Mike Bickle addresses the alarming negative spiritual trends in the church and society, emphasizing the simultaneous rise of both positive and negative dynamics as we approach the end times. He highlights the importance of believers being vigilant and discerning, connecting current events to biblical prophecies, particularly focusing on deception, lawlessness, and societal breakdown. Bickle warns that many sincere believers fail to recognize these trends as part of God's narrative, leading to a disconnect from the urgency of the times. He encourages the church to remain steadfast in love and truth amidst increasing hostility and moral decline, reminding them that these challenges are part of the prophetic signs of the last days.

Father, we come before you and ask you, you would strengthen us with might, that you would open our understanding, Lord, that we would see what you see and feel what you feel about this subject that's so clear and definitive in your word, and we thank you for it, in Jesus' name, for living understanding, amen. Well, we're on session six of a twelve-part series of this course, twelve classes, and this is a very heavy subject, the negative spiritual trends that are going to increase and come to a crescendo in a negative way in the generation the Lord returns. This is a very heavy subject, so if it's your first class in this series, last session we looked at the positive trends, I did that on purpose, so that you could kind of get the big picture of the positive, but the unique dynamics of the generation the Lord returns is the intense positive and the intense negative, both in the same generation. The most intense positives of history, the most intense negatives of history in the same time frame globally. That's why we talk about the unique dynamics of situations in the life of people in the nations. Now, this subject is far bigger than one session, like all the subjects that we're covering are, but the idea is to get you aware of it, so that you can be watching, you can be studying, you can be paying attention, you're alerted to these subjects. Just a quick review, Isaiah 60, when deep darkness covers the earth, Isaiah 60 verse 2, in the generation where deep darkness covers the earth, the glory of God breaks out in that generation as well. So the positive trends and the negative trends that come to fullness, related to the coming of the Lord, those trends are actually right now increasing in the nations. And they're going to continue to increase. But many believers, sincere believers, as those positive and negative trends are increasing, they don't connect the dots to the reality, they don't connect the ideas that this is part of God's narrative, it's part of His story for a generation. They don't see the end time value, or the eschatological value, it's a big word which means the end times, they don't see the positive and the negative trends, they don't see that it has significance on history, on the end time plan, on God's narrative. And so they kind of observe them, but they observe them sort of as isolated trends, and they go, ah, that's kind of interesting, or that's troubling, or that's encouraging, if it's positive or negative. But it's the whole composite storyline that when we see them, we connect the dots, and we go, this is that, which the word of God has spoken about. Paragraph B, eight times, Jesus exhorted His people, watch, when He was talking about the end times, watch means pay attention to what's happening in the culture, and connect it to what the Bible said would be happening. Now everything in the culture doesn't have a Bible verse, but there are trends happening in the culture that were foretold 2,000 years ago in the Bible. Watching means pay attention and connect what's happened, the Bible prophecies with the trends that are happening, so that it pulls us out of the bubble of our own life and concerns, and we get into the larger biblical narrative of what's happening in the nations. So we have urgency, so we have solutions, we're not overcome with fear, we get the storyline, we're participating with God, Jesus says it over and over, watch. Look here in Mark 13, says it three times in one passage after He's talked about the end times, earlier in Mark 13, take heed, verse 33, watch, in other words, pay attention to what's happening in the culture, related to what the Bible said would be happening in the culture, that's what watching means. Now notice, He didn't say glance, a lot of believers, they glance at what's happening in the culture, and they connect it, they said, I went to the signs of the times class, I got it, they glance and move on, and the Lord's saying, no, no, I want a intentional, focused, attentive, paying attention and engaging with the information, meaning it's moving you and you're getting the larger storyline of what's happening and what it means. Verse 33, watch. Verse 35, watch. Verse 37, and what I say to you, I say to every believer, watch. Some believers say, well, I'm not really into that stuff, I'm not really into the end times, I'm not into the end times, I'm into whatever Jesus taught. That's what I'm into. Jesus said in verse 37, I say to all of you, watch what's happening, so you're not caught unaware, you're not separated from the unfolding drama of the positive and the negative and it's biblical end times significance. It's not enough to glance, attentive, focused, and that's what this class is meant to do just to give you a small grid in 12 classes in this course, we can't cover that much, there's much more to cover. Roman numeral three, I mean two, Jesus identified 12 negative trends, we're only going to mention a few of them tonight. He mentioned 12 of them in the Olivet Discourse, which is that teaching he did on the Mount of Olives, that's why they call it the Olivet Discourse, it's the sermon on the Mount of Olives. And so we're putting together Matthew 24 and Luke 21, the same message, and we're identifying 12 negative trends. Now these 12 trends in Matthew 24 and Luke 21, they focus on human behavior and how it affects trends in society, how it affects trends in public life. That's what this passage is about, human behavior