Mike Bickle emphasizes the importance of understanding the signs of the times, arguing that this topic is often neglected within the church. He encourages believers to study scripture and be aware of the prophetic signs that indicate the return of Christ, asserting that we are in the generation that will witness His second coming. Bickle highlights the need for urgency in preparation and prayer, as well as the responsibility of the church to discern the times and respond appropriately. He warns against complacency and encourages a deep engagement with God's word to avoid unnecessary loss when the Lord returns.

Turn in your Bibles. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Now the subject of the signs of the times is a very neglected subject. Just bring it just, it's a little bit too loud, but it's a good tone, it's a little bit too loud. It's a very neglected subject in the body of Christ, and so it's one of those that you will, still a bit too loud, you will get resistance from, as you go forth, people will just kind of assume you're, you know, you're kind of out there. There's a constant, there's a constant kind of accusation against the people who study this stuff and who really go after this, that they're fringe, they're a little eccentric, and so I want to encourage you tonight, and then again tomorrow night as we look at this, to really get the, get your notes out, study the verses, get familiar with them so that you can really be ready to just give an answer without running back home to have to look at your notes. Okay, we're going to be starting in just a moment here. Let's go ahead and pray. Father, we thank you in the name of Jesus that even now that you would release the spirit of wisdom and revelation concerning your plans and the plans of your heart for this generation. So, Lord, we ask you that our viewers all around the world that you would touch them, even tonight, that you would begin to release prophetic dreams and visions that would give even strength of understanding to what your scriptures say about the end times, and we thank you in the name of Jesus. Amen. Well, tonight we're going to begin a two-part series on knowing the signs of the times, and those of you that are joining us through God TV, I want to encourage you to go to the website and get these notes. We have them in this session, and we have them for the next session, too. Knowing the signs of the times, you get them free of charge, so just go right there and follow along with us with the notes, because I'll be covering a lot. I mean, I'll put a lot more in the notes than I'll cover in the session here. My premise is that we are in the generation of the Lord's return. Now, as I've said many times, I don't know if it's five years or 50 years before the significant issues begin to unfold that lead to the coming of the Lord. My guess is we're closer to 50 than five, but I could be wrong. It could be sooner than that, but my guess is we have a few decades to get ready, because there's so much work that needs to be done, and right now the Lord is raising up forerunners that can see the signs, and they get urgency in their spirit by what they see, and then it causes them to go after a deep understanding of the Word. It's not enough to just know, hey, he's coming, he's coming, we see the signs. The signs are meant to stir our faith and our urgency so that we go deep in understanding what Jesus says that we're supposed to do, and it's more than just obey him. We're supposed to understand the end time plan, and we're supposed to be able to communicate why Jesus's judgments are so severe, and how his love is being manifest in the midst of it, and the prayer movement around the world needs to be equipped with the battle plan, and it goes on and on. But anyway, forerunners today are beginning to see the times, and they understand them, even though many in the body of Christ, they love Jesus, they don't have an eye to see and understand the signs of the times. Now there's many scriptures. This will surprise people, and again at this session, and then our next session, part two on knowing the signs of times, we'll point out many scriptures that emphasize the importance of knowing, that we are supposed to know. It's not just that we can know. Jesus actually commanded us to know. I'm going to say that again. It's not just that we can know. We are commanded that we're supposed to know, and that's an important piece of information. It's not a luxury that, you know, if you kind of get around to it, we're commanded to. Matter of fact, Jesus gave severe rebukes to his generation, because they couldn't tell the signs of the first coming. And beloved, there's more signs, far more signs related to the second coming, and he rebuked that generation for not being able to see the signs. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, Paul taught that we, we can know the signs, and we should know them. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 1, he says, concerning the times and the seasons, now he's talking in context to the second coming of Christ. He says, concerning the times and the seasons, you don't have any need that I should explain it to you. I already did it when I was with you in person. Now what's interesting is that Paul only went to the Thessalonians. He was only there, Acts 17 tells us, for three weeks. So here he goes to a new city. They've never heard of Jesus. He preaches Jesus for the first time. Within three weeks, he had to leave because of certain circumstances. But within that three-week period, he taught them the signs of the times. He says, verse 2, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord, we're talking about the second coming and the events surrounding it, the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. But you, brethren, verse 4, you're not in darkness. He goes, this isn't going to surprise you. You're not in darkness. In other words, you're not uninformed, so that the day of the Lord should overtake you like a thief. That was Paul's concern, that they would not be overtaken as a thief. He says in verse 6, therefore watch. Watching means more than praying. It means praying, engaging our spirit of the Lord. But watch with an anointed observation as the Lord's plans unfold around society, as well as watching the work of the Spirit. It's an attentive watching heart externally to what's doing, as well as a watching heart internally to the move of the Holy Spirit on our own heart. That's what watching is about. So watching, if it's done in its full sense, we have to have informed watching to do watching in the full sense. Now he's talking about watching related to the end times. Interesting. Paul taught on watching and Jesus taught on watching. Those weren't just a general exhortation to get a prayer life. Certainly the prayer life exhortation is critical. It was look with your eye outwardly, with faith, with anointed observation, and then respond inwardly to God with greater urgency. That's what the watching was about. Now just one moment, then we're going to get on to some of the understanding a little bit more about the signs of the times. He said his concern was the day of the Lord would not overtake them like a thief. Now that's been a misunderstood, it's been applied wrong in my opinion by many in the body of Christ. They're kind of excited. He's coming like a thief in the night and any minute now he could come and isn't that exciting? That's not at all. Paul was talking about this in a very opposite way. He goes if he comes to you like a thief it means you're going to suffer unnecessary loss that could have been avoided if you would have been watching. So the the whole motif or or word picture of the thief