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  EVALUATING THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
  by Tim Conway
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Summary: The sermon titled 'The Signs of the Times' emphasizes the need
for discontentment in the church to address the spiritual condition of
the nation and the church. Drawing from the account of the disciples'
inability to cast out a demon in Matthew 17, the sermon highlights the
importance of prayer and fasting to overcome spiritual obstacles and
move demonic mountains. It challenges believers to recognize the signs
of the times, engage in fervent prayer and fasting, and seek the power
of God to combat the spiritual darkness and apathy prevalent in society.

Duration: 1:13:16 Topics: "Spiritual Awakening", "Power of Prayer and Fasting"
Scripture References: Matthew 17:14, Mark 9:29, Ephesians 6:12, James 5:16, Daniel 10:12, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 139:23, Isaiah 58:6, 1 Thessalonians 5:6

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DESCRIPTION
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The sermon titled 'The Signs of the Times' emphasizes the need for
discontentment in the church to address the spiritual condition of the
nation and the church. Drawing from the account of the disciples'
inability to cast out a demon in Matthew 17, the sermon highlights the
importance of prayer and fasting to overcome spiritual obstacles and
move demonic mountains. It challenges believers to recognize the signs
of the times, engage in fervent prayer and fasting, and seek the power
of God to combat the spiritual darkness and apathy prevalent in society.

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CONTENT
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If you have your Bibles, please open up to Matthew chapter 17. Matthew
chapter 17. The title of my sermon is The Signs of the Times.

And no, I'm not preaching specifically from Matthew chapter 24. I'm
going to shoot straight with you right up here at the beginning that
what I want to talk to you about right now is for the discontent. We
heard when Jeff preached this morning about just being satisfied.

Unquestionably, we are to be satisfied in the way of salvation and what
God has provided for us. But I want to talk to you about that place
where I believe that we should not be satisfied. I hope that we have
some people here that are discontent when you look at the shape of this
nation.

Discontent when you think about the overall condition of the church in
this country. And I want to bring you to Matthew 17 because there's an
account here that even ever since we first decided that we were going to
have this conference, I couldn't get away from this passage and the
parallel passage over in Mark chapter 9. But Matthew 17 verse 14. This
is the account of the healing of the boy with the demon.

And I'm going to read just a little bit from Mark's account after I read
you Matthew's. Now don't go over to Mark. Just stay right here.

Camp right in Matthew 17. And just hear me when I read from Mark. The
first 14.

You know the scene. Our Lord and three of the inner circle, they come
down off this mount of transfiguration. They see a crowd.

Mark tells us that the other disciples were arguing with the scribes.
And so when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and kneeling
before him said, Lord have mercy on my son for he has seizures and he
suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire and often into the
water.

And I brought him to your disciples and they could not heal him. And
Jesus answered, oh faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be
with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me. And
Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him.

And the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus
privately and said, why could we not cast it out? And he said to them,
because of your little faith. This is very interesting.

Because of your little faith. For truly I say to you, if you have faith
like a grain of mustard seed, which that sounds like little faith. I
mean, it's almost like, well, they have little faith, but then he says
that's what it takes.

We'll look at that a little more. If you have faith like a grain of
mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there and
it will move and nothing will be impossible for you. Now, it's
interesting when you get the parallel account from Mark.

Now think with me here. Matthew says, why could we not cast it out?
Because of your little faith. For truly I say to you, if you have faith
like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from
here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you.

Mark says, when he entered the house, his disciples asked him privately,
why could we not cast it out? And he said to them, this kind cannot be
driven out by anything but prayer. And I'm going to put fasting in
there. Prayer and fasting.

I was just not too long ago, too many months ago, I was at a conference
for revival and reformation and Stuart Aliot was one of the preachers
there. And he and I began to have a discussion and this text came up in
our discussion and I included fasting. And he said, do you know that
Papyrus 45, I don't think he used that explicit expression right there,
but he said, are you aware that the oldest manuscripts actually contain
it? I said, no, I was not aware of that.

So I looked it up. You know, they have discovered the four gospels a
hundred years older than anything else that they've had. And this is
there, the prayer and fasting.

Of course, it's in the majority of texts and it's the oldest text. And I
don't want to leave it out. Prayer and fasting.

So we're going to come back to that in a second. But let's just survey
the account. Let's just think of some of the things that probably would
jump out at you very obviously just from a quick survey.

But I want us to take specific notice, specifically concerning the
disciples here. First thing, I want us to think about the disciples'
task. Disciples.

The disciples are made of the same stuff you and I are. They're made of
flesh and blood. And what was their task? Well, in Matthew chapter 10,
Jesus specifically told them, he sent them out, proclaim the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. One of
the things that Jesus told these disciples to do was cast out demons.
That's in the imperative.

He'd do this. And you remember when the 70 or 72, whatever your Bible
says, you remember how they responded. Then Jesus said to them, behold,
I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over
the power of the enemy.

And so these guys, all the way back from Matthew 10, they've been
commanded to do this. Cast out. Isn't this interesting? Undoubtedly,
they went forth and they began to cast out these demons and demons.

You know what? The 72, they came back and they were all excited. These
demonic spirits, they give way before us. I mean, it happened.

And you can imagine how these guys might be bewildered when Jesus told
them to do it. And then they went out and they did it. But then this day
comes when all of a sudden they weren't able to do it.

I mean, what happened? It seems that their authority was all of a sudden
gone. And you can imagine why they were asking, Lord, why couldn't we do
it? I mean, you commanded us to do it. It's worked every day before now.

Next, I want you to notice this. Notice the opponent, the disciple's
opponent. Jesus calls him the enemy.

