In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the need to prepare for the end times and the trials that will come. He references 1 Peter 5:8, which warns about the devil's presence and encourages believers to have strong hearts and unwavering faith. The speaker also mentions the signs of the end times and the importance of being aware of them. He shares a story about meeting a preacher named Zau in Vietnam, who emphasizes the need to be prepared for Jesus' coming and not be burdened by sin. The sermon concludes with the assurance that believers will be protected and victorious in the final battle, and those who conquer will receive eternal life.

We ask the Lord Jesus, his Holy Spirit, to make clear to us what he has to say to us now. In the jungle of Vietnam I met Cao. He is a native who goes through the mountains from one village to another to preach the gospel. For a few days I spoke to the people of the tribe. At the end of the last meeting Cao stood up and said, double old grandmother, that is said to one when one is only 75, but in these tribes old age is a great honor. Then he said, you have come a long way, you are old, very old, you have traveled a long, long time to tell us about Jesus. Bring our thanks, because thanks to our tribe, to your tribe, that they have allowed you to come to us. I asked him, do you have a message for my tribe? He waited a moment. I think he was praying. Then he said, tell your tribe, that whoever does not turn away from his sins, Jesus will not look at his coming. Is he right? Does our message now have to be that we have to prepare for Jesus to come? I think he's right. Whoever has this hope cleanses himself as he cleanses. We do not know what day or what time Jesus comes, but we also do not know a day or an hour that Jesus could not come. When we read the newspaper together with the Bible, we know that many of the signs of the time are already there. Now it is necessary to be ready. I once read in the newspaper that a film star, Patricia Fitzbough, in Paris, had to drive her car very close to the river. When she got into the car, she said to her friends, I can't even swim. Those were her last words. A gust of wind pushed the car into the water and it drowned. Can you swim? We are facing a very serious time. The Antichrist is marching. Are you strong? Bishop Zhao of China, who was at the Evangelical Congress in Berlin, warned us. China is now participating in what will probably come across the whole world. Yes, there will be a time when no one can buy or sell without the sign of the Antichrist. This bishop was humiliated because the Church did not prepare the Christians for the difficult trials in which China is now living. We gave them everything we could. The Gospel, churches, buildings, clothes and food where there was poverty. We neglected one thing. We did not teach them to pass on the Gospel to others. Now all the priests and bishops are gone. The church practically no longer exists. But an invisible church continues to work. But few were strong enough to strengthen others. That bishop challenged us to do everything to make the children of God ready and strong for the time of the Tribunal. Can weak little people be ready? We have to prepare for the time of the Tribunal and the persecution if you can no longer announce publicly. Now it means having strong hearts and a non-wavering faith. As Peter says in 1 Peter 5, verse 8, Be sober and be awake. Your adversary the devil goes around like a roaring lion and is looking for who he could devour. You must resist him with firm faith. And you know that your brothers in the whole world have the same suffering to endure. We are now in the end time. Someone said, the end time has already begun when Jesus went to heaven. That may be. But now we are in the days of which Jesus said, Pay attention to the signs of the time. When there is a red sunset, you know that there will be beautiful weather the next day. You can judge about the shape of the sky. Can you not also judge about the signs of this time? Matthew 16, verse 3 The last great battle has already begun. We are already in the middle of the battle. And when you have your eyes and ears open, then you notice that the enemy is marching from all sides. Now we have the fight not against flesh and blood, but against the forces of darkness. The armament of Ephesians 6, verses 10 to 20 is therefore not only for the fight in the future, but already for the battle today. The devil is not always a roaring lion. He also makes his attacks in everyday life with all kinds of temptations. But even then it means to be victorious. The devil is a good psychologist. He has done 6,000 years or more practical studies on how people can be seduced. He knows about our weak spots. He is like a smart cattle dealer. He only goes around a cow once and knows all its weak spots. The devil is not omnipresent, but he has a very active secret service through his many demons. But praise be to God, those who are with us are much more and stronger than those who are against us. The years of the Shurah, when he saw Elisa's servant, were terrible, terrible realities. But when the eyes of this servant were opened, he saw a no less reality, but a much more important one, the angels. All these powers with horses and wagons were on Elisa's side. And we, who look at the invisible, can know that we are on the ground of victory. Back then in the concentration camp, when I often saw death in the eyes, the Lord often gave me more or less everything to see from the standpoint of eternity. And everything was so simple, so simple, so uncomplicated. It was as if I were seeing myself. There I stood, and there was the devil. The devil was much stronger than me, much, much stronger. But there was also the Lord Jesus. He is much stronger than the devil. And because I stood on Jesus' side, I was more than a conqueror. That is the reality. That Jesus is the victor, we must now, in this time, clearly put before our eyes. What can we expect? What if atheism finds its high point in the coming and in the revelation of the Antichrist? 