and how it affects public life and trends in society. Because another passage, 2 Timothy 3, it's talking about human character and the inner life of people. Now he's talking about the outward expression and how what's happening negative will affect the public life or society as a whole. Matthew identifies 9 trends, Luke mentions some of them, but he adds 3 more. Now it's interesting that Matthew focuses again on human behavior, whereas the 3 that Luke adds, the 3 distinct ones that Luke adds, Luke 21, they focus on creation and nature. Far more dramatic signs than human behavior. Let's read it, verse 5, many will come, saying, I am the Christ, they will deceive many. The very first negative trend that Jesus says, and he says this more than any other point, the issue of deception. He mentions it 4 times in this passage. He doesn't mention any other one feature 4 times, he speaks of deception more than he does persecution or tribulation. And many people get more focused on persecution or tribulation, and more dangerous to them is deception. Now the problem with deception, is people imagine they think deception, they think it's somebody that has horns. You know, oh he's got like a creepy countenance, and he has a funny voice, and a long pointed finger. No, that's the wicked witch of the east. That's not how this, you got the wrong image. Deception is dressed up in a happy countenance and positive messaging. The presentation of deception is very, very positive most times. I mean, there's a few exceptions. Deception is the most dangerous of all of the negative trends, because we're unaware of it. It's right next to us, and it's positive, and it's happy, and it's affirming, and yes, it feels good. Boom, we got you. It's what the enemy would say. Jesus said this is number one. The number two, nation will rise against nation. Now again, the word nation is ethnos, it's ethnic conflicts. It's not just one nationality, I mean political entity against another, but it's conflict within ethnic groups with one another. That's one of the, that's the second thing that he highlights, is the conflict in culture, in society, civil disorder between different people groups, and below that is exploding in the earth right now. Or it's, I mean let's put it this way, it's really increasing in a noticeable way. Kingdom against kingdom. I think this is different than nation against nation. I think he's talking about political and economic issues. Economic warfare. Today nations are more engaged in economic warfare by forcing other nations to embrace their agenda by economic pressures. Then he talks about three things that really create crisis, bring crisis to another level. Famines, pestilence, earthquakes. These exasperate the tensions that people have between races and between nations. Nation against nation, it's exasperated when famines, pestilence, and earthquakes come into the dynamics. Then he goes on, he goes, let me tell you, the social environment. They will hate Christians. Jesus said, get it clear. Get away from this pipe dream of a popularity contest that most people are going to like you if you're faithful. He says no, it's going to, the climate of society is going to change, they're going to become hostile to truth. And they're going to hate people who stand for it. Some folks, it's like, it's so painful to them, I mean not painful, it's so surprising and disillusioning, they signed up to be popular. They thought it would work good. You know, if I talk about Jesus, they go, wow, you're so kind, you know, you're so reasonable, this is really great. They will hate you is where it's going at the end. We're not at that level yet. Right now they ridicule the saints. They kind of mock and make fun of, but it's going to go way beyond that. He says, don't be confused and don't be offended at God because it's part of the storyline that brings God's purposes to pass, that he allows hatred to come and creates a context for the gospel to go forth far more powerfully. He says, but not only will they hate believers, verse 10, he goes, it's going to go beyond that, hatred towards one another, believer unrelated to faith. Hatred in the culture is going to be common at a level beyond what it is now. We can see it increasing. Never in my 40 years of ministry have I seen the social context in which people are so easily offended and so, I mean, so sensitive and preoccupied with their honor and how they're treated and all these things. I mean, just powder kegs are just everywhere. Just a phrase will set off a riot in a university or a city or a college or a nation because there's this incredible shift of the emotional climate in society. It's going to get far more intense. But it's in the context of that darkness where people that really walk in love and are faithful and kind and humble, even when hated, the light shines very bright in that context. Then he goes on in verse 12, he says, it's going to be lawlessness, wickedness at every level. It's going to abound. Wickedness in many, many different forms, lawlessness or wickedness. You could put them, it's going to abound beyond any time in history. Then in chapter 21 of Luke, he now is not talking about, I mean, if he talks about behavior, he's repeating what Matthew said. Now he's going to add three more dimensions that Matthew did not add, and these are signs from creation and nature. He says there's going to be fearful signs, whatever that, fearful sights, I mean. I've looked at that over the years and go, what does that mean? Wow, I'm not sure I want to see them. Fearful sights. Fearful sights. The Lord is a prophet. He just lays it out there. He says, it will be clear, but it will be terrifying. There will be great signs in the sky, secondly, and there will be signs in the sea. The waves will be roaring, so signs in the sky, fearful sights. I believe just in the created order, fearful sights will appear. Paragraph B. Now some of these trends have existed throughout church history, but in the end times they have a distinct intensity. That's the point. They make global headlines in a way they never did before. They constitute a sign, meaning some theologians look at these and go, well, they've