You will have power over, or you will over all the power of the enemy.
The enemy. Think about this.

What were they up against? And brethren, I'm dealing with all of this
because I want us to think about what we're up against. What were they
up against? In Mark's account, it says he has a spirit. This is the
father talking.

He has a spirit that makes him mute. Whenever it seizes him, it throws
him down. He foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.

It has often cast him into fire and into water to destroy him. You know
what the disciples, you have to think about this. You think about when
you're approaching a boy like this, you're approaching a boy who has
some angelic being that is taken up host there.

Cruel. Cast him into the fire, cast him into the water. This is a wicked
spirit that is tormenting this boy.

Can you imagine if you're the mother or the father, the brother or
sister, and this is going on in your household? This is traumatic.
Seizures, mute, fire, water. And you know what Jesus says? This kind
can't be driven out but by prayer and fasting.

And you want to catch that. This kind. What does that mean? They're
dealing with a kind that is so diabolical and deeply entrenched here
that they had power to expel the demons.

And they knew it. But now they're baffled by this. Why could we not?
Their experience was that they could.

Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. But now an
especially hideous kind of demon is resisting the people of God. Now I
want us to think for a second about the disciples' failure.

You know what? There's only one reason Jesus is being asked to heal this
boy when he comes down off the Mount of Transfiguration. And it's
precisely because his disciples couldn't do it. Lord, help us.

What did the guy say? What did the father say? I brought my son to your
disciples and they could not. They could not. I wonder do we talk like
that? Do we talk that way? Brethren, I'll tell you this.

As reformed people, we have such an idea about the providence of God
that we can easily blame everything on God. They could not. Are we in a
place where we cannot? I mean, when I look around at the world, this is
the kind of question.

When I'm talking about the signs of the times, I'm wanting us to think,
think, think, think. What is the church up against? What are we doing?
What was the Lord's response? I brought my son to your disciples. They
couldn't do this.

And Jesus says, faithless, perverse, faithless, twisted generation.
Ouch. And you know, we can hear that and we can distance ourselves from
it.

But are we just as perverse? Are we just as twisted? Do we not even feel
comfortable going there and asking that kind of question? I want to ask
you this. When he said, oh, faithless and twisted generation, let me
just ask you, who is he talking to? I would just ask more questions. Who
couldn't cast the demon out? Who was it that was lacking faith to bring
this to pass? Who was it that the father said was impotent? That's what
we have to ask.

And you know what Jesus says, how long am I to bear with this? There is
something about unbelief here that Jesus, Jesus is not excusing this
failure. This is no minor issue to him. He is disgusted.

This is abhorrent to him. And we need to realize, we need to recognize
brethren, that the Lord, do you ever think about the Lord when he
examined the seven churches at Asia Minor, he was able to look at them
and say, well, this church, this church is in this condition and I know
their works and this is how I would define them. This is how I would
spell out their condition.

Do you ever ask how God would define us? How Christ, if he were to come
among us and actually write a little epistle to each of us as he did to
those seven churches, what would he say? What would he say collectively
about us? What I'm asking is this, when we look around, how much are we
impacting the world? You see, these guys lack potency. The reality is
that whatever they had, they didn't help the situation. Whatever kind of
faith you might say they had to follow Christ, or even the faith that
they had to try to cast the demon out, the reality is, what was the end
product? The end product was something that Jesus was not happy with.

We want to think about this. Now, think with me here. Think about the
disciples' potential, because I think this is, this jumps out at me.

God's people can be faithless, perverse, twisted, and see, those are
Jesus' words. Those are strong words. And I just don't think there's any
way you can blanket or shield the disciples from those words.

You can't say, well, he's talking about the scribes. The scribes were
not the ones who were inept in failing on this day. And so, here's the
thing.

Jesus, when they say, why couldn't we do it, admitting that they
couldn't, Jesus obviously is put off by, how long am I going to bear
with this? And when they said, why couldn't we do it? You know what? He
does not say, well, you guys are just doomed to a forever position of
being impotent. You know what he says? He says, you guys actually have
the potential to move mountains. That's what he says to them.

You guys actually have the potential to be in the place where nothing is
impossible with you. Now, a lot of times we feel uncomfortable with this
kind of language. Why? It just seems too grand, too big, too over the
top.

But I'll tell you this, if you even start thinking about the promises
that have been given us in Scripture concerning prayer, like, whoever
asks will receive, whatever you ask in my name, I will do it. If he
didn't spare his own son, will he not also through him give us all
things? You just have these promises. It's like we can come across these
kinds of promises, moving mountains and nothing will be impossible to
you, and we just don't even believe it.

Our unbelief kicks in just like their unbelief kicked in, left the day
powerless, left the day defeated, left the day with Jesus having this
attitude that there was such a perversity among them that he was
wondering how long he would actually bear with them. And this failure,
this failure, what I want you to feel is the potential, even though they
had failure here, what the Lord is doing is he's saying, you know what,
you guys actually have the potential to be in a position where nothing's
impossible with you. And the question that I would ask is this,
brethren, the question of the hour is, we're just, we have to be honest.

Now, listen, if you're sitting out there today and you're just saying,
well, look, I'm content with the way things are, I'm content with the
way my church is, I'm content with the way the United Kingdom is, and so
I'm good. Well, you can tune me out. You can tune me out right now.

But I don't think the church here is so healthy. I don't think the
baptistries are full. I don't think you find a whole bunch of new
converts inhabiting your churches.

That's not what I see here. I don't think, if you're honest, there's a
whole lot of churches in this country with full prayer meetings. I'm
just trying to keep my eyes open.

