In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of not taking the church for granted and appreciating the blessings it brings. He shares a personal story about his family members in Nebraska who long for a service like the one he is preaching. The sermon then transitions to the topic of the End Time Church, which the preacher says he received a message about while in Kenya. He compares the state of the church in Kenya to that of America, noting that Kenya is about 20-30 years behind but still experiencing similar challenges. The preacher references Revelation 21:9 and describes the heavenly city, highlighting its glory and beauty.

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus. This morning, I'd like to speak this morning on the marks of the end-time church. And I guess I'd have to tell you for introduction where the message came from. I got this message from the Lord when I was in Kenya, in Africa, in Kenya. Now, Kenya is a little bit different than America, as I view the country of Kenya and the Christians in Kenya and just the whole way that things work there. I would say they're about 20 or 30 years behind us. And by that, I mean to the good. They're 20 or 30 years behind us to the good. But I do see the same thing happening in Kenya that has happened here in America. So the message came forth out of a burden for the people of Kenya, for the Christians in Kenya. But yet, surely if it applies to them and they're 30 years behind us, how much more does the message apply to us? So thus came the message, the marks of the end-time church. And the message came out of a burden to enlighten the hearts of the people there and draw some clear lines in their minds about the way the church will be in the end times. You see, in Kenya, they had a revival in 1953. There was a revival in Kenya. Yeah, I think it started in about 1933 and it lasted till 1953 or maybe all the way to 1960. They had a revival. I mean, they had a real one that lasted and lasted and lasted. It was called the East African Revival Movement. That's what they called it. And you can talk to the Christians in Kenya and they'll tell you about it and they'll refer to it that way. Yes, well, we remember the East African Revival Movement and they talk about it. They know of it. Well, that revival ended, I guess, around 1960. It's hard to say when the revival ends because they usually go very slowly in time. But this revival, the history books say, lasted between 30 and 40 years. During that time, there was a blending together of God's people. And there's still a blending together there. Although some of it shouldn't be there because you can see the falling away taking place there in Kenya. You can see it very clearly. There are dead churches in Kenya. The Presbyterian churches, they don't preach the gospel like they used to. But they used to preach it very clearly and powerful as much as 30 or 40 years ago. The Anglican Church would be the same way. But now there's a falling away taking place there. And I was looking at the way that they were viewing all the rest of the Christians there in Kenya. And that's where the burden came on my heart that maybe I should help these people to draw some lines in their minds about this church, the end time church. It was not hard to convince them that we are in the end times. They know that. It's not hard to convince them that we are in the last days. But in Kenya, it's a little harder to convince them that there's going to be an end time church that's going to be very different than, quote, the Christianity around them. And it's a little harder to convince them that there's going to be persecution come upon them because they live in much religious freedom. And Christianity has influenced the moral character of the country to such a point that even the lost people live righteous lives compared to the way it is in America. And even the heathen governmental officials will make laws and rules and regulations based on Christian principles. We don't have any of that in America anymore. They don't do that. But in Kenya, they do. Thus, the marks of the end time church. You know, Paul the Apostle made this statement in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. And he made the statement in his day, speaking to the Christians in his day. He said, the ends of the world have come upon us. The end of the world has come upon us. And if Paul could say that to the Corinthian church, how much more should we then say it in our day that the end of the world has come upon us? And I'm not standing up here this morning to make any predictions about any of that. That's not what I'm doing. But I would say it does seem like the end of the world has come upon us. Now, the end of the age is a very unusual time. We know just from the Scriptures that iniquity shall abound in the end times. In the end of the age, iniquity shall abound. And the love of many will wax cold. We also find in the Scriptures that as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. So, the end of the age is an unusual time. We read in the Scriptures also that in the end time, at the latter time, there'll be a falling away. We read also in the Scriptures that in the end time, the spirit of antichrist shall increase more and more. Deception will prevail. In 2 Timothy 3, verses 1-9, there's a list of characteristics of what evil men will be like. But may I say this, this is not just talking about the worldly people out there. God was not warning us about the worldly people out there. They've been like that in 1 Timothy 3, verses 1-9. They've been that way all along. But He's talking about religious people who have a form of godliness, but they deny the power of it. And their lives are being lived out there. They name the name of Jesus. They'll say they're Christians. They say they believe God. They'll even say they believe the book. But their lives will be filled with all kinds of evil things. You'll find them there in 2 Timothy 3, verses 1-9. So, the end of the age is an unusual time. Yet, in the midst of all this, there will be a church. There