he's talking to Christians. He goes if he comes and it's like a thief to you it means you've suffered loss that could have been avoided because most situations the thief his ability to steal is cut short or driven away simply by paying attention. He says you don't want him to come like a thief to you. That's not a good thing and there's no reason for that to happen because if you're paying attention it won't surprise you. If it surprises you, you haven't paid attention and even as a believer you will suffer loss that could have been avoided. That's what he's talking about here. Matthew chapter 24. Of course this is the famous chapter on the end times that Jesus spoke. Now he gives the signs throughout the Matthew 24. We'll look at some of them later and then in the next session in part two of knowing the signs of the times. But in verse 32 he exhorts them learn learn from this parable from the fig tree when its branches are already becoming tender and puts forth forth its leaves you know the summer is near. You know the summertime you know the harvest is around the corner when you see the signs of this of the fig verse 33 so also now he applies it when you see all of these things that's the things throughout the rest of the chapter because we're towards the end of the chapter here actually about the middle of it but he means if you've seen all the things that he taught up to then you are supposed to know you're supposed to see them and make a conclusion the time is near. He didn't say see them and wonder he said see them and know we are commanded to know when we see with a discerning eye because we have to be instructed from the words of Jesus and the words of Paul and the others of course but those are the two that really laid it out and of course John in the book of Revelation but we see and then we are we are commanded to know but a lot of people see and they they just cast it aside they don't pay attention to it they see but they don't know and Jesus was correcting that idea. He says in verse 34 assuredly this generation will not pass away. Now the parable of the fig tree many have said through the few last few decades that this has kind of been an emphasized point of scripture that the fig tree is Israel. I believe the fig tree is more than Israel. I don't think he was saying when Israel becomes a nation then everything will happen although I actually do believe that generation I actually do believe that but he was giving a bigger teaching to an agricultural society. He was saying when the tree gets ready for harvest you all know the harvest is coming when all of these signs happen in the same generation. Now that's the key it's not just one sign of Israel becoming a nation though that's one of the huge ones I mean that's absolutely significant he's saying you've studied my words and when you see them coming to pass simultaneously all at the same time now he gave 12 signs which we'll look at later when all of them are unfolding at the same time not just one here one there through different times of history together you know that generation will not pass away will not finish before my appearing in the sky then he goes on in verse 43 and he gives this that teaching that Paul of course Paul quoted Jesus the idea of the thief and again the idea of a thief he's talking to believers saying if he comes like a thief to you if you are surprised when he appears you will suffer loss because the coming as a thief needs to be avoided he needs to come in answer to our prayers of faith because the spirit of the bride is saying come Lord Jesus come Lord Jesus but he says if I come and I it shocks you you haven't been engaged with me in my end time plan so this motif of the thief again we find it in scripture now how long is a biblical generation paragraph e and again those joining us with god tv we have these notes on the website you can get them right now knowing the signs of the times part one and then our next session will be part two how long is a biblical generation the bible defines a generation just by studying the different generations and measuring them anywhere from 40 years to 100 years there's a number of generations that were 100 years some of them are 70 or 80 but some would say they would go real hard a generation is 40 years that's not true it could be true but it's not limited to 40 years it could be up to 100 years now again in Luke 21 he's giving this exhortation Luke 21 verse 28 he's saying you better know and I want you to know actually I command you to know I want to put in front of you this will disrupt some folks if you don't know and it is that generation then you've been disobedient to this command of the Lord so instead of kind of apologizing because you're trying to know you need to repent if you're not trying to know from the words of Jesus now plenty of believers will kind of roll their eyes at you if you go in this approach 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 3 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 3 Peter said first of all know this mockers mockers will rise up and resist the preparation of the church that doesn't say the preparation of the church but that's what it means he goes mocking from within the church will be the first adversary we have to overcome and there's a lot of mocking in the church and in the world and so I just want you to know that a lot of folks think it's really cool not to know and not to be concerned we need to repent of that attitude but if we do we will be mocked but so what Jesus will be pleased he says in Luke chapter 21 verse 28 when these things begin to happen in other words it's not the next day is the second coming when you see them it's you know I'm going to add some my own interpretation when it's some years even a decade or two or three when they begin to happen look up look up in other words the the glance of faith the the the looking up and the lifting of your heads is the opposite of what the world will be doing when they see these things because just the verse earlier Luke chapter 1 verse 26 two verses earlier because we're here in verse 28 he said men will be fainting for fear when the signs unfold he goes but not you you're not fainting for fear you're looking up you're looking up in faith and your head goes up and you're excited now we're sober I don't mean giddy I don't mean that we trivialize or minimize the seriousness of the hour but we're not given to the spirit of fear that verse 26 here Luke 21 talks about he says verse 30 he says that when the fig tree is you know a blossoming like we looked at a minute ago when they are already budding you will know then you will see and you will know but a lot of people see they watch the news cast but they don't know they don't come to a conclusion that it has any significance to the coming of the lord in his end time purpose it's not enough to see it in all the news reports we have to see in a way that translates to knowing and concluding verse 31 so also when you see these things know the kingdom of god meaning the millennial kingdom that comes with the second coming it's soon it's coming soon it's right around the corner now the prophetic signs of the times are an expression of jesus's tender mercy for his church we're the only one who gets the insider information the body of christ worldwide the other guys the billions they don't take hold of the insider information but we have it but much of the church is as blind about that information as the world is now i uh emphasize the mercy of the lord that this is tender mercy this is like a amazing favor he's doing for us by giving us these tip-offs significant ones that we know what's going on now we all know the analogy of of of the weather station if