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A Revival in Understanding our Future
Edgar Reich
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0:00 54:35
Edgar Reich

A Revival in Understanding our Future

Edgar Reich · 54:35

Edgar Reich urges believers to understand the signs of the times, embrace faith, and prepare for Jesus Christ's imminent return amidst global trials and moral decline.
This sermon emphasizes the importance of understanding the current global situation in light of biblical prophecies, urging listeners to seek God's guidance and repentance. It highlights the need for spiritual revival, warning of the signs of the end times as described in Matthew 24 and the Book of Revelation. The speaker calls for prayer, repentance, and a deepening of faith in Jesus Christ amidst the challenges and uncertainties of the future.

Full Transcript

Thank you so much, Pastor Roy, for that introduction. Thank you, Zach, for that beautiful worship music. Good evening and welcome to all that are watching via YouTube and other means. Tonight the sermon is a revival in understanding our future. With the Lord's help, I would like to explain more about the immediate future that we're facing and the long-term future briefly. First, I want to thank the Lord for the news that the global epidemic of the coronavirus is showing a flattening curve. I praise God. May God have mercy on us. So far there are 1.4 million confirmed cases and more than 82,000 people who have died from the virus. We mourn with those who have lost loved ones. And we also want to thank the Lord for 500,000 masks that have been allowed to be coming into Canada from the United States. Thank you. Now, what is the purpose of this virus? Based on March 2020, a survey was taken in the United States of all kinds of Americans, and that survey found that 43% of Americans believe that this epidemic is a warning from God. They say it is a wake-up call from God. Likewise, there are people in other nations of the world who believe so. And here are seven points written by a Chinese believer who wrote, don't waste this epidemic. If you do not believe that the epidemic is allowed by God, you will waste the epidemic. Two, if you only rely on outside protection instead of seeking comfort from God, you will waste this epidemic. If you refuse to consider death, you will waste this epidemic. Number four, if you only want the epidemic to stop as soon as possible, just so that you can go back to living a normal life without seeking to understand God's will and to understand his son Jesus Christ more, you will waste the epidemic. Number five, if you spend too much time reading the information about this epidemic, but you don't have enough time to read the word of God, you will waste the epidemic. Number six, if you treat your sin as casually as you may have done before, you will waste this epidemic. Number seven, if you are a Christian, and if you don't make good use of this epidemic and make it an opportunity to witness to your family, to your friends, to those whom you know about the true and glorious Christ, you are wasting this epidemic. So what about our immediate future? Beloved, there continue to be dark thunder clouds on the horizon if we don't want to turn around from all the evils we are doing and which are going against God's commands. Jesus gave us help to understand the immediate future in Matthew chapter 24, verses 3 to 14. Matthew chapter 24, verses 3 to 14. And I will read this text. Now, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? You see, Jesus will return soon. The Son of God will come back to the earth and set up a thousand year kingdom. Verse four, 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. And 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. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation. And this is the message for us Christians. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you. That's what Jesus said. And you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 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. Prophets is a biblical word. Today we might say pastors or people preaching. Many of false ones will still arise more than we have today. Verse 12, 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 the nations. And then the end will come. Jesus doesn't withhold the truth to us, beloved. We must grow in the faith. We must believe. We must become strong in him. And he gives us guidance here. And so in Matthew chapter 24, verses 4 and 5, it says many people will be deceived. So many are coming now saying we have the answers. And then many are saying you don't really have to believe Christ in the Bible. For example, many are saying he is not the only way to God. And many believe this now, but this is a lie from hell. This is a lie from the devil. We need Christ. There are many ways to God. Others say there are many ways to God or do good and God will accept you into heaven. This is another great lie from the devil. You see, if that was true, then Christ, the son of God, would not have had to die. There would not have been a sacrifice necessary by the son of God. God confirmed him from heaven before witnesses. He spoke and a voice said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And later God said from heaven, hear ye him. In other words, listen to him, obey him. And Jesus himself said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. Beloved, that is truth. Jesus Christ is truth. So seek him and find him. In the next verse in Matthew 24, verse 6, Jesus said, you will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but the end is not yet. Jesus was referring to the end of the age and not yet to the end of the world, by the way. We have had many recent wars or armed conflicts such as Syria, Yemen, the Ukraine, Turkey. There were conflicts in Thailand, the Sudan, Somalia, Pakistan, Nigeria, and other nations around the world. And then there are rumors of wars. And sometimes we worry about North Korea or about China or Russia or a conflict with Iran. But Jesus says, see that you're not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. And so beloved, even as Jesus spoke about war and the effects of war, I myself have come through war. And I'm going to show you a picture from Dresden on February 13th, 1945. I was in that city in Dresden and you see the terrible destruction below our burnt people. And the city was leveled. And Arthur Irving says that hundreds of thousands of people died in that city. We were there on the refugee track. A relative had a couple