Be Not Terrified!

Here tonight, please do turn with me in your Bible to Luke chapter 21. Luke chapter 21 and we're continuing with our series on the battle for the mind, volume 2. We've done an entire volume 1 on the battle for the mind. There is a real battle and the Bible deals with the mind in a very particular way. But in this volume 2, we've moved from being very practical. We've had an emphasis on the hour that we're living in. There is a real battle for the mind of men in our generation. It's very unique, very unusual and I believe we're right at the very end of time. We're going to read from Luke chapter 21 and as we do, my message tonight, and listen this carefully, it's a biblical title for this message. Be not terrified or I could also say, do not be scared, do not be afraid. But the Bible and the Lord Jesus Christ, this was his command, his message and I believe it's very important for this hour and this time that we are alive in. Be not terrified. Reading from Luke 21 and verse 8 and it says there, take heed that ye be not deceived for many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ and the time draws near. Go ye not therefore after them but when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified. For these things must first come to pass but the end is not by and by. Then he that is Jesus said unto them, nation shall rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom and great earthquakes shall be in diverse places and famines and pestilence and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. But before all these they shall lay their hand on you and persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate before what ye shall answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all of your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. And ye shall be betrayed both by parents and brethren and kinsfolk and friends and some of you they shall cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But there shall not a hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls. And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. And then down to verse 25. And there shall be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. For the powers of heaven shall be shaken and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things, notice this word, begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draws nigh. Can we pray together here tonight? Father, I do thank you for the word of God tonight. It's so clear, so applicable for this hour and this generation. And Father, I pray open our hearts and our ears to hear this message. Be ye not terrified. My God, do not be afraid. Father, I pray stamp this on our minds, our natural minds, where we think, where we contemplate, where we worry about things, where we meditate, where we plan. Oh God, I pray that you'd make us a people of trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, who possess our souls. Lord God, who look up and not around us. Father, I do pray, oh God, that you'd grip us tonight. Do not let us be afraid, no matter what is happening in the nations, in politics, in society, in nature. Lord God, in our own nation, I pray, oh God, let us not be afraid tonight, but let our trust and our confidence and our faith be in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us and who bare away all of our sin upon the cross. We do love you tonight and ask for your grace. Even upon our friends visiting with us, bless them. Lord God, you know them, you know their hearts and I pray that you speak to their hearts in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. My message, be not terrified. I do believe this is a vital message for this hour, for you, for me, for anyone in this hour. I actually believe this generation, that what we've seen in the past year and a half, is only the beginning of fear. There is coming an epidemic of fear. I believe that this is going to increase and it's going to intensify, because the Bible very specifically warns us about the danger of fear in the last days. It actually tells us in this very chapter, from the lips of Christ, he describes the hour, the era, the time, and he says specifically about that generation, I've got clear commands. I do not want you to be afraid. I don't want you to be terrified. Do you realize this is a specific message for this hour? Listen for a minute before we go into this message. It says in Isaiah chapter 8 and verse 12, listen to what the prophet Isaiah says. Say ye not a confederacy to all to whom this people shall say a confederacy. Listen to what Isaiah the prophet is saying. The people in Israel are saying a confederacy. We need to make a confederacy. Do you know what he was talking about? Israel in that hour, because of the turmoil in the nations. Do you know what Israel were beginning to say? We need to make a confederacy. That word confederacy means an alliance, a political agreement, a covenant. We need to unite or become a federalized union with other nations around us. We need to unite politically and militarily in order to survive this hour. Listen to me carefully. Isaiah is preaching into this and he says everyone is beginning to say we need to federalize. We need to unite politically and in fact in that hour he was speaking about those in the nation who were saying we need to unite with Syria and with Ephraim and with other nations and we need to make a political covenant. Listen to what he says. Ye say a confederacy but I God through a prophet say do not say a confederacy. Do not hide in political agreements. Listen to what he then says to God's people. Neither fear ye their fear nor be afraid. Notice that Isaiah here prophesying by God says don't get pushed in because of fear. He says they are spreading fear. They are talking fear and do you know why? To push you into a political agreement. He says there's a great danger with fear because they are making you afraid. When you get afraid you'll do things that you wouldn't normally do. It's a very dangerous time when nations become scared, when populations become scared. If you can make a population scared you can get them to do things that they wouldn't have done a year ago or two years ago. You could get an entire nation to enter into a federal covenant with other nations, a binding agreement and in fact this word confederacy it also means a conspiracy or an act of treason. In other words you're not thinking about the good of God's people or the good of your own nation. You're now scared, getting out of fear and Isaiah preaches into this. He says listen neither fear you their fear nor be afraid. In other words don't take on their fear. Their fear is coming upon you and now you're willing to enter into covenants with nations that you shouldn't have anything to do with. Do you know what was driving it? Fear and Isaiah says do not fear with their fear. In other words they've taken their fear and they're trying to put it on you to make you act in a certain way. Listen to what else he says. Sanctify the Lord of hosts. So don't fear with their fear and be driven into political agreements. Sanctify the Lord of hosts and let him be your fear and let him be your dread. Look what Isaiah is