the tsunami is coming and there's been plenty of examples of this several of them meaning in the last years if the tsunami comes and they even get a six or ten hour warning the amount of lives and property that's saved is it's staggering the difference of even a five or ten hour warning they have no warning the destruction is many tenfold it's many times more if they get a two or three day warning it is amazing the amount of destruction that can be avoided now this is where the thief idea comes in jesus is saying if i come and that storm hits that great eschatological storm of the glory of god in the judgment if it hits and you're not aware then then you've suffered loss that you didn't need to have suffered you still be saved but you will suffer unnecessary loss that could have been avoided top of page two now jesus is still talking about the signs of the times of his generation but the reason it's in the bible so that we would have knowledge for the signs of that we would know how jesus felt about seeing the signs of the times there's signs of the times for two generations his generation that he came the first time and the generation he comes the second time those are the two generations with prophetic signs in them now when luke recorded this this is decades later he didn't record it just to give a judgment statement on israel he gave it as well to give instruction to the generation that the lord would return not to fall into the same error he says in luke chapter 19 verse 42 if you had known and i'll just summarize the trouble was coming if you would have known that trouble was coming you would have had urgency in your spirit before me you would have prepared your personal life you would have prepared in your understanding of what to do you would have been prepared with your family not just at the heart level at the brain level you would have known what to do not just that you would have been responded in a godly way the preparation is both it's heart response but it's also knowledge of what the word of god says to do as we get closer and closer but he said but because you did not know verse 44 because you didn't know the time of your visitation he's talking about the first his first coming that generation did not know that they had a visitation from god they did not respond in the same urgency they did not make the right plans they were not studying the word and preparing others now in theory people say well i'm going to seek the lord hard even if i don't know well jesus made a relationship to having the information and responding in a greater way now yes you can respond to jesus with a whole heart without knowing but jesus establishes clearly in the bible the relationship of knowing more information about his end time plan and responding at a higher level in theory we should respond at a high level no matter what but in reality we don't and jesus knew the makeup of the human heart and he said you really really need to know this stuff because you really will have an urgency you will respond in a far greater intensity and you will prepare with a far greater urgency if you know the greatest release of glory and the greatest release of trouble are about to hit the planet and hit your neighborhood luke chapter 12 and matthew 16 i'll just kind of summarize it so we can move on it's all in the notes there he rebuked them he rebuked them he says you can read the weather patterns but you cannot read the signs of the times now if this is true at the first coming when there's only a few signs in the bible many more for the second coming he goes you hypocrites you say that you love me you say you know me and yet i gave you signs about my entrance to the human race and you didn't even bother to know them jesus is coming back in the sky on a white horse and most the body of christ like hey that's gonna be neat he's going no there are events that have to happen in the nations that the praying church will release and the praying church will announce and jesus the word of god makes clear he won't come until the nations are prepared by the witness of the church and the prayer movement of the church that releases the glory of god and releases the judgment of god some think it's a mistaken thought jesus is just coming anyway no matter what well he is coming no matter what we do but collectively he's coming after the church through the proclamation of truth not just how to get born again but truth that that's the core but much more than that the proclamation of the truth and the releasing of the glory and the judgments through the prayer ministry of the church these will affect the way the nations respond to god and jesus says i can't come back i won't come back till there's a certain condition on the earth that is the church is dynamically related to this is called in 2nd peter chapter 3 verse 12 hastening the day of the lord we can speed it up we can slow it down by our responsiveness because the responsiveness of the church by the way is the ultimate signs of the time is the church understanding it and the church responding in prayer and in godliness at the heart level the number one sign of the time i'm getting ahead of myself is the responsiveness of the church then they pray and prophesy and it changes the response of nations good and bad when the church prays and prophesies part of the nations get become more hostile and part become converted and that high level of conversion and that high level of hostility are critical in the justice of god to determining when he comes back it's a big subject it's bigger than our our context tonight but the the church gets prepared first then the church prepares the nations then jesus comes when the measure of responsiveness of hostility and love is in the right measure that causes other events to happen throughout society it's all i mean obviously he gets the whole thing but he's telling the church you have to know you have to be involved you have to be a part of the process with me so that's why he rebuked them at the first coming luke chapter 12 and matthew 16 we have it on the notes there he said you have to know if you don't know about my first coming it was like he was speaking 2 000 years ahead to the people of god saying you surely must know about my second coming or the same rebuke will be towards that generation now we know that we are going to know and the body of christ is getting prepared and so it's unfolding okay roman numeral chapter 2 and again those of you joining us with god tv we have these notes on the website you can follow along with us in this session and the next one on knowing the signs of the times this is part one we'll have part two and just the next time we we teach on this in the next session okay four types of signs there are events sign events this is what we're going to look at yeah uh in the in the next teaching the sign events those are the actual events and there's more than we can cover in one teaching but we'll have the list all there so you can study it out more there's major events that are just real solid non-debatable events those are the main ones that's what we really care about but then there's trends there's the events but then there's the trends there's trends in society of people loving god more in in responding more in in faith and love and responding more in hostility both trends are are escalating and they respond in hostility to god into one another and they respond to look to god in love and to one another in love so both and there's a number of trends that he gives these actually in matthew 24 there's trends now the trends are not as defined i mean they're he gives 12 trends in this in this message in the olivette discourse matthew 24 mark 13 and in luke 21 