When The End Comes, Where Will You Be

Father, thank you, God Almighty, thank you. Thank you for your word. Oh, Lord, if we didn't have your word, we wouldn't know which direction to go in. We wouldn't know what truth is. We wouldn't understand the incredible provision of strength that you have given to us as your people. Today, Lord, I ask for the anointing of your Holy Spirit. God Almighty, I'm asking you that walls would come crumbling down. I'm asking you, my God, that blinded eyes would see. I'm asking you, Lord, that people who are halting between two opinions would make a choice. Father, thank you this day, God. Thank you, Lord, for giving me the touch of heaven this day and for giving us as a people the touch of heaven we need to be able to hear your word. Lord, let your word live. Let it live. Let it be etched in every heart and in every mind. And Father, we thank you for this in Jesus' name, amen. Matthew chapter 24, please, if you go there in the New Testament, my message is entitled, when the end comes, where will you be? When the end comes, where will you be? Matthew chapter 24, beginning at verse one. Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. Now, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us, when will these things be? In other words, they're asking, when will this time that you're speaking of where these stones are thrown down, when will this all happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And Jesus answered and said to them, take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Actually, it really means the beginnings of birth pangs as of when a baby is fully formed in the womb and the time for delivering that child has come and suddenly the labor pains start to begin. Then verse nine, they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you. And you will be hated of all nations for my namesake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations. And then the end will come. Now, Paul the apostle in exhorting the early church about these days that are now coming upon us in first Thessalonians chapter five, let me just read it to you verses one to nine. He says, but concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. Now we're talking about the day of Christ's return. It is the day of his physical return to the earth is preceded by his coming to gather his church together unto him. It's called the rapture of the church. It's going to happen folks. And surely as we are here this morning, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, the dead in Christ are going to rise first and we who are alive and remain shall be gathered together with them. Imagine if you are outside of the Lord today, if you do not know Christ as savior and suddenly all the rest of us disappear in the sanctuary and you are all alone. Imagine the lostness, the feeling of that. He comes as a thief in the night. For when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape. But you brethren are not in darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said, the good man in the house, if he would have known at what time the thief was gonna come, he would have made preparation and not allowed his house to be broken into. You know, if there was a thief in your neighborhood and the thief was striking every night, wouldn't you do something to your house or your apartment? Wouldn't you examine the windows and the doors and make sure everything is secure? And some of you would stay up all night just to make sure to protect yourself, to protect your family. And he himself said, if the good man, if the man, the woman in charge of the house had known or was aware that there was a thief in the neighborhood, they would have not allowed their house to be broken into. Now, in the context of the last days, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 19, do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? Or in 1 Corinthians 3, verse nine, he says it more simply, you are God's building. In other words, you are God's house. You are, this is only a building. Here, we come to the Mark Hellinger Theater, but it's only a building. It's not eternal. It's not going into the heavens. And when you and I leave, God goes with us because this is not God's house. You are God's house. So now understanding this, which is the house that the thief is trying to break into? You are the house. You are the temple of God. You are the place of God's dwelling. You are the place of God's glory. You are the place of God's empowerment. You are the place where God chooses to dwell in this New Testament time on the earth. You are the ones who are called to bring glory to God because of the light that's inside and the life that's inside of your earthen vessel. So you are the house. I am the house that the devil will do everything in his power to break into in this darkened hour that we are now living in. When they say peace and safety, this world will do everything it can to bring about peace, to bring about safety. There's coming a moment, I suppose, where the leaders of this world feel that they've actually arrived, that this euphoric moment where everybody is going to get along. Obviously, that's not happening today. But they're assuming that it's gonna happen in the future. Jesus went out from the temple in chapter 24, verse one, and they were showing him the buildings of the temple. In other words, wow, isn't this awesome? Here we are, this building is beautiful. And look at the size of the stones. And it had a sense of permanence about it. In other words, the temple will always be here. The glory will always be here. But Jesus said, do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. In other words, there's coming a moment, folks, where every security of this world is going to fail. Everything that we've trusted in is going to fail. You're seeing even this week, for example, if your confidence was in your 403B or whatever you call it, that thing might be gone by the end of next week or next month. You know that. Every stone may fall. And God help you if that's your trust for the future. If that's what you're basing, you walk out in Manhattan and you think