preaching here. He says don't be driven by the fear of men. This is their fear they're putting on you to drive you into these covenants but he says don't do that. Sanctify God in your hearts. Sanctify him in your mind. In other words make God holy and you know what you need a fear God. Do you realize the fear of God protects you from the fear of man? Show me someone who really fears God. They've got no fear of man. You see I've got very little fear of man. It's not because I'm courageous or brave or anything else. I really don't fear men. Do you know why that is? Do you know why it's so dominating on me and has been from a little boy? I was very shy, very timid, very quiet. I know it's hard to believe but I was all of those things but you know what I had a deep boldness because I feared God. There's something about fearing God. What did Jesus Christ say? Don't fear him who can harm your body. Fear him that can cast your body and soul into hell. You see those that tell you you shouldn't be afraid of God. I want to tell you you better be afraid of God. Oh I love him. This fear draws me to him but you ought to be afraid of one that can not only cast your body into hell but your soul as well. You see the fear of God protects you from so much. Now that's Isaiah preaching in the Old Testament. Listen how he brings it into the New Testament. Peter the apostle quotes this scripture in the New Testament. 1 Peter chapter 3 and 14 and it says, but if you suffer for righteousness sake, happy are you. Be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled. He's quoting from Isaiah, a direct quote. Then he says, but sanctify the Lord in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asked you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and with fear. So we see that Isaiah and now Peter are saying the very same thing. Do not let their fear of the nations come upon you. They are creating fear to bring you into something. Can I tell you here tonight my message is being not terrified. You say I'm going to show you just for a moment and I'm only touching on it. There is a conspiracy. There is a plan. I've got the evidence of it here, just one document to prove it, that there has been an agenda of propaganda by governments through media to create fear. It's very, very real. You see I believe we live in that iron generation where fear is being used to take us in a direction. If you're a part of that fear or that fear dominates you, you can be manipulated. You can be controlled. Your actions, your decisions can be affected because you fear. If you're someone who has their fear coming upon you, you need to be very, very careful indeed because it will drive you in a certain direction. Here before I come to my message, let me just mention a book. I haven't read it all, but I'm going to. I've ordered it. It's called A State of Fear by a lady called Laura Dodson. She is a reporter, a filmmaker, a very unusual woman and she wrote this book, just published a few months, called A State of Fear. Listen to the subtitle, How the United Kingdom Government Weaponised Fear During the COVID-19 Pandemic. That is the title of it. She does a full book quoting the top scientists working for the government, how they planned in early March 2020 at the very beginning of the COVID crisis, that they set in place a plan and I've got it in my hand here. Do you know what the plan was in March 2020? It was released by the scientific advisory group for emergencies, otherwise called SAGE. In other words, they advise the government. Do you know who they are? They believe in you can affect the behaviour of an entire population through psychological methods, by saying the right thing through media, through speeches, you can control the minds of a generation. In this document, they outlined the methodology based on known psychological behavioural modification techniques, how to affect an entire generation during COVID-19. It was a scientific pandemic influenza group on behaviour. Listen, it's called SPI-B, believe it or not. It's one of the groups that advise the British government called SPI-B and it's all about affecting the behaviour of the population. They are one of the main groups that advise the British government and they released this document. It's called Options for Increasing Adherence to Social Distancing Measures. The key to this document, listen, was to persuade people through fear. Do you understand where I'm going here tonight? The British government, March last year, at the beginning of this pandemic, decided through information that was psychological in nature, that they were going to manoeuvre the population through media, through regulations. They were going to use fear to control the population throughout the crisis. They decided that. Let me quote, the perceived level of personal threat needs to be increased among those who were complacent by using hard-hitting emotional messaging. Then in this article, they say, here's one of the options. Use media to increase a sense of personal threat. So they start putting out catchphrases. This is March last year, way before, way at the beginning of all of this. Don't put your friends and family in danger. Go along with what you're told. Psychological techniques to change the behaviour of the population were going to be used. That was decided in March before anything really happened. They had a plan, an agenda and they knew what they're doing. Psychology of fear is one of the strongest things to control people. If I can make you scared, I can control you and you'll listen very carefully to me. How is it a year and a half later, we have a worldwide crisis where governments have become very, very strong, unchallenged, unquestioned and all of our rebellious populations are so compliant, down to the last man almost. I want to tell you, fear is a very strong power. Jesus talks about our generation right now and he warns of the danger of fear. In fact, he says, be not terrified. I believe this is a message for the hour because we're only seeing the beginning of this. Something started last year that's going to increase and intensify and I believe I've got the verses that depict it and show it and tell us what's coming and what's going to happen. I've got four points here of what Jesus said and they're his words. They're very simple, very clear and I believe it's for an hour where everyone is being scared. It's for an hour where the media is weaponising fear. One of the scientists, this lady in her book, she interviewed the top scientists who were advising the British government. Do you know what? As she talked to them, one of those scientists said, we were told to weaponise fear as an actual thing to control the population. In other words, to use it as a weapon. Do you realise propaganda, media, fear mongering and the whole medical realm was used as a weapon against all of our nations over the past year and a half. I'm not making this up. It's in a political document. As with everything, I want to be very careful what I say but I've got four points for you here tonight. My first point is the title of the message, Be Not Terrified. What are you going to do in this hour? Jesus says, first of all, be not