that's the same sermon you know with three different uh renditions of it so there's 21 signed i i said it wrong 12 signs that he gives that are trends those trends matter but more significant in terms of giving us insight are the events so we get the events we have the trends then there's the cosmic signs meaning in this in the heavens unusual i mean highly unusual events in the sky from uh very unusual weather patterns that would be the the the kind of the low end of the cosmic signs because the high end there will be very dramatic signs in the stars and things happening that are that will terrify the earth but the weather patterns becoming irregular and we're just at the beginning of the beginning of that is kind of getting people talking and looking around going wow what's going on then the fourth as the personal ones many in the body of christ we are receiving subjective personal dreams visions encounters from the lord now you can't treat those at the level of the other ones but they encourage our hearts and those that we know and love you you can't share those at the same level and the same intensity like you do the biblical ones but for people that are connected to one another and they have credibility with each other those in times of fellowship we share those and it really builds our spirit up i've had several very dramatic encounters and i rarely ever talk about them publicly and the reason because i want to focus on the biblical signs not the personal encounters but among friends i talk about my spirit is really stirred really stirred up but anyway i just want to put that on the list okay common lies against knowing the signs of the times number one lie you can't understand them anyway nobody can well we can it's the idea that the bible was written to be understood by the body of christ throughout history and most the body of christ have been illiterate peasants poor people and the bible was written for them to get it the book of revelation was written so they could get so we can know the end time scriptures and the signs that are contained in them lie number two if we focus on the end times we'll do less work of the kingdom no if you focus on the wrong view of the end times that is a legitimate criticism like it is true i've seen this people that think they're going to go up any day any minute the pre-tribulation rapture you don't have to respond right if you have that but many that i've seen have it while we're going up anyway why bother it won't matter now that is a really bad response but a and everyone who believes in the pre-tribulation rapture doesn't respond that way but i've seen many of you that well hey why should we bother doing all of these difficult challenging works of ministry trying to bring the gospel in every sphere of society if we're going to go up anyway that's all going to burn but if you have the right view of the end times you understand our labors now are dynamically related to jesus returning because our labors there's many reasons i'm not going to give them all right now our labors and our proclamation will create the emotional response of love on one extreme hostility on the other team on extreme that come to a that that that escalate and they come to a crescendo and they impact many things in the world that are necessary before jesus will come back to fulfill righteousness and justice so our labors really matter they really matter more than that but i don't that's not my point uh in this session here but lie number two it will minimize the work of the kingdom lie number three since we don't know the day or the hour we probably should know the time in the season no we don't know the day of the hour but we can know the generation matter of fact we're commanded to know it lie number four every generation believed they were the last one absolutely false it is true probably that every generation had somebody who thought it was the last one i mean there was probably always that one guy on that hill who was hanging out waiting for the lord to come but what the people mean by that is that every generation had this kind of universal sense with us in a sustained way they really thought it's true that the lord was coming that's not true there's a couple times in two thousand years where there was kind of a surge that happened for a few years like at the turn of of uh the millennium in the you know year 1000 a.d. there was millennial fervor for a minute but it faded away when it became 1001 a.d. they went oh well we missed it and they went back to business as usual so there's two or three spikes of interest that lasted for a few years by a fact even then a small number of people but the only generation in history that universally believed it in a sustained way was the first century church and the only other one will be the generation lord returns 99 of the body of christ has never believed it was their generation so the idea that every generation believed it so what's different than us is a really false concept only one generation did the majority believe in a sustained way it's only happened once and it's happening we can see the awakening around the earth of people starting to go you know this could be the numbers are staggering of people starting to wake up to it this is a phenomenon in history it's never happened besides the first century lie number five it's all gonna pan out in the end you've heard guys say i'm a pan millennialist it's all gonna pan out and everybody laughs it will all pan out but the issue i love how alan hood says it how will it pan out for you and your family if you're unprepared yes it will happen even if you're not prepared but it won't go well for you okay we're gonna go to roman numeral four and again to those that are joining us with god tv you can get these notes on the website three prophetic time frames now it's important that we understand these three time frames because when you understand them it gives you the the framework to see the signs that belong in these three different time frames it's like the woman that's pregnant because the whole analogy is a having a child and of course the the birthing of the baby is the second coming of jesus and the millennial kingdom that's the baby that hit that not just israel but history is going through labor to have the baby and the baby is the glory of god filling the earth in the kingdom age with jesus on the earth as a man ruling all the kingdoms that's the baby that there's the beginning of the birth pangs the intensified birth pangs and then the hard labor of course the hard labor is the great tribulation so if you know these three prophetic time frames in the bible the bible makes them clear it doesn't uh title them just in the way i i am but the bible describes them very clearly then you know which signs belong in which of the three time frames because the woman having the baby at four months pregnancy she doesn't start pushing like she does in the last hours and so though we have urgency we are the urgency is to prepare us to be more fervent in our preparation and more fervent in our present day service and love of the lord today in our service of one another paragraph a the three time frames now these three time frames are related to the seven year period that daniel 9 verse 27 talks about there's a seven year period the the last seven years of natural history no it's not the last seven years of human history because we're going to be living for billions of years human history is going to go on for billions and billions and billions of years but it's the last seven years of natural history before jesus returns so time frame number one is the one we're in right now it's the it's the beginning of the birth pangs leading up it's the