I'm not wanting to make an unrighteous judgment here. I'm just asking
all of us, I want us to be honest with this passage. Let me ask you
this, does it describe us? Would anybody look at our churches and say
nothing's impossible for them? Are we the kind of, does anybody feel
like I go to a church that is a mountain moving church and nothing's
impossible? Does your experience bear that out? That's my question.

I mean, that's what I ask myself. And when I come and I see this kind of
thing, does the language actually accurately describe me? And if we
conclude, well, not so much. Here's, I have to come face to face with
these two.

I love reading the Lord Jesus because He makes us feel uncomfortable. I
like to feel uncomfortable. I want the fullness of what God has for us
in this day and in this generation.

And I just ask this, okay, if we are not in the place where we are
mountain moving people of God, mountain moving churches, where nothing
is impossible, categorically by default, where does that put us? If you
see in this account, two categories, you have one mountain moving.
What's the other one? One is nothing is impossible. What's the other
one? Faithless.

I don't find a middle ground. It's like, if we don't have the faith,
then there is something repulsive about that to the Lord. Now, here's
the thing.

I've called this message the signs of the time. The disciples asked the
question, why couldn't we do this? Are any of us, I just wonder, are you
asking the question, why are we not impacting this nation more than we
are? Why? Why when we pray, why when we evangelize, we heard about
power. Why is it that it seems like there's a lack of power? Why does it
seem like the spirit is removed? Why does it seem that way? I mean, I
think we need to honestly ask these kinds of questions.

The disciples were asking that, Lord, why couldn't we cast it out? Why
couldn't they? And you see their question comes from the fact that they
didn't recognize the signs of the time. They didn't recognize what was
really happening. But Jesus is going to put some light on it.

Hey, you guys are dealing with a kind of demon here that isn't just your
average kind. And you guys have basically missed the road to making this
happen. You know what Jesus never says in this account? Well, there's
lots of things he never says, but big things that he never says.

He never says this will always be impossible. It's impossible no matter
what happens, no matter what course you take. He didn't go say, study
John Owen a little more.

And I was like, I have no problem with the Puritans at all. But you
know, there's a lot of things that we like to say that we need to give
our attention to and give our time to. It's almost like, well, if we
pursue this intellectualism, or if we pursue certain teaching, or if we
get this proper preacher, or if we go down this path, a lot of times our
eyes are on, you know, if we tweak, if we tweak this thing, if we gain
some more knowledge, if we have the right doctrine, if it... Jesus
doesn't even go there.

He says intrinsically, you guys have a faith issue. And this isn't
necessarily just a doctrinal issue. There's faith here.

What are the signs of the time? Now Jesus says, you know, you know this,
when it's evening, you say it will be fair weather, for the sky is red.
Red in the, when I, where I grew up in Michigan, red in the morning,
sailors take warning. Red in the night, sailors delight.

Well, it's the same thing here. He says when it's evening, you say it'll
be fair weather for the sky is red. In the morning, it will be stormy
today for the sky is red and threatening.

You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot
interpret the signs of the times. Brethren, look, I just, I want to be
honest about the signs of the time. I want to be honest about what we
see when we look around.

I want us to be honest. Are we getting the gospel effectively into
prisons, into college campuses, into our city centers and our rural
areas? Are we turning the world upside down like some who went before us
have? And see, if we just simply say, well, God, I mean, we're good,
good reformed people. God's sovereign.

I want you to notice something. Jesus never relegated this to the
sovereignty of God. He put it square on the shoulders of the failure of
these men.

And if we're going to get to the place where we're going to actually
seek to make some advances, don't we have to be honest with what the
situation actually is? I mean, we need to recognize the signs of the
times. He says you can interpret the appearance of the sky. You can't
interpret the signs of the times.

You know what? His logic is just one of common sense. That's all it is.
If someone can look at the sky and read the signs there, why can't they
use their faculties and recognize what's happening all around us
spiritually? You know what I found over here? I found in Texas, when you
see a big, dark cloud, usually it doesn't mean rain.

Over here, I've learned you see a cloud in the sky, you better hike it
if you don't want to get wet. Here, the people just seem to be okay
getting wet. In Texas, they scatter.

If the south wind's blowing, it's going to be hot in Texas. It's been
over 40 for like six weeks straight. We know signs of the weather.

We can do it. And you know when we read things like this, we always want
to think that we understand. We see things clearly.

It's other people that can't see things clearly. We oftentimes make
assumptions like that. But we're surrounded.

Brethren, we are surrounded by the signs of the times. Things are
happening. You look at the news.

You look at the internet. Things are happening all around us. And what
Jesus is saying is just open your eyes and see and behold what time it
is.

Use your common sense properly. That's what he's saying. Interpret the
signs of the times.

Remember those guys that gathered to David, the sons of Issachar? What
does it say about them? It specifically says this, of Issachar, men who
had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do. It
specifically talks about these guys at a time when everybody was trying
to figure out, do we make David king right now or don't? And here's
these sons of Issachar and they come along and they know what time it
is. They can look around and they can discern what Israel ought to do.

The disciples were disconnected. They didn't know what Israel ought to
do. What should we do? Should we do anything? I mean, when we look
around and we see the churches, many of the church buildings, we drove
here today.

Big, grand, old church building and there's just, there's stuff growing
around it. The thing is obviously empty. It's abandoned.

I mean, that's basically a picture in this country of a classic old
church building that who knows what doctrine was ever taught in it. But
I'd like to think at one time there was truth there and people came out
of those neighborhoods. But what is it now? It's a shell of what it used
to be.