these buildings are always gonna be here. They may not always be here. Things may not always look the way they are. And if you're looking for security in the things of this world, you're going to be sadly, sadly disappointed one day. And he said to them, they asked him now, they said, what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? In other words, what can we look forward to? What will be the spiritual temperature? What will be happening? It was a very real question that they were asking him. He starts up by saying, take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and will deceive many. In other words, this last moment of time, the devil will do everything he can to break into the house of God and break into the people of God. False messiahs will arise claiming, now some will claim to be Christ and sad to say, some won't follow them. They'll claim to be the Lord or they'll claim to have the words and the way to go forward. In that context, they'll claim to be the messiah. I'm here to deliver. I'm here to tell you the way into security and into the future and how you can find the pathway to the places of safety. Paul said, it's Christ in you, the hope of glory in Colossians chapter one, verse 27. In other words, there will be others who rise up and say, you see, if you're looking at my life, you're looking at Christ. You're looking at what Christ is, who Christ is, what Christ does. And so the false messiahs will be in pulpits all over the nation. They'll be standing up and saying, yes, I have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's leading me. The Holy Spirit's animating me. And so if you're looking at my life, here's an example of who the messiah is. What the messiah looks like, what the messiah does. You understand, they're saying, I am a representative of Christ. Jesus said, they will come in my name, saying I am Christ. They will come and stand and say, this is what Jesus looks like. This is what Jesus speaks. This is who Jesus is. It will be an age of incredible deception. False prophets and teachers will arise. The scripture tells us, actually, Jesus himself warned us, and they will deceive many. Now, how do you discern the difference between that which is being animated by the spirit of God and that which the devil is animating and as an imitation of God? Now, there is an easy way to discern it. I'm gonna try and make it as simple as I can. Now, you might wanna look this up when you get home, but there are references in the Old Testament to Satan himself, his heart, his methodology, his ways of thinking. Isaiah chapter 14, verses 12 to 15, for example, the prophet Isaiah says, how you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning. How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations. For you've said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high, yet you shall be brought down to hell to the lowest depths of the pit. You see, Satan's theology focuses on self. It's that simple. It focuses on self as opposed to the theology of Christ focuses on others. That's how you can discern it. If you're listening to a preacher that's telling you, for example, you're not the tail, you're the head. And that's all his message or her message is. You will be higher than the stars of God. You will sit in places of prominence in society. You will be always healthy and always rich and you will always prosper and trouble will never come to your door. You will ascend above the heights of the clouds. You will be known among people everywhere you travel and you will be like the most high. That comes from hell itself. That is animated by darkness and there's no shortage of it now in our generation. John 10, 11, Jesus said, I'm the good shepherd and the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. And so Satan's theology focuses on self. The theology of Christ leads us after we initially are healed. I understand there's a momentary focus where we have to say, God, I need this or I need that or I need to be free. I understand that. But when we come to maturity in Christ, the focus shifts to not my will, but thine be done. The focus shifts to saying, God, use my life for the sake of those who don't know you or going into a Christless eternity. God, use my life as an oil, as a key, as a healing, as a voice. The focus of Christ is about others. As the father has sent me, Jesus said, now I'm sending you. That's why Christ himself said, if any man does not take up his cross, he cannot be my disciple. It really means yielding to the will of God ultimately is for the sake of others. Any gospel that gets you to focus solely on yourself is from hell itself. There's no other, there's no easier way to say it. And that's how you can discern it. If it's not leading you to the mission field, it's not leading you to give for the sake of those who don't have, it's not leading you to be poured out or to go outside your comfort zone. It's not leading you to give to those that are hungry, visit those in prison, then it's not from God. Let's keep it real. Let's keep it really simple now. Praise God. So there'll be an increase in self-focused theology. Remember when the devil himself came into Eden, that's exactly what his gospel was. You don't have to live in the narrowness of what God says life is. You can do it yourself. You can be your own judge of what's good and what's evil. And you'll be like God is. You see, you don't have to follow his way. You can craft your own way. And you can still get to this utopian end of eternity in heaven. Matthew 24, six, it says, "'You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. "'See that you're not trouble, "'for all these things must come to pass, "'but the end is not yet.'" In other words, there'll be an increase of angry speech, an increase of threatenings. Nations will start threatening other nations. Ideologies will start threatening other ideologies. As a matter of fact, we are now seeing this in our own society here in America. We're seeing it in our own government. We're seeing it in places where the speech all day, it's now, have you noticed it's moving to violence? It's moving to threats of violence