of horses and was pulling us on a wagon. And mother was happy that we were there because we hadn't had food for many days. And she hoped that there would be a Red Cross with some milk for the children. And she said, I'm glad we're here. And this relative said, no, we must leave. And she said, but why? He said, I don't know. We must leave. Then German soldiers came and took the horses away. And mother said, you see, this is a sign from God. We must stay. And this relative said, no, no, we must leave. Mother said, why? He said, I don't know, but we must leave. And after a while, he went into the city to try to find the horses that were taken from him from the German soldiers. And my mother had warned him and said, you're going to be shot if you touch those horses. He said, no, I'm going to go and get them. And he came back and he said he found the horses. They were outside the building where the soldiers were eating. He went back with towels and rags, put them around the hooves of the horses, came back, put the towels and rags around the hooves of the horses to avoid the noise on the cobblestones, pulled us out of the city. And as we were pulled up out of the city that evening of February 13th, 1945, the first wave of big, big planes came in. And likewise, I was affected by the war because my father was shot by the Russians in the war. He was shot between Stalingrad and Moscow. So beloved, I know about war and war is terrible. We have not experienced anything of this here in Canada. But beloved, it is a terrible thing. And so Jesus said that nation will rise against nation and there will be other conflicts still. He said so in Matthew 24 verse 7. So won't you at least pray? Won't you at least cry out to God? And then Jesus said in Matthew 24 verse 7 that there would be famines throughout the world. And after nearly a decade of progress, the number of people suffering from hunger has increased over the past three years with about one in every nine people suffering from hunger. According to the United Nations report, an estimated 820 million people do not have enough to eat. The children suffer most. And I have seen the children suffer on the garbage fields of Nairobi, Kenya, trying to find a little food in the garbage. And so God impressed on my heart the great great need that exists globally for and with children. And then God spoke about pestilences and Jesus mentioned pestilences here in Matthew 24 verse 7. We have had the Spanish flu epidemic from 1918 to 1920 and perhaps 50 to 100 million lives were lost. There was a black death that claimed 75 million in the 14th century. There's HIV and the AIDS pandemic, the death toll so far about 34 million. There was a Hong Kong flu pandemic, about 1 million died. An Asian flu, the death toll 2 million. HIV, Ebola, dengue, malaria and so on are still things that affect people and kill people today. The current pestilence of the coronavirus comes at a time when also all the other signs Christ is mentioning that are coming to pass. They point us to the closeness of Jesus Christ returning soon. And then Jesus said earthquakes would be in many places and we know from the National Earthquake Information Center that there is increased activity globally of earthquakes. The center reports an average of 20,000 earthquakes every year, about 50 a day. They're great concerns along the fault lines. And then in Matthew chapter 24 verse 8 Jesus said these are the beginnings of sorrows. So we are not yet at the beginning of the Bible calls, the great tribulation in the book of Revelation. And the Matthew 5 passage brother Zach read this morning was this book that was sealed where John the Apostle wept because he wanted to know what is in that book. And beloved they're great trials yet for mankind to come that are recorded in that book. And in Matthew chapter 24 verse 9 Jesus told us that we Christians will be hated, persecuted, and killed by all nations. He used the little word all. This means that there will also be great persecution coming to North America and we must prepare. We must build up in faith. We must draw near to him. God will not allow any trial to be greater than what we can bear. And he said he would never leave us nor forsake us. Now 140 countries out of 195 countries have persecution today. They are recorded and some that follow many more countries are saying that it's 161 countries now that have persecution out of 195 countries. Now if you have seen the pictures of Christians beheaded in the Middle East, if you have seen children beheaded and crucified in the Middle East, you know that great persecution is taking place. Won't you pray? This is happening. I'm telling you the truth. And if you want to pursue it on the internet, you can find the truth. Jesus told us about it and there have been deadly religious conflicts in our lifetime in North Korea, in the Middle East, in Malaysia, the Philippines, in China, in Afghanistan, in Iran, in Pakistan, in Nigeria, in Rwanda and other nations. Won't you at least pray for them? Won't you cry out to God to make you strong and have great faith in these times? Because Jesus foretold you what will happen in the future. And then Jesus said in Matthew 24 verse 10, many will be offended and betray one another and will hate one another. You see, when things don't go the way that we expect, the things that many, many also false prophets promise, give me a thousand dollars, you're going to get a new car and things of that nature. If you have listened to false prophets, you will expect a God, a Santa Claus God, who will only give you handouts. But God is God. He will repay evil in this world. And we know from past history that at times Christians had to participate. And I spoke about that a couple of nights ago, where even the remnant, the Jewish remnant had to go into captivity, the people of God. Why? Because we have grown shallow. We don't want to do the word of God. We don't want to do what God tells us to do. We don't want to turn from sins. We don't want to share the gospel. We don't want to talk about what is righteous, because we have opposition. And then in Matthew 24, verse 11, then many more false pastors and preachers will rise up and they will give false explanations of what is happening. They will make up stories and fables to deceive the people and to take their money, even as is happening today. And then in Matthew 24, verse 12, it says, and because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. Lawlessness, beloved. Yes, it may just be around the corner, riots, evil, whatever. If people become very, very