will be a church. There will be a church that Jesus will rapture. There will be a church that eventually cries as one man, even so, come Lord Jesus. So, in the midst of all these mixed up things, the iniquity, the love of many, waxing cold, days like the days of Noah, the falling away, the spirit of Antichrist, there will be a church in the midst of all of that. And that's what I'd like to speak about this morning. The marks of that end time church. What will it be like in that day? We know it won't just all of a sudden be there. I think it's safe to say that. That this end time church is going to become the end time church gradually. It'll be a gradual thing. But I believe as the days continue to go on, it'll get clearer and clearer and clearer. The end time church will be clear. In the last days, there'll be no question in anybody's mind who has an open heart at all, where the church is and where the church is not. Now, it's not that way now, we must say. It gets very confusing. I give my own testimony. I groan within my heart sometimes trying to discern where is and where isn't, and what is the church and what is not the church. I groan in my heart trying to discern where do you fellowship and where do you not fellowship, and where the lines are drawn. But I know as the days draw nigh, the days when the coming of the Son of God is, then in that day, it won't be gray anymore. It will be clear. It'll be black and white. What will this end time church be like? Will it be like the church at Ephesus? Will it be like the church of the Laodiceans? What will it be like? Some Bible teachers would say that the seven churches there, the last one is a picture of the church in the last days. Well, it may be a picture of a false church, but it's not a picture of the real one in the last days. What will it be like? The Scriptures would give some clear understanding on what the church is like. And I'd like to say this too. I don't plan to get real detailed. I don't feel like I have all the answers. I don't want to stand up here this morning and tell you I know just exactly what this end time church is going to be like. I'm not going to do that. But I do believe there are some characteristics that we see in the Scriptures that we can go by. There are clear guidelines for us. And I guess the motivation of the message for us this morning is that there be a cry come out of our hearts, O Lord, I want to be in that number in that day. So, marks of the end time church. First of all, the end time church will be a remnant church. A remnant church. You sisters know what a remnant is. You go to the fabric mart to buy some material and you know they have the material all rolled up on a big roll and I'm not sure how much is on there. Fifty yards or so of material on a roll. And once they've cut off of that and cut off of that, then there's just a little piece that is left. That's a remnant and you can go in there and buy that for less than what you buy the other material for. The word remnant means the piece that is cut off of another piece. That's what remnant means. We find the principle of remnant all through the Bible. But the word remnant means it... The principle of remnant signifies the coming out. When we're speaking about the church and we're speaking about God's people, this end time church is going to be made up of a lot of people who have come out of the so-called churches. There's no way you can get around it. The Scriptures clearly teach us that there will be a falling away. And that falling away, brothers and sisters, that falling away is not going to be people falling away from a true church. It's not going to be that way as I see it. No, the whole thing is going to fall away and then people will be coming out of that. Now, I believe there'll still be true churches even during that process, but overall it's going to be that there is a falling away and then people will be coming out of that which is falling away. And that will make a remnant. So, if you feel like a remnant today, then that's why. There's people around here in this room already who felt like a remnant already for three or four years as you wandered around. There's some remnant out in Nebraska. And there's some remnant down in Mississippi. And just about everywhere you go, you find people who feel like that. They feel like a remnant. They feel like they've been torn off of something and they don't quite know where they belong just yet. And my heart goes out to people like that. People that are sincere, people who love God, people who want to do His will and obey His Word, but yet they find themselves very confused because it's not clear yet. It's not clear yet. And it's a real struggle for them to find their way out of where they're at and into where they need to be. But as the days go by, it'll become clearer and clearer and clearer. But you know something I've noticed about this remnant? And now I'm speaking about the scattered remnant. And it works, brother Moses, it works like clockwork every time. You take a little piece of that remnant and drop them in the middle of a true church and they'll know where they belong just like that. They won't need to go home and pray about it anymore. The reason why they struggle now is because they're out in the middle of the world out there and they have convictions upon their heart, but they look around them and they don't see it being lived out anywhere else. But when you drop them down in the middle of a real church, they fit in right away. They know where they belong right away. They don't have any more fasting and praying to do. There's an answer of wisdom and an answer of the Spirit of God within their heart. So this end time church is going to be made up of people just like that. People who are wandering, people who are lonely, people who are searching, people who have been tried in the fire. Praise God, that will make a strong church, won't it? So, may I repeat it? I do not see a falling away from the church, but rather a church falling away and a remnant coming out of that. And thus will be formed a remnant church. Number two, a church that has been shaken by God. Turn to Hebrews chapter 12 for some Scriptures there. Hebrews chapter 12, this end time church will be a church that is shaken by God. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 26 through 29, to the end of the chapter there. Let's read 25 also, so it makes more sense. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh, for if they escape not who refuse him that speak on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth, but now he hath promised saying, yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. So God is going to shake this end time church. This church is going to be made up of individuals who have been shaken. This end time church is going to be a church that has been shaken. Because, let's face it, we all know just, excuse me, we all know from just sitting for the last two weeks and hearing all the messages that there's plenty of shaking that needs to be done yet in the life of this church. There's plenty of shaking that needs to be done yet and God is going to shake the church. Why? What is God's motive for shaking the church? What is God's motive for shaking you? What is God's motive for shaking the world? He's going to shake the whole world. What is His motive? His motive is found in verse 27, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. That's why God is shaking the church. That's why God is shaking your life. That's maybe how you feel this morning. I feel like I'm being shaken. I feel like God has a hold of me and He's just shaking me and shaking me. Well, amen, if you feel that way, praise God for that. You know why He's shaking you? You've got some things that are loose on you and God knows if He shakes you, they'll fall and only the things that are going to remain will remain and God is shaking you for that reason. So, let me encourage you this morning as individuals. If God has a hold of you and He's shaking you, then just let go of those things that He's shaking. Sometimes we want to hold on to the very thing that God is trying to shake us loose from. And you know what happens. You know how it is if you get a hold of something. For example, you take a magnet and put it on something and try to shake that magnet off. You won't shake it off real easy. Sometimes you have to shake it harder before the magnet falls off of the piece of metal again. That's the way it is with God. Oh, let us be pliable in His hands so that when He does shake us, those things which are loose and need to fall to the ground will just fall. Don't hold on to them. He'll shake you harder yet. He will shake you harder yet. But we don't want to get too far on the individual. I want to stay on the church this morning. God is going to shake the church also. And I think it's safe to say we have some shakings yet ahead of us as a congregation. We have some purifying yet to go through as a congregation. Why? Why would God do that? Because God is changing. He's shaking the church so that, verse 28, wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved. God wants the church to be a kingdom that cannot be moved. That cannot be moved. And as we look ahead and realize some of the things as we go down through the message, some of the things that the church will go through, we can recognize right now, yes, the Lord needs to shake the church so that it is a kingdom that cannot be moved in the midst of what is going to come on the church in the last days. It needs to be a kingdom that cannot be moved. So God is in the process of shaking. As we've looked in the newspapers lately, He's shaking ministries. He's shaking preachers. He's shaking churches. He's shaking families. And He's shaking individuals. We live in a day when God is shaking many things. But this end-time church will be one that's been shaken by God. So, if our heart does rise and say, O Lord, we want to be in that number. We want to be part of that church. We want the glorious privilege and the honor of being part of the church that is going to go to the end time. If we want to be part of that, then we must say, Amen, Lord, shake us. Shake us as a congregation. Number three. Revelation 19. Marks of this end-time church. She'll be a church that has made herself ready. Revelation 19 and verse 6. Revelation 19 and verse 6. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to Him. Why? For the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called under the marriage supper of the Lamb. And He saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. The end-time church will be a church that has made herself ready for the coming bridegroom. Over to chapter 21. Same book, Revelation 21, verse 9 through 11. And these verses, I don't claim to understand all what it means, but I know it makes my heart flip-flop when I read it. I guess that's what it's for. Until we understand more clearly what it means, many times that's what Bible prophecy does. It just makes your heart leap with joy. Revelation 21, verse 9. And there came unto me one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, and I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. And her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. And we're not going to read on there, but if we read on, we'd read all the description of the heavenly city. What does that mean? I'm not sure what it all means. But I know that that heavenly city is the bride. And I know that the church is the bride. And I know that the church will be the heavenly city. But I don't know how all that will be worked out. But I know it makes my heart leap with joy. And I know it's something wonderful. And I know it's something far above what we can imagine even now. But let's remember this. That church will be a church that has made herself ready for the coming of the bridegroom. Just like it is, the only way I know to understand clearly or explain clearly what that means is to look back into the Jewish wedding and realize how it was there. And in the Jewish wedding, when the bridegroom came and asked if he could be married to the young lady, then