always been there. There's no sign in just the general trends of history. This is talking about a heightened level that's distinct, so that it constitutes a sign to the watching church, and in the sign there's a message from God in it. My point here is now for the first time in history, most all of these signs are escalating, increasing on a global level. For the first time, almost every one of them are happening in a discernible, increasing way on a global level. Top of page two. Well let's look at this real kind of heavy, concluding word that Jesus gave in Matthew 24. Lawlessness will abound, wickedness, lawlessness. Evil in many forms will abound. It's not going away. Though there'll be a great revival, wickedness will increase beyond any time of history. Now in order to get the whole picture, there's three lists that I think of when I think of the end times. It's right here in Matthew 24, and of course the Luke 21, Mark 13 parallel passage with it. Then there's another passage in 2 Timothy 3, and another one in Revelation 9. I have them all there. We put all three of those lists together, we get a more clear picture of the negative. Paragraph A, the increase of evil is a prophetic sign. Again, we don't like it, but it creates a contrast where there's humility and patience and kindness in the context of evil. It shines so much brighter, and it's so attractive. Look at what it says the angel Gabriel said to Daniel in Daniel 8 verse 23. This is the angel Gabriel talking. Daniel 8 verse 23, he said, in the latter times, when transgressors, when sinners, reach the fullness of their capacity. Beloved, there's one generation where sinners, transgressors, people that are bold and proud about sinning, they reach levels never ever reached in history before. This is Gabriel telling this to Daniel the prophet. Paragraph B, we've looked at this, but David prophesied about this before Daniel did. Psalm 2, it's one of the classic, real important psalms, where he described in verse 2 the kings of the earth, the rulers of culture, the rulers of society. Verse 3, they want to cast the influence of the word of God out of culture. They call the word of God, God's bonds and cords. They look at the word of God as bondage. We want to cast God's chains off of us, and we want to live free from God. That's the kings and rulers of the earth in that final generation. Beloved, we're watching that. It's increasing right now. I like what Tony Perkins said just the other day. He's the president of the Family Research Council that meets with the top political leaders on a regular basis. He says the cultural time bombs of the last 4 or 5 years, or the last 8 years, the cultural time bombs are all set, and they're going to go off. The disaster will be beyond anything we can imagine if the Lord doesn't stop it. Call them cultural time bombs. Paragraph D, now John the apostle in the book of Revelation, he gives a different list than Jesus did in Matthew 24. He takes it from a different angle. He goes to the most extreme, and he identifies by the Holy Spirit the four most extreme expressions of lawlessness, but the point that he's noting is how the four are combined together on a global level. And the idea is that we watch these, and they're going to increase noticeably on a global level. But the combination of the four of these at an all time high alerts us to the very, very challenging scenario that's ahead for the nations in terms of evil. There's a glorious scenario in terms of the power of God being ministered in His church. Look at the four most extreme expressions of lawlessness, murder, sorcery or occult, demon activity, demon worship and demon activity, immorality, sexual perversion mixed together with a murderous spirit and demons and theft. He puts the four together, and when those four are in combination, there will be a spirit of defilement that will be beyond what we can really grasp. Now theft, some people think, well theft is somebody breaking into your house when you're not at home, and yes that is theft, but that's one of the way lower levels of theft. One of the most prominent types of theft is theft that the government orchestrates by their laws. Like the Nazi regime, the Nazi officials, when they were persecuting the Jewish people as well as the Gentiles. I mean the Holocaust, there were 11 million people killed in the Holocaust, 6 million Jews, 5 million Gentiles, 11 million people that the Nazi regime put into camps and killed, 11 million. But we kind of pay attention to the storyline of Hitler's anti-Semitism which is very, very important to pay attention, but there's another storyline, the Nazi officials, they didn't care if they were Polish or Jewish or, you know, from Albania, the different places where the Nazis went. They just wanted their houses and their bank accounts. They thought, I'm not against any group per se, I want that guy's house because when they took them to the camps, they stole all of their property, and it was as much about theft to many of them as it was hatred of a race to someone at the very top. And theft is going to be involved, the spirit of theft in the persecution. They wanted their property and they obtained it, they got it. They took their lands, their bank accounts, their houses and everything in it. Okay, let's look at paragraph E. Let's look at, now Paul gives a description that's different than Matthew 24, the one Jesus gives and the one that John gives. Now this third description is talking about personal character traits in terms of how the inner life is fully defiled. He's not talking as so much a focus of the outer life, but he's talking about, he's describing the emotional defilement and darkness of people. He's looking internal. In 2 Timothy 3, the narcissism that is growing so fast today in the culture, and it's growing, it's the catalyst of the narcissism is the social media. And what I mean by that, I mean people are sinful, that's where it comes from, but in social media, I don't mean they look at their own pictures, that's not what I'm talking about. Meaning they're hearing the opinion of people that are offended and they're hearing their story and they hear 10 or 20 or 30 