terrified. Look at Luke 21 verse 9 with me here tonight and Jesus says, when you shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified for these things must first come to pass but the end is not by and by. I want you to see here that Jesus said when all of these things begin to happen, an hour where you could easily be terrified. Certain things are going to happen in the nations where it's going to be very easy for you to get terrified. In other words, scared. What does he say? It's not the end yet. Don't think this is the end. This actually comes before the end, before the tribulation, before many of the things spoken about in Bible prophecy. Just before it is going to come an hour of being terribly terrified. He gives lots of details of why that is. What does it mean to be not terrified? The Greek word here is potio. It means a deep sense of fear. It means to be so scared you're traumatized or you're frozen to the spot. Have you ever been so scared you couldn't move or you couldn't speak or you couldn't act or you couldn't move? I have very rarely but I have had incidents when I walked into a wasp's nest as a young boy. I froze to the spot. I was terrified. I was literally traumatized. I was scared and frozen to the spot as my cousin. Man, I'm going to get him back one of these days. As he laughed at me, he came and pulled me out of the wasp's nest. I couldn't act. The fear froze me. It wasn't the wasps. It was the fear in my heart. Do you realize fear is a very powerful thing? You see, Jesus actually prophesies about the last hour. You've got to hear me about the last hour. It's not the end yet but it is leading up to the end. He says, be not terrified. To be terrified means that you even are close to flee or to run away from where you are. You hide under your bed. You try to go in your closet. You try to move to hungry if you can do it. You're looking for a way out to remove yourself from the situation. What does Jesus say is happening in these last days? Well, it says in Luke 24 and 37, concerning, sorry, let me say that again. This word terrified is used in Luke 24 verse 37 when Jesus rose from the dead and appeared in the room with the disciples. It says they were terrified supposing he had been a spirit. That's what it means to be terrified. In other words, if you think you just saw a ghost, that is terror. And that's what Jesus is saying upon not just a generation but all nations. He's going to say there's going to come a condition of being terrified and he doesn't want his church to be terrified or Christians. He says be not terrified. Do you realize being terrified sin? Do you realize coming under the fear of man is sin? Jesus commands you be not terrified. But you say, but look what's happening. I know, but no matter what's happening, wars or troubles or pandemics, none of that is justification for you to be terrified. In fact, Jesus commands you, you're not allowed to be terrified. You shouldn't be terrified. You've got to be careful because there's a scenario coming in the last days and men are going to weaponize fear. They want you scared because they're going to lead us into a world government. What's happening right now? Why have they done this for a year and a half? You know why they've told us over the next decade, they want to take us into transhumanism, into a world government. They want to digitalize every area of life. They want you to be interconnected right down to the children where when they're born, they're going to be joined to a computer for the first thousand days. There is an entire plan. Why is all this happening? You could never move the world in this direction unless you engulfed them in fear. Do you see that we've been engulfed in fear our world? People are scared to go out of their house. You're told you can't hug your granny. You've got to be very, very careful that you don't kill everyone in Limerick out of just being normal. There is a whole realm of fear and now they're starting to say you're the enemy. If you're not vaccinated, if you're not compliant, then you're the problem. You're in danger and everyone else. Do you realize this is propaganda? You're dealing with something very dangerous here and you know what? All of these things are laid out here so that people aren't compliant. This last March, if people aren't compliant, here's a whole list of things you start doing. You can use threats, you can use manipulation, you could use statements in what about your family? Have you heard that? Do you realize this is right across our world now? All of these techniques, do you know what it is? It's pure psychology. They are masters. I mean, you're talking about entire organizations. They are getting paid to use psychology on an entire generation and population. Jesus says here in this verse 9, he says, when? It's a certain time. When is this going to happen? Right near the end. When? He's talking about a certain time when you must not be terrified. You must not. When is that time? He says, ye shall hear of wars and commotions. The word hear there, listen to what the Greek means. It means to hear with your ears. It means to be constantly hearing about these things. It means to sit as an audience. You're not part of the wars. It says you are hearing about wars. You are hearing about commotions. You're not there. You don't see it with your own eyes. You're hearing about it. You're not a part of it. You're not witnessing it firsthand. But it says you are sitting like an audience and you're receiving report after report after report. You're not involved in it. But do you know what? You're sitting as part of a mass audience and you are watching on at the talk of wars and commotions. Notice Jesus says here two things, wars and commotions. First of all, he talks about wars, actual wars. You're going to hear report after report of wars, many wars. Over in Matthew 24 and 6, he goes further. He says, not only wars, but rumors of wars. In other words, not real wars. They never happen. They never take place. But you keep hearing there's going to be a war here. Trump is going to, remember that Trump's going to start a war with North Korea. It's going to happen. It never happened. He went and talked to the man. We've never seen his face again on news. All of them said, Trump's going to blow up the whole world playing with them. No, he stood up to him and we don't even hear from North Korea anymore. So we're surrounded by wars, rumors of wars. Isn't it terrible what we're seeing in Afghanistan? Can you imagine what they have done? Do you realize that that's probably a smoke screen? All the eyes of the world are looking at Afghanistan and say, why did Biden do that? Well, he's a bit senile and he's doing that. Or is it mirrors and tricks to take your eyes off the ball? Well, everybody's looking at Afghanistan saying this is terrible. Who would do this? Nobody would do this. It is one of the greatest worst military disasters in modern history. No one would be that crazy. So why is it happening? The entire population is looking over here. We're not angry at all that's happening to us anymore. We're looking over there. Be very careful in this hour what goes on. Jesus doesn't only say about sitting, hearing