they were espoused to be married. And that's exactly where we are at. We are espoused. We are an espoused virgin to Christ. We are not married yet. We are not married. We are only espoused. And after that agreement of espousal was made, then the bridegroom went away. He went back to his father's house. He went back to prepare a place for his bride, where they could live together and have a happy life together. And while he was away preparing for that, the bride, she stayed at her own home. And she prepared herself for the day when the bridegroom would come. She had much preparation. She did sewing. She made herself clothes to wear. She probably made curtains and things for the house. And she was putting up food. And she was preparing herself and preparing her belongings so that when the bridegroom came to get her, she'd be ready to meet him. And that's the picture that we see here in Revelation. Here's the marriage supper of the Lamb, and here's the bride, and the bride has made herself ready. There'll be no church caught up to be with Jesus that has not made herself ready. There will be none. I know that many people have a lot of ideas about what all that means. And I'm not up here to say what all of it means today. We've been hearing for two weeks what it means to make ourselves ready. But all I'm saying is, this end-time church will be a church that has made herself ready. In Ephesians chapter 5, we get a little more insight into that. Let's read over there for a minute. Ephesians 5, 25, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it. Why? That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. Now, there's the church. There's the end-time church right there. It's a church that has made herself ready. She's holy. She's without blemish. I'm not saying she's sinless. I'm saying she's holy. She's without blemish. She has no spot. Her heart is prepared. Her heart is upright. Her heart is pure. Her heart is clean. She's made herself ready for the Bridegroom to come, and she's waiting and watching for that Bridegroom. You see, going back to the Jewish wedding again, the Bride didn't know exactly what day the Bridegroom would come. She did not know that. She needed to be ready. He didn't say, I'll come on this day. He just said, I'll come sometime around here. And that's all she knew. She had to be ready for Him, and she was watching for Him. And I imagine there the last few days before the Bridegroom came, you could find that Bride looking out of her window at night before she went to bed, because the Bridegroom always came at night. Came at night! And he'd gather together some of his friends, and they'd come with torches and come to the house to get the Bride. So I can just imagine her each night as she went to bed, as the days drew nigh, and she wondered, well, will it be tonight? She'd look out her window and look out into the distance into the night. Do I see any little flickers of light out there? Do I hear any noise? Can I hear the sound of the Bridegroom coming? No, none. I don't know if it's tonight or not. And she'd lay her head down on her pillow that night with an expectancy in her heart and wonder, will He come tonight for me? Will He come tonight? And there was a longing within her heart as she longed for the Bridegroom to come and get her. And there was a peace and a satisfaction in her soul, because she knew that she was ready for Him to come. And all of her garments were made ready, and all the provisions were made, and she could lay her head down on that pillow again tonight and say, oh, I hope it's tonight. I hope it's tonight. And in the next morning when she rose up again, with the lighting of the day, she'd think, well, it wasn't last night, but maybe it'll be tonight. And all through the day as she'd worked out through her day, she began to ponder, I wonder if it'll be tonight. I wonder if it'll be tonight. And oh, I could just imagine the anticipation that was in her heart. This is the anticipation that will be in the heart of the church, the end-time church. She'll have made herself ready. She'll be looking for the Bridegroom. She'll be prepared. She'll be satisfied. She'll lay herself down on her bed at night and with confidence in her heart know that she's ready for the Bridegroom to come. That'll be the church of the last days. The church will be ready for the Bridegroom to come. Prepared. A prepared church. Praise the Lord. Fourthly, this end-time church will be sound in doctrine. 2 Timothy chapter 4. And I guess we hear a lot about that, about this very subject right here these days. And not just from this pulpit, but from many different sources. Periodicals come through my house. A message from David Wilkerson. And I got some other periodical the other day. I'm not sure what the name of the man was. But you keep hearing this. This tune is coming out clear. It seems that God is giving this very Word to the church all over this country. Why? Because right now it's gray. It's not black and white. There'll be a day when it's black and white, but right now it's gray. And there are people in churches out there who are gray in their minds and they're trying to find their way. So the Word keeps coming out through periodicals and through sermons that you hear. The church of the end time will be sound in doctrine. She will have to be sound in doctrine. And those words come ringing out into the heart of the remnant that stagger and wander around in this country. The church will be a sound in doctrine church. And those people begin to study the Bible and they begin to search the Scriptures. And as they search the Scriptures and look at the setting that they're in, they say it doesn't line up. This doesn't make sense. It's not sound in doctrine here. They say they believe the Bible, but they don't live the Bible anymore. What is wrong? What is wrong? Now the message is coming clear, I believe, out of the heart of God for those struggling saints all over this country so that they can be clarified in their mind and find a place of peace and rest and know that they are going the right way. That it is the Spirit of God that's telling them this is the wrong place. You need to get out of here. Sound in doctrine. 