hungry and this epidemic does not stop soon, what will happen? Will there be riots for food, for possessions? I'm sorry, this is what Jesus said, okay? And I wept over this message. I didn't want to give it to you this way, because it is a difficult, difficult message to accept in our times of wealth and security. And we have had everything in our lives that we need. And then in Matthew 24, verse 13, and I leave this up to everyone to interpret whichever way you want to. But in verse 13, Jesus said, but he who endures to the end shall be saved. This is what Jesus said. Jesus also promises that he will help us. He will never leave us nor forsake us, but we will have to stand in a coming storm unless he takes us out of this world before the major storm happens. And then in Matthew 24, verse 14, it says, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. The last decade has seen rapid growth of Christian broadcasting networks beyond the United States. There's television, radio, internet, and telephones. They're reaching to the farthest corners of the world. This prophecy is nearly fulfilled, but there's still some tribes that yet need to hear, that need to have the gospel in their own language. So beloved, this is the immediate future that Jesus foretold us. Will you take it to heart? Will you pray about it? You can pray. We're all now in safe environments in our own home. We can pray. We can cry out to God. Now, you might answer me that famines have happened before throughout all the ages, and this coronavirus is just another, and none of what I said will happen yet. Well, beloved, these weren't my comments. They were from Jesus. And the coronavirus is but another step to agree with everything else that is happening now that tells us that we are in the end times. The return of Jesus is coming soon. And then we also see the hand of God in many of our situations. We see the wrath of God revealed from heaven. And for instance, in Romans chapter 1, verses 18 to 32, here God's wrath on the unrighteousness is revealed. And verse 18 of Romans 1, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of man who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest to them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened, professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. And now comes the judgment that God spoke in verse 24 of Romans 1, therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worship and serve the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. And so here are the two judgments in verse 24 and verse 26. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions, for even their women exchanged the natural use of what is against nature, likewise also the man leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust for one another, man with man committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of the error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God and their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind to do the things which are not fitting. And that's the third judgment. We see it so clearly all over the world today. God has judged people because we see so many high level people where their minds are turned upside down. They do things against the family, they do things against God, and they don't question it. And so here it says in verse 29, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness, they are whisperers backed by the haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, and disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, and unmerciful, who knowing the righteous judgment of God that those who practice such things are deserving of death. Not only do they the same, but also, listen to this, approve of those who practice them. So God explains that His wrath is revealed. And so I have given you, God would give up those to vile passions. He would give up people to a reprobate mind. And now the other judgments are happening now as well. And these judgments are referred to by the prophet Hosea. And the prophet Hosea said in Hosea chapter 4, verses 2 and 3, that animals will die out. We hear of many, many species disappearing today, animals dying and having died the last few years. Bees are dying. We hear of large flocks of birds dying. We hear of fish in the ocean dying. So please read this text with me from Hosea chapter 4, verses 2 and 3. And there it says, by swearing and lying, killing and stealing, and committing adultery, they break all restraint with bloodshed upon bloodshed. Therefore, the land will mourn and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Even the fish in the sea will be taken away. And there's a more terrible judgment that Hosea is mentioning, which is happening today. And it is in Hosea chapter 4, verse 6. And here he wrote, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Are you reading your Bible? Do you understand that what I'm sharing with you is all in the Bible? It's truth. It's happening right now. And then God said, I also will reject you from being priest for me because you have forgotten the law of your God. I will also forget your children. And so what do we see? We see political correctness demanding of us that we keep quiet. There are many true preachers and prophets that are disappearing. Pastors are disappearing that are standing for the truth. Formerly, in a survey that was just done in the United States, 47% of mainline pastors now support same-sex marriage, but only 8% of evangelical pastors do. But Presbyterian or Reformed pastors support at a level of 49%. Methodist pastors, 47%. Lutheran pastors, 35%. The Christian Church of Christ pastors, 20%. God said, I will reject you from being a priest for me if you allow open sin into the church. People don't no longer understand nor follow the Word of God. In the USA, many people say they're Christians, but only 20% go to church. In Canada, evangelicals have reduced to 6% in 2019. That is a survey by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. Beloved as Christians, we have grown gray. I wish I had better news for all of us. Now, I'm not saying everybody, but if 95% don't share their faith, then there can be no new babies. If no one speaks the truth, if good men keep quiet, what will happen? Evil will come in like a flood. So our children, we allowed prayer and the Bible to be removed from school. We didn't have time to raise them because we wanted to make extra money. And so God says, now because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children. And I'm guilty. You see, when you go to the