as a part of a mass audience. Isn't it amazing this is in the Bible about this hour that it is so accurate. We're going to sit as part of a mass audience, the church of that generation, and we're going to see all of this wars and rumors of wars. But he also says, and commotions. What does the word commotions mean? It means instability, disorder, to have no order. Haven't we seen it in the past year and a half? Confusion, tumults, riots, anarchy, violent group disturbances, rebellion and revolution. Remember what my point is, be not terrified. Be not terrified. Don't be scared. You know what he's saying? You're sitting there as part of a mass audience and you're watching all of these things. You're hearing all of these things. Report after report after report. Wars, rumors of wars, commotions, rebellions, revolutions, uprisings, riots. And as you watch this, you need to be very, very careful. Jesus says, do not be terrified. All of these things will happen. Look at verse 26, what he says, men's hearts failing them for fear. Look at that word fear there. It is the Greek word phobos, where we get phobia. Have you ever met anyone with a phobia? They have to wash their hands all the time or maybe it's something. I met a man once, he was a beautiful man. I used to stand for an hour and share the gospel with him. He always walked backwards. He lived in Liverpool and Bootle and he always walked backwards, tracing his steps. I would walk with him. He was a very beautiful man. And I'd talk to him and witness to him and share the gospel with him. Anytime I was there, I would spend an hour or two with him. I heard later that all of that went and he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that wonderful? But you know what? Phobia is fears that affect your life. Phobias were actually, the word phobia was used of the old Greek God. He was the embodiment of fear. That's what the Greek God was. You know, Alexander, before he went to fight Darius and he beat the Persians in the great war, you know, before he'd done sacrifices to this God, Phobos. You know why? Because he wanted to bring fear on the enemy. He said, I want to embody fear because you know what? Then the enemy's going to run. Fear is a very powerful thing. If you're not free of fear, you're in bondage. I want to tell you, you're in bondage. If you're scared to walk in the cracks on the pavement outside, that's a phobia. That isn't natural. You've been taught to fear something that isn't real. Well, I was brought up, you know, you're stupid if you walk under the ladder, but it's okay to walk in the cracks on the pavement. It's okay to do those things and break all those superstitious things. You know, we've got to do it. We've got to do it because I'll never be under fear. As a young boy, remember I told you, like every young boy, I was scared of the dark. You know, when you got out there and it's dark, my mum would send me for the coal. I used to go out. There was no lights out there. The wind was blowing. It was dark. The trees were all moving. I mean, it's scary. It's scary. There's something wrong with you if you're not scared. Well, I'd get there. My heart would start beating. I'd start walking faster. I want to get back into where the light is. But you know what I said to myself? My granddad was a man who used to face his fears. You know what I'd done? I said, I'm going to walk half the speed and I'm going to walk slow until I stop this stupidness. Well, my heart beat a bit faster for a while, but I conquered it. I thought someone was going to jump off the roof with a big stick. Well, I just started going, sure, I know the angels of the Lord are around me. I know the Lord Jesus is with me and I'd have this mind battle. Saints, fear is a very, very real thing. And Jesus says here, men's hearts failing them for fear. He talks about this same hour where, and look what causes this. Do you know what it means when it says men's heart stopping for fear? It means the breath goes out of them. They die. Men are going to die because of fear. They're going to have such phobias that they're going to lose their breath life. And it tells us here very accurately for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, this will be the cause. You're going to be terrified when you look at all the wars and the commotions and the troubles, and you hear of all these things, you're going to get terrified. But also men's hearts are going to fail when they begin to look for those things coming on the earth. Look what he specifically mentions. And I don't believe this has happened yet in our world. I believe it's going to happen. And you know what? It's going to come soon. He's very specific here. He says, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. In verse 25, the previous verse, he explains, and there shall be signs in the sun. I don't believe this has happened yet. And in the moon and in the stars and upon the earth, distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring. I believe this is one of those marks of the beginning of sorrows that hasn't happened yet. Oh, I know people can point to some obscure thing, but all of us don't know it. You know, you have to go and look for something. I'm telling you something is going to happen in the stars and the moon and in the sun, and it's going to be a sign. And you know what? When these things begin to happen, they're all going to cry. Climate change, climate change. They're all going to drive men with fear. Volcanoes, look at the earthquakes, all these things happening. Don't you know it's because you have a car in the backfield? Don't you know it's because you have a car, you're destroying the world. It's your fault. 2,000 years ago, Jesus warned us that there was going to come an atmosphere of fear. And that fear was going to come just before leading into a world government, a one world currency, an agenda that was going to lead to the most remarkable days in world history. The first thing Jesus says is be not terrified. The second thing here he says is possess your souls. Look at verse 19 with me on our second point. Possess your souls. Verse 19, in your patience possess your souls. So he says not only do not be terrified, he says possess your souls. How do you do that? Impatience. You possess your soul, grab your soul. You know when you're scared, in this hour your thoughts, your emotions, your feelings, all of it goes everywhere. What are you going to do about your job? What are your kids going to do? What are you going to do in providing food for yourself? You need to be very careful. Jesus commands us not only do not be terrified, but he says in your patience possess your soul. The word patience here means to stay under, remain in your position. I want you to remain in your position, saints of God. It means do not move. Jesus is commanding this. He says do not be terrified, but second of all stay where you are. Do not move. Don't let all these things happening around you. Don't let fear so grip you that you move from your position, either spiritually or emotionally or mentally or physically. It means to remain under a load of care, burden, troubles, trials under every situation. Do you have troubles? Don't we