2 Timothy 4 We should read from verse 1 through 4. I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom. Timothy. Preach the word. Be instant in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. Why? For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. Now this is a warning that was given already to Timothy. And if it's a warning to Timothy, how much more is it a warning to us? The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. The time has come when they do not endure sound doctrine. There will be those who will not endure sound doctrine, but brothers and sisters, there will be those who will endure sound doctrine. Paul didn't need to warn Timothy about that. He knew that. That's assumed. There will be those who will endure sound doctrine in the last days. There will be a church that will be clear, that will be on, that will be sound in doctrine, that will be sound in practice, that will live holy lives. There will be a church like that. It will be worldwide in the last days. It won't just be in America. It will be worldwide. Praise God. Sound doctrine is word doctrine. If you don't have word doctrine, you have no sound doctrine. There are churches today who hardly know this book. All they talk about is experience doctrine. Experience doctrine is not sound doctrine. Word doctrine is sound doctrine. Talk about their new revelations. We need to test our revelations with the book. You know, I was looking at a little revival book about George Brunk's meetings, and they had a big banner that went across the back of the tent that said, The whole Gospel for the whole world. I was pondering that a little while back and I thought to myself, you know, there's another one that goes right alongside of that. The whole Bible for the whole world. The whole Bible for the whole world. There will be a church in the last days that will live by this book. This whole book will be for the whole world. It doesn't matter whether you're red or yellow, black or white. It doesn't matter whether you're a Chinaman, or whether you're a Vietnamese, or whether you're an African, or whether you're an American. This book is the book of God, and it's sound in doctrine. And this book will make anybody holy that will live by it and believe it. And I believe with all my heart that anybody who opens their heart to God and to His Word, they're going to end up living by this book. All the book. And our findings have been just exactly that. You can find yourself a bunch of people in Africa and Romania and in Russia and in China and all kinds of places around the world. And you go there and sit down and talk to them and you'll find out, hey, there's a remnant church over there in Kenya too. And there's a remnant church in Ghana too. And there's a remnant church over there in Russia. And there's one in Romania. And there will be one all over this world before we're done. How will you be able to tell this remnant church will be sound in doctrine? And I don't believe that the remnant church will pick up a weapon and go to war with the Antichrist someday. I don't believe it. No way! It may be now that you can find a Christian scattered here or there who will pick up a weapon and go to war. But the remnant church will not go to war because the last wars that will be fought will be fought under the direction of the Antichrist. How can the church pick up arms and fight for the Antichrist? But we are finding we sit down with our brethren in Kenya. They don't believe in going to war. We sit down with our brethren in Ghana. They don't believe in going to war. God's people don't go to war. We love. We overcome evil with good. We don't go to war. There's a church in Kenya who suffered during independence. You see, Kenya only has their independence for about 23 years. And there was much persecution to the church in Kenya because they would not fight during independence. And their own people turned on them and persecuted them. They were persecuted on both sides. The British wanted them to fight against the nationals. And they wouldn't fight. And the nationals wanted them to fight against the British. And they wouldn't fight. And they were persecuted on both sides because they would not bear arms during that revolution that took place in Kenya 23, 30 years ago. But the church will be sound in doctrine. Didn't we just read there in Ephesians chapter 5 that it's by the washing of the Word that the bride will be made ready? That's how the bride will be made ready. By the washing of the Word. So it's safe to say that the church, which is the bride, which has been made ready, will be washed by this Book. There will be an attack on the Word of God. There already is. But it will become greater and greater. We know that as we look into other countries. The Word of God is a Book that you have to hide when you're in Russia. The Word of God will become that in America someday. It will be a Book that you'll have to hide. And maybe that goes against your theology, but I just believe that America's got a rude awakening coming. A rude awakening. But, the end-time church will cling to this Book. They'll cling to the Bible. Let us fill our hearts and minds with this Book, this powerful Word, this life-changing Word, this life-washing Bible. Let us live out of God's Word in a clear way. That will be one of the clear signs of the end-time church, brothers and sisters. It's because we live out of this Bible in a clear way that when you drop a little piece of the remnant in the midst of the congregation, they know they belong here right away. Why do they know they belong here? It's because they sense a purity. They sense a consecration. And they can see with their eyes a bunch of people who are living out the Word of God. Let us never, let us never water down the Bible. Let us never water the Bible down so much that you can't tell the difference between us and the world. The way we look, the way we talk, where we go, how we act. No, the church, the end-time church will be a church that is clearly, distinctly different from the world. It is not the world getting more and more and more wicked all the time. Well, if we're going to live according to God's Word, then we're going to get more and more and more different. We'll be the filth and the off-scoring of the world. There'll come a day when people will scorn us and they'll push us away like we smell bad just because we live holy lives. But let us not stop at that. Number five, the end-time church will be a church that is persecuted. And I know I've touched on this already. It's a little hard not to. But let's turn to 2 Timothy 3 and read a few verses. 