and it seems like it's a million and they get captured into that mindset, into that offense, that's the narcissism I'm talking about, not showing all their friends how cute their kids are on social media, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about something far more intense, that the nations, billions of people are hearing the opinions of people who are self-occupied and offended and they're buying into that narrative and they're going, yeah, me too. And they're shifting on the inside, that's what I mean by social media is the catalyst. Because now they're not being influenced mostly by a few news outlets like in the 60s and 70s or by pulpits or classrooms, they're being influenced by all kinds of voices now and the voices, many of them are offended and they're creating a mindset that offense is the new norm and it's spreading rapidly and it's making people preoccupied with their honor, their reputation, how people feel about them and all of that stuff they didn't think about a few years ago, at the same level, now it's come to a whole other level, that's what Paul is describing here. But I believe the recent development of social media, I mean just the last 10 years I'm talking about, not the last 100, just the last few years, is really exasperating this at a whole other level and fueling it in a catalytic way. 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 1, he says, notice what Paul says, know this, I'd like you to circle that, you don't have to really circle it, but it'll start, know this, Paul says, this is need to know information, this isn't just kind of like casual information, he goes, this is need to know information. In the last days, perilous times will come because the emotional dynamics of billions of people is going to shift to an increase of evil and selfishness. So he's talking about the emotional dynamics of the planet and he's saying, I mean not all of them because the spirit of God is moving in the opposite direction, but he goes, pay attention and don't be captured, I mean unaware by this, we're watching it, we go, no that's where it's going, that's where it's going, let's just settle it and not be offended by it and let's minister into it with kindness and patience and not be so troubled that the folks that are even in our world, close to us relationally, I'm talking about different people all over the body of Christ, that they're actually functioning like this and they're developing this way in their inner life. Paragraph F, Paul develops this a little bit further, because the word 2 Timothy 3 in paragraph E, now in paragraph F it's the next chapter, Paul goes, let me tell you where this is really going, he goes, the time will come and he's talking about the latter days, the last days of chapter 3, where now we're in chapter 4, he goes, that time that I referred to back in chapter 3, the body of Christ, many will not endure sound doctrine, they'll hear sound doctrine, but they'll hear the deceptive, the positive, affirming, upbeat voice of the false messengers and the distortion, although the gospel message has positive, upbeat, many blessing things, but that's not the whole message, there's another dimension in the gospel message. And he said in the body of Christ, they won't endure sound doctrine, they'll look at sound doctrine and they'll go, ugh, I'm not interested in that, I'm interested in what I'm interested in. And they will look out for teachers according to their desires, they will say I'm going there because I'm being fed, what they're going, what's really happening in this context, they're going there because they're being affirmed in their own agendas that are different from God's agenda. He says they'll heap up for themselves teachers, they'll look for teachers anywhere that will say what they once said, and it will affirm them, verse 4, they'll turn their ears away from truth. He's talking about people in the body of Christ. So again, don't be shocked when this happens. And you're not going to win some of these folks by Bible arguments, so you don't have to get into an argumentative spirit and all that because they've turned their ears away from truth. Logical, sound, biblical doctrines, arguments, is not what this group of 2 Timothy 4 is interested in. They want to be affirmed in their own agenda regardless if it's in the Bible or not, and they'll twist any Bible verse to make it fit. And so because I look at that, I can have a calm spirit and not just get exasperated. Why won't you be honest and listen, and the whisper of the Lord might be, you always want to be helpful and try to make an influence, but you don't want to get caught up into that negative spirit that so many believers get, and they go, these people won't listen. That's exactly right, because they're not really interested in the true biblical presentation. They're looking for teachers that will say what they once said. Top of page 3. I told you this was a negative one. This is my least favorite of the 12 sessions. Last week was my favorite one. This is like, oh boy, it finally came. The negative one, okay. Luke chapter 17, Jesus said in verse 26, as in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man, meaning that final generation. Those decades leading up to those final moments when the Lord comes, because the day of the Lord is not just the moment He appears, it's those events, positive and negative, leading up to that glorious appearance and that crescendo of His glory in the clouds. He goes, but it won't be just the days of Noah. Verse 28, it will be the days of Lot as well. Now, He mentions that in both of those situations, they were living business as usual, casually, completely unaware of fierce judgment mounting up from heaven to break in on the earth, completely unaware and completely unconcerned about it. Sometimes we read this passage and we think, well, they were just eating, drinking, and going life, business as usual. That is true, but we're talking about Noah, the greatest judgment in human history generation, and we're talking about Lot, the most dramatic judgment of a city ever that I know of. Well, I mean, fire came down from heaven, not from an enemy military