now. This is a sign of the last days. "'For nation will rise against nation "'and kingdom against kingdom, "'and there'll be famines, pestilences, "'and earthquakes in various places.'" In the last days, the world will not just speak about violence, but actually turn to violence. They might be fighting, I don't know, they might fight over resources. Who knows that those who have not might start fighting with those who have, et cetera, et cetera. There'll be famines. Have you been reading lately about the plague of locusts that's hitting Africa right now? Threatening to cause mass starvation throughout Africa. They're calling it biblical proportions. A locust invasion of biblical proportions. I saw a picture of these locusts coming over a mountain. It looks like a dark storm cloud. They're so thick, they actually block out the sun. It's amazing when you begin to see, and this is what our friends in Africa are going to be experiencing in the not too distant future. There are going to be pestilences, in other words, new diseases coming into the world. And here we are facing the coronavirus now. In our own society, there's a possibility we may not be able to meet in the coming days for a season. I don't wish harm, obviously, on anybody. And our prayer is that God push this thing away. But there are going to be new diseases, new pestilences coming. There are gonna be earthquakes in various places. And all these are the beginning of sorrows. Then, verse nine, they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you'll be hated of all nations, for my name's sake. Now, this is already happening in China. It's already happening in various other places throughout the world. There was a marginal tolerance of Christianity, now turned to an intolerance, and now it's turning to violence in many places throughout the world. And you are experiencing the beginnings of this in this society. You're experiencing it in the workplace, in your community. You can't have a biblical opinion anymore. Now you're being vilified or put out as a hater or a divider. You shall be what? Hated of all nations, for my name's sake. Another sign of the end times. And then many will be offended and betray one another and will hate one another, verse 10. Paul, in 2 Thessalonians, chapter two and verse three, says, before the return of Christ, there'll be a great falling away. Falling away of people who would just, they'll be saying this. This is the way I see it. I didn't sign up for this. When I came to Christ, I was told I was going to be healthy, happy, and rich. And I was going to be the head, not the tail. And everything's going to be nice. We're going to have a big house, nice car, the best wife, the best husband, a great family. This is what I was told. I didn't sign up to be hated. I didn't sign up to be part of a religion that society doesn't endorse. And so many, many will be offended. Many. They received this news of eternal life with joy, but as the scripture says, they had no root in themselves. And when persecution arises, they are offended. I didn't sign up for this. I signed up for happiness, for joy. I wanted to look like brother so-and-so on television. I thought that was going to be my future or sister so-and-so. I didn't sign up to be hated in the workplace and vilified and considered the off-scouring of this world. And many, many will be offended. They will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. In other words, so as people are leaving the true Christ as it is, there will be religious voices endorsing their journey. Oh, those fundamentalists are just so strict. They believe every word of the Bible. You and I know that all of this can't possibly be inspired. This is what they will say. And they will infuse other thought and take people away from the truth of God's word as they are leaving the truth of God's life and the truth of God's presence. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. There will be a depravity that mankind will descend into, perhaps unseen in the history of the world. It will sweep the world. A lawlessness, an immorality, the breaking down of all barriers. Pastor Patrick just told me on the platform that they are now, there's a new law that's been introduced in Canada that's going to make, if it passes, and there's a chance it will, that's going to make assisted suicide legal for teenagers. That's already been done in certain parts of Europe, folks. This shouldn't surprise us. And taking the children out of the hands of their mothers and fathers. Folks, if ever there was a time to pray, if ever there was a time to go to the throne of God, it is now. Amazing, amazing. What is going to happen is going to stagger us. Once we've crossed certain boundaries and lines, there's no limit to what evil will do and become in the world. We're about to live and see a lawlessness that will shock us. We'll be scratching our heads every morning, say, how is this possible? How did this thinking ever even get into this society in the first place? Now, here's the good news. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. So here's the way I read this. There will be a victorious church in the last days of time as we know it. There will be a people of God empowered by the spirit of Almighty God, given the ability to stand that is supernatural, given courage that can only come from God, given power in their speech, given something of light in their eye, given something of character that can only come from the Holy Spirit, given a love that will cast out fear, given the courage to stand up and declare to this whole world that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. There is no other name given under heaven. Empowered by the Holy Spirit. So let that be your prayer now. It is mine. Oh God, give me your Holy Spirit. Oh God, as you did for the early church when they prayed about the threatenings that were coming against the testimony of Christ. And as they prayed, you shook the place where they were. You gave them your Holy Spirit. You stretched out your hand and began to heal. And they were not afraid of the threatenings of the authorities of their time. They stood in the strength of their God because they lived on the side of truth. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. There are times to stand up and be counted. There are times when we have to fight for our homes, fight for our families, fight for our children, fight for the unborn, fight for morality, fight for marriage, fight for truth. There are times we have to stand up and fight. And there will be a victorious church. Yes, there will be multitudes descending into darkness. There'll be multitudes of formerly professing believers that will be following them into darkness. But thank God there will be a victorious church. And I believe with all my heart, we will live to see a harvest in this last day, a glorious harvest for the glory of God. God will empower us to keep loving when love is growing cold. The love of many will grow cold. The love of many even in God's house for the work of God will grow cold. But God will give us a supernatural enablement of love to even love our enemies, even love those who hate us and despitefully use us. God will give us that love. Only God can give it. But if you ask for it, it can be yours. Ask for it. You have not because you ask not. Jesus said it clearly through the Apostle James. You have not simply because you ask not. He said to his own disciples, up to this point, you've not asked for anything. Ask now that your joy might be full. It's time to ask. It's time to say, God, fill my heart with a love that won't grow cold. Fill my heart with a love that's supernatural. Fill my heart with a love that will cause me even to love those that will hate me in the future. There'll be a victorious church empowered by the Holy Spirit to keep on giving when selfishness is abounding, when everyone is hoarding, when everyone is reaching out, when countries are fighting over resources, then everybody's doing this, trying to survive the best way they know how. There's going to be a people that still have open hearts and open hands, looking around them to see if there's a need that they can meet and trusting that God will be their supply. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. There will be a victorious church empowered to live morally when the world is being baptized in filth. A victorious church making the choice to say, God, this house is your house. I'm not asking you to be a tenant. I'm asking you to take it over. I'm asking you to rearrange it. I'm asking you, God, secure the windows, secure the doors, my God. Secure the heart of this home. God Almighty, this is your dwelling place on the earth. Let it be a place of glory. There'll be a victorious church empowered by the Spirit to stay committed when abandonment is everywhere, to stay committed to the cause of Christ, committed to one another, committed to fighting for those who don't have a voice to fight for themselves, committed to fighting for even our enemies who are headed into an eternity that is so terrifying they have no idea where they're going. We are the only ones who do know, and so we're committed to still even fight for them while there's hope. Committed to pointing the way when everyone is pointing the finger, hallelujah. Committed to pointing the way to eternal life, committed to standing in the marketplace as they did in the early church. There'll be a church empowered by the Holy Spirit to have lamps filled with light to help those who are trying to escape the darkness, people with a confidence in God, a clear vision, an eye to the simplicity of truth, knowing the real gospel, who are not afraid to say he is the way, the truth, and the life. And lastly, a church empowered by the Holy Spirit to have hearts filled with praise even when the joy of the land is gone. Filled with praise. A song of glory, you see, because our focus is not on the temple here. Our focus is not on the stones. Our focus is not on anything of this world, for we know from the testimony of Scripture that it is going to be dissolved. The apostle Peter said, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what kinds of persons ought we to be in all godliness? Listen to what the prophet Isaiah says, and I'm gonna close with this today. In Isaiah chapter 24, he's speaking of a day in this whole chapter when this world fades away. The earth mourns, verse four, and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The haughty people of the earth languish. The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants because they've transgressed the laws, they've changed the ordinance and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore, the curse has devoured the earth and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few men are left. The new wine fails, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. The mirth of the tambourine ceases, the noise of the jubilant ends, the joy of the harp ceases. They shall not drink wine with a song. Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. The city of confusion is broken down, every house is shut up so that no one may go in. There's a cry for wine in the streets. All joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. In the city, desolation is left and the gate is stricken with destruction. When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people, it shall be like the shaking of an olive tree, like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done. They shall lift up their voice. This is you and I now. They shall sing for the majesty of the Lord. They shall cry aloud from the sea. Therefore, glorify the Lord in the dawning light, the name of the God of Israel in the coastlines of the sea. From the ends of the earth, we have heard songs, glory to the righteous. The original King James says, glory to the righteous one. When all of these things begin to happen in this world, there will be a people who rise up. There will be a people who have a heavenly vision. There will be a people gripped with the heart of God. There'll be a people filled with the love of Christ. There'll be a people who have oil in their lamps. They have the love of God burning inside of them and they understand their mission on the earth to bring