase in our time than anything we've ever seen before and it doesn't just say wars and rumors of war it says lawlessness friend lawlessness is the spirit of the age it's the spirit of the northwest can't you see how even our political leaders have aligned with lawlessness they have called evil good and good evil they've actually incentivized lawlessness in our streets you can do whatever smoke whatever say whatever camp wherever you can steal up to a certain amount without any ever type of penalties being occurred it's a spirit of lawlessness and outrage that's taken over our streets and friend hear me it is a sign and it points that the end is near lawlessness is not just a spirit it also at a future day will be personified as an individual and the bible says that that man will be known as the antichrist but when the apostle john teaches on the antichrist he says but the spirit watch of the antichrist is already at work now watch number two drought famine and plague now you'll be real encouraged today but drought famine and plague now watch luke 21 famines and pestilence in various places and fearful events and great signs from heaven revelation 6 speaks of the plagues that come upon the earth friend hear me we are in a new age of biological complexity never before has our world face the challenges that we are facing today hear me very carefully i am not scared of cove but if you think the worst is behind us you aren't paying attention this is a sign of the times okay hear me it should concern every believer that we are quickly developing into a society that seeks to restrict the free movement capacity and individual liberty of people who choose different medical outcomes than what the government prescribes we are quickly heading down a road of almost no return will we live in a centralized biological medical state where proof of vaccination status becomes the ticket of admittance to participation in a free society or will people remain free to make and manage their own private medical decisions we are at a crossroads as a country there's already passports in new york that's already happening there's already a list of close to 200 businesses in seattle that won't even service you unless you have vaccine proof before walking in the door we are quickly headed toward a place in our society where the biological medical state micromanages the individual liberty and freedom of people just like you and just like me but i am concerned of our government and its increase in totalitarian authoritarian oversight that is getting so large that it seeks to micromanage and punish even people of religious faith who object for various reasons friend that's where we are as a country it's not a conspiracy anymore i told you all last week i need new conspiracies because all the ones i used to believe are now happening in the world around us i'm anti-big government micromanaging your personal life i'm anti-a government that's big enough to give you everything you ever hope dream or desired and big enough to take it away i'm against the government that incentivizes people not to work because it thinks it can just print money till kingdom come without any type of economic repercussions i'm against a government that says trust the science but believes men can be women and women can be men i'm against a government that seeks to restrict and get rid of the the free exercise clause and the establishment clause those are things i stand against i just know as the church goes so goes the so goes the nation y'all see what's happening in australia y'all see what's happening in other nations of the earth man we have a mandate in this hour to be people of theological clarity not given to extremes but also stubborn in our obedience of christ there is no king but jesus there is no way but the way the truth and the life there is no higher authority and christ is the head of the church now watch not just that but number three hear me earthquakes you might say man this is crazy russell you're making stuff up okay luke 21 there will be great earthquakes and fearful events and great signs from heaven before the end matthew 24 there will be great earthquakes in various places just in the united states hear me we have six fold increase in earthquakes in the 20th century just in the united states and jesus for whatever reason uses this geological example as a sign that points us to the return of christ i don't know why he picked earthquakes out of all the things that he could have picked but at least two different times he specifically talks about the earth shaking in a real sense and using it as a sign that his return is imminent and we know that god has orchestrated earthquakes before remember when paul and silas find themselves in a philippian jail and all of a sudden the earth shook and doors opened remember when christ was crucified on the cross as he breathed out it is finished and the earth shook and the veil was torn jesus oftentimes orchestrates natural things on earth that represent spiritual realities jesus said not me not some online blogger no jesus says there will be great earthquakes an increase in this activity and it points us to the return let me give you number four matthew 24 and 14 and the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world every tribe every tongue every nation and then the end will come jesus says this in matthew 24. watch international missions organizations have determined i just read this from an organization called finish the task you can look it up for yourself that as of today right now as of this morning there are yet to be reached 144 groups and they estimate that by 2033 in 12 years they will have active evangelical churches with church planting strategies in all remaining 144 groups jesus says this gospel will be preached to every nation every group and then the end will come friend we live in the shadow of the return of christ number five a following away and a great deception first timothy 4 the spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits things taught by demons such teachings come through hypocritical liars whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron not everyone who claims christ belongs to christ be careful which teachers you allow to play a developmental role in your life now watch what paul says in second timothy three verses one through five and let me ask you a question does this sound like the world we live in but mark this there will be terrible times in the last days people will be lovers of themselves lovers of money boastful proud abusive disobedient ungrateful unholy without love unforgiving slanderous without self-control brutal not lovers of the good treacherous rash conceited lovers of pleasure having a form of godliness but denying its power paul writing timothy who pastors in the city of ephesus says these are the characteristics that you will see manifest wide scale across population groups as a sign that the end is near friend you know that right now you are sitting in between two great revivals number one there's a revival of righteousness we're seeing it in the northwest we're seeing it in snohomish and beyond people are coming to the lord the church is being revived the kingdom is advancing it's incredible we are also in the middle of what i would call a revival of iniquity and i believe from scripture it communicates that both of these revivals grow together until the culmination of time you remember the parable of the wheat and the tares they both grow together until the farmer is ready to harvest although we're seeing incredible things more people coming to the lord than ever before entire nations being rocked by the message of the gospel the church advancing against all odds we are also in a revival of iniquity the days are both getting lighter and darker at the same time and paul tells timothy these are signs that point to the end friend the future belongs to the brave it belongs to the orthodox it belongs to the faithful we can't afford for our love to grow cold because it's never been more important to burn bright number six persecution jesus says in matthew 24 you will be handed over to be persecuted you will be hated by all nations because of me at that time many will turn away from the faith they will betray and they will hate each other hear me there were more christian martyrs in the 20th century than the first 19 centuries combined the bible says in the book of revelation that the blood of the martyrs cries out for justice before the throne of god the question they ask is oh lord how long will you wait it's a sign that that points to the times mission statistics tell us that close to 310 million christians live amongst the top 50 most persecuted nations for people who put faith in christ and jesus says persecution and its ever increase is a sign that points to his return number seven let me end here the bible speaks in fact ezekiel prophesies that there is coming a day where god will regather israel as a nation maybe the most significant bible prophecy to be fulfilled in the last hundred years was when israel came back into existence as a nation in 1948 it's not just political it's not just a cool fact that you write about in some sort of geography or political science test and community college no it is a fulfillment of bible prophecy and when the writers of scripture talked about a time where god would again regather his people in jerusalem they had no idea ezekiel prophesied during a time period where the temple was destroyed the people were carried off in bondage the nation had been decimated and god spoke to ezekiel and he said do you see the valley of dry bones i'm gonna recover and bring my people back to their holy city fred i'm telling you we live in the very shadow of the imminent return of christ people will be eating and drinking they will be married and given in marriage they will be going about their day as if nothing was happening as if everything is normal and in a split instant there will be a global sound and at that moment it'll be too late fred i'm asking you today if you're right with jesus friend i'm asking you today are you living with the end in mind are you living with eternity in focus come on it's not a make-believe story it's a real gospel with a real jesus who is coming really soon [Music] i am alpha and omega the beginning in the end seth the lord which is and which was and which is to come the almighty he which testify of these things says surely i come quickly amen even so conquer lord jesus you

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Id: f3SE0roVNEo

Length: 28min 3sec (1683 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 08 2021