camp, but from heaven. I mean, if the enemy's attacking a city, at least they could pray and ask God, oh have mercy. But when God is attacking a city, it's a whole different problem. You can't bind Jesus in the name of Jesus. But the point is, you go back to the biblical narrative, to Genesis 6 for Noah, to Genesis 19 for Lot, and this fierce intervention of God to confront the negative was moments away. They didn't care at all. That's the point. They didn't care at all, and they were in the most dangerous hour that they could possibly be in, completely unaware, completely unconcerned, and he says it's going to be like that. Paragraph B, now the days of Noah, we could characterize several different ways, but the way that God highlighted the days of Noah back in Genesis 6, verse 13, God said to Noah, the end of all flesh has come before me, meaning the idea of a global judgment is on my divine agenda. He goes, it's there before me. Whoa, that's intense. And the earth is filled with violence, so the distinctive characteristic of the days of Noah is violence. And it warrants a whole study in itself, the violence that was going on in Noah's day. Well we're in that time frame of history, but it's going to increase far greater than now. I have paragraph one, in the last hundred years, it's been the most violent time frame in history, the last hundred years or so. I have just a few stats, I mean you could spend hours on this subject, but I just want you alerted to it. 42 million deaths, direct result of combat, 83 million because of genocide, because of governments wanting to do ethnic cleansing to peoples, many times within their own nations. And tyranny, so you put together that's 135 million that were murdered, killed in combat or murdered in, I mean that level of violence, there's nothing like it in history of where and it's increasing and increasing is the idea. Well paragraph two, I just have a few little points here, we could look at all of the trends of Matthew 24, but I just wanted to give you just a little snapshot of a few things. Look at paragraph five. Again this is not comprehensive, this is kind of a glance, you go okay, this is a big subject the days of Noah, this is a big subject. The violence part of what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24. Look at number five, abortion, abortion, now we all know abortion is bad, but this is a tragedy of proportions that I or you, we can't get a hold of, grasp the magnitude of what abortion is, from God's point of view on the globe, 50 million babies killed every single year on the earth, babies murdered in their mother's womb, by the participation of the fathers, the family members, not just the, you know sometimes we think of the mother as the guilty one, but there's a whole lot of people participating in that decision. 50 million, that is staggering, now the abortion pill, which means a conceived child in the womb that, the numbers we can't even, we have no way of knowing, the numbers are staggering. This is a sign of the times. In America there's been 60 million killed since 1973, the last 40 plus years, 60 million, but worldwide it's 500 million, I mean 500, what is that doing to God in heaven looking at the earth? Beloved, it's violence, I mean if we understand, I don't want to go into the details, but what an abortion really is, it is violence of the most horrific level. Now undoubtedly, some of you in this room have participated in abortion, either had one or talked somebody into one, or whatever, whatever, and I'm not trying to, and you're going oh my gosh, I'm just, I'm completely disconnected now because it is a crisis, but there is the Lord's mercy in that, and there's a new beginning, and there's the Lord's restoration in those situations, and so I don't want to just leave that very, like your heart just tender and like ah, that's a horrifying concept, I mean not concept, idea, but I'm, the point I'm making in this context is that violence is increasing in a way unheard of in human history. It's a sign of the time, but we don't necessarily connect to this one, and Jesus said watch, he goes connect the dots, I said violence would explode, there's nothing that I know of more violent in human history than this subject. But a lot of believers, we don't connect it with a biblical narrative of increase of violence in the days of Noah, there's nothing like it in history that's happening in this hour of history, along with the other 20 or 30 or 40 things that are happening for the first time at a global level in this hour of history. Paragraph 6, human trafficking, now often the violence of the days of Noah and the immorality of the days of Lot, I mean Lot had violence too, I mean they each generation had a lot of a lot of things, but I'm talking about what those generations were known for from a biblical generation, and Lot's generation was known for its immorality, but human trafficking is probably the most extreme combination of violence and immorality brought together in the most, I mean terrible horrific way. Well John the apostle prophesied that at the end of the age human trafficking would be notable. It makes the list, and it stands out in Revelation 18, John's giving a list, he said the rich men of the earth, the merchants of the earth, well rich men and rich women, it's merchants, it's not male or female in this context, he goes, he's talking about their merchandise where the Lord's judgment puts a stop to it, and they're grieving, and he gives a list of the merchandise that is highlighted in that hour of history in the end times, and most of the merchandise is predictable, and merchandise is sold through history, but verse 13 it says, speaking of merchandise, and the body and the souls of people, people are going to be sold like cattle and like horses. Now we've seen slavery through history, and it's so horrific. The history of slavery in our nation is I believe our greatest failure as a nation, what we did to the Africans that came over, equal and parallel to what we did to the Native Americans, and it boils down to slavery, it's human trafficking, and I don't think that one generation has more pain in it than another, but the numbers