him glory and to bring the lost to salvation. They have been kept, they have been strengthened. They've been given an empowerment that could only come from God. And so when everything around them is beginning to fail, they're not looking to the things around them for security. They're looking to a coming day, the day of the Lord's return. It says glorify the Lord in the dawning light. From the ends of the earth, we've heard songs. This is what the prophet Isaiah heard all over the world. When this world is burning and languishing and failing and faltering under the weight of sin, we've heard songs of glory to the righteous one. We've heard them in Australia, Japan, Europe. We've heard them in Canada, the United States, Israel. We've heard songs of glory to the righteous one coming up before the throne of God. A people empowered by the spirit of God to be the church of Jesus Christ in these last days. By the grace of almighty God, that's who we are. That's our future. That's where we're going. And so now I suggest to you, it's time to do a security evaluation of your house. Do you have the motion sensors working to detect prowlers? You see, you can't have them if you're not in the word of God. You don't know when somebody who's not representing Christ suddenly come to your ears, whether it's on a podcast or a tape or something somebody gave you. You see, you have to have this discernment of God. Remember the simple discernment. If it's just leading you to self, question the source. If it's leading you beyond self, and again, I said, there's a measure of self healing and et cetera that's necessary. But if it's not leading you beyond that to being yielded for the sake of others, then your motion sensors should go on. You might have a prowler outside your house. Are your doors locked? Are you letting anything into this house that shouldn't be there? Is anybody sitting at the table that ought not to be at your table inside this house? Are you reading something that you shouldn't be reading? Is there literature in your house that shouldn't be there? Are the doors locked? Are you preparing for this journey? Is the blood on the posts? Are you eating of the lamb? Are you preparing for an incredible journey ahead of us? Are your windows secure and are the shades drawn? What have you set before your eyes? What are you looking at in your house? David the King said, I hate the work of those who turn aside and I will set no wicked thing before my eyes. Make sure my brother, my sister, make sure, because you can't play games with this one. You can't live in a duplicity and suddenly think you're gonna have the strength to stand because we don't know what tomorrow's gonna bring. We don't even know the depth of this new plague that's coming on the world. We don't even know the depth of what it's gonna do in our city. It's gonna do something for sure. We just don't know the depth of it. You don't even know if you will still be alive in a month. You don't know. And so are you ready? Is your house ready? Have you trusted God for the strength, the power, the giftings of God to even, for whatever time you and I have left, that we live it for his glory? Are you able to praise him in the midst of your darkness? Are you looking every day for somebody, somewhere, some need that God can meet through you? Because we're living in the last days. Christ is coming. I have no doubt. We are living in the last days now. So here's my altar call. Lord, prepare me. Lord, prepare me. Lord, get me ready. Give me character. Give me power. Give me everything I need of the spirit, not for myself, but for the sake of your glory first and for the sake of others second. Put me third, Lord, in all of this. But God, pour out life through me and give me a song that this world can't take away. And if that's the cry of your heart, because it's the cry of mine right now, I'm gonna ask you to just join me at this altar here. We'll wait for you. If you're in the annex, we'll wait for you. In the campus churches, you can step up between the screens where you are. We're gonna stand in just a moment. I'm just gonna ask you to come and we're gonna meet together and we're gonna pray and we're gonna ask God to do what only he can do. Father, just thank you, Lord, for the Victorious Church. Thank you for men and women, every walk of life. Lord, we read it even earlier today. Lord, you don't choose the strong and you don't choose the wise. Lord, you choose us because we recognize our need and you give us this great grace and power, Lord, to stand in a strength that is not our own. So God, help us to give up our own strength, Lord, so that yours can take over. Carry us, lead us, guide us, Lord, and plant within us that song that Isaiah heard. He heard a song, he heard it at the end of the age, God. When everything seemed to be coming down, he heard a song and it was all over the world, God. It was being sung from every country and every culture, everywhere, every person, my God. So let us be partakers of that heavenly choir, Lord. I pray, my God, to touch every heart, every life. Lord, give us all courage, myself included, Lord. Give us courage, God, to fight this great fight of faith ahead of us, Lord, and to stand, Lord, God, for the sake of those that don't have a voice, to lead them to the way of everlasting life. Give us a great harvest, my God, no matter what it costs us. Give us a great harvest for your glory. My God, I pray for a harvest that's too great to even count, Lord, nobody can even count the numbers of people. Lord, open the floodgates of heaven and let the people come in, oh God. And Father, we thank you, Lord, that you're gonna do what we can't, but you're gonna make us partakers of it, Lord. And God, your glory will be in every heart, your glory on every house, your glory, God Almighty, in every voice. And Lord, thank you for these men and women. And God, thank you, Lord, for the power of your grace that is here at this altar, Lord. And those who have responded in their hearts online and in our homes, my God, and in this sanctuary, God, we give you the praise, we give you the glory in Jesus' mighty name, hallelujah. Hallelujah.