all? Don't we all? I want to show you I've had a lot of troubles when we began this church. There's been times I reached the church door and I said Lord I'm not sure I can do this, but you know what? I'm staying in my place. I'm going to be in that front row lifting my hands, praising the Lord. I'm going to be in that pulpit preaching. I'm going to be in that fellowship time afterwards encouraging. You know what? I'm staying in my place. There'll always be troubles. You know what Jesus said about the pear? He said what about the pear? Sure, you'll always have the pear. That's not the priority that affects all our decisions. Sure, the pear will always be here. You think we're going to change our whole agenda for the pear? No, go preach the gospel. Tell them they need to be born again. We do look after the pear. We reach out to the pear, but that's not our priority. And you know as well, you'll always have troubles. You'll always have burdens, but stay in your place. Don't let any trouble, any fear, any burden. You know what fear is? It's a thing of the mind that affects the emotions. You see, you're not going to get scared and hurt unless thoughts arise. You start to look. You start to listen. You start to wonder. You start to look forward. Jesus said about things coming on the earth. And you begin, they haven't happened yet. They haven't happened yet. The heavens have not been shook yet. And yet we begin to listen about Yellowstone Park in America. Sure, it's going to be the biggest disaster in our world. Have you ever seen it? You're sitting on a time bomb. It is going to go off. And that's only one disaster. If you start thinking about them, you won't sleep tonight. If you begin to think of what's happening in our world tonight, you won't even put a smile on your face, I can tell you. But Jesus says, in your patience, possess your souls. Stay where you are. The answer isn't to move from where you are. The answer is to stay put where you are. What's the answer then? Possess your soul. Possess your soul. But I've got troubles. Then possess your soul. What does possessing your soul mean? It means to take possession of your soul. Take control of it. Take responsibility. Remember what the soul is? It's your mind. It's your emotions. It's your will. So this mind, remember this series is the battle for the mind. And what an hour we live in. What a battle for the minds of men and women. You know what you're to do? You're to possess your soul. You're to take every thought captive. You're to reign in your feelings and your emotions. You're to stop fear. You know some of you need to sit down and say, you sit down for a moment. I'm going to speak to you. Stop being afraid. Stop that stupidness. Stay where you are. Get on with your Christian walk. Play the man. You know the two martyrs in Smithfield in London? Two Anglican ministers when everything changed in the nation and they were marched off to martyrdom. And one of the bishops said to the, that's when bishops were really bishops. One of them said to the other, he said, brother, play the man for this day, this very day in our martyrdom as we burn to death, we are going to light a fire in England that will know no end until the Lord Jesus Christ comes back. That's playing the man. That's playing the man. That's reality. That's possessing your soul. Why don't we possess our souls in this hour? Peter talks about those who are unstable souls. You know what an unstable soul is? It's not fixed to any definite point. Have you ever met an unstable soul? No fixed direction or commitment. They move, they listen. This person go, yes, I want God. And then they meet Billy Jones down in the corner and they go, yes, I'm going to the bar for a beer. And then they go somewhere. I'm scared. I'm going to go to hell now. They have no fixed abode. They move all over the place. Everyone who catches their ear, they go, yes, I'm going this way. No, I'm going this way. Peter actually says they are unstable souls, open to deception, affected by every voice, every influence. You know what the devil's playing games with you if you're an unstable soul. James in chapter 1 verse 8, he talks about a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways. What's a double-minded man? He's a man who in his mind, in his thoughts, he's going two different ways at the same time. He goes, I want this, but I want this also. I want Christ, but I want the world. I want to be in the church, but I want to go out and do whatever I want to do. You know what? That double-minded man, the Bible says is unstable, is unreliable in all of his ways. What a danger. Jesus, again, talking about this period of time in Matthew 24, he says, but he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved. If you stay and endure through all these troubles, no matter what's happening around you, if you endure, you know what it means to endure? Stay in your position and keep going forward. Do the will of God. Stay in your position. Live out the Christian life. If you endure unto the end, you will be saved. That word saved there isn't talking about salvation, being born again, and you need to be born again, and you need to be saved like that. It's talking about something else. It's talking about a saved man. He's already saved. He's already born again, but he's to endure through all these fears and all these things that make his soul go everywhere. He's possessing his soul. He's taking control of his thoughts. He is tying in the thoughts of his mind. You know what? That is saving your soul. That man shall be saved. It's talking about sanctification. It says in James 1, 21, wherefore lay aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your soul. It's talking about a Christian, but be ye doers of the word, not only hearers, deceiving your own self. Jesus is talking about possess your souls. Not only do not fear, do not be terrified, since if you get terrified and wake up in the middle of the night and you're in a state, that is wrong. You've got to stop that. Jesus said, do not be terrified, but second of all, possess that soul. Say thoughts. You need to get in the line. You're going to stay here. You're going to walk through this. You're going to do the will of God. You're going to walk in the reality. It's the salvation of your soul, and listen the verse before. Before saying possess your souls, impatience. Impatience. Listen to what he says the verse before. But there shall not a hair of your head perish. Isn't that a beautiful promise? Does that mean you won't face trouble or suffering or heartache? No, of course not. But it actually means your hairs are numbered. Do you know that, brother Jer? Your hairs are numbered. Every single hair is actually numbered. What this verse means, they're accounted for. If God cares about the hairs of your head, if he's going one and two and three and four, there's the 5,600 and blah blah. He notes it, he counts it, he numbers it. You don't even care about your hair like that. You don't count your hair. I tell you, if you end up with three hairs on your head, you'll count them. But it's not normal for any man to count his hairs, and yet God so cares about you. He cares about things in your life that you don't