time frame right before the seven years start that's where the wars and rumors of wars there's 12 different descriptions of jesus and there's others besides but those are the main ones i have them another place in the notes and we'll look at those probably in the next a little bit in the next session because in the next session i want to look at the main prophetic sign events that are going to happen because if we know those events are going to happen we can see the trends beginning to emerge that lead to those events but if you don't know about those events you don't see the trends that are leading up to them so the first time frame is the birth pangs the beginning of birth pangs i believe we're in that time right now the second time frame is the increased labor pangs now this is the time where the antichrist will bring world peace so it won't seem like birth pangs to the world because the world be saying peace and safety but it is now they'll be persecuting the church but it is because really what they're doing they put their guard down and they let the antichrist create the infrastructure worldwide to completely dominate them a minute later so they put their guard down and they're rejoicing an antichrist is building infrastructure military political economic religious so that he does it for three and a half years and when that infrastructure is in place he pulls his mask off and says thank you for cooperating you fools thank you for giving me total control the economics the political the military and the religious institutions guess what i now have my people in power everywhere and now you cannot escape so it is birth pangs though the world will think it's the they will think it's the millennium in the in the in the humanistic sense for the first time in history there will be world peace they'll be going wow and in the second time frame and i have it a little bit spelled out in the notes that's when the harlot church the one world religion emerges but that harlot church is just a forerunner to the antichrist religion that follows right after her the harlot church is a preparation for the antichrist to get his infrastructure built in all the religious structures of the world so he can control them once he gets rid of the harlot church because the harlot church only exists for a short time it's a forerunner he uses the harlot church not only is the harlot church a harlot in deceiving the nations she's a harlot because he uses her and then he burns her he abandons her she's a harlot in every sense then the third time frame is the hard labor pangs that's the great tribulation that's what the book of revelation gives us the details of the heavy labor the hard labor now because we're not in the hard labor the net the season we're in right now is the beginning of birth pangs but in a minute and that could be a decade or two or three or sooner or later we don't know because a decade goes by pretty fast but at the same time things are escalating and they will escalate at an unusual level suddenly and so we don't want to put our guard down and say hey you know we got years anyway we might not and i want to go deep in the word i want to go deep in my spirit with god i want to get people ready i want us to be ready and i want us to be a part of the answer not a part of the problem when the trouble comes and when the great revival comes because when the great revival comes i don't want to be saying well i'm not really into that holy spirit stuff when the great revival the trouble comes oh i'm so afraid i'm just going to huddle up in a cave somewhere no when the revival comes we need to be out there releasing the power of god and when the trouble comes well we're going to be the ones releasing the trouble on the antichrist through the prayers of faith eschatological global prayers of faith we're going to be praying the judgments down on him roman numeral five in the notes we're going to lock in for just a minute on the second time frame because that's the one coming next and i you can already see the trends of the second time frame but you can see them emerging in the earth right now though we're still in that first prophetic time frame the beginning of birth pangs in my opinion the beginning of the birth pangs began when israel became a nation in 1948 that didn't mean that i have that right from the lord but i think it's right because israel is god's calendar that's a big statement but it's not so hard to prove if you had 10 minutes to talk on it i don't want to do that right now but i believe the beginning of birth pangs is either 1948 when this miracle of miracles happened israel became a nation or it could be 1967 when the city of jerusalem came back under the control of the the nation of israel after 2 000 years of not having the city of jerusalem now those of you that are new with the end times teaching you might go what's that got to do with it that is a huge point but we can't go there right now it's for time so i believe the beginning of birth pangs either began in 48 that's my first vote that's my first option if not then certainly 1967 but one thing's for sure like many theologians say well the birth pangs have been going 2 000 years so this generation is the same as the last you know 50 or whatever no the birth pangs are discernible they are intense they're waking people up for the second coming of christ they create urgency and they're very discernible they all happen in the same generation not just a little by little for 2 000 years i completely reject that idea that well they've been going 2 000 years later so let's just go help you know play golf and just take the day off and although it's okay to play a little golf and take the day off but i'm talking about just that kind of laissez-faire attitude of well it's nothing if we understand the birth pangs they create urgency lord bless all the golfers nothing wrong with golf i'm so bad at it i won't ever play it okay okay there's three different significant things that are going to happen in the second time frame and we're seeing them already beginning to emerge right now number one of counterfeit world peace now right now we see the hostility in the nations no question but the hostility of the nations right now in the birth pangs in that first prophetic season is creating the setup for desperate measures for a one world government no question that's where it's going absolutely that's where it's going one world economics one world government the humanist the secular the politicians that don't know god they're already talking about it as a possibility because the terrorism the religious wars the economic crisis the birth pang troubles will end up in a global solution of a one world government in one economic system but the reason it's still birth pangs because it's really opening the door it's solving an immediate solution but it's opening the door for the antichrist to control of every infrastructure of the world matter of fact they invite him to the table before they know who he is matter of fact he's got the best ideas of everyone he's the one they're bragging about because he's in that role before he pulls his mask off to let everybody know he's the most demonized criminal that's ever walked on the planet but he'll have his tentacles and his people and all the main infrastructures of society because of the trouble of the birth pangs of the beginning of birth pangs they will come up with seemingly win-win solutions for everybody but it will be the nightmare of human history when they come up with these solutions because when he pulls his mask off so to speak and they see they've been the whole time dancing with the devil himself in all these areas so there's going to be world peace at a