university and colleges and schools of Canada, Christianity no longer exists, except for a few young people. The young people have looked at our Christian lives and said, no, I don't want what I see there. There are some exceptions, but 6% now, only in Canada. God's judgments have started, and so the United Nations and the Club of Rome and the Bilderbergers and others, they're buying now for an implementation of world leadership. The coronavirus is being talked about to be used, perhaps for worldwide compulsory inoculations and to get control of every person in the world. The antichrist spirit is cutting the globe. We are being prepared for global, political, and global religious leadership. Now, I had mentioned the dark clouds remain over us, and I can only briefly refer to each one of the dark clouds, but this is where we must pray, beloved. We must cry out to God. We must pray. Again, millions and billions of workers are now facing a difficult future with virtually no immediate job prospects. Some of people in very high levels are calling that it will become a depression. In an Axios-Harris survey in the USA conducted on March 30th, just a few days ago, 31% of respondents 18 to 34 had either been laid off or on temporary leave because of the outbreak. 22% have been laid off, those 35 to 49, and 15% of those 50 to 64. The median income in the United States was about $936 a week, which would be $48,672 a year. That means most families in the United States were living from paycheck to paycheck. They don't have extra money. A lot of industries and a lot of people are heading for immense pain. Will that cause civil unrest, medallion rights, martial law? We don't know, but it has done that in other nations. It did that in Germany after the First World War. Jesus said, in these times of starting sorrows, what did he say? Lawlessness will abound. At this point, even JP Morgan Chase, the CEO, Jamie Dimon, is admitting that the U.S. economy as a whole is plunging into a very bad recession. Most Americans live on debt. 73% of Americans have a debt of $60,000. The interest rates on many of these credit cards are 28%. How will they pay? Now, the government has promised a bailout for industries and for people, and that's wonderful, both in Canada and the United States, but they are in terrible, terrible distress themselves because they're running deficit governments. They don't have the money, and the taxes are not coming in right now. What will they have to do? They will have to print money, beloved. In 1922 to 1923, there was hyperinflation in Germany. Germany, after the First World War, wanted to get out of debt. They just started printing money. The printing of money, of course, brings inflation, and so later on, prices doubled every four days. The cost of a loaf of German bread had risen from several Deutschmarks to 160 Deutschmarks by the end of 1922. By November 23, a year later, a loaf of bread cost 200,000 million Deutschmarks. I know this is hard for us to understand in our days, but perhaps I have an easier example to explain. I have a dear neighbor who still likes his newspaper every day, and a newspaper in Germany used to cost one Deutschmark. After the inflation started and the inflation rose, like I said, it almost doubled every four days, you had to pay for one newspaper one million Deutschmarks. This is a banknote, one million Deutschmarks. By the end of that inflationary cycle, you needed 70 of these to buy one newspaper. One day, I went through my mother's things, and I saw a banknote, and it said 85,000 Deutschmarks. I was eight years old. I was screaming, and I said, mother, mother, we are rich because I'm so hungry, because I was a refugee. I had worms coming out of me. We didn't have to eat. Mother smiled at me, and she said, son, I'm glad you saw this, but this 85,000 would not pay for a postage stamp. There is a risk, and then it ended up in a Great Depression in Germany, which gave rise to Hitler and the Nazi party. According to the Bible, beloved, if you read the Book of Revelation, there will come a day when a loaf of bread will cost the day's wage in the world. If this were to happen in Canada, and assuming 260 workdays on an average annual income of $50,000, a loaf of bread would go from $3 average today to $192 in the future. So, won't you pray? Won't you pray out to God? You can pray. You can pray for a revival. You can ask God to stop some of these things. I know some of you are invested in the Dow Jones stock market, and I don't need to say any more for what has happened there. Some of our retirement savings are disappearing. We must pray to God. We must pray. We must pray for revival and return to God to stop the current trends and to stop the virus soon. You see, with hunger comes upsetment and uprising. With no money comes rebellion. With outages come violence and violence. With rebellion comes government control and martial law. Now, let us go from the present to the future. Now, young people, especially if you're watching, I urge you to read the book of Revelation. It tells you about what things must come. You might say to me, what you have talked about, I have no hope. I have no future. The scenarios you describe are awful. I know, young people, and I'll read with you because I want a better future. I want a better future for you. But we have one. We have one way. We have a hope. We have a future through Christ Jesus. And even in these days, if you give your life to Christ fully, if you follow him, if you do what the Bible says, he will use you mightily. You will experience miracles in your life. You will have the most exciting time in your life that you could ever imagine. It's the truth because, you see, I, and I say that hesitantly, but I used to teach some economics at the University of Toronto. I used to love a major book. I'm not saying these things lightly. I'm saying that based on the word of God, I also wept because I did not want to give this message. My heart is weeping now. And the second part that I want to cover, the Lord wants us to focus briefly on perhaps the great shaking that is to come to this earth. There are many subjects in the book of Revelation and also in other parts of the Bible, the return of Jesus to the earth to become a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, political world leadership, religious world leadership, the mark of the beast, which will be the coming mark of a coming world leader, the battle of Armageddon, the thousand-year kingdom by Christ Jesus where he will rule. It's going to be a better world when he comes