of it are staggering in the generation the Lord returns. The amount of people, right now there's 35 million people being trafficked in one way or the other, mostly sexual, but not always sexual, sometimes it's labor, I mean it's against their will, they're sold into slavery for labor, but the new idea of this generation is it's profoundly sexual and immoral, I mean it's about sexual immorality, I mean all slavery is immoral in that one sense, but the Bible said this would, it would be notable because it makes the list, I mean of all the things that are sold and merchandised, only a few things make the list of the thousands of things that could be on the list, but this one is different from all the other ones, and so through 2,000 years of church history, it's like, you mean it's gonna, the slavery thing is gonna go to a whole nother level, yes, and it is right now, and the human trafficking is growing at the pace right now, the rate of 5 million new victims a year, I mean it's growing so fast. That is again a sign, it's a horrific sign of the time, but it's not a kind of a disconnected piece of information that isn't part of a larger story that, if we're paying attention to the Bible, we're actually, we're going, wow, it's not just that abortion is tragic and trafficking is tragedy and darkness is increasing, and you know, lawlessness is increasing, we put it all together, there's a whole thing the Bible has presented quite clearly, and again we're looking at the negative part of it in this session, and I'm gonna hurry and get through this session, I don't even like this session, okay, top of page four, this is like gonna get even more, this is gonna get ugly, well the last few minutes is ugly as it gets, but this is gonna get ugly again, the days of Lot, the Bible makes it really clear in the last days, immorality is going to go to a whole nother level, and the reason the Bible makes it clear, because it's mentioned, and when the Bible mentions something in prophecy, five, six, eight times, very few things are mentioned ten times in prophecy, and if it gets mentioned twice, it's big, you know like the trumpet, Jesus appears in this cloud, every eye sees him, you know how many times it's mentioned that every eye sees him, three times in the whole Bible, that's big, three is big, you know how many times the trumpet is mentioned, five times, five mentions of one feature is a big emphasis, immorality is mentioned many times, many times, and the very weight of it's mentioning, the amount of time it's mentioned tells us, I mean the amount of time it's mentioned tells us the weight that it has of the gravity it will have in that hour, well we don't all need to hear stats about pornography, but the only reason I'm mentioning it, it is a global crisis, it's a new crisis, meaning, I mean there's always been a little pornography in various forms, you know over centuries, various ways that it's been manifest, but in the last ten, twenty years, I mean the last two, three years, but the last twenty or thirty years, it's escalating so rapidly, there's nothing like it in history, and again stands alone as a sign, I mean the gravity of it, the magnitude of it, is a sign there's nothing like it in history, I have a few stats here, one hundred billion dollars spent on pornography every year, a hundred billion by customers, five million pornographic websites, five million, right now today on the earth, five hundred million pages, now if you look at twenty years ago, that number was much, much smaller, I don't know what it was twenty years ago, but it's growing so fast, look at number, paragraph A, every second, thirty thousand people are viewing one of the websites, thirty thousand people every second of every day, paragraph C, sixty-eight million search engine requests every day, sixty-eight million requests for search engines, look at the next line, three billion, billion emails a day with pornography content of some sort in it daily, three billion, paragraph three, this is really the technology holograms and virtual reality is being developed rapidly in the last ten years and the next ten and the ten after that, we can't even imagine where the perversion industry is going to drive those realities, the point being, the generation of the Lord returns will be like the days of Lot, not just that people are buying and selling, no, they're buying and selling, being immersed in immorality, with their fist up to heaven with zero concern about the destiny that was about to happen to the city of Sodom and the city of Gomorrah, complete disconnection from the reality of the situation they were in, paragraph four, we've talked about this before so I won't spend time on it, the forbidding of marriage, Paul talked about that in first Timothy four, verse three, he goes, the days are going to come, they're going to forbid marriage, now forbidding marriage, that's a legal term, that's a legal concept I mean, it doesn't mean everywhere in the world but there's going to be places where marriage will be actually outlawed, it will be forbidden legally, that was unthinkable ten years ago and the reason I say that, it's a personal statement because I remember being in a leadership meeting, we were talking about anti-prophecy when the guys brought up in first Timothy four, this verse they said, says forbid marriage, I remember it was 2005, they said, what do you think it means? I go, it looks like it means forbid marriage but I go, I can't picture that, I can't, ten years ago and I mean I'm really focused on these subjects and I go, I can't picture what that would look like, ten short years later after the Supreme Court decision in 2015 in June to legalize gay marriage, it's a whole domino effect of all the laws being set in and that affect money and inheritance and conflicts and already conservatives and liberals voices are saying, why don't we just do away with the institution, the conflict is so intense, why don't we just do away with it, I mean they're talking about that in the last year, I mean this thing is exploding, it's moments away, unheard of, I mean I couldn't have imagined this ten years ago because when asked the question, I remember