The disciples in this account were disconnected with how things really
were. They didn't realize. They were confused.

They just didn't get it. Lord, we don't know why we couldn't do this.
What's wrong? They couldn't see what the problem was.

Do we know what Israel ought to do? That's my question to you. Do we
know? If there's a need of the hour, it's men who understand the times,
know the way forward. Can we discern the sky? But yet not this time.

Oh, folks, I mean, think with me. Your homeschooling rights, they're
going to be challenged. What are you going to do? What sign of the time
is that? They're building buffer zones around the abortion clinics so
you can't even get close enough for your voices to be heard.

What they're doing in the public schools, we've got a family going to
court. Christian Concern, the city council in this city, they don't want
foster parents to just allow these gender differences and homosexuality.
You've got to promote it if you're going to foster in their system.

Are we looking at the signs of the times? The power. We hear about the
power of God unto salvation. We heard about it in the first hour.

Does anybody look up and say, where is the power? We hear the message.
We hear that it is the power. We can read it in our Bibles.

But where is it? Where are whole families like in the Bible? Where are
they being converted? Brethren, we look around. One of the things that
surprised me when I came to this country, there's a universal tendency
in this country to despise marriage. 20% of marriage age individuals
actually get married in this country.

I mean, do you recognize what's happening? The aborting of children,
just dismember them in the mother's womb. You look around, look at the
weather. Spiritually speaking, clouds of apathy.

I told some of the brothers at one point, I was dismayed. 50% of the
church showing up for the prayer meeting. They said, brother, it's not
uncommon to have five show up.

What sign of the time is that? We go down to the city center. God?
People don't even know about the scriptures. There's an ignorance and an
illiteracy in this country concerning even what the truth is.

Think about what's being propagated in your government. Think about what
is happening in parliament. The leadership in this country.

Just look, would you not agree this nation is possessed by diabolical
spirits that are throwing this country into the fire and into the water?
And what do we do? Are we impotent like those guys? Are we praying and
seeing these spirits cast out? Are we seeing them relinquish their grip?
Is that what's happening? Brother, you know what? We look around. What
do you see? What do you see when you look at the media? What do you see
when you look at TV or look at the movies? There is a degenerative,
there are forces at work here and it goes beyond the human folks. We're
dealing with something.

There's a greed. There's dishonesty, a sexual perversion. We're still at
a place in the U.S. You do not see homosexuals kissing each other on
commercials.

My wife and I went up to Dales. We stayed up there in the Lake District.
We were in a hotel.

We turned on the TV. We don't watch that at home. We turned it on.

There's two men. I'm not saying the U.S. isn't close behind, but do we
really recognize the signs of the time? The black clouds that hover over
this country are a sign. Are they not? And I just ask this.

I would say, why are we powerless? But maybe the better question is, do
you think we are? Is there a powerlessness among the churches? Now some
might say, well, it's that reform movement. Well, are the Pentecostals
doing a whole lot better? Is the Anglican Church doing a whole? I mean,
where is God at work? Where is something happening? Which way are the
sons of Issachar to turn? I mean, do we know what Israel ought to do?
What's our duty? People of God, I just pray that we would discern the
times and learn to act our parts as men and women of God, ordained to
defend the truth and take on the devil. Did our Lord Jesus Christ not
say that the gates of hell will not prevail against His church? We need
to take that.

That's what He said. They shall not. And so I just ask this.

What is our duty in the present crisis? Because you know what? Jesus
didn't tell those guys, well, there's nothing you could do. You just
basically have to wait for revival to come. He didn't tell those guys
that.

He told them that there was in fact a duty that they could do. But I
just say, isn't it in the first place just a place that we recognize
what the situation actually is? I mean, you know God coordinated my
coming here to this country right when the COVID crisis came. You know
what COVID revealed? Especially in the Reformed churches.

Do you know what it revealed? There is a lack of faith. Many of the
churches were gripped by fear. You know what? I think we can't help but
say there is a crisis of faith among the Reformed churches.

And listen, I'm not talking about an ability to comprehend scriptural
doctrine. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about people
that have a real, confident, experiential persuasion of the power of
God, who are ready and willing to cling to God and go out and be
dangerous in this world and seek to turn the world upside down.

It's very difficult to have a church that's dangerous and reaching into
prisons and reaching into far corners of this world and making disciples
of the nations when you can hardly get people into the churches because
they are scared to death to shake hands with a brother or sister in
Christ. Now, I know that that's largely gone away. But brethren, is that
not a sign of the times? Whence the weakness? As I've said repeatedly,
so many of my heroes that come from over here, we need men like William
Carey that are going to just rise up again and say, we've got to attempt
great things for God.

Listen to what Spurgeon said, do and dare for God, my brethren, be bold
for Him. Brethren, is it not clear to every observer who looks around at
the signs of the times right now, religious apathy abounds. The church
has very much been lulled to sleep.

You can take great hope if the numbers are small, but there's a fervency
and a fire. But no matter what the size is, when you get a feeling,
there's a sleep. Just sleep, sleep.

And you know what? You can argue with me if you like. Well, I don't
think that's the way the church is. You know what? I halfway want you
to.

We need some Christians with fight in them. Brethren, we need to
recognize, listen, is the Spirit of God blowing upon your land as He has
in days past? We can weep. You know what? You can find glory when you
read Whitefield, when you read Wesley, when you read about what happened
in Spurgeon's day, when you read what happened in Simeon's day, when we
read about men who have been raised up in this country and launched
forth from its shores, we can rejoice in that.