world economic system number two there's going to be a harlot religion and it's emerging right down the earth it's not in place yet the forerunners of the harlot are in place the forerunners of the harlot of the humanist religion the forerunners of it's a false justice movement it's everybody's right and everything is working and everything is cool right now if i was having to pick somebody though it's bigger than this of the forerunners oprah is the pastor of the forerunners of the harlot movement that's about to emerge it's real very sincere and a lot of the folks are sincere with her but their sincerity will not deliver them from the consequences of their deception they are deceived and they are deceiving but they don't know it they're sincere but the devil loves sincere deceived people they're far more effective than sinister deceived people but i would say clearly in my view i don't know that much what's happening out there in all those spheres she is the first pastor i can see as a forerunner to the harlot religion many believers are throwing their discernment and their brains away in this kind of blinded loyalty to people like her and what they're saying it's it's amazing the lack of discernment that's going on the body of christ so there's religious conflicts and divisions it's setting up a one world religion it's a justice movement it feeds the poor it's full of humanitarian aid it's got all these good things on the surface but it has no allegiance to jesus but rather a hostility to jesus at the core of their spirit and the set and the third thing that happens in this second time frame you can see it emerging even right now is the great falling away from the faith three things happen in the second time frame you could see them now the one world government world peace world economic system they all go together because the one world economic system will be in place before the antichrist pulls his mask off because he needs it he uses it but it's already set up before the mark of the beast system he doesn't get the idea for the mark of the beast of a one world economic system and go hey i got three months let's hustle and get this thing done so i can enslave the human race no he'll have that in place probably a few decades ahead of time and he'll have worked through the difficulties of the one world government the one world economics one world religion and there'll be a great falling away the falling away will happen in the second season far more far more than the than the final one because in the great tribulation is a great harvest great tribulation there's power the people that fall away more of them fall away during this season because they're seduced by the harlot by all of her grandeur and her glory and they abandon jesus to join the world peace movement and boy it is clearly emerging right now on the earth paul said paragraph b first thessalonians 5 paul said when they say peace and safety sudden destruction is right around the corner now the peace and safety the whole world will be saying peace and safety the sudden destruction is the great tribulation before the great tribulation they will say peace and safety but the peace and safety is actually after the birth pangs because the birth pangs is wars and rumors of war the birth pangs is where we're at right now it's going to lead to global solutions that unify everybody but it's a real false counterfeit unity it's very sincere but it's completely broken it just opens it opens it's kind of like the fox in the hen house it opens the hen house to the fox because the fox the devil himself is orchestrating the whole thing so the world will say peace and safety peace means political world peace the wars are over safety means the terrorism problem is solved and the antichrist in friendship with the harlot movement will be working together but he hasn't revealed himself yet he's just a really cool really dignified excellent man seemingly with lots of great answers who likes everyone that's so kind and humble just like wow and bring the whole world to peace and safety and paul says don't you believe it for a minute he'll pull his mask off and you will see you have trouble but the peace and safety justice movement is emerging powerfully in the earth but it's only in the forerunner stage right now but beloved pay attention just because they say jesus just because they say peace safety good and feed the poor don't believe it has allegiance to jesus any politician that gets up and says jesus jesus jesus i don't care who he is at what level and he kills babies and pronounces that all religions are right that is absolute deception i want you to know that we don't look at that and go wow things are getting better i say wow it's time for the prayer movement to come to a whole nother level of maturity and discernment and it doesn't matter if those politicians are at the state level or if they're in the white house or the united nations it's all the same spirit and it's emerging so fast in the church and throughout all strands of society and they will cry peace and safety paul says sudden destruction the great tribulation comes next they will not escape now the only people that will be declaring as far as i know maybe there'll be some other groups that i don't know about but we are mandated from heaven i'll say it that way to expose the falsehood of the emerging systems but in a spirit of kindness with a spirit of tenderness with a spirit of humility but boldness too it's tender but bold it's clear but it's measured and the lord's raising up faithful witnesses right now to do that okay top of page four there's two stages in the antichrist end time plan stage one he wants to get two stages i'm talking about in his desire to get all the nations to worship him stage one is the harlot church and we're not there yet we have the forerunners to the harlot are in place right now and they're just starting and they're most of them are really sincere and they really want to do good but their sincerity does not lessen the impact of their deception and we need to love them and go after them but by no means support their ideologies we expose and confront their ideologies in tenderness and love and yet reach out in kindness and value them as in their humanity and their dignity so we don't want railing kind of crazy wild-eyed guys who say i'm a prophet i'm a prophet watch this and they just kind of like what is that that's not the spirit of jesus at all that sets the movement back actually okay let's go to i got a little bit on the harlot church there in the notes let's go on to uh let me see top of page six just this last two minutes then we're gonna have some questions have a few minutes of question and answer the order of events and again the reason we want to know the order now we got a few events that you have clear order on when you know the order you know what trends you can recognize the trends that are unfolding because the events are just around the corner again around the corner may mean five or ten years or ten or twenty or thirty we don't know but let's we're going hard because we can see the birth pangs of human history are starting to happen we're about to have a baby about to have a baby it's glorious okay order of events paragraph b first right now we're in the beginning of the birth pangs the escalating turmoil in the nations the 12 major trends that jesus talked about there got them listed the second time frame that's just around the corner again it may be a few decades may not be this is the one we're really keyed into the beginning of birth pangs strengthen our resolve and our urgency to get ready for that second prophetic time frame the man of peace the antichrist is a man of peace first then