going, they go, what do you think, I mean really, what's it mean, I go, I think it means it but I don't think in our lifetime, I mean I can't imagine that and it's speeding up that quickly is my point. The breakdown of the family, Jesus talked about family members, well I didn't put the verse but Matthew chapter 10 verse 21 and Matthew chapter 10 verse 36, he says a men's enemies will be in their own household, they'll be against one another and here he says, many will be offended here in Matthew 24, I believe that there'll be offense, betrayal and hatred all through society but I believe one of the most painful places of betrayal will be in family units, I mean I look at the breakdown of the home, it's rooted in offense, betrayal and hatred that grows and Jesus said in Matthew 10 verse 36, the verse I just mentioned, I don't have on the notes, he said a man's enemies will be in his own household, there'll be so much conflict in the culture that if people aren't pursuing the grace of God, they're going to be caught into that sway, that mindset of offense because again, you get on social media, so many people are sharing the reasonableness of why they're offended and people are going, yeah, me too and the thing is escalating so rapidly because of that ability of technology. It's not that humans are more sinful, humans would have done it a thousand years ago if they had the technology to be able to be emboldened by other people's ideas in the way that the human race is right now. Top of page 5, well there's persecution and it's increasing, we're watching it increase right now, it's a sign of the time as well. Jesus said they'll deliver you up, they'll kill you, they'll hate you in all the nations, every nation, not everybody in every nation because there'll be a great revival, there'll be the greatest revival in history but beloved, we need to settle the issue, we want to be faithful and we want to grow in love unrelated to if we're popular or represented right. We're not going to be represented right. When people hate you, they don't just hate you and stand at the side and go, I hate you. They tell lies, they spin, they try to take your money, they discredit you, they want to ruin you. When they hate you, they don't just say I hate you, they take to the airwaves, they want to spin your life, half truths and all kinds of turns and twists and the Lord says, you walk in love, you live under my leadership and the light of the glory of love will shine in that context but don't be offended by the fact that the spin is happening against you. I mean I just talked to many believers that are, I can't believe that they're saying that about me, they know it's not true and I go, so what? So they're saying it, I mean it's going to happen more and more and more, settle it, get your center base with the Lord and His word and get connected and don't be thrown off by that and don't get swept into the narrative of paying them back with a like story. No, we're going to excel in love. That's where the contrast is going to be. Now I'm talking about the body of Christ that's saying yes to the Lord all over the earth, that's the narrative they're listening to. They go, we know it's happening. Now paragraph B, the martyrdom. We have the World Christian Encyclopedia, the stat here in paragraph B, over 1,900 years of Christianity, 25 million martyrs in the 20th century, almost 50, almost double and the number is increasing. The amount of martyrdom and with the terrorism and the whole radical Islam and all of this kind of stuff, it's going to increase and increase. I should have the verse here, Revelation 20 verse 4, where John the Apostle talks about beheadings in the last days. You know beheadings, you know through history, where's the beheadings at? Nobody's being beheaded. You know you walk, I mean a little here, a little there, but nothing that's prominent enough to be featured as a particular reward related to because of the magnitude of people being beheaded. All of a sudden in the last number of years, beheadings are now making global news regularly and that story line is here to stay. The fact that it's happening now and it's globally, it's in the news common, this is a new reality. John said it 2,000 years ago. So we look at that and we say, Lord, you put that with the other verse, the other verse, the other verse, the other verse, all the negative ones, I mean again you could get sank, you could sink under all the negative ones piled up, put them with all the positive ones, put them with all the political signs that we haven't looked at, all the other globalization signs, you put them all together and say, what hour of history are we living in? And the Lord says, watch, pay attention, get involved in the story line. Don't be stuck in your bubble unaware and then confused when it escalates in your private life when it touches you. No, be settled where things are going so you can be resolved to operate in love and in confidence and in faith. Paragraph D, anti-Semitism is exploding, well I mean it's not at the explosion point but we can see it, the embers are increasing, it's not exploding, that's an exaggerated statement right now, but you can see the stage set for it to explode is a more accurate way to say. I mean the shift in even the last ten years across Europe and the influence of the Middle East migration into Europe and the governments that are starting to buy into new rhetoric and the different thing that's happening on college campuses, it's just in the last few years I'm talking about, it's a distinct increase and it hasn't exploded yet but it's moving in that direction and we know where the Lord stands and we know that we stand with the Lord in that for His purpose for the Jewish people. I have here in paragraph D at the end, the increase of Arab hostility, go to Ezekiel 35. Now there's always been a little bit of Arab hostility but there were not armies and internet and international governments and alliances like they have today and Ezekiel 35 talks about a whole emergence of Arab hostility that makes the part of the end time storyline and we're watching that happen at a whole other level. I mean there's always been