care about. I could care less if a hair falls out of my head, but that isn't God. He says, I'm watching it. I see the smallest issue in your life. I care about it. I number it. I actually have a record of it. I acknowledge it. Since he's saying that, but don't you know in possessing your soul you have all these troubles and problems and worries and concerns and things trying to drive you? Don't you know the Lord loves you? Don't you know he cares for you in this hour? Don't you know he's involved in your life and he's watching every issue, every thought, and he knows every trial? He cares about you, saints of God. It's a wonderful thing. You know what he's saying? You will not suffer irreparable loss, loss without recovery, or no ultimate harm, or listen to this, no eternal spiritual harm. If you belong to me, trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Commit your way unto the Lord. Lean not on your own understanding, but trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Third of all, look what he says in verse 28. Look up. Do not fear. Possess your soul. Third of all, look up. Verse 28. And when these things begin, he says when they begin to happen. Do you know Bible prophecy, all the things prophesied in Matthew 24 and here in Luke 21? Do you realize all those things listed, he said, see as soon as they begin to happen, that means you can know it. That means you can know when the beginning of the end is. That means you can begin to look at the signs. See, some people teach that we shouldn't look for signs, that the church shouldn't look for signs, that there are no signs to look at. That's not true. The Bible is filled with signs, and Jesus said when you see these things begin to happen. In other words, there's a time you can go, something's happened here. Something's changed here. Something's going on here. He is very clear with this point. And when these things begin to come to pass, then, if you don't know then, you don't know when. And if you don't know when, you don't know to look up. You see, looking up is a specific command given for a specific time with specific signs and things going on. He says, look up, lift up your heads, for your redemption draws nigh. In other words, you know the hour, the time. You know the season when your redemption is drawn nigh. There is a beginning of it, the beginning of the end. And at that time, you're to look up. Listen to what it means. It means it's going to shock you. It means to bend your neck or your head upwards. It means to turn up, to stretch your neck out. It means do not hang down. Don't look at the ground. Don't slouch around. Don't look around you. Don't look at other people. Don't look at me. Look up. Because you know what, when you look up, you're looking to heaven. You're looking to Jesus. You're looking to God. You're looking for something perfect. So when he says, begin to look up, at that time, oh yes, I know in every generation we're to look up. I know in every generation we're to keep our eyes on Jesus. But what a command. This is a clear command for this hour. Not only do not be terrified, not only do possess your soul, but he says, look up. I don't even believe we realise the fullness or the power of this. Don't look down or you'll be depressed. Don't look around you or you'll be afraid. Don't look to others or you'll be disappointed. Isn't that true? I trusted in him, sure he let me down. I trusted in that church, it let me down. I trusted in that preacher and he hurt me. No wonder. No wonder. Look up. Look up. Don't look at yourself. Boy, are you being dismayed. But look to Jesus. He'll satisfy you. He'll never fail you. He'll preserve you. The Bible gives you a clear command and Jesus does. Look up when you see all this happening, when there's a realm of fear being spread, when there's wars and disasters and earthquakes and terrible things. The economics are collapsing and the politics are collapsing and there's all manners of pestilence. What are you going to do? I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to look up to Jesus Christ. There is an answer. Why do you look up? Why do you look up? Do you know why? Because your redemption draws nigh. Oh, I was redeemed when I got born again. I know that. I was redeemed by the precious blood. I was saved by grace. I know that. But this isn't talking about salvation of your spirit. Neither is it talking about the salvation of your soul, of walking with God through trials. You know what the redemption, your redemption, do you know what it means? It is the ultimate salvation when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. It is the redemption of your body. It is the resurrection, the rapture of the church, the snatching away of the church from the, to the air. It is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is his second coming again. Church, you need to look up. Jesus is going to come back. Man doesn't have the answer. The UN says they do. The World Economic Forum say they do. The IMS say they do. World governments say they do. Can I tell you, none of them have an answer. They'll never bring world peace. They'll never fix the economy. They'll never stop the earthquakes. They'll never solve poverty. They want us now to have manufactured steaks made by a computer. If you want to eat that, feel free. But by the grace of God, I'll never eat one of those things if I know about it. And if I have to eat it, I'll pray a very strong prayer over it, I can assure you. But fourth and lastly, what Jesus says about this hour, watch and pray. Be not terrified. Possess your soul. Look up. But last of all, watch and pray. Verse 36, he says, watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. This verse, Jesus is speaking to certain people. He's speaking about certain followers. And you know what? These certain people, they are not terrified by the hour they're living in. They're actually possessing their soul. They're looking up to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, you know what? These shall be accounted worthy to escape all of these things. They'll be accounted worthy. They'll be deemed deserving. They'll be found fit. Sure, none of us apart from the grace of God will be fit or deserving or have earned anything in this life. But do you know what he's talking about? Living in such a way to be in the right place at the right time to do the right thing. These ones who are worthy, who are found deserving, you know what it says? They shall escape. What does the word escape here mean? Listen carefully before I close. The word escape means to flee, to run, to shun, or to seek out a place of safety in such an hour as this. He's talking about those who are deemed deserving, found fit, who actually take to their heels and run from the things of man. This is the last thing where it says, these folk, you know how they're going to find themselves in that position? They watch and they pray. It's a command. Watch ye therefore and pray always. Pray at all times. Pray in all situations. Pray about all things. It's not talking about praying 24 hours a day. It's not talking about that. Nobody can do that. Nobody has ever done that. But it's talking about in every situation, in