three and a half years before jesus is coming he pulls his mask off and he's a man of sin but he first is a man of peace when he's revealed on the world scene he pulls his mask off he shows himself to be a man of war and everything changes he's a man of sin he's called the man of sin okay the worldwide religion the harlot is emerging and the falling away of believers will happen again this is a few steps away but we already are seeing the falling away we're seeing that in the pulpits across the western world the compromise is just it's painful but the lord says don't worry don't worry there's going to be a great harvest there's going to be a praying church emerging the earth that's going to be powerful just stay steady and keep focused and go deep in the word and then the third time frame is the great tribulation that's where the whole book of scenario picks up amen i was going to end with that so sarah and shelly we have some questions okay so jesus said no one knows the day or the hour so how can we really know that this is the generation of the lord's return and then on the other side how can we be confident through scripture that we're in the end of the age this is when jesus comes back okay very important because it's a very good question people ask us all the time we can't know the day of the hour that's not the same thing as the time and the season paul said first thessalonians 5 we looked at it you must know the time and the season and jesus said you know the generation so though we don't know the day of the hour that's totally biblical but taking that concept of not knowing the day the hour and translating in it to not knowing the time and season that's paul's language or not knowing the generation that's jesus's language is a is a is a real serious error how can we know we're going to look at in the next session the signs of time part two we're going to look at a number of major events we'll lay them out they're all in the bible and then we look at the trends that the bible says and then we'll look at even other trends that aren't clearly in the bible but they're the clear logical consequence of thus of history going towards those big major sign events other than the foundation of israel what are uh the other birth pangs and are we currently experiencing them right now the other birth pangs there's 12 birth pangs that jesus identified that is happening right now and they're right there in matthew chapter 24 verse 4 to 8 we have them on the notes and we'll break those down a little bit of course you know just in two sessions i think at times you can't go deep on them but you just kind of hit at them but the we will have a list of what the bible says are the major events i haven't gone through those yet and so i'll wait until i do that those events are very clear and that's how we know because those events are happening right now and not all the events are happening but clearly the trends leading to them you can see it like right now there is not a world government and there's not a world economic system they have to happen the bible makes it clear but you and i can surely see the stage is being set for a world economic government a worldwide economic system and a worldwide government it is so clearly going that direction but we know from the bible will happen but we can see the trends leading there's many things like that so uh in times past there's been a number of generations that have thought and even proclaimed that they were for sure the last generation how do we make sure that we're not doing the same thing yes as a very important question very important one is that there is only one generation in history where universally that's the key word meaning the majority of the body price and sustained that's the next keyword only one generation history did the majority in a sustained way meaning over decades believe they were it there's undoubtedly every generation one-tenth of one percent thought they were it but 99.9 did not so the idea that other generations believe that universally i've talked about the majority of the body of christ in the world and a sustained way those are the two conditions it's never happened it's never been a generation again at the turn of the millennium you know year 999 ad there was a real swirl but by about a year or two after the millennium kind of like the y2k everybody kind of got excited for a minute you know by february after the turn of the y2k after january 1st they all forgot about it so it's never happened in history so the idea that every generation believes it is an absolute false concept absolute false a lot of people that i know are very confident that they believe in jesus christ but the bible specific that there's a great falling away at the end of the age how can i um help people to understand what we need to do to make sure that we don't fall away you know it's the simple uh main and plain things of the bible it's just the main and it's sermon on the mount living right so when we fail we declare war on our sin we repent we receive the the grace of god and we have confidence because we have the right view of god the bridegroom god we have confidence after we fail but we got to repent we hang in together you don't want to get in isolation when hanging together we study the word so we hang in there together don't get isolated we stay in the word and we go for the sermon on mount christianity if we do those three things we are going to be safe will there be cities of refuge and pockets of mercy during the tribulation and if so how do we find them yeah i i prefer cities of refuge uh uh pockets of mercy i've used that phrase pockets of mercy that's the phrase i like is pockets of mercy pockets of mercy is my definition that's not a biblical definition but it's a biblical idea geographic zones the glory of god zones they may be five miles a dynamiter they may be 500 miles we don't know but zones areas where where the people have obeyed god fasting and praying and the glory of god breaks in i would rather call those pockets of mercy than cities of refuge because cities of refuge is a biblical term in the old testament that if we use a city of refuge for a pocket of mercy we got to change the biblical definition of what a city of refuge is so we use that sometimes but it's a little sloppy because we want to use biblical terms the way the bible does and a city of refuge is technically where the murderer could run and grab the horns of the altar and not be killed before he went to trial that's really what a city of refuge is it's not really a place where the glory of god breaks out so i would rather shy away from that though i've said that over the years here and there because it's kind of an easy fun thing to say it gives you a clear picture but it's not the biblical idea of a city of refuge is really not about the glory of god breaking out so and because the bible uses that term i think it's better not to use it but i think yes there will be like the analogy is is goshen and most of you know in the book of exodus particularly between chapters 7 and 12 exodus the children of israel when the plagues of egypt were coming three million of them three million nearly three million the judgments did not hit the three million it hit the rest of the nation but at the three million that's the picture of the pockets of mercy yes they will be there and that's what the seal of god on people is about and there's many other verses about that besides just the one or two that mentioned the seal in the book of revelation we're in the birth pangs right now and the judgments of god are increasing my question is as the judgments of god increase is the praying church causing the increase of the judgments of god and if