But you know, we can also weep over that. Because one of the sad signs
of the time in the sons of Issachar are going to recognize is where is
the Spirit of God? Where is the Spirit of God empowering this gospel
that we have? Where is this? Where is it happening? Is there not a
withdrawal of the Holy Spirit from the land? Where's the Spirit of God
at this time? Where are the converts that are flying to Christ? Where's
the harvest? Where's the revival? Listen, when it seems the Spirit is
quenched, maybe that's the case. Maybe the Spirit's grieved.

Brethren, have we done anything to grieve the Spirit? Have we become too
worldly? Is there any reason why the Spirit would not be working that
has to do with us? If you say, I don't want to go there, well then,
you're afraid to go where Jesus went. Because Jesus said, you know what,
guys? The problem actually rests with you. It's not with my Father.

It's not with me. It's not with the Spirit. It's not with God's
providence.

It doesn't have to do with God's sovereignty. That's not where he goes.
Have Christian men become worldly? You know what Scripture says? He
didn't do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

And all I'm asking is for us to be honest. Just honest. Is it true? I
mean, is it possible that we become faithless and perverse? Though we
can tout our doctrine, is there a reality? I'm just asking.

Because here's the thing. Jesus connects impotence with faithlessness
and perverseness. And see, if we want to say no to the later, then show
me the power.

Show me the people turning the world upside down. Do you not agree? I'm
just trying to, I'm wanting to be honest with the passage. Mountains.

Does anybody else see some mountains around us that need to be moved? I
find we're confronted by mountains. I can't budge with my full energy. I
can't move them.

They're mountains. Do you have a lost child? Do you have a lost
grandchild? That's a mountain. The government.

The whole direction and momentum of this country. These are mountains.
What are these mountains? Well, isn't this interesting? You guys
couldn't pass this kind out.

But if you had faith, you would be able to say to this mountain, move
over here. And nothing would be impossible. Let's read that in context.

What are these mountains? Brethren, you recognize who we wrestle
against. We're dealing with demonic mountains. We're dealing with
mountains of great, substantial, satanic bulwark.

And they don't move easily. The mountains that Jesus says a believing
church can move is said in a direct response to casting out a demon of a
kind that is especially entrenched, especially strong, especially
diabolical. Have you considered the mountain ranges? I mean, look
around.

Remember the apostles' words. Oh, brethren, hear me. Don't turn to this,
but just listen.

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood. When you think of those
babies being slaughtered in the womb, when you think about your rights
of homeschooling being taken away, when you think about people hearing
the gospel and they just walk away unmoved, we do not wrestle against
flesh and blood. Just listen, listen.

But against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic
powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly places. You see, when we see darkness around us, we see
darkness in the government. We see darkness in the media.

We see darkness on YouTube. We see darkness on the television. As we see
darkness in the public school systems, we look around and there is a
general God forgetfulness.

They don't honor him as God. They don't give him thanks. They don't
recognize him.

They don't recognize that he is the creator. Evolution carries the day,
science so-called. Just look, what you need to recognize is what we're
up against.

We're not up against simply flesh and blood. Do you recognize that if
the blinders could be taken off and we could see into the spiritual
realm what we would see? There, Jesus said, this kind. See that boy over
there? You see him being thrown this way and thrown towards that fire
and can't speak and he's gnashing and he's foaming.

You see that? That's the external. That's what's visible to us. But
what's behind that? There is a kind that is entrenched there.

And Jesus doesn't say you're helpless against that kind. He just says
you're not going about this the right way. That's what this came down
to.

There's a kind, folks. There is a kind of darkness that the church is
not able to budge. Why can't we cast it out? The reality of Paul's
statement, just think with me.

If the reality of Paul's statement about this rank and file of these
demonic cosmic powers, if we really grasp this, it's going to change our
whole methodology. It's going to change our whole approach. It's going
to change our whole strategy.

What ought it to be? Is it just simply, well, we're going to use the
power of the flesh. We're going to go over here. We're going to, we're
going to, how do we fight this? Because we don't, we're not wrestling on
this flesh and blood stage.

I mean, have you ever just stopped to consider the magnitude of what is
being said? We have cosmic powers, cosmic powers over this present
darkness. Oh, don't be deceived. There is a darkness.

It's the opposite of light. Light is what we get from scripture. Light
is what Christ is.

Light is what the children of God, there is a darkness and it's cosmic,
cosmic. Maybe one thing, you know, Jesus, this is, this is inspired
language. It didn't just say earthly powers, cosmic.

It's almost like, what? Do you not know? We're the things that are not,
we're not very mighty. We're not very wealthy. We're not very wise.

And we're being called to fight angels, cosmic powers, spiritual forces
of evil in the heavenly places. Have you, do you ever just stop and
think? You see, you drive up and down the roads, you don't see it. You
drive up and down the roads.

What's happening inside all those houses? What's happening in the, in
the universities, the institutions of this country? What's happening?
And you know what the fear is? The fear is that many have fallen asleep.
Just like the disciples in the garden. Remember, they fell asleep.

There's great spiritual battles taking place. Christ is there and
sweating great drops of blood as it were. And this whole battle is going
on in this wrestling for the sake of our very souls.

And there's the disciples over there and they're, they're, they're
asleep. The battle rages. But you know what? We fall into this state
where we're asleep.

It's like we're living in this dream. Someone says, wake up, watch,
there's war. What? There's war? We hardly know.

We're under attack. What? We look around. What do you mean we're under
attack? I'm going to go home.

My refrigerator is full. I'm going to, I've got, I've got my computer.
I'm going to be able to sit down there and it'd be, it's sending my, my
emails to people.