all times, about all things. That's what it means. Pray always. And you're to watch. It means have your eyes open. Keep your eyes on the ball. Do you know what this generation has done? Closed their eyes. They listen to boogie box. They watch the television. They're plugged into the internet. They're on their mobile all the time and they accept things. They've lost the ability to watch. Do you know what watch means? Scrutinise. Use your brain. I've got a document from March 2020, as I said, saying what they're going to do to you. We are going to dupe the British population. We're going to threaten them, conjure them, promise them, scare them. We're going to weaponise fear and scare the living daylights out of them. You're going to be scared to hug your granny. You're going to be scared. You're going to be stuck outside the window. She's going to die. You'll never see her again and you're scared to go in. Since what has happened in a year and a half is not natural. This is not normal. People have never been dying all around us the past year and a half. You watched a few news items last March and April of China, them dropping dead like that in the streets and it scared the living daylights out of folk. Then we've seen it in Italy. The same thing began to happen and they said, it's coming to your town, your nation, your city. You better do what we say. It's never happened in the nations and the cities of the world. It didn't even spread to the next cities. What have we been looking at? You know what? They plan to use an agenda. We're going to weaponise fear. We're going to engulf an entire generation in fear and we're going to use that. You need to watch and pray in order to be counted worthy to escape all these things and to stand before the Son of Man. Listen to what it says just before this at verse 34. It says, and take heed to yourself. Watch over yourself. Do you know this escape and take into your heels and running? Who are you running from? What are you running from? The earthquakes? You couldn't do that. The signs in the heavens and the earth? You couldn't do that. What are you going to escape? Your country? Where are you going to go? You're going to escape a world government? Well, I'd love to come with you if you've got a hidey hole. Do you know what it says here in verse 34? It's talking about those who are going to escape. It says, take heed to yourself. You are the problem. That's what you need to escape in this hour. Lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, drunkenness and the cares of this life. And I want to finish with this. Watch and pray. Why? Why did Jesus say watch and pray? Because you need to take heed to yourself. You know, in this hour, it's not globalists that are the biggest problem. It's not Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum. It's not Biden and the White House. And it's certainly not our Irish Parliament. Your biggest problem is yourself. And here Jesus says, take heed to yourself. Lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with these three things. In other words, if you become overcharged, the word overcharged means to be burdened down, to have it weighing on you and pushing you into the ground. These three things can be a big burden on you and they're very dangerous. And you know what? If these three things get a hold of you, if none of them get a hold of your life, you know what's going to happen? Listen to what he said. For as it says, if these things get a hold of you, so that day come upon you unawares. The coming of the Lord, the last days. You aren't even going to see what's happening because of the condition of your own life. You didn't take heed to yourself. You didn't watch. You didn't pray. If you watched yourself, you'd see what's happening out there. That's why most of the church don't even know the hour we're living in. You know why? They didn't watch. They didn't pray. They didn't take heed to themselves. And you know what? They let things in their life. They're overcharged, weighed down. They can't even see it. Look at these three things. Surfeiting. Some people say that is overeating. Surfeiting could mean that your eyes are closed in this hour and you're not ready and you're going to miss it. You're going to be in serious trouble in this hour. But it means more than overeating. This word surfeiting, this is what the Greek means, to have a headache. You wake up and you have a headache. You've been seized with pain or the emotion of giddiness through drinking too much alcohol. Jesus says it here. See, lots in the church say, I don't see a problem with taking a glass of wine. I don't have a problem with social drinking. They keep aging. There was a brother who says, oh, I don't get drunk. I said, do you ever get happy? Do you get tipsy? Do you do that? Oh, yes, but I don't get drunk. Hmm. Oh, I know drunkenness is a sin, but I just enjoy it. I know my limit. Do you? Do you know one glass of wine takes away 15% of your reaction time in a car? It's legal. You can be in a car and you've lost 15% of your response time, but you're totally legal. And you know what you'll say? You've taken that one glass and you say, I've got all my faculties. I'm able to react. I'm fully in control. No, you don't know. You actually cannot even discern anymore. What is surfeiting? You wake up with a bad head. You've been overeating. You've been touching the alcohol. And you know what? Jesus says surfeiting means that you could miss the coming of the Lord. You'll be caught up all in this and you won't even know the hour that you're living in. It's very, very dangerous. Jesus also said in Luke 12, 45 concerning the servant who is in the church amongst God's people. He's a servant. He said, my Lord delayeth his coming. The Lord Jesus, he's delaying his coming. He's not coming yet. Oh, I know he's coming. I believe, but he's not coming yet. And as they begin to say that, he says, he begins to eat and drunk, drink and to be drunken. You know why? He says it won't happen yet. What a dangerous position. You're going to get caught out. Those folk always get caught out. The second thing is drunkenness. That's the act of repeated habitual drunkenness or intoxication. Do you see Jesus gives two words here? You could be surfeiting or you could be drunken. I mean, absolutely gone intoxicated. But there's other words in the Bible. For instance, in one Peter chapter four, it gives three other different Greek words for drinking alcohol that are very dangerous. So when people say, I don't see the Bible says anywhere, you shouldn't drink alcohol, man, you don't know your Bible. I've just given you five different terms here and we're not even getting into it. There's only a few of them. Do you know there's many different words in the New Testament for it? What does Peter say? He says, excess of wine. It's made up of two words. It's when you're full of wine, you're not drunk, you're not stoocious, but you've taken your fill of alcohol. You've reached your limit, but you're still in control. He actually warns about excess of wine. He said, that's got nothing to do with the Christian life. It shouldn't even be mentioned once. People mock you saying, why don't you drink like you