back. Okay? Okay. And then there's a final war. It will be after the thousand-year kingdom. Armageddon is not the final war. And then there will be a judgment of every person that ever lived. There's a great white throne judgment, and then God will create a new heaven and a new earth. And so I briefly will speak about the great shaking and the great tribulation. Jesus said there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars on the earth. Nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will feign from terror apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. In the book of Revelation, God warns the whole world and us and you and me individually. There are 21 major judgments described called the seven seal judgments, seven trumpet judgments, and seven bowl judgments. I'll just give two examples. One trumpet judgment, the first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth, and the third part of the trees was burned up, and all green grass was burned up. Can you imagine that? Can you believe that? Will you fear God then? I think you will. He's a righteous and a wonderful and a kind and a merciful God. And then perhaps another one, and I mentioned this from time to time, Revelation chapter 9 verse 15, which is the sixth trumpet judgment, and there it says, and four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year for to slay a third part of men. Third part of men? Eight billion people today. A third over 2,000 million. And you and I understand God, because you see, He has no choice. He's going to create a new heaven and a new earth without sin, without sorrow, without pain. And He says, I must clean up this earth, and I will describe it for you in the book of Revelation. The very sad part is that God said a number of times, and even so I did, these things are happening. They repented not. Now beloved Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 17 says, have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the Lord your God when He led you in the way? I'm also guilty with you in a way before God. Yet Jesus says to us in Revelation chapter 3 verse 20 to 22, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with me, with me. A Christian from China wrote, don't waste this epidemic. If you do not believe that the epidemic is allowed by God, you will waste the epidemic. If you only rely on outside protection instead of seeking comfort and protection from God, you will waste this epidemic. If you refuse to consider death and the future, you will waste this epidemic. If you only want the epidemic to stop as soon as possible, just so that you can get back to your normal life without seeking to understand God and His will and Christ as Son, you will waste this epidemic. If you spend too much time reading the information about the epidemic, but you don't have enough time to read the Word of God, you will waste the epidemic. If you are a Christian, if you do not make good use of this epidemic, seniors, you have so many grandchildren that don't believe, you ask me to pray for them every time they meet. Have you sent them a card? Have you sent them a little message, perhaps a letter sharing why you believe and that it's important for them to believe? Seniors, you have a telephone. Some of you know how to use Zoom and the internet. Don't waste this time. And I'm also speaking to myself, and I'm also trying with you. God allowed His Son to die for us so that our sins could be washed away, and Jesus Christ died on a cross for you and for me, that our eternity can be secure in God. That goes beyond the current time and the future time. It goes to the ultimate time, to a wonderful relationship for eternity with God. He reminds us that by faith, we can have a new life through His Son, Jesus, and receive eternal life. This faith then is shown by following Jesus and turning from sin. He will save you and give you eternal life if you repent of your sin and ask Him. Perhaps you're a non-Christian watching. If the Lord has spoken to you, would you be willing to bow your head before God and confess your sins and then ask Christ to save you? Would you do that? Now, you might say to me, I don't know how to do that, but you could do that in your home right now, and I would like to help you if I may. I could say the words that you would pray, but don't just say the words because afterwards, if you don't follow Him, if you don't follow the way of a Christian, then I think it's in vain. Also, count the cost, but the cost here is less than the ultimate cost of going to an eternity of hell. So, I counsel you, I beg you that you would accept Christ. And so, repeat this prayer perhaps after me. Bow your head with me. Lord God, I come to you. I have done many wrong things. I tell them to you now. I would ask you, Son Jesus, to have mercy on me. I repent of my sins. Forgive my sins. I want to follow you. I believe you died on a cross to cover my sins. I believe you cover my sins with your blood. I believe you rose again, and you will come to this earth again. Please forgive me, save me, and make me new again. I will follow you. I will follow you. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you if you have prayed that prayer, and now you need to grow in the Lord. Please talk to the Father, which is called prayer. Please read your Bible. Please contact Pastor Roy of Queensway Baptist Church in Toronto to help you further to grow. Now, if the Lord has spoken to you, and you are a Christian, perhaps the Lord is talking to you and to me as this gray Christianity beset us, is there lukewarmness? Am I following him the way that I should? Am I doing what the Bible says? And so the Lord is reminding us to repent from old habits where we feel we have the right to tell God what to do, what we will do, and what we won't do, because when he says for us to do it, you can go to him and say, Lord, Lord, you asked me to do this now. Cleanse me new. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, and then help me to do it, and you will do it. In Joel chapter 2, verse 12, it says, yet even now declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart. With what? You know that passage. With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. Would you bow your head before God and his Son Jesus with me? Perhaps even some of you might want to kneel with me, because I'm going to kneel, you know, even in the passage that Brother Zach read from Revelation chapter 5, there, all of the old people fell down before God on their knees, and that's what I'm going to do now, and then would you pray with me?