I mean, what are you talking about? We're under attack. War. I mean,
we're still half asleep.

Sometimes we hardly know whether we're in the dream, whether we're on
the battlefield, which one is more real. You go over to the book of
Revelation and what do you find? You find that there's this war. This
war happened in heaven.

You got the devil over here and you've got Michael, the archangel and
back and forth they go. And what happens? This, this devil, this dragon
is thrown down and it says Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. You
recognize that when you walk up and down these streets, all these people
out there, they're deceived.

He's the deceiver of the world. Now men love to believe lies, but you
need to recognize these are satanic lies and it's satanic darkness and
it's satanic power and we're up against principalities and powers and
they're not lightweight. They are shrewd.

They are dark. They are wicked. They want to damn you.

They want to damn your children, your parents. They want to torture you.
They want you full of suffering and misery.

They hate you and they hate the one in whose image we've been made and
you better believe it's real and the fear is we don't even hardly know
it. And he's been cast down to the earth, down to the earth. That's what
it says.

And his angels were thrown down with him and there's a whole bunch of
them, likely a third of all the stars of heaven, a third of the angels.
And it says the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he
knows his time is short. Christian, where's the devil? Where did he get
thrown to? Here.

And where are you? Here. And listen, you know why you don't want to go
to sleep? The dragon became furious with the woman. Now you think about
the woman.

It goes all the way back to Genesis. There is a woman and there is a
godly stock and there is the seed of the serpent and back and forth. And
that dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on
the rest of her offspring.

Who are they? Those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the
testimony of Jesus. Do we have anybody in here striving to keep the
commandments of God and you hold to the testimony of Jesus Christ? Do we
have any? Yeah. Raise your hand.

You know what scripture tells me? Satan has specifically targeted you.
He is not random in this world. He is not indiscriminate.

There is one foe in this world. It is Christ and his people. And he has
declared war against you.

And I'll tell you, brethren, it is time to wake up to this reality. You
know, the mountains were surrounded with, they are demonic mountains.
Brothers and sisters, demons, watch your house.

Where do you think the gospel is being plucked up like seed from a
hardened path? In places like this. Don't think you reform theology.
Don't think your five points keep the devil outside the walls.

It doesn't work. He has infiltrated your workplace, your streets, your
neighbors, their houses, your schools, your prisons, your governments.
He's there.

He's operating. He's sinister. He's foul.

And he is powerful. Folks, I don't say this to scare anybody. I say it
to call you to battle.

Christian, Christian, don't walk around with your head in the clouds.
Don't do that. The rest of the world does that.

The rest of the world is out there. They're living in their fantasy.
Why? They're living for retirement.

They're living for their next car. They're living for their next
paycheck. They're living for the weekend.

They're living for hot days like yesterday. Ruby and I were driving
along. We're driving home.

We're recognizing this country lives for days like that, especially when
they line up with the weekend and the nights are warm. You know, folks,
they're living out there in the fantasy world. We should not be there.

We should be people that recognize the signs of the times. We should be
people with our eyes open. When the sky gets red, we can say, well, the
weather's going to be like this, but we ought to be able to, if anybody
on the face of this earth ought to be able to look around and say, hey,
this is how it is, it ought to be us.

This is no video game. This is no movie. Brethren, do you realize what's
happening? Souls hang in the balance.

Your children's souls hang in the balance. Your neighbor's souls, the
people of our city, Manchester and Birmingham and London and wherever
you're from. Folks, this is a battle unto the death, and we're dealing
with an enemy that is not merciful in the least.

He means to damn us. You have to recognize that. He wants to take us to
hell with him.

He seeks to deceive, to destroy us. He wants us suffering under the
wrath of God. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, rulers,
authorities, cosmic powers, beings of such iniquity and such magnitude
and such power and cunning and dominion.

Do you remember Daniel? Daniel gave himself to prayer and fasting. And
what happened? Here comes an angel. This angel says, you know, I would
have been here three weeks ago.

Do you remember what happened to him? One called the Prince of Persia.
Well, who's that? It's no human king. This is a diabolical presence of
evil that specifically has some kind of authority and dominion over
Persia.

It's leadership, the decisions of that leadership. It's people. There's
a dominion there.

Do you believe with this hierarchy there's dominions over Manchester? I
believe that. Do you believe that there's spiritual powers that are over
the abortion industry in this country? You better believe it. Those
demons roar with delight every time a little child is ripped limb from
limb.

If you've got eyes to see, we just need to open them. You know what?
There's also a Prince of Greece spoken about in Daniel. Such as, I mean,
these are beings of such magnitude that you realize this Prince of
Persia resisted this angel of God sent and dispatched to go to Daniel,
but resisted for three weeks until Michael the archangel came and set
free.

This is what's happening if we've got eyes to see. There is resistance.
There is battle.

We're dealing with beings of, I mean, of such superior intellect whose
motives are to destroy this country. Don't be surprised that it seems
like all the decisions being made today are totally antithetical to
scripture and Christ and Christianity and morals and uprightness. Don't
be surprised at that.

Why? Because of this very reason. Authorities, cosmic powers. Do you
recognize He is called the Prince of the power of the air, but not just
that.

Who is at work in the sons of disobedience up and down these streets?
He's at work. He's at work. A whole host of His fallen angels, they are
at work.

The God of this world or the God of this age who blinds the minds of
unbelievers. You think there's no devilish doings when we try to preach
the gospel and nobody's responding? Who is it that's holding their eyes
shut from seeing anything of this glory of the gospel of Christ? What's
happening? And what does scripture say? The whole earth lies in the
power of the evil one. And my question is this.