2 Timothy 3, verse 10. Paul is speaking to Timothy. This is Paul's last letter. Paul's not going to live very much longer, so he's giving instructions to Timothy. Last words. Some things that he wants Timothy to remember after he is gone. Verse 10, But thou, Timothy, hast fully known my doctrine, my manner of life, my purpose, my faith, my long-suffering, my charity, my patience, my persecutions, my afflictions. And we'll stop there. Do you notice? He said, Timothy, you have fully known all of these. None of them were grave to you, Timothy. I lived a clear life before you. You clearly knew my purpose. You clearly knew my manner of life. You clearly saw my persecution. You clearly saw how I long suffered. You clearly saw my life, Timothy. His life was clear, without question. And then he says, Persecutions and afflictions which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. The church, this end-time church will be a persecuted church. Mark it down. Let your mind be persuaded we are going to be persecuted if we choose to be this end-time church. We are going to be persecuted. And brothers and sisters, we're just getting some light afflictions. They're just light afflictions now. A few words of criticism here and there. We're just getting light afflictions. The church of Jesus Christ in the last days will be a persecuted church. We read in the book of Daniel, and I'm not one that's real good on prophecy, but we read in the book of Daniel, that there shall arise a fierce king that shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. Did you get that? He's going to go and destroy what kind of people? The holy people. The mighty and the holy people. What a beautiful combination. Filled with the power of God and filled with the holiness of God. The end-time church, I do not believe, will hide itself in worldliness so it can stay alive. I don't believe the end-time church. I don't believe the sisters in the end times will uncover their heads so they can stay alive. I don't believe that. They are the mighty and the holy people. And there will be a fierce king that will arise to destroy them. Many shall be purified and made white and tried, it also says in the book of Daniel. This falling away that is spoken of in Timothy, this falling away will persecute the end-time church. The very falling away will turn around and persecute the end-time church. Now remember that. It's not going to be in the end time, it's not going to be a bunch of people who don't know anything about the Bible. It's not going to be that. It's going to be people who know something about the Bible. Who have a little bit of truth. It's going to be those kind of people that are going to persecute. I hate to use this testimony, but I think it's right to use right now. The Lord laid it on my heart. A lot of you know Perry. Remember Perry? Perry Hyatt? I was talking to him on the telephone the other day and he said the New Age movement is growing by leaps and bounds in California. He knows what it is. He knows it's wrong. He had very clear insights on that. He knew it was wrong. But he said, I am amazed how easily the Christians are being deceived by the smooth-talking people in the New Age movement. And the reason why they can be deceived is because they have a little bit of truth. And they have a few words that are right. And they say they know God. And they quote verses out of this book to do it. But those are the very people that are going to persecute the church in the end time. Those are the very people falling away. This falling away will persecute the end time church. You can mark it down. You may as well prepare yourself to be misunderstood, to be criticized. You may as well prepare yourself to be called legalists. You can count on that one. Anybody that stands for holiness is going to be called a legalist. They always have been. Bondage. Did you know you're in bondage today? Many people feel. You poor people over here, you're in bondage. Well, if this is bondage, here it doesn't seem like bondage to me. You'll be told you to be quiet. You'll be told you can't win souls. You say, here in America? Yes, here in America. There will come a day when there will be a law passed that you will not be able to win souls anymore. You will not be able to walk up to somebody's door and ask them, Sir, if you died today, do you know for sure you'd go to heaven? You will not be able to do that. There is coming a day when you'll not be able to do it anymore. It will be against the law. But God, let us live in this age. Here we are. We are alive. It was not by our choice at all. It's an unchangeable. God brought us into the world now. For those of you that quake, I'm sure that makes you quake even more. But for those of you that are not fearful, boy, that ought to stir your heart. Praise God. We have been allowed an honor. Number six, the end time church will be a martyr church. There will be martyrs in the end time church. Satan will attack the church in the last days openly because of the blindness of people. He will attack it openly. I've said this before. I think I'll say it again and again and again. We need to train our children a little differently than the last generation did. We need to train them differently. You know, in Russia, they train their children differently there. They do. Because they're living in the midst of persecution right now in Russia. They train their children from