they are how should we carry our heart in the place of prayer to cry out for mercy in the midst of god okay first of all i'm gonna say it's slightly different than than than you said it that we are in the birth pangs more significant than the judgments of god increase they are increasing a little bit is sin is increasing that's the thing that's increasing in the birth pangs it's conflict towards one another it's not so much god causing it when you read them it's men doing it to each other now and the weather patterns it's stirring up for sure and so the birth pangs the beginning is setting up history so they have to choose whether they want jesus or the antichrist to be their king so the lord strategically that the birth pangs so right now the number one issue isn't the release of judgment in the birth pang stage it's the watching increase of sin that's going to get a quick solution that's going to open the doors to evil and we are faithful witnesses preaching the gospel and declaring the truth so many more don't become a part of the conflict of the false answer that's our focus in the birth pang years um you actually mentioned that we can actually hasten the day of we can hasten it yes right can you um explain how exactly we can do that second peter chapter three verse 12 peter says you can hasten the day of the lord which means speed it up and the implication we're we're supposed to understand if you can speed it up you can slow it down and the way it's sped up and the way it's slowed down is the same that if the church because jesus cannot just come to the earth right now meaning he's a god of justice he says no i have to come in perfect justice it's like when the children of israel were in bondage for 400 years they were in egypt for 400 years you know what the answer god gave abraham he said i can't give israel the amir the land of uh i can't give the children of israel the land yet because the sin of the amorites has not matured yet i can't do that i won't do that they have to be at a level of sin for my justice to deal with them and i will never violate it so the preaching of the church actually creates two dynamics a tremendous response of love for jesus and one another and a tremendous hostility that hostility actually is necessary because now jesus doesn't make them hostile the hostilities in their spirit but his justice demands that the hostility is open wide open manifestation before he judges it so he's raising up preachers that will preach the truth one group responds and the love grows the other group responds the hostility grows and that hostility comes to the surface it's already there but it escalates because of the activity of the church that activity of the church is necessary for the nations to respond in appropriate ways and then many other things happen in the wake of those two responses many things that are necessary for before jesus will come because he is a god of justice not just a god of love because i can't come and judge nations except the nations prove they deserve it or they don't and so i'm going to create an optimum environment for what's in the heart of everybody to come to the surface and the praying church if we cooperate we speed up the optimum environment for evil and and righteousness to mature and that's necessary for the second coming lord i didn't expect you to follow all that but it's really dynamically related to what we did i i don't mean because you can follow that i just think i talked too fast and mixed a whole bunch of subjects into one paragraph you know paul in ephesians 1 it's my favorite chapter in a literary sense all those great truth paul started a verse in verse 3 one sentence he didn't finish it to like verse 19 3 4 5 6 7 8 i mean there's only commas the whole way through so that's kind of my inspiration to give those long answers does this go on and on i just say ephesians 1 it's biblical okay okay um my question is is your view on the end times new and also are there others in the body of christ who hold your same view and i've also heard that um the pre-tribulation rapture view has only been common throughout the last 150 years yes is can your view be traced throughout church history in the early church fathers great question okay uh stay there just is my view the idea view number one that we're in that generation hundreds of millions of people believe that right now hundreds of millions that we're in that generation we need to be about a billion but it's 100 or 200 million right all over the world so i'm one of a couple hundred million that believe that point second point my view of the we're here for the trouble not escape it that has been growing that was the the uh doctrine for the first 1800 years of christianity there was no such thing as a pre-tribulation rapture doctrine till 1830 it's a brand new idea on the world saint anyone before 1830 had never heard of it there's not one trace of it in any literature even the heretics didn't say it it's a brand new doctrine 1830 so for 1800 years no one ever said that all the church fathers believed that we would be here in the midst of the glory and the trouble and so we joined that but millions in the last 10 years because i've been preaching this for 30 years and 30 years ago there were quite a few actually 30 years ago but the last 10 years the vast majority i'm saying this i don't want to i wouldn't say this on tv because i'd be insulting everybody but we're off right now but the vast majority of the leadership of the body of christ is switching over i mean it's massive numbers are changing sides on that point i mean the mass majority and i get i don't want to insult all the few guys that aren't and uh but it's already in my opinion the system is already gone it's a minute away from being gone it's like the charismatic uh thing back in the 70s when i was first touched by the holy spirit a raging controversy is it true is it not true and all these big organizations you can't speak at times you can't you can't can't almost all of those organizations now they've taken those statements out of their out of their creeds and they have one of those don't ask don't tell and most of their people are starting to move in that in the last 10 years and that they're believing the charismatic thing so my point is that was a controversy in the 70s it was real big it's completely almost a lame controversy almost nobody cares about that the pre-tribulation concept is 10 years away from it being a defunct argument that nobody cares about it really is going that fast now here's one thing i oh here's one thing that is slightly different because i had one more answer the idea that there's not that many that are saying it but they are others that the praying church will release the glory and the judgments that creates the optimum environment for righteousness and for iniquity to mature now not that many have said that but there are those that are saying it but for 1800 years it's not like people focused on that and the reason i think that's true is because the holy spirit wasn't pressing it until this hour but the idea it's not just we'll be here many have thought that that this is the end times hundreds of millions think that but that we are actually the primary determinative factor on the earth since we are determining it the body more than any other factor more than political factors more than economic factors the factor that's changed that's determining the speed is the maturity of the praying church now that's a new idea in terms of you know maybe thousands of teachers would believe that but not millions but i think 10 years from now that will be common too good question that's it okay let's stand next friday and saturday we're going to do this for