Are we even aware that there's a war? Do we recognize the signs of the
times? Brethren, listen to me. Reformed people like to talk about, you
know, a wretched man that I am. And we like to recount sins and
failures.

But this is one that I don't hear mentioned very often. Folks, we need
to really be aware of just how deeply we do fail and sin and grieve the
Son of God if we possess an unbelief that cannot move mountains. Let me
tell you something.

Our disbelief, our unbelief is at the root of our perversity. Even as
children of God. Listen, 11 of these 12 guys were believers, were they
not? They were saved.

They were children of God. And they even had the faith to try to cast
the demon out. But the thing is, it didn't produce any results.

And that's it. Jesus expects them. And if you think that me making the
leap to say us is not biblical, I can challenge you at many places.

But listen, Jesus expects us to have the kind of faith that can
challenge that kind of demon that we're confronted with and move those
demonic mountains that make anything possible for us. Brethren, don't
you want to be that? The kind of church, the kind of people that
anything is impossible. There's nothing impossible for us.

I want to be that. Why couldn't we cast it out? Well, God's sovereign,
God's ways are mysterious. God's will be done.

No, he puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of the disciples.
There's not a hopeless situation. Brethren, I just ask you this.

I think, maybe I'll ask you the question. Has that perversity, that
twistedness of our unbelief robbed us far too long of perhaps victories
that we might have or could have? That's right here that Mark helps us.
When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately.

Now isn't this very interesting? Matthew wants to say, well look, it's a
faith issue. Mark doesn't even hit on the faith issue. He comes over and
he says it's a prayer and fasting issue.

I love that. Why? Because when you put both accounts together and you
actually compare both of them, they're both the same event, what was
Jesus saying? When you put the two together, what's he really saying?
I'll tell you what he's saying. Prayer and fasting of God's people are
the very means for securing to ourselves the kind of faith that the
disciples lacked.

That's what it's saying. I mean, you can't get that. I just ask you
this.

Is fasting a bygone relic of another age? Fasting. I remember with among
the FBC guys, one brother told me, I think he told me, I don't fast and
I don't know anybody that does. I've been told that it's almost unknown
in the UK.

I heard Paul Washer tell a story where he said there was a church and
they were facing really difficult times. Perhaps they were going to
split. He counseled that church to give themselves in entirety to a
season of prayer and fasting.

They didn't do it and church basically was torn apart. Listen to
Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan Edwards.

Now you see, we recognize Jonathan Edwards and we connect him with a
time of great awakening. And you might say, well, the Spirit was
flowing. Is it really necessary to give ourselves to extraordinary
prayer and fasting? Listen to Edwards.

Just see if, I mean, connect the two. Edwards, time of great revival.
And Edwards says this in some thoughts concerning the revival.

The state of the times. Now this is coming out of the first great
awakening. So he sees things kind of going back to normal.

He says the state of the times. Here's a son of Issachar. The state of
the times extremely requires a fullness of the divine Spirit in
ministers.

We ought to give ourselves no rest till we have obtained it. And in
order to do this, I should think ministers above all persons ought to be
much in secret prayer and fasting. And also much in praying and fasting
one with another.

It seems to me it would be becoming the circumstances of the present
day. Get that? It would be becoming of the circumstances of the present
day. He started by saying the state of the times.

I just ask you, brethren, what time are we in? Do we have any sons of
Issachar here that can actually look out and know what the signs of the
times are? Brethren, if there's anything that I want, I've come to this
country, I want to see it rescued. I want to see it freed from this
power. I want to see the churches full.

I want to see God setting people free. I want to see Christ getting the
reward of his suffering. We ought not to be content to not see Christ
having that reward.

What are the times if ministers, he says, it would be becoming the
circumstances of the present day if ministers in a neighborhood would
often meet together and spend days in fasting and fervent prayer among
themselves, earnestly seeking for those extraordinary supplies of divine
grace from heaven that we need at this day. If you think they needed it
when they were coming out of the first great awakening, what do we need
when it's been so long since when did they have an awakening here? One
thing more I would mention concerning fasting and prayer, wherein I
think there has been a neglect in ministers, and that is that although
they recommend and much insist on the duty of secret prayer in their
preaching, so little is said about secret fasting. It's a duty
recommended by our Savior to his followers, just in like manner as
secret prayer is.

It seems to me it is a duty that all professing Christians should
practice and frequently practice. There are many occasions of both a
spiritual and temporal nature that do properly require it. And there are
many particular mercies that we desire.

Has anybody gotten to the place where you actually have desires that
have culminated and risen high enough that you're ready to take some
kind of radical action and say, enough! Enough of the powerlessness of
the church! What do you desire? Does anybody desire the salvation of a
child or a parent? Up and down your streets, do you watch the people go
by held captive in the power of the evil one, deceived? Who in very few
years, they're going to be where the torment is going to be unending. Do
you just look at them and yawn? Are there not many particular mercies
that we desire for ourselves or friends that it would be proper in this
manner to seek God? I should think the people of God in this land at
such a time as this is, would be in the way of their duty to do three
times so much fasting and prayer as they do. This is Edwards.

You know what? You think of those fallen angels, a child. They have no
clarity about gender. They want to get some kind of sex change.

If you know anything about it, they're given to depression, suicidal.
They cut their wrists and out into eternity they go. They take such
delight in that.

Brethren, how are we going to fight? What are we going to do? They look
at our dry baptistries collecting dust. Does anybody have an idea about
what Israel ought to do? Has anyone seen a connection between the faith
we ought to have in prayer and fasting? Jonathan Edwards tells us, I
heard his name this week, David Brainerd. I just got done reading his
diary for the second time in his journal that he wrote to the Scottish
Society for the Advancement of Scriptural Knowledge.