little up to stand for God. Don't compromise. No matter what. They train their children from little up. You may die for Jesus someday. They train them that way. Why do they train them that way? Because persecution is upon them and they can see it with their very eyes and realize this is where my children are growing up. And if they're ever going to make it in the midst of this, I'm going to have to train them that way. Well, wouldn't it be wise of us to have a little prophecy in us, to be able to look around a little and say that that which they have is going to come to us also? And wouldn't it be wise of us then, knowing that it's going to come to start training our children now, to start preparing our own minds now for the fact that we may die for our faith? I believe it's wisdom. I believe that God in His wisdom has sent people from those persecuted countries to this country to quicken the mind of God's people, to shake them out of their... to shake them into reality and out of complacency and help them to realize what is going to happen. You see, when the stories start coming, when Sylvia can come to the church and share what she went through in Romania, or Johan can come and share what he went through in Russia, all that does is begin to stimulate all of our minds. I know that's what it's done for me. Because before we met Johan and before we had Sylvia here, all those things, I'd never heard such a thing. My mentality was not that way. But now my whole mentality has changed and I realize, hey, I may have to die for my faith. And if I don't die for my faith, there's a real good chance my children will die for their faith. The blood of Christians will flow in America again. It will flow in America. We need to be prepared. Prepared for that. God is preparing us ahead of time. And I like this little phrase. I think it's fitting. I'm sure it's used in many places many times, but it's fitting right here. If we're not willing to live for Jesus, do we think that we will be able to die for Him? There's no way. If we're not willing to live for Him now, we will not be willing to die for Him. Think about it. Let your mind ponder that for a few minutes. And I know, I know, this world is a struggle. I know that. I'm not making light of the struggles of this world, but I would have to say this world is such a struggle to us because we're powerless. We're powerless. That's why it's such a struggle. But I know the world is a struggle. I know it is. But you just compare the little trials of standing for Jesus that we have now, where we live now, compared to standing before a firing squad. We need to rise above it. We need by the grace of God to rise above this world and live right and stand right now or we won't stand right then. And lastly, the end time church will be a powerful church. If we could just go back down through the list. A remnant church made up of people that were called out through much trial and struggles, through much loneliness, through much searchings of their heart. They were called out of a falling away church and into a holy church. A church that has been shaken by God and allowed things to fall off. All the things that can be moved have been shaken off of this church. This is a church that has made herself ready. This is a church that is sound in doctrine. This is a church that is being persecuted for her faith. This is a church that knows the experience of a martyr among them. And maybe it would be good to think about that a little. What a blessing it would be if one among us shed his blood or her blood for the faith. What would that do to the church next Sunday morning? What would that do to the church? We know what it would do. I'll tell you what, there wouldn't be any silliness in us next Sunday morning. There would be some rejoicing, yes, in God, but there wouldn't be any silliness in us. There would be no tomfoolery left in us if that happened just one time. You think about it. I won't name any names. I don't want to section anybody out. But you just think about it. What if Brother So-and-So was martyred this week? And next Sunday morning when we gathered together, his place was empty. Oh, what an effect it would have upon the church. Because of all these things, the remnant, the shaking, the bride who's made herself ready, the church that is sound in doctrine, the church that is persecuted, the church that has martyrs in it, because of all these things, this end time church will be a powerful church. It will be a powerful church. Look forward to it, brothers and sisters. If you're going to be in that number, look forward to it. It will be a powerful church. It will be a persecuted church. It will be a church that is martyred, but it will be a powerful church. All of these last points will work together to make this end time church a mighty church for God. In James 5, it speaks about the latter rain and the former rain. Well, I don't know. Maybe the outpouring that will come on the church in the last days will be the former rain or the latter rain. And the outpouring at Pentecost will be the former rain. I don't know. But I know this, there's never been a time, there has never been a time in the history of the church where the church worldwide was being persecuted. The closest thing to it would have been just after Pentecost and everybody was scattered and therefore the persecution stopped in the sense of being an onslaught where they were hunting them down and killing them and throwing them in prison and all of that. It's never been that way. There have been little places. There have been the smithers of it here and there through history. But there's never been a time when the whole church worldwide was being beaten and scourged and mocked and murdered for their faith. There's never been a time like that. And I'm not sure about you, but I believe in two understandings of the church. There's local church and then there's a universal church. There is a universal church, the worldwide body of Christ. It is one body. And in that day, when that persecution comes upon that one body, that body