Sermon Outline

  1. I. Understanding the Immediate Future
    • The coronavirus as a divine warning and wake-up call
    • Global signs of war, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes
    • Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24 about the end times
  2. II. The Reality of Persecution and Deception
    • Christians facing hatred and persecution worldwide
    • Rise of false prophets and deception
    • Lawlessness causing love to grow cold
  3. III. The Call to Endurance and Faith
    • Enduring to the end leads to salvation
    • The gospel will be preached to all nations before the end
    • God’s promise to never forsake His people
  4. IV. The Wrath of God and Moral Decline
    • God’s judgment revealed in Romans 1
    • Consequences of rejecting God’s truth
    • The need for repentance and turning to Christ

Key Quotes

“If you do not believe that the epidemic is allowed by God, you will waste the epidemic.” — Edgar Reich
“Jesus said, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” — Edgar Reich
“But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” — Edgar Reich

Application Points

  • Pray earnestly and seek God’s guidance during times of global crisis.
  • Strengthen your faith and prepare spiritually for the challenges ahead.
  • Share the gospel with others as a witness to the coming kingdom of God.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main purpose of the coronavirus according to the sermon?
The coronavirus is seen as a warning from God, a wake-up call for people to seek Him and understand His will.
What signs does Jesus mention about the end times?
Jesus mentions deception, wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, persecution, and lawlessness as signs preceding His return.
How should Christians respond to these challenging times?
Christians should grow in faith, endure trials, pray, and share the gospel with others.
What does the sermon say about false prophets?
False prophets will rise and deceive many, often exploiting people for money and spreading lies.
What assurance does God give believers facing persecution?
God promises never to leave nor forsake His people and that no trial will be greater than they can bear.

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