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 3 to 5 says, It will be revealed to the man of sin, the son of destruction, who is the rebel, and rises above all that is called God or service to God. Will Jesus lose? No. In the middle of the dark valley, his trumpet will sound, and he will come, and then it will be shown that the gospel has indeed been announced to all nations. The armament of God by Ephesus is not only thought of as the uniform of the soldiers of Jesus Christ in the final battle for the victory of the army. It was for the days of Paul, and it is also for us today. Because we know that the great final battle is coming soon, these weapons of arms and the complete obedience to the command of the king are very important. Jesus foretold us that days would come, as we can already read in the newspapers. It is so friendly of the Lord that he warned us. We are actually the only ones in the whole world who know about the future and who can understand this present time. But he also told us a lot that can comfort us. For the sake of the world, these days will be shortened. No hair from your head will be lost. If you keep it, you will win your life. When this begins to happen, look up and raise your heads, your salvation is near. In Revelation 2 and 3 we read of survivors. Whoever survives, I want to give him food from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Whoever survives, no suffering should happen to him from the second death. Survivors are called seven times. When I met children of God in many countries, I felt that some have a hard time in this time. You have to suffer, even through fellow Christians. Many have told me, we believe that all this is an exercise to make us strong for the end time. God is trying to form survivors. I believe those who say that are right. There will be an army of survivors under the King Jesus in the time when the Antichrist will have a world power. Now the wonderful thing is that every child of God can be a survivor, even you. You can always be victorious, there is the King. You can always be victorious, there is the King. He comes and his hand never resisted anyone. It shines over me and the land. Jesus is victorious. Here I have to say something to those who are not yet children of God. In Revelation 6, verse 15, there is something about the people who reject Jesus. All slaves and all free hide themselves in cliffs and rocks in the mountains, and speak to the mountains and rocks, and fall over us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath has come, and who can resist? Yes, that's how it will be. Either saved or lost. You know exactly how it is for you. Confess your sins before Jesus, and he will forgive you. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Whoever comes to him, he will not kick him out. Think of Saul's warning, if you do not turn to him, you will not see Jesus when he returns. Let him in, the word is yours, there is the king. Soon it will be hoped, but also here, there is the king. When Satan screams and threatens, the morning of the victor is red, and it echoes through power and death, Jesus is the victor. When Jesus has forgiven you, you are a child of God, and you can immediately enter the army of the conqueror. Everything that is necessary to be a victor with Jesus is at your disposal. In Apostle 1, verse 8, it says, You will receive the power of the Holy Spirit, which will come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Become full of the Spirit, says the Bible. The fruit of the Spirit is, Galatians 5, verse 22, love, joy, peace, patience, faith, everything we need to overcome and be witnesses for Jesus. It is a question of dedication. Do not forget, whoever has started the good work in you will also complete it until the great day of his arrival. The future is you. In Philippians 2, verse 9 we read, Therefore God also raised Jesus and gave him a name that is more glorious than all other names. In this name of Jesus they shall once kneel in heaven and on earth and in the kingdom of death. They shall all pray and confess, Lord is Jesus Christ, and everything shall serve to the glory of God the Father. Yes, you too will kneel. But how will it be? Will he be your judge or your salvation, your redeemer? If you entrust your life to him now, then you can say to Paul, 1 Corinthians 1, verse 8, He will keep you firm until the end, that you are imprisoned on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you trust Jesus that he can keep you? Paul, who knew him very well, says in 2 Timothy 1, verse 12, I know whom I believe and I am certain that he can keep me what is entrusted to me until that day. William Nagenda tells us a good example. He came back from a trip and at the train station was his three-year-old son Christoph. Papa, I want to carry your suitcase, said the little one. Of course it was much too heavy for him, but William did not want to disappoint him and said, put your hand on mine. So they carried together the heavy suitcase, the little hand on father's strong hand. When he came home, Christoph said, Mama, I carried daddy's suitcase. For you and me, it is too heavy to be an overcomer. But if we put our weak hand on Jesus' hand, then we carry together. Because then we are strong. With Jesus we are more than an overcomer. Then we fear nothing even if the world collapses and the mountains sink into the sea. The sight of Jesus remains eternal. His is the whole world. In America I once came in a whirlwind. It was a terrible noise, as if I were standing in the middle of the thunder. But all of a sudden it was quiet and very calm. I asked my friends, what's going on now? And they said, Now you are in the center of the whirlwind. And there it is quiet and still. So it is. When we are in the center of God's will, then he can storm around us. But in us is peace and rest. John says, Child, stay in him. When he is revealed, we will be full of joy and do not need to fear him when he returns. 1 John 2, verse 28 He has not yet lost a battle and will never lose. For with unlimited power he will triumph. Under his cross is the best place here. Jesus lebt. Jesus sicht. Hallelujah. Amen.