will be purified and that body will cry out together and that body will be unified and there will be a cry that comes up out of that body unto the God of heaven and the God of heaven will minister to that body, that worldwide body, and that body will have an anointing upon it because it will be the body of Jesus. And that anointing will be strong because the body will be purified and tried in the fires and there will be an anointing and there will be a power on that body like there's never been seen in the age of the church so far. There will be a powerful church in those days. And may I say this, I don't believe that you'll see any worldwide revivals like what we've seen in the past. You won't see one like the revival of 1859. You won't see that. No, you won't. But there will be a mighty church upon this earth that will have an influence like it never had before. And it will grow like it never grew before. By the blood of the martyrs, it will grow. And by the persecution that comes upon it, it will grow. There never was a stronger anointing on anyone than the anointing to die for Jesus. Never was. And we don't know what that anointing is all about. I don't believe. But we know that it was an anointing. We know that those men and women who were burned at the stake, they could have never done that. They could have never done that except they were under an anointing, a powerful anointing from God that made them numb to the fire. Completely numb. Well, if there is no stronger anointing than that anointing, imagine that anointing beyond on the church worldwide. It will be a powerful church. It will be a church where one dies and a hundred get converted. It will be that kind of a church. It will be a church where the police can come and raid the assembly and get converted by the power of God in the middle of their raid. It will be that kind of a church. And as the story we heard not too long ago, it will be a church where the judges pass judgment and die on the judge's seat while they pass judgment on the Christians. It will be a church where bread is provided miraculously when there was no bread to eat. It will be that kind of a church, brothers and sisters. I don't know about everyone else here, but I want to be in that number. I want to be there. I want to be in that one. I want to be in that kind of church. I want my children to be in that kind of church. Let us covet this honor. The honor of being part of a church like that. This is the kind of church that will emerge out of these many false ways that we see around us. It's emerging, brothers and sisters. It's emerging. I don't know how long all of that will take, but I know this, we need to keep our lines clear. We need to keep them clear. And praise God that we have an assembly that can sit and hear a message like this and say, Amen! If I preached this in some other churches, they wouldn't swallow it for a minute. Praise God that we are in an assembly where we can preach a message like this and everybody says, Amen! That's the kind of church I want to be in. But may I say this? Let us not take it for granted. There are struggling souls all over this country that would just be thrilled at one service like this. If they could just be in one service like this, they'd be so thrilled. I've got a sister and a brother-in-law back in Hastings, Nebraska. They're just living off of their little few days here. They're just living off of them. Let us not take it for granted what we have. God has given it. God has brought it. We praise Him for it. But let us not take it for granted and let us work together to keep it that way. A holy church, a spotless church, a church that is consecrated where all of the believers love God. I wonder how many times I've heard that. I can hardly believe that there's a place where everybody loves God! So let us not take it for granted. But just humble ourselves before God. And let us not take our successes and let them go to our head. But rather, just humble ourselves before God and say, Lord, keep shaking. Keep shaking us, Lord, so that we can be in that number. It's going to take a different kind of Christian than even what we have in this room to live in what's coming ahead so we can be counting on God preparing us for that day. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank You. Oh, Father, we thank You for what You've done today. We thank You, dear God, that You have made it clear in Your Word. We thank You, dear God, that You reveal Your secrets unto Your men. Lord, we thank You for that, Father. Lord, we just thank You for the way that You are working in our lives. Lord, we thank You for the way that You are drawing a remnant of people out of all the worldly churches around. Dear God, we just pray that You will count us worthy to be in the number. Oh, God, to be in the number that stands all the way through to the end. Oh, God, let us be worthy. Give us grace, oh God, that we might be counted worthy to be that kind of a church that rides this turmoil of life all the way to the end. Dear God, we must admit we tremble before You this morning as we look ahead. Yes, it's one thing to get up here and speak boldly about these things. It's one thing to say amen. It's one thing for our emotions to rise up and say amen. That's what I want. But, oh God, reality will come. It will come, Father. We pray that You'll prepare us for reality. Lord, let the amens of our heart be put into shoe leather and prepare us, oh God, for the reality of what we're saying. For, Father, we do know that it doth come. It doth come, Lord. So, God, we pray with thanksgiving Your blessing on these words. I pray You'll use them, Lord, in some way to stir a heart, to prepare a heart, to enlighten somebody in the way. And, oh God, we pray that You'll add Your further blessing on the rest of the service. And there'll be an anointing on all. We ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen. 1. Ephrata, Pennsylvania, 17522 You are welcome to copy this message for free distribution. This ministry is supported by your donations. May the Lord Jesus bless you.