used to? There's not only excess of wine, there's revelings. That is forbidden. What is revelings? It is connected to drunkenness, but it's different from it. It's a very different thing. It is part of any public celebration or event that involves music. I'm giving you the Greek meaning of a word taught in the Bible. Most of the church, including pastors and preachers, don't even know this basic stuff. They don't read their Bibles, they don't study. And you know what? They don't warn the church, say, sure, you can drink, no problem. Well, if you can read these scriptures and do it with a good conscience, you go ahead. But I tell you, you'll be caught unawares. It means to be in that environment of singing, dancing, eating, fancy dress, late nights. It means a social environment created by alcohol and you are there. The Bible warns against that. You may say, oh, I'm not drinking. It warns against being in that atmosphere. Also banqueting. What is a banquet? It's a gathering for the specific purpose of drinking together. It is the binding activity of that gathering, or it's a drunken party. Saints, this is one of the major things about the last days that Jesus warns the church about, is the influence of alcohol upon his people. When we're right at the hour, the midnight hour, when Jesus is getting ready to come, when all the signs are being fulfilled, and you've got people who say they believe this, and they're going out to alcohol. You don't believe anything. You don't believe in anything. But this is my final, final, finally, I promise you. It says here, there's a third thing, not only surfeiting, not only drunkenness, but the last thing, the cares of this life. What are the cares of this life that could take your eyes off this, distract you where you miss it all and you're caught out? You see, Jesus is coming as a thief, but he's not coming as a thief for you and I, or those who walk in the light. He's going to come as a thief for those that walk in darkness, who are not ready. And one of the ways you can be unprepared is the cares of this life. The Greek word for the cares of this life is to have cares, anxieties, worries, to have a mind that's always worrying, always worry, worry, worry, worry. A mind that's always caught up in things of this life. It means to be divided, or have your mind separated, or be distracted. What does Jesus say? By the things of this world. You're worried about money and jobs. Do you realise how dangerous that is? You're worried about your next meal. There's a whole chapter here, we need to preach on it someday, of Jesus said, don't I look after the lilies? Don't I look after the sparrow? Don't be anxious. Don't be worried. Don't allow your mind to go there. Do you realise being burdened, overcome with all the cares, what am I going to do? Where's my next meal going to come? Do you realise it could take your eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ? It's a mental conditioner state in which someone is so occupied with worrying about that, that he doesn't set his eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Here tonight, I'm telling you that we're living in the UK, in Ireland, in America, in Europe, in Australia, in Singapore, in China, out across our world. Fear has been weaponised and it's being used very effectively. You're not allowed to say anything about the people dying through vaccines. You're not allowed to mention that. You're not allowed to say about the tragedies. You're not allowed to mention that. And it's happening. And I can give you testimonies and experiences of that happening. But we've got to talk about the one person who died through COVID, but we're not allowed to mention the two who died through a vaccine. And we need a silence. And you know what they're doing right at the minute? They're actually bringing, they're moving, YouTube's going to start banning any video that rejects lockdowns or speaks against the lockdowns. They're going to tighten this up. They're going to bring the internet down and they want to stop any country view or voice or anything being said. Don't tell me we're not in the midst of a mass big experiment where they're manoeuvring entire populations to do what they want. You know why? Because they're going to bring in transhumanism. They're going to bring in the mark of the beast. They're going to bring in a one world digital monetary system. And they're doing all of this while we're distracted. They're bringing all of this in. Do you know what I want to tell you? It is time. Do not be terrified. Possess your soul. Begin to watch and pray. Keep your eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what? You need to listen to what the Lord Jesus says. Will you stand with me here as we close? Father we do thank you Lord God tonight for your word. Your word is so timely. It is so prophetic. It is so exact. We are speaking about a particular time when certain things begin to happen. My God we have experienced and saw firsthand in a way unprecedented maybe in history. Nor God our entire world marching to the same drumbeat. Listening to the same central counsel and advice. Lord God using the same techniques, the same words, the same arguments, the same strategies. But Lord God I pray that we will not be scared. We will not be affected by those things. But we had experienced the joy of the Lord. The peace of God. The righteousness of God. My Father I pray that you'd renew our minds. That we wouldn't fret. That we wouldn't be scared. That we wouldn't be in fear. My God I pray save us by your grace and your mercy. Lord God bring men and women to Jesus in this hour. I pray for your divine hand of mercy. That you'd turn people to the Lord Jesus Christ. That they'd find salvation in him. Father use us O God to the reaching of many souls with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We love you. We worship you as we close. Saints of God just turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look up for your redemption drawth night. Jesus has forewarned us. He warned us not to be manipulated. Not to be used. Not to have games played upon you. But to keep your eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. We are right at the end. I can't emphasize that strongly enough. You've got one task. Make sure you're right with the Lord Jesus Christ. Make sure your relationship with it is right. Because you know what? Once you get on this train you're going somewhere. They're taking you somewhere. Soon as you step on that train and they say you need to do this. Then you need to do this. Then you need to do this. You're going to find that before very long they're experimenting on you in a way that you never imagined. The only people who are going to be free in this hour is the real born again Christian who know Jesus Christ. I fear God. I don't fear anyone. You can do anything to me. You can't threaten me. You can't manipulate me. What are you going to do to me? You don't have any control. You know why? Because I love the Lord Jesus Christ and I fear him who can cast me in hell. I'm not going to hell. I'm not going to hell. I fear God and I want to be ready to meet the Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you. Amen.