You know what Jonathan Edwards says about Brainerd? Among all the many
days he spent in secret fasting and prayer that he gives account of in
his diary, there's scarce an instance of one. But what was either
attended or soon followed with apparent success and a remarkable
blessing and special incomes and consolations of God's Spirit very often
even before the day ended. Brethren, we cannot go to battle powerlessly.

Where does come from? Jesus said this, when you fast, not if you do, you
might. No, when you do. He tells us how to do it.

And he says that our Father who sees in secret will reward you. And I'll
tell you one of the rewards, you'll be mountain movers. That's one of
the rewards.

This kind goes out by prayer and fasting. If you had faith even as a
mustard seed, you'd say to this mountain, move. Nothing would be
impossible.

Great demonic obstacles that stand in our way are not being moved. You
know it, brethren, we're not moving them. Apparently what happens is
this, prayer and fasting.

What happens there? I set aside food specifically for seasons where I go
into earnest wrestling with God. And you know what happens during those
times? I begin to cry out and plead his promises. I begin to think of
his character.

I begin to think about what he said in scripture. I begin to think about
the fact that there is a reward that comes along with this fasting. I
begin to think about all the reasons why, make my argument in the
courtroom of God as to why God ought to be answering these prayers.

And you know what? Some dynamic happens. The Spirit of God begins to do
something in us where that faith, that kind of faith that these
disciples lacked, suddenly we become in possession of. And great things
in the spiritual realm begin to give way before us.

That's the dynamic. You know what? I just had the attorney from
Christian Concern visit my house this last week. And he told me about
some prayer meetings that he's been in.

And he said, you know one thing he learned? There's a group of African
pastors that he prays with. And he said, you know what makes these guys
different? They never take no for an answer. If God doesn't answer
today, they just believe that God's going to answer tomorrow.

And they keep after God. And they keep wrestling with Him. Brethren, I'm
afraid.

Hyper-Calvinism has creeped in, crept in. I'm afraid that we are so
quickly ready to just throw this whole thing over into, well, God's
providence and God is in control of all this. Look, our confidence is
all together in a sovereign God.

But brethren, I'll tell you this. If we listen to the way Christ speaks
and the way Scripture speaks to us, we don't want to take no for an
answer. Why? Jesus' disciples said, teach us to pray.

And what did He say? He said, I'll tell you boys, if there's anything
that tends to not get an answer to prayer, it is when we quit praying
too soon. He said, be like that guy that goes to your friend at midnight
and wants that bread and you keep going and you keep asking and you keep
seeking and you keep knocking and you keep going because everybody who
asks receives and everybody who seeks finds. You just keep going.

You keep going. Your Father is not reluctant to give. Your Father in
heaven, He is more willing to give to you, His children, than you are to
your children.

That's what the argument is. But what happens? We give up. We just, we
just, we run out of gas.

What should we do about the government overreach? What should we do
about abortion? What can we really do? Listen, you could, we can go camp
outside and I'm not saying we should, we can go, we can go do our many
things. We can vote, we can use the ballot box, we can use our voices,
we can use the internet. Yes, we can do all these things.

But brethren, what are we going to do about the apathy of a nation or
the apathy of the church in the nation? What are we going to do about
our dry baptistries and dry eyes and lack of concern? Where, and where
are we going to get the hearts where we actually weep for the people
like Brainerd did? Brainerd could pray and fast all day long and get up
and the snow would be melted around him and tears coming down his face
and he's pleading for those American Indians and God wonderfully rushes
in and makes Christ beautiful in their sight and there's a revival there
among them. But where is that happening? Brethren, is there not a danger
that we've fallen asleep? There's just apathy upon us. Listen, the devil
does not fear church buildings and he doesn't fear programs and big
crowds and full bank accounts and silly prayer meetings where we pray
for an aunt Tilda's sore knee.

That's not it. The devil fears one thing. He fears the power of God.

And when we've got prayer and fasting that calls down the lightning of
God upon the land, that's what he fears. That's what he doesn't like.
When we rise up from prayer and fasting to proclaim the gospel, to show
forth the compassion and the love of Christ, that's what he fears.

We want to be God powerful and dangerous. That's what we need. What
terrifies the devil is one thing, and it's when God shows up.

Christian, listen to me. As much as the devil would like to destroy you
and take you to hell and damn you, the true Christian is in the Father's
hand and he can't get to you. But listen to me.

Listen to me. The greatest thing that he'd like to do now to you is just
make you like the disciples, impotent. At least like the disciples in
that account.

See, you can have the right doctrine. You can have John Calvin on the
counter and you can go to church and not watch R-rated movies. And
what's that to him? And he's going to come... Now listen, he's a liar.

He comes with deception and falsehood to disarm the child of God. God is
sovereign. God determined before the foundation of the world what he
would do.

Your prayer doesn't matter. Don't pray. God's in control.

You can't change what God's going to do. Don't pray. Prayer can't really
matter.

God's going to do what God's going to do regardless. He comes in and he
says, you're too busy to pray and fast. He comes, oh, seriously? You
think you're going to waltz into the presence of Almighty God after the
things you did today? You're too sinful.

You're too backward. Oh, Christian, you've had a hard day's work. You're
too tired to pray and fast.

The garden needs attending. There are other things more important. It
really doesn't work.

God isn't really interested. There's no war. Just go to sleep.

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/TPZmOD_WWZA.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/tim-conway/evaluating-the-signs-of-the-times/
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