hostility but it hasn't had the global implications that it doesn't quite have yet but we can see the embers of the fires that are burning and it doesn't take a whole lot of insight to know where this is going. Roman numeral 6, the falling away. We've talked about this a few times, I'm not going to take much time on this. Paul says, chapter 4 verse 1, Timothy, the Spirit says explicitly, which means the Spirit is emphasizing it, in the latter days some will depart from the faith but when it says some will depart from the faith, for it to be an end time prophecy, it's of a level that will be recognized by the body of Christ. It's not a few, you know, it's kind of slipped out the back door and we don't know what happened to them because there's going to be a great revival too but there's going to be a distinct leaving of the faith of people who profess Jesus. Paragraph B, Paul says it quite a bit stronger the next time, he says it here, or I mean the next passage we're considering, actually he said 2 Thessalonians, in chronological he said that actually first. He says, let no one deceive you, look at chapter 2 verse 3, 2 Thessalonians. Let no one deceive you, for the Lord won't return until two things happen. He says the day won't come or the Lord won't return because there's two major signs that have to happen before the Lord returns. These are two at the top of Paul's list. The falling away, like ugh, the falling away is that big of a sign and the appearing of the Antichrist on the global stage. Here's my point. The appearing of the Antichrist on the global stage, that's a really big sign, I think Paul would say the falling away will be that distinct. It will be parallel in its global importance, I mean in its global impact, it will be that recognizable. It's not a little trickle, I've read some theologians, they said well the falling away has been through 2,000 years, there's always been a few doing it. No it's a sign of the times and in my opinion, again it's not a prophecy but it's my opinion, I think that falling away is already beginning. I think we're in the early days of a literal end time falling away and the amount of people I have seen in the last 10 years, the last 40 years of ministry, the last 10 years, the last 5 years that have walked with the Lord, 10, 20 years that are abandoning their faith is, I've never seen anything like it in my years of ministry. The numbers are increasing rapidly. The numbers of churches that are letting go of the standard principles of the faith, they're promoting doctrines and practices that are in direct contradiction to the Bible. They're doing it boldly in the last 5 years at a whole nother level. I mean mega ministries, famous ministries, big influence, just boldly contradicting the scripture but they have the affirmation of others like them but it's at a whole nother level of, in my years of ministry, I've never seen anything like it and all the leaders I've talked to, they're saying the same thing. This is unprecedented in our time. This is in itself a sign of the times. Page 6, Roman numeral 7, I'm going to have the worship team go ahead and come on up. The move towards a one world religion, it is moving, there's a lot of energy and there's a lot of dialogue and a lot of rhetoric moving in that direction. Now the one world religion is commonly called, and I have it in paragraph B, the Harlot Babylon world religion. And the reason it's called Harlot, because it's unfaithful to God. And the reason it's called Harlot, because it used to, it's made up of people that used to be faithful to God. They've actually betrayed their alliances to be faithful to the Lord. They've let them go and they've gone a different way. That's why it's a Harlot. It's not just unbelievers being swept into it, that's true, but it's made up of those that previously, in their own thinking, had a strong alliance to be true to God. And they're abandoning it to promote a unified religion that has no absolutes. Everybody is saved, every path leads to God, and this is part of the devil's end time plan. Now ultimately what the devil wants is everybody to worship the Antichrist. But the devil can't get the nations to worship the Antichrist in one step. He can't just say, worship the Antichrist, everybody goes okay. But the devil has a two step plan. He wants to get people from religious heritages, from Christianity to Judaism to Islam to Hinduism, whatever. The devil wants to get them to abandon their heritage to step into the one religion where everyone is right and there are no absolutes, and their conscience gets defiled by that move. And they're abandoning many things of their religious heritage. They're in this new religion, and now everything is right, nothing is wrong, and they know it's very different than the religion they grew up in. Once they move in that one, everything works, total toleration, everybody's right, but here's what's happened. They've left and abandoned their heritage, their conscience is defiled, in their mind there's no going back that way. Then the devil pulls his real agenda out in the open, that's the Antichrist religion. And let me tell you, the Antichrist religion is not a religion of tolerance. It's a forced religion on the pain of death with obedience strictly demanded. That's where he's taking the harlot Babylon, kind of everybody's right, everybody's happy crowd, he's taking them where they don't know it's going. Many believers, I mean I'm watching pastors, this everybody's right, and hey it's happy, and I go, do you know where that happy crowd is going to end up a step or two down the road? The enemy has a plan for it. The Bible makes it clear there's a couple steps, and there's a one world, everybody's unified, all paths lead to God, reality first, but beloved that's a stepping stone to a very cruel and demonic reality next. But I'm watching believers move in that path, and once you take that step and you get into that, the Bible's not really the Bible and it doesn't really matter, you get into that mindset, it's a slippery slope to the next step, and of course that's the demonic agenda. Well praise the Lord I got through this session, let's stand. There's so much